Anthem Worldwide, the strategic design division of Schawk, whose integrated global network provides innovative solutions to articulate, unify and manage brand impact to create compelling and consistent brand experiences, announced that its Toronto office has been distinguished with six Silver PAC Leadership Awards, which recognize the leaders of packaging and the value of graphic and technical design as well as sustainability best practices.
Author: Anna Rudenko
Google wants to become the king of the social networking world and makes a huge step towards this goal. The Internet giant which has recently introduced the +1 button globally, launched the Google+ project created to “bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software” and “make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests.” The new network, which is now not open for free registration (at this stage, users can join in only by invitations), is running in test mode and has some ‘rough edges,’ which are sure to be fixed over some time. The Google + includes a range of services, allowing people connect with their friends online, and is good just for every social-related activity performed online.
Greenpeace, which has recently launched a campaign against Mattel (and Barbie, who turned to be a serial killer), now is targeting another manufacturing giant—the Volkswagen Group (unfortunately, the ‘Think Blue.’ philosophy didn’t save the largest carmaker in Europe from disgrace). The environmental activists are turning VW’s battery against it: the much loved ‘The Force’ Superbowl commercial (which got Gold Lion in ‘Film’ at 2011 Cannes Lions) featuring ‘little Dart Vader’ inspired a parody video, launched by Greenpeace to raise awareness of the automaker’s lobbying against cuts to carbon emissions—and drive the manufacturer to greener standards.
Flood Creative has updated ULTA’s own brand of bath and body products to be as popular as the store itself. In order to create a visually engaging aisle, Flood created artwork that changes per product yet ties the line together as a family. The result is a cascade of watercolors over different finishes and sizes. The nearly 50 unique paintings were created and finessed in-house at Flood.
Genuine green advertising is not commercials promoting eco-friendly goods—to have a legitimate right to be called ‘green,’ the message should be placed in the medium made of natural elements, literally. This notion underlies Coca-Cola’s idea to construct a plant billboard in Philippines—the project was developed in collaboration with WWF, which have partnered with the soft drink giant on climate protection and water conservation in the country. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola unveiled an orange-powered Energie Naturelle advertising stand for its Tropicana brand in France, and now it has created a billboard using CO2 absorbing plants.
Virtually everything in the world can be rated, being that success of leading global companies, creativity, Facebook popularity or support for LGBT community. YouGov BrandIndex has conducted a survey, asking U.S. citizens, who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, to say which brands are best perceived by them. Google’s YouTube tops the list of twenty companies, which also includes Google, Disney, Ford, Apple and M&M’s. Surprisingly enough, the ranking doesn’t feature ABSOLUT, known for its long-standing commitment to help LGBT representatives feel better by launching a range of initiatives (Gay Theatre Festival is just one of them) as well as other vodka or beer drinks.
Each year in June, the Côte d’Azur becomes the place with an overwhelming concentration of ‘lions’ (not animals, but beastly amazing advertising pieces) thanks to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. This year’s event, which was taking place June 19–25, saw “thought-leaders and experts in all forms of communications and creative thinking come together to inspire, debate and entertain” and revealed the best advertising projects from all around the globe.
Title: American Rom
Advertiser/Client: Kandia Dulce
Product/Service: Snack
DM/Advertising Agency: McCann Erickson Bucharest, Romania
The brief from the client:
Romania’s ROM chocolate bar is the traditional Romanian chocolate. Launched in 1964 with the Romanian flag on its wrapper, it had an ageing, nostalgic consumer base and was losing ground with the young generation. In a category in which success means continuously attracting younger fans, ROM’s nationalistic values were a disadvantage. Young Romanians are disillusioned and cynical, with only 12% describing themselves as patriots. They prefer ‘cool’ American confectionery brands like Snickers and Mars. ROM—the chocolate bar bearing the Romanian flag—needed to gain appeal to youngsters with few national values.