Tagged 'beverage'

Israel’s Tara Dairy puts a humorous spin on nostalgia

Published by Romy Gakh - Tel Aviv on August 30, 2010 in Middle East. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The recession has changed consumer sentiment toward low-cost, basic products, which are no longer seen as cheap and down-market but rather a proud social statement—a shift leveraged in an Effie-winning rebranding for Israel’s Tara Dairy (Tara), Tara’s products had been considered outdated for an age when many consumers opt for milk that’s fortified in various ways or low fat, and communication was aimed at older, conservative shoppers.

JWT Israel decided to tap into nostalgia for a “back to basics” message, but with a fun, humorous spin. To illustrate Tara’s tagline, “It all begins with excellent milk,” a series of commercials feature Israeli comedic icon Menashe Noy cast as a typical 1960s dairy farmer on a kibbutz. Tending to his cows in a rolling green meadow, Menashe Noy tells stories about his favorite cow in an old-fashioned and annoying but funny way, with many irrelevant details, jumping from one loosely related anecdote to another. He conjures up a simpler time for Israeli viewers.

The campaign managed to both create an aura of nostalgic simplicity around the brand and position Tara as a youthful, energetic brand.

In Mexico, Starbucks scores during the World Cup

Published by Argelia Martinez - Mexico City on July 26, 2010 in Latin America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Comment bien partir la journée!We’ve written about two brands (Heineken and the sports channel Eurosport France) that have created campaigns based around the anxiety felt by soccer fans when they miss important games. With the 2010 World Cup, anxiety in this part of the world centered on the fact that the games were scheduled during working hours: 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time. Starbucks saw an opportunity, presenting itself as a solution that would allow people to watch the match and work at the same time. No guilt or stress over hiding from the boss. The other idea: to position a coffee drink as a beer alternative for watching these workday games.

Starbucks gave the World Cup a business breakfast touch. It installed 71 big flat-screen TVs in select branches and boosted its Wi-Fi so that the added online traffic wouldn’t cause problems. People would be able to work as fast as in their offices, but with a richer experience. There were also some World Cup breakfast specials and socially focused promotions (e.g., buy two, get one free). The stores seemed to be buzzing with people, and, more important, many customers (mostly male) started seeing Starbucks differently, as a new place to meet up with friends.

Photo Credit: BMeunier

Dunkin’ Coffee shows it’s in touch with Spain’s consumers—unlike politicians

Published by Ugo Ceria - Madrid on July 6, 2010 in Europe. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

zp-cafeThe general sensation that politicians are disconnected from reality gets even more pronounced during a downturn, often contributing to anxiety. Several years ago an infamous incident showed Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s disconnect from everyday life: During a TV debate with citizens, a man asked him how much a coffee costs, and Zapatero answered “80 cents,” 40 cents under the actual price. “Zapateros’ coffee” became a classic media buzzword, indicating how out of touch politicians are with their countrymen.

Earlier this year, as Spain’s consumers continued to grapple with high unemployment and other effects of the downturn, JWT created an 80 cent “ZP’s coffee” promotion for Dunkin’ Coffee. Since this low price had existed only in the optimistic mind of the prime minister (nicknamed ZP), we made it real, demonstrating that a “better world” can exist! With only point-of-sale marketing—copy read “This month, have a coffee with a different frame of mind”—the “ZP coffee” got significant media coverage. This simple way of leveraging a catchphrase put a smile on people’s faces and transmitted the brand’s connection with its customers’ needs.

From Mello Yello to L.L. Bean, brands look back to move forward

Published by Marian Berelowitz - New York on June 18, 2010 in North America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Tapping into nostalgia and heritage has been a recession marketing tactic among brands across categories and continents (we’ve written about relevant campaigns in the U.K., New Zealand and the U.S.). Harking back to better, simpler times idea can serve as a source of comfort for unsettled consumers.

