Yes it’s true.  Golden Apple Corps is Blog of the Year 2013.

We have the official logo to prove it too.  Let me tell you all about it …

Actually I need to make a confession – well 2 actually.

Firstly, this post was going to be rude about ‘Product of the Year’ – that’s their copyrighted logo you can see above.

But as I did some research I discovered I was wrong about it.  And I also realised it held a marketing lesson too.

(I’ll tell you my second confession in a moment).

So what is ‘Product of the Year’?  Here’s a shortened explanation from their website:

• Entry is free and – for this year – is open to all Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) products launched in the UK over the past 18 months (Jan 2012 – Oct 2013).

• Products should demonstrate innovation in one or more areas, including (but not limited to) design, function and packaging.

• You can enter as many products as you want. NB once entered you are committed to the whole process and fees should you progress.

(Ah yes, the fees.  You’ll see those in a minute).

• Once all products have been submitted, a Jury of distinguished industry professionals is invited to review the submitted products to ensure that the innovation criteria are met before they go on the consumer research.

•  Should your product advance to the next step, there is a finalist fee of £2,750 which pays for the costs of conducting the research. This fee pays for itself in the form of a detailed consumer research report by TNS received by all finalists, win or lose (a £12,000 value).

•  Now it’s time for consumers to have their say – and they make their voice heard through the largest consumer survey of its type in the UK. More than 12,000 shoppers complete the online questionnaire.

• 

Products with the highest votes in each category become Product of the Year winners in their category.

• The winners are awarded a license that allows them to use the Product of the Year logo on their product. This carries a fee of £15,500.

Now originally I was going to sound off – saying how this award was just made up to give marketing people something to say about their products.

Of course it still kind of is.

Although at least the product only wins ‘best own-brand 14″ stuffed crust frozen pizza’ (I made that one up – although it doesn’t sound as far fetched as some of the real ones) if the people surveyed actually vote for it.

And you have to hand it to Product of the Year.  After all, they’re making £2,750 out of every finalist – I wonder how many finalists there are.

What’s more if your product goes on to win a category you have to hand over another £15,500 – how many categories?

But when I watched the video of winners being interviewed something else clicked.  Something Chris Jones – my Art Director – told me ages ago:

Seals lift sales.

Naturally he didn’t mean sticking a cute, sea bound mammal on your marketing – you could try it I suppose.

No.  What Chris taught me was anything confirming the product, or guaranteeing it would increase response.

That’s why you often see images like this:

And it’s also why if you win an award you should use it too.

You don’t just have to take it from me.  Here are some people who have won a ‘Product of the Year’ award:

POY UK Interviews.

Talking of awards brings me to my 2nd confession …

Golden Apple Corps is Blog of the Year.  But only because I said so and designed this logo:

Thanks for reading.