Brandlight - The Saucy Fish Co.

 

If like me your past Wednesday evenings have been enjoyed sitting and shouting at the contestants in this year's Apprentice,this post is for you. The ready-meal task had to be one of the greatest lessons in how not to create a brand and packaging that will sell. So rather than listing what was wrong with the skull on Mile's packaging I thought I'd write about a brand who have got it right, the Saucy Fish Co.

 

With the modernisation of the family lifestyle there is a clear demand for convenience food. Convenience food has always been synonymous unhealthy meals and lots of brands are quickly realising that the niche in the market is creating easy, simple meals that are good for you. The problem that the Saucy Fish Co. identified is if everyone is filling this market gap they needed to stand out.

 

On a crowded shelf the identity that the Saucy Fish Co. created grabs consumers' attention. With fresh typography, bold colour on a black background and simple illustration the product doesn't get mixed in with the usual dull line up of choice. Customers can also see the simplicity of ingredients at first glance and is instantly reassured what they see is what they get.  This simplicity also translates to the cooking process - it looks uncomplicated.

This identity transcends more than the supermarket shelf and is instantly recognisable through different media. The best example of this is when the brand launched a local TV advertisement in 2011 resulting in a 50% like for like sales increase. The branding is so recognisable that the consumer can easily remember it when they go to the supermarket. Most recently the Saucy Fish Co. have been sponsoring TV shows for the same effect.  

 

Once you become a fan of the product the brand have also developed a social media strategy that  will have you hooked (no pun intended). The Saucy Fish Co. account on Twitter, Facebook and their blog is full of great recipes and food tips. It is apparent that the brand loves food which brings a level of credibility that consumers can trust. It reassures customers that they are buying the right product as well as giving them ideas to try.

 

Essentially Miles from the Apprentice had the right tactic in making the packaging stand out on shelf. Unfortunately for this candidate it was for the wrong reasons. The key learning from the Saucy Fish Co. in creating the perfect ready-meal is give the brand and packaging a bold and recognisable identity as well as giving your brand credibility by showing your expertise in food and cooking. And remember - no skulls.

Store Launch - & Other Stories

This week's brandlight comes from the Swedish clothing brand & Other Stories. The brand opened it's first store in London this month and launched it's products and shopping experience for the first time to the UK public. Launching a brand in a new international market is an extremely difficult task however & Other Stories have managed to create a significant buzz around their UK launch - here's how they did it. 

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The day before it was open to the public the brand invited the press to an exclusive look around the new store. As the brand are a sister company to H&M and Cos, who already have a loyal press following, this was a very successful initiative. The launch of the store was published in a wide spread of fashion as well as local and national press including vogue.com, The Guardian and Time Out magazine.

There was a variety of promotional activity surrounding the opening of the store that customers shared on social media platforms. There were umbrellas given out for the crowds of people queueing outside the store, free lipsticks for customers waiting in changing room lines, competitions to win a discount cards and at the till point everyone who purchased from the store received a free beauty sample and free shipping from the stories.com site.  

Arguably though there is only so many PR 'shortcuts' and so much association with other brands that people can talk about. A brand needs to offer more to ensure they stand out on their own. In this case the coverage of the launch focussed on the shopping experience, product and price.

Once inside the store customers are exposed to a unique and well designed shopping space that is clean, simple and modern. With exposed brick and studio lights it appears like a photography studio or art gallery showcasing products. Merchandised in stories, all products can be shopped as a collection or as key pieces including clothing, accessories and beauty. The sleek design of packaging for the comprehensive range of beauty products was something that both press and consumers focussed on and talked about. The experience also continues online as the website has the same modern look and feel of the store with a combination of lifestyle and cutout imagery as well as an interesting use of integrated video.

One of the most talked about aspects of & Other Stories was the affordability and perceived low price points of the products. By creating this very modern shopping experience the brand are reaching out to a consumer who expects more for their money and despite the economic climate, doesn't want to compromise on shopping experience or quality of product. The brand fills the niche between the other two brands, H&M and Cos, bringing a different style and price range to the high street.

