Stritar's chronolog

Targeting non-vegetarians with veggie food? Well played, Spar, well played.

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:04:44 GMT

I'm not vegetarian, and apparently I share this habit with more than 95% of other people. I generally don't buy vegetarian food, a steak works fine with me. I didn't even know I could/should buy vegetarian food - after all, vegetarian food is designated for vegetarians, which I'm not. I don't have anything agains them, but we're a different breed you know, like wolves and butterflies. To be honest, I wouldn't mind eating a vegetarian meal, if only I would feel it's something intended also for me. That's why I don't. But Spar told me I could and I should. And I think they might be on to something.

Spar's new Veggie products have an interesting twist. It's a vegetarian line, targeting non-vegetarians. When the lovely Gwyneth Paltrow, who is not a vegetarian, but likes veggie, tells you that, you might as well think, hmm, she might be right. Why should I be a vegetarian to eat a meatless meal? I like my vegetables, so eating vegetarian on few occasions actually isn't such a bad idea. Which is fucking genius. Spar just made their potential client pool 20x bigger than it was, and their original target group probably doesn't mind it at all. There's a chance they will actually feel proud that meat-eaters will be copying their lifestyle.

"I'm not a vegetarian, but I like veggie." Why haven't I thought of that?

I love to comment on simple and effective campaigns like this, even though I'm not a marketing expert. That's why I'm not sure if this type of approach has been used before or if it even has its own name from the Mad Men times. Anyways, I think it's brilliant, and I will definitely be thinking about how to use it in other scenarios. Taking a minor group with specific requirements, creating a product for them, and then selling it to a larger group with the "why not" approach. Infinite possibilities, while the one presented probably has the most potential of them all. Well played, Spar, well played.

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Crazy about beer? Visit Brussels.

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:04:17 GMT

Brussels is really not your typical tourist destination. Sure, it has Atomium, amazing squares, tiny streets packed with restaurants, great palaces and gothic cathedrals, but sadly lacks some of the personality and the wibe cities like London, Paris or Amsterdam have. Neverheless, the capital of the European Union still has a lot to offer. The twice fried potato chips are simply awesome, but there are two more important things that could make your visit worthwhile: beer and chocolate.

The Belgians have more than 100 breweries producing 800 different kinds of beer. Most of them make strong beer (6-8%), but that's actually not that bad when you get used to it. Another cool thing about it is that they always serve beer with the appropriate branded glass. So, if you're into drinking different beers each day or each round, look no further. Here a few highlights from my beer discovery run in Brussels.

A nice beer menu

A pub with more than 40 beers on tap

Each beer gets its own glass

Kwak beer - the fanciest glass of them all

A beer shop

Crazy about chocolate? Visit Brussels.

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:03:31 GMT

Belgium is famous for its chocolate, and they produce 22kg of it per person a year. There are more chocolate shops in the old center than you can count. The chocolate is expensive, but it tastes at least as good as it looks. So, if you’re into specialized pralines and extra dark chocolate, look no further. Here are a few highlights from my chocolate discovery run in Brussels.

A typical chocolate shop

Making chocolate to entertain the customers

A variety of pralines and truffles

A chocolate elephant

Working in Cape Town - Part 1: First impressions

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 15:33:35 GMT

I managed to be lucky enough to get invited to Cape Town to work on a project for a month. Neolab has been developing an information system for a client stationed here and the results are quite satisfying, both for us and for the client. Therefore they decided it would be best if I came around, so we could work on the system together, while at the same time plan new, advanced features to come. I must say this is one of the greatest projects we've ever did, and I really look forward to implementing the social IT 2.0 features into the system in the future. Clients back home don't seem to recognize the real potential in those services, so it's really satisfying to get real feedback from a client on the concept.

Cape Town and South Africa are beautiful, the landscape is simply amazing, even though the flora resembles the European Mediterranean a bit. It's currently spring time, so this is actually my second trip in spring this year, and first ever to the southern hemisphere. Speaking of the southern hemisphere - I was actually disoriented for the first few days here, subconsciously thinking north was south, which is a fact I find really interesting.

