August 17, 2010 – 6:27 am
by Nick Chiarelli WHAT’S HAPPENING Think social networking is just for the young? Think again. Saga (an organisation focussed on serving the needs of over-50s) now offers a tailored social networking service for seniors. The Saga Zone service offers consumers the ability to make friends and join forums. The sample forum topics provide a window [...]
August 17, 2010 – 6:08 am
by Nancy Ludwig WHAT’S HAPPENING An Audit Commission survey of 16- to 18-year-olds has found that one in four of them were classed as NEETs — teenagers not in education, employment or training — between 2007 and 2009, and roughly 43% of them were NEETs for six months or more. The report calls them Britain’s [...]
by Nancy Ludwig WHAT’S HAPPENING Paintballing and outward-bound weekends could soon be replaced by graffiti art, sculpture and pottery as the most popular team-building pursuits among forward-thinking employers (Guardian.co.uk 26.6.10). As staff angst about possible layoffs and pay freezes reaches an all-time high, creative pursuits that encourage them to express their thoughts and feelings in [...]
by Sairica Rose WHAT’S HAPPENING Blue for a boy, pink for a girl? Not anymore, according to PinkStinks, an organisation that challenges media and marketing messages that affect children’s self-esteem, aspirations and body image. And brands are listening. The organization successfully kicked up a stink in April 2010, when the Prince’s Trust withdrew from a [...]
by Nick Chiarelli WHAT’S HAPPENING Fresh on the shelves of U.K. newsagents and supermarkets this month, Eulogy magazine promises something entirely new: a celebration of life and death. Editor Alfred Tong and Jim Thornton, one of the magazine’s founders, had previously found reasons to skirt the issue of death, but when circumstances brought the issue [...]
by Lindsay Paterson WHAT’S HAPPENING We’ve always been told that happiness doesn’t come from a wad in the bank, and now it’s official. Feeling in control and understanding their financial reality is what it’s all about for consumers: 68% of those with high self-esteem understand and feel in control of their finances, and they’re not [...]
by Lindsay Paterson WHAT’S HAPPENING Microsoft has been rolling out an experiential campaign to help the “new busy” manage their hectic schedules and create more time for (sometimes quirky) offscreen interests with a new, improved Hotmail service. Promotional events around London encouraged consumers to take up pursuits like Morris dancing, knitting, throat singing and extreme [...]
by Lindsay Paterson WHAT’S HAPPENING An album at 87? Done. Surf holiday at 65? Been there, done that. Seniors are grabbing life with both hands and refusing to give up on the activities that they enjoy. Christopher Lee (yes, that Mr. Lee) has recorded a heavy metal concept album — despite being in his mid-80s. [...]
by Lindsay Paterson WHAT’S HAPPENING Haggling is hitting the headlines in the U.K., as cash-strapped shoppers look for the best possible bang for their buck. Bargaining is not in their nature — in fact it’s intrinsically very un-British — but spending more than they need to sticks in the throat. Times are hard, and consumers [...]
by Sophie Robehmed WHAT’S HAPPENING Aqua Sheko — London’s first ever fish therapy spa — is the quick-fix alternative to spa weekends, offering 30-minute exfoliation appointments where fish nibble on consumers’ feet and remove dead skin while they sup exotic tea. Feet are cleansed before being submerged in a tank where the Garra Rufa fish [...]
by Rebecca de Vaux WHAT’S HAPPENING Fab ice lolly brand has a cool competition for kids: designing a den for their local community. The tools? Good old-fashioned paper and pen. Entrants are asked to use blank downloadable templates, or pull-out templates from magazines. The brand is asking children to think of their local community and [...]
by Kelly Stevens Iconoculture’s new U.K. Consumer Advisory Service, which you may soon come to know and love, now translates current consumer trends into strategic insights for U.K. marketing initiatives. Like most of the world, we’ve been glued to the World Cup in recent weeks. Catching our eye especially is a brick-by-brick LEGO fussball (“foosball” [...]
