Brand Strategy articles from May 2008

Brand Strategy archives from May 2008

LEADER: Losing a vital lesson.
May 8, 2008... If you were visiting the moon last month, you might have missed the fiasco that was the #4.35bn Heathrow Terminal Five opening. With hundreds of flights cancelled and more than 20,000 bags mislaid, the grand event that British Airways and...

MARKETING: Heineken campaign.(Heineken USA Inc.)(Brief article)
May 8, 2008... Beer brand Heineken is launching an estimated $40-$50m (#20-#25m) ad campaign in the US to support its Premium Light sub-brand. The 'Beer Samaritan' campaign, which promotes sharing, aims to help the brewer compete with the leading US light...

MARKETING: NBA Star promote Nike.
May 8, 2008... NBA star Steve Nash is promoting Nike's 'Trash Talk' shoe through a short film on video site YouTube. The shoe's product values - it is made from recycled goods - are echoed in the film's plot about Nash being 'recycled' to re-emerge as the...

MARKETING: Visa Europe sponsorship strategy.
May 8, 2008... Visa Europe is broadening its sponsorship strategy to focus on multiple areas - music, sports and entertainment. The Olympic Games and World Cup partner recently dropped its 12-year sponsorship of the Rugby World Cup to concentrate on a...

MARKETING: Bodyform collaboration.
May 8, 2008... Personal care brand Bodyform has launched a series of product containers designed by upmarket fashion label Preen. The collaboration is being supported by a #1.5m ad campaign. Bodyform has previously supported the fashion label's shows in New...

MARKETING: Justin Timberlake deal.
May 8, 2008... Pop star Justin Timberlake has signed a deal with agency IMG to represent him and build his personal brand through endorsements. The singer already has a clothing line, William Rast, and formerly represented fast-food retailer McDonald's. ...

MARKETING: Converse footwear collaboration.
May 8, 2008... Converse has announced the launch of its year-long 1Hund(Red) artists' footwear collaboration, consisting of 100 footwear designs by 100 artists from the worlds of music, art, sport and fashion. The artists use their own interpretations of...

MARKETING: Ralph Lauren sponsors US polo.
May 8, 2008... Ralph Lauren is sponsoring US polo matches in an attempt to capture the spending of wealthy consumers by signing up with the Mercedes-Benz challenge tournament. The sport is on the rise in the US and attracts a number of high-profile...

MARKETING: Avon TV ad campaign.
May 8, 2008... Beauty giant Avon is set to launch its first UK TV ad campaign since the 1960s. With the slogan "Hello Tomorrow", it will feature six Avon representatives sharing their working experience. The brand has a multi- million pound 2008 advertising...

MARKETING: Campaign for Clover.
May 8, 2008... Dairy Crest has launched a major UK advertising campaign for its dairy spread, Clover. It is backed with TV ads and on-pack promotions including a giveaway of a VW California Campervan. The company hopes to push sales of the brand after last...

MARKETING: Anchor butter campaign.
May 8, 2008... Arla Foods-owned butter brand Anchor is looking to increase market share with a #5m campaign promoting its free-range positioning. The on- pack reward scheme, 'Make a Moo', rewards purchases with tokens that can be redeemed for goodies. ...

LAUNCHES/REBRANDS: Disney extension.(Walt Disney Studios launches Disneynature)(Brief article)
May 8, 2008... Disney is tapping into the environmental movement by launching an extension called Disneynature. The unit, based in France, will produce cinematic nature documentaries using the team behind the award-winning BBC series Planet Earth. The company...

LAUNCHES/REBRANDS: Puma marketing agency.
May 8, 2008... Sportswear brand Puma has launched an entertainment marketing agency, based in Los Angeles. The division will aim to create new partnerships and product placements in film and TV shows. Puma already has tie-ins with the new Wachowski...

LAUNCHES/REBRANDS: New architectural concept.
May 8, 2008... With its first flagship store in Tokyo's Ginza district, Swarovski has launched a new architectural concept for its brand, which will be replicated across all other Swarovski boutiques in 2008. The store showcases the entire Daniel Swarovski...

FINANCIAL: Starbucks.
May 8, 2008... Starbucks has cut its financial forecasts for 2008, blaming the economic environment, described as the "worst in the company's history". Revenues have been particularly affected in California and Florida, which account for a third of US sales....

FINANCIAL: Sony Ericsson.
May 8, 2008... Sony Ericsson has reported a 48% fall to E133m (#106m) in first-quarter net profit after weak sales of high-end phone handsets. Sales also dropped 7.6% to E2.7bn (#2.1bn) despite a drop in selling prices for the brand's products. ...

