Alice in Marketing-land
Once upon a time a man called Lewis Carroll wrote a fantastical story about a girl called Alice... Now the launch of Disney/Tim Burton’s 3D film has catapulted the classic tale of Alice In Wonderland into the marketing stratosphere with brand owners jumping on the hype and...
9 March 2010
The ‘Сreative’ Сompany You Keep
A couple of weeks ago, I touched on the whole debate about the value we place on design with the trend for inviting consumers to help us design expressions of brands. But, as the trend for creative partnerships takes hold in all its forms, the one that is probably the hardest to get right is the...
2 March 2010
The Life Laundry
Are you living a lifestyle – or your life? In general, and even in just the past 3-4 years, there has been a massive shift in our aspirations and, ergo, brands are now having to re-think their offer. Lifestyle branding is no longer prescribing (as previously) lifestyle on a...
24 February 2010
The chance to design brand patriotism?
Whether or not you’re a sports fan, there is little chance of completely ignoring the two-week event that is the Winter Olympics. But the Olympics is not just about sport. The brand that is the Olympics (and the Olympic Rings icon) is recognised the world over...
17 February 2010
Feel the love...
With Valentine’s day looming, brands have a great excuse to jump on a new campaign brand-wagon. (albeit a short-lived one). Heineken Italy, for example, has timed the launch of its new ‘Beer Gloss’ lip gloss for women with this romantic...
9 February 2010
A new silver standard for design
Brand owners are, of course, always thinking about the audience demographic. And whilst we recognise the increasing brand influence and economic power of the ‘silver surfer’, we also need to think about what we – the brand designers – are actively designing just for the...
2 February 2010
Express Yourself
Express yourself. There is a definite call to action right now with brands holding competitions for consumers to create their own brand designs. Check out the Umbro Speciali Customisation Competition or the
28 January 2010
Not Just Ordinary and Everyday
Here we are, mid-Jan. Life is back to the normal and humdrum, the ordinary and everyday....But, let’s think about that for a moment. Let’s think about the objects and products that we buy and use as part of our day to day routine. We are all looking for the most cost effective...
20 January 2010
Blah, blah, blah
‘Happy New Year’ - a simple, concise and heartfelt message. But, as most of us return to work this week to be faced with hundreds of messages to plough through, do we feel empowered by the written word and its mediums or are we becoming overwhelmed by a constant stream of blah, blah,...
11 January 2010
Packaging and Pantomime
It’s that time of year when we probably all groan and cheer in equal measure at the old traditions – the Christmas Jumper? The Brussel Sprout? The Pantomime? But, it’s also that time of year when shop shelves are groaning under festive packaging mountains and our homes (and the...
24 December 2009
