The Beijing Olympics 2008 is supposed to be one of the world’s greatest marketing showcases. But are consumers really interested? Forty-five per cent of consumers based in the US, Asia Pacific and Europe, are not even aware that the next games are taking place in Beijing, according to research from Synovate involving 9,500 international consumers.
Forty-five per cent of consumers are aware of the games’ location, however, with Australians the most aware (94%), followed by the French (71%) and Singaporeans (68%).
In marketing terms, 63% claim to notice Olympic sponsors, with awareness levels in post-Olympic countries reaching 78% of Germans, 51% of US respondent and 42% of Australians.
The group is split evenly on the idealistic elements of the Olympics versus cynicism about the marketing. Half agreed with the statement that: “At the end of the day, the games are more about making money than a commitment to an excellence in sport.” Europeans are most cynical, with the French (64%), Polish (61%) and Serbians (60%) all convinced that the games are about cash. More idealistic are the Americans (43%), Australians (39%), Indians (38%) and Dutch (34%).
Eighty-two per cent of people foresee economic benefits for their country in hosting the games. The Thais feel strongest about this – 91% – agree. Sixty-six per cent also think that the games would make their country better known to the rest of the world, with Thais again most convinced at 90%.
For more information on this research and more details on the results, see Synovate’s website here.
A new brand of clothing licensed from a division of the armed forces is running its first major marketing programme in the British national press at the end of November.
The RAF Collection, launched six months ago, is the first official licensed range from the Royal Air Force. There are three collections for men, woman and kids, segmented into two ranges – ‘heritage’ and ‘off duty’.
Interesting to see that the armed forces are now tapping into the popularity of military-style fashion!
Tesco’s US store chain – Fresh & Easy – is likely to be among the top 10 supermarkets in America by 2015 with sales estimated at $10bn (£5bn), according to a report from research unit TNS Retail Forward.
The Fresh & Easy stores aim to fill a gap in the US’ convenience store market with small stores, easy access, ready meals and ‘grab-and-go’ items. By 2011, TNS Retail Forward estimates that Tesco could be a $4bn (£2bn) retailer in the United States with 500 stores.
TNS Retail Forward believes Fresh & Easy’s small-size advantage gives it the opportunity to almost double space productivity per square foot compared with supermarket industry averages. The average size of a US supermarket is more than three times the size of Fresh & Easy’s 10,000 sq. ft. stores. TNS Retail Forward predicts that Fresh & Easy could generate sales of $900 (£450) per square foot per store, nearly twice the supermarket average.
“The combination of Fresh & Easy’s smaller stores, self service tills and ready-to-cook meals has direct appeal among U.S. shoppers whose primary concern is convenience,” said Jennifer Halterman, senior consultant at TNS Retail Forward. “There is demand for this type of concept, and we expect other US retailers to be watching Tesco closely for ideas on how to tap into this buoyant market. Fresh & Easy’s smaller store size gives it an ideal formula to replicate quickly throughout the United States.”
Interesting….what do you think? Can Tesco triumph in the States?
The bank for wealthy customers, Coutts, has recently been up to all kinds of interesting brand extensions. First, it launched Coutts Women, an online magazine, with interviews from successful businesswomen alongside travel and money advice. Now it has given its blessing to the Coutts Cocktail, a drink apparently inspired by the Chinese wallpaper in the bank’s ballroom.
The recipe for the drink is:
· 35ml Vodka
· 20ml Chinese Tea Great Red Cloak
· 20ml Raspberry Puree
· 15ml Benedictine
· 10ml fresh lime juice
· 2tsp of Monin Honey Syrup
Shake all the ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with two fresh raspberries and leaf of mint on a cocktail stick, and sit it on the edge of the glass.
The cocktail will soon be appearing at Salvator’s bar, FIFTY London on St James Street. So I guess that even if you can’t afford to start banking at Coutts, you can taste a little bit of success by drinking the cocktail….
What do you think of this brand extension? Fun enterprise or wrong for the brand?
American brand agency CoreBrand’s chief executive Jim Gregory has released his take on what are likely to be the big issues dominating the minds of American marketers, businesspeople and consumers alike in 2008. It’s worth a read for the non-US-based as well although it is aimed at an American audience.
1. Energy dependence deserves to be the hot issue for the 2008 US presidential election. It is by far the most critical issue facing the American nation. We’ve had decades to fix the problem and have only made ourselves more dependent on foreign nations for our energy needs. We need to treat this issue as a national priority and mobilise our resources to get energy consumption under control while identifying and expanding renewable energy resources. The presidential politician who
provides a workable solution gets my vote.
2. The dollar’s decline means the US will no longer be “leader of the economic pack” on the world stage. It doesn’t mean that we will fade into oblivion, but we no longer have the economic clout to dictate outcomes. The decline of the US dollar is the result of a long list of self-imposed economic ills including the impossibly large federal budget deficits, huge international trade deficit, weak savings practices by
Americans and the cost of the Iraq War. As a consequence, Americans might
have the ultimate hangover – the need to adjust to a lower standard of living. Read the rest of this entry »
This is a lovely viral campaign for Samsung. It shows you that if you can make something truly watchable and fun, people are happy to watch marketing material.
