BUILDING ON "MASTER BRAND"

Unilever launches Dove for Men in Italy Major personal care manufacturer, Unilever, has launched an assault on the men’s grooming market in Italy by releasing a range of products that have been formulated especially for men.

• The range, which is called Dove Men + Care, includes two shower gel variants and five deodorants. They are adapted from Dove’s existing product range of deodorant, soap and shower gels to incorporate ‘male formulations and fragrances’.
• Growing Italian male grooming market A brand spokesperson for Unilever Italy told Cosmetics Design that the main aim in this decision was to “tap into Italy’s growing male grooming market, starting in the two segments that the Dove brand is already known for: deodorants and body wash”.
• The spokesperson said that Unilever had noticed that men had become an increasingly important part of the Dove target audience in Italy.
• This decision to push forward in the male grooming market has emerged as a common strategy in the economic crisis, having been adopted by other big personal care brands. Earlier in the summer, Nivea created a website called the Groom Room to provide tips and advice on male grooming.
• Financial analysts Fitch early on in the recession stated that they believed the men’s grooming sector would be one of the main categories to turn to in the recession. It would seem that companies such as Unilever and Nivea have indeed been employing this strategy.
• In some ways the male grooming sector has not been as strong as expected, however. In spite of this Proctor & Gamble, which owns the powerful Gillette brand, announced an approximately 20 per cent fall in men’s grooming sales in June of this year.

Building on Dove the ‘master brand’

• The Dove brand has been one of Unilever’s strongest performers and it is easy to see why Unilever would choose to grow in that direction. In the past, industry insiders have described it as a ‘master brand’, apparently managing to ride through the recession with relative ease.
• Unilever as a company has faired pretty well in general. Helped by a 6.8 per cent rise in prices, in May the company announced a 4.8 per cent increase in underlying sales for the quarter.
• It now seems that Unilever wish to take advantage of this stable situation and is looking for potential growth. Unilever’s brand spokesperson said, “We hope that this launch will allow us to build upon the brand’s heritage and increase penetration of Dove among men”.
• They did not comment as to whether the Dove Men + Care range would be adopted in the rest of Europe.

By Leah Armstrong, Cosmetic design-europe.com

BEAUTY FOOD - Danone kills beauty yoghurt but comeback likely

Danone has killed the Essensis beauty yoghurt worldwide blaming lower consumer spending but the dairy giant remains convinced of beauty food potential.

• Edible beauty products have been hailed as the next big thing in functional food and cosmetics but the failure of the Essensis brand has sparked fears that the trend is more hype than hit.
• Hitting supermarket shelves to much marketing and media fanfare in February 2007, Essensis was the biggest beauty food launch in Europe but sales never matched expectation, prompting Danone to pull the product in France two years later.
• Now the French dairy giant has confirmed that the Essensis brand no longer exists having been removed from sale in Italy, Belgium and Spain. Essensis simply failed to deliver the sales figures Danone hoped for.
• “During the last year, Essensis has been strongly penalised by the slowdown of consumption which does not allow it to develop its market, despite its undisputed health benefits,” said Danone spokesperson Esther Karpinski.
• In the current economic climate Danone will focus on core business and well established brands like Actimel and Activia. But the company has not given up on the beauty food concept.

Precursor product

• Karpinski said Essensis was a “precursor product” based on a well established link between food and skin quality.
• “This link between skin and food still needs time and pedagogy to be acknowledged in Europe,” said Karpinski. “But we are convinced that this product has a strong potential for the future in Europe.”
• Mintel analyst Nica Lewis agreed that the demise of Essensis does not spell the death of the category.
• Lewis said: “Nutricosmetics are here to stay because the products meet and treat physical needs and beauty concerns, and are part of a general move to a holistic approach to well being.”
• So why did Essensis fail when it was riding the wave of such a promising trend? Is it just a question of time and education as Danone suggests?

Pricing problems

• One of the key problems seems to be price. Lewis said that new Mintel consumer research in the UK found that 40 per cent of consumers think that beauty foods and drinks are too expensive.
• In a recent report on functional food failures, New Nutrition Business magazine said price became an issue for Essensis because of its positioning on supermarket shelves.
• “Essensis was merchandised in the supermarket alongside the regular yoghurt, where it’s easy for consumers to see that it sells at quite a premium to regular yoghurts.
• The reported added: “Essensis isn’t differentiated enough to justify a price premium; the only thing that sets it apart from other yoghurts is its beauty benefit.”

By Guy Montague-Jones, Cosmetics design-europe.com

COMPANY TRANSFORMATION - Inside the Kraft Foods Transformation

Eleven of the top leaders from the largest food and beverage company in the U.S. talk about their three-year turnaround and their campaign to reorganize for growth. Introduced by Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld

• When a company’s corporate core gets too far from its businesses, from the marketplace, and from its consumers, then a new organizational model may be needed. That was true of Kraft Foods when I returned as chief executive in June 2006. I had just spent three years running the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo, where decision making was highly decentralized. That experience had reminded me how powerful it is when people come to work every day aligned with and focused only on the business, rather than on the internal organizational demands.
• Kraft, too, had gone through periods of decentralized decision making, as I knew from my previous 22 years with the company. But the company in 2006 wasn’t operating that way. Not long after I arrived, a request to review and approve a pricing decision in the German coffee business arrived on my desk in Northfield, Ill. It created a lot of unnecessary work when people asked us in corporate headquarters to make decisions that were not our province. Moreover, we weren’t managing our brands and categories at the appropriate level to understand their competitive dynamics. We weren’t as nimble or responsive as we needed to be, and it was affecting our results.
• Now, three years later, we’re delivering. We had an exceptionally strong year in 2008, on both the top line and the bottom line, despite the challenging macro­economic environment. And there has been an equal impact on the effectiveness of our management. Today, I spend the bulk of my time on strategy, on understanding key drivers within our business units, and on putting the right people in critical positions — where they have much more responsibility than in the past.
• One of the vehicles for achieving these results was the “Organizing for Growth” (OFG) initiative that we began at Kraft Foods in 2007. Rewiring our organization was one of the four key strategies of our three-year turnaround plan to restore the company to sustainable, long-term growth. To achieve this, we had to essentially dismantle the existing organizational matrix and replace it with a decentralized structure that gave our newly reorganized business units more direct lines of responsibility. This was an enormous undertaking, both in concept and in implementation. It involved changing reporting lines, structures, and operating units. And it was only one part of a larger change initiative that involved operational changes — building up our sales capabilities, reframing our food categories, and implementing new operating metrics and financial rewards for our executives and managers.
• There is often a tendency to believe that when you make a structural change first, everything else will follow. However, structural, cultural, and operational changes are typically made together, and they influence one another.

This is the story of our reorganization and the changes that it helped deliver. It is an initiative that is best described by those within Kraft who participated in it. —Irene Rosenfeld

Read their stories under: http://www.strategy-business.com/article/09307?gko=399b2&cid=enews20090922

NEW PRODUCT DVLPMT - Democratizing product development

Last year, Mountain Dew's "Dewmocracy" brought the conversation to the social space. Today, Vitaminwater is turning to Facebook fans to come up with its next flavor. "This isn't the most creative initiative" says Richie Cruz from Digital Strategist Agency, "but bringing the conversation to the social space has proven it's effectiveness. Especially because of the dialogue's transparency: Facebook users who aren't engaged will be able to see their colleagues and friends taking part in the conversation". Another reaction could be "Does the world need another MangoBerry-CranMint-Guarana Fusion?" Anyway, The "Flavorcreator" Facebook app, which launched this week and runs through Oct. 20, is designed to crowdsource the company's next product.

• Eric Berniker, vp-marketing for Vitaminwater, said that in the first phase, the company will "eavesdrop" on conversations on Facebook and Twitter about which the hot flavors are.
• After that, the company will diagnose which vitamins and minerals consumers want via a Facebook quiz. Finally, fans will be called in to develop a name, design and copy for the bottle. The winner will then be selected by 50 Cent and Carrie Underwood. The product will hit shelves in March.
• Vitaminwater started its fan page on Facebook in March and now has about 450,000 fans, thanks in part to TV ads that ran that month to promote the page.
• Berniker said that traditional media is still important to Vitaminwater, but the brand is tapping social media to "keep an ongoing dialogue with fans and drinkers." Added Berniker: "It's not just a fun program, it's about handing control over to our fans."

FAIR TRADE - Cadbury continues to spread its strategy

Cadbury has pledged to achieve Fair Trade certification for its Dairy Milk bars in Canada ... after successfully making the Fair Trade transition in Britain and Ireland.

• Cadbury announces today an historic agreement that will transform the accessibility of Fair Trade Certified chocolate in Canada and enable Canadians to make an important difference in the lives of thousands of cocoa farmers. By summer 2010 Cadbury(i) Dairy Milk(i) bars will begin to proudly display the Fair Trade Certification mark, bringing Fair Trade certified chocolate to grocery stores, gas stations, convenience shops and corner retailers across Canada. Cadbury Dairy Milk is the first major confectionery brand in Canada to be Fair Trade Certified. With an estimated 22 million bars sold annually, it is expected to double the amount of Fair Trade Certified chocolate sold in Canada.
• "We are deeply proud to make Fair Trade certified chocolate accessible right across Canada by working together with TransFair Canada to achieve certification for our biggest global brand and one of Canada's leading chocolate bars," says Gary Scullion, General Manager for Canada, Cadbury North America. "Fair Trade is designed to improve the lives of the cocoa farmers in Ghana, Africa that we source from by guaranteeing fair payment for their crop, and also paying an additional social premium fee that goes to community improvements. Canadians have the opportunity to be catalysts of change by purchasing Fair Trade Certified Dairy Milk chocolate, knowing it will improve the lives of 40,000 farmers in Ghana, and that is truly extraordinary."
• Mr. P. K. Tekper, the Vice-President of Kuapa Kokoo cooperative from which Cadbury is sourcing Fair Trade cocoa, said: "We are very happy that Cadbury's have made this further commitment. The premium that we have already received from Cadbury has made a real difference to our lives. Our plans for the future are to build fourteen community projects next year, invest in the health care of our farmers and to put in place a 'Kuapa Kokoo Extension Services' to farmers to ensure sustainability of cocoa in the world market."
• Cadbury's partnership with the Fairtrade Foundation in Britain and Ireland - which welcomed Fair Trade Cadbury Dairy Milk bars in July - has already resulted in the transfer of the equivalent of approximately $883,000 CDN to Ghana, the first instalment of the Fair Trade social premium. This is part of Cadbury's overall investment into cocoa sustainability though the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership.
• Cadbury has a century-old commitment to sustainable and equitable cocoa farming in Ghana, Africa, where Cadbury was instrumental in developing the cocoa trade and this year, Cadbury celebrated the 100th anniversary of its first full cocoa crop from Ghana. In 2008 Cadbury established the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, an initiative that will guide efforts to improve the lives of cocoa farmers, including Fair Trade certification. With the certification of Cadbury Dairy Milk across five markets, including Canada, Cadbury will quadruple the sales of Fair Trade cocoa from Ghana under Fair Trade terms, from 5,000 to 20,000 tones. As the number one buyer of Ghanaian Fair Trade cocoa, Cadbury is signaling to cocoa farmers its belief that Fair Trade is the preferred, rigorous certification system, and one that is committed to delivering tangible change for them and their communities.
• "The certification of Cadbury Dairy Milk will improve the lives and communities of over 40,000 cocoa farmers and 6,000 sugar farmers, ensuring a guaranteed income, viable growth and hope for a prosperous future," says Rob Clarke, Executive Director of TransFair Canada, the national Fair Trade Certification body and Canadian member of the Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO) International. "Cadbury Dairy Milk going Fair Trade also provides Canadians with an unprecedented opportunity to share in the success of these farmers and the presence of the Fair Trade Certification mark on every bar provides independent assurance that Fair Trade standards were met."
• Cadbury Australia/New Zealand also announced today Fair Trade certification for Cadbury Dairy Milk in their markets, further expanding Cadbury's commitment to ethical and sustainable sourcing and cementing Cadbury Dairy Milk as the largest Fair Trade Certified chocolate brand in the world. These two announcements follow the initial commitment by Cadbury in March of this year for Cadbury Dairy Milk to go Fair Trade in Britain and Ireland - the first Fair Trade certified Cadbury Dairy Milk bars were shipped to retailers in Britain and Ireland this past July.

