Thumbs up for Nestlé…

Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, is a brand with real causes…It is planning to hire 20.000 young Europeans to help the rising unemployment in Europe.  It is hoping to set an example for other companies to follow, beginning with their 63.000 suppliers.  Considering the 5.6 million young people who are officially unemployed in the EU, Nestlé is boosting its social responsibility with its helping hand.

Better without words...

Some facts are just better stated without words...Lipton tea and FedEx's outdoors' campaigns use no words to pass their message.  Eyecatching, original and persuasive!

 

Can you follow their example for your campaigns?

 

 

 



Stand out with characters...

Hello to all. I will begin with the "American alphabet" letter brands as promised in my previous post.  So, let's see how many of you recognized all brands:

a: All
b: Bubblicious
C: Campbell's
D: Dawn
E: Eggo
F: Fritos
G: Gatorade
H: Hebrew National
I: Icee
J: Jell-O
K: Kool-Aid
L: Lysol
m: M & M's
N: Nilla Wafers
O: Oreo
P: Pez
Q: Q-tips
R: Reese's
S: Starburst
T: Tide
U: Uncle Ben's
V: V-8
W: Wisk 
X: Xtra
y: York
Z: Zest

Another tip you can follow to make your brands recognizable through time is to accompany your brand with a character.  Some historic characters that have been representing their brands for years now are the following:

Pancake mix and syrup's Aunt Jenima (created in 1893)
Michelin tires' Michelin (created in 1898)
Kellog's Frosted Flakes' Tony the Tiger (1951)
Starkist tuna's Charlie (1961)
Pillsbury foods' Pillsbury doughboy (1969)
AFLAC insurance's Afflac duck (2000)
GEICO insurance's Gecko (2002)

 What character are you adding to your brand?

What’s behind the “American alphabet”?

 

The “American alphabet” is a renowned piece of artwork by Heidi Cody, an artist and cultural anthropologist, which reflects the sequence of cognition, as well as the power of brand awareness.  Each letter of her alphabet represents a recognizable consumer brand based on the letter shape/font type and color combinations.  According to the sequence of cognition, shapes are recognized firstly, then colors and finally form, e.g. content.

So, what consumer brands lie behind each letter of this alphabet? What is your overall brand awareness?  Answers will be given on the next post.

A positive view of life through a drink

In the midst of the worldwide, economic turmoil and general mishappenings, people have to search for reasons to smile, to hope for, to be happy.  Some companies have had the marketing power to still reflect that optimism through their campaigns, effectively sustaining at the same time their brand awareness.

So, look at things differently, positively.  Drink happiness…

Could Facebook be losing grounds?

 

A Pew Research Center report reflects a migrating enthusiasm and trend of teenagers away from Facebook and towards Twitter and Instagram.  According to the report, 94% of teens still use Facebook despite their complaints.  However, they view Facebook as a rather “stressful” community, having to be under their parents’ watchful eye, as 70% of teens say that they are Facebook friends with their parents.     

Successful and popular brands, like Facebook, can also have their loss of share at one point.  This allows competitors, like Twitter and Instagram, to gain winning grounds and increase their share.  This is how the competitive game goes. 

Always be alert and close to your customers.  There is only a fine line between your direct competitor and yourself…

Secrets of successful selling…

It’s not easy being a salesperson.  According to Jerold Panas, the secret of successful selling lies in integrity.  You have to sell with integrity.  You have to sell what the buyer wants to buy and not what you want to sell…You also have to listen!  Do not magnify the art of babbling.  Shine some spotlight on the buyer; let him/her do more talking than you.  He/she will be more likely to buy then.  If you do most of the talking you are increasing the chances of the buyer to disagree with what you are saying and lead yourself to a defeat with a lost sale.

Good luck with your sales!

There is magic in a name...

A name reflects an identity.  An effective brand name has to be distinctive, protectable, easy to pronounce and remember, meaningful.  It has to stick in consumers' minds and connect to the good or service it represents.  There has to be some magic in the name to make it timeless. 

There are a number of types or categories of brand names that you can follow.  Founder names, for example, where companies or products are named after their founders:  Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart, Ben & Jerry's.  Acronym names such as IBM, GE, CNN.  Descriptive names, where the name reflects the nature of the business:  Toys "R" Us, Mop and Glo, Wash and Go.   There is also the magic spell type, where you can make an alteration in the spelling of the name to make it more unique and protectable: Flickr, Tumblr.

