I went up to Gilpin Lodge in the Lakes for a couple of days last week and wasn’t disappointed. The same cannot be said for my visit to Aunt Bessie’s website shortly afterwards.

Over dinner at Gilpin (mentionitis – can’t help it – I love the brand and the place is great! – online review for them is my next job) met a lovely couple, both of whom worked in FMCG marketing; one for Aunt Bessie’s and one for McCain’s. They had met through work but are now with the aforementioned brands and in direct competition. Couldn’t help wondering what makes a person choose one brand of chip over another. Yes, I really am that sad! Would they research online? Or just grab whichever appealed most at the point of purchase? And why would a certain brand appeal more? Would it be packaging or point of sale persuasion tactics? Or would their decision have been made earlier – based on a great TV commercial which had eased itself into their subconscious or even their conscious? Or did the kids choose?

Or would it be simply because one was cheaper than the other? I decided to check out their respective websites and on arrival, was stunned to find that Aunt Bessie’s site content was at least a year out of date and dull as!  Whilst it may be unlikely that anyone would research their chip purchases online, I do think that if you’re going to bother having a site at all you should, at the very least, keep it up to date -and don’t even get me started on the importance of engaging content – I shall be writing to Aunt Bessie forthwith!

I can, however, confirm that their chicken Yorkshires are lovely..