Fair Trade Certification of Cadbury Dairy Milk

• Cadbury's commitment to Fair Trade in Canada will mean that approximately 11 per cent of all chocolate products Cadbury sells in Canada will be Fair Trade Certified. This announcement applies to the entire pure chocolate Cadbury Dairy Milk range: Cadbury Dairy Milk 42g, 100g and 200g; Cadbury Dairy Milk Thins, the first 100-calorie bar in Canada and Cadbury Dairy Milk treat size for Halloween. Cadbury intends to ship the first Fair Trade certified bars in Summer 2010.

The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership

• Last year Cadbury announced the establishment of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, a groundbreaking, global initiative supported by the United Nations Development Programme under which Cadbury is investing the equivalent of approximately $82 million CDN to secure the sustainable socio-economic future of cocoa farming. The equivalent of approximately $55 million CDN is allocated to Ghana, Africa, where Cadbury and its partners are addressing the challenges farmers face and working to improve productivity and grow the industry. The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership works on the ground to improve farmer yields, expand biodiversity of crops, invest in community development and establish progressive partnerships. The scale of investment and the level of company commitment make this the largest cocoa program of its kind.
• Prior to the establishment of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, Cadbury had committed to community improvements in Ghana and by 2008 Cadbury had led the construction of 850 wells, benefitting more than 130,000 people; donated books and provided support to help communities build libraries and educational facilities; and Cadbury will send 5,000 bicycles to Ghana, Africa in November 2009 as a result of The Bicycle Factory promotion. The bicycles will be donated to communities in Ghana, where they are to be used in the communities, including helping children get to school and improving access to education.

Fair Trade Certification

• Fair Trade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. Fair Trade Certification is an independent monitoring and auditing system that ensures standards have been met. It directly impacts more than 1.5 million democratically organized producers and workers in 58 developing countries and provides consumers with a simple and reliable method to make a difference in peoples' lives through their purchases. Fair Trade is specifically designed to help producers improve the quality of their lives and take more control over their futures.
• Fair Trade Certification aims to ensure democratic associations of family farmers receive a guaranteed fair price for their goods to cover the cost of sustainable production and provide security during fluctuating world markets;
• Fair Trade Certification ensures an additional social premium fee is paid that farmers invest to improve the social, economic and environmental conditions within their communities;
• Fair Trade Certification offers long term contracts with producers and ensures access to advance credit of up to 60 per cent of the value of contracts.

The certification of Cadbury Dairy Milk products will be monitored and audited by TransFair Canada and FLO-Cert, the independent certification arm of the Fair Trade Labeling Organizations (FLO) International. Together they ensure compliance with internationally-recognized Fair Trade standards from the producer to the point of packaging.

PETFOOD PROMOTION - Mars Petcare Goes on Tour

Mars Petcare is introducing its latest line of restaurant-style dog food meals with a cross-country sampling campaign to be held at dog parks and beaches beginning this month.

• "Share the Love," as the tour is known, promotes the pet food maker's Cesar Canine Cuisine Bistro brand, which provides dogs with not "just a meal, but a dining experience." The entrees, which are sold in food, pet and mass merchandise stores, include varieties like Grilled Chicken Primavera, Tuscan Style Stew with Braised Beef and Oven Roasted Beef Burgundy Flavor. The company said each entree is meant to "evoke . . . the classic bistro" taste.
• Mars Petcare, a division of snack foods maker Mars Inc., which owns brands such as M&M's and Skittles, is sampling the line at more than 125 dog parks and beaches through October. The promotion is meant to tap into consumers' needs to vacation while staying close to home and affording small indulgences for their pets.
• "Cesar Canine Cuisine wants to help small dog parents who want to provide the very best for their little companions," said marketing director Anne Herrington in a statement. "With the 'Share the Love' program, we are happy to provide support with gourmet meals and a restaurant-inspired dining experience for small dogs, while also helping to enrich the relationship between pet owners and their small dogs," she added.
• The tour hits Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and Phoenix, among other cities. A street team will provide complimentary samples, and staffers from Us Weekly magazine will assist with the treat giveaways on Aug. 27 in Chicago and New York.
• Mars is also offering coupons for free samples online at Cesar.com/bistro. The coupons are available for download each Saturday through Oct. 10.
• The promotion comes as penny-pinched consumers have cut back on discretionary household purchases, but have shown a willingness to spend for pets.

