Good Noise

The Great Crisp Debate

Resonate really are a group of crisp lovers. We've had taste tests for the new Walkers flavours, "crisp lover" is an common adjective used to describe some of the team and secret santa even bought Gav a huge box of crisps for Christmas. It's the favourite food of the office.

The other night in the pub a debate began on the best crisps. And continued over email....

Liz's choice is simple yet classic

Original hula hoops...quite possibly the most enjoyed bag of crisps in my last few years of being.

They even say on the packet 'great tasting potato rings for your fingers'. They got it so right...if only the woman opposite me on the train wasn't thinking I'm a complete weirdo for feeding myself hula hoops from my fingers - what other way is there to eat them?!

Hula hoops - officially the messiah of crisps. I will build a shrine.

Lisa proved there is a crisp for every mood....

Hungover - plan a is always BIG EAT salt and vinegar disco's.
On a diet - cheesy quavers or squares
Crisps you think will be satisfying but aren't - skips, coz you open the pack and in one massive tongue melt they're gone. They just don't have the last factor
Crisps I miss the most - those shake and flavour packs from the 80's where you added your bespoke sachet of powdered taste. If I remember correctly, the lazy producers didn't even colour/decorate the bags. They did nothing. Genius.
Lunch box disappointment in primary school - mum always gave me the monster munch pickled onion flavour instead of flamin' hot. Cow.
Prefered crisp sandwich - massive phase of prawn mayo sandwich stuffed with walkers prawn cocktail flavoured crisps. Classy
Often overlooked options but excellent choices - walkers worcester sauce and walkers tomato flavour

Thing is, like drinks, there's a pack of crisps for every occasion.

I'm off to the corner shop.

What's your favourite crisp?

Long Live Woolies!

I read in Marketing Magazine this week that Woolworths are using Twitter and their company blog to launch their online return. Shop Direct bought Woolworths when they went into administration at the end of last year, and are planning to have Woolies back up and selling online soon. We don't know when though, although the blog does tell us that they don't know if they are going to be stocking CD storage boxes or Chad Valley board games as yet (these are the only two, other than Pick N Mix, product related questions they've had - and very specific they are too)

Last week they asked all their followers to list their top five products, and this is what they came up with

1. Panini Stickers and Sticker Books
2. Embassy Records
3. Scaletrix
4. Spud guns
5. Skateboards
6. Pick N Mix

Firstly, there are six so they obviously had a big response. Secondly, Pick N Mix is number 6! Are they kidding me? You can get all that other stuff from other shops, surely? Yes, I know you can buy Pick N Mix from other stores as well, namely supermarkets, cinemas and those places in the station that charge about £6 per 100g, but nothing will ever live up to the Woolies Pick N Mix. Many a happy Saturday I spent carefully choosing my selection in the local Woolworths.

Whilst I am very excited Woolworths will be selling thier wares online, I don't see how they can sell Pick N Mix. The whole beauty of Pick N Mix is, erm, picking and mixing. Maybe you want 2 candy shrimps, but 4 red lips and a whole scoopful of foam mushrooms. How are they going to do it online? There are loads of online sweetshops, but you have to buy by weight, which defeats the whole Pick N Mix experience. Sure, they could sell a ready made bag of Pick N Mix, but you'd undoubtedly be disappointed in the quantity or quality of each individual sweet. I'd be mortified if I only got one jelly baby, but 5 chocolate covered raisins. In fact, I'd be mortified if I got any chocolate covered raisins as they are devils food. The only way around it is to have someone selecting each order by hand. You could then order your exact quantity.

What are they going to about minimum orders and P&P. The beauty of Pick N Mix is that you can buy just three sweets and pay for them. What about the kids with only £1 pocket money? That won't cover P&P alone. Lots of kids are going to be disappointed, although I imagine it will be adults who buy it, since they were the generation who went into the store to buy it. But still, think of the disappointed kids.

I will be very interested to see how they handle this complex problem. I hope they think it through. It's going to cause many an arguement in the portakabin I can tell you. I will also be applying for chief sweet picker - one for the bag, one for me, one for the bag, one for me.

Posted by Emily

Crispy

Crisps, I just love them. Always have and always will. Even my memories are tied up in crisp flavours. My early years (5 – 11) could be called the Worcestershire Sauce years, from 11 – 13 it was the Pickled Onion revolution, 13 – 18 saw a passion for strong Salt and Vinegar. University bought great change to my life and my taste buds followed, Wotsits became the order of the day.

Today, older, wiser and more cautious about the affects of crisps on my waist I look for my crisp kicks in Chilli flavoured potatoes.

So, its no surprise I love the Walkers Do us a Flavour campaign.

Those clever folk from Leicester know how to get the snack world talking. By giving the public a chance to create, vote and win from a new flavour they have sparked a passionate debate and generated great warmth to their brand.

In the interests of public safety I have tried all the new flavours and while finding a few of them a bit, well, rubbish I did enjoy the taste bud challenge.

The folk at Walkers have cleverly captured this taste testing and snack fan conversation across the nation with a fantastic website to register your flavour votes.

Never have I been so attracted to voting (take note politicians the way to entice me is dress up as Squirrels). They have used humour and panache to engage with consumers.

This campaign will win awards for all those involved, but the reality is whoever came up with the original idea and the bravery of the team at Walkers who chose to embark on such a big / expensive campaign deserve the plaudits here.

The ad, the PR, the online mechanisms, the whole marketing mix is superb but when you have a great idea and product to work off, a big budget and a brave client everyone is always going to be a winner. See Bring Back Wispa and you catch my drift.

Anyway, here’s the results of my taste test.

1. Cajun Squirrel – Tangy and tasty. May start chasing squirrels around the garden

2. Onion Bhaji – Good but could be a bit more oniony

3. Crispy Duck and Hoisin – Could have been a winner but a nasty after taste

4. Builders Breakfast – Just tooooo Eggy

5. Chilli and Chocolate - Wrong

6. Fish and Chips – Smells like rotten fish and probably taste like it too

Has anyone seen Walkers Max Salt and Vinegar lately?

Posted by Gavin

Word from The Street

Top 3 Crisps this week

1. M+S crunchy combo, salt and black pepper flavour

2. Beef Monster Munch

3. Cheeselets (now reduced Christmas stock so a bargain) - technically might be called a biscuit rather than a crisp but still an excellent salty snack.

Posted by The Street

Martini Heaven

OMG I have tasted heaven and heaven, rather controversially, tastes like a Porn Star Martini. Mix 35ml vanilla vodka, 10ml lime juice, 15ml passion fruit Syrup, 25ml passion fruit juice and half a passion fruit and serve the amber nectar in a chilled martini glass with a shot glass of champagne on the side for extra decadence.

You will thank me.

Posted by Charlotte

My favourite new place

My new favourite place in town is Paramount - the club at the top of Centre Point. I was taken there a month ago - looked around, got drunk, was invited to become a member, which I've now done. I then went back, during the day last week, for lunch. I was sober and it was daylight so a couple of things struck me. Although it is open plan, it is quite intimate. There seemed to be under 50 covers for lunch which led to an energetic environment - loud but not too loud - just right for the first client Xmas lunch of the season. The food and wine was excellent, I had 'food envy' for my first course and dessert - I can recommend the leek, potato and haddock soup and the crumble to finish off. The Tom Dixon interior design is contemporary, the lighting is stunning, but yet its warm and almost cocoon like - the autumnal copper colours probably have something to do with it. Having been a loyal member of Soho House for years, I think Paramount is different enough that I'll happily split my time between the both.

Posted by GrumpyPRGit