Brand Strategy articles from April 2004

Brand Strategy archives from April 2004

Purple ketchup and management risk.(Leader)
April 1, 2004... The word innovation is rarely uttered without a whispered caveat of its inevitable risks. There are lots of statistics to draw from: 90% of new consumer products fail, according to marketing guru, Philip Kotler. Three in five new product...

Brussels-based drinks group Interbrew has merged with Brazil's Companhia de Bebida das Americas (AmBev) to create InterbrewAmBev, the world's largest brewer.(Financial)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Brussels-based drinks group Interbrew has merged with Brazil's Companhia de Bebida das Americas (AmBev) to create InterbrewAmBev, the world's largest brewer. With an estimated global market share of 14%, combined revenue of 9.5bn [euro] (6.3bn...

Manchester United.(Financial)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Manchester United has been ranked the word's top football club based on income for 2002/2003, according to consulting firm Deloitte. Income of over 250m [euro] (166m [pounds sterling]) placed the club above Italian teams Juventus and AC Milan,...

Media buying group Aegis has predicted that the advertising recession is over in Europe and growth is expected to increase by 0.9%, driven by the Olympics and European soccer championships.(Financial)
April 1, 2004... Media buying group Aegis has predicted that the advertising recession is over in Europe and growth is expected to increase by 0.9%, driven by the Olympics and European soccer championships. Ad group Publicis reinforced the prediction by...

Marketing groups Havas and Interpublic's results were less optimistic.(Financial)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Marketing groups Havas and Interpublic's results were less optimistic. The latter revealed a 04 net loss of $102.5m (56m [pounds sterling]), while Havas' annual results revealed net losses of 396m [euro] (263m [pounds sterling] mainly...

Elizabeth Arden.(Launches)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... US-based cosmetics manufacturer Elizabeth Arden has signed a licensing agreement with Brand Sense Marketing to market a range of cosmetics, fragrances and skincare products on behalf of singer Britney Spears. The first release will be a...

Cartoon Network.(Launches)
April 1, 2004... Cartoon Network is capitalising on the popularity of its animated programme, Powerpuff Girls, to launch luxury scented candles. Available in London and Paris department stores Liberty and Colette, the candles will retail at (38 [euro] (24...

Diageo is to return its Cardhu whisky to single malt after trying to launch a 'pure malt' variant in summer 2003.(Launches)
April 1, 2004... Diageo is to return its Cardhu whisky to single malt after trying to launch a 'pure malt' variant in summer 2003. The drinks company had originally hoped to market the blend of Cardhu malts from different years after it discovered that supply...

Diary.(Calendar)
April 1, 2004... IAA Savoy Business Lunch Savoy Hotel, London 7 April 2004 What are top executives getting out of international media and does it help decision-making? This will be explored when Universal McCann presents its global study, 'View from the...

Volkswagen.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Volkswagen has named Stefan Jacoby as head of group marketing and sales strategy, reporting to chairman, Dr Bernd Pischetsrieder. Jacoby was previously chairman and president of Mitsubishi Motors Europe. He has also held various positions at...

Starbucks Coffee Company.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Starbucks Coffee Company has appointed Martin Coles as president, Starbucks Coffee International Coles is former president and CEO of the Reebok brand, Reebok International. He has also worked at Nike, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble.

Unilever Cosmetics International.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Fergus Balfour has been appointed as president and CEO of Unilever Cosmetics International. Balfour has 30 years of experience at Unilever. mainly in marketing and general management positions. Balfour was previously senior vice president of...

Ernst & Young.(Appointments)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Former Arthur Andersen marketing director, Eddie Bowman, has moved to Ernst & Young in the newly created role of global marketing director. Bowman will report to global managing partner of markets. Mike Cullen. He has previously held positions...

