Overheard in Asda

Getting the groceries on Saturday I overheard in Asda: “I want some of that coffee where he goes Mr Makusa, Mr Makusa”. It was in the aisle where the coffee, tea and biscuits are grouped together. Two women (undoubtedly C2 housewives) were debating which coffee to buy, and one of them referred to the Kenco ad featuring Oxbridge-accented plantation-owning Mr Makusa and the gawky red-haired gap-year student.

After a little searching one of them picked up a jar of Kenco and they both moved away. I looked at the shelves of instant coffee, many competing brands with little actual product difference. After a moment’s hesitation I also picked up a jar of Kenco, influenced by the choice of the C2 housewives.

As American marketing people say: the horse that wins by a nose only has to win by a nose.

In other words, when everything about competing products is identical, it is usually small elements of the brand personality that ensures one product out-sells another.

See for yourself: http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA1606&advertiser=Kenco/

T.M. Lewin

The branch of T.M. Lewin in Victoria where I buy my shirts (usually five or six at the start of the year). I only wear white shirts, and have done so since 1995 (it makes life a lot easier). In 1904 T.M. Lewin invented the shirt that buttoned up the front, which they marketed with the usp: you don’t have to brush your hair after putting it on (this was in the Edwardian period when you would change your shirt several times a day).