Cesar Canine Cuisine had $4.7 million in 2008 measured media expenditures, excluding online, per Nielsen. Through June of this year, Mars spent $100,000 advertising its pet care brand.

Source: Brandkeek, Eliane Wong

LUXURY & PACKAGING - New French law could make luxury packaging illegal

A French law, which could make luxurious packaging of high end fragrances and cosmetics illegal, has come under fire from a European packaging trade association.

• The European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN) has attacked recent changes to French law that could affect the packaging of luxury goods.
• Under the new regulations, packaging must be as limited as possible while respecting the needs of product safety, hygiene and logistics. The consumer acceptance part of the law, which was accepted by EU member states in 1994, has been removed.
• Under EU law the elaborate packaging often associated with the luxury market is accepted because it forms part of the character of the product; getting rid of it would be unacceptable to the consumer.
• The new French law cuts out the consumer acceptance part, technically making anything that is not needed to protect the product on the shelf and during its transportation, illegal.
• Aside from having significant consequences for luxury manufacturers, according to Europen the French authorities do not have the right to make this change.
• “The consumer acceptance part is included in the harmonised European Directive. France is not technically allowed to just scrap it,” Europen’s EU affairs manager Fiona Durie told CosmeticsDesign.
• “As they signed up to the law in 1994, France has to go to the European Commission if they want to make any changes,” she added.
• For this reason, Europen is calling on the Commission to initiate infringement proceedings against France.
• Commenting on the move, Europen managing director Julian Carroll said: “We have asked the Commission to act promptly in this case to prevent any possible disruption to the internal market for packaging and packaged goods.”

Part of wider environment law

• The changes to the French regulation are part of the wider law of the Grenelle which was adopted last month by the French National Assembly and the Senate.
• The Grenelle law covers a very large range of environmental issues, not simply relating to packaging, explained Durie. Dropping the consumer acceptance clause reflects an attempt to reduce the environmental impact of packaged goods on the environment.
• According to Durie, a number of international governments have voiced concerns that the consumer acceptance element acts as a ‘get out clause’ to allow packaging manufacturers to avoid minimising packaging.
• “It is true that it is a broad concept and difficult to pin down,” she said, adding that there are already requirements in place for recovery and recycling targets to tackle the environmental problem.

ETHNIC MARKETING - The Bounty/ Hispanics case study - Interview

Consumers are cutting back on just about everything right now, but some items—paper towels and diapers, for instance—will always be musts. That said, recession-conscious shoppers won’t part with their money unless there’s a promise of value. It’s a dynamic that David Miller Gomez-Giron, Procter & Gamble’s associate marketing director, sees in action every day. Gomez-Giron—who oversees multicultural marketing for Bounty, Charmin and Pampers—has his sights trained on the Hispanic shopper. And for good reason. Not only is the demo huge (46.9 million), but it also responds especially well to quality/value messages. U.S. Hispanics, Gomez-Giron says, understand that “they get what they pay for,” which is why brands such as Bounty and Charmin continue to gain market share with this ethnic group. Below, Gomez-Giron discusses his ethno-targeting strategy, plus his overall plans to help P&G wipe up the competition.

• Brandweek: Colleagues summarize your marketing approach as “turning the tortilla over.” Would you care to translate that for us?
• David Miller Gomez-Giron: We are in a time where the importance of Hispanic consumers has turned the tables. [In Spanish, the equivalent saying is se volteo la tortilla, which translates as “turned the tortilla over.”] In 1995, when I was a summer intern at P&G, I was given the Hispanic community as one of my projects. It was not really a priority at the time. Today, in many cases, Hispanics are driving strategic priorities. Hispanics are often the design target, meaning that an initiative is designed to delight this consumer first. Category growth rates are higher for Hispanics in 21 of the 22 categories where we compete, so while it’s still possible for a brand to deliver its goals without [marketing to] Hispanics, they’re becoming a must. The Hispanic market is almost like a developing country inside the U.S.

• BW: How is marketing your brands to Hispanic consumers different from reaching out to the general populace?
• G-G: It all starts with knowing your consumer better than anyone else. That part is no different with Hispanics. The most important skill is to be able to determine when a simple adaptation of the general market plan will work, and when you need to do something completely different. While you can follow a more basic formula—such as always translating the general market copy or doing something unique for Hispanics—you’ll find that the former can miss the target by a lot in some cases, and the latter is resource-intensive and not always necessary. There are, however, some Hispanic nuances that are very consistent. For example, we were doing value-oriented communications before it was trendy. That’s because Hispanics are very price sensitive and value-oriented consumers. As such, we have had to be more overt to demonstrate the value that our products offer them. Many of the ideas and insights that our teams and agencies have around value are now being leveraged by general market brands in their recent plans given the current economic conditions.

• BW: Private label has been capturing serious market share of late. Does that trend worry you?
• G-G: Private label remains overdeveloped with Hispanic consumers and is growing at a faster pace than in previous years. Interestingly, our fastest growing brand is Bounty, which carries a significant premium versus private label. It is also the brand where we have been running value-oriented communication for the longest time, and consumers recognize its performance advantages. On Bounty, we are growing both share on the value tier (Bounty Basic) and also on the premium tier behind Bounty Extra Soft which was designed to [appeal primarily to] Hispanics. In fact we reached an all-time dollar-share high of 44.6 percent in January 2009, and on Charmin, we are also growing share this year.