Tesco has launched instore TV media in 100 of its UK stores, with plans to extend into 300 stores by the end of 2004.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Tesco has launched instore TV media in 100 of its UK stores, with plans to extend into 300 stores by the end of 2004. The screens provide information about products on sale instore. The company plans to use the screens as alternative media...

The Lux brand is being relaunched by Lever Faberge to stimulate growth in the 533m [pounds sterling] UK skin cleansing category, and across Europe.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The Lux brand is being relaunched by Lever Faberge to stimulate growth in the 533m [pounds sterling] UK skin cleansing category, and across Europe. The new range will include shower and bath gels retailing between 1.49 [pounds sterling] and...

McDonald.(Marketing)
April 1, 2004... Fast food chain McDonald's is to phase out super-size fries and drinks in the US, and introduce main course salads across 16 European countries during 2004. The salads have had a mixed reception, following claims that the Caesar salad contains...

Coca-Cola UK is to withdraw Dasani bottled water from sale indefinitely after the product exceeded the recommended levels of bromate, a potential carcinogen.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Coca-Cola UK is to withdraw Dasani bottled water from sale indefinitely after the product exceeded the recommended levels of bromate, a potential carcinogen. The water, launched in February with a 7m [pounds sterling] marketing campaign, had...

Lever Faberge will launch new packaging for its Surf laundry brand and introduce three new variants: Sunshine, Breeze and Spring, in the UK.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Lever Faberge will launch new packaging for its Surf laundry brand and introduce three new variants: Sunshine, Breeze and Spring, in the UK. Supported by a 12m [pounds sterling] marketing campaign including TV, press and poster ads, advertising...

Adidas.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... German sportswear and equipment brand Adidas is to sponsor the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens for an undisclosed amount. The company will provide Adidas-branded uniforms for all Olympic staff in addition to providing the uniforms for the Torch...

Turning the tide with contrasexual woman: Martin Raymond discovers a new breed of woman seeking a deeper meaning from life.(Trendspotter)
April 1, 2004... Contrasexual woman has moved on; spiritually, intellectually and physically. Still in her twenties, and taking yachtswomen like Helen McArthur and Tracey Edwards as her role models, she is now more determined than her male counterparts to...

Beta beaten despite technical superiority: Joanna Doonar examines why a potential electronic pioneer had its spark of innovation extinguished.(That Was The Brand That Was)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The Betamax video recorder launched by Sony in 1975 was the world's first home video recording format. Aficionados stressed superior picture and sound quality compared to competitor JVC's VHS format, launched in 1976. Yet, within a year, it had...

New marketing measures: Alan Mitchell argues that the industry needs new measurement tools that analyse customers and not media.
April 1, 2004... One of the astonishing things about marketing communications is how product-centric its measures of marketing effectiveness are. The measures we rely upon were developed by media owners to calibrate the effectiveness of their particular...

Brand mot.
April 1, 2004... The Volkswagen Group has announced a 48% fall in its 2003 profits and production of Volkswagen Passenger Cars (which includes brands such as Golf, Polo, Beetle and Lupo) has declined. Group chairman and chief executive, Dr Bernd Pischetsrieder,...

Volkswagen passenger cars.
April 1, 2004... Mike Moran, Worldwide director of marketing at Thames Water, former marketing and commercial director, Toyota (GB). At its heart VW's still a strong brand but its advertising has become schizophrenic. It's moved away from its reliability...

Voters lack trust in an age of disillusionment: as election fever travels the globe, Morag Cuddeford Jones finds that lessons from the branding world are not practised in the political arena. Could Tomy teach Tony a thing or two?(News Analysis)
April 1, 2004... Spain's premier Jose Maria Aznar is licking his wounds following a shock defeat at the polls, Tony Blair is facing a general election with the worst pro dieted voter turnout ever and the US presidential race is not expected to attract half of...

A broken model in the ad world: Chris Ingram argues that the agency model is no longer working.(Opinion)
April 1, 2004... It's a billion-dollar question--what kind of marketing agencies will get to sit at the top table with clients? As the former founder and chairman of global media agency Tempus, I used to argue that because of our greater acceptance of...