The city of Cape Town is located around Table mountain, a great landmark of the city, where the Devil and the Dutchman often have a pipe smoking competition. The main city center (called the City Bowl) is surrounded with other mountains, while the suburbs and slums behind them stretch for miles. I am located inside the City Bowl, and the office I work at is within walking distance, so I can enjoy the real wibe of the city every day, as good or bad it may be.

View over Table mountain from our office

I live in a building called Lulu's house, an interesting place filled with interesting people. I share the house with a few interns and other travelers from all over the world, some of them have been living here for months. It's really been wonderful to meet all these people and share different views on life, even though I spend most of my free time with my hosts. Meeting these people made my wonder about my connection with Slovenia and the lack of traveling as a student.

Lulu's House, where I live

I was actually a bit shocked about the general cultural situation at first, the racial mixing seems to be working, but you can still feel the post apartheid influences and segregation. There are many beggars, most of them African, and the other day one of them threatened to steal my wallet if I don't give him change. An awkward moment, but I managed to talk my way out of it, hoping to have as little similar situations in the days to come. South Africa still has a long way to reach equality, but it looks like it's well on the right track.

Cape Town street, where I live

The food is nice, even though most of it would tend towards sweet. But I already got accustomed to that in Thailand, so no problems there. Meat is obviously the main component of the diet, both in meals (preferably roasted or as they call it, braaied), as in dry meat snack called Biltong (which is great). The beer is OK, but it's the wine that deserves a special mention. It's really really amazing, so I'm still thinking of a way to bring as much of it as possible back home, even though we have some very nice wines of our own.

A nice meaty meal

These are my first impressions of Cape Town and South Africa after about 10 days since I've been here. The city is actually quite growing on me, and I didn't even have the time to do a safari, shark-diving or many other things you can't do in Europe. So what seemed like a great deal of time when I got here could actually be over really fast, thanks to a lot of work during weekdays and a lot of crazy stuff to do during the weekends. A most delightful and useful journey indeed.

Check out the complete Working in Cape Town series.

New York in spring - a photo story

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 15:58:03 GMT

This spring I was taken to New York for my birthday. I've have never been there, but this great birthday gift finally gave me the chance to discover and feel this huge metropolis. It's needless to say it's an urban jungle packed with variety of culture and people, living a much faster life than that in Europe. The city is impressive, but you usually get aware of that after you are back home. But then again, that's also the perfect excuse to go back for more. A half year after my trip I can say New York is an amazing city, with too many places to mention, and not enough places to rest. Here a a few of my impressions from the capital of the world.

Skyline

New York's famous skyline is surely one of the most recognizable in the world. Observed from the rooftops or from the ground, it's something you can't get tired of.

View over South Manhattan from The Empire State Building

View over Central Manhattan from the East river

Streets

The streets of New York extend from avenues packed with locals and tourists, to small and culturally diversified streets of Soho and China Town. After a few days of the madness you can understand why Brooklyn is the place where most of the people want to live.

One of the avenues

Times Square at night

The peaceful roads of Brooklyn

Buildings

There aren't any real old building in New York, such as we are accustomed to see in Europe, but the shear massiveness of the constructions easily compensate for that fact.

The Empire State Building

The Chrysler Building

The Brooklyn Bridge

Transport

We did most of the travel on foot, so you can get the best impression of the city. Subways are appropriate for long distances, where you usually get entertained by different performers. And of course, you have to get a cab sometime just for the kicks.

Walking the streets of New York

Mariachis on a subway

A cab for the rainy days

Food

From hot dogs to inappropriately fattening burgers, the food variety in New York goes far beyond the local offer.

A hamburger meal, worth 1.700+ calories

Korean do-it-yourself barbecue

Fun

There are lots of things you can do in New York, from museums to shows, from shopping to partying. After all, it's the city that never sleeps.

Little league in Central Park

T-Rex robot inside the Toys "R" Us store

Mash helicopter in the Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA)

Paul McCartney's bass guitar in Hard Rock Cafe

New York is a place worth visiting, and I will definitely be coming back. It's not that expensive to live there, but additional things, such as fees and tickets can be quite pricey. But at the end of the day, that's a small issue if you do decide to go visit New Amsterdam. The most influential city of the world.