We’ve seen many instances of this in food and beverage marketing, and the latest comes from Coca-Cola. A new campaign for Mello Yello (Coke’s very low-profile answer to Pepsi’s Mountain Dew) revives the original logo from 1979 and uses the tagline “The original smooth.” Brandweek quotes a brand strategist who says Mello Yello’s retro strategy makes sense given that “things with an edge speak to fast pace, hectic and crazy. People are already overwhelmed quite a bit.”

Recently this trend has popped up in fashion. The New York Times spotlighted several long-established brands that have revived bygone looks “in the hope that old clothing styles with a classic feel will assuage consumer anxiety in shaky times.” These include Jantzen (which has updated its swimsuits from various decades of the 20th century), L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer. A TV spot showing models in L.L. Bean’s Signature Collection amid idyllic New England scenery includes the tagline “Inspired by our heritage. Designed for today.” Tapping into the brand’s history seems like a good way to assure shoppers looking to spend on items that are more timeless than trendy.

The 12-man optimism squad: The only source of hope for a nation of 166 million

Published by Khurram Hussain - Lahore on June 17, 2010 in Asia Pacific. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

We’ve seen various brands encouraging hope and optimism as a marketing strategy for the recession. In Pakistan, two multinational brands are using this approach in a country where the downturn is one of several factors increasing anxiety and unrest. Pepsi Cola Pakistan and Mobilink (the country’s largest telecom service provider, owned by Egypt-based Orascom) are aligning themselves with the national cricket team, which seems to be one of the only sources of cheer for Pakistanis these days. A series of Pepsi commercials feature upcoming stars and old heroes. For a nation that shows high levels of nationalism mostly when a cricket match is on, this seems like a smart approach, especially for foreign-owned companies that could benefit from showing their allegiance with a popular Pakistani cause.

In Mexico, Jugos Del Valle focuses on a key parental concern

Published by Vannya Martinez - Mexico City on June 9, 2010 in Latin America. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Our recent AnxietyIndex study in Mexico found that the economy is a primary driver of anxiety and—contrary to the image the world may have of Mexicans as optimists or even dreamers—they are pessimistic about the future. One of Mexicans’ main concerns about the future is being unable to afford a good education for their children.

Brands have an opportunity to help parents find some hope. A good example is Jugos Del Valle, a Mexican juice brand recently acquired by the Coca-Cola Co., which recently ran a promotion that gave parents the opportunity to win a scholarship to ensure their kids’ education from kindergarten through college; secondary prizes of mx$80,000 (about $6,250) to support school expenses were awarded daily. A TV spot showed a woman grocery-shopping with her toddler seated in the shopping cart. As she scans shelves lined with Del Valle products, the child morphs into an adult doctor, astronaut, chef and, finally, college graduate to clearly outline the opportunities a good education can create. “Now, when you choose Del Valle, your kid chooses his future,” the voiceover tells parents.

Promotions have always been effective during crisis times as people look to get the most from each penny, but success is especially likely if the offer is focused on relieving one of people’s deepest concerns.

Tropicana brings sun to the Arctic

Published by Ceren Coskun - Istanbul on June 8, 2010 in Asia Pacific. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

The recent best in show at FAB International’s Food and Beverage Creative Excellence Awards, Tropicana’s “Arctic Sun” commercial shows how the brand addressed a key source of anxiety in the Arctic, tied to its positioning “Brighter mornings make brighter days.” One of the major external sources of happiness for humans is light, and while people in Arctic locations adapt to the circumstances, one of their major stresses is living in full darkness in mid-winter. So Tropicana brought light to Inuvik, in northern Canada, after 31 consecutive days of darkness. A Tropicana team lit up the town with a giant artificial sun, enabling its residents to experience a sunny day–an excellent idea that touches people’s hearts to create an emotional link with the brand.

