Nikon 'I am' - powerful and insightful communication

Today I am going to write something close to a tribute to the best advertising campaign on air at the moment. It is the Nikon 'I am' campaign I'm talking about. I think they TV ads are so strong so they almost make my heart burst with happiness for seeing such great creative and insightful work. And the print and digital is equally strong. I don't know the agency behind the campaign but I hope that the communication isn't just empty words but rather a portrayal of what the Nikon company and brand truly want to offer to the world. My understanding is a brand that is absolutely passionate about offering their customers the ability to express themselves and who they are freely. The whole idea is clearly based on a strong consumer insight: 'the need to feel free and be able to demonstrate your true self to the world'. On the site 'I am' Nikon express it this way: "No matter what I use my camera for I always say something about myself with my photos...whether I’m capturing holiday memories or snapping party shots, whether I’m just having a laugh or earn a living as a photographer. With my Nikon I can combine my personality and my dreams. With my Nikon I can show the world who I am".

Why is this campaign so strong? Well, at the heart of it lies great quality products. But to make those products truly desirable and worth paying an extra margin is the key to success. And in this case Nikon has identified how to truly connect to consumers through insight and human emotions. Watch the ad and see how they use copy, imagery and music to create a very strong, emotional connection with the viewer. It is powerful, isn't it? I love it anyway. And feel pretty keen to buy a Nikon now....

The power of signature branded products

This last Friday I spent a luxurious afternoon with a good friend browsing through clothing shops in central Stockholm. Of course I had the little one with me as well but luckily for me he seemed to enjoy the browsing too happily sleeping away in the pram.

One thing that struck me as I browsed through some of the clothing stores is how powerful a few signature, classic products can be for the brand as a whole.

A perfect example for this is swedish clothing brand Polarn & Pyret with their classic line of striped childrens clothes. It might be difficult to spot the small P&P label on their garments but you will always recognise their signature stripes. And those stripes stand for everything that P&P stands for. And this I would probably summarise as: durable, comfortable and classic, everyday clothing for happy and healthy kids.

Other retail brands with signature products would be GANT with their classic light blue or white cotton shirts or Peak Performance with their hooded sweatshirts in extremely durable quality. These mid-range priced clothing brands have understood that owning a certain style, pattern or cut will add to creating lasting brand impact. Something that more expensively priced, luxury clothing brands have adopted for years - and I am just thinking of Mulberry as the perfect example now.

The advantage of owning a certain pattern, cut or look must be great. They would be the same as for Heinz with their classic ketchup, or for Coca-Cola with their coke. It is a line of products that you can trust, a constant cash-cow which you can utilise to support new ventures.

So why are they not all doing it? Why can you not find any signature brand products at e.g. H&M, Kappahl or Sisters? Or the brittish brand Next or Oasis? Why don't they create something lasting that people return to buy year after year, and always feel proud wearing? Well, one reason might be that they feel that their commitment to fashion is too strong. And that signature products may ruin their fashion credentials.

Would they? Personally I think there is a middle way, and that the Polarn & Pyret, GANT and Peak examples show the power of signature products in the fashion industry. If signature branded products fit the brand, and offer something special and a sense of pride for the owner, they create strong brand impact through the thousands of people wearing them with pride, year after year.

Electrolux - commitment to 'Thinking of You'

Yesterday I spotted a great ad by Electrolux in the newspaper - it was highlighting one of their vacuum cleaners. But instead of focusing on the vacuum cleaner message I spotted the Electrolux brand tagline 'Thinking of you'.

I had not seen that tagline before. Is it maybe new? But when I saw it I was so pleased to see that Electrolux has such a strong commitment to consumers. Based on news in the marketplace, hirings and their recent, successful launches I have already understood that something is happening at Electrolux. During the last few years they have moved from a technically driven appliances manufacturer to a consumer insight centric solution provider. Electrolux is deeply committed to consumer centric and insight driven innovation, and it was fantastic to see that this commitment has also translated to their brand communication. I think the total change to a consumer centric company will continue but whilst their at it and beyond I believe we will see great things from Electrolux. I'm not only looking to buy a sexy Ergorapido vacuum cleaner asap (how did they manage to make a vacuum cleaner sexy and desirable?) but will also look into buying some shares...  

Tesco unveils upgraded value range

Gosh - it certainly isn't easy to find some space to write anything these days. I am on maternity leave - now with two little kids in the house. It is magical but it has also been quite a change to handle the switch from one to two. And the change has certainly resulted in very few moments for myself so far.
But I do want to share an interesting newsflash that I read today. This time about Tesco, one of the worlds largest and most innovative retailers. Tesco is the king of private label branding and now they've upgraded and rebranded their low cost, low frills Tesco Value range. The Value range has been part of the Tesco offer for a very long time. This portfolio of blue and white striped products was launched more than twenty years ago and includes products across all categories and grocery aisles.

Now the Value range that we have seen so far is history. During these years of recession and European economic turmoil Tesco has decided to update and upgrade the Value portfolio. Its revamped look and feel is developed to add higher quality associations. And the new brand name of ' Everyday Value' should demonstrate that this is more than a design upgrade. Tesco has reviewed the entire portfolio and upgraded the range of products with more modern, desirable food whilst getting rid of nasties such as MSG across the whole range.

It may seem a bit surprising that Tesco has decided to do this change now - at a time when one would assume that many Brits would be bargain hunters and rather interested in the 'old' Value range. But I think that Tesco is right on track with this change - and maybe it should have happened sooner. I assume that this move is based on a long-term decline in sales of the Value range and that the 'old' Value range wasn't seen to reflect positively on Tesco as a quality brand and grocery chain.

Behind this I also believe that this move represents a longer-term change in western society. Consumers have become more quality and health aware. And to only focus on 'cheap' and 'bargain' isn't enough anymore. Fewer are prepared to make the trade-off between cheap, empty calories and nutritious food.  When producers or grocery chains focus on this single-minded message of 'cheap' it comes with negative associations to 'bad quality and bad for me', resulting in declining sales of the cheapest products in store... 

So it is interesting to see that the largest Swedish grocery chain ICA just launched their 'Basic' range concept. A range that is... well, basic... It's red and white clinical exterior doesn't appeal to anyone with an interest in food or nutrition, but is solely focused on the cash stripped bargain hunters. I would not be surprised if ICA looked west when developing this range, inspired by the 'old' Tesco Value look and feel. So, given the Tesco move away from this focus it will certainly be interesting to see how well this line of products is being received in Sweden.

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

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

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.

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

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?

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

 

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.

Why brand characters?

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.

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

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!