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Christmas Cheer from Milestone

Glogg for blog

Those lucky enough to receive a Milestone Christmas gift this year will be enjoying yet another bespoke tipple created by Milestone Mixologist Ian Sutton. But as you enjoy this year’s delightful snifter, spare a thought for the little Milestone elves that have to put the whole package together.

We don’t simply take some off-the-shelf item and stick our name on it, oh no. The festive Swedish folk art inspired packaging was lovingly crafted by our recent recruit Helen, while the logistics of sourcing the multitude of ingredients fell to me. A local shortage of cinnamon caused a last minute scare (and don’t even mention the problems we had getting the correct length tubes). Luckily, Matt saved the day with a late night visit to the wholesalers.

Anyway – do enjoy this year’s concoction, many thanks for working with us on some great briefs this year, and have a great Christmas.

LOL
The Milestone Team
xxx

15 December 2011 Posted by Jeni
Posted in Blog, Design, Milestone
Tags: ,

Value propositions today…

Today, in the ongoing realm of austerity, cuts and general belt tightening, company value propositions are changing. They are increasingly about how brands help deliver more value for less.

Traditionally, the value proposition describes the thing or things that elevate a standard commodity into a must-have brand. When times were good value propositions were often about an amazing service, experience or leading edge design, performance and innovation. They justified a higher price with superior standards.

Tesco has been on the value case for a while with ‘Every little helps’, but here are two recent campaigns built around new value propositions that reflect the current trend:

Sainsbury’s: Live Well for Less.

Kodak: Beautifully Cheap Printing.

Both neatly combine a saving message with positive benefit. Kodak has even embraced the ‘C word’ of value – Cheap. And Sainsbury’s is crediting its new line with a 6.6% rise in profits.

So, it might be time to reconsider your own value proposition: does it communicate real value alongside a big positive customer benefit? If not it might be worth talking to Milestone about our brilliantly cost effective branding services…

9 December 2011 Posted by Ian
Posted in Advertising, Blog, Branding, Marketing
Tags: , ,

Branding fish

River Cobbler and chips anyone?

The naming and branding of fish is something that’s intrigued me for many years. It started when I discovered that the old chip shop fave Rock Salmon was actually a type of Dogfish. Of course, our job at Milestone involves the naming and branding of organisations, products, services and events. So who gets to do fish? And how do they come up with such unlikely names?

Fish Counter

Fish is good for you, so we should be eating more of it. Right, but they are also a scarce resource so we should be choosy about which ones we go for. Against this backdrop is a new sustainable selection coming to a slab near you:
Basa
River Cobbler
Pangasius
Panga
Vietnamese Catfish
Mekong Catfish

Sounding a bit fishy?

Well, the thing is they’re all the same fish. Latin name: Pangasius Bocourti, it is a type of catfish from the Mekong River in Vietnam. I’ve tried it and it’s OK – firm, white and bland. Just how we like fish in the UK. But I can’t help thinking that the confusion with the naming just leaves a bad taste, so to speak. Brands work best when they are confident and single minded. Like cod or haddock.

So, next time you’ve got a new product to name think fish. And if you can do better than River Cobbler you’re laughing.

2 December 2011 Posted by Ian
Posted in Blog, Branding, Environment, Marketing
Tags: , , ,