Comcast Town

March 10, 2009

I think one of the brands that uses interactive in a really wise way lately is Comcast. The awareness they've gotten since their 2005 fantastic Comcastic (not online anymore?) and other pieces like Tripleslanguage has made the brand being known even in places where Comcast services are not available, so i'm always kind of expectant what they will be releasing next.
These days, and again done by Goodby Silverstein and Partners, working together with Nexus Productions and Unit9, there is a new campaign called Dream Big. Presenting a fantastic website using a look-alike of isometric view Sims-style games, you can join the so-called Comcast Town, choose a neighborhood and then build your own space, using the capabilities of the Triple Play feature (tv, phone, internet) and inserting the product in a really smart way inside the experience.

Also i liked very much the way in which user interacts with others in the website and also through social networks like Facebook making a good use of Facebook Connect to get users logged onto the site, and doing it in a way that really makes it not so disruptive as i once wrote.

I won't extend very much, just visit the site and discover it because it's worth a good time spent on it. I found that there's also some TV commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYWxV_gR9ro

The dancing t-shirts

March 12, 2009
An infinite number of animated t-shirts populates the summer collection of Japanese fashion brand Sunny Clouds. The website is pretty basic but also quite fresh in presenting the product and driving immediate sales.

The animations with the t-shirt definitely buy the products some attention, and even the product catalogue shots become interesting in a context that communicates a feeling of joy and makes you feel Spring is almost here.

Dubai Lynx Winners Revealed

Wednesday 18 March 2009

The winners of the 3rd Dubai Lynx Awards were revealed last night at the Awards Ceremony which took place to a packed room at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Media category was the strongest with a total of 39 winners, followed by Print with 26, there were 21 in Outdoor, 18 trophies were awarded in the Direct & Sales Promotion category, 13 in TV/Cinema, 11 in Interactive, 4 Radio winners and 3 Integrated winners.
The Media Grand Prix went to Starcom MediaVest Group, Dubai for the ‘Fallen In love Again’ Mars Chocolate campaign.

The Print Grand Prix went to Leo Burnett Cairo for the Heinz Ketchup campaign ‘Egyptian Hotdog’, ‘Egyptian Burger’, ‘Egyptian Pizza’.
The Outdoor Grand Prix was awarded to FP7 Dubai for the Braindrain Education programme campaign ‘Gumi Bears’, ‘Poodle Balloons’, ‘Anatomy’.
Fortune Promoseven, Cairo won the TV/Cinema Grand Prix for the Coca-Cola 2008 European Football campaign ‘France’, ‘Italy’, ‘Germany’, ‘Spain’.
There were no Grand Prix awarded in the Radio, Interactive, Direct & Sales Promotion and Integrated categories.
FP7 Doha were honoured with the Agency of the Year. Runners up were FP7 Dubai in 2nd place and Y&R Dubai in 3rd.

The inaugural Media Agency of the Year trophy was awarded to Starcom MediaVest Group, Dubai with OMD Dubai taking 2nd place and in 3rd, Leo Burnett Beirut.

winners of the Young Creatives competitions were also revealed during the Ceremony with the team from TBWA-Raad in Dubai winning the Print competition and the team from Initiative Dubai winning the Media competition.

Also honoured during the ceremony were Melody Entertainment Ltd which was awarded with the prestigious title of Advertiser of the Year and Tanvir Kanji, Head of Inca Tanvir, who was named as Advertising Person of the Year.

The winning work, which was judged over the last week by 29 top international creatives and media experts from 14 countries in Dubai, can be viewed at www.dubailynx.com/winners from 13:00 GST / 09:00 GMT.

USA | Pizza consumer foodservice

Company Watch: Pizza Hut rebranding to Pasta Hut – a healthy move?
25 Nov 2008


Global pizza restaurant chain Pizza Hut announced the temporary renaming of 30 of its outlets to Pasta Hut in the UK, effective from 6 October 2008. This move has generated a buzz, but opinions are divided as to whether such a gimmick can boost sales.With an estimated 33% value share in 2008, Pizza Hut remains the undisputed leader of chained pizza restaurants in the UK. However, aggressive expansion by smaller players such as Prezzo, Strada and Deep Pan Pizza has contributed to the erosion of Pizza Hut's share (down from 38% in 2001).

