Month: November 2021

When the holidays come around every year, everyone looks out for Coca Cola’s new Christmas adverts and marketing techniques for the festive season. At this point, Coca Cola and Christmas are synonymous due to their monopoly over the emblematic holiday.

The story of Santa Claus as you know him

A velvety red Santa suit with a white fur trim, a thick snowy beard, and a jolly face: the Coca‑Cola Santa plays a part in all our Christmases. When you think of Christmas, this image of Santa is the first thing that always comes to mind.

In fact, Coca Cola’s Santa helped define the look and personality of the modern Father Christmas, practically making Santa Coca Cola’s personal marketing mascot. This representation of Santa was commissioned by an illustrator called Haddon Sundblom in 1931, where he created multiple oil paintings of Santa as we know him now, which were used as advertising by the brand.

They depicted Santa giving gifts, reading books to children and of course drinking or holding a classic Coca Cola bottle. The final illustration that Sundblom created for Coca Cola was in 1964, and since then, the brand religiously uses his images in all their festive marketing campaigns.

However, as stated by Coca Cola “these paintings are also some of the most prized pieces in the art collection in the company’s archives department and have been on exhibit around the world, in famous locales including the Louvre in Paris, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Isetan Department Store in Tokyo, and the NK Department Store in Stockholm. Many of the original paintings can be seen on display at World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Ga.”

How Coca Cola rules Christmas advertising

In our minds, Christmas is and always will be tied with Coca Cola advertisements. The world-famous brand has classically conditioned its consumers to sing their song when the holiday season comes around, visualising their version of Santa and imagining trucks filled with their classic Coca Cola bottles.

As Alina Gorbatch said, “it’s pretty clear how the soft drink giant achieved that result. Coca-Cola jumped on the most effective marketing technique ever – selling happiness. They defined happiness as Christmas: the time most people genuinely cherish. Then, they kept the connection firmly year after year until the world gave in and built a strong association. Consistency in marketing often pays off.”

“In 2020, Coca-Cola’s ad was crowned “the most effective Christmas campaign“. However, it was the year when family and friends could not get together to celebrate Christmas, the annual Coca-Cola Christmas truck journey had been cancelled, and people were depressed, tired, and not in a holiday mood all around the world. Yet, Coca-Cola still got their win.”

In 2021, Coca Cola is once again selling happiness during the holiday season in their new campaign called “The Magic Taste” of Coca Cola, another inclination to the consumers emotions and a way that the brand sells this idea.

Moreover, the brand’s social media campaigns are strong as they are accompanied with catchy hashtags, which are easily remembered and recognised by the public.

Last year, the brand used the hashtag #TogetherTastesBetter on their multiple social media accounts, which referred to the challenges we’ve faced and the ways we’ve overcome them together. This year the new hashtag #RealMagicIsOnlyASipAway is used to advertise the idea of happiness and the magic of the brand.

What are your thoughts on Coca Cola’s Christmas marketing campaigns? Do you agree that it truly monopolizes the advertising of each festive season?

Do you want to get more people talking about your brand this Christmas? Get in touch with Posh Cockney today.

Or is it brands truly demonstrating social responsibility and advocating for change?

What’s happening at COP26?

In a day and age where everyone is constantly becoming a more active member in society, the discourse on sustainability has got louder. Now, more than ever, we are concerned with the environmental issues that are threatening the place we call home.

In a plea to raise awareness around these issues, the United Nations have held an annual Climate Change Conference for almost three decades now. The 26th annual United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26) is being held this year in Glasgow between 31^st October and 12^th November, in order to make reforms a reality. The discussions taking place will hopefully raise awareness and motivate the population to act and react to the climate change crisis.

How brands are reacting: Green marketing

Since the conference kicked off last week, marketers have been feeling the pressure to communicate their brands’ sustainable credentials, while still delivering for customers. Everyone is already yearning for positive change and feeling the need to help our planet flourish, rather than continuing to diminish it. In order to support environmental health, many people have begun purchasing socially responsible products, despite their higher cost.