FINANCIAL: Volkswagen.
May 8, 2008... Volkswagen has reported net profits up 26% in its first quarter to E929m (#749m), while revenues grew 1.4% to E27bn (#21.6bn). Rival marque General Motors saw its first-quarter sales slip, putting it behind Toyota in the race to be the world's...

FINANCIAL: Apple Computer.
May 8, 2008... Technology company Apple has announced a net profit of $1.05bn (#500m) with a 43% increase in revenue to $7.51bn (#3.77bn) in the quarter ending March 2008. Strong Mac computer sales helped the firm with a 51% growth for the division,...

FINANCIAL: Credit Suisse.
May 8, 2008... Credit Suisse has reported a loss for the first three months of the year. The bank made a net loss of 2.1bn Swiss francs (#1bn) after writing down 5.3bn Swiss francs (#2.6bn) in mortgage securities and loans. The bank blamed the results on the...

FINANCIAL: Yahoo!
May 8, 2008... Yahoo!, currently fending off a takeover offer from Microsoft, has reported that its profits tripled in the first three months of 2008. It reported $542.2m (#271.5m) compared with $142.4m (#71.6m) a year earlier. Copyright: Centaur...

FINANCIAL: Omnicom Group.
May 8, 2008... Omnicom Group, the world's largest marketing-services company, has posted a 14% quarterly rise in net income to $208.7m (#104.8m) year- on- year. Marketing services group Chime Communications, which owns agencies such as Bell Pottinger, has...

APPOINTMENTS: MySpace.
May 8, 2008... Social networking brand MySpace has promoted Jeff Berman to president of sales and marketing. Berman will take up the newly created position from executive vice president of content and marketing. He will oversee online marketing, along with...

APPOINTMENTS: PepsiCo International.
May 8, 2008... Dave Burwick has become executive vice president of commercial for PepsiCo International. He will be located in the US, promoted from the position of president of Pepsi-Quaker Tropicana Gatorade - a job he has held since 2006. Copyright:...

APPOINTMENTS: BT Group.(appoints Ian Livingston)(Brief article)
May 8, 2008... Ian Livingston has been appointed BT Group's new chief executive. A management shuffle sees Livingston step up from his role as chief executive of BT Retail, succeeding Ben Verwaayen. Gavin Patterson will become the new chief executive of BT...

APPOINTMENTS: ibuyeco.
May 8, 2008... UK insurance firm BGL Group has appointed David Lundholm to the newly created position of director of carbon neutral insurance company provider ibuyeco. Lundholm has previously worked as marketing director at PepsiCo Restaurants. ...

TRENDSPOTTER: Truly own brand.
May 8, 2008... Consumers get to design their own packaging. Jo Roberts reports We all like to think we have distinctive personalities and now brands are helping people to communicate their individuality. Consumers can now fill their shopping basket with...

BRAND STUNT OF THE MONTH: Bubble wrap.(Sony Europe GmbH)(Brief article)
May 8, 2008... Sony let the public shoot its new ad in a deluge of foam. By Jo Roberts Sony is hoping to maintain its reputation for innovative advertising after using an estimated 460 million litres of foam to promote its range of digital imaging...

OPINION: Give celebrity tie-ins a genuine face.
May 8, 2008... Cindy Champness, head of marketing at beauty brand Jelly Pong Pong, says well managed celebrity collaborations are worth their weight in gold Celebrity consciousness is so integrated with consumers' lifestyles these days that all brands...

OPINION: Mixing oil with pitch performance.
May 8, 2008... A passion for statistics is the key to making sponsorship of Euro 2008 a good fit for Castrol, argues head of European marketing Vijay Solanki There are many examples of brands sponsoring events, be it a music festival or a sports...

IKEA: Taking it the chintz.(IKEA International A/S)
May 8, 2008... The IKEA furniture chain, famous for low prices and long queues, is feeling the global credit squeeze. Anders Dahlvig, chief executive of the Swedish firm, has admitted the downturn in the housing market has hit flatpack furniture sales in...

PARENT NETWORKING SPACE: Baby boom.
May 8, 2008... Today's new parents want the same luxuries and social links they enjoyed before having a family - and astute brands are offering those comforts in a child-friendly space. Maeve Hosea reports Tamara, like most 30-year-old women in London,...

PROFILE - MAX RAVEN: Acting well under pressure.
May 8, 2008... Some lucky decisions were involved in Max Raven being well placed to shine at CNN, but mostly it was perfectionism and the ability to juggle a fearsome work schedule. He talks to Ruth Mortimer Max Raven, senior vice president of...

