March 2007
Brand Strategy's news and trends for March 2007!
Welcome to Brand Strategy's trends and news for March. If you want to keep up-to-date with what's on our radar on a more regular basis, please visit our blog at http://brandstrategy.wordpress.com
Ruth Mortimer, editor (ruth.mortimer@centaur.co.uk) recommends…..
ALAN SIEGEL PREDICTS THE FUTURE
US branding guru Alan Siegel tells Brand Strategy what he considers the key
focus areas for marketers over the next year. Do you agree or are there
other issues to consider?
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CHINA AND THE STATE
Forty per cent of executives in Asia say their brand still isn't doing
business in China, according to an in-depth and very interesting survey by
McKinsey. And in the company's second piece relating to Asia this month,
does the Communist party still hold sway in modern China?
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STARBUCKS PLAYS IT AGAIN
It seems that almost anyone can act as a record company these days. But how will Starbucks market new acts? Could the next big thing be signed to a coffee shop brand?
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MAKING IT MYSPACE
If you've ever used Myspace, you'll know how important it is to take a silly
profile picture of yourself at an angle and reply to chain emails. One man's
vision of it is recorded in a short film here:
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NIVEA USES A VIRAL TO BANISH CELLULITE
Skincare brand Nivea has launched a viral campaign from TBWA\London for its new Goodbye Cellulite product that features women singing about how much they love their bums.
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Maeve Hosea, feature writer, (maeve.hosea@centaur.co.uk) recommends...
CELEBS STILL SHIFTING STOCK ON HIGH STREET
As actress Sarah Jessica Parker launches her own fashion label Bitten State-side, celebrity tie-ins with fashion retailers is still a la mode on the UK high street. Philip Green, Topshop’s owner and supermodel Kate Moss are the latest pairing.
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BONO’S RED BARELY IN THE BLACK
Six months in and does Bono’s corporate responsibility RED campaign help big Western brands more than the African AIDS victims it was intended for?
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AVON CALLS ABOVE THE LINE
Cosmetics company Avon has launched its first global advertising campaign in a move that is a shift away from its traditional product-led marketing. New York-based Avon is pouring $340m into a new Hello Tomorrow advertising campaign and signing up thousands more Avon ladies to sell its products.
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WAR OF THE WORLDS
The film 300, based on the bloody Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC is launching international promotion in Second Life rather than the real world. On 300 island, a giant outdoor cinema showing clips from the film to avatars has been built, along with an exact recreation of one of the sets.
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Morag Cuddeford Jones, contributing editor, (morag.cuddeford@centaur.co.uk) recommends….
BUYING INTO SUPERMARKET JAILS
The UK's Home Office is encouraging retailers to consider installing 'retail
jails' for shoplifters and vandals. The detention rooms would be equipped
with one clear plastic front so that the suspects are visible at all times.
Reports speculate the average detention time would last four hours. The Home
Office hopes this solution will free up police officers to continue to deal
with crime on their beat, rather than leaving the area unpoliced for long
stretches of time while they remove offenders to the police station and deal
with the subsequent paperwork. The scheme has been dubbed 'Tesco jails'
because of the store's ubiquity in providing almost every other product and
service the average family requires. The first trial of these jails may be in
Selfridges department store on London's Oxford Street.
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THE FIZZ GOES OUT OF SCHWEPPES FOR CADBURY
Confectionery and drinks group, Cadbury Schweppes, has announced that it
plans to split into two separate divisions. Speculation is growing that the
drinks business will be acquired by a private equity firm. The split is seen
as a positive step for both businesses and is welcome good news following a
spate of setbacks. Cadbury has been forced to withdraw its chocolate
products on a number of occasions following a salmonella scare and a failure
to include nut warnings on Easter Egg labels.
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USER-GENERATED OVERLOAD?
Outsourcing is the name of the game in the advertising world these days.
That, and massaging the burgeoning ego of Joe Public. First, Time Magazine
nominates 'You' as its person of the year. Then Chevy gets 'You' to do all
its hard work in creating its new ads. Now, the trend is catching on all
over the place. Land Rover has joined in the 'get creative for free'-for-all
and in the UK, health insurance provider, BUPA, is sending out fuzzy felt
kits inviting people to do the same, albeit in a more low-fi way. A
triumph for user-generated content, or lazy-assed, cheapskatery from the ad
agencies. Where do we send the bill?
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From Brand Strategy magazine this month for subscribers:
Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, says that hit products will no longer be the future of branding:
More...What are the most important themes coming out of the World Economic Forum this year. We report:
More...Tom Dixon, creative director for Habitat, explains his celebrity obsession:
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