Getting involved in the obesity debate: John Sunderland puts the case for involvement of the food industry in the debate over childhood obesity.(Opinion)
April 1, 2004... The advertising industry has endured substantial pressure on its freedom to advertise products which are perceived to be against the consumer's interests. This has led to restraints with which we are all familiar, such as those on advertising...

Mackenzie: a down to earth director: Joanna Doonar talks to BT's director of marketing services, Amanda Mackenzie, about the challenge of marketing one of the world's leading providers of telecoms services.(Profile)(British Telecommunications)(Biography)
April 1, 2004... BT's Amanda Mackenzie sits clutching a mug of Lemsip at the company's London-based head office. It's a cold winter morning and quashing her media reputation as 'mumsy' and 'caring' is of no importance. As director of marketing services for BT,...

Keeping it simple for a smooth operation: Amanda Mackenzie talks to Joanna Doonar about leveraging the BT brand across the business and keeping customers happy.(Q&A)(British Telecommunications)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... JD: What does BT stand for? AM: Our vision is 'connecting your world completely' and we have an internal promise to make every experience complete. I think the more people deal with technological complexity, the more important it is for us...

Pasties and pastures new: Joanna Doonar interviews Mark Dudderidge, the managing director of Ginsters and discovers that society's preoccupation with obesity is not holding back the growth of the Cornish pasty company.(Ginsters)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... At a time when the snack food industry is being held accountable for the obese state of the nation forcing McDonald's to dabble in salads; Ginsters, a meat pie brand, is thriving. So, how has the Cornish pasty company, which prides itself on...

L'entente commerciale: following the failure of a number of international brands to secure a foothold in France, Morag Cuddeford Jones asks if the country protects its commerce as fiercely as its language.(Global Brands In France)
April 1, 2004... "We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be, detested in France." Those were the words of the Duke of Wellington in 1815 following his victory over the French in the Battle of Waterloo. With hopes that those days of cannon...

Special size French fries: Morag Cuddeford Jones discovers that an American burger bar in Paris has found a variety of ways to romance the French consumer starting with some local bites and a bit of savoir faire.(Global brands in France: case study)
April 1, 2004... At first glance McDonald's fast food and French gastronomy go together like... well, they just don't go together. And yet, despite political antipathy between the two countries and diametrically opposed gastronomic philiosophies, the US-based...

New World wines: Colin Porter argues that French wine producers must wake up to New World branding if they are to survive in this market of increasing competition.(Brand Papers)
April 1, 2004... In the last decade, the wine market has undergone massive changes. As wines from the New World arrive in quantity, consumers have come alive to the pleasures of wine drinking. But traditional French producers have struggled to adapt to the...

Brands on the catwalk: Lauren Henderson investigates how the close relationship between star designers and fashion brands can be managed effectively.(Brand Papers)
April 1, 2004... In the fashion world, star designers are intimately entwined with their brands. Is 'designer as brand' a risky strategy or does the brand benefit from close association? How can fashion brands harness influence without being overshadowed in...

Emerging US trends: Mark Dickens argues that British retailers could learn from the growth of niche stores across the Atlantic that focus on home-making and lifestyling.(Brand Papers)
April 1, 2004... Americans insatiably consume all that retailers offer them. Last year the 107 million US households spent a massive 2.1 trillion retail dollars. That's 6.2 times as much as in the UK, from just 4.5 times the number of households. Confident...

A promo too far: Edward Garner demonstrates why constant price promotion may fail to support your brand, white low-priced competitors see growth and loyalty.(Brand Papers)
April 1, 2004... Supermarkets are under constant pressure to improve competitiveness. Each new initiative from one raises the bar for others. The most common tool in this commoditised market is to slash prices to market-beating levels, forcing competitors to...

