Insight for Innovation

Philadelphia cream cheese with Cadbury chocolate - a launch with potential?

2012-02-09T15:12:00.000+01:00

Today I heard about this interesting co-branding launch by Kraft Foods. It has been two years since Kraft Foods acquired Cadbury, and now Kraft Foods is joining two of its most famous brands together by marrying Britain’s most famous chocolate brand with Philadelpia cream cheese. And Kraft has high hopes for the new launch targeting £10m in sales in the first year alone.

In the UK this product will be launched in February 2012. And it will be merchandised next to the other chilled cheese spreads and the plain Philadelphia. It will be sold in a 160g tub and a 120g four-pack of mini tubs (both rsp: £1.62). The launch will be supported with a £3.2m marketing budget.

In Germany and Italy Kraft already offers chocolate variants of Philadelphia through the Milka chocolate brand. And in those markets they focus on the breakfast occasion. The interesting thing here is that in these markets consumers are already used to using chocolate spread - Nutella is very popular in both Germany and Italy. I now look forward to see how the Brits and the country of Marmite respond to the idea of sweet rather than savoury on their toasts..

And in the UK Kraft has understood that they cannot position the Philadelphia Cadbury spread against the same occasion as in those markets. Instead consumer research has identified Philadelphia with Cadbury as a snack, rather than as a breakfast spread. The question is if the 'snack' occasion will be big and interesting enough to pursue in the longer term... Time will tell...

Logosack - an opportunity to buy a new and professional looking logo in an instant

2011-11-10T21:27:00.000+01:00

This is a great concept that I just need to share with you all. Lobby design in Stockholm has launched a company and website called Logosack where you can buy a logo by just using a few mouse clicks. I have tried this website and the logos look very professional. And for just 2000SEK per logo (approx. 200EUR or 280USD) I think they are a real bargain. The website exists only in Swedish today but will soon be available also in English.

Just during the past few months I've had several friends asking me for advice on how to create logos for their websites, small independant freelance consultancies and blogs. The cost of using a design agency to create a custom made logo is often simply too high for new founded small businesses or for bloggers, and I think this kind of service is a fantastic way to offer many more businesses and people nice looking logos for a very good price. Great idea, innovative thinking, and with a fabolous and simple execution. I might just have to buy a Logosack logo myself...

The 11 Most Innovative Online Retailers

2011-11-07T21:38:00.000+01:00

I got a note today from Online MBA linking to an article on their blog about the 11 most innovative online retailers. Personally I find the future of online retailing absolutely fascinating. It is amazing how names like Amazon and Ebay have carved out their space in the retail world and such strong roles in their respective markets. Consumers and especially young consumers are becoming more and more used to buying their stuff online, and as this tendency increase the traditional retailers will see their sales falling while the ones with a strong online role will grow and grow. This will certainly take longer in certain categories, while the developments in other categories will boom. Yes, it may feel a bit strange buying your shoes online the first time you do it, but when you've tried it and it works you're likely to do it again, and again. Especially if the selection and prices are better than on the high-street.

So, enjoy the read. I had never heard of some of these names before but now I will need to start to google them asap to find out more about their innovative approach to retailing.

Abba Middagsklart - clever and credible addition to the Abba brand portfolio

2011-10-25T19:20:00.000+02:00

One of the hard things for established FMCG companies is to find new growth and credible brand extension opportunities in the market. There are different reasons why this is so hard. One difficult thing is of course to decide in which direction to go - to identify market and brand potential and to prioritise between different the different growth opportunities in the market.
Another issue is also the difficulty of breaking into new territory by overcoming the challenges of the current production capabilities and potential. All the above represent just some of the challenges any big FMCG company will face when considering entering new market space.

That's also why this new launch by Abba Seafood grabbed my attention in the supermarket today. Abba has successfully innovated within the current realms of their production and category capabilities. They've worked themselves higher up in the value and margin hierarchy, and they've added some interesting and relevant brand extensions. But with the launch of Abba Middagsklart they demonstrate a commitment to do even more. The Abba Middagsklart concept is a range of casseroles and sauces especially developed to cater for the convenience seeker and cleverly linked to the growing interest in eating seafood, and the incredible growth in fresh and frozen salmon sales.

I really like this launch. A casserole ended up in my shopping basket straight away, and the product delivered to my expectations as well. I will definetely try more of these products, and I congratulate Abba on entering new territory where they cater to a very clear convenience and 'I wanna eat more seafood but I don't know how to cook those dishes' need with a very credible brand offer.

Arla upgrades design of Arla Cow hard cheese

2011-10-08T15:15:00.000+02:00

My husband and I take turns doing the weekly grocery shopping. Today it was his turn and yet again he managed to do his shopping in 40 minutes. A trip that normally takes me about 1,5hours since I tend to spend more time looking at brands, new launches and new design, rather than focusing on the shopping list... Well, I guess it comes with the trade...

Anyway, when unloading the bags I managed to spot something quite interesting. I think I've previously highlighted the brand positioning 'closer to nature' work by Arla, one of the largest dairy FMCG companies in Europe. Arlas new brand positioning has so far resulted in a new corporate logo, an impressive number of new ads and quite a few new products. The Arla total brand family is huge, and it cannot be an easy task trying to connect all the different sub-brands to the now more 'natural' motherbrand. Some need to be tied more closely to the core values of the 'mother', and others should be allowed to act more freely, given a different role in the market.

Anyway, back to the point. What I spotted today was a new design for Arla's range of hard cheese. Looking at the previous design it may have been clear and recognisable. But it also gave a very industrial and cold impression. With Arla now aiming for a warmer, more natural touch, it was interesting to see the upgraded design of hard cheese. Spot the difference below.

To the left you can see the old design for Arla Präst - with the Arla Cow quite prominently displayed on the front, on black background, and with a photo of a sandwich with cheese on the left.

What can one say about this design? Cold, rather boring, basic, isn't it?

Now, look at the new design below. And bear in mind that the pastic packaging solution is exactly the same.
Personally I think the new design conveys a higher quality cheese. But not only that. In the new design there is a linkage to cheese heritage and tradition, and a clearer and more logical brand architecture with connection between Arla corporate, Arla cow and last but not least to the variant Präst. I especially like the new Cow seal that holds the variant name.

In the new design Arla is also aiming to lift the taste and consumer benefits of Präst cheese through simple yet tasteful storytelling. I think this is the right way to go in a category that is highly competitive and where Arla must convince consumers that it makes sense to stick to the Arla brand, and not divert to the growing number of cheap no label or private label alternatives.

One thing that I find may still be missing in the new design is a stronger connection to 'naturalness'. The usage of 'beige' is surely there to convey this feel but maybe it could have been even more prominent. Hard cheese is surely a natural product - so there is definetely no mismatch with naturalness and the product itself.

So, to summarise the argumentation above I must say that I like these upgrades by Arla and I look forward to follow the next steps of Arla building and developing their brand and broad product portfolio.

Norwegian Airlines – the impact of poor customer service on a total brand experience

2011-09-29T18:58:00.001+02:00

About once per week I set the alarm on a quarter to four in the morning and drag myself out of bed to prepare to catch a flight to Finland and a good day of meetings. I’ve got the total morning routine sussed out pretty well by now.

Once at the airport Finnair or SAS used to be my airlines of choice. But then I discovered the simplicity of flying Norwegian. A streamlined process with quick check-in and no queues at terminal 2, and the gate just after security, not a 2k walk away… With nice new planes and smiling staff there has simply been nothing to complain about. By now I have probably experienced around 40 Norwegian Airline journeys to and from Finland. And I must say I used to be a fairly content and satisfied customer. I could in fact even call myself a Norwegian Airlines brand promoter. Well, that was until today…

A first issue is that at Helsinki Vantaa airport Norwegian has moved from terminal 1 to terminal 2. Since the move check-in is just not working as well any longer and today it was a nightmare. I was late – this is true. But I was there just a few minutes before the check-in closed 45 minutes before take-off. With no luggage to check-in I wasn’t the least worried. However, I somehow managed to mess around with my booking number and the check-in machine. The usual things like writing a 0 instead of an O… and the clock must have ticked on… so all of a sudden the machine wouldn’t allow check-in anymore…

So I promptly walked to the check-in staff. There were two people in front of me in the queue and two staff, one woman and one man. The man was busy doing something important so he couldn’t be bothered with customers and the queue grew. I waited patiently and the clock turned to 40 minutes before check-in until I got to speak to the lady. She informed me that I had missed my opportunity to check-in... Of course I got a bit stressed about this as you do... Especially since I had promised to pick-up my kid from kindergarten straight from the flight.

I said: “I was here before 45 minutes but I had to jiggle with the machines…and I went to the counter as soon as I realized they did not work ”. The lady looked over at her colleague the man and he said: “Oh, so it really took you 10 minutes to walk from the machine to the counter”

Well, I am pregnant but I am still rather mobile... and the journey from the machine to the counter was approx 10 meters. So no, the walk probably took me about 20 seconds... The cheek of a rude man! I got so furious at this supposed to be customer service guy who took the opportunity to tell me off and really enjoy it too! It was totally unnecessary, especially since he simply could have told me in a nice way that I could check in with my mobile phone and the code – which I also did after a furious walk to security. I'm now going to use the strong word bastard!

So, my brand experience of Norwegian has deterioriated through this smug little man who took the opportunity to tell off a customer who used to be a brand promoter. And a customer who via her company spends approx 6000-8000SEK on Norwegian journeys per month. What a clever man!

So this long storey is the storey of how I moved from brand promoter to a brand disliker through one poor customer interface that lasted just a few minutes. One man managed to ruin a relationship I have with Norwegian Airlines - and believe me, this example will be used by me as a future reference when I talk about the importance of delivering a branded service promise at ‘key moments of truth’. This certainly was one for me...

Tesco moves beyond private label with venture brand Chocablok

2011-09-26T19:15:00.000+02:00

I read something today that I found really fascinating. And this is why I want to share these news with you. Earlier this year Tesco unveiled their plans to develop global product brands, that are different to traditional retailer private label. For a start, these Tesco brands are no longer talked of as private label, but instead they are seen as brands in their own right, and there is no mention of the Tesco parent brand on the packaging.

The first of these brands to hit the shelves was a luxury ice-cream brand called Chocablok. Chocablok is claimed to be made by an “expert team of master cremeliers’ with more than 100 years experience between them. It is a luxury ice cream made from what is said to be a blend of the finest ingredients including real chocolate, whole milk, double cream and free- range eggs. Sounds all good to me! I can't wait to try this one...

But, it doesn't come cheap... Each pack retails at £3.99 per 500ml, a pricing that clearly emphasises its premium positioning amongst the likes of Ben & Jerry’s, Haägen Dazs, and Mövenpick.

What does Tesco say about this then? “Our venture brands are very different to own-label,” said Tesco brand developer, Sidonie Kingsmill to Marketing Magazine, “they will never be "me-too" products. We look at where the customer opportunities are, where brands are not succeeding and what we can do in addition to brands. We’re in a unique position as the biggest retailer, with access to the best suppliers worldwide.”

This development made me reflect on the limitations of private label. Private label has developed a lot since its early days as a discount and often rather boring offer. Today we can find PL goods across the whole range of categories and the British retailers are phenomenal at this. However, this Tesco example might also demonstrate some of the limitations of PL. Clearly Tesco isn't just doing this for fun. No, instead they've carefully analysed the situation and realised that they can make even more money if they also develop brands that are 'freed' from the motherbrand, and thus able to compete against other brands with no danger of being held back by the mother brand associations i.e. in this case Tesco.
Well, that is just one reflection, I guess there must be more reasons why Tesco is venturing into this arena. And maybe some of the other simple reasons are: plenty of cash, retailer power and distribution network. They simply can!

Starbucks continues expansion plans in Sweden

2011-08-30T22:24:00.000+02:00

In 2010 the first Starbucks was opened in Sweden at terminal 5 at Arlanda airport. Now it's apparently time for more, as Starbucks plans to open up a few more cafés next year at the high traffic locations of central stations in Gothenburg and Malmö.

Sweden already have a number of Starbucks 'wannabees' including Waynes Coffee and Espresso House. I've complained before that I don't think those two chains have established enough differentiation and uniqueness in their brand and service concept. And with Starbucks entering they might have to think about this, and how to keep their customer base if a Starbucks would open up around the corner. Strong brands always have a big advantage, but of course - in the coffee chain world the biggest advantage of all is great tasting coffee at a high traffic location...

Consolidation in market research industry when Ipsos buys Synovate

2011-08-23T20:55:00.000+02:00

I met with a research professional and good contact today and heard the interesting news today that Ipsos has announced the acquisition of Synovate. This means that Ipsos will climb the ladder to become one of the biggest three market research agencies in the world behind the likes of Nielsen and Kantar group (TNS, Millward brown).

It will be interesting to follow the next steps and to understand how these two businesses are planning to merge their respective cultures and processes into one whole, and to see what they are going to sell as their key propositions to customers like you and me...

Measuring Brand Equity

2011-04-27T21:00:00.002+02:00

When you work with brands you sometimes need to identify the ones worth the marketing bucks. I googled the Y&R Brand Asset Valuator approach today which is a method I used years ago when working on this topic. And I came across this quite interesting slideShare presentation which worked as a useful reminder of the many different approaches out there... Some I believe to be better than others. Enjoy!

Measuring Brand Equity

View more presentations from Carol Phillips.

Knorr - Bag of Taste, clever new concept by Unilever

2011-04-20T20:46:00.000+02:00

Just saw the Knorr 'Bag of Taste' ad on the telly and just had to write a short note to say that I love this new concept by Knorr. During recent years we've already seen a couple of good launches by Knorr and they appear to be on the perfect path to growth.

I also believe that Unilever has done a good job revitalising the Knorr brand and I see the 'Bag of Taste' as yet another evidence that they have great new concepts in the pipeline, concepts with benefits that are built on real consumer insights and that will help the Knorr brand to climb on the value ladder.

