Wednesday 30 May 2012

Tuesday 29 May 2012

It's Hot!! And confused...

I’m quite a fan of spicy food and rare is the meal that I cook that won’t feature a dash of hot sauce at some point. So, having run out of Tabasco, I was pleased to be able to find my favourite authentic American hot sauce in the Co-Op very easily.

It was easy to find as the packaging has gone all Jubilee, emblazoned with a diamond encrusted Union Flag design. Intrigued, I picked it up and had a quick read and it seems, to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, you can ‘Win a Diamond’ (worth £15,000) with their special limited edition Union Flag packs.

Eh? How can something so typically American suddenly be flying the flag of the Mother Country??

Well, look a little closer and you will see that Tabasco has a Royal Warrant which it was granted in 2009 – apparently the Queen Mum was a massive fan and it’s been a staple of the Royal Family dinner table ever since. Who knew?

You can find out more about this quirky piece of the ‘special relationship’ puzzle here:

http://www.tabasco.com/mcilhenny-company/press-releases/royal-warrant/

What is less easy to find is any reference to the promotion on the brand’s Facebook page (to which the pack directs you). Which was a shame as up to that point it had been text book stuff – get stand out at shelf, create shopper interest with an intriguing and exciting offer, seal the deal with a unique-code driven online promotion.

Have a look for yourself at:

http://www.facebook.com/tabasco

Matt

Friday 25 May 2012

I LOVE Dave - Samsung Galaxy Note


Celebrity endorsement can be a very lazy way to get some exposure for your brand to my mind – Nespresso and George Clooney springs to mind. WHY ARE YOU THERE GEORGE?? SURELY YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY???? Perhaps he was hoping to meet girls? If so, fair enough. But then again, if you’re George Clooney, do you really need to go out and MEET girls. They come to you, no? No? What’s the point then....?

But I digress...

Samsung have just launched their latest handset from the future – the Galaxy Note. Ask Craig  and he can tell you all about it (probably). And they’ve asked that nice man David Beckham to help them. Bless.

Anyway, they haven’t just used his name or pasted his perfectly groomed mug into their ads (although they have done both of these things), they have engaged their creative minds and decided to employ Dave’s most forgotten skill (football) to promote the product. It even features in the ad in an almost relevant way. Check it out.

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

All I’ll say is it looks massive and even though Dave pulls it out of his pocket (the handset I mean) I’m sure he’s wearing special trousers that accommodate such a huge gadget (I’m still talking about the handset).

Finally, I was amused by the fact that Brand Republic felt the need to describe Dave as “former Man Utd and Real Madrid footballer David Beckham” in case we didn’t know who he was. There must be however young kids around that love him without ever realising that he was a footballer once upon a time. They probably think he’s the guy that owns Adidas. Or Pepsi. Or Samsung.

Oh well. He is.

Matt

Thursday 24 May 2012

Pint of QRonenbourg please

(sorry)

Not quite. But great use of a QR code.

http://mashable.com/2012/05/21/glass-of-guinness-qr-code/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mashable%2Fbusiness+%28Mashable+%C2%BB+Business+and+Marketing%29

£10,000 cash goes a long way in Covent Garden

As an active and engaged London-dweller, I subscribe to Time Out and every week enjoy reading about all the amazing things that happen in our great city that I will never get to see.

This week I came across this full page ad that has the bold and arresting headline of ‘Win £10,000’ - why have a pithy line of copy when a big WIN with a large some of money next to it will do?? Looking more closely I discovered that it was less an ad for a promotion (although it obviously is), not so much a product ad (although it definitely is) but an ad for a sampling event. And this is what spike my interest.

In Covent garden this weekend, Cadbury’s will be sampling their Dairy Milk Ice Cream product (sounds heavenly) and as part of that activity people will have a chance to win a ‘golden lolly stick’ worth £10,000. They give very specific times for when the sampling will be happening and a very specific location. Good for tourists then.

I think the whole approach is interesting as they are not advertising an ‘event’ as such, there’s no info on whether there will be gorillas banging drums or weird little kids wiggling their mono-brows at passers-by, it looks like ‘just’ a sampling exercise. Fair enough. I like chocolate, I like ice cream, I like free stuff and I’d like £10,000. I’m there.

My one issue with it is the prize – the main winner will receive an 18 carat Cadbury Dairy Milk Golden Lolly Stick ‘certified being as being’ worth £10,000. 9 runners up will get £100 in cash, some ice cream voucher sand a Golden Bomber jacket.  Now, call me ungrateful, can’t I just have the cash rather than the pricey piece of ice cream bling that I then (I assume) have to redeem for the actual £10,000 with Cadbury’s.

