Innovaro has once again ranked the organisations that it considers to be the most innovative in the world. The consultancy assesses the performance of 1000 global companies against eight specialised parameters to pick the most innovative brands at any one time.
So, what do you think of the results, below? Are you surprised, outraged, bored? Let us know!
It’s Friday, so it’s time for a product that has travelled from the shores of the US to the British Isles for the very first time over the last year. It’s the catchily-named Orville Redenbacher’s microwave popcorn (perhaps a name worth writing down on the shopping list to remember it) and the new ads for the British market have been created by McCann.
So will Orville’s break the Butterkist strangehold on the British microwave popcorn industry? The agency claims it already has 26% of its category. Only time will tell….you can see a shot from the ad below:
Or you might prefer a video of a recent American ad where Orville himself is recreated listening to an iPod….very, very strange indeed.
It’s nearly time for Red Nose Day again, or Comic Relief, as adults prefer to call it!
This year, the organisation has been sending out its banner ads and print ads to media and marketing professionals all around the world, asking if they could use them to promote the event. Brand Strategy is a big fan of Comic Relief, so we’re happy to post the banner ads here and print ones here. Any brands or media interested in getting hold of more ads, just contact Sara Taylor on +44 20 7820 6956.
The McKinsey Quarterly has produced another interesting piece about the chief executive’s role in leading transformation within organisations - check it out here. You may require a free registration to read it but the thinking makes it well worth tuning into McKinsey’s wavelength for a few minutes.
Chelsea Football Club demonstrates it can play the user generated content game too. Aside from running its own TV channel, the sports brand aims to keep fans interested via a YouTube presence.
The football branded channel on YouTube is a first on the site.
The channel, (www.youtube.com/chelseafc), will include Chelsea FC content, daily news and archive video footage as well as encouraging content from fans including feedback and contributions.
“Chelsea is the first football club to move into what is clearly one of the fastest growing new media platforms,” explained Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon: “This will allow us to offer our fans exciting Chelsea FC content in a very unique way, as well as an opportunity to reach a whole new audience.”
Globalisation is here to stay, according to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit that reveals that nine of 10 firms generate at least 10% of their revenue outside their home market. Forty-seven per cent of firms generate one-third of their revenues abroad.
The figures come from a new white paper called ‘Guarding the Brand’. The paper is based on research into the attitudes and actions of senior executives from around the world - 42% at C-level.
Some of the highlights include:
Please click here to go to the EIU site where you can download the full document. The 23-page paper is required reading for anyone involved in branding - from the product manager right up to the chief executive.
It’s time to keep up a grand tradition on the Brand Strategy blog and take a look at what brands appear in the goodie bags at tonight Brit Awards in London. They were apparently coordinated by The Sultans of Swag, the Hollywood Gift Lounge and Goodie Bag Company. It’s always interesting to see which products and marques an event chooses to associate itself with and we’re a bit nosy too. Mastercard is, of course, the main sponsor for the show.
So, this year, the goodie bag offers…..
Advanced Communication Solutions hearing protection
In a mainly Hindu nation, with a significant Muslim minority, you wouldn’t expect a largely Western, Christian festival to be gaining in popularity - but Valentine’s Day is a booming business in India. The BBC reports that the total spent on Valentine’s Day gifts this year will be more than 12 billion rupees ($270 million, £140 million).
With the increasing ubiquity of email and text, the Indian Post Office is hoping that the festival will revive the popularity of ’snail mail’ as people send cards and gifts to each other. To this end, it has launched a series of flower-scented stamps to encourage more missives of love.
Another company is taking the convergence route. Archies card shops are selling a Valentine’s card with detachable hearts that can be used as mobile phone accessories.
While all this is good news for Indian retail, religious groups are less pleased. Romance in India is traditionally staid, with kissing in public - even hand-holding - severely frowned upon by the devout. Some Hindu organisations are organising protests against the festival while others are threatening to take pictures of star-struck lovers, and send them to the couple’s parents.
To mark this annual festival of love, romance and a massive spike in sales for Hallmark et al, pharmacy chain Boots is launching a trial to sell impotency drug Viagra over the counter in three of its Manchester stores.
The pills will be available to men aged between 30 and 55 for £50, providing they submit to a consultation and brief physical from the consultant pharmacist beforehand. If the customer wants to come back for more, he will have to see a doctor to ensure it is safe to continue.
Bashful men all over Manchester will no doubt be rejoicing at the news they can give their partners more than a box of chocolates this Valentine’s. Pfizer - owners of Viagra - will soon evaluate the over-the-counter (OTC) trial to see if it can be extended.
However, it’s worth noting that concerns are being raised that such a potent drug should be available without the family doctor’s intervention, as side effects can be severe if Viagra is taken with other drugs, or while the patient has other medical conditions. Boots insists that the pharmacist’s check-up will explore all the possible factors that could alter the drug’s proper function.
The potential for reputational damage in a trial such as this is manifest: A customer lying about their medical condition for example, or too many ‘trying it on’ to get hold of some for recreational purposes, rather than any medical need. Both could damage the reputations of both Pfizer and Boots if they are not properly managed. We’re sure that both companies have done extensive reputational risk management before embarking on the trial, but if they’d like some more information, they could do worse than check out Brand Strategy’s November 2006 issue which has a 16 page briefing dedicated to the topic. Subscribers can view the articles here.
Here at Brand Strategy we’re always keen to bring you new marketing techniques. The sort of thing that will help your brand stand out from the crowd, something that will create real emotional resonance with your consumers.
And, initially, we were glad to see one brand really pulling out all the (bus) stops to achieve this. San Francisco’s Got Milk? campaign wanted to align its brand values with the down home, bedtime cookies and milk that resonates so well with family values-led America. To that end, it used scent branding to get the message across. The smell of cookies, hot from the oven, was piped through five bus stops in the city to get commuters’ tummies rumbling, and give them a hankering for cookies and milk the moment they got home.
Except these stops were used not by the target demographic of affluent, middle class commuters, but mainly by, as The Times reports today, the poor and the homeless. To this group, it must have seemed more like they were having their noses rubbed in it.
Response to the campaign, The Times claims, was poor, sending some consumers into the warm, cookie-baking embrace of Starbucks and others into high dudgeon over claims that it could possibly aggravate the symptoms of asthma sufferers.
The campaign was ditched one day after it was launched.
