Brand Strategy articles from November 2002

Brand Strategy archives from November 2002

You can't buy loyalty. (Leader).(success of Tesco loyalty cards)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... The good news for Tesco shoppers is that they don't have to choose between low prices and loyalty cards--they can have both (BS, October). And if Mintel's Richard Perks is right in his assertion that "there's no evidence that retailers which...

Brand success lies with sustainability. (Leader).(corporate social responsibility)
November 1, 2002... Over 30 years ago Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman stated: "The business of business is business." This is no longer the case. Today companies need to be seen to be concerned with broader environmental issues and ethical quandaries...

ITV is to consolidate the majority of its 15 regional brand identities under a single ITV1 brand, aside from Scottish, Grampian, Ulster and Channel. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... ITV is to consolidate the majority of its 15 regional brand identities under a single ITV1 brand, aside from Scottish, Grampian, Ulster and Channel. The new onscreen identity was developed in-house by the Network Promotions Unit and in...

Boots Healthcare International (BHI). (Marketing).(consolidates advertising)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Boots Healthcare International (BHI) is to consolidate its brand advertising under ad agency McCann Erickson. The agency will manage global advertising for all of BHI's brands including Nurofen and Strepsils. The consolidation means that Grey...

Martini. (Marketing).(brand repositioning)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Vermouth brand, Martini, is repositioning itself as an evening aperitif, having discovered that its `any time, any place, anywhere' strapline confused customers. The company has employed ad agency WCRS to produce a 1.5m [pounds sterling] TV...

Ad agency Mother has picked up the 41m [pounds sterling] Orange. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Ad agency Mother has picked up the 41m [pounds sterling] Orange creative account, following Lowe's resignation in September. Orange marketing head, Jeremy Dale, worked with Mother during his time at ITV Digital, where the agency was responsible...

Traditionally the preserve of the over 60s, indigestion remedy Rennie is launching a 5m [pounds sterling] campaign to target a younger market. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Traditionally the preserve of the over 60s, indigestion remedy Rennie is launching a 5m [pounds sterling] campaign to target a younger market. Of this, 4m [pound sterling] is being spent on a TV campaign developed by Bates with media planning...

Black Tower, Banrock Station, Echo Falls and Croft Original are all wing for the Christmas booze budget. (Marketing).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Black Tower, Banrock Station, Echo Falls and Croft Original are all wing for the Christmas booze budget. Germany's Black Tower has been enjoying a revival since Big Brother 3 winner Kate drank nothing else--sales have risen 44%. Its success is...

Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill. (Marketing).(complete advertising, sponsorship ban)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... The Government's Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill which aims to ban tobacco advertising by the end of the year, gained an unopposed third reading in the House of Commons in October. This paves the way for a complete ban with legislation...

Tetley Tea. (Marketing).(ads ruled misleading )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... In a separate ruling, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled against Tetley Tea, claiming that its ads are misleading. The brand's claim that it was good for the heart was said to be unfounded. Tetley has agreed to alter the wording on...

Diary.(marketing seminars)(Calendar)
November 1, 2002... The Marketing Society--Agency Client Relationships Shaw Park Plaza, London 12 November 2002 Have you been thinking that your agency/client just doesn't understand you? This seminar aims to uncover the issues that hamper clear communication...

AOL. (Appointments).(Sharon Lang)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... AOL has promoted Sharon Lang to vice president of marketing, responsible for the UK's brand and acquisition strategy. Lang originally joined AOL in 2001 as director of marketing.

Dreamworks. (Appointments).(Franco Di Cesare)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Franco Di Cesare has been appointed marketing director for Dreamworks home entertainment division. Formerly European marketing director at Nintendo, he will be responsible for Dreamworks' video and DVD output.

Hyundai. (Appointments).(Jim Campbell)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Hyundai has announced the appointment of Jim Campbell as marketing director. He joins the company from Rolls Royce/Bentley motors where he was global marketing director.

Volvo. (Appointments).(Simon Munn, Hugh Reid, Gerry Keaney)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... At Volvo UK, Simon Munn has been promoted to the position of sales and marketing director. The promotion is one of a series of moves within the company which saw his predecessor, Hugh Reid, move to replace managing director Gerry Keaney who has...

Transport for London. (News Round-Up).(advertising campaign)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Transport for London has begun a five-month, 12.7m [pounds sterling] campaign to educate Londoners about the new inner city congestion charge effective from 27 February 2003. The advertising by TBWA will incorporate newspaper, TV, radio and...

Marks & Spencer is to extend its existing three-franchise operation of Simply Food. (Launches).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Marks & Spencer is to extend its existing three-franchise operation of Simply Food stores at Victoria, Liverpool St and Marylebone, to 40 railway locations around the UK. The company hopes to take advantage of the 650 million rail passengers a...

