The Gillette ad featuring Federer, Henry and Woods was voted number 1 in Campaign Magazine's top ten turverys of 2008. I'm surprised that they're persisting with this campaign in 2009. I suspect its because they need to get maximum value out of the quillions they've paid these superstars. Having 1 superstar sponsor is fine. Having 3 is just showing off. I can imagine consumers thinking...'I wonder how much they paid them?'

I've also seen ads which explain why Fusion Power is better than Mach 3. I've never seen Gillette be as explicit as this in encouraging consumers to drop their old Gillette razor. I suspect that they've had to do this because  Fusion Power's  growth is not as rapid as they'd hoped and that consumers can't see the benefit of trading up.

I often wonder when razor blade innovation will come to a natural limit. I suspect we've now reached the ceiling, but no doubt the Gillette team will try and convince us otherwise.

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Continuing with the theme of slogans, I've recently spotted a couple of really dodgy hot beverage slogans . To demonstrate I'm being even-handed, one is from Unilever, the other is from Nestle.

The first is Lipton Tea. I don't object so much to the slogan 'Drink Gorgeous'. I just wish they hadn't added the line 'Lipton Tea Can Do That' at the bottom. What is it that Lipton tea can do? Why add it when they've already got a main message? I suspect that it's some Global brand directive that is stipulated in  a communications 'Bible'.

 The second is Nescafe Gold Blend.

I understand that Gold is shiny and bright, but capturing coffee at its 'brightest' simply doesn't make sense. It's also an incredibly dull mesage, as is the tv ad - click here to view. Where's the benefit? Its all about you, the brand and nothing to do with me, the consumer.

I never thought I'd say it,  but I wish they'd bring back the Gold Blend couple.

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Have been doing some background reading on the diamond industry for a project I'm working on. I didn't realise that 'A Diamond is Forever' was a slogan invented and used by De Beers - since 1948 apparently. I always thought it came from the James Bond book / film.

However, I'm pretty sure that 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' is the title of a Marilyn Munroe song from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

It's amazing how much people are prepared to pay for diamonds given that they perform no useful function. The power of marketing, I guess. 

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Having spent a lot of the Summer in Italy, one of the things you notice is the number of local festivals that take place, particularly around food. This is obviously an important topic to Italians and one of the key developments that Italy has given the world is the Slow Food Movement.

Founded in the late 1980s, it was an attempt to fight back against the growth of the Fast Food culture and all the vices that go with it eg the industrialisation of food production and the decline of traditional ways of eating.

It's now a truly Global movement and is having a massive impact on the way we buy and eat our food. Over the next few months there will be large number of events celebrating the importance of Slow Food.  

If you're in the food industry, you can't afford to ignore how Slow Food is shaping our attitudes and habits. Speed and convenience will always be key but over the next decade it's influence will continue to grow.

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