Neil Brenson, Author at Jellybean Creative Solutions

Blog Archives

Awards & Events

19th March 2025

Make it Mutti… and Make it Award-Winning!

We’re thrilled to announce that the Make It Mutti Immersive Dining Experience has been crowned Best Marketing Campaign at the World Food Innovation Awards 2025! Recognised for its bold creativity and immersive storytelling, the activity has set a new benchmark for brand activation in the food industry.

Neil Brenson

Industry News, Interesting Stuff

11th November 2024

Tesco’s AI – a nudge in the right direction or a nudge too far?

I was recently featured in an article by grocery industry bible The Grocer on the hot topic of Tesco’s Club Card AI. Tesco CEO Ken Murphy recently said artificial intelligence could be used to monitor how customers were shopping to help persuade them towards healthier choices. He said: “I can see it nudging you over time, saying: ‘I’ve noticed over time in your shopping basket that your sodium salt content is 250% of your daily recommended allowance.”

Neil Brenson

Industry News, Jellybean News

24th September 2024

‘Make it Mutti’ Reaches New Heights with an Immersive Tomato Dining Experience at Saatchi Gallery

This month, we have brought our latest client campaign platform Make it Mutti to life in an extraordinary way, staging a 3-night immersive dining experience at the Saatchi Gallery, London (17-19 September 2024). This unique event, took invited guests on a culinary journey through the life cycle of the tomato, combining incredible food, technology, and multi-sensory storytelling in a celebration of the tomato and Mutti’s heritage and values.

Neil Brenson

Insight, Interesting Stuff

1st May 2024

To Infinity Loop Marketing and Beyond the Sales Funnel

Credit to Infrared – Image licensed under Creative Commons

The traditional sales funnel marketing model is giving way to more sophisticated marketing approaches that prioritise integrated customer journeys and long-term relationships over one-time transactions. We’ve entered the age of the “Infinity Loop.” As a leading food and drink marketing agency we always ensure we are on top of trends be they food and drink or marketing theory.

Neil Brenson

Jellybean News, World Food

7th September 2023

Parma’s Dinner of the Thousand 2023

On Tuesday it was a delight to see the historic city centre of Parma transformed into a gourmet spectacle under the stars for the fourth annual Dinner of the Thousand (La Cena dei Mille). A thousand lucky guests embarked on a culinary journey like nothing I have seen or witnessed before.

Neil Brenson

Insight, Interesting Stuff

30th August 2023

Unwrapping Success: Launching Your Christmas PR Campaign

As September approaches and the kids go back to school – it can only mean one thing: Christmas is right around the corner. Savvy retail food and drink brands looking to position themselves as perfect Christmas gifts know that now is the prime time to roll out their Christmas PR campaigns. In this blog I’ll delve into why now is the perfect time to launch a campaign, explore various tactics brands can employ, and highlight how an agency like jellybean can help maximise results.

Neil Brenson

World Food

15th May 2023

EUROVISION DELIGHTS

Here at jellybean, we couldn’t agree more with the Director of Culture at Liverpool City Council Claire McColgan’s sentiments about Liverpool’s successful and truly impressive hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. She said: “Over the last two weeks in Liverpool we have shown the UK and the rest of the world that if you invest in culture properly, if you have the right people with the right attitude, magic can – and will – happen.” Hear, hear Claire. As a specialist food and drink agency, we love any opportunity to celebrate culture, music, and diversity, especially when it’s in our home country and especially when we can combine it with great food and drink. Eurovision is the perfect blend of these.

Neil Brenson

Interesting Stuff, Jellybean News

11th April 2023

Bring your sandwich A game.

We are thrilled to announce our latest collaboration with world ingredients brand Cooks&Co: the Worldie Sandwich Competition. As an agency that values creativity and food, we couldn’t be more excited to lead the development and management of this culinary competition.

Neil Brenson

Jellybean News

6th February 2023

Six Nations 2023: A Culinary Clash of Rugby Titans

The 2023 Six Nations Championship got off to a thrilling start at the weekend, with Scotland delivering a stunning performance to defeat England in the Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham, while Ireland dominated Wales in Cardiff on the opening day. Italy’s bravery and determination almost saw them clinch a famous Six Nations win against reigning champions France, but just missed out by a narrow margin.

Neil Brenson

Interesting Stuff

6th February 2023

Love Island and a Career in Food and Drink Marketing: What Do They Have in Common?