In order to bolster sales, Pizza Hut is in the process of revamping its image and this daring rebranding is part of that initiative. The renaming to Pasta Hut has been confined to the UK, and carried out on a much larger scale than the temporary name change in the US in April 2008. The move was accompanied by a television and newspaper advertising campaign. A separate website has been created for Pasta Hut on which there is a poll for consumers to vote for or against a long-term name change, thus making them feel part of the decision-making process. This marketing strategy has generated both a buzz and strong debate about the effectiveness of such tactics.

Ongoing efforts to shed unhealthy image and move upmarketWhen the company announced the temporary renaming of 30 of its outlets to Pasta Hut, the move was positioned as part of its ongoing commitment to healthier food. Some 12 new pasta dishes will be added to the menu. While Pizza Hut has not made explicit claims about pasta being healthier than pizza, it has simultaneously improved its salad bar and added more vegetables to children's meals.
This ties in with steps that Pizza Hut had already taken towards a healthier menu such as reducing the salt in its meals to bring it into line with recommended government levels. It had already removed trans-fats from its menu at the end of 2007 and is still in the process of making more dishes low-fat or virtually fat-free.The campaign is also seen as an attempt to move upmarket and attract a wider consumer base. One of its new television advertisements features young mothers lunching together on bowls of pasta. Expanding its range beyond pizza will enable Pizza Hut to attract an older and more sophisticated consumer, but without losing those consumers its pizzas are aimed at.
This will enable it to compete more effectively with its more upmarket competitors which already have a wide range of pasta dishes on their menus. It means that Pizza/Pasta Hut can offer something for the whole family – more indulgent fare for younger family members and healthier offerings for older ones. This is in line with the US move, which firmly placed Pizza Hut as a family option.

Early indicatorsIt is not possible at this stage to speak with any certainty about growth in till receipts as a result of the move. However, results are through for the smaller Pasta Hut US renaming earlier in the year. There, both sales of pasta and overall traffic grew as a result of the move, and, according to a company spokesperson in the UK, before the re-naming, pasta dishes accounted for 3-4% of Pizza Hut's revenue, but are on course to reach a 10% share by the end of the year. Tougher times call for bolder measuresPizza Hut needed to do something dramatic to break free from being pigeonholed as a pizza restaurant.
Changing the name, albeit temporarily, is a bold move. Difficult times are ahead for CFS outlets as eating out becomes one of the first casualties of the financial crisis. So, a move that attracts a wider consumer base by aiming more upmarket whilst retaining its “family friendly/budget” feel can only be seen as a strategic move, however gimmicky the press may find it. An economy outlet that offers a more upmarket product range is well positioned to mop up higher-income families feeling the pinch that would normally dine out in more upmarket outlets. With all CFS restaurants looking for ways to weather the storm of economic recession, expect more high-profile marketing campaigns. It is unlikely that other restaurant chains will choose temporary or even long-term rebranding, but marketing and new product development will play an even more important role in difficult times.

Restaurants will need to be canny in order to safeguard profit margins in the coming months. In this case the margins on pasta and pizza do not differ widely, although cheese price hikes can impact pizza mark ups. However, as food prices increase at different rates, restaurants may need to push products that will bring in higher margins. In addition, no one can afford to ignore the trend towards healthier eating. An introduction or shift to smaller menu portions may also be on the cards as a way to both safeguard revenues and promote healthier eating.Ratna Sita Handayani, Research Analsyt, Ratna.Sita@euromonitor.com

Global Tobacco: Survival strategies for a savage market

Global Tobacco: Survival strategies for a savage market
25 Nov 2008

Euromonitor International's new global briefing on the tobacco market entitled “Global Tobacco: Survival strategies for a savage marekt" offers a forward-looking appraisal at a time when the tobacco industry faces the most challenging and turbulent period in its long history.

The big global story in 2007 and 2008 is the tightening grip of tobacco control on world consumption. Western Europe, North America and Australasia all recorded volume declines in 2007 as smoking bans, pack warnings and tax hikes ramped up prices and took their toll on prevalence and per capita consumption.