Brand compilations: Mark Sherrington, global marketing director at SAB Miller hasn't read Brands and Branding cover to cover, but says it's a useful compendium to dip into for those who know the theory but have forgotten to follow it.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Brands and Branding edited by Rita Clifton and John Simmons is published by The Economist, 20 [pounds sterling] It is not fashionable as a businessman to admit that you have never actually read a whole business book from start to finish. I...

Brand stats.
April 1, 2004... Market focus: Personal computers Almost 90 % of British business executives have a personal computer at home and nearly one in five have a laptop, according to 2004 Premier TGI data. Personal computer ownership has increased from 67% five...

Global trends in alcoholic drinks.(Research)
April 1, 2004... The global alcoholic drinks market is undergoing a dramatic shift. Beer is fast becoming the alcoholic beverage of choice, taking over from spirits. With beer's 35% market share in 1997 rising to an almost neck and neck position with spirits in...

Global sponsorship report.(Research)
April 1, 2004... 2004 has kicked off promisingly for the world of sponsorship, with a number of high profile, big money deals already signed, and more on the way, With two of the world's major sporting events, the Athens Olympics and EURO2004 taking place this...

Brand loyalty comes with age.(Research)
April 1, 2004... Brand loyalty has risen since 2001, despite the continuous influx of new products hitting the market, according to Mintel's Marketing to Tomorrow's Consumer report. The majority of people (57%) remain brand loyal, up from under half (46%) in...

Defining innovation.(Sponsor's Foreword)
April 1, 2004... Innovation needs careful qualifying. Is it new product development with go faster stripes? Or fundamental changes to business models? Is it consumer-driven or technology-pushed? Incremental or radical? The origin of this word is...

Driving value through innovation: a senior panel of innovation experts share their thoughts with Brand Strategy on driving value and managing risk in new product development.(Forum)(Panel Discussion)
April 1, 2004... Elen Lewis: There are so many different definitions of innovation--how do you define it? Arthur Day: Innovation is a misused word. We talk about going beyond consumer expectation and what the consumer can tell you. Andre de Barros...

Microchip marketing: access to even more information will put the consumer in control. Anand Vengurlekar outlines two key trends that all marketers should be aware of when considering innovation.(Innovation)
April 1, 2004... The word innovation is used so often that perhaps it is helpful to consider what innovation isn't. In other words when is a company anti-innovative? For example, a company might be churning out new products, fooling itself that it was...

Environmentally creative: Jeanie Bergin explains why organisations wanting successful innovations should embrace creative thinking and outlines where they should start: let the ideas flow.(Innovation)
April 1, 2004... Creative thinking--real creative thinking--is better thinking, not just in new product development, but in everything. If you have no need or desire to make anything better, stop reading now. Ah, you've continued. You must be in search of...

Lessons in transformation: Richard Eisermann explains how and why companies should transform themselves into an innovation-led organisation where design and technology provide the best user experience.(Innovation)
April 1, 2004... Companies who want to transform themselves into innovation-led organisations first need to assess their degree of innovation. There are some standard hard measures that can be applied to this assessment. One measure of innovation is the...

If at first you don't succeed: ... fail, fail and fail again. Matt Haig outlines some classic new product development failures from smokeless cigarettes to WAP, and exhorts us to learn from others' mistakes.(Innovation)
April 1, 2004... The Ford Edsel--1957 Aim: To launch a market leading car design. Problem: Despite market research showing it was a bad choice, the overwhelming number of name suggestions led the company to panic and pick 'Edsel'--Henry Ford's son. The...

Tipping point marketing: Paul Marsden introduces new evidence that a three-point formula from business bible The Tipping Point can create an epidemic of demand for new products and services.(Innovation)
April 1, 2004... The Tipping Point (Gladwell 2000) reveals three key initiatives that unlock the viral potential of a new product or service to create an epidemic of demand. * The law of the few The spread of any new product or service is determined by...