#MarketingTitbits – Jelly, Lucozade, emails

1. Ben and Jerry’s marijuana tweet
The first of January marked not only the beginning of a new year but also the legalisation of recreational marijuana in Colorado. The state is now the first place in the world to allow stores to sell cannabis to anyone over the age of 21.

Unsurprisingly, this is not something that most brands consider to be a great real-time marketing opportunity. Despite this, it seems Ben and Jerry’s are one of the few, if not the only, major brand to capitalise on the news.

True, Ben and Jerry’s have never been a company to shy away from controversial issues – last year they celebrated the legalisation of same sex marriage by changing the name of their “Oh! My! Apple Pie!” ice cream to “Apple-y Ever After” and decorated the tubs with a gay couple on a wedding cake adorned with rainbows. They tweeted on January 2^nd “BREAKING NEWS: We’re hearing reports of stores selling out of Ben & Jerry’s in Colorado. What’s up with that?” The humorous mention of Colorado’s change in law prompted over 9,500 retweets and nearly 6,000 favourites.

To read more, click here. 

2. 15 quotes to inspire you to greatness in 2014

Forget resolutions, here are 15 quotes to inspire you to greatness in 2014.

Here are two of our favourites:

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” – Alan Kay

“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

To read all 15 and find out what each one means for you, click here. 

3. Why social media in 2013 was all about image and why your business should take notice

In 2013, visual social media was on the rise. Vine, Pinterest and Instagram became three of the most popular social networking apps, and that’s not even mentioning the use of Snapchat and Instavid. The power of the image will undoubtedly continue in 2014, so make sure you think about this when considering your social media content this year. After all, when you only have 140 characters, having an image speak a thousand words is invaluable!

To have a look at why social media became visual last year and how you can apply this to your business, click here.