The article is written by Darren Foley, Managing Director at Pearlfisher, London


Happy January 2012! With questions on how to feed the growing global population, the obesity crisis and focus on the diets of this year’s Olympian athletes, the subject of food will be big in 2012. And of course, for consumers and food brands, the start of every year brings the inevitable “new year, new start” mentality as we see the influx of diet and healthy food ranges communicated to the max.

Integrated brand design agency Blue Marlin is proud to have created powerful branding for a cause close to its heart—an initiative to help get ex-servicemen and women back into the civilian workforce, which launches today, Veterans Day. Hire A Veteran is the brainchild of Viacom’s Spike TV, a Top 10 network with men 18-49, which is determined to help real life heroes find work and to promote the businesses that hire them.

HEINEKEN is rolling out a new global company visual identity, making another move in the company’s renovation activities, which include the recent launch of the updated Heineken bottle and can design. The globally recognized Dutch brewer, which operates 140 breweries in more than 70 countries, wanted its corporate logo to be distinguished from the visual identity of its flagship product, the iconic Heineken beer—so, starting September 19, the company name is typed with capital letters (HEINEKEN), while the logo design of its major beer brand remains the same (the name of the beer goes as ‘Heineken’). According to the press release, this change “reflects the significant transformation of the HEINEKEN business” over the last ten years.