• BW: Pampers and Bounty are your premium brands. How can you market them at a time when so many shoppers—including Hispanics—just want a low price?
• G-G: First, we are leveraging our strong portfolio that allows us to meet consumers’ needs across price tiers. But Hispanic consumers know that “lo barato sale caro” [“cheap can be expensive” or, the English equivalent, “you get what you pay for”]. We must ensure that our consumers continue to understand the superior value that our brands deliver. For instance, in our most recent Charmin copy, we show consumers how, with Charmin, it is possible to use four times fewer sheets than with the leading competitor.

• BW: P&G has made a big push for social media across all of its brands lately, but how receptive has the Hispanic community been to Twitter, Facebook and the like?
• G-G: We are more than doubling our investment on digital given the growing importance of these vehicles. [On the brands I oversee, however,] we haven’t yet done large campaigns on Twitter and Facebook. TV continues to be extremely effective for Hispanics, and in some cases it is bringing in higher ROIs than the general market.

• BW: Name one key insight about Hispanic shoppers that might surprise people.
• G-G: These consumers are so value oriented that they will do their own tests at home to see if a product is worth the premium. A consumer recently told us she was running a test with Charmin and a competitive brand—one in the bathroom downstairs, one upstairs—and ended up being loyal to Charmin.

Source: Brandweek - Eliane Wong

EMOTIONAL MARKETING - From unknown to revered in 2 years

Barack Obama's amazing rise is one of the most phenomenal stories in recent history. Other American presidents, such as Jack Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, came from similarly modest notoriety, but what sets Obama apart is the expectation that he has stirred and the barriers he has broken, one of which would have been unthinkable only a few years ago: race.

People went for the emotions, for the hope and the change that are built into America's DNA. Compared to other nations, Americans just feel different about their country's mission as the main guardian of freedom in the world. And for many people across the globe, the USA is still the ultimate guarantor of a world that can give an equal chance to all. Now, millions of children from South America to Africa, from France to Japan, have seen an American election that has given them a new spark and a new reason to believe that we are progressing as a human race.

As a hint of things to come, let's look at the Obama campaign as applied to the 10 Commandments of Emotional Branding. You'll see that, unlike many brands, the Obama campaign hits on all the right emotional connections.

• 1- From consumers (voters) to people. Not special interests, but people. In the second quarter of 2008: 258,000 people, with as many as 110,000 on the Internet, bring $32 million into Obama's coffers. Starting in February, $1 million a day was donated to the campaign [ Obama by Marc kravetz. Dalloz ]
• 2- From product to experience. Two books, two compelling stories. The Obama brand had a tone of gravitas and intellect, as opposed to the McCain camp's appropriation of Joe the Plumber.
• 3- From honesty to trust. Obama had made a tough call: "Don’t go to war." Obama stood up for sincerity at a time when most stand for nothing outside of focus group-approved strategies.
• 4- From quality to preference. McCain was a respected hero from the past, but Obama was seen as the future.
• 5- From notoriety to aspiration. "Yes we can." Obama shifted the message from fear to hope, a message ultimately about being loved.
• 6- From identity to personality. "We are the United States of America." Obama took pains to define a greater public call, not just the agenda of the Democratic party.
• 7- From function to feel. The "Yes We Can" acceptance speech was viewed on YouTube by 15,283,062 people; McCain's concession speech had 300,000 viewers. [As of January 2009 ]
• 8- From ubiquity to presence. Total transparency. Sarah Palin was ubiquitous but disingenuous, while Barack Obama connected with authenticity. The choice of street artist Shepard Fairey to design Obama’s official campaign portrait also connected with youth. Watch our video about Fairey here.
• 9- From communication to dialogue. The campaign talked to us on a personal level (a community of influencers estimated as close to 2 million people), with the Web as the rallying point and a channel for participation.
• 10- From service to relationship. With the idea that we are all in it together, Obama created Organizing for America, a new group that will continue the campaign's grassroots momentum and give ordinary citizens a role in the changes ahead.

One thing is for sure: this campaign will change forever how brands communicate. It starkly revealed the limits of old (one-way) media and the power of the Internet as a way to reach out to communities. Successful brands of the future will be inspired by the novel, grassroots ways the Obama campaign created awareness, belief, compassion and purchase intent (sorry, voting intent) in millions of people in a very short time. Obama has proved that this is now the age of Emotional Branding, finally coming to life through bandwidth and technology in the most powerful way.

How do you see the Obama campaign through the 10 Commandments of Emotional Branding?

found under: www.emotionalbranding.com

AUTOMOTIVE - The Best Years of the Auto Industry Are Still to Come

Even as they struggle through the economic meltdown, vehicle makers can look ahead to a high-growth, flexible, global future.

• Automobiles designed for emerging economies are getting some attention these days. In March 2009, Business Week covered the launch of the celebrated US$3,000 microcar by Tata Motors Ltd. with the headline “What Can Tata’s Nano Teach Detroit?” A number of other vehicle makers, such as Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti in India, Chery in China, and global auto companies such as Renault, Volkswagen, and GM, have been noted for the inexpensive cars they are designing for new markets.

But the inexpensive microcar is only one small part of a much larger and more diverse trend.

• The motor vehicle manufacturing industry, which is 100 years old, is only now emerging from its infancy. Its time of greatest growth is yet to come.
• Automakers that are willing to think freshly about their markets and their business models will be in a position to benefit from the greatest wave of expansion that the industry has ever seen.

It takes fortitude to make this assertion in 2009.

• Few people see the auto industry as poised for growth at all.
• Even before the devastation of the credit crisis, motor vehicle manufacturing was considered a mature sector, with static (or even eroding) markets and too much competition.
• Since the crisis began, the industry has been portrayed as beleaguered and hapless, with jaded consumers and deeply discounted products, and needing billions of taxpayer dollars just to stay afloat.

