If you need a bit of fresh marketing thinking then I'd recommend that you have a look at Shoulders of Giants - click here to access the website. Its a fast and easy way to access latest marketing thinking from thought leaders all over the world.

It's founded by Mark Sherrington, who I know very well from my Added Value days, He's had a big influence on my marketing career and is someone who's always worth listening to.

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Ugo's is a range of microwaveable panini. Sounds strange? Well, they're actually rather nice, as they stay crispy when you heat them up. It's growing very nicely and has good distribution in all the major multiples. I admire the brand for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, they're owned by the Kepak Group, an Irish meat processer, with its UK offices in Kirkham near Preston and not by one of the international food giants such as Nestle / Unilever. They don't have their  big budgets and resources , but instead have a much stronger entrepreneurial spirit and a real 'can-do' attitude. Its great when you see these kind of companies do well.

Secondly, this is not the first time they've grown a brand from scratch. Over the past few years they've been successfully growing the Rustlers brand - a range of microwaveable burgers and hot snacks, which is sponsoring the new Corden and Horne film, the Lesbian Vampire Killers and has a new ad campaign which is about to break. It's the ultimate lads snack.

It's tough enough launching one successful brand into the UK supermarkets, but to launch two is quite an achievement.

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I always think that Starbucks is a bellwether brand. When things were great in the 90s it grew massively and seemed unstoppable, but as a mate of mine said, you know the economy's in trouble when hear that Starbucks is closing down coffee shops.  In recent times this has been a common occurrence, particularly in the UK, whose economy was recently described by Howard Shultz, the Starbucks CEO, as ‘in a spiral'. Peter Mandelson was not amused.

Starbucks' latest move is to launch a range of instant coffees - click here for the launch video. Will it be a success? I very much doubt it.

I do have to confess that I may have a biased view. I worked on Nescafe for a number of years when I was a brand manager and - being Italian - am a bit of a coffee snob. However, I still think it will be a disaster and is a sign of desperation from an ailing giant. This is why I think it will fail in the UK

• It claims to have ‘cracked the code' of instant by making a superior quality coffee. I've yet to taste it, but I very much doubt this has happened. I can't believe the R&D expertise of Starbucks is superior to Nestle...or Kenco.
• Lovers of instant coffee don't really like the taste of ‘real' coffee, so even if they have matched the taste of freshly brewed coffee it won't encourage current instant consumers to switch
• It's far too expensive - £1-20 for a pack of 3 ie 40p a cup! Compare this to £2.15 for a 100g jar of Nescafe which serves over 50 cups.
• In the UK the instant coffee market is in decline, so they're going to have to work really hard to steal market share.

So...to add to my mate's comments....you know when we're in deep, deep trouble when you hear about Starbucks launching a range of instant coffee.

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We often say, rather glibly, that all great products /services are underpinned by a great consumer insight and one of the most insightful innovations I've come across in recent times is Sarah Beeny's dating site, My Single Friend.

It's based on a very powerful consumer insight that

‘dating online is a lonely experience and that the cringe factor of describing yourself to potential paramours is rather painful'

Therefore it encourages single people to get their friends to write stories about them. Thus:

• online dating doesn't feel so lonely
• you avoid the ‘cringe factor' of having to sell yourself

Plus, I'm sure your friends have a fresher and more insightful view of what makes you tick, hence making you much more marketable.

A simple, but brilliant idea, based on a deep understanding of the needs and desires of single people looking for love. Well done Sarah Beeny.

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Really enjoyed the Cadbury's Eyebrows ad. Great casting, mindlessly silly but very funny. Bugger all to do with chocolate, but great entertainment and definitely a glass and a half of joy.Quite a coup to see the Lily Allen spoof version on  Channel 4's the Sunday Night Project which no doubt added to the buzz surrounding the brand. A great return to form for Cadbury's after the disastrous Trucks ad. Hope we never see the Gorilla again.

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