I love this! Starbucks doing what they do best: Coffee Passion. I just saw this on the Starbucks site and they’re telling the same story I learned when I was in the coffee business at Kraft Foods.

Months and months of effort, careful systems and care go into growing, selecting, harvesting, buying, transporting, roasting and preserving the perfect roasted coffee. Yet all that effort, all that investment, all that care, can be destroyed in the Last 10 Feet. Spill it. Fail to put the lid on properly. Forget to smile and thank the Customer for their business. So many ways the brand impression can be destroyed in the Last 10 Feet. How can your brand learn from this brilliant Starbucks mantra?

Here’s Jack to explain exactly what I mean. When you listen he’s owning the brand experience – practically Romancing The Bean… Amen Jack!

See more from Starbucks

Every now and then, a company seems to get something very right. Apple iPhone. Innocent Smoothies. Starbucks Coffee. Gillette Mach 3.

BMW i8 will be next.

What these companies achieve is the holy grail of new product introduction. Success is a question of timing the market. They identify and launch into the zeitgeisty sweet-spot where [..]

HMT Senior Partner, Sam Waterfall at Tetra Pak's vast Anuga Exhibition Display in Cologne Germany in March 2012

From 27 – 29 March I was at Anuga Food Tec 2012 together with the great and the good of the Food Production Industry.

If you’ve never been to Anuga it is the International Trade Fair for Food & Drink Technology. What does that mean? Well, in simple language, it’s the machines that make, chop, blend, ferment, process and pack the foods and beverages that you and I consume everyday.

The Healthy Marketing Team were fully involved. I arrived on the [..]

It’s not easy starting your own business. But you may find it hard to find a more passionate entrepreneurial team to join than the Worcester-based husband and wife team, Muddy Boots… They are looking for a London-based assistant. Is that you?

Not your ‘normal’ boss behaviour – but probably a good insight into why we love Muddy Boots. Not just their delicious trademark burgers, but all they stand for – their values and make-it-happen passion!

You can find out more about Muddy Boots couple Roland & Miranda Ballard at their website.

And you can buy their range of products in selected Waitrose stores or in their own online Muddy Boots Food Hall.

Muddy Boots – You rock! We salute you!

To find out more about how to take your lifestyle business from idea to living brand, contact Sam Waterfall at the Healthy Marketing Team. We’re currently helping small businesses, multi-nationals and solo-entrepreneurs to get their branding right and compete and win in today’s supermarket shelf battleground.

Sam Waterfall speaking on Brand Trust in Bad Hofgastein, Austria

In October 2011 I was invited by B&B (Brigl & Bergmeister) to address their 9th International Label Conference – a vast affair attended by the world’s leading printers, paper manufacturers and label innovators. The event was held in the heart of the Austrian Alps in the exquisite spa resort of Bad Hofgastein.

My talk was on one of my favourite topics; the importance of building brand trust. It’s becoming ever more important and brands that fail to systematically increase their levels of consumer trust face future PR crises at best and more likely sales decline and reduced brand preference.

In my presentation to the conference I revealed not only why brand trust is more important than ever, but also 3 strategies that you can start implementing today in your business. You can watch a video summary of my presentation here:

It used to be the case that your product was simply the product that you made. But it’s plainly true that that today that is no longer the case. Today your product is more than the product you make, it’s the packaging it comes in and the story that comes with that packaging in the mind of your consumer. It’s also the consumer trends that are inextricably wrapped around your product which give it extended meaning for the user. And, perhaps most importantly, your product is now its entire supply chain which is increasingly transparent to consumers who are interested to know about your sourcing, your hiring, your staff treatment, your health and safety, your sustainability, etc.

At the end of the video above as part of my presentation on building brand trust, I reveal 3 proven strategies and illustrate them with examples which show how other organisations are embracing the idea of building brand trust and how you can strengthen brand trust in your business too.

For more information on how you can build brand trust or if you would like me to speak at your event, please contact me directly sam @ thehmt.com

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