Great Brand Stories: Innocent: Building a brand from nothing but fruit, by John Simmons (published by Cyan Books) – reviewed by Richard Warmsley, head of internet on the move, T-Mobile UK

Great Brand Stories: Innocent: Building a brand from nothing but fruit, by John Simmons (published by Cyan Books) – reviewed by Richard Warmsley, head of internet on the move, T-Mobile UK

This is a tale of a quality product and a unique approach to talking to customers. It’s about having a knack for making money without losing your conscience.

In 1998, university friends Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright bought £500 worth of fruit, turned it into smoothies and sold them from a stall at a little music festival in London.

We learn that the inside of the Innocent business is the same as the outside: plain speaking, honest, healthy and fun. What you see is what you get. That brings customer trust and growth from £400,000 to £38 million in six years.

The five secrets of Innocent’s success are to be natural, entrepreneurial, responsible, commercial and generous. Glib statements perhaps, if it wasn’t for the numerous examples in the book – from the labels on its packs to the Fruitstock music festivals that it has held.

Innocent shows the way forward. They don’t bombard us with the science of smoothies, they tell us about the healthy stuff in the tone you might use for a cheeky text message to a friend.