Starbucks - a unique and well crafted positioning in the world of coffee

2011-04-12T21:23:00.001+02:00

[Source: Online MBA]

Wolf brings Swedbank brand back on track?

2011-04-10T20:36:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending 'Stora Annonsördagen', an event organised by the Swedish Advertisers federation. CEOs of some of Swedens largest corporations were talking about the importance of strong brands, brand equity, brand values, living the brand and communicating the brand. Surely bound to be some topics that you rarely hear them mention on a day to day basis.

The recent Swedbank brand and communication story was a particularly interesting case told by Swedbank CEO Michael Wolf. For those out there who don't know Swedbank it is the largest retail bank in Sweden but it also has significant presence in the Baltics. In fact, it was the recession and especially the bad debt in the Baltics that caused particular turmoil. It was at the beginning of 2009 when Swedbank was in serious trouble and had to be saved by the loan guarantees by the Swedish state. And the crisis and all the accompanying bad press had a negative effect on the Swedbank brand trust and credibility. This is when Mr Wolf took over as the CEO.

Today the situation is quite different. Sweden is in growth again and the horrible year of 2009 is 'almost' forgotten. Swedbank has impressed markets with reported net profits of SEK 7.4 billion for 2010 increasing from a net loss of SEK 10.5 billion for 2009. This is of course good. However, the ambition of Mr Wolf was not only to impress financial markets, but also to restore consumer confidence in Swedbank as a brand and retail bank. And Mr Wolf followed a textbook recipe for how to get the Swedbank brand back on track:

First step: To identify the essence of the brand - the brand values & the brand difference
Swedbank is the result of many mergers in the Swedish bank industry, and of making something large and significant out of smaller, regional financial institutions. These smaller banks were deeply rooted in the Swedish culture and values, but somehow those values got lost as the bank grew bigger and bigger. And they sure were not guiding the risk taking in the Baltics. But following the crisis Swedbank realised that they must restore and strengthen the values within the corporation, and 'live those values' both internally and externally. The values identified as core to Swedbank were: Simplicity, Transparency & Caring. Values that are not unique per se, but which will work as guidance as Swedbank work to identify its point of difference. Mr Wolf explained that the values will be the guiding force to find brand differentiation. The Swedbank differentiation will come, as Mr Wolf put it: -"by delivering the values through concrete services and products".

Second step: To go back to core strength in market

The old Sparbanken oak symbol

The second and very important thing that Swedbank realised, and something that Mr Wolf did not talk about too much, but which is of significance to the brand. Is to go back to the core of what is Swedbank in the eyes of their Swedish customers and target group. This goes way back in time... and to some very fundamental brand stories and symbols. As mentioned before Swedbank is the merged result of many small and regional 'saving banks'. One of those banks was Sparbanken, who utilised an oak as a strong symbol of the benefits of saving. And this oak is still remembered in a positive light by many older customers. When later 'Föreningssparbanken' became the international bank of Swebank the oak was still left in the logo but with little meaning for new customers. After years of excess, Swedbank is now going back to the oak, and what it stands for in terms of being careful with spending, and saving for the future.

Third step: Setting a new communicaton strategy
The third and significant step was for Swedbank to find a way to communicate that it has taken a new path, and restoring trust in the Swedbank brand. Swedbank worked with swedish agency Lowe Brindfors and UK agency Aardman to identify a new communication platform and concept called 'under the oak'. And the result was this new commercial currently running on Swedish television.

The target is for Swedish customers to get to know Swedbank again. And this ad has received a lot of positive reactions in Sweden, and it has also tested well when Swedbank has tracked reactions in the market. This new communication concept is apparently developed to have a lifespan of at least five years. And I'm already looking forward to follow the next step of the work that is being done to restore the trust in the Swedbank brand.

So all in all I was impressed by the brand and marketing work that is going on at Swedbank. And I was glad to hear that Mr Wolf talked about these issues as important for the bank going forward. I'm convinced that we will see a future where people won't be as loyal to their banks as they are today. If banks misbehave we will see people switching banks more often, and banks will have to work harder to keep relevant. The work that Swedbank is doing today is going to serve them well when this open marketspace is a reality.

Ice-cream creation - Cold Stone Creamery is living its vision

2011-04-04T20:34:00.000+02:00

I wonder what it is in the North American gene or environment that makes so many Americans creative and unafraid of challenging the norm. This time this thought of mine awoke when I spotted how something old and simple was reinvented into something new and awesome. And it was all related to one of my favourite foods - ice-cream and the great ice-cream experience of Cold Stone Creamery.

I enjoyed this experience during my recent holiday in Dubai. One of the many lavish hotel experiences was the Atlantis hotel where I had the privilege of having lunch and then experiencing one of their ice-cream creations for dessert. Believe me, for anyone who likes a decent ice-cream this is the business!

The Cold Stone ice-cream is not just ice-cream. It is an ice-cream experience where fun and entertainment is joining force with incredibly tasting ice-cream flavours and creations. And the ice-cream is not just ice-cream anymore but instead it becomes the carrier of a broad variety of fantastic fillings, and it's all crushed, created and customised on a granite stone. All to meet your individual ice-cream desires. Mmmm.... what a treat! On their website they say: "Ever since we opened our first store back in 1988, we’ve been serving up what we refer to as Creations" And what I've seen and tasted is certainly delivering on this brand promise.

I love the fact that Cold Stone Creamery have created a real ice-cream experience, that both adults and children can enjoy. All details are carefully organised to deliver your kind of ice-cream creation.

Rejuvenating a stagnated brand the P&G way - Old Spice

2011-03-15T20:33:00.000+01:00

Today I had the great privilege of attending the DLF event 'Innovation & Successful Product Launches' held at Rival hotel in Stockholm. I must say that I was very impressed by the quality and variety of the presentations held during the day - so great work DLF team!

One particular fun part was the 'Old Spice' story told by Tony Durham of P&G. So why not sharing it with you? For me it's a fantastic story of how to use insights to rejuvenate a rather stale and boring old brand, that many consumers had forgotten about. P&G follow a first class innovation process of identifying great insights, and then acting on those. In the case of 'Old Spice' their insight was that "women buy female scented shower gels for their husbands" i.e. most guys walk around smelling of female fragrance... This insight was utilised as a startpoint for a new brand and communication platform for 'Old Spice' and the result was this creative communication featuring the 'Old Spice man'.

The focus on the communication was viral. Apparently the ad was placed on Youtube and via twitter and youtube it was spread with a speed that is nothing but incredibly impressive. I'm not sure I believe this figures myself... but Tony did say that the ad had 23m views within 26hours, and 200m views today on Youtube. Incredible! I'm an awe.... Of course the activities were linked to an Old Spice website and instore activities.

The 'Old Spice Man' since became a real cult and a persona was developed who interacts with its followers. A fun way of interacting was by creating 'Personal adverts' to respond to consumer questions or requests. A particularly fun request was the 'Marriage Proposal' request that Tony also shared during his speech. See this one below as well.

This P&G example is a creative and innovative way of breaking the rules and using insight to rejuvenate a brand that has somewhat become stale been forgotten. I hope you enjoyed this story.

Clever awareness building and product trial tactics - Mutti tomatoketchup

2011-03-13T21:19:00.002+01:00

Just yesterday I wrote about the Middagsfrid offer, and me for the first time trialing their offer of (hopefully) stress free mid-week dinner solutions. The load of groceries and recipes arrived today and I was delighted not to have to think up anything to have for dinner this week. What a saviour!

A thing that surprised me though was the Mutti tomatoketchup in the load... I scanned the recipes to see where it ketchup was needed but saw nothing...Well, when turning the recipe page there was a short little notice of 'This weeks Bonus product'. This was of course the Mutti ketchup. There we had the answer, and a clever trick of Mutti and other brands to reach the Middagsfrid target group of time-starved city folks. Great way to reach out to new users through a tactic that will delight and surprise. I already look forward to receive the next 'Bonus'.

The Swedish version of online food shopping - Dinner Solution Shopping

2011-03-12T20:36:00.001+01:00

When I lived in the UK I was a keen online grocery shopper with Sainsburys. It was great to be able to avoid the crowds in the supermarket for a mere 5 pounds delivery charge per week. Online food shopping saved me a lot of time and frustration. Online grocery shopping in Sweden is not as developed as in the UK, so these days I'm spending a few frustrated hours in the grocery store most weekends. However, in Sweden another food service solution is growing strongly. 'Dinner solutions deliveries' are all you need one per week pack of ingredients and recipes (for 5 or 3 dinners per week) delivered to your door through the likes of Middagsfrid and Linas Matkasse.

These companies sell pre-planned dinner solutions for time-starved Swedes. This has been a recipe of success so far as customers only popped up just a few years ago, but now have thousands of customers across the big city regions of Sweden. The customer benefit is dinner planning and dinner shopping in a very simple way. And the solution also offers healthy and new taste experiences on the dinner table, also during weekdays when most people don't have the time or the energy to plan their dinners in detail.

I've finally signed up as a customer of Middagsfrid and from next week I look forward to trying their offer of dinner solutions. The only problem for me is that I still have to cook... I'm not the most enthusiastic cook during the week when I'm tired after a long day at work. But what I do look forward to experience are new kinds of taste experiences, new inspiration and new kinds of food on the dinner table.

I'm convinced that the need for ready food solutions, ready dinner-kits and simple food solutions are going to grow more and more in Sweden. And look forward to following the service innovations within this field over the coming years, whilst hopefully trying many of them personally as well.

Snickers satisfies - strong new communication platform anchored in target group and need state

2011-03-01T20:26:00.000+01:00

It was my hubby who first commented on the greatness of this commercial. It's not often that he says 'loved that!' about ads so this time it really made me reflect on the greatness of the new Snickers communication concept. What is it that makes it so great and spot on? I would like to point to three things:

1. Snickers knows its target group
The bulls-eye communications target of Snickers is clearly men aged something around 25-35 years old. Guys who are adults but still non committed. Active guys who enjoy sports and a having a banter with their mates.

Snickers have clearly done their homework and anchored the brand to a target group. This is good, sophisticated marketing practice.

2. Snickers have anchored the brand to a consumer need - satisfying hunger, filling you up
The recent ads from Snickers are so spot on because they are relevant. We all recognise the situations when our blood sugar levels are low and we need to fill up with something to keep us going and avoid getting grumpy or irritated. Identifying the needstate where there's potential to anchor a brand like Snickers have done give you potential to gather fantastic and deep emotive insights onto which one can then build strong communication concepts. The team behind Snickers have done their homework well.

3. Turning insights into Action - strengthened positioning and powerful Marcom concept
Last but not least. It takes a lot of work to turn insight into action and it takes a lot of creative skill to turn brand strategy and insights into great creative. The team behind Snickers deserve a bow. From a quick google search it appears to be top agency TBWA who should be proud of themselves. As well as the Snickers brand team of course.

My conclusion? Well, I do think that this work is some of the most spot on brand, insight and communication work I've seen in a long time. And I do think that this work will have a positive effect on global Snickers sales. I'm fairly sure my hubby will chew down a few...

Pepsi diet - now in the new, and debated 'skinny' can

2011-02-10T19:37:00.002+01:00

In todays Resume the new Pepsi 'skinny' can is mentioned. I'm a firm believer in the power of attractive packaging and packaging design that's fully aligned with the brand proposition. And I think the new Pepsi 'skinny' can is just that. It's a modern and sleek packaging targeted at a group of consumers who care about their appearance and the stylishness of products. So what is so wrong about that? Well, the reason the new 'skinny' can causes a bit of outrage in media is of course the play on the word 'skinny' and its obvious linkages to this body ideal. There must of course be a specific reason for the use of the 'skinny' word in marketing communications. Pepsi knows that it will cause a debate, and thus.... lots of extra media and social media coverage for the new bottle and design. Is this ethical? Hmmm, well Pepsi don't seem to mind that much. And ethical or not, I'm sure it will be profitable. So, from my perspective this can be summarised as great design, great packaging but with debatable marcoms and corporate ethics.

AXA launches new concept - AXA Great

2011-02-08T21:45:00.000+01:00

I quite like the look of the new concept AXA Great and I think the push of instant oatmeal porridge is a really good one in Sweden, a country where people love eating oatmeal porridge. The big difficulty will be to convice Swedes that porridge can also be eaten as an in-between meal or as a light lunch or evening snack. This is how porridge is eaten in many of our neighbouring countries but it will be something new for Swedes. The other challenge will be to build awareness and distribution for a product that is 'new' to consumers and retailers alike. Whilst being an old product in many ways this new and more convenient way of enjoying porridge will still be a challenge. Where are we e.g. going to find this product in supermarkets?

Whilst there will be challenges I think the AXA Great concept is a modern and fresh concept for today's current porridge consumers. And if AXA builds awareness I think it might also have the potential to attract new or light users to the category. Now porridge doesn't have to be dull and boring. Instead it can be fresh, innovative and yummy looking!

Swedish classic Kexchoklad launches its first big 'flavour' extension Kexchoklad Blåbär

2011-01-23T08:11:00.001+01:00

Kexchoklad is for Sweden what Kit Kat is for the UK: a classic chocolate biscuit brand that most people are emotionally attached to in one way or another. This attachment is often related to strong, positive and emotionally charged childhood memories.

Kexchoklad is also a brand with a strong following and relevance. With a high brand awareness and lack of relevant competitition sales stay high year after year without major investments. I think we can all agree that it must be a fairly good position to be in?

So why they launch of a flavoured line extension - and one that's not just a limited edition? Well, that's a good question. The answer may relate back to a number of reasons. This may be a serious attempt to add a new permanent member to the family. Another reason might be that the current heavy users of Kexchoklad are conservative, and that the brand through this extension wants to attract new, more novelty seeking users to the brand. Whatever the reason, it will be an interesting launch to follow. Will Kexchoklad Blåbär attract consumers, and will it be a permanent addition to the chocolate fixture? Will Kexchoklad Blåbär damage or add new vigour to the Kexchoklad brand?