Soreen. (Launches).(cereal bar GO)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... February 2003 will see the first non-loaf brand extension from Soreen. The new cereal bar called GO is aimed at people on the move who want healthy eating choices but treats too. The company expects the cereal bar market to increase by 70% over...

Levi Strauss. (Launches).(sub-brand Type 1)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Levi Strauss is poised to launch a global denim sub-brand called Type 1 that it hopes will have even more impact than its `Twisted' series. Ads created by BBH will roll out across TV, cinema and outdoor at the beginning of 2003 and the product...

European Commission. (Financial).(design registration)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... The European Commission has announced that EU-wide registration of designs will be possible from early 2003. In the past, companies and individuals have had to register their designs separately in each country which was time consuming,...

Interpublic. (Financial).(earnings drop of 71% in third quarter 2002 hurts stock price)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Despite reported improvements in the market, advertising group Interpublic's shares have fallen 40% following its revelation that earnings would be almost 71% lower than forecasted for the third quarter. Problems with Interpublic's sports...

Publicis. (Financial).(to restructure ad agencies by brand category )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Publicis is expected to merge its acquired ad agencies D'Arcy and Leo Burnett following the loss of a number of high profile D'Arcy clients which included Mars and Coca-Cola. The merger comes after Publicis paid 2.9bn [pounds sterling] for...

Belgian telecoms provider Belgacom has been given a new identity by brand consultants Landor Associates. (International).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Belgian telecoms provider Belgacom has been given a new identity by brand consultants Landor Associates. It is aimed at improving public perception of the company which was regarded as an old fashioned, fixed line provider. Belgacom hopes the...

Broadcast branding specialist, Lambie Nairn, has created the brand identity for the new Discovery Kids. (International).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Broadcast branding specialist, Lambie Nairn, has created the brand identity for the new Discovery Kids block which airs in the US on NBC for three hours every Saturday. The identity, known as `The Chomp', is intended to embody Discovery Kids'...

Zero tolerance for time-poor, cash-rich cynical customers: Tom Andrews warns that brands need to wise up to the increased intolerance of today's busy, cynical consumer. (Trendspotter).
November 1, 2002... Get it right first time, or don't bother. Brands are under pressure from the ever-increasing demands placed on them by time-poor, cash-rich consumers. Due to rising baseline expectations of customer service and products, brands are expected to...

If I could get my hands on bonnie Scotland ... I'd give it a bloody good shake and get it to wake up to the big, wide world around it, says Virgin's Will Whitehorn. (In An Ideal World).(how to provide Scotland with a brand image)
November 1, 2002... Scotland needs a better sense of its own identity. I expected that devolution would have a fundamental effect on the way that the Scots felt about themselves, but it hasn't. If anything, anti-English feeling in Scotland has intensified in the...

Why super Nova went supernova and vanished: Ruth Mortimer asks why an acclaimed upmarket women's magazine couldn't make the grade despite a promising revival. (That Was the Brand That Was).(IPC Magazines Ltd.'s re-launch of Nova failed)
November 1, 2002... It was critically praised but commercially it was a disaster. Nova women's magazine was launched in 1965 as part of the Mirror Group's magazines division. It was hugely acclaimed, mixing the serious issues of the day with fashion. Contributors...

Brandspeak.(Brief Article)(Glossary)
November 1, 2002... SLOB: "Slow/Obsolete" inventory, for example, overstock of a poor-selling product Source: www.culturefreak.com

MSN swoops in on AOL launch. (Brand Stunt Of The Month).(Microsoft Corp.'s skating MSN butterflies upstage America Online's newest browser launch)
November 1, 2002... The world's two biggest internet browsers prepared to do battle as they both launched their latest browser versions within days of each other. On 15 October, AOL launched its latest product at New York's Lincoln Center with the help of Alanis...

Conservatives: the Conservative Party has become a shadow of its former self since the 1997 general election, which saw its worst election showing since 1906. It has seen three leaders since '97--John Major, William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith, but none have been able to restore the party to its former glory. Ruth Mortimer asks three experts and a consumer what the Conservative Party needs to do to rebuild its brand. (Brand MOT).
November 1, 2002... I don't know what the Conservative Party stands for any more. It's a faded brand. Perhaps it's because the political issues are so complex that it finds it difficult to adequately convey the party's unique selling point. Because of this, it is...

Salaries with a silver lining: the marketing industry has had a tough few years, but the rewards are still high. (News Analysis).(salary survey of UK senior and junior marketing managers)
November 1, 2002... It's been a long time since marketers had good news. Abbey National recently announced plans to cut a third of its 317 UK retail marketing posts and it has been rumoured that telecoms business Orange plans to cut 37 British marketing jobs this...