This is where the idea of “green marketing” flourishes. Many companies are turning to this marketing strategy as it helps to hook such consumers in, addressing their social responsibility and, therefore, influencing their purchasing decisions. They do this by advertising their products and services as “eco-friendly”, “zero-waste”, “sustainable”, “organic”, “recyclable”, and so on.

Therefore, some may argue that sustainability has become a deal breaker for many companies, but for others it has been their most sought after marketing strategy.

However, it should not only be promises that brands are making. Businesses should also be following through with everything they are advertising, to help in making the world a better place.

One brand that’s doing it right

Just like Starbucks has done. According to Lesley Vos’ research “Starbucks has been certified by LEED since 2005, but it has moved beyond that by planning to eliminate all plastic straws by 2020 and open 10,000 environmentally friendly stores by 2025″. This is a great initiative that can be seen in Starbucks stores globally.

Also, “Starbucks tries hard to engage its community in sustainable issues. It uses green materials for producing, packaging, and delivering its product to customers. As part of its Green Store initiative, the brand also plans to reduce waste and use 30 percent less water and 25 percent less power during production processes”.

Moreover, “the brand designs disposable coffee cups, is involved in recycling and green building, supports farmers and the environmentally sustainable community, and has been hard at work on communicating this message to its target audience”.

This is what it means for a business to successfully implement the idea of green marketing, and in the case of Starbucks, avidly try to make a change to a more sustainable business model. It is not about just labelling something as “sustainable”; it is about businesses illustrating how they can change their missions and practices from revenue-driven to environmentally-aware through processes that have the least impact on the environment as possible.

What are your thoughts on green marketing? Do you think it is just a label and a marketing technique or a plea for change and climate reform?

To learn more about how you can market your brand’s sustainable moves, get in touch with Posh Cockney today.

Life certainly hasn’t been boring at Posh Cockney lately. Over the past couple of months, we’ve launched shiny new venues, signed some amazing clients, and welcomed some new staff members into the Posh Cockney family. 

New Venue Openings

October saw the birth of Olives and Meze in Soho, a Mediterranean restaurant brand which first made its mark on London in Clapham Common. If you love Mediterranean food, then this is the place for you! Later down the line, we created a fabulous influencer event launching the brand’s tasty new shawarma dish. What could you want more than a room full of influencers and shawarmas? 

Two weeks ago, we opened a second venue for another Clapham-born restaurant. Anglo-Italian pizzeria Eco has served the joys of sourdough pizza in Clapham for almost thirty years, and on 21st October, we introduced them to Kingston upon Thames. Owner Sami and his family said hello to journalists and influencers galore, alongside family and friends, in a successful launch event at the new venue. The Mayor of Kingston even made an appearance, cutting the ribbon to celebrate this new venture for the restaurant. 

Eco has experienced a lot of buzz since the event, both on social media and in some spectacular press coverage. Watch this space for more exciting updates about Eco coming very soon. 

New Clients 

We are excited to announce that we’ve signed two new clients in the past week. Introducing Tooth Club and Onyx!

Tooth Club is a glamorous celebrity dentist which recently launched their fourth surgery in Hammersmith. Although a slightly different kind of client for Posh Cockney, we are nevertheless ready to bring our expertise to the table for the brand. As a Top 30 Influencer Marketing Agency, we know that we can get everyone talking about Tooth Club. 

Onyx is a restaurant and bar based in Hornchurch, Essex. After taking on Array earlier in the year, we are delighted to be working with another brand based in the same area. We can’t wait to take them to the next level.

New Members of the Family

Over the past month, we’ve welcomed three new full time members into the Posh Cockney family.

Chanelle has joined the team as our new Marketing and PR Manager, Judit is our new Social Media Manager and Alice is our new PR Executive. Having completed some incredible work during their time on the Future Star Programme, we look forward to seeing what else they will accomplish with us.

