Two-thirds of brands would consider using ambush marketing, according to a survey by sponsorship consultancy Redmandarin of sponsorship professionals in 18 countries. Despite the official ‘party line’ on sponsorship from many marketers that it is ‘wrong’, the success of brands such as Nike to tap into the World Cup and other football tournaments without official status has obviously influenced the company’s peers.
The research also highlighted Red Bull as the ’sponsor’s sponsor’. The company’s tongue-in-cheek approach to its activities captured the imagination of other marketing and sponsorship professionals.
You can see some charts from the research after the jump….for more on the study, the full report or any more information, click here to contact Redmandarin. Read the rest of this entry »
Brand Strategy hears that Xerox is working on creating recyclable paper that self-erases its content after a certain time lapse so that it can be used again. The company’s researchers have now created a system that will produce documents on a specially-coated paper which ‘disappears’ within 16 hours. Trials have shown that the paper can be used up to 50 times – in fact, paper life is the only thing putting a limit on the process.
If Xerox commercialises the product when research is completed, could this change the process of brand packaging forever? Could brands start collecting their packs to reuse them in a similar way to aluminium? Or is this just a way for Xerox to try and stem the digital tide by combining technology with the practical, physicality of paper?
Click here for more on this story from The New York Times.
Calorie Burning Beverages – Wouldn’t it be great if what you eat or drink could actually help you burn off weight instead of put it on? Now it can thanks to the launch of a couple of new breakthrough beverages that are creating an exciting new beverage niche: calorie-burning drinks. New in the USA, Celsius is billed as “Earth’s first calorie burning soda” and uses green tea with EGCG, ginger, caffeine and other ingredients to raise metabolism to burn calories. Coca-Cola and Nestle (through its Nestea brand) have paired up to launch Enviga Energy Drink in the USA and Europe. Enviga also burns calories with green tea extracts with EGCG, an ingredient we suspect we will be hearing a lot more about in 2007.
Satiety-Enhancing Foods & Drinks – Satiety is a little word that could have a big impact on the food and beverage marketplace. The word literally means the “feeling of fullness” and disappearance of appetite experienced after consuming a large meal. Food and beverage makers are just starting to launch new satiety-enhancing foods and drinks to keep consumers from snacking their way into obesity. New in the USA, LightFull Satiety Smoothie is high in fiber and protein, yet has only 70 calories per 11 fl. oz. serving. In Europe, Danone Shape Lasting Satisfaction Yogurt features a unique formulation of fiber and protein to help one feel satisfied, longer.
Brand Strategy attended the Diesel Rocks party at the brand’s Covent Garden clothing store in London last night. It was an interesting event, designed to promote the brand’s clothes in an environment with free alcohol and limited entry by ticket only. The store had live bands to entertain shoppers and afterwards, revellers could go onto nightclub Kabaret’s Prophecy for extra drinks – chauffered there in branded Minis.
These events with music and drinks in-store seem to be very popular with London’s retailers at the moment. Generally, for a brand like Diesel, with an image of being quite funky and fashionable, it seems like a good strategy.
However, there was one element of the occasion with jarred with the brand quite strongly. There was a small African crocodile at the store, being held by its handler. (We should point out that the handler said that the animal was perfectly happy and was used in films/ads etc so was used to people.) The animal had its mouth taped shut, apparently for public safety reasons.
It wasn’t very clear why a crocodile with its mouth taped shut was at the occasion. Does a crocodile that can’t bite you say ‘Diesel’? Upon questioning, a Diesel representative claimed that it was to fit in with the whole ‘rocks’ theme of the evening, which didn’t seem very clear to Brand Strategy.
The whole evening was interesting because it illustrates how careful you have to be when managing your brand. While the funky store, music and crowd of hip young things only boosted Diesel’s identity, the crocodile seemed not only out of place but an odd choice for a brand mascot. It had its mouth taped up as various partygoers had photos taken pretending to kiss it and the music played loudly. Is it ethical to have wild animals in your shop just for consumers’ enjoyment?
Is this too harsh or do you agree? Let us know your views.
Understanding that the contemporary consumer is buying not just a product but an idea, mobile phone brand Sony Ericsson has launched an ideas facilitating retail store in upmarket West London. Five years old, and now a profitable proposition, Sony Ericsson’s first store marks a key point in the development of the handset brand.
The retail space, following in the footsteps of other mobile players such as Nokia’s statement stores, enables consumers to touch and try Sony Ericsson products and learn more about new features and applications first-hand in a relaxed, fun environment.
Making use of elements such as the mood changing effects of coloured LED lighting, design by Checkland Kindleysides gives the store a sleek but friendly image. “We wanted the design to create a warm and exciting environment that channels emotion into little metal objects,” comments Salvatore D’angelo, Head of Global Retail at Sony Ericsson. “We aim to bring empathy to the consumer with things like lighting features that change colour, a quiet seating area with a cherry wood floor, well trained staff and the freedom to pick up and touch product.”
