March 31st, 2008 Posted by: Comments (0)
With a celebrity obsessed culture, brands are finding more ways to cash in on the market by not only getting a celeb to endorse their brand but are co-branding the two together. This gives the celeb ownership of the product which in turn feeds confidence to consumers.
Tiger Woods has a deal with Gatorade to launch a co-branded sports drink. The “Gatorade Tiger†campaign will be followed by other products, all with flavours selected by Woods himself. This is Tiger’s first beverage deal and is estimated to be worth $100 million. This brand has gone one step further to engage consumers, as Gatorade Tiger even has its own YouTube Channel!
March 19th, 2008 Posted by: Comments (0)
Politicians are increasing their digital interaction with voters.
Indian politicians are sending ‘vote me’ text messages to mobile phones, New Zealand politicians are setting up Facebook profiles, American campaigns use YouTube to broadcast far more creative messages than traditional top-down television ads from elections’ past, and of course, there was the Kevin07 campaign! Read more
March 3rd, 2008 Posted by: Comments (0)
Virtual gifts are part of everyday Facebook use but for the first time virtual gifts can be redeemed in real life for real products! Mars Snackfood UK is the first to use this product through an application called Celebrate.
When Facebook users buy each other a virtual chocolate bar using PayPal, the recipient receives a voucher ID code on their mobile which can then be scanned in stores to redeem the real thing. As a tangible gift, this makes a lot more sense to pay for an actual product rather than buying a computer graphic for $1 for a friend.
Insight: Brands constantly need to find new ways to interact with their consumers which some are doing through Facebook. Mars Snack food UK is simply providing their consumers with an easier way to purchase their product and a reason to do so –because it’s fun, new and different with a reward at the end!
How can your brand do something different using today’s technologies?
February 25th, 2008 Posted by: Comments (0)
Speculation is brewing in the US with the possibility of a recession a reality, that they could go back to the ‘old luxury’ model with only the super rich being able to afford anything…
Using the US as an example: In the past few years, many middle-income shoppers were able to upgrade in an era of easy money. Petrol was cheap, as was credit and there was a ton of cash left over. Luxury companies responded to this ‘left over cash syndrome’ by offering a new class of goods that the not-quite-über wealthy could afford, effectively transforming prestige goods into “masstige.” (prestige for the masses) Read more
February 15th, 2008 Posted by: phil Comments (0)
Sales of home PCs in Japan are declining, in what potentially may be reflected in other key markets in coming years.
Full details from The Age.
In summary:
With phones and games consoles etc becoming ever more converged, backed with more processing grunt, the main leisure functionality of PCs (internet browsing, email, gaming, photo sharing) can be done without the aid of a PC. And as few Japanese take their work home with them (they just stay late at the office!), there is little need for having a device to run spreadsheets etc at home.
The PC market is diminishing in Japan and key makers such as NEC and Sony are considering exiting the consumer market altogether. And in order to achieve sales, the form of PCs has evolved away from the beige box to more closely resemble hi-fi equipment, or a piece of art with custom graphic designs adorning the box.
One of the most popular social networking sites is only accessible through a mobile device.
With Google’s recent announcement of their new mobile platform, Android, the PC-centric future is looking shaky in the West too…
February 11th, 2008 Posted by: Comments (0)
The luxury marketplace used to target around 5% of consumers, but as brands realised that money was being left on the table, there was a deliberate softening of the definition of the luxury consumer. By various estimates, ‘new luxury’ (also known as mass luxury) incorporated between 40% to 60% of all consumers. One of the key elements of this is affordability and availability of luxury items.
Within this trend, consumers and luxury brands have been moving towards one another.
Even a luxury brand such as Louis Vuitton has decided to turn its promotion strategies toward the most popular of the media. Up to now, Vuitton ads domain was restricted to printed glossy paper. Read more
With a celebrity obsessed culture, brands are finding more ways to cash in on the market by not only getting a celeb to endorse their brand but are co-branding the two together. This gives the celeb ownership of the product which in turn feeds confidence to consumers. 
