Kevin Harrington // marketing // blog

I remember Punk, that is the Punk music of 1976. I was living in London and witnessed dollops of it first hand. Consequently I smiled at this article on FT.com:

Johnny Rotten boosts Dairy Crest sales

Dairy Crest said using John Lydon, the frontman of punk band the Sex Pistols, in Country Life adverts had helped to boost annual sales of the butter by more than a quarter.

The TV advertising campaign, which first aired in October and features the one-time anarchist also known as Johnny Rotten, has had a “very positive impact on sales”, said Mark Allen, chief executive.

So the next time someone tells you their finite views and how they will never change…just think Johnny Rotten. Time can change most things.

So, the plan is to have a 70s dinner party tonight. Our guests are invited and the costumes are ready.

The 70s was a really good decade for music; a really rich ten years for quality and diversity. The iPod is set up with a random playlist of great music from a variety of genres.

We’ve even created a period menu! Note: this has been selected for fun and amusement (and ease of preparation), not to compete with Delia Smith. Of course, if you experienced the seventies you may recall what a diverse decade it was. You may also remember that the food actually wasn’t that good.

Hors d’oeuvres
Ritz crackers with pate
Twiglets

Starter 
Batchelors cream of tomato soup
Prawn cocktail

Main course 
Steak
Chicken in a basket

Sweet 
Black forest gateaux
After Eight mints

Drinks 
Babycham with a glacé cherry
Party 7
Snowballs with a glacé cherry
Mateus Rosé

This got me to thinking about food and beverage brands that have survived well since the 70s. Babycham is back in shops. After Eights never disappeared. Wine boxes are back on the shelves in Tesco. HP sauce lives on and Daddies is disappearing.

What 70s food and drinks brands would you have at your ‘period’ dinner party?

MAD Academy

We all know that word of mouth (WOM) is very powerful marketing. Therefore it was very pleasing to see the comment below on Surrey Mums about one of my wife’s businesses.

“I’ve recently started taking my little girl to MAD (music and Dance) academy, and it’s brilliant!

“The first group we attended consisted of the children dancing like penguins and horses, playing drums and tambourines, singing songs about cars and frogs and my daughter shouting “more, more, more!” and now we’re nearly half way through the term and it hasn’t lost its magic.

“It’s a fantastic activity for the very energetic to the very shy as they’re not pressured into doing anything they don’t want to do. I would highly recommend a MAD session to anyone who wants to put a smile on their little ones face.

“To find a class near you please visit www.madacademy.com“