Can I feed my baby tuna…?

Fear not, those of you who know me, I’ve not completely lost the plot during lockdown and decided I now have a baby (although, who could blame me?) Rather, I’m citing a fact I learnt two weeks ago from a new colleague of mine… The question ‘Can I feed my baby tuna?’ is the most googled question in relation to babies in the UK! I know. Weird, right?

But when you think about it, it’s not so weird. Imagine being a new mother (and I can only imagine as I never experienced the patter of – non-feline- tiny feet.) Whilst your heart would surely be bursting with love while you hold this tiny miracle in your arms, it would also be bursting with fear. What if I do something wrong? What if I feed ‘it’ something and make it ill? Why does it cry so much? Am I a bad mother/father? All other search terms (probably with a gender replacement for ‘it’ to be fair).

I’m a big fan of social media as you know but I’ve often cited that one of its issues is its tendency to create a ‘show reel world’ where everything is perfect. Every meal turns out exactly like the YouTube example, every holiday a dream holiday and every baby the bouncing, smiling, perfect cherub.

But we all know that life in the real world isn’t like that, which is a problem for brands trying to communicate in a meaningful and engaging way with consumers in a noisy, busy online environment.

Enter ‘Vine Insights’ and Jack Smithson (said new colleague) – a new company, led by a young guy with an interesting skill set, a big brain and an equally big smile. 

Vine Insights will use search technology to look at the ‘under side’ of the show reel, coupled with the good stuff and help brands gain a true life, real world understanding of their consumers in order to find ways to cut through the noise and connect with them. Jack has tools, experience and knowledge which is truly impressive but he couples this with a knack for putting it across in a jargon-free, no BS way (that even I can understand!) – eg the baby tuna example above.

Which is why me and the three others who make up my Tangerine Board (Sarah Halton, Sam Gregory and Mary Harding) have decided to back him in this new venture. He’s bringing the direct skill set, we’re bringing the knowledge of having grown a business from scratch to 75+ people… oh and a little cash also and we’re off!

Take a look here: www.vine-insights.co.uk and let me know what you think – happy to set up a discussion with Jack to shoot the breeze, no obligation. I’m sure you’ll like him!