Maoam offends British father with “carnal” brand packaging

Oh dear, apparently the sweet brand Maoam is in trouble with one British father who believes that the product’s packaging shows items of fruit having sex with each other. Yes, really.

Now owned by Haribo, Maoam is a German brand. Speaking to the Daily Mail (link to see the original article here), the bemused father – Mr Simpkins – says that the lime depicted on the red packet below, “who I take to be the gentleman” has a “particularly lurid” expression on its face. He is apparently extremely concerned over such “carnal” images.

The sweetmaker apparently claims the “jovial” characters on wrapping, introduced in 2002, are simply showing fun fruit at play. What do you think? Is this a hoax? I can’t get through to Haribo to find out as yet…….but its own website does seem to show the packaging, so while “Mr Simpkins” may not be entirely genuine, it appears the brand’s look is for real.

Lego says Spinal Tap should stop rocking its brand

One of the things I like most about the Lego brand is the way it embraces consumers using its products to create new services, ideas and even businesses. From letting people design their own Lego kit to allowing developers access to its robotics software, it seems pretty modern in its approach to customer interactivity.

But now the firm has cracked down on a user-made video of spoof band Spinal Tap featuring the band made of Lego (it’s being played on the fictional band’s real-life tours). Apparently, it wasn’t happy about the rude lyrics when it’s a kids’ toy.

With Lego getting its own movie, I think it’s clear the brand has nothing to fear from incidents like this. Part of Lego’s charm is that no-one sees it as a company or brand, they see it as “theirs” and feel they can do anything with it. People simply love Lego and using it; while it is true that probably Spinal Tap isn’t a great brand association on paper, Lego should remember to take a light touch with this kind of thing. The way that consumers feel they own the brand is one of the best things about it…..

The Chinese crack down on Chinglish

Reports are emerging from China that there is to be a crackdown on Chinglish, the very particular sort of slightly garbled English found on signs, menus and clothing all over China. Apparently, the Chinese are worried that misunderstood English (translation: slightly rude-sounding stuff) might embarrass prudish visitors to the country for next year’s World Expo there.

Chinglish has become a cult interest for many people, with a Save Chinglish group on Facebook and numerous fan sites.

I am personally a huge fan of Chinglish. Having come across it in my travels all over South-East Asia (including buying a fair few Japlish t-shirts in Japan), the mistranslations bring a lovely and unintended irony to many brand names, marketing slogans and advertising campaigns. For example, I remember the Chinese park accidentally called “Racist Park” when it intended to portray multiculturalism. And there are a good selection of Chinglish signs for brands and restaurants displayed online here.

But an interesting debate over at LinkedIn has given me some perspective into how the Chinese feel about Chinglish. Apparently, some Chinese people are happy that Chinglish brings a laugh to native English speakers in a few unimportant areas of life but they want to be taken seriously in others; they feel that Chinglish holds them back in this regard. Others feel that those consumers targeted by Chinglish are unlikely to speak perfect English anyway, so the mistranslation really doesn’t matter.

Should Chinglish be stamped out in modern Asia or does it have a charm of its own? Let me know.

Brand immersion at Merlin Entertainments’ London Dungeon

I got a lovely little PR release today from Merlin Entertainments, which runs the London Dungeon (a tourist attraction here in London).

Apparently, as part of a brand immersion strategy, the company sent poor PR executive Ellie Cowley into the attraction to play the London Dungeon’s “Plague Pit Digger”, “17th Century Barber-Surgeon” and a victim of the Great Fire of London.

Cowley says that not only has the experience given her more insight into how the London Dungeon brand is passed onto visitors through the actors playing the parts in the attraction, but she got to see “first hand the spell your product casts over the public”.

More importantly, it gives me the chance to post this fun picture of Ellie in the stocks. Nice work if you can get it, eh?

MTV Sticky – new trends and culture website launches

A new global youth trends website launches today, aiming to bring the media and advertising industries a roundup of the latest trends, cultural information and lifestyle changes among youngsters around the world. MTV Sticky is a dedicated online service run by Viacom Brand Solutions (the corporate owner of MTV – in case you didn’t guess).

While I’ve been receiving MTV Sticky in the form of a newsletter for the past few years, it’s interesting to see that the brand is trying to turn the Sticky service into more of a trends business for companies. It seems to be aiming to position MTV not just as a consumer brand for youngsters but also a business-to-business expert.

But will MTV Sticky be able to compete with more established services like PSFK and Trendwatching? These two companies already bundle up submitted information, trends and stories and then distill this information into reports. I’ll be keeping a close eye on MTV Sticky to see if it lives up to the promise of its once-iconic brand owner….

Peperami bites into user-generated ad campaigns

Only last week, I appeared on BBC Radio 4 to discuss how Oxo had launched a campaign to create a user-generated advert. Now Peperami, the Unilever-owned meat sausage, is parting ways with ad agency Lowe, which has handled the account for 15 years. Peperami is launching a global search on creative community website Ideabounty to get consumers to submit ideas for its next campaign, with $10,000 for the lucky winner.

There seems to be a rash of UGC campaigns at the moment. Is this because ad agencies are missing out on business as clients aim for cheaper marketing? Or just a sign of brands hoping for some free PR when this hits the news? Or even a much more inclusive strategy from companies overall, inviting consumers to get involved? Hm.

Can “Brand Me” be boosted by the right colour?

I’m always interested in how people present their “personal brand” or as we tend to call it in the marketing industry, “Brand Me”.

The BT Convention Centre Liverpool, part of ACC Liverpool, has launched a guide for keynote speakers at various conferences on how best to present themselves. It suggests which colours will give off messages to the audience.