Future Stars

We have been lucky enough to bring some amazing talent onto the team over the past few months through our Future Star Programme. 

From gaining great press coverage to reaching social media goals, our interns really shine,  hence why we take so many of them on into full time employment at the end of the programme. 

Thanks to the popularity of the Future Star Programme, so many young aspiring PR and Marketing professionals have been able to gain real life experience in the field and get to know what it feels like to lead a brand to success. 

And we’re still hiring! Find out more about the programme here. 

What’s next for Posh Cockney? 

The festive season is a hugely busy time in the hospitality industry. But Posh Cockney is always prepared for it. 

Keep your eyes peeled for seasonal offerings, NYE events and more, as well as huge new venue openings hitting the market in 2022. 

Want to get more people talking about your brand? Need help launching a new venue? Get in touch with Posh Cockney today.

With cop26 taking place this month, people are searching for ways to live more sustainably. Is eating bugs the answer?

Entomophagy – Eating bugs 

The world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, thus, sustainable ways to deliver nutritious food to our growing population need to be found. One option that increased in popularity in the past few years is entomophagy, more known as the term for human consumption of insects. Insects are already a valued source of nutrients for 2 billion people. In some parts of Asia and Africa, insects are a fundamental part of the diet. Meanwhile, in the western world, insects are still a culinary curiosity. However, this is changing as it is a taste that western countries want to develop if it is to meet climate targets.

For instance, one of the top restaurants in the world, Noma, has made use of bugs for many years on their menu. Fancy restaurants in France serve up snails – or escargot. Some UK restaurants such as the Mexican chain ‘Wahaca’, have been offering insects in various dishes for a while now. There is also a growing number of start-ups mainly online, that are selling snacks and cooking ingredients based on insects.

Nutritional Value and Sustainability 

When it comes to nutrition, the nutritional profiles of insects differ, as Eat Grub’s founders point out: “Crickets can contain 69% protein and have all essential amino acids. They are high in fibre and vitamin B12, as well as being a great source of iron, calcium and Omega 3 and 6”. Also, grasshoppers and mealworms are rich in protein and contain significantly higher sources of minerals such as iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium than beef.

In terms of sustainable alternatives to going meat-free, edible insects are most likely the best option. Given the scale of the food supply challenge, the world will need multiple new sources of protein, as lab-grown meats and plant-based diets are already growing. In addition, pound by pound, insects require less land, water, and feed than traditional livestock. Insect farming and processing produce significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. Also, bugs are cold-blooded, they don’t waste energy converting feed into body heat. Bugs take 12 times less food than cows, produce 100 times less Co2, take 1000 times less water to raise, and can be grown anywhere.

Entering the Hospitality Industry

Insects are still unexplored treasures of ingredients. To communicate this with the world, hospitality businesses need innovative food services to further establish the pleasure aspect of bugs in dishes with bug-forward menus. While it is still uncertain if more restaurants will evaluate the environmental impact of their menus, recent surveys suggest that our understanding of sustainability issues continues to grow. In fact, increased messaging around the environmental benefits of greater bug consumption is seen and more restaurants and food services continue to make efforts towards less food waste. 

Chef David George Gordon (aka The Bug Chef) shared some insight on how we might better work with chefs: “With insects, it’s challenging because most chefs in our country don’t have much experience or expertise in that arena. But there are many culinary tricks of the trade that chefs can bring to play, making the dishes they serve look and taste good, regardless of how many legs the ingredients may have. As such, they are important contributors to the process of gaining acceptance for bug cuisine.” Therefore, many chefs might be hesitant to work with bugs simply because they don’t know how yet. This can be changed with a strong educational push.

It may take a while before people accept this new trend, but entomophagy advocates say that a cultural shift is already in the works, particularly among the young and adventurous urbanites who will be setting food trends for generations to come. 

The sustainability factor, the health aspects, are the angles that will make people want to try edible insects.