New year - new postings?

2011-01-23T07:46:00.000+01:00

Well, you haven't seen me write for a while and some of you might have wondered what I've been up to. Well, the sad and simple truth is - not much. Apart from traditional celebrations, presents and so on I've simply had a couple of terrible weeks with flu, colds and stuff like that. Family colds and fevers have effectively shut off all my energy and enthusiasm for writing anything at all. Sad but true.

So, it's been a tough start to the new year - but hopefully the doom and gloom days will pass soon.

And, I promise to also this year write more about marketing, insight and interesting concepts and innovations!

Coca-Cola - the maker's of the best christmas commercials ever

2010-12-04T21:57:00.002+01:00

There are no competitor up for challenging Coke when it comes to great christmas commercials. The 'open happiness' message is yet again powerfully conveyed through an ad that I simply love to watch. It contains all the emo ingredients that we want to feel and sense at Christmas...

Love the design by this Kiwi based company - The Collective Dairy

2010-11-29T21:40:00.001+01:00

I absolutely love the communication and packaging design by The Collective Dairy, a New Zeeland based dairy company that one of my reader's suggested me to take a look at. You can't but adore their fresh take on dairy goods packaging design and their witty unique way of talking about themselves and their dairy products. I can't wait to check out their products on my next visit to Aeteroa! Check out their website

Ryanair tacky campaign - it surely put me off flight shopping...

2010-11-21T18:50:00.000+01:00

So, yet again I forgot about my promise to 'never, ever fly Ryanair again' and started browsing their website.

Luckily this time they totally put me off shopping by their incredibly distasteful 'The girls of Ryanair' charity christmas calendar. Incredible! How low will they go?

I thought I had seen the worst from Ryanair already but there are apparently more distasteful things to come. So you guys, enjoy this cheesy ad to the left... and continue to ignore Ryanair crap and buy your flight tickets from Norwegian, Easyjet, SAS or BA...

Colgate Max White - good emo message in the functional benefit world of toothpaste

2010-11-08T20:53:00.000+01:00

The most recent ad I've enjoyed is the recent Colgate Max White commercial that's currently running on Swedish television. The good news about it is that Colgate have found a great insight to work from and focussed on the emo benefit of 'let the smile speak for you' rather than the functional message of 'gives you white teeth'. That's great news for Colgate and I think the Max White might have a fair chance for success in the marketplace, given the great comms being grounded on insight with substance. Unfortunately Colgate haven't trusted to share the ad on Youtube, so I cannot share it with you. But do visit their website if you want to view the ad.

Cadbury conceptualises more - New Bar of Plenty good example

2010-11-03T22:23:00.000+01:00

I spotted new Bar of Plenty from Cadbury on a recent trip to lovely London. There are a couple of things that interest me with this launch and I would like to share them with you.

One thing that I find interesting is the thinking behind the concept. Why did Cadbury decide to use a prominent concept 'Bar of Plenty' and a much smaller weighting of the Dairy Milk brand?

There might be a few reasons why. For starters the marketing team might have made the judgement that 'Bar of Plenty' is very different to the Dairy Milk proposition, or, they decided that the new proposition was really not that different and could have been included under a stronger Dairy Milk umbrella but, to truly stand-out and be an effective and unique competitor on the chocolate shelves it needed its own life, a linked but still seperated life to Dairy Milk. Interesting to follow next brand extensions!

Muller Dairy - Meet Mary commercial

2010-10-21T21:58:00.000+02:00

I love the British company Muller Dairy for the lovely ways that they manage to reinvent their marketing communication. I just came across this recent commercial where Mary the cow is in the spotlight. It's lovely. And I love browsing their website. It's an excellent example of how to create a consumer friendly online presence. They understand the main target for their website (the consumer) and they focus on making the web a consumer friendly, exciting and enticing place. Great stuff!

I promise to write more about Muller Dairy soon - and I would love to tell you more about the Muller brand and innovative dairy products. Until then, enjoy Mary!

Gap new logo - weak insights, social media buzz experiement or what?

2010-10-12T18:47:00.000+02:00

It was interesting to read in Resume and Adweek about the launch and reactions to the new logo from Gap. After an outbreak of comments from people who hate the (supposedly) new logo, Gap has now changed direction. The story is that they listen to consumers concerns and reactions to the logo change and, instead of simply changing to the new logo, they now want to offer designers all over the world the opportunity to contribute to new logo versions. The idea is to see if any of those new versions will be a better option than the beauty you see above.
Hmmm, is this really a true story? I simply cannot believe it when I look at the 'new' logo that Gap has unveiled. How on earth can anyone view that logo to be something for Gap? From my perspective - harsh reactions... I think any manager that took such a decision should be fired on the spot... Why? Well, the new version does not carry any resemblance to the old logo and none of the current equity is present in the new logo. Why would a brand with such a strong brand recognition and brand equity throw all that in the bin? If they do any consumer or shopper insight work they would now that their current logo carries a lot of power that cannot simply be thrown away. They must be smarter than that - I hope.

So, I opt for the social media experiment. And it sure has been an interesting week for Gap. I don't think that Gap has had this much free buzz for a very long time. And this might be part of a strategy to get Gap more social media savvy. I can't wait to here more about this one.

Cadbury - brand extension into chocolate-themed cafe chain

2010-10-05T22:49:00.000+02:00

Recently I wrote about Cadbury's Spots VS Stripes campaign. Now I want to mention another interesting launch by this much loved British chocolate brand. Cadbury's will open up cafes called Cadbury Cocoa House which will be Cadbury branded, traditional English style cafes where you can expect to enjoy a delicious afternoon tea, along with a range of Cadbury-themed goods.

According to BBC Cadbury says it has been planning the move for some time and negotiations are already underway for sites and the first outlets - in London - could be open for business before the end of the year. However, Cadbury stressed that it was "very early days" for the plan. The plans are part of a joint venture with retailer Harrods. Spokespeople say: "We want to build on the Cadbury heritage and the British heritage of Cadbury. All food will be sourced from the UK where possible, and we will really develop that heritage of the brand - from fireplaces and fireside chairs to traditional English afternoon teas."

This is an interesting move by Cadburys and I will be keen to follow the developments. Moving from product brand to service brand is a challenge, not just because the business model is entirely different, but also because the consumer interactions are in many ways more challenging. A service is customised and the service experience is highly dependant on the situation. The challenges are way different from the world of product retailing. And the delivery of the total brand experience is paramount to success. Let's follow this one!

Findus understands consumer needs - launch frozen Pasta Gratin kits

2010-09-29T21:01:00.001+02:00

Findus is creating new smart meal solutions for Swedish families who experience the 5-6pm 'hell-hour' need for quickly prepared and reasonably healthy dinner needs.

Their latest launch are two innovative Gratin dinner kits, one pasta gratin, and one Taco gratin. Home made Tacos (swedish style) are the Swedish favourite meal no. one - so perhaps this is a fairly expected move...

I was pretty pleased to see these two products by Findus. Yet again Findus shows a focus on being innovative when it comes to ensuring that consumers keep shopping the frozen categories - as fresh makes inroads also in Sweden, albeit at a very slow pace in comparison to many other, larger markets. These products are perfect for the cash-rich, time-poor families of today. And the 'cooking kit' with two seperate components that you simply mix is just a dream for mothers and fathers who want to feel like they've done some cooking (hmmm we all need to fool ourselves sometimes to feel satisfied with our role as parents...)

So, great work Findus, mums and dads are likely to shop this product if it's available and at a reasonable price. And hopefully the taste and quality will make both mums, dads and kids happy.

Crisp maker OLW taps into Fredagsmys insight to conquer Swedish crisp market

2010-09-20T20:01:00.004+02:00

Swedish crisp maker OLW's choice to tap into a strong emotional insight proved a good strategy. OLW has now taken the throne as the king of the Swedish crisp market with a 39% market share. The insight that sits at the back of the Fredagsmys campaign taps into Swedes need for 'cosy, lazy family time' on Friday nights, after a tough and stressful working week. The key ingredient in the campaign is the song 'Fredagsmys' which, in all its 'geekiness', have become incredibly popular. It has been played more than 1 200 200 on Spotify! And the social network following has also been strong with more than 190 000 members in the Facebook group 'We love Fredagsmys'. See the ad below - a show of different Swedes who all love Fredagsmys.

Why brand characters?

2010-09-18T17:50:00.004+02:00

Well, that is the question that I asked myself as I read the ‘name three popular brand characters’ thread in one of the many Linked In groups that I follow. We’ve all come across famous brand characters as we meet brands advertised and promoted. There are the really famous ones like the Michelin man, the Duracell bunny and the Andrex puppy. And there are the local ones, in Sweden we have the Tele2 sheep and the rather annoying Boxer guy Robert…

So what’s the point of them then and why do companies bother? As I can see it there are a few strong advantages of creating brand characters:

To emphasise a relevant, differentiated benefit
Brand characters are often chosen because they are the advocates of a benefit that the company in question wants to own. In the case of the Tele2 sheep, Tele2 must have come to the conclusion that ‘different due to cheap’ was the most important benefit to emphasise, and… hurrah. The agency came up with the idea that cheap and sheep were connecting words that one could easily play with… and since differentiation is also a key benefit of Tele2 the black sheep was born! The Duracell rabbit is another great example born from the same logic.

To create a holder for storytelling
Brand characters are the perfect holding devices for storytelling. And advertising agencies, at least in Sweden, seem to love to create long (way too long!?) running stories around brands. One example in Sweden are the characters in the ICA commercials. ICA Stig and his colleagues play in a long-winding soap-opera. Personally I’m a bit tired of those ads but because the characters are recognised, the costs are covered by brand owners and the format is so incredibly engrained in people’s mind I’m afraid they might just last forever… ICA Stig goes strong. A favourite of mine is the Ipren man, a made-up character that supports the brand message and new innovations. I enjoyed seeing the Ipren guy in a new settings in the latest ad which I’ve written about before.

To create recognition and ad brand recall
Lastly brand characters are great tools to create brand recognition and brand recall. When you’ve got a brand character strongly associated with a brand, all future communication that clearly displays that character will act as a snapshot reminder of the brand and its benefits. So if you only see a few seconds of an ad you might miss out on the message and the brand logo but at least the actor i.e. the brand character will serve to effectively remind you of the brand. Tele2 very clearly displays its black sheep in all sorts of consumer facing communication whether its TV ads, print, digital or packaging. You surely cannot miss the sheep – cheap connection however hard you try.

I believe these three reasons are the key reasons why we see more and more brand characters supporting the message of brands. There are of course also some issue if you choose this path – and I will get back to those asap. But for now, I hope the above makes some interesting reading. And do let me know if you think I’ve missed out on some additional fantastic benefit of creating supporting act brand characters. Bye for now.

Calsberg Sweden launch Falcon Autumn Lager

2010-09-12T03:52:00.006+02:00

In the next move to position Falcon as the beer for 'genuine men' Carlsberg Sweden have recently launched Autumn Lager, a darker kind of lager, lightly roasted and with a hint of chocolate.

This appears to be the next move to strengthen the Falcon brand positioning clearly to its target group of 'genuine men' which I personally trust to be a well-researched and clearly defined target group described as mature, self-confident, grounded 30-50 year old guys with a strong presence. Or something close to that at least... This group is also likely to be interested by international beers and beer culture so this is also an important move for Carlsberg to strengthen the local brand Falcon against the tough and growing international competition. The recent launch comes with a short ad focussing on building awareness for the new launch, but still with a strong message connected to the new positioning. See the ad here.

Another issue for Carlsberg is to define and communicate different positionings for the local brands against the Carlsberg brand. The proposition in the world of Premium must be unique for both Carlsberg and Falcon brands, where each brand should be targeted at a specific segment in the market. With the latest moves by Carlsberg it seems like they've got a clearer plan in place now for how to work with their different brands. I'm looking forward to next steps!

Magnum - a well managed brand

2010-09-02T20:04:00.011+02:00

According to the Unilever website there are over a billion Magnum ice creams sold every year. That's a significant number of ice creams! A few days ago I spotted the Magnum Minis collection that was recently launched in Sweden. Now, I am a bit of an ice-cream snob so while I'm frustrated by the less than tempting ingredient list of Magnum I still find the lovely little chocolate mini ice-creams absolutely deliciosly yummy looking...

I would say that Magnum is one of those brands that I think Unilever really manage in style. The brand was launched in the UK already in 1987 and it claims to be the first widely available hand held indulgence ice cream in the UK. Since then, Magnum has extended the brand family with nice additions like my favourite Magnum Almond as well as other lovely ideas such as Double Chocolate (1996), Double Caramel (2000), Yoghurt Fresh and Magnum Intense (2002). I also loved the limited editions titled '7 Sins' (2003) and '5 Senses' (2005). Both were well executed great campaigns with brilliant supporting communication.

The new addition to the Magnum family is apparently Magnum Gold with front figure tough guy Benicio del Toro as the supporting frontman. Sweden is perhaps a too small market for Unilever to bother with any big TV ad expenses, but see this ad from UK and you get the feel for what the Magnum Gold launch is all about.

So what do I like about Magnum? Well, I think that in terms of innovation, concept development and communication it is an incredibly well managed brand. It's all about being the almost sensual ice-cream indulgence - and the new launches support that brand proposition full on. And through the new concepts Magnum manages to stay connected and relevant to its target audience. Great work Magnum!

Fritidsresor - the days you remember

2010-08-24T20:09:00.003+02:00

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I just spotted the most recent Fritidsresor ad on telly - the one with Mads Mikkelsen. Apart from being a beautiful ad it also carries a strong emotional message built around the Fritidsresor brand promise of 'creating more days to remember'. Of course we should all want more great days to remember. Many of us are but too aware that time flies and our individual lifetimes are just tiny little dots on the lifetime of planet earth. And just as autumn comes and Swedes are back behind our desks with memories of a lovely summer holiday behind us, the Fritidsresor message becomes even stronger. I want to book a trip now!