We love this collection of outdoor advertising campaigns – a mascara advert where the product ‘runs’ when it rains and the kebab advert that promotes itself with the advice that ‘after dinner, you can stab your date’….
AOL UK has launched a new mobile internet portal into the British market in an attempt to translate its ‘trusted’ brand from online to mobile. The service features a branded AOL homepage with links to content and the ability to pull content straight from the internet in a transcoded form for mobile. It uses ‘tabs’ along the top of the mobile page – similar to a web browser – to help consumers navigate their way around.
Speaking at a special launch for media yesterday morning, Ariel Eckstein, vice president of business expansion, AOL Europe, said that the company wanted to “make the desktop and the mobile internet consistent”.
Brand Strategy absolutely LOVES this online ad from Dutch store Hema (which we think is a Woolworths-like retail outlet). Possibly our favourite web-based ad this year so far. Just made us smile.
Click on the link and roll your mouse over the blue cup in the top right corner.
(Special thanks to Mr Gary Smith for bringing it to our attention.)
Lawsuits about brand infringement appear to be all the rage in the entertainment world this week…..
The rock band Red Hot Chilli Peppers (RHCP) announced today that they would sue US TV station Showtime Network over its use of the name ‘Californiacation’ for a TV show. The band said that the name was “immediately associated in the mind of the consumer” with their 1999 album and single of the same name.
The TV show, which stars David Duchovny as a writer suffering from a mid-life crisis, is also accused of using the name ‘Dani California’ for one character – also the title of a 2006 song by RCHP. The suit asks the network to stop using the title immediately and “disgorgement of all profits derived by the defendants”.
The controversy arose after the video showed Spears inside a Hummer vehicle, floating on ‘make believe’ clouds. She raps her fingers on a dashboard covered in what looks like Vuitton’s trademarked fabric called ‘Cherry Blossoms’.
While the court did not find the popstar herself guilty, it found Sony BMG and MTV Online were breaking anti-counterfeiting laws. A spokesperson for Louis Vuitton said that the video comprised an “attack” on its luxury brand image. It is not clear exactly how the ban on playing the video will be enforced or if the companies will appeal.
Almost worth a programme or TV show in itself……!!!
I was lucky enough to attend the MTV European Music Awards last night. There was plenty of brand and marketing activity going on (alongside the parties….) and so here is a quick roundup of the sponsor strategies in Berlin. Sony Ericsson ran its annual “fanwalk”, which saw 100 music fans, whittled down from 7000 applicants, walk [...]
Anything Sir Martin Sorrell says tends to make headlines. Today, Sorrell said that he thought the recession would take an “LUV” form. This was a phrase coined by Thomson Reuters correspondent Stella Dawson. But what does “LUV” mean? Dawson suggested there would be an L-shaped recovery for some countries, a U-shaped for others and a fe […]
It’s great being a celebrity. Alright, you might have to fend off a few paparazzi and put up with regular tabloid kiss and tells but you also get treated like brand royalty. Yesterday, musician and DJ Calvin Harris posted on his Twitter account about the lovely gift that he was just sent by Kellogg’s. After tweeting [...]
Thank you to Media140 for having me to speak at their event on real-time social media today. It was a pretty daunting prospect to get up in front of a room full of social media experts, all of whom were sending their every thought on your words and ideas to a massive screen with a [...]
There is an brilliant post on CrackUnit.com by Iain Tait about ads he doesn’t like (read it here). He picks up on the current Kingsmill bread campaign, which encourages people to make “confessions”. As Tait points out: “I’m just bursting with a whole bunch of confessions about bread. What on earth are they expecting? If you’re [...] […]
Saw this nice little bus shelter advert today. It uses a comical toy skeleton in 3D trapped between the two panes of plastic. I noticed it not only because as I approached it in the dark morning, its lit-up green exterior really stood out but because it was literally surrounded by children. All staring and [...]
The Mattel-owned American Girl brand has launched a new doll in its range, but unlike the bland blondes of the Barbies of yesteryear, this one has a twist: “Gwen” is “homeless”. (And she costs $95.) Needless to say, the blogosphere has gone crazy about it. So just who is “Gwen”? Each doll in the American Girl [...]
In my role as an occasional blogger for the MIDEM music business festival, which I have taken part in for the last few years, I have blogged a few stories about the most interesting developments in marketing and music. You can check out my thoughts on how the band Tokio Hotel have gone virtual or [...]
This is a nice little campaign from toilet paper brand Charmin in the US. The Procter & Gamble owned product is launching a national job search to find five outgoing and enthusiastic people to work in New York City’s Times Square ‘Charmin Restrooms’ this holiday season for a salary of $10,000 each. The five chosen “Charmin [...]
An interesting coverwrap on Sport magazine today. It takes the form of the outside of a cigar and shows readers where to roll up the magazine to make it resemble a large cigar, with a “label” bearing the name of the sponsor, Intercasino. Now, I’m not suggesting that Intercasino or Sport are trying to advertise tobacco [...]
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Posted by brandstrategy 
