With health and wellness continuing to preoccupy consumers everywhere, Lurpak has introduced a Lightest variant to its portfolio, and celebrates the color and variety of healthy ingredients in the “Wonderful and Wise” launch campaign. Print and outdoor feature a rainbow of dozens of types of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and grains, and a well-executed interactive online version includes food facts, recipes and an ingredient of the week. Aiming to banish the sad, dull image of healthy food, the campaign sums it up in the TV ad with the line “Healthy doesn’t have to taste humdrum.”

This Lightest variant isn’t Lurpak’s first foray into reduced fat butter—they already have a Lighter version on the shelf. But where Lurpak Lighter offered a cynical commentary on the dieting world in the 2007 “Fads” commercial (“It’s not rocket science; just eat a little less fat. … Relax, Waist Watchers. Who’s for an extra helping of common sense?”), the brand now seems to acknowledge that healthy eating is a permanent part of consumer lifestyles, and it isn’t something to be anxious about.

Acclaimed director Mario Muñoz made the dystopian film, which takes viewers through a day in urban Mexico as child actors dressed like adults commit armed robbery and kidnappings, protest and riot, attempt to flee to the U.S., and even take cover from a drive-by shooting. Finally, a girl speaks directly into the camera, saying “If this is the future I can look forward to, I don’t want anything to do with it” and calls on the presidential contenders to stop making empty promises. The video concludes with the text, “We’re millions of Mexicans who want a better future” and directs viewers to the group’s site.

The video struck a chord, racking up millions of views in a few days, and became a hot topic on media outlets and among political leaders; it was banned from television and pulled from YouTube. GNP, one of the country’s biggest insurers, has been subtle about its connection to the initiative, with no overt mention of it on the company’s website, but some of the Nuestro México del Futuro videos (this, for example) are branded.

While the video could be said to foster anxiety, the website is more positive, telling visitors, “You can change the future of Mexico.” People can submit their visions for the future using various digital tools and could also weigh in via a truck that traveled the country. The initiative is an innovative way to help Mexicans feel less helpless and more assured that at least one of the country’s institutions is seeking solutions.

Dove has been a longstanding opponent of unrealistic imagery, with its “Campaign for Real Beauty.” In the campaign’s latest iteration, the personal care brand undertakes an “Ad Makeover” on Facebook, aimed at eliminating negative marketing messages that play on women’s insecurities. A Dove app allows women to replace these taunting ads with feel-good messages such as “The perfect bum is the one you’re sitting on.” Dove is also offering the opportunity to be featured on a living billboard as part of its Show Us Your Skin promotion; women can upload photos that will be projected in bustling Times Square and on Dove’s websites.

Athletic brand Under Armour is also on a mission to showcase more positive images of womanhood, with its “What’s Beautiful” campaign. As an Under Armour marketing exec told Marketing Daily, “What we get really frustrated with is advertisers who talk about beauty in terms of how you look, not what you are made of.” In a manifesto spot that shows women athletes working hard, the voiceover proclaims that it’s time to take power back “from the marketers who want us to look Photoshopped, from the magazines who want us topless, from the people who think we should be happy just the way we are.”

These marketers, along with some others such as Thailand’s Oriental Princess, stand out in a category that has historically relied on generating anxiety in women. Taking the opposite approach, these messages give power back to women, helping them to feel more comfortable in their own skin and begin redefining what it means to feel beautiful and sexy.

While the answers may ultimately add anxiety to the dating process for some users, those who are open to frank criticism may be able to stop repeating bad habits and become more successful in the dating game. Online dating services have always focused on the perfect match rather than helping the user become better at dating or relating. This tool bolsters those services by adding a new value with the potential to alleviate consumer anxiety in a meaningful way. With today’s consumers seeking out more tangible forms of value from the brands they spend time with, watch for smart marketers to take inspiration from these sorts of offerings.

NBP’s “Kissan Dost” (Farmer Friend Agriculture Program) offers a solution by providing lower interest rates than local lenders, with gold as collateral. This eliminates the ills of informal borrowing, such as delayed loan distribution and high interest rates. To illustrate this offering, a testimonial spot shows two farmers, one of whom needs to secure funds. The topic of approaching a local lender comes up, and both appear well aware of the trouble surrounding this approach (“If you are talking about that local village lender, then forget it. I ain’t going to be friends with him, he will be at my door the day after he issues me the loan for his payments,” says the farmer seeking a loan). The other farmer clarifies that he’s referring to the “Kissan Dost” program, which helped him out for last year’s harvest with a cash loan and relaxed repayments. The spot then details the benefits of working with NBP over a local lender.

With most farmers only remotely familiar with formal banking and having limited interaction with the institution—typically to pay utility bills—this NBP program can serve as a great first move to capture a huge market amid the throat-cutting competition in this category.

Although there’s no product placement, we perceive Philips Avent, through the video, as a brand that aims to make daily life as a parent easier. To strengthen this concept, parents are encouraged to visit the brand’s Facebook page for more tips and other helpful discussions.

Photo Credit: youtube.com/philips

Engraved wooden blocks branded HOPE sit on store shelves and can be scanned at the checkout along with the rest of a consumer’s shopping. A £1 donation is then automatically sent to the Alzheimer’s Society, the first charity to sign up for the initiative. The block is subsequently returned to the shelf. The aim is to target consumers when they are spending money but at the same time make the process continuous, as much a part of their everyday lives as the weekly grocery shop. The initiative is being trialed in two London stores with a view to expand if it proves successful. Here’s hoping HOPE catches on.

Photo Credit: JWT

We called this initiative Kit Zutto Project to let people in Tohoku know we will be there for them: Kitto means “surely” and zutto “for a long time.” Last July, we posted about Kit Kat selling a special Northern Japanese flavor nationwide, with Nestlé donating a portion of sales to the Japanese Red Cross.

An exception is Flipkart.com, which manages to do a decent job. The e-commerce portal is trying to speed up acceptance of online shopping with a series of commercials that aim to educate hesitant consumers about the ease of shopping on the site. The spots feature children acting like adults—the idea is that no one trusts you like children—and discussing how various things can be easily bought from Flipkart. The ads put a little twist on the classic format of consumer conversations.

In this spot, a grandfather and grandson are opening up a package. A curious father inquires about it, learning that it’s a new mobile for grandfather from Flipkart. When the father skeptically bursts out “Online shopping!” the son explains just how simple the process is. “But without seeing? … Just seeing one photo?” interjects the dad. His wife, who’s been silently toying around on her computer, notes, “Before marriage, all I saw was your photo only.” Everyone giggles at the father’s close-minded attitude. The ads end with the tagline, “Shopping ka naya address” (“New address for shopping”).

There’s great deal of anxiety around this team on all levels. It was a dreadful season, and fans are angry. But if consumer anxiety makes wallets tighten, somehow the Leafs have found a way to split the defense. Games are always sold out; TV revenue is through the rafters. High consumer anxiety = continued loyalty? A lot of businesses would love even a little bit of that Toronto Maple Leaf “magic touch.” While most businesses will never have it as good as the Leafs, there’s something to be said for adopting practices that allow for greater transparency and a sense of humility. They can bring a much-needed level of respect to customer relations—no matter what business you’re in.

Photo Credit: http://www.thestar.com/