Cadbury Spot vs Stripes production - hit or miss?

2010-08-16T20:38:00.003+02:00

Cadbury is really going for glory with its big, high investment sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Cadbury spends a record £50m marketing investment on this campaign. The campaign started last weekend with an unconventional TV advert introducing the Spots v Stripes campaign. And the campaign will run until the game starts in July 2012.

The idea of the campaign is that Cadbury's invites the nation to divide into two teams competing to score points on a website. The games can be anything from big and highly organised sports competitions to simple arm-wrestling and they can be played at all locations, everywhere.

The first TV ad features two teams of spotted and striped marine creatures playing a game using seaweed balloons. What do you make of this? Is it a hit or miss? I find it very unconventional and intriguing, perhaps the reaction that Cadbury's want from its audience? I suppose the key objective is to get the audience engaged and to draw people to the site. The ad will be followed by a Spots v Stripes national roadshow visiting UK cities over the couple of months, inviting members of the public to join in using “giant games kits” provided by the Dairy Milk Maker. A spokesman from Cadbury's described Spots v Stripes as “an ambitious programme to get millions of people across the UK and Ireland playing games by 2012, leaving a lasting legacy of community spirit in the UK and Ireland”. It's a big ambition for Cadbury's - good luck guys!

Danone buys Swedish probiotic brand ProViva

2010-07-30T16:29:00.008+02:00

This morning it was announced that dairy and functional dairy giant Danone buys the Swedish functional health brand ProViva, up to now owned by the Swedish company Skånemejerier. A Danone spokesperson says its a purchase in line with the Danone brand mission - and a good move to develop their product range further.

ProViva is a successful brand in Sweden with a range of nice fruit drink products with probiotic powers. The ProViva brand is all based on the discovery of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v based on in depth clinical research in Lund, Sweden in the 1980's. Today ProViva benefits from a trusted and well researched health claim.

The ProViva brand claim is something like 'The best friend for tummies' , i.e fruit drinks that help tummies or gut bacteria to be and remain healthy.

ProViva is well represented in most Swedish supermarkets and the brand also benefits hugely from being referred to by Swedish health practitioners. It's mostly the well-known product range of fruit drinks that you see being well-stocked at all leading retailers. But apart from the fruit drinks ProViva also makes an interesting range of goodies. How about the so called Shots? Similar in style to the Knorr Vie shots but also benefiting from probiotic bacteria. And how abut Proviva Active, a range of Fruit Drinks with probiotics but also with added carbs and protein - for those of us who are particularly active and need to boost our energy levels.
Last but not least, ProViva launched ProViva Female last year, a range of fruit drinks especially developed for women of fertile age, with added iron, folate and vitamin C. What a range!

I hope the involvement of Danone will help to build this great brand to even further greatness - who knows, it may even take on the world much beyond our Nordic borders. I certainly hope so! With this purchase Danone takes a further step to strengthen its portfolio of health and functional food brands. ProViva is a good addition to their brand portfolio - well done Danone!

Brand positioning case - Ben & Jerrys

2010-07-29T20:07:00.005+02:00

Ben & Jerrys is one of my favourite brands. I can pretend that it's got all to do with the taste but... I woul

Image by Noeluap via Flickr

d be lying. And it's certainly expensive ice-cream to which my rational mind says: - don't buy it! But by then my emotions have already kicked into gear... I simply must have it, I crave it!

Luckily though, I manage to steer away from the ice-cream counter on most shopping trips - but if I've got a weekend night with me, myself and the telly I simply need B & J. So, what has it got that makes it so desirable?

A compelling personality
B&J is so much more than just ice-cream. Buying B&J is about making a statement about who you are. If you find yourself to be just a little bit wacky, a bit creative and in touch with your emotions - then you're sure to like the B&J brand. And if you like those personality traits in yourself - then you like B&J even more! B&J does ice-cream in a way that no one has done it before. It's wacky ice-cream with big bits and weird taste and ingredient mixes. It's fun, quirky and simply brilliant!

A brand story
B&J has a great story to tell. This amazing story is based on the beliefs and principles of the B&J founders Ben and Jerry who had a dream about making the best tasting ice-cream the nicest possible way - you can read more about that story here. And you should be able to trust those founding brand principles even today - despite Unilever buying B&J a few years ago.

Committed to serving good, honest ice-cream with a cause
B&J is committed to a bold social mission statement that should guide the way that the company and the brand interacts with the world.

All in all, Unilever appear to be committed to preserving the things that make B&J stand apart from other brands in the world. I really hope that B&J will be allowed to continue to develop the brand in its own right - I see so many more opportunities for the brand. I hope B&J will see them too!

Inside the mind of the shopper by Herb Sorensen

2010-07-27T20:49:00.002+02:00

I'm currently reading a great book about consumer behaviour in the retail environment. Unfortunately the process of reading is rather long winding these days. Still only managed 53 pages due to constant interactions with my little one. But the insights on those 53 pages are promising indeed - and I cannot wait to learn more about the mind of the shopper. Inside the mind of the shopper is based on sound research from millions of shopping trips and clever eye-tracking studies. The 53 pages I've read have already revealed that:
- There are three typical types of Shoppers (Quick, Fill-up and Stock-up)
- Half of all shopping trips are Quick and include 1-5 products
- Single item shopping account for a whopping 16% of retail sales!

That's just a start for you guys. If I ever get a chance reading more I'll be back with more Shopper revelations.

Sex in the city 2 - suffers from too much product placement

2010-07-22T20:44:00.005+02:00

Image via Wikipedia

I enjoyed a girls 'movie night out' in Stockholm last night. These days neither movie nights, nor girls nights are frequent occurances. Last night I celebrated in style with two lovely friends, my highest heels, my lovely Tous handbag, a glass of Bollinger bubbly... and the latest Sex in the city movie.

However, as I left the theater having survived a two hour luxury brand bonanza, I couldn't stop reflecting on the sheer and rather ghastly amount of product placements that are so frequent and too obvious throughout the movie.

Don't get me wrong. I do believe in product placement and in it's power to build brand. But I was still annoyed by how obvious product placement was done in this production. There's hardly a scene without a reference to brands. And sometimes the references are so corny too. One wonders if the movie would have gone ahead at all without the brand owners push and investments.

I hope I won't have to see this kind of product placement destroying movies again. We'll see!

Ramlösa - Honest water campaign

2010-07-21T13:00:00.004+02:00

Just a short note between all those little jobs at home. Last night, between watching some telly I enjoyed seeing the latest ad by Ramlösa water again. Ramlösa is the swedish, classic mineral water brand owned by Carlsberg.

I enjoy the new communication from Ramlösa. The new Ramlösa 'Honest water' campaign is very good. The print that can be seen across Sweden is clear, to the point and delivers well on the proposition and the brand values. The TV ad also delivers the 'Honest' message well in a lightly entertaining fashion. And the 'Honest water' comms idea is also really good, a great creative idea based on the foundation of the brand itself i.e. Ramlösa brand proposition of 'naturally refreshing'. Well done Åkestam Holst, the agency behind the latest campaign.

Enjoy the ad below. For those non swedish speakers out there. It's about a guy who comes too late to work and tries to make silly excuses. Another guy shows up and says: -Sorry guys, I overslept to the first guys embarassement.

Merci and Toffifee - Hated comms that sell?

2010-07-15T20:32:00.009+02:00

That's what I asked myself as I picked up some Merci chocolate for my grandmother the other day. I scanned the supermarket chocolate shelves in search of something special for a grand old lady who I love. And what do I buy? Well, I got totally stuck on the emo idea of "Merci is my little way of saying thanks - merci, for being you". I even had the tune in my head. Somehow that emotional, tacky, euro ad tune got me buying into the Merci brand.

And as I walked out of the shop I thought of all those tacky commercials that we hate, but somehow also love... Those ads are often German or French for some reason. And the Merci brand owners Storck have managed to create quite a few of those hated ads. Toffifee is another brilliant example. Apparently a quick check on Facebook confirms that there are now 5244 swedes who have signed up to the Facebook group 'The guys who have never had fun times with Toffifee'. This is in response to the much hated 'You have so much fun with Toffifee' ad that's frequently shown over here. Well, is it good or no good for a brand and ad to create this kind of response? Well, as long as Toffifee meets or exceeds its sales objectives I'm sure the Storck guys will laugh all the way to the bank... It's not about creating wonderful ads - it's about effective communication.

How do you find out if you work for an organisation that embrace and encourage innovation?

2010-07-13T12:06:00.006+02:00

We often here about well-known and leading edge innovative organisations like Google, Amazon and Apple. Those companies are very open about their relentless focus on innovation and on how to encourage idea generation and development from within.

But then there are all those other companies. The ones who talk a great deal about innovation and about how important it is, but somehow never do anything about innovation apart from designing some long winding innovation processes that will either kill all ideas that come into sight or, if the organisation have got the money, execute all ideas that come into sight - even if those ideas are sure to fail...

Personally I belive that a truly innovative organisation benefits from an innovation agenda and an innovation focus that has been set and communicated top-down, encouraged by top-level openeness to creative thinking. Without this innovation focus at CEO or leadership level an organisation can never become truly innovative and creative.

So, if innovation is important to you and you want to find out if you work for an organisation that's already innovative or at least on the path to becoming innovative, how do you find out? Well, based on my belief in top-management commitment I would suggest that you try to find out what your top-management have got to say about innovation. Do they believe in innovation as a future profit generator? Do they encourage innovative thinking? Do they understand what innovation is all about in your business? Do they know how to drive innovation processes forward in your line of business?

Those are just some of the fundamental questions that you can utilise to understand if your organisation already is or if it is likely to become ahead in the innovation game. Good luck!

NA - Nature Addict concept spotted in France

2010-07-07T20:02:00.003+02:00

As promised follows the first product spotting from the France trip. The first I'll give you is Nature Addict or N.A. as the name it goes by on the eye catching packaging. N.A. is an all fruit snack concept that's nothing but 100% dried fruit in flavoursome and fun formats. A great snack for adults but also, as I soon noticed, for toddlers. My little one and a half year old insisted on chewing down a few little chewy fruit bits too. Much to the dismay of her mother who wanted all bits for herself...

So what's so brilliant about this concept then? Well, what I like about it is that's it's not only a great tasting all fruit snack but that it's also packaged and conceptualiased in such an appealing way. It's energetic, fresh and fun - nothing like the dreary 'health' snacks look that you often see on shelf. No, this snack is speaking the language of confectionary retail and shopping - but it's still a very healthy, all natural alternative to more sugar loaded confectionary alternatives. My guess is that the bulls eye target group are health oriented women aged approx 18-35 but I actually think it can appeal to all adults, men and women alike. The packaging is eye catching, fun and perfect size to easily fit into small handbags or pockets. And you feel really good after having your one a day fruit portions in a tasty format too.

So, if you ever spot it on shelf - go ahead, have one too! I'm sure we will see much more of this brand outside France.

Maisons du Monde - their designs are divine!

2010-07-07T09:16:00.004+02:00

Back after a week in the wonderful Languedoc region of France. What a holiday! It was indeed a perfect start to summer. Sunny days in the garden, glasses of wine on the patio and cool dips in the pool. But I also managed to do some great shopping. The supermarkets of France are the best! And I will tell you about some of the nice little treats that I found there later. But best of all was my visit to Maisons du Monde - an interior design and furniture heaven that specialises in beautiful French style designs - the stuff that I love. And I got some lovely stuff there - mainly little chic knick-knack style things due to the limited space in my suitcase and the very unsympathetic staff at the Ryanair luggage drop... But lovely stuff no less... Maisons du Monde is a lovely retail concept that I wish I could enjoy back home.

Nespresso ad - brand with comms that makes me crave...

2010-06-23T20:48:00.004+02:00

This Nespresso ad is absolutely great at doing what it is supposed to do - make people crave to become Nespresso users. I'm already a brand addict - and I don't even own a Nespresso coffee machine. But I want one... I think Nespresso has managed to do 'an Apple' - i.e. create a must have item via communication buzz, fab brand and 'cool' factor. The 'Nespresso way' is, just like the 'Apple way' an impressive example of how one can utilise brand to sell expensive equipment. And perhaps 'slightly' unnecessary equipment?

George Clooney is the perfect brand ambassador for Nespresso - sleek, sexy, clever and so desirable... just like the Nespresso machines of course. And what's also impressive with Nespresso is that they've managed to continue to remain focused on the high end consumer and build a very successful and profitable company during the recession - I quote FT in their May 20 2010 article about Nespresso "Nespresso has not only become one of the Swiss multinational’s best-selling brands, with sales last year of SFr2.8bn ($2.4bn), but is also a remarkable exercise in luxury branding in a niche of an otherwise mass market business". It's certainly a good achievement!

But, as FT also reports - the next step for Nespresso will be tea machines. Hmmm. Will tea machines really emulate the success they've had with coffee machines or is it just a must-have add-on to the current selection? Is it really Nespresso to make tea machines? Does the brand have the power to sell tea? Personally I think they should stick to coffee and not only because the terrific guys at FT think so too... It will be interesting to follow.

Pour Tea - clever way of promoting consumer engagement

2010-06-22T19:22:00.005+02:00

A colleague and friend of mine told me about this lovely concept by the swedish coffee and tea makers Johan & Nyström (a company that I hadn't heard about before - but I'm now well impressed!). Those guys apparently noted that there was a gap in the market and a great opportunity to promote ice tea in Sweden - well spotted for a start! And they realised that they needed a good, well positioned and well designed concept to make it work. So, here comes Pour Tea, a new brand with a range of products that I'm sure are refreshing and tasty, but where they've also realised that it takes more to create consumer buzz, build brand personality and sell lots of modern ice tea! The packaging design was done by Identity Works - nice job! In their analysis they did a great job of utilising the insight that 'ice tea is a drink for social moments, and often drunk in cafés' - this insight they utilised to build a great conceptual idea i.e. the idea of creating the modern 'message in a bottle' by utilising the inside of the label to print different messages from other Pour Tea devotees. And the label also has information on how your own message can be printed on Pour Tea labels or on the Pour Tea website (which I can no longer find - hmm would have loved a link here but you have to google it yourself). Well, apart from the non existing website issue - Don't you love this concept too!?

