Mountain Dew is launching a new product, Kickstart, reported to «give a nice portion of energy in the morning». The new carbonated drink, which combines the proper amount of caffeine and five percent of real juice, is a rival of traditional energizers, a morning cup of coffee and a glass of juice. It comes in two varieties, Orange Citrus and Fruit Punch—each of only 80-calories per 16 oz. can,—for consumers to choose the flavor which fits their breakfast best. The new product targets male millennials, and this demographic is reflected in the promotion efforts.
Author: Anna Rudenko
Each holiday should be extraordinary, cazenove + loyd believes. To turn a dream into reality, the luxury travel company provides never-to-be forgotten, unparalleled travel experiences to people, who want to spend their vacations with an extraordinary twist. The brand has launched a marketing campaign developed by Fold 7, in which its highlights “the extraordinary nature of its holidays.”
The Design Business Association (DBA) announced the recipients of Design Effectiveness Awards 2013 on February 7. The winners of the annual design competition are determined based on commercial data, which is one of the key judging criteria (along with cause and effect, clarity of presentation, and more).
While Starbucks is helping create more jobs across the USA, M&M’S is set to provide more rehabilitate houses to people across the country. The brand has launched a new campaign entitled “America Better With M,” which includes a partnership with Habitat for Humanity International and a series of efforts to encourage the nation to volunteer for the initiative in 2013. In addition the brand will launch a new product to support the project.
Samsung, which has been taking on its rivals Apple and BlackBerry in its recent advertising campaigns, now switches to a friendlier way to promote its Galaxy Note II smartphone. The brand is collaborating with fashion designer Alexander Wang on “the industry’s first co-created print inspired by crowdsourced sketches and images,” created using the Samsung device. The new partnership has both a fashion and a philanthropic twist: the collectively created design will be featured on a limited-edition bag set to be launched in key select markets across the globe to raise money for the Art Start charity, which helps change lives of at-risk children through art.
PUMA launches a totally new cross-category platform, which includes marketing campaign as well as innovative additions to the brand’s major product categories, Football, Running, Training, Golf and Fitness. The name of the new platform is «The Nature of Performance,» and it is designed to tie the brand’s performance categories even closer using one distinct approach, “a consistent voice, look and feel,” writes the company in the press note.
ABSOLUT VODKA goes crowdsourcing—the legendary brand is encouraging U.S. residents to develop the new design for ABSOLUT Chicago, the latest limited-edition bottle in the city series. For the new initiative, the brand has collaborated with the online design community Threadless, which is hosting the competition on its platform. The winner of the art contest will get his or her design featured on the legendary bottle and will walk away with $10,000 and a trip to the ABSOLUT Chicago launch party.
Bud Light Platinum is becoming even more musical—following in the footsteps of BlackBerry, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Intel and Polaroid, which invited music artists to be their creative directors, the beer brand tapped singer and actor Justin Timberlake for the same position. The celebrity, who is one of the co-owners of MySpace now, will “provide creative, musical and cultural curation for the brand.» Bud Light Platinum is Bud Light’s extension with higher alcohol content, launched in 2012 as a product for nighttime party drinkers.
Facebook wants to make its platform as developer-friendly as possible. The social media giant launches Developers Live, a Facebook app, which provides valuable curated content (tutorials, live and recorded speaking sessions and other visual educational pieces) and also helps them keep up to date on the latest Facebook news. The new hub targets mobile and game app developers as well as website managers and publishers, who will learn how to make a better content for the web and how to use the platform to maximize their profits.