The virtual gaming world finally gives way to adland: the private world of the gamer has been penetrated by the big brands. Morag Cuddeford Jones asks if console games will become as commercialised as TV and the internet or if the current ad hoc approach will remain. (News Analysis).(consumer brands place products in video games)
November 1, 2002... Nowhere is safe. Even in the sanctuary of the teen bedroom, marketers are insinuating their brands into every nook and cranny. Electronic Arts, producer of the hugely popular The Sims games series, has struck a deal with McDonald's restaurants...

Brand planning in China: Miranda Li discusses a new type of Chinese consumer--the `new mids' are brand-conscious and willing to spend. (Opinion).
November 1, 2002... Early entrants into China were mesmerised by the prospect of a 1.3 billion consumers. Even Coca-Cola is said to have imagined what a magnificent prospect it would have been if every Chinese person consumed just one can of Coke a year. It...

Meaningful sponsorship: Will Harris questions the value of old style sponsorship and says clients must be able to justify a venture commercially. (Opinion).
November 1, 2002... Have you seen Wayne's World? Do you remember the bit with the blatant product positioning, around the soft drink, pizza and running shoe? Did you understand the joke? Did those people who paid good money to see Wayne and Garth at the...

Hytner rises from dog's dinner to prime time: ITV marketing director, Jim Hytner, talks to Morag Cuddeford Jones about how several false starts in the world of theatre and gastronomy led him to become a top antagonist in broadcast marketing. (Profile).(profile of Independent Television's marketing director Jim Hytner)(Interview)
November 1, 2002... If it wasn't for a football match, ITV would be facing a major business and brand overhaul without the guiding hand of marketing director, Jim Hytner. He has a challenge on his hands, as ITV has been the focus of relentless media attention...

Nicked by the fashionistas: Julia Bowe, marketing director at Harvey Nichols, explains to Elen Lewis why she believes the premium fashion store's brand is strong enough to open stores outside London and expand its own-label range. (Harvey Nichols).(Harvey Nichols' brand image)(Interview)
November 1, 2002... The Harvey Nichols' brand has been imprinted on the nation's consciousness ever since Absolutely Fabulous duo Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley parked their Porsche on the pavement outside the Knightsbridge fashion store. The retailer became...

Sense and sustainability: sustainability is flavour of the month following the Johannesburg conference. Morag Cuddeford Jones asks if companies are telling the right stories and if the brands are getting the message through. (Sustainability).(proper marketing of sustainability initiatives)
November 1, 2002... Anti-capitalist protesters are on the rampage and riot police regularly station themselves outside World Trade Organisation (WTO) meetings to hold back the great unwashed. Capitalists and corporates are the baddies of the story. "We care...

More than gas and hot air: by focusing on the details, British Gas and parent company Centrica are trying to get sustainable consumer behaviour on the everyday agenda. (Case Study: Sustainability).
November 1, 2002... Sustainability is a huge concept for the consumer to grasp and it's clear that trying to assimilate the `big picture' does more harm than good. Perhaps this is why companies prefer to focus on local initiatives, often falling under the label of...

Consumer life made easy: the housewife is dead--or at least her chores are severely diminished. Ruth Mortimer asks what the changes in societal structure mean for FMCG companies and why a move into the services sector is likely. (Special report: FMCG).
November 1, 2002... Nineteen-fifties Britain was the era of the housewife. The country was in recovery from a devastating war and working women returned to the home. The infrastructure that had made it possible for women to hold jobs during the conflict...

From the green into the black: Ruth Mortimer looks at organic chocolate Green and Black's and asks whether being worthy is enough or if consumers need more to convince them to buy this brand as organic products become mainstream. (Special report: FMCG).
November 1, 2002... The confectionery sector is cut-throat. It is worth around 3.4bn [pounds sterling], according to Mintel, and competition is fierce. Any product launched in the market is quickly followed by a flurry of me-too imitators. But despite constant...

Brands in training: David Taylor argues that too much brand strategy work is divorced from business reality. He suggests practical workouts to help ensure that strategy boosts brand and business performance. (Brand Papers).(how to work out an outdated brand effectively)
November 1, 2002... Too much brand strategy work is over-intellectual and artificially separated from the harsh realities of the business world. Large amounts of time, energy and money are spent on projects that have no impact on the bottom line. In these cases,...

Brands on a higher level: Kevin Thomson sets out a framework for companies seeking to live the brand, called `Level three branding'. He says that organisations must be sociable to survive. (Brand Papers).(employees more important than ever in aiding or harming brands)
November 1, 2002... Level three branding is a concept which shows the different stages that companies go through as they become `sociable' organisations. About two years ago, MCA Communicates asked consumers what put them off brands across all industries. We...