Hmmm. Not sure it’s as simple as this, but here goes….

Blue: apparently preferred by Europeans and especially men.  While it is a cold colour, it does denote loyalty and authority.

Grey: Common in the world of men’s suits, it says “efficient and distinguished”  but if over-used, can come across as boring.

Black: The funerary colour (in the UK at least) yet also one of the colours most worn for business. If teamed with a vivid colour, it can be “chic and inspiring”; otherwise provides “no character”.

Red: This colour stands out, especially in a crowd of delegates.  It can represent energy and speed but can also has the potential to be seen as anger and danger, giving off negative connotations.

Green: This is a good colour to associate yourselg with “nature and hope”.  Apparently, delegates remember this colour and associate it with environmental issues, which may help them take away a positive view of the speaker’s product or service.

Pink: Usually seen as love, softness and sweetness; apparently works well as a colour to combat fear.

White: Associated with purity and cleanliness but can also portray a cold or blank image.  In Asian countries, this colour is used for mourning.

Yellow: Stimulating but apparently not advised for very nervous people.  It gives off warmth for an audience, however, and pleases the eye – which can help keep the audience engaged.

What do you think? Is this credible for helping people improve “Brand Me” or simply a diverting idea?

And if you’re really interested in what colour is THE colour of 2009, the answer is apparently “Mimosa”, defined by the people at Pantone (see below).

My Last Polaroid – a snapshot of brand memories

This site – My Last Polaroid – is a lovely little repository for people to remember their final interactions with the Polaroid brand, when the final batches of Polaroid instant analogue film pass their official expiry date at the end of next month.

“When these supplies either spoil or run out, the world will lose something special,” says the website. The team behind the site are also apparently planning a documentary about the project.

These days, you see, Polaroid is a digital camera company (offering an instant mobile printer in one product which links the old with the new) but its traditional large instant cameras with their square photos are slowly disappearing….is this sad or is it simply inevitable progress?

thelondonpaper – will it be missed? And is “free” too expensive?

So thelondonpaper is being closed down. News International’s freesheet looks set to disappear from the streets of the British capital as 60 staff are put into consultation for their jobs.

Two things interest me here. Not ‘why did it fail?’. My colleague Stuart Smith has covered this issue in his blog here.  The Guardian’s Roy Gleenslade makes eloquent points about why it never should have existed here. Instead, I want to ask: one – will we miss the brand and why? Two – is this something bigger than one failure – is it the end of the whole concept of “free”?

So, first, what legacy does thelondonpaper leave as a brand? Editorially, it was pretty thin. A mix of celebrity gossip and a round-up of news culled from other sources, it was never going to live or die on its exclusives. It was not a strong product. But it did do several things well. Nice touches included:

a) Columnists. Thelondonpaper was the brand that had “City Boy”, a behind-the-scenes column taking a hard look at the life of bankers just as the global credit crunch hit. His comments on how society was changing were a real-time monitor of how the world was changing for Londoners.

b) Interactivity. Thelondonpaper’s column from a reader each day was often a genuinely good read. From a girl who wrote about the widely publicised suicide of her friend to people moaning about tube etiquette, these were small reflections of Londoners. They were personal and interesting. It made a print paper interactive with its readership in a way that many others aren’t.

c) Equality. The columists in thelondonpaper ranged genders and sexuality in a way rarely seen in a mainstream publication. Gay Guy About Town and his female equivalent wrote about the lives of gay people in London in the same way their straight counterparts did. It was a sign that London was a liberal city where gay and straight could be treated on an equal footing. It made London seem interesting and relevant.

But on a bigger scale, is this the end of free? Wired’s editor-in-chief Chris Anderson recently published his book “Free” all about those business models using ads to support content and as a result, offering them free to the consumer. He had a point and it’s an interesting read. Some free models are still working, like Spotify. But many, like Blyk in the UK and now thelondonpaper, have failed.

Is it time to accept that “free” will not change the world? A very few brands and businesses will be able to offer services free because they can create a sustainable commercial model. But most will still need people to pay to receive a product or service. There’s a good round-up of this argument here. It seems that thelondonpaper’s demise is merely another example of just how true this is…..

Whole Foods “sells a bunch of junk”? More brand leader abuse?

My colleague Stuart Smith wrote an excellent column in Marketing Week some weeks ago about brand leaders who abuse their own brands. From Gerald Ratner claiming that his products were “crap” to Bernie Ecclestone upsetting the participants of F1, Stuart (who incidentally, blogs here) made some interesting points about this topic.

So I was interested in the boss of Whole Foods, John Mackey, who recently proclaimed: “We sell a bunch of junk.”

Mackey was referring to his store selling ‘candy’ as well as more healthy options like fresh fruit or vegetables. He feels that some of his intentions about persuading people to choose better food had been lost by those eating too many crisps and cakes but feeling virtuous because they are organic. He believes Whole Foods needs to be taking a lead in consumer education on diet and obesity and it hasn’t been doing enough up until this point.

So is Mackey sabotaging his brand with comments about “junk”? While I think his wider politics are suspect (a campaign against Obama’s healthcare reform proposals may be unwise) and I’m not a fan of his anti-union stance, his comments about his brand’s role in educating consumers do appear to ring true. He argues: “We’ve decided if Whole Foods doesn’t take a leadership role in educating people about a healthy diet, who the heck is going to do it?”.

So is Mackey really committing brand sabotage as set out by Stuart Smith? Or is his plain speaking on obesity issues (and how his brand really needs to be involved with this) something that is needed by the company he heads up? Let me know your views.