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?

New year - new postings?

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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?

 

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

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!