Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 December 2015
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Wormwood Scrubs Click & Collect beta test
HM Prisons,Youtube viaTomo news US
Karl Jensen, 27, the 'delivery-man' outside the jail, liasing by mobile, tied a bag containing drugs, a knife and a McMuffin sandwich to a fishing line that was pulled into a cell.
Karl will now have time to practice this version of click & collect from the inside, as he serves his new 2.5 year sentence...
P.S. For those not visiting via government transport, the sat-nav details are Du Cane Rd, London W12 0AE
Saturday, 22 August 2015
Sunday, 16 August 2015
Kids born in the 60s & 70s, and their clean dinner-plate neuroses?
His mother's insistence that no food went to waste has stayed with Colm O'Regan all his life. The ritual of dinnertime shaming and being made to finish his dinner will inevitably be repeated when he has his own children, he writes in this week’s BBC Magazine.
Some great insights but key was the fact that days spent in unsupervised outdoor pursuits soon burned off any excess calories resulting from clean plate ‘over-eating’, and more importantly, were vital in helping us manage uncertainty in a world without patterns...
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, and tuna from a tin.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun. We drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, ipads, had no video games at all, no 200 channels or catch-up on TV, no DVDs, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text-messaging, no PCs, no Internet or social networking.......... WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside, found them and talked to them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We played with worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out any eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Local teams had try-outs and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!?
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all…….. !
So, the continuing unprecedented times are simply challenges and opportunities for many of us…
Some great insights but key was the fact that days spent in unsupervised outdoor pursuits soon burned off any excess calories resulting from clean plate ‘over-eating’, and more importantly, were vital in helping us manage uncertainty in a world without patterns...
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, and tuna from a tin.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun. We drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, ipads, had no video games at all, no 200 channels or catch-up on TV, no DVDs, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text-messaging, no PCs, no Internet or social networking.......... WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside, found them and talked to them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We played with worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out any eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Local teams had try-outs and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!?
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all…….. !
So, the continuing unprecedented times are simply challenges and opportunities for many of us…
Friday, 7 August 2015
Friday, 31 July 2015
"Unexpected Item in the Bagging-Area"
Dear Retailer
Why not keep our little mistakes secret by eliminating 'shout-over' and confining our dialogue to the check-out screen?
Have a User-friendly weekend from the NamNews Team!
Friday, 17 July 2015
Co-op convenience cashback for the weekend?
Midlands Co-operative Food shop, Duckmanton, this morning 0400hrs,
Police checking if they went north or south!
Sunday, 21 June 2015
Tesco Express-cashback?
Police hunt robbers after supermarket cash machine blown off wall with explosives at Newtonhill Tesco, Aberdeenshire
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
When the buyer wants the smart-shirt off your back - a variation on Back-to-Front margin?
However, rather than being a variation on Back-to-Front margin, this may simply be a reaction to the launch of the Ralph Lauren Smart Shirt;
Sensors attached to silver threads inside the shirt pick up the wearer’s movement data as well as heart and breathing rates, which can be monitored on an accompanying smart phone app and, potentially, uploaded to the cloud for analysis, via the shirt's removable slightly-larger-than-credit-card-sized Bluetooth transmitter.
We all know that a wealth of data is generated in the average buying meeting – not just in what is said, but who says it and the manner and tone of voice in which they say it. The smart shirt therefore represents an obvious leap forward for a buyer wanting to compensate for possible shortfalls in body language interpretation skills, and wishing to gain a competitive advantage before GSCOP adds an appendix...
NAMtip:
NAMs wishing to remain leading-edge can anticipate and circumvent this latest buying tactic by purchasing two smart shirts, wearing one in an extremely relaxed, non-pressured social situation and covertly swapping the card transmitter during handover of the 'selling-shirt'...
HT to Tim Manasseh for pointer to article
Sunday, 7 June 2015
Boots new single 2-way trip travel insurance for 115-year-olds, ideal for Ryanair travellers that need a name-change?
According to The Guardian, Boots has raised the upper age limit on its single-trip travel insurance policies to 115 years, effectively insuring anyone regardless of age, but only on a single-trip basis..
Meanwhile, the Independent reports that a passenger changed his name by deed poll because it was cheaper than Ryanair's penalty for altering a booking that got his name wrong...
I am sure both companies have factored in the possibility of a very senior citizen making an outward journey in his new name to a little-known out-of-town Ryanair airport, enjoying an unforgettable but distracting holiday before checking in under his old name for the return journey, stopping half way to the departure-gate for a mental re-boot, and then not being able to remember whether he was coming or going?
...and not forgetting the confusion at airport security....
