The JAM Jar

This week, we were at the Business Design Centre in London to visit Lunch! – the contemporary food-to-go trade show. The two-day show attracts visitors from across the retailing, foodservice, hospitality, snacking, wholesale, travel and catering sectors so we got to meet some very influential people…and sample lots of delicious food and drinks!

The organisers report that the show was the biggest one yet with attendance up five percent on last year.

As specialists in food and drink PR to both trade and consumer audiences, we were intrigued to discover new trends within the industry.  We identified unusually flavoured chocolate bars, hot and cold flavoured teas and coffees, flavoured juices and waters, pressed fruit, nut and seed bars, free-from bakery, healthier snacks and popcorn, as well as indulgent baked goods and premium crisps as the key goodies we can expect to see heading into 2015.

Here’s an overview of some of our favourite foodie finds:

•Seed and Bean ethical, organic, flavoured chocolate
•Duke of Delhi Bombay mixes and chocolates
•Tea Pigs Matcha iced green teas
•Koyu Matcha green tea
•Vita Aloe aloe vera drink
•Pip Organic juices and smoothies
•Mello fresh melon juice drinks
•Get Fruity fruit and oat bars
•G and G Organic Essential Food natural energy drink
•Manomasa tortilla chips
•Nim’s fruit crisps 
•Brodericks – homemade Irish cakes 
•La-Di-Da Cupcakes 
•Exquisite handmade cakes 
•Cakesmiths homebaked traybakes and flapjacks 
•B Free wheat and gluten free breads and wraps

And here are some photos of our MD, Jaime Gee, and Consultant, Francesca Gaffey enjoying the show:

Lunch! takes place again next year on 24th and 25th September 2015 at the Business Design Centre, London. More details about the show and a full list of exhibitors can be found on the website:  www.lunchshow.co.uk

This morning, the nation woke up to the news that Scotland will remain part of the UK, following a night of waiting for the 3,619,915 votes from the independence referendum to be counted. 

Both the ‘Yes’and ‘Better Together’ campaigns received monumental levels of publicity, and at JAMpr we’re reflecting on a few weeks that are sure to be hugely memorable for us all.

On Wednesday, Kantar Media compiled a report comparing the conversations on Twitter at the time with those of a week ago.

As PR professionals, we were intrigued to see exactly how both campaigns had affected the views of Twitter users.

The results showed the number of tweets on the subject had doubled since the previous week, with Alex Salmond the most tweeted about politician (followed by David Cameron, then Alistair Darling).

The phenomenal response on Twitter to the referendum is yet another example of how social media gives us valuable, live insight into public opinion, giving everyone a platform to share their views.

#ScotlandDecides is trending this morning, as users post their opinions on the outcome of the vote. At JAM, we’re thrilled that we’re not waving goodbye to the country that brought us Haggis, Scotch, the Loch Ness Monster, and, most importantly, Gerard Butler. #phew.

This week saw Twitter take a bold step into the e-commerce arena with the introduction of its ‘Buy Now’ button.

Introduced to hand picked partners’ Twitter profiles, the innovative feature allows users to make purchases directly on Twitter.com and via the mobile-app.

Discussing the development, Nathan Hubbard, head of commerce at Twitter, told the New York Post: “You’re going to see native ad units become transactional. We’ve put a stake in the ground at the leading edge of this…” or in layman’s terms: the introduction of the feature is the first step to seeing content produced by brands, specifically for Twitter, having a commercial call to action.

With reported advertising revenues generating, last quarter along, over $277 million its easy to see why the social media heavy weight is keen to roll out the new feature across its network.

Despite the obvious financial incentive, Twitter is moving cautiously in rolling the new feature out across its social network. Solely operating in the US, and still only visible to a small percentage of its users, the ‘Buy Now’ button has only been made available to a selection of twenty-six nonprofit organisations, such as AIDs charity (RED) and artists, such as Eminem and Wiz Khalifa.

Only two US brands have been given access to the new feature: fashion mega-house, Burberry, and DIY Shed, Home Depot – both of which Hubbard holds as “…examples of partners that have done really innovative things on the platform”.

So where does this leave PR agencies? And how can they get their clients involved? Plans for the platform revealed that more brands would be added towards the final quarter of the year, including the courting of agencies. Already planned as an integrated feature within the online training tool for agencies, ‘Flight School’, the ‘Buy Now’ button represents an exciting development in making social media commercially measurable when reporting back to clients.

Embedded in posts for a small percentage of Twitter users, the ‘Buy Now’ facility allows users instant access to a wide range of products including; limited edition and time-sensitive promotions.

According to Twitter’s announcement: “This is an early step in our building functionality into Twitter to make shopping from mobile devices convenient and easy, hopefully even fun.”

Partnering with start-up payment solutions company, Stripe, John Collinson the company’s founder, recently told Wired magazine: “You should be able to drop payments into your website like embedding a YouTube video in a few lines of code. You should be able to do it instantly… that’s how the Internet works!”

We can’t lie; the new ‘Buy Now’ button really excites us.

With developments such as this finally moving towards delivering measurable results in terms of profits, it seems the future is definitely looking bright for the continued engagement of brands with social media!

Viva la Twitter!

It’s an exciting time at JAMpr, with lots of creative campaigns well underway, award season fast approaching, and new team members joining the ranks. So, let’s start with the introductions to the people who have recently joined the JAM family!

First of all, hi I’m Anna- I’m the newest member of JAMpr and I’m settling in to my role as Senior Account Executive. I’m joining the team at JAM Towers with two years’ experience in PR and I’m getting to grips with JAM’s clients and working on securing some fabulous pieces coverage. I’ve been busy, busy, busy since my first day and the daily laughs, Starbucks Fridays and @FrenchieMaurice  pottering around my feet makes me sure I’ll fit right in. You’ll find me drafting press releases, liaising with the media, updating social media pages and generally supporting the team across all accounts.

Nia Dawson comes to the agency as an Account Executive. Nia studied at the University of Manchester, lived in North Carolina for a year and moved to London to work in PR… We’re happy to say that Nia then decided to make her way back up North and join us at JAM. She’s a whizz at media relations and if you ever pop by JAM Towers you’re likely to find her on the phone giving her best pitch.

Finally, David Wall joins JAM as Account Director. He has nine years’ PR experience, having worked both in-house and agency side, and will be overseeing and managing the everyday running of all accounts. It’s hard to miss his ever-so-manly beard so if you’re in the Northern Quarter make sure you say hello to our new team addition.

We’re all very excited to be here and we’re looking forward to representing JAM at the forthcoming MPA, Fresh and CIPR Awards!

Want to know anything else about us? Just tweet us @JAM_Manchester