Have you found the magic in your company's or product's name?

Happy Family

Groupe Danone has always known the right targets of investment.  It has recently bought Happy Family, one of the key players in organic baby food in the US market.  The organic sector of baby food has been continuously rising in terms of importance and sales.  Groupe Danone knows well that the target market of mothers want nothing but the best and healthiest for their children and families.  What a better group to invest in.  Happy family for happy returns!

A cup of Nescafe anyone?

Nescafe is celebrating its 75th year anniversary with 5.500 cups consumed every second in over 180 countries.  It has been rated, by Interbrand, #35 in 2012 Best Global Brands with a brand value of 11 billion USD.  It is the world's 1st soluble coffee!  It continues to grow and enhance its taste and global presence...

Jazz up your morning cup of Nescafe!

Moxy Hotel for the economic crisis…

Marriot Hotels and IKEA are partnering to develop a budget hotel chain targeting the millennial type of consumer living the economic crisis.  The plan involves about 150 locations throughout Europe in the next decade with the first opening in Italy next year.  The hotel will not feature any of IKEA furniture, but it will apply IKEA’s concept of self-assembly to its rooms which will be prefabricated offsite.

Smart partnerships for tough times and promising customers…

Thongs for little girls?

When back in 2002, Abercrombie & Fitch introduced a line of thong underwear for young girls of age 10-14 and a line of T-shirts featuring Asian caricatures it failed to predict the trouble, the insults, and the boycotts that they would have caused.   Part of their ineffective and wrongly approached PR campaign was to publicly state that the Asian caricature T-shirts would assumingly be liked by Asians and that the girls’ thongs would be cheerful and cute, just like the potential consumers…

When involved in a socially irresponsible move, strategy or product launch, your immediate action should be to publicly admit your faults through an appropriate PR campaign, instead of coming up with unprofessional, selfish and damaging to your image comments.

Refreshing of brands during the economic crisis

The economic crisis has affected all companies in all industries.  Even the fast food industry has been facing difficult times, more specifically in the American market which has been stagnant for a long period now.

Wendy’s, the no. 3 in the industry, is freshening its brand, packaging, logo and products in an attempt to increase its customer attraction and sales.  Its new logo will appear on packaging, advertising and employees’ uniforms as of next week.  New products on its menu like the new cod sandwich will also be featured in its new advertising campaign.  McDonalds and Burger King, the nos. 1 & 2 of the industry, also follow similar strategies.

Tiffany jewelry at Costco?

Well, here is another battle between companies…Tiffany’s at court against Costco that has been marketing diamond engagement rings under Tiffany’s name and trademark, when in fact the rings had nothing to do with Tiffany’s.  In addition, Tiffany had similar cases in the past with Overstock and ebay.  How can a low cost seller be distributing high end, luxury products?  Many consumers have fallen into that trap, though, and Tiffany’s image has been endangered.  Exclusive distribution rights have to be allocated when dealing with such high-end products and names.  Luxury brands and distributors have to be alert to protect their image positioning, as well as consumers.

Adidas BOOST

Be innovative...That is a must in the effective Marketing world.  Innovativeness is what Adidas is promoting in its latest campaign.  Running is about to enter a new era with Adidas Boost trainers as shown in the teaser video with the three metal balls thrown on three different surfaces, Boost, EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) and concrete.  The ball thrown on the Boost surface of course bounces the highest!It is all about innovativeness…

 

Snakes for Chinese...

Part of effective and successful Marketing campaigns is to tailor your products and advertising campaign to your target market.  Considering the growing number and power of the Chinese market, many companies are studying and reflecting the Chinese culture in their Marketing strategies.  Nike, McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, Gucci, Mac Cosmetics among others have recognized the importance of the Chinese “Year of the Snake” and have incorporated it in their products and campaigns. 

 

 

TV commercials costing $4 million/30''

Would you think that $4 million for a 30 second commercial is a lot of money wasted by a company?  Well, that is how much 2013 Superbowl commercials have cost this year and if you do the simple maths it is really not that expensive.  Considering a smart scenario, 111 million global viewers on the day of the Superbowl game plus additional viewers from national reruns and global circulation over the various social media, then that is a cost-effective and fun form of marketing communication.

