Telegraph thermal wrap for Age UK

 

The Telegraph newspaper yesterday (17th November) featured a thermal cover wrap around the paper to remind people how donations to the Age UK charity can help keep old people warmer this winter. The dull and grey image with Lynda Bellingham was printed in thermal ink so that when the reader touched the image the colour would change to orange. The wrap was designed by the Telegraph's in-house creative team in conjunction with Age UKs own ad agency Karmarama.

I think this is a clever way to get their point across and as a charity their aim is to raise awareness and reach out to as many people. Often an ordinary ad just placed in between articles can be ignored so by engaging the reader and creating an 'experience' for them they are likely to remember what the ad is for and take notice. This clever strategy is unique in reinforcing what the charity wants from the reader and by encouraging the reader to touch the whole image to change the colour it shows how that individual can change things on a larger scale too. Furthermore for Age UK to choose to place this ad in The Telegraph and not a newspaper such as The Sun suggests they are hoping to gain donations from people who have more disposable income and who may be more willing to part with their money especially around Christmas time.

The article for this can be found here http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/

Twining's re-branding

BrandOpus have redesigned Twinings herbal teas making them more bold and illustrative than the previous packaging. The new modern look could attract a younger market who might be attracted to the contemporary feel of the boxes because they could relate more to the packaging. BrandOpus have explained how the swirling patterns and illustrative designs reflect the infusion process involved when making a cup of Twinings herbal tea.

 

However I personally don't like this new design. I think it lacks continuity across all of the flavours and that's an important part of branding. Considering it's only these new flavours of herbal teas which have had their packaging redesigned I think that further isolates them from the rest of the Twinings products. They could have at least redesigned more of their products to improve the continuity.

 

This is just an example of the older packaging of their herbal tea which I think is more visually appealing because it's simple and there is less going on than in the new designs. This design is more recognisable and appropriate to the Twinings brand because if the newer packaging didn't have the Twinings logo I would think it was a completely different brand. Twinings could possibly be aiming for a more modern brand identity but I think their heritage and history is a quality they should stick with.

 

 



When product placement goes bad

 

Budweiser are currently not too happy with Paramount Pictures for negatively portraying the beer in one of their films due to be released later this year. The film named Flight features Denzel Washington as a pilot who opens a can of Budweiser whilst trying to fly his plane, luckily avoiding any crash but is then subjected to an investigation as to why he flew the plane drunk. Following on from this Budweiser have complained Paramount didn't ask for permission and have asked them to either obscure or remove the Budweiser logo from the film.

 

This is just an example of product placement which rather than promoting a product can have the opposite effect. Although Budweiser might not have much control over this the way the beer is portrayed will have a negative effect on the brand because it's being associated with alcoholism and in turn could put people off. It just shows how important brand association is for consumers because without realising it certain things can persuade us to buy or not buy a product. Similarly Heineken have recently become associated with James Bond after he was shown drinking a bottle in Skyfall which will have a positive effect for their brand because if James Bond drinks it then people will assume it's trendy.

Hamley's get rid of pink and blue

 

Old - Left       New - Right

 

The world famous Hamley's toy store in London have changed their signage which sees the pink for girls and blue for boys sign being changed for a more neutral red and white. Toys are now categorised by their type such as 'art's and crafts' or 'dress up' without specifying which gender they belong to. However Hamley's have responded saying their change has nothing to do with campaigns but more to improve customer flow within the store.

 

Despite this I think Hamley's were right to change the colour of their signs because within society today it's probably old fashioned to say pink is for girls/blue for boys. As a brand it keeps them more current and avoids any sexist or gender campaigns towards them but I just don't think any of the children shopping there are going to care much. The new signs might improve sales for Hamley's because previously parents/children might have avoided a large section of the store and headed to where they felt most appropriate, probably missing toys that they potentially would have bought i.e. parents of a boy might have missed out all of the floors beneath just to get to the 'boy' section.

 

 

the best Movember can get..

 

We're well into Movember now but I was reading how Gillette have actually launched a 1940s style barber shop in London on Carnaby Street to support the Movember cause. The idea being visitors can be given a luxury experience and styling tips to make the most of Movember all by using the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Styler. I think it's a good idea Gillette have teamed up with Movember because we would expect Movember to have a bad effect on Gillette's razor sales however they have cleverly managed to avoid this.

National Express ad banned

 

The ASA have banned an ad from the National Express which as you can see featured a can-can dancer with her leg in the air. National Express defended the ad saying it was cultural and linked to the places they were trying to sell however the ad was banned following a number of complaints that it degraded women and displayed them as sex objects. I personally think the ad is slightly degrading although I can understand why National Express chose that image I just think it could have been used in a less obvious way to express their idea better without offense.

 

There is obviously the issue within society of how women are portrayed not just within ads but in films and music videos as they are generally portrayed with the male gaze in mind. I don't think using women as sexual objects will ever be completely stopped as there are always subtle ways around it and sometimes using women in this way is most appropriate for the product, particularly perfume or beauty products.

Beats by Dr Dre

The Beats by Dr Dre brand are looking to up their marketing campaign in the UK within the next few months and aim to make their link with fashion and music much stronger. It's predicted the marketing team will try to find 'localised' ambassadors to endorse the product as Justin Bieber does in the US. Although currently established within the UK the brand has commented they want to be more familiar with sports personalities and be featured within music videos.

 

However my problem with this is I just think the trend of having these headphones has been and gone. There was previously a surge of interest in them when they were first released in the UK and they seemed to be more of a fashion icon for most people so I'm just not sure if people will be interested the second time round now the novelty has worn off?