CASE STUDY - DOVE: Beneath the skin.
May 8, 2008... Dove's campaigns using 'real' women have challenged media-manufactured perceptions of beauty, but experts warn that it could be in danger of becoming too earnest. Maeve Hosea reports Turning the pages of a glossy magazine, you might not...

ENTERTAINMENT TIE-INS: Piece of the action.
May 8, 2008... Brands are keen to work themselves into the plot on conventional and internet TV programmes. For some there is a happy outcome, but for others it ends in tears. Jo Roberts finds out why When the Ma Perkins serial was broadcast via the...

CASE STUDY: Oakley UK/Bebo.
May 8, 2008... With people no longer glued to traditional media, such as TV and newspapers, many brands are looking outside conventional advertising methods to build their business. With an interest in attracting a young audience, sunglasses and sportswear...

CASE STUDY: BBC TV.(Case study)
May 8, 2008... Watching television on the internet is becoming much more familiar to consumers. In the UK, for example, Channel Four and BBC TV offer the online on-demand services 4OD and iPlayer respectively and will soon combine on the long-awaited...

CUSTOMER VALUE MANAGEMENT: The true value of customers.
May 8, 2008... Brands must look beyond CRM to 'customer value management'. It's all about finding out which customers have the greatest value, explains Paul Tullo In the late 1980s, the marketing community became obsessed with an acronym: CRM. Standing...

FUTURE-PROOFING DESIGN: Design immune to time.
May 8, 2008... How do you go about creating a design that will still look elegant and contemporary 15 years into the future? David Davies rose to the challenge for Terminal Five Future-proofing any brand design project, whether graphic or environmental,...

SELF-ASSESSMENT: Are you up to scratch?(tips to assess brand image)
May 8, 2008... How does your brand experience measure up in customers' eyes? Bob Bayman offers some tips to retail managers everywhere on how to assess their brand These are just a sample of my everyday consumer experiences. For most people, these...

WORKING CONDITIONS: The war to hang on to talent.
May 8, 2008... Mhairi McEwan and Andy Bird believe it's time the marketing industry embraced flexibility and stopped losing many of its most valuable employees It has been said many times before, but it's worth saying again. On average, marketing...

WINNING LOYALTY: Search for a precious ingredient.(Column)
May 8, 2008... Andrew Doyle defines the elements that create a 'precious brand' that really engages consumers and has the power to win their loyalty for a lifetime I first came across the band Dexys Midnight Runners some time in the 1980s. It was...

NON-MATERIAL CONSUMERISM: Out of the material world.
May 8, 2008... Brands need to embrace the idea of 'de-materialism', argues Lewis Allen, to secure commercial success and help to safeguard the future of the planet Brands and shops are everywhere and we like it that way. Most of us shoppers will have...

BOOK REVIEW: Self-help in the Carnegie model.(Book review)
May 8, 2008... Hug Your People By Jack Mitchell Hyperion, 2008 Rob Oubridge, chief executive of consultancy Aqueduct, finds no surprises but strong echoes of Dale Carnegie's 1936 business classic in Jack Mitchell's Hug Your People A French...

BOOK REVIEW: Three from me - Rob Oubridge also recommends.(Brief article)(Book review)
May 8, 2008... How to Win Friends and Influence People By Dale Carnegie Vermilion; new edition 2007 First published in 1936, this is still a great fundamental guide to man management. Carnegie's razor sharp insights and blinding truths strip...

From the bookshelf of Stephen Bell.(The Substance of Style)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 8, 2008... Stephen Bell, creative director, Coley Porter Bell The Substance of Style By Virginia Postrel I spotted this book while on a business trip to New York. The title just leapt out at me. Postrel examines the relevance and...

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: The truth about NPD.
May 8, 2008... Today, one in three new product launches are withdrawn after year one. Only one in 20 will return handsomely on the launch investment. We are also seeing early signs that consumers feel overloaded with choice and the innovation rush of...

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT: Thinking outside the brand.
May 8, 2008... Innovation is a company's lifeblood. Whether channelled towards new products or services, stimulating and exciting the market is an essential part of business success. With savvy consumers demanding the newest and the best products,...

MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS: Ten trends in effective marketing.
May 8, 2008... In a recent meeting of a large UK-based FMCG company, the chief executive asked the chief marketing officer: "If I give you an extra #500,000 for your marketing budget over the next two months, how many incremental sales can you generate...

Brand Stats: May.
May 8, 2008... Market focus Chewing gum Across Britain, France, Germany and Spain, almost 50% of people aged 15 and over use chewing gum. French adults are more likely than their British, Spanish, or German counterparts to chew gum, with almost 60%...