Pass it on - example of clever digital peer to peer marketing

2010-06-17T21:28:00.005+02:00

Image by swisscan via Flickr

I find Pass it on an innovative and very fresh way of promoting a country - this time the lovely country of New Zealand, a country that's very special for me. On the Pass it on site you'll find great stories and little movies about NZ that you can pass on and share with other people. And when you pass on a story and the receiver follows your link and sign up to the site, you will earn credits and win prizes! Great thinking - for simple peer to peer marketing!

Urban Deli - fresh retail and restaurant concept in Stockholm

2010-06-16T09:37:00.003+02:00

I feel slightly frustrated when I come across a cleverly conceptualised retail concept that I just know that I would love, but I haven’t had a chance to visit yet….

So, I will share with you my most recent discovery called Nytorget Urban Deli. It’s an upmarket food retail and casual eating concept that’s situated in the fashionable Sofo area of Stockholm. Apparently it opened in October 2009… maybe some more ‘drums and whistles’ guys!

The concept idea takes is to take you back to the ‘market square and delicatessen feel’ but with convenient, modern food alternatives and in a setting where you can enjoy delicious food and refreshing drinks (also alcoholic ones!). At Urban Deli you can eat breakfast, lunch or dinner, but you can also choose your own fresh groceries and produce to cook at home. Or why not try the ‘weekly dinner kit’ – a bag that contains ingredients and recipes for four dinners that can be cooked at home.

Based on what I’ve understood about the concept so far I’m tempted by the ‘eat in’ idea which I enjoyed in at old Fresh & Wild in London where I so many times ate a fantastic organic/veggie deli lunch in the actual retail space. But Urban Deli also has the cool, clean, airy and crispy Dean & Deluca upmarket NYC feel – well suited for Stockholm. I cannot wait to go and check it out in person! And, purely based on my now very high expectations I wish the next Urban Deli would open near to my home…

Integrated systematics for strategic brand tracking

2010-06-15T21:17:00.003+02:00

Currently I'm intrigued by the thought of identifying some magic tool for 'Integrated Strategic Brand and Product Tracking'. Clever tracking is tricky - and I haven't come across a single company that have a strategic tracking systematics that's totally integrated with segmentation tools, brand platforms and strategic KPIs. And, on top of that - also cleverly reported via customised / tailored reporting systems. If anyone comes across the ultimate tracking device - do let me know!

Sussex Safe Roads - One of the best emotional communication you've seen?

2010-06-11T21:41:00.005+02:00

I saw a twitter note by Brandamentalist about this road safety ad by Sussex Safe Roads. And I think it's so good so I really want to make a note of it here too. Being a firm believer in the power of tucking into the emotional side of communication I find this ad refreshing, appealing and very creative. So, enjoy some powerful emotions and a very strong message! I guess the issue of wearing seatbelts is not huge in lefty brain safety focussed Sweden. But in countries where this is an issue this message should be very powerful. Would you wear your seatbelt after seeing this?

Fresh brand extension from WASA - 4 crisp mix

2010-06-11T21:18:00.003+02:00

I've recently noted the brand extension of Wasa into the Muesli category and, since I find this a pretty wise move I wanted to tell you about it too. Wasa is the crisp bread specialist and a crisp bread institution. For years the Wasa brand has pretty successfully developed and grown the crisp bread category far beyond it's origins. But, to be fair, crispbread is a rather limiting category and it may be very hard to recruit more crisp bread eaters beyond the current base. So, what to do? Well, the recent launch of cereal is an interesting example of how to utilise brand strenght in crisp bread to sell another category i.e. cereal. I haven't tried the '4 crisp mix' cereal yet and can but hope that the product delivers on consumer needs in the cereal category. But I do believe that Wasa stands a fair chance to succeed as an innovator in the rather dull and Kellogg's dominated cereal category. Go Wasa!

However, Wasa needs to do a better job at ensuring bloggers get hold of the link to the '4 crisp mix' ad - unfortunately it's nowhere to be seen online.... And, it's also impossible to find good images of the recent product launch. Some more work needed there guys!

Steve Jobs on Innovation

2010-05-20T19:26:00.002+02:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Steve Jobs said: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

"Innovation has no limits. The only limit is your imagination. It’s time for you to begin thinking out of the box. If you are involved in a growing industry, think of ways to become more efficient; more customer friendly; and easier to do business with. If you are involved in a shrinking industry – get out of it quick and change before you become obsolete; out of work; or out of business. And remember that procrastination is not an option here. Start innovating now!"

I read the above text on a website today and being a firm believer in the power of innovation I just had to put it on my blog. Enjoy!

Proctor & Gamble launches E-store for online sales of consumer products

2010-05-20T15:33:00.003+02:00

Today P&G launches an E-store to U.S. Consumers featuring P&G brands. It's called the eStore, and it is an online shopping site owned and operated by PFSweb featuring the breadth of P&G brands including Tide, Pampers, Olay, CoverGirl, Swiffer and Febreze. The eStore has been created with shopper insights to provide a premier online retail site with the goal of offering new and better ways to shop online for household, beauty and grooming products. More brands will be added to the eStore over the next year. The store also gives shoppers a forum to share feedback on their eStore shopping experiences and provide ideas to improve the site. Shoppers can also post ratings and reviews for P&G products and share tips and tricks for taking care of their family and home at the eStore.

Is this the first bold step by a consumer goods producer to try to bypass the big retail chains. Bold move that I'll follow!

FMCG concept development - part 2. Concept crafting

2010-05-12T21:20:00.006+02:00

In my little piece on Concept Development - part 1 I wrote about the importance of concept development. I also mentioned that concept development isn't as simple and straightforward as many believe. No, I would claim that good concept development is a skill that needs to be honed by hours of practice. And, in order to be a good concept developer, a marketeer needs to understand a great deal about the consumer or customer, have an idea to conceptualise, and be able to put that idea and the benefit it offers into words and imagery. Those words and the imagery need to carefully crafted so that the concept is crystal clear and can be truly comprehended by the target group (without empty words of marketing bullshit!). For me concept writing is important. And it is NOT about simply explaining an idea in words or some creative rhetorics. No, concept writing is a marketing skill. And a marketing skill that too few marketeers master really well. I've seen too many poor concepts die in qual or quant research - not because of a bad conceptual idea but simply because that idea has been poorly crafted into a concept.

The key building bricks of a good concept? Well, Ï believe those to be the following three:
Consumer Insight: your concept need to rely on a foundation of insight. What's the thing that you know about the consumer that makes your idea relevant? Ideally you've already researched the relevance of your insight.
Idea presentation: This is the opportunity to explain your offer. This should be presented in an appealing way but do work hard on steering away from choosing 'sales' language here! The one thing that one needs to work very hard on is the uniqueness of the idea in the market - is it something new or different that's really relevant to your target group. If it's not I'm not sure whether you should bother writing a concept at all!
Benefit: concept benefits need to link to the idea presentation. What are the key benefits that your concept offers to the intended target? This is where many concepts really fail. They try to claim too many things, they sometimes claim non relevant benefits or they claim just poor, undifferentiated me-too benefits that no one cares about.

I find the above to be the basics of the actual 'concept crafting' exercise - But to that comes the topic of concept stimulus, not to mention the hard work of researching and honing concepts through different development and screening stages. To that comes the development of moodboards, illustrations, packaging shots or whatever other stimulus you chose to bring your concept to life. I'll get back to these topics at some later stage. Meanwhile, good luck with your concept development!

Carlsberg world cup initiative – “Probably the best team talk in the world”

2010-05-11T09:40:00.004+02:00

I was pleased to see that Carlsberg UK continues its impressive communication focus ‘Probably the best’ during the world cup. Carlsberg is the official beer of the England team. This time they've created a strong ad with very high emotional 'I love England' connection. The English are due to love that one! It starts in the England dressing room with Stuart Pearce geeing up players a few minutes before kick-off before they set off for the pitch surrounded by a who’s who of English sporting heroes, as well as chart-topping rockers Kasabian.
What I find encouraging is Carlsbergs strategic comms focus. They’ve reaped rewards with their brand and communication platform – and they won’t, as many other companies do, change a good, winning formula despite recession, internal re-organisations and other issues that can get in the way of strategic, long-term brand development. Great ad and well done Carlsberg!

Converse - insightful innovation in the shoe world

2010-05-10T21:05:00.002+02:00

I only have one pair of Converse - a gold leather pair that I bought in London last year. After a long and cold winter they were finally rescued from the darkest corner of the closet last weekend. I wore them again - and they felt so fine! How come a pair of shoes can mean so much? Simply by being different (gold coloured leather) I feel like I've made a fairly cool and slightly individualistic choice. Or is it really an individualistic choice that makes a certain statement? How can it be individualistic when 80% of swedish women, men and kids wear Converse during the summer months? If you really want to look like everyone else you choose the white coloured version...
It's fairly pathetic - but Converse does it again. By simply adding a few new lines of colour, a few interesting new styles (that no one every buys?), liasing themselves with a few cool people (like Ozzy Osbourne who gets his own special and very unique versions) they add some new magic to their brand and become relevant again. Clever! I love my gold leather Converse...

Insight & the Insight pyramid

2010-05-03T15:30:00.004+02:00

As a professional in the field of ‘Consumer Insight’ I sometimes feel rather frustrated by the lack of understanding for Insight amongst other marketing, sales and general business professionals. Few understand what ‘Insight’ is, why it is important and what it brings to the bottom line. I don’t want to dwell on the reasons why… but it may have something to do with the way universities portray insight as the very dull and non exiting topic of ‘market research’ and it may also have something to do with the ‘Insight’ industry and us Insight professionals not daring to promote Insight and its important role in strategic business development.

I’ve already made a first attempt to define the word ’Insight’. Today I’ll try to put ‘Insight’ into a context. ‘The Insight Pyramid’ is my tool that I use to give Insight meaning and further definition.

At the bottom of the pyramid comes ‘Data’ – this is the raw market data that’s available via public sources or professional data providers. Data is e.g. real sales figures, Nielsen or GFK data or other forms of market and category data that you can get your hands on. Data is the essential basics behind any form of market understanding. But bear in mind, with data you’re always looking in the rear-view mirror. Only by tracking the ‘long trend’ of data, you might be able to draw a few interesting thoughts about the future. The second tier level of the pyramid I call ‘Information’. When it comes to Information, the actual gathering exercise is a bit different. Information is gathered by listening to consumers and by seeing consumers in action. How do consumers act in the retail environment? How do consumers value different kinds of packaging material? What are consumers attitudes to frozen food? The ‘Information’ questions are always many and varied and the answers to those questions are rarely 100% simple and rational. Moreoften they are highly multi-faceted, emotionally led and incredibly thought provoking. The third tier of the ‘Insight Pyramid’ I call ‘Understanding’. Understanding is the stage that comes through thorough, hard-work analysis – by continuous search for the meaning behind the data and the information that you’ve gathered. Understanding is never a one timer, it’s rather the on-going search for what makes the consumer tick and how you should develop, refine and maximise your offer to meet consumer needs and of course, make loads of money for your business. The impact of ‘Understanding’ comes when your team has got the same or at least a very similar understanding and work towards a common goal. That’s magic! But, if ‘Understanding’ is magic – my fourth and final tier of ‘Insight’ is the real fireworks! Insight is when it all comes together. It’s when you’re really engaged with the consumer, when you can identify an insight (as per my previous definition) as consumers verbalise their needs and, when you gather those insights and actively utilise them for your innovation, brand and category programmes.

Working the insight pyramid sure isn’t easy. But as you work yourself and your team higher in the pyramid you develop a knowledge that will help you steer your category and market your way, the right way. And if you are a ‘Consumer Insight manager’ you need to preach the value of the whole pyramid to your organisation. Beware of simply ending up with the first two tiers…

The strategy behind Pripps Brazil commercial

2010-04-23T20:07:00.003+02:00

This morning we heard the swedish communication magazine 'Dagens Media' claiming to be the first to report on the new Pripps Blå ads made by Åkestam Holst. Pripps Blå is one of those brands that Swedes somehow love (which I believe is mainly due to nostalgia connected to its Swedish heritage) but few people buy. In Y&R BAV terms it's got massive brand stature (esteem and knowledge) but I believe it lacks brand strength (differentiation and relevance). And the move from Carlsberg Sweden is this new communication platform. What are they trying to do you think? Well, I belive they must have done some homework before this move. They must have realised that their current platform of nostalgic Swedishness has nothing to offer their intended target group. See one of the old style ads here:

So, I guess Carlsberg Sweden must have got to the point where they feel convinced that youthful feelgood 'Brazil' emo feel ads are going to do the job better. I'm not going to judge this one - I simply look forward to follow the developments. Are the new ads going to deliver against the strategy? Are they going to alienate the current buyers? Are they going to attract the intended 'new' target group? And, on the journey I wish Pripps Blå good luck on their path to brand revitalisation - I hope you've done your homework!

Does music branding via Technologic help to strengthen Telenor brand?

2010-04-21T08:38:00.004+02:00

That’s the question that awake when I read the last page of Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) this morning. Music branding is by a definition set by Jacob Lusensky ‘when companies make strategic allies with the music industry to strengthen brands’. Jacob Lusensky is a Swede who helps brands to use the right music in their communication, he is also the writer of a new book on the topic called ‘Sounds like branding’.
I first realised the power music can have to strengthen brand when I saw the Muller Dairy commercials with the 'I'm alive' tune in the UK that ran a few years ago. It was something with that music that added vigour and vitality to the brand. Somehow the music touched something inside me at a very emotional level and I started to view Muller differently, more favourably. During this particular period I was engaged in research and innovation for another big dairy company and it was very interesting to hear first hand just how much consumers engaged in the brand due to the music. I wonder if Muller ever understood the power of that music on their brand. A few years later they totally changed direction in their communication, and the power was gone – at least for me.

