Actually, come to think of it their ads on TV have always been a bit over hyped for me, can Boost Juice really make you jump off the walls and run around and have fun? Is that giving a bit much credit to the energy value of a bit of ice and fruit juice, this ain’t Red Bull you know.  But TV advertising aside, I like the experiential marketing of the product on site, the price is right for me, they have a simple loyalty program (VIBE club), and the product is straight forward and consistently good.  My juice is the same in T2 Sydney Airport, Melbourne CBD and the Canberra Centre.  Wait a minute….consistency, service, young kids – this is starting to smell like that shop with the funny clown looking guy and the golden arches…..

So finally here is something to set Boost apart - a new adults only version of their advertising – with puppets. Yes, Puppets.  Boost’s new campaign introduces Mary Mango and Ron Banana to the world.  Styled off Entertainment Tonight presenters with a bit of Ron Burgundy ‘anchor man’ thrown in, these ads bring a new grown up Hollywood hype to the brand.  This campaign that has been launched using a social marketing mini site ‘Inside Juice’ http://www.insidejuice.com.au/ which sees a blog, facebook profile and no doubt there’s a twitter feed in there somewhere(wait – found it!) feeding juicy goss to the world.

Below is the 3rd in a series of Boost commercials and this one goes ‘ behind the scenes’ in the studio.

4 hours into the campaign and some of the blogs comments are interesting.  What interests me is if they are going to moderate, respond or engage with these comments or if just  a hang it in the wind and see what happens campaign (interesting comment about the yank accents).  Would love to see some onsite integration of the campaign in stores with Mary or Ron’s twitter feed being displayed on the plasma screens they have in most stores.   Taking online to the streets, come on Boost – you know you want it!

Robyn and Denis Rowe - Grand Champions at the 2010 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show

Canberra’s popular Saturday morning market, the Capital Region Farmers Market at EPIC, has successfully matched its growers with some of the best in Australia at the 2010 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show, with three of the market’s most popular stallholders, Lindsay & Edmunds, Robyn Rowe and Small Cow Farm scooping up awards.

The judges of the show have taste tested their way through 863 products and have deemed Small Cow Farm, Robyn Rowe Chocolates and Lindsay & Edmunds Chocolates worthy winners of awards in their categories.

Farmers Market Spokesperson, Tony Howard, is most proud of the wins for these market stallholders, “The Sydney Royal Show award wins give real kudos to both these small businesses and also attest to the high calibre of products on offer each week at the Capital Region Farmers Market,” said Mr Howard.

Regarded as a premium cheese producer from Robertson, Small Cow Farm won gold and silver for their Petit Vache Brie and Petie Vache Camembert respectively. They were also awarded the Australian Cheeseboard Perpetual Trophy for their Petit Vache Brie, a huge honour according to Small Cow Farm cheese makers and owners Mark and Lesley Williams.

“Winning at the Royal Sydney Show is a great honour, it was such a surprise. We were tickled to win the Cheeseboard Perpetual Trophy and to be recognised alongside the likes of King Island,” Ms Williams said.

The Royal Sydney Show gives producers the opportunity to benchmark their products against the best that the country has to offer, whilst promoting their products under the respected Sydney Royal brand.

And another Capital Region Farmers Market favourite, Robyn Rowe Chocolates from Murrumbateman won the Champion Chocolate Award for her hand made assorted chocolates, for the second year. She also took out gold in the Boxed Chocolate assortment category.

“Winning the award for the second year in a row is a great honour. It’s helped us realise that we are producing some of Australia’s best chocolate, being up against companies such as Haigh’s from South Australia and The Margret River Chocolate Company,” Ms Rowe said.

The market’s handmade organic chocolate producer Lindsay & Edmunds, were also recognised at the Sydney Royal Show, winning gold for their Organic Caramelised Chilli Macadamia in Organic Dark Chocolate, and silver for their Organic Honey-Almond Praline in Organic Belgian Milk Chocolate.

The Capital Region Farmers Market will be closed on Saturday 27 February as the Royal Canberra Show will be in full swing on 26 – 28 February at Exhibition Park. The Market will operate as normal following the show on Saturday 6 March.

The Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra is a genuine farmers market with over 100 stalls offering a diverse range of fresh food and agricultural produce straight from the producer to the customer. All funds generated from the Market are fed back into regional communities and other projects chosen by the Rotary Club of Hall which founded the Market in 2004.

When the National Gallery of Australia announced Masterpieces from Paris as its Summer Blockbuster, everyone in Canberra and Australia got quite excited.  At Threesides, we sharpened our pencils, got our best marketing ideas off the top shelf and bunkered down for a large campaign with a product we knew wouldn’t be hard to sell.  That said, budgets and time are always limited and marketing such a mega exhibition such as Masterpieces from Paris at the NGA takes a lot of work to get the likes of QANTAS, the ACT government, Accor and the hundreds of local and national tourism industry partners working together to get the best result for the NGA and Canberra.