Taco Bell, M & Ms, Mercedes Benz, Oreo, TIde, Bud Light, Audi are a few names that stood out this past Sunday. Enjoy that Taco Bell's one below:

Burberry's Romeo

David and Victoria Beckam’s third son, 10 year old Romeo, is now starring in Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2013 advertising campaign.  Romeo’s personality and image coincides with Burberry’s.  He also has another pro that Burberry is taking advantage of.  He is a strong and growing brand himself!  This is actually a mutual benefit partnership where they are both trying to enhance their popularity with each other’s brand power.

You can, therefore, combine branded people and branded products for enhanced results.  They will both benefit!

 

Lance Armstrong's doping helps Oprah

 

Oprah Winfrey is trying hard to revive her own cable network, OWN, which has been struggling for a positioning.  Winfrey herself, however, has not lost her magic dust and she has demonstrated that with the applied strategy she has been using lately.  She sets up interviews with celebrities who are in the “hot” list of the latest news…David Letterman, late Witney Houston’s daughter and of course Lance Armstrong.  She makes them cry, admit faults and unethical acts...

Engaged in an “emotional interview” of Armstrong’s doping admits, Armstrong won about 28 million viewers worldwide, uplifting OWN’s audience ratings.

So, find your “hot” list and apply your strategy in struggling days.  Customers are there, you just have to find the right bait to get them…

Drink Lipton tea...Drink positive

Lipton, the global tea leader, is trying to freshen up its brand in the American market, as it now has to compete against Starbucks’ tea brands, Tazo and Teavana.

Its ad campaign promotes the “Drink positive” concept and the fact that Lipton tea consumers will feel uplifted and inspired having a long a positive day.

Enjoy your Lipton tea for an inspired new day…

Original Coca-Cola=Happy Calories!

 

As part of its social responsibility, Coca-Cola is promoting a healthy lifestyle with balanced diet choices and physical activities.  Its latest anti-obesity, “Be ok” campaign reflects the above facts where original Coca-Cola is not just a refreshingly, tasty soda, but one with only 140 calories that can be happily burnt through physical activities!

So, if you want your original Coke, enjoy it happily and actively...

Gangnam Style...

The South Korean worldwide phenomenon with the 1.1 billion YouTube views has been taken “advantage of” by Wonderful Pistachios which is advertising on Superbowl for the first time this year. This appearance reflects the fact that with Superbowl being more of a pop culture event with loads of social media attention, Superbowl advertisers are trying to incorporate pop figures who will grant them the most likes and shares in the social media world.

Enjoy Wonderful Pistachios in Gangnam style!

McDonalds becoming Maccas…

McDonalds is renaming its restaurant signs to “Maccas” in a number of Australian cities.  This temporary change, the only one made worldwide so far, has arisen from the nickname that about 55% of Aussies are using for McDonalds.  McDonalds has been in the Australian market for 40 years and feels proud to have been well accepted, loved and nicknamed by the Aussies.  So, in line with the “Australian day” celebration end of January, McDonalds is honoring its Australian market, by allowing the nickname that they have granted it to be posted on its official signs until February.

Marketing tip of the day? Get your loyal and appreciated customers involved in interesting, even temporary, Marketing activities.  They will feel the gratitude and give it back…

Anyone hungry for Maccas?

Chocolate wars...

Hello and happy, sweet, new year!  As bitter as it may sound, chocolate and candy companies also are in the game of lawsuits.  They are fighting over trademarking of colors and shapes…Nestle recently won a case that Cadbury had against it trying to stop the trademark of the Kit Kat bar.  Cadbury had earlier on won a case against Nestle over the purple color.  Moreover, Haribo, the gummy bear maker, is ruling against Lindt to prevent it from making its planned chocolate bears wrapped in gold-foil.

The “law of exclusivity” applies in this case, too.  Nestle has the exclusive ownership of rectangular, finger bars; Cadbury of the color purple and Haribo of the teddy bear…

Eat the burger and the wrapper, too!

Here is an edible customer attraction…Bob’s burgers, a Brazilian burger chain, taste so delicious that you can’t help but start eating it without unwrapping.  The wrapper is edible indeed!  So much about attractive, appetizing and environmentally sustainable ways to attract customers…