A recent Swedish example of the power of ‘music branding’ is the new Telenor communication platform with the Technologic tune. It’s a move for Telenor to freshen up their brand and move from a dull, public institution to a fresh, private and very vibrant brand with cool factor. Despite the logo being dull and Telia like… the new ads, and the music – well, it’s got a lot of coolness factor! The problem for me is that I lack the hygiene factors underlying this ‘new cool’ positioning. The company is still dull and their old school ‘focus on sales’ service attitude and offers are just offputting…So, with ads that are cool and fab music the experience feels very remote from the current Telenor brand. This could end up a dangerous example of moving too fast with ‘music branding’ too soon, without getting the basics right. However, if Telenor does their brand homework right they are hopefully engaged in a range of internal efforts to ensure that they can deliver against the ‘cool’ factor that they set for themselves via music and ads. I hope so anyway – otherwise it’s just branding at its worst. Glitzy surface with lack of substance.

Tiger Woods - Desperate attempt to strengthen his brand

2010-04-17T07:57:00.005+02:00

This ad by Tiger and Nike is sure an interesting and rather desperate attempt to strengthen his personal brand. For me, it's a typical example of a branding and communication at its worst. At the same time as media reports on his chaotic lifestyle and forecoming divorce. Tiger simply calmly stands there, listening carefully to his fathers wise words, looking like he's learned an awful lot... This is bullshit! It totally lacks reason to believe. Nike nows it - and it's embarassing. Maybe Nike and Tiger should just have been wise enough to wait with any attempt to strengthen brand until the basic hygiene factors had been on track when Tiger had proved himself a bit more, both on and off the golf course. He simply appears to be an even bigger loooooooooser (and now I'm talking about his personality) than before the scandal.

But there's another issue here too. And it is the desperate attempt by one of Tigers main sponsors Nike. What on earth did the Nike marketeers think when they decided to go ahead with this commercial. What's the issue that they want to overcome here? And did they thoroughly analyse this with any serious or smart strategic planner at their ad agency? If so, what on earth what the analysis that gave them the belief that this ad was a good idea? Is it good for Tiger? Is it good for Nike? I'm perplexed!

Definition of Insight - what's an insight anyway?

2010-04-09T19:55:00.003+02:00

Well, that is a good question don't you think? Especially when you read a blog which claims to give you 'insight for innovation'! Well, the definition that I believe in and that I work with everyday is the definition of my past employer 'The Value Engineers'. They say that an insight is ‘The penetrating understanding of consumers which provides hooks or clues that lead us towards new brand building opportunities’.
That's a pretty damn good definition of insight! Enjoy!

2010-04-08T22:32:00.003+02:00

Springwise reports - Now Sainsbury’s is set to become the first UK supermarket to keep bees, recently announcing plans to install eight 'bee hotels' on land around their new eco-store in Dursley, Gloucestershire.

I love this initiative - it's so Sainsbury's! My favourite supermarket all time!

Living Labs - consumer co-creation in the digital age

2010-04-08T22:07:00.003+02:00

I recently heard about 'Living Labs' - a consumer co-creation methodology supported and promoted by Opinion, the rather quirky norwegian research agency. I love the name 'Living Labs' so of course I had to read more about it. And over the last few days I've explored the idea. The concept of consumer or customer co-creation appeals to me. Being a consumer centric professional it is certainly something that I encourage. I'm aware of the power of insights from these activities. And the idea of a web-based, digital community is also very interesting to explore when it comes to FMCG and service innovation. Just imagine how interesting and effective it could be to test a new food service concept in this kind of setting. Especially if you can create an environment that brings consumers into a real 'service reality' online. Community members could help you to evaluate the strenght of various food service concepts in a setting that becomes as close to 'real life' as possible. If anyone out there have got some experiences of 'Living Labs' - let me know, I would love to know more.

Food retail innovation with impact - 'My Supermarket'

2010-03-30T21:23:00.002+02:00

I discovered My Supermarket today and now I cannot stop browsing the offers on show. If only I could do online food shopping via the My Supermarket solution! It's not only clever and tempting, you get a bargain too. For a food and food innovation junkie like me I cannot get hold of myself when I see all the lovely offers from the oh so clever food retailers in the UK. Love it!

Youth boosts egg sales in Sweden

2010-03-24T23:43:00.002+01:00

Fri Köpenskap reports today that it is the swedish youth who boost the latest sales increase. for eggs. Apparently last year swedes ate 71m more eggs than the previous year! That's a bloody lot of eggs! And it is a sales increase of 5%, the highest in many, many years.

So, what stands behind this development? Why on earth do the swedes eat more eggs? Well, You Gov were commissioned by Svensk Ägg (Swedish Egg organisation) to explore the reasons why in what appears to be an 'only' quant exercise based on 1024 interviews. The very quant answer is apparently that more and more swedes eat egg for breakfast. Almost one in four claim to eat more eggs today than a year ago (this is not the easiest thing to measure - since it is hard to put an estimate on past behaviours!). In the age group 18-29 23% of respondents claim to eat more eggs today than a year ago. In the older age group 50-65, 17% claim to eat more eggs than a year ago. I want to know more. So, do a couple of groups as well will ya and let us know the reasoning, behaviours and attitudes that lie behind!

Mr Oatman - Havrefras ad is one of those ads that stand-out

2010-03-23T22:25:00.003+01:00

When I look at brand communication I try not to value its relative entertainment factor. Instead I want to value it's ability to reach those communication objectives that have been set in the first place. And, when entertainment is an important objective - then surely entertainment factor should also be measured. When reading some of the Swedish magazines that comment on ads and communication entertainment factor get a too high score from my point of view. This week I enjoy the Havrefras ad with Mr Oatman. Havrefras is a Swedish cereal brand owned by Quaker Oats. The Mr Oatman ad is running pretty frequently on Swedish television at the moment. It would be interesting to see sales figures of Havrefras during the last few weeks. Surely, they must have risen! I love the new ads ability to create stand-out on the TV, surely brand/product awareness must have risen like mad. And I also think that the creation of Mr Oatman was a clever move for a rather functional brand. In his rather dumb 'silliness' he embodies the emotive links that the brand owners want us to connect to Havrefras as a brand. And the environment in which Mr Oatman acts is also so full of energy and vitality. I want to eat more Havrefras! Another powerful fact is the song. It's power to get stuck in mind is just brilliant!

Comfort & Via Naturals concept - a first sign of brand migration?

2010-03-18T20:56:00.002+01:00

I spend two hours a day commuting to and from work and that's probably the reason why I do a lot of brand and innovation spotting as I travel. Yesterday I saw the new ads for the new Naturals concept by Unilever. This new concept has interestingly enough been launched as part of both the Comfort and Via brands. And it's the concept graphics rather than the umbrella brand graphics that hold the concept together. So, what is Naturals then? It is a concept focussed on the emotional and functional benefits of 'a more natural wash'. And, since it's being launched under both the Via and Comfort brands it may also be a first sign of a brand migration strategy. Will either Comfort or Via become the big detergent brand? Unilever are known to be clever about how to maximise the potential of their brands. And they have a good track record of extending brands to cover new territories. I'll certainly be following Via and Comfort more closely from now on. That'll be all today!

Egypt Travel - attractive and differentiated 'heritage' positioning

2010-03-13T07:40:00.005+01:00

After a long, fun and interesting day at the Market Research Day in Stockholm on Thursday, and a six o'clock rise the day after I was rather tired, with slighlty cloudy thoughts travelling home from work yesterday afternoon. Despite my slightly hazed thoughs I couldn't avoid the impact of the new Egypt Travel ads on the tube. For years I've seen Egypt Travel, as well as all other countries with the slightest bit of sunshine and kilometres of beach, trying to position themselves as 'the amazing beachspot with crystal clear waters and glorious sand'. The ads have all showed off a beach and some very happy and tanned, fantastic looking people... Wow, that's some serious differentiation and uniqueness!!! I've been bored by this obvious and endless tirade of 'sameness'...

But Egypt Travel has changed! Their new campaign emphasises something totally different and it does so in a manner that I find well executed and highly attractive.

The new 'where it all begins' positioning emphasises Egyps cultural heritage and unique experiences via historical spots and the imagery they use is incredibly tantalising. This tells me that Egypt Travel has done a bit of homework and that they've, for matters unknown to me but perhaps linked to lack of differentiation, changed their positioning and target group. Hopefully this new positioning is also linked to strong insights with regards to travellers needs and a sizing of the new 'heritage' opportunity. Alltogether it's a bold move and it's a move that I like. I hope it works!

Arla Communication - clever use of packaging

2010-03-06T08:28:00.005+01:00

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting around by my kitchen table enjoying a lazy breakfast... Suddenly I realise that I'm not just sitting around enjoying my brekkie. I'm also being communicated to... In a few minutes time while I believe that my eyes have rested on the Arla milk carton I've also learnt about their latest Arla Kelda launch - a Tuscan tomatosoup. That's powerful! I'm being communicated too in my own home by the kitchen table in an engaging and non intrusive manner. I like! And Arla is also keeping it personal and interesting - via little stories and ideas of how I can make my life easier.
I'm impressed with the way that Arla communicates on their packaging. And I'm impressed that their marketing people have made the whole organisation - and particularly production and purchasing who have to deal with an increased degree of flexibility - understand the power of this kind of communication. It sure works!

Cloetta Good - great chocolate, right identity?

2010-03-04T20:30:00.002+01:00

I came across a newly launched fair trade chocolate yesterday. It is Swedish Cloetta who have embarked on the fair trade journey with the launch of Cloetta Good, a two product range launch based on the simple motto of ‘feel good/better when you eat good tasting chocolate’.
The good thing about the Cloetta Good milk chocolate that I bought and tried is that it does taste awesome. Far better than average bulk milk chocolate. Cloetta has understood the importance of laddering up their benefits and ensuring that the emotional benefit of ‘feel good about your chocolate eating’ is supported by a strong and equally powerful functional benefit of ‘superb chocolate taste’. So, I certainly give the product benefits a thumbs up!
What’s even more important though is a well-executed differentiated positioning and consumer relevant identity visible via packaging, design and communication. Could the Cloetta Good perhaps have benefited from a more bare, classy and stylish positioning and identity rather than the more mid-range look and feel that they’ve embarked on. That’s the question that I’m left with as I munch on my last piece of milk chocolate…

Are these the worst food trends of the noughties?

2010-03-02T20:09:00.004+01:00

Came across this list when I checked around for trends... It's an article by Simon Majumdar on The Guardians website.

He has summarised his worst 10 food trends of the last 10 years. The list includes:

10. Slates, smears, commas and skidmarks
9. Small plate dining and international tapas
8. Cheap cuts at cut-throat prices
7. Underground pop-up restaurants
6. MasterChef
5. Molecular gastronomy
4. Gastropubs
3. Seasonal and local
2. Bloggers
1. Chef as brand extension

Well written and a good list too. The funny thing is that a lot of these so called 'trends' are just emerging trends in Sweden...

ICA To go - for time-starved city Swedes

2010-02-28T14:21:00.002+01:00

Are city Swedes ready for ready-meals? ICA, the largest food retailer in Sweden appears to think so with the launch of ICA To go – a new convenience food retail concept for time poor city dwellers. The new concept will be focused on providing fresh food, ‘fast to cook’ food and ready-meal solutions for time-poor, and (most likely) fairly cash rich city folks. The first shop will open on busy Kungsgatan sometime later this spring. The move also follows the success of Gooh, the innovative ready-meals initiative by Lantmännen. After five years in the Stockholm region where Gooh is moving from strength to strength. The Gooh movement is now moving over the Swedish west-coast with 18 so called ‘shop-in-shop’ retail spots opening across Gothenburg during February 2010. From its launch until this day Gooh hasn’t really faced any serious competition. Tthe ICA move is a sure sign that this privileged situation won’t last forever. The interesting thing will be to see what kinds of food ICA have dec ided to offer time-starved city folks and professionals. Gooh’s offer is hard to beat with their offer of high quality, premium ready-meals based on their co-operation with Swedish maestro chef Stefano Catenacci.

Well, this sure is an interesting development in Sweden, where we don’t yet have the convenience food retail concepts similar to e.g. Tesco Extra, M&S Food and Sainsbury’s Local that one can spot on any high-street in the UK. So,soon I’ll be back with my first report after visiting Ica To go. Being one of those time-starved people I hope it will be a positive one!

Is this the stove of the future?

2010-02-18T21:42:00.003+01:00

I like to see innovative thinking - this time it comes from Swedish kitchen appliance manufacturer Electrolux. Is this the stove of the future?

What do you think?

Where are the differentiated brand positionings in the world of banking and insurance?

2010-02-18T20:52:00.006+01:00

That's a good question. I'm just in the process of transferring my home insurance and it suddenly struck me that I feel no loyalty whatsoever to the company that has been my home insurance provider for years. No, instead I'm sick of being ignored as a customer after having paid more than 5000SEK a year for a number of years. Where are the customer benefits or the perks? Why don't I feel special or valued? I'm moving on. And this time I will change to a provider that will be probably be equally rubbish at making me feel special - but this time for 3500SEK per year.

So, what's the problem - why don't these companies try to differentiate themselves and their brands? Is it simply that they don't feel the need to be different? They somehow inherit their customers (the child goes to the same bank as the parents...), tie them to the bank by creating difficult transfer systems (Anyone out there who's keen to swap retail bank?). In the UK some 10 years ago there were a number of online banks that did a great job of creating differentiated brand positionings. One of those is Egg. I loved the way they communicated their brand as youthful, fun and energetic. I've personally never used them as a bank but I think they've done fairly well for themselves. Apart from Egg - another bank that is different and has made me feel special and valued as a customer is First Direct in the UK. These banks have a clear view of their target group. They understand their banking needs. For First Direct this has resulted in an amazing level of customer service and a matter of fact, simple, personal and non-interfering style.