Sony Ericsson wants to encourage people to connect with the brand by putting emphasis in-store on teaching people how to use complex offerings such as picture messaging. Among other features to encourage a continuous relationship with the customer, the store includes a photographic printing facility.
“We are talking to people in straightforward language so graphics on the wall denote product areas with phrases such as ‘more freedom’ for types of packages and ‘more drive’ for car products,”says D’angelo. “We are trying to demystify the whole phone experience.”
The UK’s biggest retailer, Tesco, is hoping to be able to extend one of its stores to create what would be the biggest supermarket in Britain.
The move would convert the existing Tesco Extra shop in Purley, in Surrey, from 7,618 square metres to 12,913 square metres – three-and-a-half times the size of a football pitch, according to a report in thisismoney.co.uk. The extra space would be used to display more non-food products.
A video of a teenage boy pretending to wield a lightsaber has become the internet’s most popular viral clip. Ghyslain Raza, known as the Star Wars Kid, has had his clip viewed 900 million times. The list of top virals was compiled by The Viral Factory and brands should take note that lingerie brand Agent Provocateur’s clip featuring Kate Moss was fourth on the list with 360 million views. Proof that if the content is right, people will pass on your marketing message?
The McKinsey Quarterly has published an interesting report on companies serving low income consumers through tapping into local networks. This is actually the theme of Brand Strategy’s cover story this month so look out for that – appearing on December 1st. In the meantime, read this interesting report.
The Brand Strategy team are out and about today, so we haven’t been able to blog as much as usual, but this we’re enjoying this montage of advertising when we’re in the office.
Wired magazine is running a story on a long-time Brand Strategy favourite topic – assessing the risks of user-generated content. Everyone agrees that getting users involved in the brand is positive but you have to be careful not to turn your brand over to consumers altogether and lose control. So how do you get the balance right?
The article looks at the case studies of the Chevy Tahoe and Converse footwear, which we’ve discussed before in Brand Strategy magazine.
You can see the end results of a consumer’s own work on a Tahoe advert here:
Bartering seems to be all the rage in a recession. And last week, an event called ArtBarter started to auction off pieces of art for any alternative means to money. With backing from chocolate brand Green & Black’s (and executed using agencies PHD Rocket and Blazinstar Experiential), the show showcased a piece of ‘Chocol’art’ made [...]
So, Tiger Woods has been a bad boy and has allegedly been having some affairs. The accusations have begun flying since a suspicious car crash involving Woods last week. But what does this mean for the superstar’s endorsements and value as a brand? (Want to know Tiger’s worth, by the way? The Telegraph puts it [...]
We recently launched a new “white paper” section on the Marketing Week website, called Knowledge Bank. It’s a place where you can find information on issues like dat-driven marketing or email marketing that don’t come from the editorial team but from outside experts. With that in mind, I noticed that AdAge also has some great white [. […]
The Guardian has put together a great list of potentials for the prize of best ad of the decade. Included in its selection are the five below. The John West Salmon “Bear Fight” Commercial: The Honda “Cog” Commercial: Sony’s Bravia “Bouncy Balls” Advert: Cadbury’s Gorilla Commercial: Compare the Market’s […]
It’s World AIDS Day today and if you’re a Twitter user, you can have all the fun in the world turning your tweets red simply by using the hashtag #red or #laceupsavelives. For a geek like me, this kind of nice little innovation is a great way to remind people about an important cause. Good work [...]
The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games has launched its new logo for the event, which you can see below. Described as the “world’s first digital Olympic emblem”, due to its use of a website domain name format – Sochi.ru – in the logo, it claims to be a “symbol of contemporary Russia”. The promotional material continues: […]
Just what is Brand Dubai these days? For the past decade, the image of Dubai has been – to put it in the crudest way – “the planet’s next big thing”. With so much money appearing to flood into the Middle Eastern territory, it became a hot destination for both businesses and tourists. Enormous, ambitious [...]
So, just when we have seen thelondonpaper and the London Lite bite the dust, London’s streets are going to see another freesheet. Now, freesheets can make it on the mean streets of The Big Smoke, but those that have survived, such as business paper City AM, are very targeted and have select distribution to a [...]
Ever thought about going for a job somewhere but wish you could see a bit more what life is like within that organisation? Often it’s not just the words on the job description that make the difference to employees but the corporate culture, ways of doing things and the potential workmates. So I wonder if more [...]
We’ve all heard tales of people with Harley-Davidson tattoos. My Peruvian friend, who grew up in the slums of Lima, has often told me of coming across girls called “Madeinusa” because that name was written on so many labels of clothing (Made In USA) and was perceived to be a name conveying luxury and class. But [...]
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