Focusing purely on sensations...

Oven-roasted chicken and thyme
Thai sweet chilli
Sea salt and malt vinegar
Four cheese and red onion
Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Walkers (a sub-brand of PepsiCo's global Frito-Lay snacks group) is by far the biggest seller of snacks in the UK, generating core sales of around £245 million in just the first half of 2003. Sensations are Walker' s new mainstream premium crisp aimed at adult - primarily 25-45 year old parents with young kids and young to middle-aged women. These crisps are all about coming home from work, relaxing in front of the television or with friends and unwinding with a bottle of wine and a pack of Sensations. Definitely an up-market harder-bite crisp. There are aspirations for better quality fresh ingredients and the packaging is a radical departure from established crisps packaging. Sensations shows the ingredients photographed on the pack, an extremely rare move within the savoury snacks market. Photography is by world-famous food photographer David Loftus who is credit on the packet. As people's homes and lives are increasingly stylish and contemporary, Sensations crisp reflect this. At the start of the project, the design team took time out to study trends in home interiors which involved trips to IKEA and Habitat and watching TV makeover shows. They read the tastes of its target audience very well as the packets feature some earthy images of a ploughed field and a homespun wicker basket filled with newly harvested potatoes. Turn to the back and you discover what looks like a recipe panel, describing how the product recreates 'the succulence of Mediterranean roast chicken, infused with thyme and touches of basil, rosemary and oregano.' A more lyrical blurb follows, evoking 'warm sunshine flavors.' Somewhere, in smaller print, is a full list of the ingredients, flavorings and flavor enhancers from which Sensations are manufactured, including that old staple of the food production industry: monosodium glutamate. This could be just the beginning of the brand with potential to stretch way beyond crisps.

Since launching in March 2002, Sensations has achieved: - 93% national distribution (multiple grocers) - 12 weeks post-launch Sensations doubled the Evening Snacking category volume and achieved 17% national penetration - A year's target sold in 3 months - sales currently in excess of £28m - 3rd largest brand in the UK Salty Snacks market with 3.8% share - Growth is 75% incremental to Walkers, 35% incremental to category - Majority of volume is incremental to the category of switching from competitive brands.

Focusing again...
My ex-girlfriend from many years back had a bit part starring in Lasse Braun premium porno film 'Sensations'. This was quality Euro porn, indeed the first porn flick to be shot on 70mm film and thus somewhat astounding on the big screen (so I'm told). Her featured role was to be dressed up as an English women, Lady Pamela no less, hunting colours and top hat and to sit atop a little table and stick a riding crop up her arse to reach eventual orgasm. Sadly the erotic intention was lost in her scene when the director overdubbed most of her orgasmic cries with the sound of raucous farting...

Unfocusing... 
Here Homelesshome reaches out for true sensation...as predicted in previous posts...we've been a bit quiet here striving for something more than digesting each one of the five Sensations flavours, tasty though they were. We have also been told to lighten up...to which we may respond. Or not. Next up: Loads of photos on the principle that one image tells more than a thousand torturous words. Sensations text taken entirely from product marketing websites. Giving it to you - Homelesshome, the up-market harder-bite premium blog worth reading in front of the TV with a bottle of plonk.