Public Relations has been a big aspect of the campaign and through our travel industry contacts, we managed to secure a story with Channel Nine’s Getaway travel show.   The crew and Dermott Brereton travelled down to Canberra last Jan and the show aired Feb 18.  See below for a quick summary of the piece and we’ll be sure and post the full video story once it gets online.

Here’s the story below…and keep an eye out for a piece on the Snowy Mountains as the crew kept travelling down the highway to stay with our friends at Alpine Habitats on the same trip.

Masters from Paris in Canberra – Getaway

http://getaway.ninemsn.com.au/fsaustraliaact/1014081/masters-from-paris-in-canberra

"Two Islands in the Strean" Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton make success happen in two's

In the words of Kenny and Dolly ‘We rely on each other a-ha’, in business we need to rely on other smart businesses to get the most out of our marketing. The partnership of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton for the hit song Islands in the Stream took these two artists to new heights, securing their number one place in the pop charts in 1983. Alone, would they of had the same impact?

Just like Kenny and Dolly, marketers today are turning to different tools to drive business forward and strategic partnership marketing does just that. Bringing together two different companies, each with their own brand equity and distribution channels partnership marketing can open up a company to a new market and take it to new heights. Marketing partnerships work the same as any other partnership, when planned well and strategised properly, they allow you to develop relationships that will effectively promote and grow your business.

So what makes a good partnership?

1. You need to make sure the partnership is going to be mutually beneficial and that their goals are the same as yours, they don’t have to be exactly aligned, but it’s important that your working towards the same thing – singing from the same song book.
2. You need to be clear about what each other are going to bring to the partnership and who is going to be responsible for what – you take the low notes and I’ll hit the high ones.
3. Most importantly you need to carefully consider how the two businesses are going to work together; this includes the business culture and practices that may be different.  Don’t realease a single before xmas if the other person is thinking about a full album launch

Once you have carefully considered all of these things, you removed another obstacle in your marketing stream, opening up new opportunities and taking you to new heights.  Or you could try and count your money, sitting at the table, gambling by yourself.  I know which one I would choose.

What would you add to the list of what makes a good partnership in business?

Here are some quotes that people in the workshop came up with to answer the question:

“We are the centre of the universe” – Angela – 2828 – http://web.me.com/gulargambone2828

“The only caravan park in the world with a 5 galah rating” – Pam – Gulargambone Caravan park ‘ A caravan park with a lot of difference!

P.s. it’s about 1.5 hrs drive from Dubbo if you really needed to know -

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The Capital Region Farmers Market will host a special Slow Soup Kitchen where patrons can try soups made completely from local produce, and pay what they think it’s worth. The Slow Soup Kitchen will be onsite at the markets this Saturday 5 December as part of the inaugural Terra Madre Day celebrations.

On the twenty year anniversary of Slow Food, Canberra Slow Food people are organising the unique Slow Soup Kitchen as a reminder that people should get back to the basics, and to celebrate Terra Madre Day.

“The Capital Region Farmers Market is a perfect match for the Slow Food movement which celebrates the joy of food, the people who make and grow food, and the people that love to eat fresh local produce. We have all of those people at the markets on a regular basis,” said Peter O’Clery, Grower’s Representative for the Capital Region Farmers Markets, and long time supporter of Slow Food Canberra.

The Slow Food movement came about exactly twenty years ago when a few Italians decided that the pace of life was moving too fast and it was time to slow down and counteract the disappearance of local food traditions, people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

The inaugural worldwide Terra Madre Day will be officially marked on 10 December and celebrates locally produced food that is good, clean and fair – food that tastes good and is produced without harming the environment and taking social justice issues into consideration. It is celebrated across 150 countries by Slow Food’s 100,000 members.

“Events such as the markets’ Slow Soup Kitchen will raise attention of the importance of eating locally.

“Foods sourced from as close to home as possible is the most responsible way to live today and by purchasing directly from farmers, we know where and how our foods are produced, how far they have travelled and therefore the freshness and, at these markets, we can visually appraise the quality of all these foods and talk to the growers,” said Mr O’Clery.

Canberra’s Slow Soup Kitchen will dish up vichyssoise, beef, bean and vegetable soup, beetroot soup and pistou, all served with wood fired breads made by members and chefs using locally sourced produce generously donated by growers.

Proceeds from the Slow Food Kitchens are supporting the establishment of School Kitchen Gardens in the ACT and surrounding districts, and to raise funds for representatives to attend Terra Madre in Turin in 2010.

The Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra is a genuine farmers market with over 100 stalls offering a diverse range of fresh food and agricultural produce straight from the producer to the customer. It is held every Saturday morning at Exhibition Park from 8 am to 11 am.

All funds generated from the Market are fed back into regional communities and other projects chosen by the Rotary Club of Hall which founded the Market in 2004.

See the slideshare.net presentation below for the low down.

Did you attend the event?  Leave your feedback below in our comments and let us know how you use online marketing in your business in Canberra.

Events and launches are a great way to highlight your cause and create a buzz about your business. It gives you a chance to thank your customers, welcome potential new customer and also raise your public profile through the media. But events don’t get into the news just by happening, and trying to get media there can feel like pulling teeth. Endless effort sending invitations, alerts, media releases and several follow up phone calls to get ‘I’ll see what’s happening on the day.’

So if it is not possible to get that famous sister to open or launch your event, how do you get media to an event?

Media swarms as Antonia Kidman officially opened the 2009 Floriade

With so many stories competing for media attention it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. You need to know what makes you ‘newsworthy.’  Journalists are more likely to favour events that have a unique story, involve celebrities or local heroes, raise money for charity or launch what has or will become an exciting annual event.

So to maximise your chances of getting media to your event, here are some tips. Have a respected profile launch or open your event. Time it so that reporters can still make their deadlines, give media at least a day’s notice of the event, send your release a few days before and call the reporters a day before to confirm. Ensure have extra copies of the release on hand or if you have time, put together a press kit to include a little more information. Lastly, always have ‘the image’ in mind; make sure you have something visually appealing for cameras.

Canberra businesses are being encouraged to enter the inaugural Canberra Business Blitz as part of the ACT Government’s Business in Focus Month this September.

Canberra Business Blitz is an initiative designed to take local businesses to the next level with the expert marketing assistance of Link Digital, Schmooze Network and Threesides Marketing over a four week period.

“Canberra Business Blitz is the competitive Backyard Blitz of the business sector,” said director of Threesides Marketing, Todd Wright.

“Canberra Business Blitz was developed to assist businesses with their biggest marketing challenges.”

“Every business in Canberra regardless of their size or industry sector has marketing challenges, and too often they don’t know where to start. The Blitz gives three businesses the chance for some much needed marketing assistance. Their experience will be shared online to help other businesses improve.”

“During the month, the finalists will get invaluable access to experts in marketing, sales, PR, networking, design and digital communication.”

Local businesses have the opportunity to win more than $15,000 worth of professional services just by entering the competition with their key marketing or communications challenge.

Three finalists will be selected from the entries and will be ‘blitzed’ for a month.

Over the four weeks, Link, Schmooze and Threesides will blog the progress through the canberrabusinessblitz.com.au website. Public vote through the website at the end of the month will decide the final winner who will go on to receive an extra $10,000 worth of professional services.

Based on the success of this year’s competition, Canberra Business Blitz hopes to become a permanent part of the Canberra’s Business in Focus month’s calendar.

For more information on how to enter see the website canberrabusinessblitz.com.au.

For more information on Business in Focus month go to: business.act.gov.au

Canberra’s home of quality produce, Manuka Fine Foods, has just been announced as the ‘Best Cafe in Canberra’ in the I Love Food Awards. The awards are Australia’s largest customer voted restaurant and food awards.

The I Love FOOD Awards are Australia’s largest peoples’ choice restaurant awards run by the Lifestyle Food Channel at www.lifestylefood.com.au. The awards received close to 100,000 votes nationally in the 16 categories, and Manuka Fine Foods faced some stiff competition both locally and interstate.

“The cafe is a large part of the Manuka Fine Foods experience so we are very honoured to have it voted as Canberra’s best,” said owner and head food lover at Manuka Fine Foods, Shelley Thomson.

“There aren’t too many spots in Canberra that you can drop in for a coffee and muffin in the morning and leave with a selection of gourmet cheeses, pasta, bread or ready made meals to cook for dinner that night,” Shelley said.

“We focus on sourcing regionally made, unique produce that isn’t sold in every deli across Canberra. We focus on the quality of the products and building solid relationships with suppliers to ensure that we continue to get the latest and best products for our customers.

“There are many different industry awards for restaurants and cafes around, but the fact that this award is purely voted for by customers, shows that we really are keeping our customers happy.

“We have built up a local following from our own Manuka workforce who drop in for coffee each morning and we have become a regular pit stop for local residents on their way to work in the city or Woden,” Shelley said.

Manuka Fine Foods is located in Palmerston Lane in Manuka, and is open from Monday to Thursday 8am – 5.30pm, until 6pm on Fridays, and Saturdays 8am – 5pm.