How is the industry expected to react to the legislative onslaught? Five key trends and the questions for the future which they pose are analysed in this new format report. The trends and the questions are as follows:Tobacco control – how far can it go? Developing markets – can they maintain global volumes? Premium prices – can they stay robust? Industry consolidation – have we reached the endgame? Cigarette alternatives – will they replace cigarette volume decline?
Tobacco control is driving up prices and encouraging public smoking bans, both of which drive down volumes.

Consumption in many developed markets is contracting but 'premiumisation' – improving the mix with a higher proportion of premium international brands, has meant values rising even where volumes fall. Can the formula continue as higher prices tempt consumers to down-trade?Tobacco is more concentrated in terms of ownership than any other industry, a great competitive advantage for the companies.

Is there anyone else to acquire? Will China join the acquisitions fray? And will cigars, smoking tobacco and smokeless products such as moist snuff make up for fewer cigarette smokers? These and other questions are answered in this new format report designed for easy understanding and swift insights for those involved in the industry in any capacity.For further insight, please contact Zora Milenkovic.

KeywordsAsia Pacific, Australasia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, North America, Western Europe, World Cigarettes, Cigars, Smoking tobacco Industry trends, The big picture

Simplicity like no other

Admap Magazine
September 2008, Issue 497
Marc Lawn

We are constantly reminded that brands and agencies need to keep evolving to stay ahead of the competition. This nagging anxiety comes from the fact that existing brands can quickly move into new categories, such as Starburst starting with sweets and moving into ice cream, while new brands can seemingly emerge from a couple's spare bedroom or a graduate's garage in a matter of months, such as Facebook.

Faced with these threats, more often than not, brands and agencies alike are looking to make things more complicated. The thinking seems to be that the more complicated a marketing initiative, the more impenetrable it will become to rivals and the greater revenue it will yield.
Furthermore, the temptation is to spread risk across multiple activities in the belief that the more a brand does, the greater the reward. However, doing more doesn't necessarily guarantee a greater return. In fact a blurred vision or approach can actually make things less effective. Many organisations create difficulties for themselves in this way.

In truth, the most effective marketing ideas work best when things are simple. The best schemes align an organisation behind them and perform a clear role within that organisation. Furthermore, the best schemes are clear for consumers to understand, are ones that make life easier for all, and importantly make it easier for consumers to spend.

In addition to making things more complicated, there is often undue focus on developing new products when altering existing products can be more successful. 'Innervention', the art of balancing the desire to innovate new products versus making the best of what you have, deserves greater attention, as there are generally very few really good new ideas out there.
Vauxhall's promotion that ran in the late 1990s where customers could pay 50% at the point of purchase and the rest over two years is a prime example of simple, clear messaging. This promotion resulted in the majority of cars being sold in this way and in turn generated a sales uplift.

The best activity should bring the brand to life, and not be clouded with financial jargon or complicated detail. Mixed messages can prove costly.

Famously in the US, a shopping channel changed the phrase 'call now, our service team are standing by to take your call', to 'if you can't get through at first please keep trying'. This subtle change of language and tone made a huge difference. Calls to the channel increased by 70%. This example just goes to show how straightforward and intelligent language generates results.

When Manchester United Football Club, in the 1990s, started using a variety of colours for its away shirts, the brand suffered a severe downturn, as did the team's away performances. Grey, blue, black and yellow simply did not represent the brand or the club, due to the overwhelmingly positive association of Manchester United and the colour red. The initiative, intended as a money-spinner, backfired and the multi-coloured shirts were later scrapped.

When marketing truly aligns a business and a brand the results can be spectacular. Sony Bravia's acclaimed 'colour like no other' campaigns demonstrate the virtues of simplicity. In an age of time-poor consumers, brands need to cut through the clutter with clear and simple messages.

This year, Walkers has launched its biggest promotion to date, marking its first promotional activity since its successful 'Win an iPod' campaign in 2005. The new Brit Trips on-pack promotion offers consumers the chance to take up one of 14,000 offers on trips to destinations in the UK such as Alton Towers, Madam Tussauds and Butlins.