Shock advertising: is the rise in advertising complaints due to offensive material or is the public feeling jaded by the lack of relevance? Mark Tomblin examines the use of shock tactics in advertising. (Brand Papers).
November 1, 2002... Apparently we are all getting more sensitive. Or advertising is becoming more offensive. Or, quite possibly, both. We know this because the bodies that deal with advertising complaints--the Advertising Standards Authority and the...

Mind your brands: every brand has a complex pattern of associations for the consumer. Wendy Gordon draws some insights from brands and brain activity and explains how a brand is stored in the memory. (Brand Papers).
November 1, 2002... A brand in memory is the totality of stored synaptic connections between neurones. In other words, it is gradually built up through the combination of many past experiences and ongoing current encounters with a brand. People observe how...

Self-centricity and the CEO: Robert Wood identifies four types of CEO and emphasises that a brand's destiny lies in more than one pair of hands. Employees, customers and shareholders can all make a difference. (Brand Papers).(chief executive officers influence brands, as do other company employees)
November 1, 2002... Chief executives have spent too much time in the spotlight recently, pulling their companies on to centre stage for all the wrong reasons. On each occasion, it's been a tale of self-centricity by the CEO. The CEO has acted as the company's...

Outsource with care: the customer's experience does not always tally with the brand's values. Alan Pennington warns that marketers may have outsourced their brand without even realising it by using call centres. (Brand Papers).(outsourcing call centers treats brand image as a commodity, to marketer's peril)
November 1, 2002... Over the past few years many businesses have reviewed their operations under the banner of `core' or `non-core' with the intention of cutting costs and concentrating the business on what is eventually defined as `core'. No business, as a result...

The perils of comparing ads: always say what you mean and mean what you say. Ravinder Chahil analyses the price war and a court case between Currys and Comet and warns against the limits of comparative advertising. (Brand Papers).(suit over truth in advertising prices explained)
November 1, 2002... A common way of selling goods is to compare the price of your goods with those of another retailer. This can be especially important where the goods that you are selling are essentially the same. In this kind of situation it is common to find...

More milk please, we're European. (Trends).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Europeans love their dairy produce, according to new research from Leatherhead Food International. Twenty-three out of the 35 largest dairy businesses in the world are based in the region. This dwarfs any other part of the world in terms of...

Customer data gets wasted. (Trends).(survey finds European retailers fail to use customer data)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... European retailers are failing to make use of their customer data, according to the Retail CRM survey from management consultancy Accenture. The report found that while 68% of companies surveyed claimed to have information on more than half of...

Let's get together and do some marketing. (Trends).(partnership marketing a trend in UK)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Partnership marketing--where two or more complementary brands conduct joint marketing campaigns--is a mainstream discipline for British companies, suggests new research from marketing agency Mediator. Sixty-four per cent of the top thousand UK...

Global Power Brands. (Research).
November 1, 2002... Every country has its own national characteristics and preferences. But it appears that the same few brands are well-known and popular throughout the world. A study of `Global Power Brands' from consumer research company Roper ASW indicates...

Targeting split personalities. (Research).(marketing to teens difficult without insight into current youth)
November 1, 2002... Seventeen year-old Adam Hildreth is the UK's youngest managing director, running online teen community Dubit.co.uk. Far from being a kid's hobby, Dubit is used by corporate clients such as Dr Pepper and Diesel as an insight tool into the hearts...

Hanging on the smelly phone. (Last Word).(Electronic Aromas developing aromatherapy device for mobile phones)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Is there nothing that mobile phones can't do? We've had handsets that take pictures and play music. Now it's time for the perfumed phone. Scottish company Electronic Aromas is working on technology that will allow 3G mobiles to release...

Head and shoulders above the rest. (Last Word).(Procter and Gamble tests scented ad poster for Head and Shoulders shampoo)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Electronic Aromas isn't the only company to assault consumers' nostrils this month. FMCG business Procter and Gamble is testing a scheme that allows the public to smell the fragrance of Head and Shoulders shampoo through posters advertising the...

A twin coffin they take you off in. (Last Word).(funeral home in Chile develops coffin allowing couples to be buried together)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... From the sublime to the ridiculous. Brand Strategy always applauds innovation, but this may be taking things too far. A Chilean funeral home has designed a new type of coffin, which allows couples who died together to be buried in the same...

Domes for dainty dames. (Last Word).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... At last--the news that women (and men) in the UK have been waiting for. A new plastic bra has gone on sale that claims to allow women to enlarge their breasts without surgery or drugs. The Brava device--which comprises two plastic suction...

Innovation and collaboration: marketing now breeds conservatism among manufacturers, it's retailers that are taking over as tomorrow's innovators.(consumer branded goods manufacturers inhibited in innovation)
November 1, 2002... Brands and innovation go together like bees and honey. Or do they? Conventional marketing wisdom is that branding and innovation walk hand in hand. Brands help to facilitate the development of valued new products and services, and this...