Meanwhile, the Independent reports that a passenger changed his name by deed poll because it was cheaper than Ryanair's penalty for altering a booking that got his name wrong...
I am sure both companies have factored in the possibility of a very senior citizen making an outward journey in his new name to a little-known out-of-town Ryanair airport, enjoying an unforgettable but distracting holiday before checking in under his old name for the return journey, stopping half way to the departure-gate for a mental re-boot, and then not being able to remember whether he was coming or going?
...and not forgetting the confusion at airport security....
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Saturday, 16 May 2015
The NAM-Suitsy - A pyjama onesie when 24/7 is not enough...
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Aldi's version of gift-with-purchase?
Over €15m worth of cocaine - the biggest haul ever in Berlin - has turned up in boxes of bananas delivered to Aldi supermarkets in and around the capital, according to police.
This apparent foray upmarket by the discounter was an obvious mistake in a shipment from Colombia to Hamburg, and was in no way intended to stimulate repeat purchase and encourage customer loyalty…
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
A Post-Easter Bargain from Sainsbury's?
A Manchester offer you can refuse, and one you cannot, Moscow-style?
With inflation in Russia running at 11.4%, maintaining the retail price represents a discount!
Meanwhile, in deflationary UK, holding the price steady indicates a price increase!
Fortunately, in each case, the consumer is savvy, and understands these subtleties!
More on Russian pricing here at Business Insider
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
St Patrick's morning-after shop closure, a Reason vs an Excuse...
Hopefully, this valid reason for achieving a worthwhile life-work balance can provide an excuse for Mick to move to self-service...thus avoiding any perceived drop in service level!
Friday, 19 December 2014
Friday, 28 November 2014
Christmas & Thanksgiving: a contrarian view...
...from a key stakeholder
Hat-tip to Mike Greene for pointer to pic
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
Can hugging products make you feel like buying them?
As more of us shop online, new research by Saïd Business School, University of Oxford University, underlines the importance of physical interaction with products and shows how making an affectionate gesture towards a product can increase our attachment for it, and our propensity to purchase.
The authors suggest that the mere execution of an affectionate gesture towards an object can generate an emotional attachment. This attachment is most clearly seen for those products with humanlike characteristics and is strongest in those people who feel lonely....
Some product manufacturers and marketers are already putting some of these ideas into practice, to encourage a greater emotional and sensory connection with their products and services. For example Nokia has developed technology in its mobile phones that allow users to squeeze the phone to send ‘virtual hugs’, increasing the user’s bond with the product each time they do this. Even those smart phones which encourage swiping rather than tapping are building valuable bonds between the consumer and product.
Application for enhancement of the buyer-seller relationship
For those NAMs that like to build on good marketing ideas, and given the humanlike characteristics of most buyers, we have researched how the same hug-approach might be applied to improving buyer-seller relationships.
A recent article in The Observer points out that the male-on-male embrace is becoming increasingly common among politicians, and men in general. But for many it’s tricky to get right. The article gives intimate detail ref political applications but we felt that this hugger’s list might best suit our readership:
A hugger’s guide for NAMs
1. The classic
Clearly signposted, mutual, pleasant. The hug of a friend you’ve just winched from a crevasse, or someone you met six pints ago who has laughed at your jokes.
2. Touching distance
Half-consensual, the archetypal political clinch. It says: ‘I’m fine with this in principle, but let’s be clear that nothing surprising’s going to happen after pudding.’
3. Red-carpet bromance
‘Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward in the same direction,’ according to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
4. ‘Wassup bro’
With legs well set you vertically clasp hands and lean in for a manly rub. Warmly informal without being too intimate, but not one for grandfathers.
5. ‘Oh, right’
Innocuous handshake develops into an unwonted yank ’n’ pat. The most likely to occur in a buyer-seller environment, yet also the most likely to turn into a kiss.
Given this last reference to kissing, and wishing to generalise this kamtip in terms of gender, our additional research revealed the hidden complexities involved in kissing the buyer
Kissing the buyer: X, XXX or XXXXX?
Given the increasingly cross-cultural mix, even in buying offices, it is obviously important to try to comply with local ‘norms’ when deciding to add ‘puckering-up’ to your selling repertoire.
A great article in the Economist gives the detail (and 91 hilarious comments). For instance, at this stage it might be wise to avoid all invitations to transfer to your French affiliate given that social kissing in France is a cultural labyrinth.
This map, created by Radical Cartography, on the Jaunted website, shows how many times French people in different regions typically kiss one another when they greet.
When it comes to buying and selling, offering a cheek can become most fraught with danger.