The digital mechanic requires consumers to register online, where they can enter the on-pack codes and collect points. Amazingly, a total of 32 parties have come together to create the promotion yet, despite the inevitable complexity behind the scenes, to the public the promotion is simple: eat crisps made from great British potatoes and visit great British attractions.

All the public has to do is register online, collect points, choose the reward and redeem the voucher. Lateral thinking has cleverly extended Walkers' use of British potatoes to create a promotional campaign that is simple, effective and one that ties into the brand's over-arching advertising campaign.

The mechanics behind a simple idea may well be complicated, but they should remain out of sight and not be overly disruptive within an organisation.

With reports indicating that growing numbers of UK consumers are using ever-increasing amounts of media at any one time, such as reading a magazine while watching the TV, successful marketing ideas are those that excite, enrich, amuse and shock but, most of all, are ones that are simple.

Marc Lawn is director of retail operations for Dubai World.marclawn@allsearchengines.co.uk

Funny Design Errors V.2

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Funny Design Errors V.2

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Providing Shoppers With Brand-Specific Recommendations Differentiates Big Box Electronics Retailers From Mass Merchant Stores During the Big Screen TV

J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Providing Shoppers With Brand-Specific Recommendations Differentiates Big Box Electronics Retailers From Mass Merchant Stores During the Big Screen TV Shopping Proce

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 12 /PRNewswire/

-- Shoppers who visit big box retailers for big screen televisions (sets with screens measuring 40 inches or larger) are more likely to receive recommendations of specific TV brands than
are shoppers at mass merchandise stores, according to the J.D. Power and
Associates and Market Force Information Television Retailer Insights(SM) report.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-a)

The report, produced jointly by J.D. Power and Associates and Market Force
Information, compiles the findings of more than 8,000 anonymous mystery
shoppers who shopped at more than 4,500 electronics retailers during 2008. The
mystery shopping research investigates salespersons' product knowledge and the
types of recommendations they make to customers.
The report finds that salespersons at big box retailers (such as Best Buy and
HH Gregg) tend to provide brand-specific recommendations to big screen TV
shoppers much more often than do salespeople at mass merchandisers (such as
Walmart and Target). A wide majority of salespersons in big box retail stores
will recommend a specific TV brand, with an average of 86 percent of
salespeople providing recommendations for LCD-type sets and 77 percent
providing brand recommendations for plasma TVs. However, even when shoppers
specifically request brand recommendations, a high percentage of salespersons
at mass merchant stores fail to provide any type of brand-specific
recommendation to shoppers. Among salespersons at mass merchandise stores, 51
percent declined to recommend a specific brand of plasma TV and 22 percent
declined to provide a brand recommendation for an LCD set.
Among salespersons who provide shoppers with brand recommendations for LCD
televisions, 37 percent recommend Samsung, while 30 percent recommend Sony.
Among salespersons who provide brand recommendations for plasma TVs, 36 percent
recommend Panasonic sets.
"Manufacturers and retailers can both benefit from increasing employee
training to make their salespersons more knowledgeable about the features and
benefits of each brand, which, in turn, will make sales staff better able to
address the needs and questions of shoppers--ultimately leading to a more
satisfying shopping experience," said Lawrence Wu, senior director of the
technology practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "The fact that many
salespersons fail to provide any brand recommendations to big screen TV
shoppers represents an opportunity for manufacturers to increase their brand recognition."
The report also finds that recommendations of plasma display sets by
salespersons increased considerably between the first and fourth quarters of
2008. During the first three months of 2008, approximately 17 percent of
salespersons recommended plasma big screen televisions to shoppers. This
increased to 26 percent between October and December 2008.
"During the past year, there has been a considerable increase in the
frequency of salespeople articulating key advantages of plasma TVs, including
smooth motion of fast-moving objects, better color and deeper blacks,"
said Wu.
The report finds that sales staff at big box retailers are far more likely to
inform big screen television shoppers of services the store offers--such as
delivery and installation--as well as other competitive advantages. For
example, nearly 60 percent of salespersons at big box retailers mention that
the store offers television installation services. In contrast, 45 percent of
television salespersons at mass merchants do not mention to shoppers any extra
services or advantages of making a purchase at their store.
The top five reasons for purchasing a big screen TV at a big box store, as
mentioned by salespersons, are installation services, financing, special sale
pricing, price matching and delivery. Although salespersons at mass merchants
mention advantages of purchasing at their stores infrequently, when advantages
are mentioned they tend to center around low prices, flexible return policies
and low sales pressure.
"Although low prices are important to shoppers, the importance of good
customer service cannot be overlooked, particularly in the current economic
environment," said Karl Maier, chief executive officer of Market Force.
"While mass merchant chains often have a reputation for having the lowest
prices, shoppers who are looking to receive the greatest value for their money
may turn to big box retailers, where they can also receive delivery,
installation and financing services as well as price-matching guarantees."

