Fun packaging for kids

1-10-2014

After drinking milk or juice, kids can play with this packaging. Designed by Bora Yildirim, the main function of the packaging is that it can be reused after the drink is consumed. The Pinar Sut bottles have two designs which can be transformed into fun toys. The lids and empty bottles can be attached to each other and transformed into shapes such as flowers and robots. This way children are encouraged to finish their drinks so they can play. Great way to serve drinks to children! The patent for this packaging is still pending but we think it’s ideal for healthy drinks for kids.

Of course we did spot a lot of inspiration focused on children before: in 2013 we saw a Happy Meal diorama. ‘Horeca Vlaanderen’ (Hospitality Flanders) and ‘Vlaanderen Lekker Land’ (Flanders Tasty Land) published a guide for a child-friendly hospitality industry full of hospitable ideas and menu tips for kids. You can also search yourself for inspiration focused on kids: Note ‘children‘ or ‘kids’ in the search field of our website and find pages full of inspiration.

Essential: a marketing campaign should score locally

30-9-2014

In response to the article of the national marketing campaign, ‘Street Dine’ of the JRE (Jeune Restaurateurs d’Europe) in the Netherlands, Mr. Jan Vrielink, owner of, among others, the restaurant ‘Het Schellinkje’ in Meppel drew our attention to his campaign ‘Street-Dining’ organized in 2012 and 2013. As his restaurant is located outside the direct city center of Meppel he surprised shoppers with a prepared table, a glass of wine and an appetizer. A good example of what we want to achieve with Horecatrends.com (Hotel, Restaurant, Café trends): entrepreneurs who inspire each other to perform their own marketing campaign, adjusted to the capabilities of the organization and location. Most important is; the effect should be locally measurable! The action and the publicity in the local newspaper and on social media should inspire guests to come dine at your place. Learn how the employees of ‘Het Schellinkje’ have performed the campaign and the reactions from their ‘guests’…

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Having crow for dinner

30-9-2014

This year, restaurant MOES in Amsterdam and the ‘Keuken van het Ongewenste Dier’ (Kitchen of Unwanted Animals) organize the fourth edition of the unwanted animals dinner on 5 October. As we wrote last year in the article about the Christmas edition, the dinner of unwanted animals is dedicated to animals that are undesired for whatever reason. Examples are gooses, muskrats, crayfishes and the swans. As always, Rob Hagenouw and Nicolle Schatborn (of ‘Keuken van Ongewenste Dieren’) give explanations of why these animals should be eaten. One of the animals that will be on this year’s menu is crow. It is a four course diner, including appetizer, welcome drink and tea/coffee for € 39,50. Reservations can be made via the website of restaurant MOES.

A combination of a beertray and frisbee

29-9-2014

The frisbeer, a combination of a beer tray and a frisbee, was designed by the Slovakian designer Simon Kern. The frisbeer is made ​​of cardboard and is designed to give the traditional beer tray a second function. With use of the frisbeer you can carry three beers in one hand and the portability is increased by the finger holes in the tray. The frisbeer is ideal for festivals: use it as a tray to carry beers to your friends and then use it as a toy for a game of frisbee.

The glamper: a super-deluxe way of camping

29-9-2014

We’ve spotted ‘Glamping‘ at Landal Greenparks as a more luxurious way of camping in 2011. At Tinywood Homes they took this a step further and introduced this super-deluxe ‘glamper’. The wooden cottage is standard two levels high and have a kitchen, bathroom, central heating, porch and hot tub. The Tinywood cottage are available in three versions and all are small enough to be transported by a truck. The houses are for sale from £ 35,000 and for now only available in the UK.

An extra cold cocktail with IceLiners

25-9-2014

Keep your cocktail at the desired temperature with the silicone molds of IceLiners. The mold creates a layer of ice in a cocktail or whiskey glass that will keep your drink cool. It is simple to use: pour a small amount of water in the glass, with the mold in it, and keep it in the freezer. Instead of water you can poor in a (alcoholic) beverage as well. Try it with mint leaves or fruit which will give a festive effect to your drink. Watch the video tutorial for the instructions of IceLiners.

More safety with a fun factor

25-9-2014

A marketing campaign with a dancing traffic light to increase safety on the road. Last July, car manufacturer SMART in collaboration with BBDO Germany placed a unique system in a traffic light in a busy street in Lisbon. The traffic light looked normal at first, but before people started to get bored waiting for the green light, the red man in the traffic light started to dance. The dance moves of the red man were recorded by volunteers in a large installation. The action doesn’t only look great it also served a purpose: because pedestrians were entertained, 81% more people were waiting for the light to turn green.

In 2009 we’ve spotted a ‘Wiki Traffic Light‘ on the website The Fun Theory, where car drivers could answer ‘wiki’ questions while waiting during the red light. Increasing safety with a fun factor, an idea for your town?

Spectacular cocktails

25-9-2014

Serve your drinks in a spectacular way with the first dry ice machine JetChill. The patented technology of the JetChill machine converts liquid CO2 into dry ice which gives a smoking and bubbling effect to your drink. The machine has a charging time of only 10 seconds before the special glasses can be used. Pour your favorite drink into one of the glasses and immediately there will be a reaction. We’ve spotted spectacular cocktails made with dry ice before: in 2013 we saw the Mistystix that creates the smoking effect with a stick of dry ice.