Some rules of engagement are obvious: one would never peck on first introduction, for example, no matter where in the world you were. But it is also best not to appear too stuffy or aloof. So with continental contacts, you can probably relax into the informal greeting pretty quickly. On the other hand, Americans, apparently, would much prefer to go unkissed.
British buyers and sellers, as ever, straddle the awkward transatlantic space, probably only think of kissing once they had been to lunch a few times, and then only if they had managed to talk about something other than work…
All in all, the Americans probably have the right idea. Everyone knows where they stand with a firm handshake, or even a hug?
Hat-tip to Anette R. for the pointer to The Economist
The authors suggest that the mere execution of an affectionate gesture towards an object can generate an emotional attachment. This attachment is most clearly seen for those products with humanlike characteristics and is strongest in those people who feel lonely....
Some product manufacturers and marketers are already putting some of these ideas into practice, to encourage a greater emotional and sensory connection with their products and services. For example Nokia has developed technology in its mobile phones that allow users to squeeze the phone to send ‘virtual hugs’, increasing the user’s bond with the product each time they do this. Even those smart phones which encourage swiping rather than tapping are building valuable bonds between the consumer and product.
Application for enhancement of the buyer-seller relationship
For those NAMs that like to build on good marketing ideas, and given the humanlike characteristics of most buyers, we have researched how the same hug-approach might be applied to improving buyer-seller relationships.
A recent article in The Observer points out that the male-on-male embrace is becoming increasingly common among politicians, and men in general. But for many it’s tricky to get right. The article gives intimate detail ref political applications but we felt that this hugger’s list might best suit our readership:
A hugger’s guide for NAMs
1. The classic
Clearly signposted, mutual, pleasant. The hug of a friend you’ve just winched from a crevasse, or someone you met six pints ago who has laughed at your jokes.
2. Touching distance
Half-consensual, the archetypal political clinch. It says: ‘I’m fine with this in principle, but let’s be clear that nothing surprising’s going to happen after pudding.’
3. Red-carpet bromance
‘Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward in the same direction,’ according to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
4. ‘Wassup bro’
With legs well set you vertically clasp hands and lean in for a manly rub. Warmly informal without being too intimate, but not one for grandfathers.
5. ‘Oh, right’
Innocuous handshake develops into an unwonted yank ’n’ pat. The most likely to occur in a buyer-seller environment, yet also the most likely to turn into a kiss.
Given this last reference to kissing, and wishing to generalise this kamtip in terms of gender, our additional research revealed the hidden complexities involved in kissing the buyer
Kissing the buyer: X, XXX or XXXXX?
Given the increasingly cross-cultural mix, even in buying offices, it is obviously important to try to comply with local ‘norms’ when deciding to add ‘puckering-up’ to your selling repertoire.
A great article in the Economist gives the detail (and 91 hilarious comments). For instance, at this stage it might be wise to avoid all invitations to transfer to your French affiliate given that social kissing in France is a cultural labyrinth.
This map, created by Radical Cartography, on the Jaunted website, shows how many times French people in different regions typically kiss one another when they greet.
When it comes to buying and selling, offering a cheek can become most fraught with danger.
Some rules of engagement are obvious: one would never peck on first introduction, for example, no matter where in the world you were. But it is also best not to appear too stuffy or aloof. So with continental contacts, you can probably relax into the informal greeting pretty quickly. On the other hand, Americans, apparently, would much prefer to go unkissed.
British buyers and sellers, as ever, straddle the awkward transatlantic space, probably only think of kissing once they had been to lunch a few times, and then only if they had managed to talk about something other than work…
All in all, the Americans probably have the right idea. Everyone knows where they stand with a firm handshake, or even a hug?
Hat-tip to Anette R. for the pointer to The Economist
Friday, 31 October 2014
Halloween Pepsi-can dressed up as Coke went viral
Last year a Halloween themed Pepsi ad created by Advertising Agency Buzz in a Box, Brussels posted on Ads of the World's Facebook page went viral reaching over 300,000 people on Facebook alone in just a few hours. It also generated lots of retweets on Twitter and Google+ besides Ads of the World itself
A great illustration of how a gentle poke at a competitor can optimise social media.
However, the alleged response by Coca Cola was swift, equally humourous and must have amplified the initial impact, at least via Linkedin.
But the real genius of each advert lies in the ambiguity of the message, each advert causing readers to ponder on their possible meanings, with their combination adding to the 'confusion', thus stimulating the urge to share...
The result being that the category received much more reader attention, and pass-on value than more conventional adverts for such familiar brands might otherwise have achieved.
Incidentally, even if Coca Cola did not produce the response, perhaps they should have...
A heroically scary weekend, from the NamNews team!
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