About Market Force Information
Market Force Information Inc. is the leading global customer experience
information and insights company for multi-location businesses including major
retailers, restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, financial institutions,
entertainment studios and consumer packaged goods companies. With more than 120
years of combined industry experience, Market Force Information has pioneered
the industry with a suite of customer experience information solutions - from
300,000 field associates, to real customer surveys, to proprietary decision
support tools - that provides a holistic view of the customer's on-site
experience and identifies the actions required at the store level to increase
customer loyalty and improve financial performance. For more information,
please visit: http://www.marketforce.com/.

About J.D. Power and Associates
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a
global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors
including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web
intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction
measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For
more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance,
health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit
JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The
McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global
information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial
services, education and business information markets through leading brands
such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and
J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40
countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available
at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

Media Relations Contacts:
John Tews; J.D. Power and Associates; Troy, Mich.; (248) 312-4119; media.relations@jdpa.com
Rushton McGarr; Market Force Information; Boulder, Colo., (303) 402-6916; press@marketforce.com

Just Noticeable Difference

Just Noticeable Difference (jnd) is a scientific term that describes the minimal amount of change in a stimulus it takes to be perceived. For example, how much louder does a sound have to get or how much heavier does an object have to be for you to notice the difference? But it may also be a good way to thinkabout the dynamic between audiences and brands. Psychologists have suggested that as much as 95 percent of human behavior is controlled by the unconscious mind; we are creatures of habit that learn quickly to tune out what we don’t need. So, in a sea of marketing sameness, audiences tend to ignore the familiar and pay attention only to what they notice as different. Just being wildly different for the sake of standing out, however, can sometimes be confusing for audiences. Often it’s a brand’s Just Noticeable Differences that audiences connect with most.

In today’s hyper-competitive world, standing out can often seem daunting. It’s important for brands to recognize the value of its Just Noticeable Differences when aiming to change audience perceptions. It’s a delicate balance between these improvements not getting noticed at all and being conspicuously uncharacteristic of the brand. The featured cases illustrate how minor change can challenge the status quo, increase recognition and successfully evolve and differentiate the brand.

iPod Headphones
The ultimate example of Just Noticeable Difference might be the iPod’s white headphones. Using white headphones to launch Apple’s mp3 player wasn’t merely disruptive for a category with commonly black headphones, it was also ownable as the iPod’s signature color. Further, the distinctive color publicly identified the consumer’s brand preference – a fact previously hidden in the consumer’s pocket–creating a tribe-like community and encouraging a wider audience to join the digital music revolution.





Target RX Packaging
Target revamped the conventional amber prescription bottle and replaced it with clear containers. The new pill bottles, dubbed ClearRX, were paired with six color-coded rings to help family members identify their drugs. These minor changes successfully marry function with intelligent design making it noticeably more user-friendly and safer (nearly 60 percent of prescription drugs are taken improperly as result of unclear labeling). Target’s prescription drug sales increased 14 percent in the first year after ClearRX’s launch.



BP “Beyond Petroleum”
To shake off its image of a traditional oil company and as part of its effort to be perceived as an energy provider committed to the environment and solar power, BP decided to move away from its inter-state shield to a Helios symbol in form of a green and yellow sunflower. Syncing the launch of the new logo with introducing a new corporate slogan “Beyond Petroleum” provided not only a meaningful definition of the company name but proved to be the Just Noticeable Difference for audiences to perceive BP as a company with bigger ideas for the future.

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