Getting the taste for luxury marketing September 11, 2011 WE’VE all heard people say that good restaurants and products don’t need to advertise, but how exactly do you launch a luxury brand without doing so? We ask Penfolds, a high-end wine producer, how it markets its brand. 1. SCARCITY “There has to be an element of scarcity to any high-end product,” says Mathew Bird, [...]
How to read the news before it happens September 11, 2011 FOUNDING PARTNER, EGO VENTURES AT THE turn of the last century, the New York bootlegger Irving Wexler seemingly achieved the impossible. He predicted the winner of every race he wagered on, reaping handsome rewards for his efforts and confounding peers and bookies in the process. In an industry where everyone searches for an edge, Wexler [...]
PRIVATE COMPANIES TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT PWC BUSINESS AWARDS September 11, 2011 THERE is no reason private companies can’t be as glamorous as their listed counterparts, says PwC, whose Private Business Awards rewarded the companies that support society alongside delivering annual profits. Like Bikeworks, winner of the Social Enterprise of the Year award, where co-directors Dave Miller and Jim Blakemore run apprenticeship schemes that train young offenders [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK September 11, 2011 ANOTHER change of season, another excuse for JP Morgan bankers to try the new autumnal menu at Gaucho in Smithfield. As it happened, the party of ten enjoyed the guinea fowl and venison dish so much they ordered it twice, followed by an extra main course of black cod, on special that day. Since it [...]
The New Forest’s star keeps on rising with this new low-key gem September 11, 2011 THE New Forest is having something of a moment. Thanks to one of Britain’s most insightful hoteliers, in late 2009 it gained the glamorous five-star country house hotel and spa Lime Wood, which was bang on the money for today’s metropolitan weekenders; and now its sister hotel The Pig has opened this summer to much [...]
TRAVEL NOTES September 11, 2011 Snowy winter relaxation in the Pyrenees Classy Spanish boutique hotel specialist Hospes Hotels has launched a new winter package at its hotel in the mountains, Hospes Villa Paulita. An original 19th century art nauveau family mansion, it sits above the Pyrenees snowline on the shores of a beautiful lake, and is equipped with its own [...]
Double the wow with a Costa Rica and Nicaragua duo September 11, 2011 SEPARATED only by a narrow land border and united by a single language, the two Central American countries of Costa Rica and Nicaragua couldn’t be more different. On one side Costa Rica, with its well-developed, well-trodden tourist trail, offers unrivalled wildlife-watching opportunities and some of the most luxurious hotels in the region. On the other, [...]
Why read Ulysses when you can shoot a zombie? September 11, 2011 In a meeting last week I bonded with my colleagues over shooting a poison pod into the mouth of a necromorph leviathan in the sixth chapter of Dead Space. We laughed at how I spent nearly two hours running in frustrating circles in an anti-gravity chamber, being splattered to the wind by giant alien tentacles. [...]
Youngs enjoys the winning feeling September 11, 2011 Turning on the style not the priority, insists scrum-half as England get off to a turgid start ENGLAND saviour Ben Youngs insists winning is all that matters at this stage of the World Cup after his side laboured to a scarcely deserved victory over Argentina on Saturday. It wasn’t until Youngs’ introduction, nine minutes into [...]
Gatland tells Wales they must rise again after heroic defeat September 11, 2011 SOUTH AFRICA (17) vs WALES (16) WALES coach Warren Gatland has warned his demoralised charges they must not dwell on the pain of yesterday’s narrow defeat against South Africa if they are to resurrect their World Cup campaign. The world champions narrowly averted disaster in Wellington, recovering from a six-point deficit with 15 minutes remaining [...]