In Sweden I've got nothing to report on when it comes to different brand propositions in the world of banking. But hopefully new names like e.g. Avanza, might realise the potential of brand when it comes to engaging with and creating long lasting loyalty with consumers. We will see!

Benefit - the fresh thinkers in the world of cosmetics

2010-02-08T20:56:00.005+01:00

When I visited New York a few years ago I came across Benefit, the wonderful and very creative cosmetics brand for the first time. Benefit is one of those brands that just stands out as special and different in a premium cosmetics category where most brands appear to go after the same target group with the same products and very similar positionings. Well, Benefit sure is different from those brands. It positions itself as the girlish cute, ultra feminine and tongue in cheek premium cosmetics brand for women who are proud to embrace the positive aspects of 'girly'. And the execution of their positioning is clever too. They've got an amazingly creative product portfolio with products to prove their worth. I bought my first Benefit product recently when travelling through KL airport. It was the Hello Flawless powder and... it's far better than any powder I've tried recently. It's the first Benefit product I've bought - but it certainly won't be the last. Unfortunately though, Benefit still doesn't have a presence in Sweden... So, I have to save my money for now. But I do want to be a Benefit gal!

Saab Spyker Automobiles - what's in a brand name?

2010-02-04T22:01:00.004+01:00

This is one of the questions I get back to every time I read a new article discussing the take-over. I think the new Saab Spyker brand name just sits so well on the tongue... 'Saab Spyker' - it sounds different, it sounds bold and it sounds fast!
Will the Saab Spyker cars deliver against those criteria? I don't know... only time will tell. But if they are clever and play their cards right they might have something very powerful there... Think about Apple, think about Orange, think about Innocent or any other truly different brand name that you've come up against that sits really well on the tongue... If those names represent the embodiment of differentiated, challenging, niche positionings that appeal to a specific (and perhaps fairly affluent) target group they stand a fairly good chance of doing well. However, I'm also very aware that I say this purely from a brand perspective. I'm surely not an engineer, and I'm surely not a financier either...

So good luck Saab Spyker! Whilst sorting out your financing and engineering, don't forget your most powerful asset - the brand Saab Spyker. If you play your cards right, the Saab Spyker brand will last and flourish. Who knows, I might just crave the latest edition Saab Spyker one day just like I'm currently craving the Apple Iphone...

Santa Maria shows off new concept called 'A more spicy Africa'

2010-02-02T20:26:00.005+01:00

Well, I've been quiet for a while but now I'm back again...

So, what's new? Well, I just spotted this new and 'spicy' spice concept by Santa Maria, an innovative swedish food and spice company. It's called 'A more spicy Africa' and includes four new spice products inspired by the african food and taste culture.

The range includes: Durban Curry, Green Harissa, Chermoula and Piri Piri. All presented with a touch of 'african cool' when it comes to product and range design. To present the range Santa Maria also use the Swedish master chef Markus Samuelsson, internationally famous with his well-known NYC restaurant Aquavit. Nice touch (albeit a bit costly?)!

What do you think? Hit or miss? I personally love the idea. The african food culture is certainly one to watch when it comes to new and trendy food flavours. The one thing I would be worried about when spending money on this launch is how swedes will be educated to use the african style and very new flavours and spices in their cooking. I hope the Santa Maria people have a clever communication plan. And I would personally love to learn more about african spices and cooking myself... so bring it on Santa Maria!

Heinz - it has to be...

2009-12-13T18:07:00.004+01:00

is a nice example of a campaign emphasizing the core range of products and brands. Read what David Taylor on his Brandgym blog says about Heinz.

ICA Jamie Oliver commercial - rather appealing

2009-12-08T20:23:00.003+01:00

So, Jamie is appearing in the ever so popular ICA commercials for the first time. ICA is the largest swedish grocery retailer with more than 50% market share. During the crucial christmas period they've added the magic of Jamie Oliver to their ads - and I must say that I believe that move to be a rather smart choice. And since the commercials are well executed and funny ICA seems to be on the right track. It would be interesting to see their ROI - I believe Jamie is rather expensive...

Premium crispbread by Leksands Knäcke

2009-12-08T19:56:00.003+01:00

I spotted these three new crispbread products the other day and got attracted by the wholesome, earthy packaging design. I still haven't tried the products but I'm actually tempted to buy some crispbread... just because it did look rather mouthwatering and attractive. I do wonder if the product would actually deliver against my rather high expectations. Anyway, the new Leksand crispbreads are three premium line products with either Cardamom, Oats or Linseeds. And the on-pack storyline is that different crispbread bakers at the Leksand bakery have baked different breads based on recipes of their own personal liking. I do wonder if that is a bit of marketing bu...it though...? What do you think? Haven't they just stolen the idea from Göteborgs Kex and their Bageriets Bästa and applied it to crispbread? Not very original - but the products do look yummy. I think it is a perfect example of steal with pride and apply other companies great ideas to your own products if you think it will work! Just try to do the job really well!

Tele2 - Interesting challenger brand positioning

2009-12-03T20:30:00.004+01:00

This year the Swedish mobile phone operator Tele2 have certainly done some great and massive work building their brand as the fun challenger in their market against the likes of Telia, Telenor and Tre. I must admit that I was a bit confused about their brand strategy at first. When I first saw their ‘Sheep/Cheap’ commercial I wondered why on earth cheap was the only thing they wanted to communicate about their brand. But I’ve since understood that the cheap strategy is certainly much more than a cheap message. It’s about being different, a unique challenger. And I’ve become more and more convinced that they are on the right track. With a good strategy and their massive Marcom spending I’m more and more convinced that their challenger brand strategy is bound to make them a leader sooner rather than later. Perhaps not number one but at least number two. And, if I remember things correctly, with a low customer churn in mobile phone operating business, one certainly needs to push hard to gain and retain customers. After a massive Marcom push and with a strong supporting strategy Tele2 must certainly be a brand that is top-of-mind for most customers. And when their contracts are up for renewal, well, I certainly think more of them will choose Tele2.

I will write more about Tele2 soon. I’m impressed with their challenger brand strategy and would love to tell you more about it.

Telge Energi - a green energy campaign that I like...

2009-11-25T21:01:00.000+01:00

I travelled on the tube today and saw a great ad by Telge Energi, a swedish green energy provider. I will post a picture of the campaign asap.... and I call it the 'thumbs-up' campaign because the print always includes that particular symbol. So, why is it good then? Well, the ads are interesting and I think they are effective due to the following reasons. Firstly, they are noticeable and make the reader feel involved and positive about green energy. Secondly, they made me and I also think they make other consumers interested in how we can in one easy step (contact Telge...) be greener and therefore nicer to the planet simply by choosing Telge Energi. Simple and effective!

Brand Strategy - what should it include?

2009-11-25T20:50:00.001+01:00

A good brand strategy is crystal clear, strategic yet operative and, last but not least, simple for everyone to understand. It sounds easy but in order to create a strategy that meets those criteria one needs to work hard. First, let's discuss what the strategy should contain. As I see it there are four 'must haves' that describes what ambition you have for the brand and what the brand is and isn't to everyone that works with the brand:
1) Brand Vision and Goal
The brand vision is your statement of intent for the brand long-term. The goal is short-term, the goal for the planning period.

2) Market space
This describes what market the brand acts in, the consumer or customer needs that it should meet, the consumer or customer segments it should be relevant to, the situation in which it is relevant(i.e. if the situation is important to your brand, for a beer brand the situation is likely to be very important) and the key consumer or customer insights that your brand positioning is based on. To write this down in a crystal clear manner often requires serious amounts of thinking and insight work.
3) Brand Positioning
This is where you explain the fundamental building blocks and essence and values of your brand. I've written about the most common building blocks of a positioning before. Look here
In addition, if you write a strategy for an umbrella brand you probably need to include information about the portfolio brands with regards to their individual positionings and how the brand family works as a whole to achieve your goals.

4) Brand Expression
This is all about how the brand is expressed in the market. Your strategic thoughts on innovation, channels, communication, packaging, packaging design and more. Of course you cannot and should not be extremely detailed here - it is more about providing a picture that makes it clear what overall actions you will take during the planning period in order to achieve your goals and work towards your vision.

As I said, it sounds so easy but it really isn't. Let me know if you think I haven't covered anything regarding this topic that you think I should've included. And remember, based on your company circumstances and ambition level you might be able to develop a strategy in a few days, but often it takes months...

Internal assessment of concepts and ideas

2009-11-22T20:46:00.002+01:00

About a week ago I wrote about external assessment or consumer screening of concepts at an early stage of concept development. Today I want to add a few thoughts regarding the internal assessment of concepts i.e. the assessment of which concepts can actually be most profitable for the company in a short- and long-term perspective given internal capabilities and resources. I’ve added a shortlist of assessment criteria that I use but simply see these criteria as a suggestion, and have a think about if there are different criteria that you need to add given your companies specific circumstances. The criteria I often use are:
Strategic Assessment Criteria
- Is the concept in line with the vision / strategy of the company?
- Does the concept meet a large opportunity area or gap in the market?
- Is the concept strong or competitive enough to beat off the competition?
Capabilities Assessment Criteria
- Can the concept be developed given our technological platform, purchasing, production and packaging capabilities?
- Can the concept be developed given time to market demands and estimates?
- Cost of developing concept?
- Can the concept be brought to market successfully given sales and marketing capabilities?
Launch Assessment Criteria
- Is the concept strong and differentiated enough to get listed? (fmcg concept)
- Level of marketing and sales support investment?
- Estimated time before ROI?

These are just a few of the assessment criteria I would consider using. But as I mentioned above, the criteria that you use need to be discussed and finalised internally with your colleagues and with the managers who control internal resources. And there are surely specific assessment criteria that your company need to add given your market objectives and circumstances. Good luck!

Nice new organic coffee and grocery shop concept by swedish retailer Coop

2009-11-22T18:54:00.001+01:00

Well, is it new or not? I claim that it is new simply because I cannot find any information about it on the Coop website or anywhere else... Isn't that a bit strange? Well, it might be a little less secret now when I write about it... I spotted this organic concept store in Gothenburg this weekend and the idea and execution was so nice so I had to write about it.

The swedish retailer Coop has been positioning itself as the most organic and fair trade retailer in the market for a long time. And this positioning could indeed be very appealing for consumers. This concept store is one step on the way... a very positive step! I want to know more about Coops plans for this concept!

10 most important consumer trends for 2010

2009-11-19T08:18:00.000+01:00

Excellent trend analysts Trendwatching have summarised the 10 most important consumer trends for 2010. It's very interesting reading - so do take a look!

I had the privilege of attending one of their briefing seminars in London a few years back and ever since then I've been a big fan. Rainer Evers and his trends team all over the globe do a great job synthesising, analysing and presenting the themes that will have a great impact on how we live and consume tomorrow.

Bliw soap – Great new Nordic themed brand repositioning

2009-11-17T15:14:00.000+01:00

The Bliw soap brand is a classic Swedish brand. It was launched in 1968 as the first liquid hand soap in Sweden and today its appeal is still connected to its retro 60’s ‘bubble’ shape.

Well, I have bought Palmolive liquid soap for years but when I visited the supermarket today and saw the new Bliw look I just had to buy it. And the reason was primarily that the new packaging design stands out on shelf and looks so naturally clean, pure and fresh. Palmolive didn’t have a chance! But when I also read on the packaging I understood that the Bliw brand has been repositioned as more environmentally friendly (via Svanen, a Swedish quality mark for environmentally friendly goods) and with formulations that have been ‘inspired by the Nordic nature’. I think that this is a great direction and positioning for Bliw. The new positioning gives the brand the differentiation that is so badly needed to defend and gain market share against the likes and financial strength of Colgate-Palmolive. So, I certainly hope my new Bliw soap will live up to my high expectations! Well done Cederroth - great concept development and positioning work. Who knows, I might just turn into a loyal Bliw consumer...

Innovation and how to assess concepts - part 1

2009-11-17T09:32:00.004+01:00

Companies spend a lot of energy and investments on bringing new concepts and products to market. But still, most of those concepts or products fail within a year after launch… Research findings vary, but I’ve seen articles that claim that as many as 90% of innovations don’t contribute to company goals i.e. they fail. The monies involved may not be linked to massive investments in production facilities or marcom. But the employee and project resource that’s required to bring a new product to market are enough to make a failure very expensive.

I’ve seen first hand how companies ignore taking the precautions necessary to ensure that they get a return on innovation investment. Human factors like ignorance, incompetence or fear of failure are often at fault. So, if you don’t want your concept to fail (and if you’re responsible and competent) - what steps do you need to take in order to assess that your concept or innovation has got the power to last? Well, the least one can do is to ensure that the concept has been thoroughly assessed based on both external and internal success criteria. External criteria are related to market and consumer factors and internal criteria are related to company capabilities.

Well, I need to try to follow the KISS principle and keep things short and simple. So, today I’ll deal only with the external assessment factors at the early stages of idea or concept assessment. And if time permits I’ll focus on the latter stages of concept screening later on this week. I will also get back to the internal assessment criteria in more detail.

Early stage concept assessment – Assessment criteria

To make a good job out of this assessment you need to involve qual research with your target consumer or customer. Focus groups, in depth interviews…, mini groups – there are different methodologies to chose from.

I would normally include the following assessment criteria at this stage:

Insight relevance – does the insight that the concept is based upon correlate to a prevailing consumer need? Is this needstate large enough to be of importance? And do consumers recognise themselves in this needstate and in this situation? How often? When? Where?

Uniqueness – Do consumers perceive the concept to be different to what they’ve seen in the market? Does this difference or uniqueness stand out and is it appreciated as a positive factor?

Impact on brand – This is a relevant assessment factor if you plan to add the concept to a branded family where it may have a positive or negative impact on the mother brand and/or other brands in the portfolio. Ask consumers if this concept is something that feels natural or awkward within the branded family.

Clarity – is the concept clear and easy to understand? Can you simplify it even further to make it more compelling and easy to grasp?