Have you ever found yourself torn between two career paths? On one hand, there’s the allure of being in the spotlight and living life in the fast lane as a Love Island contestant. On the other hand, there’s the stability and challenge of a career in marketing. OK, maybe not a scenario many people might find themselves in, and it’s not the start of a mid-life crisis and career change, I promise. But I thought, hey, this would make for a fun blog, don’t you think? Well, you may be surprised to know that there are actually some striking similarities between these two paths. So, let’s take a deeper dive and explore the parallel worlds of reality dating TV and food and drink marketing.

Neil Brenson

Interesting Stuff

30th January 2023

Marrakech – must try foods and restaurants

I recently spent a long week in Marrakech to celebrate my significant other’s special birthday. For a short break in January, just a 3.5hr flight from Gatwick and boasting temperatures of 20 degrees, it was the ideal destination. The city is renowned for its rich culture, history, and of course delicious cuisine. The food in Marrakech is a blend of traditional Moroccan flavours, with a touch of Berber and Andalusian influences and during our stay we sampled some of the best that Marrakech has to offer.

Neil Brenson

HFSS

3rd May 2022

3 key challenges facing HFSS food and drink brands

HFSS brands in the UK that are unable to reformulate to achieve a lower Nutrient Profile Score or simply choose not to, will need to face into some of the strictest regulations around promotions and advertising on the planet. Marketing in this restricted environment is going to be extremely challenging and the world is watching, so it is important for HFSS brands to understand what they can and cannot do, and how to embrace the spirit of the law.

Neil Brenson

Industry News, Insight

24th March 2022

10 Key Takeaways from the MCA Food-to-Go Conference

Lumina Intelligence estimate the food-to-go sector will reach £23bn by 2025.

More than 200 people attended the MCA Food-to-Go conference in London on March 9^th, where Lumina Intelligence spoke, and delegates heard presentations from a range of food-to-go operators including Café Nero, Greggs, itsu, Leon, Pret and Pure.

Neil Brenson

Awards & Events

28th January 2022

CROWNING MUTTI’S GOLDEN TOMATO COOK

November 2021 saw the climax of an exciting cooking competition – Golden Tomato Cook – which we developed for our client Mutti, the Italian’s favourite tomato brand*. Inspired by Mutti’s Pomodorino d’oro award which is presented to the famer who supplies the best quality produce each year, this new consumer culinary competition recognises and rewards the UK’s best tomato cook. Menus were judged on making the tomato the hero of the dish, originality, presentation, menu appeal and taste. Mutti’s mission is to raise the tomato to its highest expression and this contest challenged consumers across the UK to do exactly that by creating a three-course tomato-based menu using the Mutti Essentials range.

Neil Brenson

12 Days of Giving 2021

16th December 2021

12 Days of Giving – Neil

Paw Pose Rescue UK was set up to help rehome dogs from Hungary. They believe that every dog deserves a chance of a happy home – no matter what their background or circumstances. Most of their rescue dogs come from kill shelters, which means a rescue is often their only chance of survival.

Neil Brenson

Industry News

11th May 2021

DO AS RAJ WOULD DO

In April last year we sadly lost a convenience retail legend and all-round top bloke Raj Aggarwal who was taken all too soon by Covid 19. He was just 51. The following day Raj’s father also sadly died.

Neil Brenson

Interesting Stuff

23rd April 2021

A lesson from the Super League. Listen to your fans.

It all kicked off this week when 12 European football teams, including the Premier League “big six” teams, decided to create a breakaway European Super League.

Neil Brenson

Hell and Back

13th April 2021

Ready, Steady, Restart

Slowly but surely the hospitality industry is restarting after the pandemic. Like everyone, especially those whose livelihoods directly depend on the sector, we hope the easing of restrictions will be permanent.

Neil Brenson

12 Days of Giving 2020

22nd December 2020

12 days of giving – neil

Kent Search and Rescue (part of the Lowland Rescue unit) is a charitable organisation dedicated to assisting the emergency services in the search for and rescue of vulnerable missing persons. Its voluntary members make themselves available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. They provide an essential service for the local community by responding to and supporting Kent Police, the Local Authority and other emergency services when they need to search for a vulnerable person who goes missing.

Neil Brenson

Insight, Interesting Stuff

6th November 2020

The virtual sales pitch

I was recently asked by The Grocer magazine to feature in an article about how lockdown and CV-19 has impacted the way buyers and sellers do business. As an agency, like everyone else, we have had to adapt and pivot during these strange times. Together with our valued clients we have been able to navigate through unchartered waters and find new ways of working and new ways of selling. In the feature I discuss many of the strategies and examples of things we have been doing to help our clients find their sweet spot and achieve success with their virtual sales pitches and marketing campaigns.

Neil Brenson

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