Pepsi gets egg on its face with Mexican promotion

Published by Argelia Martinez - Mexico City on June 4, 2010 in Latin America. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

A Pepsi promotion in Mexico that seemed designed to address consumer anxiety ended up causing some angst instead. The major causes of anxiety in Mexico, a country beaten down by regular economic crises, are uncertainty about future income, job loss and rising food prices. (For more on anxiety in Mexico, click here to download our AnxietyIndex Mexico report.) In the states of Puebla and Veracruz—where poverty rates are high and families regularly struggle to buy the basics—Pepsi distributors launched a promotion in which people could redeem two specially marked bottle caps at small corner stores for an egg (yes, a fresh egg).

The “Now Pepsi is worth an egg” campaign, which ran during April and part of May, was supported with TV, press and, of course, posters outside the corner stores. Problems began to surface when shopkeepers would not redeem the Pepsi caps, even those that displayed the promotional materials outside. Consumers started blaming Pepsi, though the point-of-sale materials stated that Pepsi was not responsible for the availability of eggs.

The idea of demonstrating the brand’s empathy and solidarity with struggling consumers, and helping them in a real way, was a good one. But Pepsi distributors failed to fully consider the logistics behind the idea. Once a brand launches a promotion, it has to deliver an immaculate implementation, strengthen it, ensure the participation of partners, put monitoring and control programs in place, provide a call center for consumers and so on. In this case, something that could have been historical became hysterical.

Photo Credit: dos tapas un huevo? by ~brickarms on deviantART

AmBev campaign aims to boost Brazilians’ water consciousness

Published by Germano Spinola - Sao Paulo on April 27, 2010 in Latin America. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

waterOn World Water Day last month, the largest beverage company in Brazil, AmBev, launched Movimento Cyan (“Movement Cyan”) to communicate its sustainability platform. With the concept “When you see water, you see value,” AmBev took an innovative approach, “painting” in blue newspaper front pages, website homepages and important blogs; creating a “bottle magazine” (information about sustainability and the movement in a waterproof magazine attached to a bottle that was distributed on local airlines); and sponsoring public art installations by Guto Lacaz, a well-known artist. This was the first time a company had conducted this type of campaign, and it got huge press coverage.

As part of the initiative, AmBev committed to establish a “water footprint,” an indicator of both direct and indirect water consumption created by the Dutch group Water Footprint Network. Latin Americans are concerned about global warming—recent JWT AnxietyIndex research found their anxiety is higher than the global average—and of the four Latin American countries we’ve surveyed so far, Brazilians are significantly more anxious than their regional peers. AmBev’s move is a smart way to make Brazilians more conscious of water consumption issues and respond to the anxiety of those who are already aware.

 

Photo Credit: darkpatator

7-Eleven, Fruitas try to douse Filipinos’ election anxiety with a sip

Published by Pam Garcia - Manila on April 9, 2010 in Asia Pacific. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

fruitas-cupIt’s just a month to the Philippine elections, which will determine the next president and vice president and fill senatorial slots. Since the vote will have a major impact on the fate of people’s lives and that of the country, Filipinos cited the elections as a source of considerable anxiety in JWT’s 10 Trends local research, conducted in December 2009. For example, an engineer we interviewed said the elections will determine whether he needs to worry about his personal stability, as well as the country’s.

Convenience-store chain 7-Eleven and juice chain Fruitas are seeking to defuse anxiety during the lead-up to the elections with a bit of fun. The “7-Elections” promotion carries the fun line “Every Gulp counts” and offers 10 colorful cups decorated with each candidate’s face for customers buying a Gulp drink. Each choice mimics one vote (there’s even one for those abstaining or undecided). A Web site tracks the votes and shows a daily tally. For my friend who likes Fruitas’ fruit shakes, sipping from the colorful cups that feature each candidate’s slogan gives her a moment to think about how to exercise her civic duty.

Does your brand have an opportunity to ease your consumers’ anxiety when it’s at its height?

7-elections

Photo Credits: Pam G., www.7-elections.com