But the reports of the industry’s death, and even the perception of decline, are greatly exaggerated.

• Look beyond its current challenges, and you can see increasing levels of productivity and capability, significant innovations in both the power train and the look and feel of motor vehicles, and — most important of all — a wave of accelerating economic development in many countries that will, sooner or later, produce immense new demand for personal mobility.

To grasp these dynamics, we must first understand the automobile market, not as it is often perceived, but as it really is.

• Millions of people around the world are making their way into cities and seeking automobiles as a means to a better life.
• That momentum may have slowed in 2008 and 2009, but it hasn’t vanished.
• Research conducted recently by Booz & Company shows that the global customer base for automobiles over the next 10 years falls into three broad categories, based primarily on which countries customers live in.

1. The rapidly emerging economies (REEs) consist of the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and a group of other relatively wealthy developing nations, such as Malaysia, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, Iran, and Indonesia. Millions of families in these countries are making or contemplating the purchase of their first automobile.
2. The lower-growth economies (compared to the REEs) consist of about 100 nations with relatively impoverished populations and poor economic prospects. However, their political leaders are interested in building up the middle class and see personal mobility as a major stepping stone. These countries may become markets for motorized transportation after 2020.
3. The mature economies include the established industrialized nations in North America and Europe, and Japan. Population growth and vehicle replacement, rather than economic growth, will determine the market for automobiles there.

These three groups add up to an enormous amount of market potential: Booz & Company estimates suggest that more than 370 million additional vehicles could be sold by 2013 and more than 715 million by 2018.

But business models in the auto industry are not currently equipped to capture these increases. During their first 100 years, vehicle manufacturers (VMs) grew used to applying a single dominant approach to assembling and selling automobiles around the world. They sold similar vehicles with the same power trains through remarkably similar franchised dealer networks, with 80 percent of automotive sales and production based in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

Now, however, the auto markets are becoming far more diverse and complex than those of previous decades...

more under: http://www.strategy-business.com/press/article/09204?pg=0

MEDIA - The Promise of Private-label Media

A direct-to-consumer media strategy can help companies build brands and reach consumers in new ways.

• Just about every company has a Web site. But today, many marketers are going further.
• They are transforming their digital presence into powerful media channels, direct to consumers.
• The practice is prevalent enough that, as the research firm Outsell Inc. reported in July 2008, about 62 percent of marketers’ online advertising and marketing budgets are spent on their own digital media.
• These marketers recognize that with the right mix of content, utility, community, and product, they can create compelling premium experiences for consumers.
• And they see that these efforts deliver powerful benefits in branding, relationship building, and lead generation.

The growing popularity of “private-label media,” as we call it, is one of the more provocative — and potentially disruptive — developments occurring in today’s marketing and media ecosystem.

• Every marketer, advertising agency, and media company needs to be aware of its benefits and, just as important, its implications for the industry.
• The emergence of private-label media represents both a compelling way to engage consumers and yet another challenge to long-standing media business models.
• The more that is spent on private-label media, the less that may be spent on conventional advertising, especially in the digital realm.

Company Web sites began directly targeting consumers about a decade ago. Since then, there have been some high-profile and highly expensive misfires

• Anheuser-Busch’s http://www.bud.tv/ was launched in 2007 with fanfare, only to be shuttered quietly early in 2009.
• But there have also been many notable successes. General Mills’ http://www.bettycrocker.com/ enjoys more than 8 million unique visitors per month, roughly comparable to the numbers at http://www.foodnetwork.com/ — a rival with a popular television network sibling.
• Kraft Foods’ iFood Assistant ranks among the most frequently downloaded applications on Apple’s iPhone.
• Procter & Gamble’s Olay for You platform for consumer education in the health and beauty category includes a highly trafficked Web site and in-store kiosks rolled out in partnership with Walmart.
• Rapid growth in private-label media has also occurred among business-to-business markets. For example the Home Depot launched http://www.hdbusinesstoolbox.com/ to deepen its connection to contractors, offering them business management tools as well as negotiated discounts and services such as insurance, telecommunications, and printing.

As marketers gain more experience with developing and managing private-label media, we expect them to make it an expanding part of their marketing arsenal.

• The greatest distinguishing factor for successful entries will be the ability to create branded destinations that translate into relationships, community, and utility for consumers.
• These are not digital infomercials; the best private-label media connect consumers directly to brands.
• Consumers can design and test new products, enter online forums where other brand enthusiasts share their perspectives, and take advantage of unique brand offers and ancillary services.

The Lego Group provides a good example of innovative marketing with private-label media.

• The company has built an extensive set of consumer touch points using its own digital media: a fan club, a social network, online games, message boards, online movies, and soon its own massive multiplayer game.
• On http://www.legofactory.com/ , consumers can design their own products.
• By joining a network of approximately 120,000 self-identified volunteer designers, fans interact, suggest product ideas, and become “ambassadors” to spread the word about new offerings.
• In this way, Lego facilitates direct conversations between the company and its consumers as well as conversations among the brand’s devotees.
• For Lego, the private-label media strategy is paying dividends.
• Lego has become a major digital brand in the U.S., rivaling traditional media players such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network Online in its core demographic of boys ages 6 to 11.
• This digital marketing innovation is one of the contributors to Lego’s recent success — the company posted a 19 percent increase in annual sales in 2008, despite a declining market for toys globally.

read the end of the article under:

http://www.strategy-business.com/resilience/rr00072?pg=1

DESTOCKING: It's the perfect excuse for poor performance

Cosmetics companies looking for something to blame for poor financial results are turning to the ever so convenient excuse of destocking.