You could have a lot of fun with £10,000 in Covent Garden...

Monday 14 May 2012

Pot meet Ketel

Wax Excuse to Drink No. 2,707:

The lovely Shaker & Co bar up the road are using their downstairs bar to showcase a different brand each month. This month’s star is the premium vodka brand, Ketel One.

With a design that reflects its Dutch heritage and unique cocktails, it’s just a lovely place to be (The room also smells strangely good). They’re also ramping up the ‘handcrafted’ element so each week they have a different craft on show, starting with a corset designer in action. They also mentioned glass blowing later in the month – small space, drunk people, intense heat – should be interesting!


Your copywriter, ever the professional:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=325586687509424&set=a.324041514330608.70774.154491517952276&type=3&theater

Beat Fleet coming to a town near you

Coca-Cola has unveiled their fleet of hybrid support vehicles that will lead over 8,000 Olympic Torchbearers on the torch’s 70 day journey around the UK.

Starting this week, the ‘Beat Fleet’ and Coca-Cola team will be handing out special edition, commemorative Coke bottles and memorabilia, and encouraging crowds to line the relay route in celebration of their local Future Flames (inspirational young people who have been given the once in a lifetime opportunity to run with the Olympic Flame).

As the ‘Beat Fleet’ tours from Land’s End to the Orkney Islands, visiting over 1,000 communities nationwide, Coca-Cola says it will encourage supporters to ‘Move to the Beat’. The vehicles will be playing Coca-Cola’s official anthem for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Anywhere in the World by Mark Ronson and Katy B.

Coca-Cola’s ‘Beat Box’ and ‘Beat Bus’ have each been converted to diesel-electric hybrid power, which should save 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the course of the relay while ‘Recycle Beat,’ a mobile recycling unit, is fitted with an advanced exhaust cleanup system and low emission auxiliary generator to dramatically reduce air pollution.

‘Recycle Beat’ will follow behind the Olympic Torch Relay, sweeping the route and surrounding areas to ensure all waste is collected for recycling.



Sophie

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Lucozade NPD - Lucozade Revive

Submitted by Sean

I saw this new product from Lucozade at a BP garage, which is positioned with a different slant versus the usual Lucozade = Energy route. Lucozade Revive is more about energising & wellbeing and with flavours such as Lemongrass with Ginger, Cranberry with Acai and Orange with Acai, the products lean towards a lifestyle that would include yoga, body balance, detoxing etc.



While keeping the same bottle shape as Luzocade original, the label design creates a distinct visual cue to separate this product as a lighter variant.






Here’s their advert www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=07u69jzOiBU

Here’s the blurb...

Brighten your day with new Lucozade Revive. Every bottle contains a blend of B vitamins. B3 fights tiredness, while B5, B6 & B12 help with everyday energy release. And with just 50 calories in every naturally flavoured bottle, it's the lighter way to lift your day.

They have a curated blog called Witness My Revival which has a call to action Join the 3pm Revolution.........Fashion. Design. Art. We can't get enough of it. Check out our new blog dedicated to the culture we love and find out what's getting us excited.

I’m not wholly sure about the 3pm Revolution bit – there doesn’t seem to be anything about why 3pm is specified.

They’ve also partnered with Toni & Guy to offer a free sample when you drop in for your appointment.


The NPD launch is backed with a £2.8m campaign aimed at 25 -35 year olds under the Lucozade YES campaign – this is the fifth instalment of the YES campaign, which is building brand equity for the entire Lucozade portfolio and driving category growth. YES has seen massive success for the brand, bringing it to life and driving relevance for consumers.

Tags: NPD, Lucozade, Revive, Partner, Toni & Guy, YES

Friday 4 May 2012

Rory Knows

If you have a spare 20mins (ha ha ha.) watch Rory Sutherland’s TED talk about perceived value. Interesting stuff.

http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_perspective_is_everything.html?awesm=on.ted.com_Sutherland&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=awesm-publisher

Mr Kipling 'Cakes to Go' Sampling

Submitted by Sean

On my way in to work, at Victoria Station I had Angel Cake for breakfast – genius!

It was all part of Mr Kipling’s sampling push on ‘Cakes to Go’ - individually packed slices of tasty sugary yummy cakes.

The staff were pretty good and got out their key messages quickly while I and other commuters hastily snatched our cakes and marched on to work.

The vehicle was eye-catching and had nice touches like a Cherry Bakewell in the middle of the steering wheel acting as the horn.

The pack also had a sticker to send you to Facebook to see Mrs Kipling

I was disappointed I didn’t see them the next morning and it left me wondering - why hasn’t anyone created a breakfast cake?



Tags: Sampling, Kipling, Station, Experiential, Cake