& Other Stories have created significant brand awareness through the launch of their first UK store. The promotional activity, positive press coverage and association with H&M and Cos drew people to the doors however the success of the launch is arguably due to the niche in the high street that the store fills. The in-store and on-line experience as well as the affordable and unique product offering has created a positive customer and press reaction that has opportunely spread through word of mouth and social media platforms. The key learning from & Other Stories is therefore that promoting and getting consumers to attend a launch is only a start; ultimately success relies on positive experience of consumers when inside.

Lurpak's Unmissable Billboard

This week's brandlight is from a billboard poster that team member Claire couldn't help but notice as she sat in a pre-breakfast traffic jam. The Lurpak campaign that is featured on billboards and TV embraces the UK's love of home-made, hearty meals with the simple aim to make the nation's mouths water.

The billboard advert, as proven by our hungry team member, does exactly the job of what all 64 sheet ads are supposed to do; capture the audiences attention in the split second in passing. The winning formula of bold image, striking headline and recognisable Lurpak packaging creates an instant consumer reaction. The ad echoes the success of billboards such as 'Hello Boys' by Wonderbra that followed the same principle substituting macaroni cheese with Eva Herzigova.

The billboard is only one aspect of this strong integrated campaign. Lurpak have successfully created recognisable TV advertisements for their brand in recent years. The TV advertisement for this campaign is an elongated version of the billboard imagery and draws out the making of the dish. This is coupled with the equally heart-warming voice over of Rutger Hauer, whose link with the brand in their past commercials is beginning to become an iconic pairing.

In addition to the print and TV ad Lurpak have also cleverly used social media to strengthen their campaign. Lurpak have worked with carefully chosen food bloggers to select and recreate the recipes featured in the campaign. As more consumers use the web and social media to find and share recipes it is an increasingly important channel for food brands. Lurpak's use of bloggers makes the recipes readily accessible to the consumer as well as easy to share with their friends and followers. The team at Lurpak are clearly aware of the virality on social media platforms as Claire, after tweeting about the pictured macaroni cheese, received a personal response from Lurpak with the recipe.

Through a well executed, intergreted campaign Lurpak has successfully drawn in the consumer and provided an easily-availble and tested recipe. The most admiral aspect of this campaign is Lurpak's message of unashamed and unapologetic promotion of hearty comfort food. The food featured is appealing and accessible to the nation in the current winter as well as financial climate. Instead of following the trend of advocating healthy eating like in their last campaign, Lurpak has gone back to traditional recipes that have been cooked by the nation for decades, even centuries. To the kitchen! 

Dulux Attempts an 'Oreo Moment'

The genius 'Oreo Moment' I wrote about a few weeks ago has predictably already created a trend that brands are copying during live events. Dulux attempted a similar message during the Brits earlier this month. They tweeted a picture of the paint colours featured on the Brit Statuette that was designed specifically for the event by Damon Hirst.

Although this tweet had the same relevant and current message that made the Oreo communication so genius, it somehow fails to have the same impact. This could be for a number of reasons. Oreo were first brand to work quickly to send out a completed ad relevant to the consumer and the event. This had never been seen before and therefore Oreo benefited from being the trail blazers. The content of the ad also used humour and made light of the situation which encouraged consumers to share through social media.

Therefore although this is a good attempt by Dulux, to champion this trend the ad may need to have a more humorous, interesting or unique message to have the same impact of the Oreo ad. We are still talking about this communication so It is still a good idea to have a team ready for any event that drives high volumes to Facebook or Twitter just in case an Oreo opportunity occurs.

Burberry's Unique Customer Experience

There hasn't been a post in a while because of the day job. Last weekend we attended the Baby Show in ExCel. Anyone who has experienced consumer exhibitions will realise and hopefully forgive why there hasn't been time to post.

Last week our 'brandlight' was the Burberry initiative that allows the consumer shop the catwalk from their mobile or in store and receive a personalised product made for them. The carefully crafted video beautifully explains the concept. 

In the current financial climate it is important for luxury brands to reaffirm their brand standards and in particular focus on consumers experience so that it warrants the price tag; in this latest initiative Burberry has succeeded to achieve this. 