• In the past couple of weeks L’Oreal and Beiersdorf have both turned to destocking to excuse poor first quarter sales.
• Perishing the thought of admitting that fewer people are buying their cosmetics, they sought out an excuse in the murky and complicated world of inventories.
• The favored line of argument is that retailers are cutting back on their inventories as a temporary defensive measure, causing a sharp dip in manufacturers’ sales.
• The usually unspoken conclusion is that falling sales figures have nothing to do with consumer demand, which is as robust as ever.
• Then it is common practice to trot out a tired anecdote about housewives in the Great Depression rushing out to buy lipstick more than they ever did in the days of easy money.

A favored excuse

• L’Oreal CEO Jean-Paul Agon resorted to the destocking excuse to explain the disappointing sales figures from its luxury products division. He said: “Its sales have felt the strong impact… of very large inventory adjustments by distributors.”
• Of course, lower consumer demand for L’Oreal’s luxury cosmetics never got a mention.
• In the words of Bernstein Research analyst Andrew Wood: “As is their normal practice, management tried to put a brave face on things, with many excuse, (including destocking, of course.”
• L’Oreal’s luxury division suffered a 17.5 per cent fall in sales while its consumer products division enjoyed 1 percent growth.
• “Very large inventory adjustments” are an unconvincing explanation for the difference, especially when manufacturers suggest that destocking has little to do with consumer demand.
• If retailers are reducing their stock of L’Oreal’s luxury cosmetics but holding on to its consumer products, it surely means they believe luxury products will stay on the shelf, while its cheaper alternatives will continue to sell.
• L’Oreal is not the only cosmetics firm to resort to the destocking excuse. Beiersdorf said last week that “massive destocking at retailers was seen in the first quarter.” The degree to which destocking can be blamed for its poor results is difficult to judge.
• Wood said: “There is probably some merit to this explanation given the prevalence of its use as an excuse across all consumer companies.”
• Even for financial experts assessing the significance of destocking is difficult because the relevant data is unobtainable.
• One analyst at major investment bank told CosmeticsDesign.com that “destocking is virtually impossible to measure” especially in less developed markets such as Eastern Europe.
• Even in the US where data is more readily available quantifying the role of destocking is pretty tricky.
• Destocking certainly makes market growth figures appear worse than they really are to those who restrict their reading to the financial results of the largest cosmetics firms.
• Quantifying the impact destocking is the problem and it is this inherent vagueness that makes it an ideal excuse for cosmetics companies.

Uncovering the truth

• However, there are ways of seeing through their attempts hide behind destocking.
• One would expect destocking to have a similar effect on similar companies so it cannot be invoked to explain away sales that are poorer than those reported by peers.
• For example, Wood said: “Destocking does not help explain why Henkel performed so much better than Beiersdorf this quarter.”
• Manufacturers would like to herd all their problems at the door of destocking but there is no getting away from falling consumer demand.
• Another way of getting to the truth is looking at market research data recorded at the check-out. Comparing beauty sales across different retail channels, NPD and IRI found that the overall US beauty market dropped 2 percent in value between 2008 and 2007 and that the prestige market took the biggest hit losing 3 percent.
• Cosmetics sales may well not be as bad as income sheets suggest but manufacturers must admit that it is not just a temporary blip caused inventory adjustments.
• Consumers are buying fewer and cheaper cosmetics. Even the fig leaf of destocking is not large enough to disguise that fact.

by Guy-Montague-Jones, 11 May 2009

UNILEVER - Discounting saves the day

The company said that discounting had enabled it to raise sales volumes in all regions, particularly in Europe, where in the second quarter volumes rose by 1 per cent, compared to a fall of 1.2 per cent for the first six months of the year.

• All other regions showed stronger increases during the quarter, with like-for-like sales increasing 8.2 per cent in the Africa and Asia region, to €3.85bn, while sales in the Americas rose 4.9 per cent to €3.33bn.
• But discounting proved to be very market and product specific, as overall the company reported that it had raised group prices by an average of 2.1 per cent during the quarter.

more under Cosmetics design-europe.com

SOCIAL NETWORK - Who Uses Social Networks?

Everyone knows that social networking sites are growing in popularity. Millions of individuals visit daily—or even more often.

• According to the “Consumer Internet Barometer” report from TNS and The Conference Board, 43% of US Internet users visited social networking sites in Q2 2009.
• That figure was up 16 percentage points from the previous year (Q2 2008 27%).

• Nearly one-half of females 48% (+16pts) visited social networking sites,
• compared with 38% (+17pts) of men.

• More than 70% (+20pts) of Internet users under age 35 browsed social networks.
• That percentage decreased as users got older,
• with only 43% (+22pts) of those ages 35 to 54
• and 19% (+13pts) of users ages 55 and older visiting social networks. Still, those represented huge climbs from usage in Q2 2008 (6%).

• Most users visited social network sites more than once per day.

• Respondents were most likely to visit social networks in a family area at home, followed by in a private area at home, at work and through mobile devices.

• The most popular social networking sites came as no surprise: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, in that order.

PRIVATE LABEL - growth driven by innovation

Private label product innovation has reached unprecedented highs and market share has rocketed as a result

• In the US, private label foods have accounted for 27 percent of food introductions so far this year – or nearly 1,800 new food products, according to Mintel’s Global New Products Database. This is up from a 13 percent share in 2005.
• The rising level of consumer acceptance for private label foods has widely been seen as a result of the global economic downturn, but although previous recessions have proved a boon to the sector, Mintel claims that this time is different: Consumers’ expectations of store brands have changed and so have the products.
• Senior analyst at Mintel Krista Faron said: "Not only have private label introductions increased, but product innovation is reaching unprecedented highs. Retailers no longer only launch 'me-too' products to compete against major national brands. Instead, private label lines are hotbeds of creativity, driving markets and establishing themselves as trend leaders."