Benefit relevance – Do consumers really appreciate the benefits that this concept offers? Are the relevant and interesting enough for consumers? Are they worth paying for?

Price – Since this is an early stage assessment I would only add a couple of short questions to check if the project teams ambitions regarding price point and margin correspond to consumer price expectations.

Total market potential – Based on the response to the above criteria I would then make a total summary of the concept potential.

Huh, I’ve done a serious amount of writing now. Have you fallen asleep? I hope this was helpful anyway and as promised, I will get back to the issue of later stage concept assessment as well as internal assessment. Bye!

Taken by Trees track feature in John Lewis Christmas ad

2009-11-14T06:06:00.000+01:00

Marketing Week reports that John Lewis is launching a nostalgia themed Christmas advertising campaign featuring the classic rock tune Sweet Child O’ Mine this time in a rerecorded version by Swedish band Taken by Trees and it is the first time that Taken by Trees music is used in a UK ad campaign. Click on the link above to see the ad!
The campaign is supposed to remind adults of the excitement they felt about Christmas as children and bring out “childhood delight”. It is also supposed to position John Lewis as the place to buy “thoughtful, considered gifts”.
The ad features children playing with Christmas presents, and one girl transforming into an adult as she opens a present.
What do you think? Does it do the job? Well, personally I think that the track is fantastic. And that is a start... so well done John Lewis for choosing such good music. The ad is also very sweet and memorable but I wonder if it clearly connects the consumers to the John Lewis brand... Hmmm, it's definetely nice but is it effective?

Andrex puppy - that's a brand personality!

2009-11-13T16:13:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I posted a note about the Alvedon commercial. The use of a dog and a cute puppy also made me think about Andrex, a brand that has successfully used a puppy for some 30 odd years to build and promote its brand of toilet tissues. Andrex is owned by Kimberly Clark and Kimberly Clark has successfully dominated the UK toilet tissue market for years via the Andrex brand. A huge part of the brand is the Andrex puppy. From what I've heard the Andrex marketing team discovered the power of the puppy by coincidence. Apparently the first time the puppy featured in a commercial was in the 70's - when it was part of a larger family setting. But the marketing team noticed that the use of the puppy generated higher interest and recall amongst consumers. Interesting! And they decided to continue to use the puppy and to give the puppy a larger role promoting Andrex. Today, thirty years or so later the puppy is still going strong as you can see in this recent advert for Andrex Shea Butter toilet tissue.

So, the puppy is probably a very strong force within the Andrex brand proposition today. But from what I can tell and understand from the recent commercials that I've seen the puppy seems to have less of a leading role these days. But will the Andrex brand team ever leave their puppy behind...? Well, I think they will continue to use the puppy as long as the brand and advertising delivers against the set targets. But is there a danger of becoming a bit too predictable? What do you think?
And remember... be kind to your behind...

Alvedon Commercial - if you're big and strong you've also got to be kind

2009-11-12T21:16:00.000+01:00

I haven't commented on any ads recently but I just spotted this one and I just had to write something about it. This commercial is clever, memorable and likable. It's for the swedish paracetamol brand Alvedon and I like the way that the creative have so cleverly emphasised the functional benefits of Alvedon in an emotional and very sweet way. And we all know that dogs and puppies work in commercials, don't we Andrex?
It's interesting - the commercials that I've found really good recently tend to focus on headache pills... It may have something to do with those early mornings that I experience these days. See e.g. again the ad for the ibuprofen brand Ipren that I commented on some time ago.

Brand Positioning - have you got all the bits in place?

2009-11-12T18:27:00.000+01:00

I'm fascinated by brands and the development and growth of great brands. Some brands develop fast and become huge success stories almost overnight, others grow slowly and their stature increase over time. And there are strong brands which are multi-fasceted and complex, and others are incredibly simple yet very powerful. Some brands are built on the essence of its physical founder... others are mere creations. Isn't brand development fascinating?

There are a number of things that a brand strategist and developer needs to have in place in order to communicate the brand and to make it clear to everyone - your target group, your agencies, your colleagues... You certainly want to be crystal clear when you communicate what your brand is all about and what it stands for. In order to provide that sense of clarity one needs to have a few basics in place. Some companies spend incredible effort, research and consultancy time on getting these bits in place. Others write their brand propositions in a few hours. It's up to you how much effort you want to spend on this exercise. The key thing is to get it right i.e. to make your proposition compelling and crystal clear!

The basic bits that you need to have in place to explain your brand proposition clearly are:
Market space - A clear view of the market space that you are targeting with your brand
Target group - A clear, in-depth picture of your target group

Insight - A crystal clear understanding of the target group insight or need that your brand is built upon. If you don't know this you don't know why your brand is relevant for your target group (and why and for whom it isn't relevant) so this is important!
Brand benefit/s - The emotional and/or functional benefits that your brand delivers to your target group
Brand personality - Your brand personified... And this is there to explain different physical and mental dimensions of your brand, what your brand would really be like if it was a person
Brand values - Hmm, one can say that the brand values explain what lies at the core of your brand. The values explain what your brand stands for in the bigger picture (which in turn has a direct impact on the everyday actions of your brand)
Brand essence - A short brand statement that summarises your brand in a few words or one short sentence.

Oups, that was a lot of basics and I am pretty sure that I've forgotten a few things. So, don't you all agree that it sounds so easy! However, believe me, to create a proposition that is crystal clear throughout requires both some serious thinking effort and high energy. I have worked on quite a few brand development projects myself - and in diverse industries such as alcoholic drinks, yogurt and milk, petrol, soft drinks, grocery stores, pharmaceuticals, financial services and more. Believe me, some projects were surely more successful than others at creating strong branded proposition. What I think made those projects more successful and their outcome much stronger were the passion and hard work by the brand team, striking the right balance between strategy and creativity and last but not least, a respect for the consumer and profound consumer insight.

Is Sweden facing an online food revolution?

2009-11-11T07:17:00.001+01:00

Well, I asked myself that question as I read the summary of the Coop report - a usage and attitude consumer report with more than 43000 respondents, with data compiled and published by Coop, a Swedish retailer.
According to the report the internet has become a highly important source of inspiration for Swedish consumers. Almost six out of ten consumers claim to use the internet as their primary source of food and dinner inspiration. And the most important thing is to compare these findings to the 2007 figures. In 2007, just two years ago, only 14% said the same thing! So, in two years the importance of the internet as food inspiration has increased by 43%... I must admit that I haven't studied the details of how the data has been compiled and analysed but I do find these findings interesting!

It makes me wonder if Sweden is facing an online food shopping revolution. Are Swedes ready for online food shopping too? I used to love online grocery shopping. In London I used Sainsburys online. I miss Sainsburys by the way... lots! And I started doing online food shopping in its infancy... 2003 it was. In those days I must admit that it wasn't the most fraction free experience. I often received the wrong goods but... it still was far better than taking the bus to and from the supermarket with fifteen plastic bags of very poor quality in tow... This year Mintel reports that one in three (35%) adults in the UK shop online for food, but just one in nine (11%) do so regularly or exclusively. Mintel also estimate that online food shopping will reach £4.4 billion in 2009, which in turn means that the online grocery market has grown a massive 134% since 2005. I think that is a pretty impressive development.

Online grocery shopping in Sweden hardly exists. But lately several of my friends have woken up to the idea and some of them have started to do their grocery shopping online via NetXtra or Coop. Their main reasons for online grocery shopping are to make their lives easier (more convenient) and to become more inspired to try out new foods and meals... So, here we go... here's that big need for inspiration again. Maybe food inspiration is just the BIG benefit that the online grocery retailers should build their offer around! I'm in a massive need of food inspiration. And, with great benefits like that I might just soon do my grocery shopping online too.

Fewer smoothies due to recession?

2009-11-09T10:54:00.000+01:00

I just read that one of my favourite brands - Smoothie maker Innocent is guilty of a £9m loss for 2008. Innocent racked up the loss as sales fell by 7%, including a 17% drop in the UK during the year. And to that came one-off costs which meant that an operating loss of £1.1m for 2008 soared to more than £9m.
These news came just after figures from Nielsen showed signs of recovery in the smoothie market after a prolonged slump in the UK when e.g. PepsiCo brand PJ Smoothies didn't survive the slump and got axed...

Sales of Innocent, which this year sold a £30m stake to US soft drinks giant Coca-Cola in order to improve their investment opportunities, rose 10% in the 12 weeks to 5 September. So hopefully the bad times are over. What do you think? Will Innocent survive and continue to thrive?

Willys PL chocolate - design makes it an option!

2009-11-05T17:37:00.000+01:00

OK, so there I am doing my weekly grocery shopping. These days I am a devoted Willys fan - primarily because it is so incredibly easy to park there... Sad reason, I know - but grocery shopping has to be easy! Especially with a little baby in tow.

Anyway, during my most recent visit to Willys I spotted this upgraded design of their private label dark chocolate. I must say that this is just an amazing improvement to the dull packaging that they had before! It was an easy choice to reach for Lindt (first choice!) or Marabou Premium (pretty good too - but I hate the name Premium!) instead. But, with this design upgrade I automatically added Willys as an alternative. So, I will try Willys and... if it is good I might just become hooked. So, that is the power of great design folks!!!

Interesting initiative by Volkswagen - The Fun Factor Theory

2009-11-03T10:43:00.003+01:00

Innovative communication initiatives are certainly interesting and this one is a very clever initiative by Volkswagen Group. It's called The Fun Factor Theory and is a unusual campaign to promote Volkswagens environmentally friendly car programme Blue Motion. The Fun Factor Theory is based on three different ads where it is proved that you can easily change the pattern of behaviour by making ordinary, and perhaps a bit boring things a bit more fun.

The campaign has been a success so far by being the most spread and talked about campaign on social media. Personally I think it is an incredibly clever and interesting innovative by Volkswagen. It also proves that Volkswagen understands the power of social media when it comes to building awareness and brand stature.

For those english speakers out there. The film that I've added to this post is just one of the three films. It's called the Pianostairs. The films shows the transformation of a staircase at a Stockholm tube stop - from boring, ordinary staircase to fun pianostairs. And the text says: Can you get people to walk the stairs by making it more fun? Then you see the transformation in people as they walk the new stairs. This is followed by text: 66% more people chose to walk the stairs. Fun can change behaviour - we call it the Fun Factor Theory.

Brand repositioning - Case

2009-10-30T21:23:00.007+01:00

On this site I regularly want to share some of the good case studies that I've come across over the years. A very good repositioning case is the amazing story of Skoda. Since Skoda became part of VW group in 2001 it has made an amazing brand journey. Prior to this some of the old Skoda jokes were...
Why does a Skoda have a heated rear windscreen?
- To keep your hands warm while you push it
How do you double the value of a Skoda?
- Fill it with petrol
This was the general view of Skoda in the 90's. In 1991 Volkswagen took a first 30% stake in Skoda and VW started to train and educate the Skoda workforce. And in 2001 VW took total control of the Skoda business. The first Skoda to be built on the Volkswagen platform was Octavia launched in 1998. Octavia was launched in the UK with Skoda’s highest promotional budget ever (approx. £10 million). But the launch was a massive failure. Only 6,154 cars were sold over the year after launch despite very good reviews in leading car magazines. It was at that stage that the people in charge realised just how seriously negative perceptions people had of Skoda as a car brand. Research also suggested that over 60% of Brits promised that they would never buy a Skoda due to its unfashionable, poor quality image. An image that was no longer in sync with the very good cars that Skoda now offered to the public.

VW understood that they needed to close the gap between Skoda's poor image and the reality i.e. the good value, high quality cars that Skoda now offered. The new model Skoda Fabia was going to be the platform for the Skoda repositioning. The ad agency brief was something like: “Relaunch the Skoda brand and do it by using the launch of the new supermini, the Fabia”. The agency delivered a SIMPLE and BRAVE solution…
ATTACK THE NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS OF THE SKODA BRAND
EXPLOIT THE POTENTIAL OF: “GREAT CAR MEETS DISBELIEVING PEOPLE”
The Skoda brand repositioning was supported by a number of ads. See e.g. this commercial from 2002.

The overall objective with the campaign was to turn the Skoda brand from cheap and nasty to value for money and cheerful. And the idea was to create a message that made gentle fun at Skoda’s poor customer perception.
Theme: “The Fabia is so good that you won’t believe it’s a Skoda”
The campaign ran in both print and TV supported by three different television ads showed situations where people failed to realize that the car in question is a Skoda.
The poster ads featured lines such as “It’s a Skoda, honest!” and “No, really”.

The campaign was also supported by a major PR push aimed at consumer press with the attempts to influence journalists to discuss Skoda in a positive light.
So, what were the campaign results one wonders? Well, Skoda sales grew by 34% in the year of the campaign. By the end of 2000 more than 11,000 Fabia had been sold in the UK and even Octavia saw an increase in sales of 29%. Moreover, customer perceptions of Skoda improved dramatically! Instead of seeing the “old” Skoda they now saw a cut-price, high quality VW. And the agency was of course very pleased when the three commercials for the Skoda Fabia picked up bronze, silver and gold places at the annual British Television Advertising Awards in London.

Create your own watch! Great idea based on need for customised goods!

2009-10-30T08:53:00.006+01:00

Yesterday my husband told me about this fantastic idea developed by a Swedish company and brand called Few. Few has developed a 'design your own' wristwatch concept that seems really interesting. It's a simple concept (see their website)and very clever. On the Few site you can design your own watch and choose from different appealing features to make it your own, very unique piece. And the surprising thing is that it is all fairly affordable too. In a few minutes I designed my own watch due to cost only £262. That is a great price given the fact that Few appears to offer not only a customised product but a high quality product too.
I am intrigued and... very tempted to splash out on another wristwatch. However, there's one more thing that I would love to see from Few before I customise and buy my own watch. At this stage Few appears to concentrate on primarily men as their target group. This is fine but I would sure love to see a more feminine version of the Few offer! When that is in place I might just need to design my own Few wristwatch very soon.