10.5.09
Packaging . Innovation
Behold, the pizza box we've all been waiting for! Watch the film for a simple demonstration of how a few smart-thinking tweaks to an established design can radically improve customer experience.
The company behind the Green Box is called Environmentally Conscious Organization Incorporated, and their ingenious idea sees the traditional pizza delivery box transform into into four handy serving 'plates' AND a half-sized storage solution for any remaining slices... Made out of 100% recycled material, the box is protected by US Patent 7,051,919 which we firmly hope will allow e.c.o. Incorporated to cash-in on their innovation.
Give the hairy few weeks the Domino's brand has just endured, if you worked there wouldn't you be all over this?A good news story that could leave the public with a better impression of the brand than simply 'cheese up the nose'...
www.ecoincorporated.com
Gap / Havaianas :::Pop-up flip-flops
Gap has collaborated with flip-flop icon Havaianas to create an 'Urban Beach Flip-Flop Shop' in the small space adjacent to their Fifth Ave store.
Customers can choose from a range of flip-flops and over the weekends Gap is hosting an in-store craft bar where pins, initials and crystals will be available to customise the sandals.
This venture follows a string of pop-up events that Gap has hosted recently, the latest being a tiny dancers studio on the weekend where youngsters could dress up in Gap clothes and take free dance classes. Previously, instillations included; sale of Rhode Island School of Design redesigned Gap cardigans; a collaboration with Colette Paris; a Pantone T-shirt shop; and Gap’s (Product)Red gift-shop from which sales proceeds went to fighting AIDS in Africa.
McDonald's:::Tourists are lovin’ it…
BRAND OWNER:McDonald's Corporation
CATEGORY:Food
REGION:UK
DATE:Apr 2009 - Dec 2008
McDonald's therefore launched an interactive sign where passers-by can interact with images displayed on McDonald's giant LED screen, and visitors can take an interactive role at one of London's most photographed locations.
But now that relationship has gone one step further, with the launch of a new 'interactive' billboard in London's Piccadilly Circus. The giant LED sign displays a rolling selection of images which invite camera-happy tourists to strike a pose with the props on screen.
Some of these have a British theme - an open umbrella and a city gent's bowler hat - while others are just about inviting participation - a birthday cake with candles you can pretend to blow out, a hammer that seems to beat you over the head, a strongman barbell you can hold triumphantly aloft.
The YouTube clip above shows the idea in action and the magnetic appeal it has to tourists... how many go on to eat a McDonald's burger after painstakingly lining up their shot has not yet been established but we're SO tempted to send someone down there to follow that up! Participants can also upload their snaps to a dedicated Flickr group, set up to corrall all those happy memories into one big experience-extending gallery and ensure that the event remains public long after the holidaymakers go back home.
Inventive stuff from Leo Burnett!
McDonald's / McCafe :::Café culture underneath the arches…
McDonald's has launched McCafé, a new product platform on which it is spending $100 million across TV, print, radio, outdoor, internet, events, PR and sampling.
Intended to add $1 billion to McDonald's bottom line in the US, McCafe has already started its aggressive push with coupon booklets inserted into newspapers as part of a huge drive in traditional media through DDB Chicago.
TV work incorporates the acute accent mark from McCafé into everyday items, so when you 'McCafé your day,' a commute becomes a commuté, while a cubicle is a cubiclé. Radio invites consumers to ‘speak McCafé', while 18-34 year olds are being targeted online via Tribal DDB with actors from Chicago's Second City comedy theatre. A McCafeYourDay Twitter feed is also being positioned as tool to converse with customers about the new platform.
The marketing blitz takes on established coffee chains such as Starbucks: the renewed emphasis on café culture is McDonald’s biggest product launch since breakfast in the 1970s
Guinness::: Passport to Greatness
Misfortune brand names [Shitto]
Misfortune brand names [Sars- soft drink]
An Australian company called Golden Circle has long manufactured a caramel-flavored Sarsaparilla drink, the abbreviated product name of which is “Sars.” Believe it or not, when the SARS outbreak of 2003 hit, sales of Sars went up: its value as a novelty item apparently outweighed the negative associations.
9.5.09
Human Relations
The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake."
The five most important words: "You did a good job."
The four most important words: "What is your opinion?"
The three most important words: "If you please."
The two most important words: "Thank you,"
The one most important word: "We"
The least most important word: "I"
8.5.09
Al Jazeerah:::Every Angle Every Side
Turk Telekom:::Targeting the computer illiterate in print
Services like Skype and MSN allow people to see each other when they speak on the telephone, but these computer-based solutions can be too complicated for some people Turk Telekom developed a non-web video phone that was easy to use, with no start up procedure or software install. The product, Videofon, was targeted at the older, less computer literate customer who relies heavily on traditional telephone services.
The challenge was to show these people the benefits of video phone calls and show how it could enable them to communicate with relatives living abroad. Turk Telekom teamed up with National Geographic to create a personalized advertisement that would allow the reader to see what they would look like if they used Videofon. Turk Telekom ran a major TV, radio and online campaign encouraging people to send in their pictures. This was supported with a grass-roots campaign that placed promotional staff in shopping centres to take people’s pictures. Non-subscribers to National Geographic were incentivized with two free issues of the magazine if they submitted a photograph. Everybody who applied to the promotion subsequently received a specially-designed, published and hand-delivered issue of
National Geographic. Inside, when they turned to the Videofon ad, they saw a picture of themselves and a special, individual letter.
As a result of the activity, Turk Telekom sold out of Videofons in two months. More than 2,100 people sent in photos and received personalized editions of National Geographic.
5.5.09
Web Trend Map 4
The map makes it easy to see the strengths of web companies in relationship to each other. Comparing the map with the one from last year allows the viewer to discern shifts in trends, important newcomers, and growth of established players.
What It Takes To Be a Top Marketer
Tide has some $3.5 billion in annual sales, but growth is threatened by the economy—consumers are tempted to switch to cheaper laundry detergents. For the 52 weeks ending Jan. 25, Tide topped the liquid laundry detergent category with $1.3 billion in sales, but its other variants, such as Tide Simple Pleasures, fell 43 percent, or $36 million in sales, per IRI. Private label posted much bigger gains, up 23.4 percent in dollar sales, or $115 million, for the same period.
to get the full story,
4.5.09
Fresh Juice
Lebanon 2005-2006
Less Original: Baladi
Advertising Agency: Strategies, Cairo, Egypt
Agency: Memac Ogilvy
Art Director: Yasser Alireza
Copywriter: Mohamed Alhebsi
Designer: Roberto Marcaida/Eldy Tendero
KSA (Jeddah) - 2007
Less Original: KDD
Agency: JWT
Kuwait
lingerie
Original: Wonderbra
Agency: Tonic Communications,
Dubai
Creative Director: Vincent Raffray
Art Director: Peter Walker
Copywriter: Vincent Raffray
Less Original : Change
Advertising Agency: Memac Ogilvy,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - 2008
Creative Director: Mazen Hasan
Senior Art Director: Yasser Alireza
Copywriter: Yasser Alireza & Fitna Nazer
Illustrator: Yasser Alireza
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