Burberry have considered how to enhance customer experience in three ways. Firstly the brand builds on having a very strong and desirable product range. A Burberry bag or trench coat is a product that consumers will own for life. By offering a personalisation service Burberry are creating something unique for the consumer and a product that is even more desirable. Secondly the video footage showing how the bag or coat is made also validates the quality and personalised message behind the product and brand. Finally the use of mobile and in store technology is the perfect, forward-thinking mechanism to deliver the initiative. This in itself becomes an additional unique aspect of the experience for the consumer. The full customer journey has been personalised from ordering the product, the maunfacturing and finally to the end product.

In summary by focussing on a unique customer service, Burberry are successfully increasing the desirability of their brand and products so that it transcends the credit crunch. 

One from the Archive - Arctic Sun, Tropicana

There are some brandlights that we remember and refer back to. These are particular communications that are a benchmark to what we as marketeers strive to achieve and ultimately why we love our jobs. This ad from Tropicana in 2010 is one of team member Claire's favourite. 

Arctic Sun is a beautifully shot, documentary style ad shows a small Canadian town's reaction to a huge helium balloon filled with light on their 31st day of darkness.

This ad received  worldwide coverage and Tropicana's fans on Facebook sky rocketed. The ad therefore clearly made consumers feel a strong connection with the brand. There are a few things we can learn from this. 

Firstly the brand message 'Brighter Mornings for Brighter Days' is visually and emotionally brought to life. The consistency of the message with what consumers already associate with the brand (i.e. breakfast time, good mornings etc.) is taken to a new level. 

The main reason consumers connect with the ad is the random act of kindness that the brand demonstrated for this town. The happiness of the people featured transpires to the viewer and creates a feel good feeling to anyone watching.

A cynical person could say that this example is not a random act of kindness as there is clearly an ulterior motive which is to sell product; shown here by Tropicana juice being handed out towards the end of the ad. Arguably in this instance however the enormity of the gesture outweighs the commercial message and when consumers experience it they enjoy the sentiment. This is proven by the response to the brand on channels like Facebook. 

We are seeing the R.A.K (random act of kindness) trend appearing more through brand communications. If you google it there are some great examples. For instance Interflora tweeted one of their followers who complained of a hard day asking whether they could send her some flowers. Kleenex offered 'get well soon' packs to people who were nominated by friends on Facebook. Dulux run a 'Let's Colour' project that chooses parts of the world to paint bright colours to improve peoples' lives (below). The list continues. 

As this trend continues to grow the consumer is going to become more aware that a brand is simply using R.A.Ks as a tactic to sell product. To avoid this the acts either must look unplanned or the brand must really want to do something for the greater good. As Tropicana proved with their ad, ulterior motives can be forgiven or even forgotten when the act brings so much happiness.

The Superbowl Highlight - Oreo

You can't write a marketing blog without posting about the Superbowl. Everyone around the world looks to this event to see what brands will deliver in the most expensive and viewed media space.

There was a clear winner this year that made all the marketing headlines on Monday morning - Oreo. During a power cut that lasted 30 minutes Oreo tweeted the ad below with the caption; "Power out? No problem.". The result? 10,000 retweets in an hour and over 20 000 likes on Facebook.

We can only describe this piece of communication as genius.

It is the creative, witty and quick-thinking needed to execute the ad that made it so impressive. People don't expect brands to be able to react so quickly to unusual circumstances and the relevance of the ad clearly connected with the audience. Oreo played right into the hands of a very captive and bored US audience waiting for the power to come on. These people, without anything else to do were clearly going to be talking to each other and be highly interactive on social networks.

What brands can therefore learn from this is to  to avoid the usual delays of a lengthy sign off process and use instinct to get communications out there. Brands need to be more prepared to have a team ready at any time to create of-the-moment communications that consumers can relate to.

Finally Oreo have shown that you don't always need the budget to create the most cut through. The brand have created the most memorable and talked about 2013 Superbowl ad that cost only a tiny fraction of the millions spent by the other brands on the night.