If it is edible, 30-year-old Stephen Taylor will wrap it, box it and put his client’s message on it, in it or through it. The founder of promotional confectionery company Sweet Concepts believes food can nurture corporate images. Chocolates, mints, sweets, space dust, lollipops, sticks of rock, fortune cookies, biscuits, flavoured popcorn, even cakes with pictures on the icing – his clients have used them all to boost brands.
Sweet Concepts, based in London, is the UK’s leading supplier of corporate confectionery. With a staff of ten, Mr Taylor hopes to turn over £2 million this year and plans to expand into general marketing services and consultancy. He has, he says, learnt about marketing by literally sucking and seeing.
Sitting in a restaurant six years ago, Mr Taylor watched in disgust as customers picked up free mints from the bowl by the cash till on their way out. ‘It was so unhygienic, people’s dirty hands all over them.’ Perhaps he could get restaurants to buy wrapped mints and, if he could persuade enough of them, he might make a few pounds.