Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .
IN OUR WORLD
We made it back from our big adventure in the UK and London will never be the same! A few observations:
- London does Christmas like no other city. It was beautifully decorated with a great combination of old Victorian and modern features. Magical!
- London makes Manhattan look like Boise! I have never seen more people or been in a busier city – EVER.
- Favorite sites – Lloyds of London building and trading floor (still doing business like they did 300 years ago when merchant ships were their most important insured), the hallowed grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Wimbledon), Abbey Road, 221 B Baker St (look it up), Tower of London, The British Museum, Leicester Square and the Globe Theater (look it up).
- Not the city to visit for food, though if you hunted around you found some treasures.
- It gets dark at 3:30 PM, I mean DARK. By 6 PM I thought it was 10 PM.
- The TUBE is the best transportation system I have ever seen. Period.
- The famous Black Cabs (their taxi cabs) are famous for a reason. EVERY driver takes an exhaustive test about the streets of London and they know exactly where they are going every time. The cabs are HUGE and immaculate.
- Street vendors selling Belgium Waffles. This malty, crunchy treats with a slight sugar coating are FANTASTIC.
- My clients were fantastic to work with and I am so JAZZED about the opportunity to move forward in 2010.
I have really cranked out the work the last few days and hope to take it easy next week.
Thank you all for the kind words about my youngest son, Colin, who moved to Seville, Spain this week to begin a job as a cultural liaison to the school system of Seville. It was sad to see him go, but great to think of the grand adventure that awaits him.
HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE
AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
One of the great things about what I do is the variety of businesses I get to work with. From computers to shoes, from food and beverage to insurance, from pharmaceuticals to hospitality, I have to be on my toes and aware of the true and real trends that will be impacting their business. I have to be able to form strategies around their ideas and keep them consistent with my platform design. I thought I would pick one and share a few things.
Here are some of the future trends that will be impacting the Food and Beverage industry:
- Consumer Priorities: The impact of the recession on restaurants and hospitality will have waves of impact for the next 5 years or more. Customers are concerned about issues that were not even “on the table” two years ago:
- Personal, emotional and ethical issues are front and center.
- Intimacy and friendship are important.
- Food that connects to emotion.
- Artisan and hand-made foods will be big.
- Close to home, neighborhood, local will be a big market driver.
- Comfort and safety will play a role in where people choose to dine.
- Upscale the Downscale: Forget about the $100 dollar bottles of wine or the steakhouses that are down 25% – 30%, diners are looking for traditional burgers and hot dogs which are up in sales. The opportunity lies in the upscale of these traditional favorites. Gourmet burgers and hot dogs served with goat cheese and guacamole or fries with truffle oil are going to be big.
- Loosing Control: With the real time aspect of social networking dominating what people hear and then believe, your customers are in control. This is not just a food and beverage trend, but an every business trend. Look for ways to get close to your customers, immediately. Get a Twitter site. Broadcast to your readers – ½ well drinks from 7 PM – 8 PM. Table for 2 at 8:00 PM just opened.
- Check out these new “hot” food items: Lamb Riblets, Vietnamese sandwiches, artisan hot dogs, fast food delivery (it’s coming and will have a huge market impact), global comfort food and made to order (flash freeze) ice cream.
Now, multiple that by over a dozen industries and you can tell why I start my work day at 3:00 AM!
ENTERTAINMENT
MOVIES: Avatar: Don’t like sci-fi flicks? Who cares! Go see this magnificent film and let your imagination go free!
NetFlix Fans: Julie and Julia: Don’t fall off your chair, yes I am recommending what might and I say MIGHT be termed a chick-flick. I loved this movie and thought it was another showcase for Streep.
TV: Oh, I forgot to mention one thing I hated about London. The TV in our hotel room had 5, yep count them, 5 channels all BBC. The highlight of the TV day was when a re-run of Frazier hit the screen. Though we didn’t spend a lot of time in the room, we Americans expect that ESPN might sneak across the pond. So, Laura and I have a lot of catching up to do. The DVR is stuffed with House, Monk, The Mentalist and a few others.
BOOKS: Maestro – By Nierenberg. Listed as one of the best business books of the year it deals with listening as a key component of leadership.
MUSIC: I know that John Mayer catches a lot of grief, but I am a huge fan. This is a spectacular cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Ov0cDPZy8
WEB SITES: If you want to stay on top of things in an ever changing world, bookmark this site.
SOUTH OF NORMAL
Three new business ideas that show it pays to think South of Normal:
- Philly Kitchen Share is a company that allows hourly rental of commercial kitchens. So if you are a starting catering company, you now have access to a professional kitchen. Planning to cook for a large party and your home or apartment kitchen won’t cut it? Now you have an option: www.phillykitchenshare.com
- Looking for help with a logo, brochure design or product name? Try crowd sourcing the project through www.freshbrand.com . This site will post your project and the amount you have budgeted and send it to the design world. You will get a bunch of ideas and pay a minimum of $50 for the idea you select.
- www.memolio.com is a BETA site that will create compact photo albums from your digital pictures. Upload up to 24 photos, edit and choose album design and presto, you receive a photo album you can carry in your pocket!
This is my first shot at adding a photo in the new WordPress blog software, so I hope it works!
This has to be the best house Christmas decoration EVER! The police made him take it down L
Drop me a note with your comments at steve@creativeventures.com
Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.
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