Online Business Adviser

The Forum For Online Business Success

My collection - yes, I'm a fan

Paid versus free content is really under the spotlight at the moment, and I wanted to take a look at one of the most successful brands of recent years and demonstrate how providing information and services at no charge can lead to revenue and more on the back end. This is a post that I have been wanting to write for a while, but with a TV show on air in a couple of weeks, it is timely.

Since being discovered on a TV show, Jamie Oliver has become one of the most successful brands of the last decade. I am a huge fan of everything he does in both cooking and business. Notice I said brand, not chef. Sure he deals with food, but Oliver’s real business? Education. His positioning? Simplicity. The Naked Chef moniker of his early days was derived from the simplicity and accessibility of his food, that you can create something great without too much fuss.  Read more...

To call this post “What’s In a Name?” would have been too easy. But to answer the question – lots. A bad name can negatively affect

My "collector's item"

perception of your product even if the product itself is good.

Just ask Kraft. By way of context, particularly for my international readers, over the last 6 months Kraft has been looking for a name for their new type of Vegemite. Vegemite is a yeast extract spread that is thick, dark brown and has a tar like consistency. It’s fantastic on toast and has been and Australian icon since it’s creation in 1922. Back in June Kraft released a new version, mixed with cream cheese to make it easier to spread, and has sat on shelves with a label reading “name me”. After a public competition to pick the new name, they settled on iSnack 2.0. The backlash from the Australian public was incredible, and only days after (but not before rebranding 500,000 jars), they announced plans to dump the new name and open up a public vote on 6 of the more “tame” suggestions.  Read more...