A Bicycle friendly hotel…

24-9-2014

Don’t leave your bike outside but take it with you to your room; In Japan, the Hotel Cycle is established as part of the Onomichi U2 building. The Onomichi U2 is a former storage place that has been turned into a hospitality venue with a hotel, restaurant, café and bakery. The hotel is situated on the coast of Hiroshima what is a popular place for bicycle tourists with its beautiful landscape and city. Each room has a bike rack so guests can store their bike when they’re not using it. The whole building of Onomichi U2 is designed for bicycle users: it even has a Giant bike service shop.

Johnnie Walker presents: Symphony in Blue

24-9-2014

Whisky brand Johnnie Walker organized a two-day event ‘Symphony in Blue’ in London to promote the launch of their latest exclusive Blue Label Reserve premium whiskey blend. Johnnie Walker used experiential, content marketing to promote their new blend and to transform it into a luxury product. The ‘Symphony in Blue’ took place on 16 and 17 September and was an impressive journey of theatrical, musical and artistic events where the six different tastes from Johnnie Walker’s Blue Label were brought to live; fresh, fruity, malty, woody , spicy and smoky. There were several performances, glacier ice, burning barrels, a mist of whiskey and of course a tasting of the Blue Label blend. The behind-the-scenes video from the ‘Symphony in Blue’ gives a good impression of how a brand can present itself in a special way and what is involved in organizing such an event. How would you sell your restaurant or hotel if you had the opportunity to do it this way? Check out the website of ‘Symphony in Blue‘ for photographs of the event.

Ham Yard Hotel London

23-9-2014

The Firmdale Hotels are known for their eccentric British design with bright colors and a quirky sense of humor. Their new project, the Ham Yard Hotel, opened in the city centre of London, close to the Piccadilly Circus, in June. The hotel stands out for its striking design: the interior is a mash-up of colors, patterns, design motives and bold wallpaper. Especially the lobby has an inspiring interior with wool chairs, folk art and various types of lamps. The hotel has several playful public areas such as a bowling alley, a bar with a dance floor, a cinema and a rooftop terrace with olive trees and a vegetable garden. For inspiration, watch the video to get an impression. On the website of the Ham Yard Hotel are more pictures available.

Magic in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

23-9-2014

Yesterday, 22 September, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam launched yesterday a new marketing campaign. With the working title ‘magic’ the campaign shows the beauty of the collection and the beauty of the building. The campaign aims to show visitors that the Rijksmuseum is a place where people will be amazed and touched and where people love to be. A special aspect of the video is that it shows real people and true emotions. The music of the film is composed by violist Sietse van Gorkom and Sebastiaan Roestenburg of the Ambassadors especially for this movie. The composition was live recorded in the Passage of the Rijksmuseum.

Other viral marketing campaigns of museums that we have spotted over the years: an action of the Rijksmuseum where people could visit the museum via google in 2012 and a Street Museum app from the Museum of London in 2011.

JRE Streetdine

22-9-2014

Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe (JRE) organized a surprise campaign ‘JRE Streetdine’ on 13 September. All 28 Dutch restaurants affiliated with JRE went to unique locations and served culinary delights to passers-by. Some people were even invited to take place at a set table for a culinary flash lunch. Chairman Rik Jansma, of restaurant Basiliek in Harderwijk, hopes this initiative will encourage potential new guests to visit the restaurants. Check out the pictures for an impression of this ludic action.

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Gastronomy captured at Chefs®Evolution

22-9-2014

At this year’s Chefs®Evolution of Jonnie and Thérèse Boer all dishes of the chefs were photographed, captured and spread through the social media channel of apicbase.com. APIC is a solution for chefs who always want to photograph the development of their dishes without losing precious time in the kitchen. All images are quickly taken with the special device of APIC and are immediately send ‘to the cloud’ where the pictures are ready to use. Chefs can choose to keep the pictures for themselves or choose to give their guests the opportunity to post quality pictures on their social media channels as well. APIC is giving the control back to the chefs about what pictures are published online: no more blurry or incorrect photos online that doesn’t temp potential guests to visit the restaurant for dinner. Apicbase gives you an insight into which photos appear online. Check out the pictures, made by the APIC camera, for an impression of the dishes prepared at Chefs®Evolution.

In April 2014, we already wrote about a #dinnercam that was used at El Burro restaurant in South Africa.

Packaging design for beer

19-9-2014

A creative beer packaging design that shows the colour of the beer inside: Spanish creative agency Txaber developed a packaging design that combines the type of beer with the matching Pantone colour code. In this way you only have to look at the package to know what kind of beer is inside. For example, the package of a ‘lager’ beer has a golden colour with Pantone code 123C and a ‘stout’ beer has a dark brown colour and code 4975C.

Behind the packaging design

Txaber was born in 1969 in Bilbao and studied Graphic design at CVNP (Bilbao). He  is not only developing packaging design but is specialized in text and color design as well, as seen on his website. He quotes “They say everything is invented and I struggle every day to go against.”