Crow news

Crow Chronicle, Autumn 2026

Would you believe it Crow Friends, the summer holidays are over, the inbox fills up again, and suddenly Christmas doesn’t seem quite so far away?

Attention turns to what still needs to be delivered this year – and, increasingly, to what next year needs to look like. Plans need writing. Research needs commissioning. Strategies need sharpening. Portfolios need sorting. And leadership teams need to agree what really matters. It’s an important moment.

But it’s also an easy one to get wrong, because when time is short and there’s a lot to do, the temptation is to add more. more projects, more priorities, more activity, more things to put in the plan.

At The Crow Flies, we think the opposite is often needed: step back; work out what’s really going on. Decide where you can make a difference. And be ruthless about what matters most. That’s what this Autumn Crow Chronicle is about. Five considerations for the run-in to Christmas – and the run-up to 2027 – on making better decisions about research, strategy, planning and portfolios.

No crystal balls or 47-point frameworks. Just a few questions worth asking before the year gets away from you. Because good brand building isn’t about fitting everything in, it’s about knowing what matters enough to leave everything else out.

Here’s our latest Crow Chronicle on the topic – short read: Crow Chronicle

NPD for Florette secures strong listings!
It’s always satisfying when new product development makes it to market – and here’s a terrific win for the Florette team – The Crow Flies loved working with the team to create and build the concept.
 
*New* Florette Asian Style Salad – a simple bag kit that brings you a taste of Japan. Each bag combines a mix of salad leaves and vegetables, a dressing and a topping. Listings confirmed in Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Nisa and Booth’s so far! Oishī!

And the brand looking so very smart in it’s new togs too!

If you are looking for help with your new product or new service development, The Crow Flies can give you a wing up without any flapping!
Get in touch!

The answers! 🎄

Crow has had a very fine dinner of Roasted Worm, Mealy Grub Jalousie with a side order of Peri Peri Twigs – delicious.

And given that Crow’s live in a ‘murder’ we have no time for Kings and Queen’s and all that. Up the Crowpublic!

But you’re not here for this tittle-tattle, you’re here for the answers! Of course you are.

Here they are…

Crow’s Christmas Puzzle ⬇️

Crow’s Christmas Brand Mashup ⬇️⬇️

 

Crow’s Christmas Fun!
Crow-Ho! Crow-Ho! Crow-Ho!
 

Yes, yes, Crow Friends, you asked and we’ve responded.

You said, “We need more Crow Christmas Puzzles!” WE ANSWERED!

You said, “We need more Crow Christmas Brand Mashups!” WE ANSWERED!

 

Here they are in all of their Crow glory

Crow’s Christmas Puzzles ⬇️

There are 15 Christmassy / Christmas-adjacent brands and each has a year associated with it’s founding or launch. Work them out and then put them order from furthest in the past to the most recent. And here’s the thing…. WE’VE GIVEN YOU THE ANSWERS! Well, sort of.

Crow’s Christmas Brand Mashups ⬇️⬇️

Of course you love the daily #brandmashup. Who doesn’t? But these are that bit extra special because they’re all festive.  You know what to do Crow is sure – just work out the separate components and then mash them together to form a whole – each one is a brand which is in some way associated with Christmas.
Enjoy, enjoy!
 
Answers, as is traditional, will be published at 3pm on 25.12.2025 on Crow’s intrawebthingy at http://www.thecrowflies.co.uk
And also for those of you on the pulse of all things social, INSTA / FB @thecrowfliesltd
 
A DM may result in a generous clue if you ask very nicely!

Crow Chronicle, Autumn 2025

The Crow Flies was born out of a fusion of client-side commerciality and agency-side creativity… how could we fuse both to help brands impact the market, with pace and purpose?

We’ve helped many companies and brands do that since we started over 10 years ago. From food to Pharma, drinks to DIY; from H.E. to apprenticeships, leisurewear to homeware, our approach is always to connecting the world of your target customer to the leverageable strengths of your brand.

Here’s a reminder of our areas of focus across market research, strategy, innovation and planning, and some of the ‘caw’ approaches we take to help you brand or business have foundations of stone.

That’s the way to stop the endless cycles of strategic debate, to align everyone behind the mission and invest every precious penny on impacting the market.

Get in touch if you’d like to chat more about a knotty challenge or exciting opportunity.

QUICK LINK HERE: Crow Chronicle, Autumn 2025

Brands and businesses with foundations of stone

Oho! Back to work after a long, hot Summer, and it’s the best time to be thinking about getting strong foundations in place for your brand or business. With a tough economy and challenging budgets, the way to grow is to ensure every precious penny you spend on your end consumer or customer is working as hard as it can for you.

The Crow Flies can help you do this – our ‘caw’ offers will give you rigourous research diagnosis, laser-focused strategy, impactful innovation & effective planning to ensures you can impact your market at scale. Get in touch we’d love to chat!

New innovation launch for Florette

Our friends at Florette continue to keep the pressure up on adding excitement and real value to salad consumers everywhere with the focus on product pipeline development – it’s always a delight working with the wider team and seeing products make it to market. And great, too, to see a new ‘leafy’ salad bowl make it to market in a competitive category – with the whole brand supported by broadcast sponsorship on the Food Channel from May this year!

—
Convenience launch: here

 


Crow Essentials / Planning

Over the 10 years (well, 11 actually) we’ve been helping businesses, organisations and brands with their planning it never ceases to amaze us how often ‘planning’ is thought of as just a matter of templates and a timeline.

It’s simply not.

What you need is a well specified process that links critical growth insights with action; stakeholder involvement and alignment at the right moments, and above all, embracing the reality that only with sacrifice and ruthless focus can you can genuinely impact the market.

We’re really proud of our Hourglass Planning approach. If you need help with your planning, whether it’s for an organisation as a whole, a brand, or category get in touch to experience how a tight plan unlocks confidence and the belief in growth.