Health and wellness

• Unlike other recessionary periods, the private label products now on offer are not just cheap imitations of familiar brands. Store brands are striving not only to keep up with, but also to surpass, their branded rivals in terms of innovation, bringing a new focus on ingredients for health and wellness in particular.
• "Private label manufacturers realize 'value' means more than 'low price' to consumers, so they're wisely creating new products that deliver on some of today's most exciting food trends," said Faron.
• The organization gives Lucerne’s Eating Right line of private label foods as an example. The range includes Whole Wheat Mini Ravioli for kids, with fiber and protein; Apple Cinnamon Granola, fortified with plant sterols; and Light Ice Cream Cups, with probiotics.

‘Premium’ private label

• Apart from private label products competing on the health and wellness ingredients front, the recession has had a big effect on other forms of innovation in the sector. This is not simply because shoppers are ‘trading down’ from their favorite brands, but because they are buying more premium in-home meals as they cut down on eating out, and buying more lunch products for eating in the office, such as private label soups. And private label is increasingly providing upscale products that promise quality ingredients.
• Mintel forecasts that the private label sector will grow by 8.1 percent before the end of the year. In 2008, the US market grew by 9.3 percent, compared to just 4.5 percent for branded foods, the organization said.
• Private label products account for more than $81bn in the US, with health and wellness claims including no trans fats, no saturated fats, multi-grains and antioxidants among the strongest-growing categories.
• In the 2001-2003 recession, private label’s unit market share climbed from 20 percent to 21.8 percent, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association. And in the 1990-1991 recession, unit share for retailer brands moved up from 17.6 percent to 20 percent.

reported by: By Food&drinkeurop.com - Caroline Scott-Thomas, 24-Jul-2009

PACKAGING INFORMATION - Consumers don't trust food industry portion sizes

Consumers do not trust portion sizes given on food packages and buy extra to ensure they have enough to eat, finds IGD research has found; industry needs to communicate better the basis of portion sizes.

• Portion sizes for packaged foods are a focus area for the food industry as healthier eating and anti obesity strategies are looking to help people rebalance energy intake and expenditure. Some nutritional labelling schemes, such as guidance daily amounts (GDAs) are based on portion size.

The new report is based on consumer research undertaken in focus groups, and through a quantitative survey of 1,067 adults aged 15 and over in April 2009.

• It found that while consumers liked portion size information on packs, they use it as guidance in the loose sense and tend to purchase extra as they are unwilling to rely on the quantities suggested by manufacturers.
• 36% of respondents said they ignored the portion size information on the pack; 38% said they will eat what they want regardless of what it says on the label.
• Moreover, people tend to define portions on the sheer quantity of food. With the exception of people on diets to lose weight or for medical reasons, consumers did not see nutritional content as a factor in determining portion.

Rachel Hackett, author of the report and nutrition manager at IGD, told FoodNavigator.com that the findings highlight the need for food manufacturers and retailers to communicate how they have come up with their portion sizes. Earlier work by IGD’s industry nutrition strategy group, which is made up of 30 nutritionists who work for retailers, manufacturers and food organisations, found that portion advice drawn up by industry, governments and NGOs is generally based on science and expert bodies. “We have to find a way for manufacturers to communicate: ‘We haven’t decided based on some nonsense. It is a real, well judged recommendation’,” Hackett said.

• Some 48% of respondents indicated that experience indicates how much they eat, but the research did not identify what the precise influences are.

Identifying these would help industry target efforts to promote balanced diets and appropriate portion sizes, but Hackett said in depth research in this area would need to be academically-led.

Best practice

• The IGD group is currently drawing up a set of best practice guidelines on how to communicate portion size. These are due to be published in September.
• Research of consumer understanding of portions was seen as vital to developing these guidelines. The report Portion Size: Understanding the Consumer Perspective is already available online .
• Hackett said it is not seen as necessary to create an industry standard for portion size communication, in the same vein as a European wide nutritional labelling scheme that being worked out at the moment. “There was not a clear preference for the language used, however a key point is that language should be consistent on the pack,” she said. For instance, manufacturers should choose between the word ‘serving’ and the word ‘portion’.
• Another tip she share was to avoid words like ‘suggested serving’ and ‘typical serving’, as these make people think: 'Who for?'

The report’s basis is research conducted in the UK, but Hackett said that the group is working with multinational food manufacturers so it will be interesting to see whether they implement best practices elsewhere.

TRYVERTISING: a free camcorder for a weekend at the hotel

Hotels are an ideal setting for many "tryvertising" campaigns, approximating as they do consumers' domestic milieu.

Omni Hotels offers patrons a free camcorder for the weekend.

• Through the Omni Flips for Summer campaign, which runs through Sept. 6, families staying at any of the chain's hotels and resorts in North America can borrow a pocket-sized video camcorder for free and use it to record their most memorable moments.
• The camcorder provided is the new Flip Ultra video camcorder, launched this spring by Pure Digital, and it's available to guests who purchase any "Omni Flips for Summer" weekend package. Along with the simple-to-use camcorders, families can also start their holiday with a complimentary breakfast for four featuring “Flip-jacks” on their first day.
• A “Summer Fun Counselor” will also be on hand with advice on local attractions. When their weekend filming is complete, guests can upload their video memories to their own laptop or use the Omni Hotels Business Center at no charge to transfer the footage to a thumb drive to take home.
• Guests are also encouraged to upload a three-minute video to Omni’s Local Scoop social networking website as part of the Omni Flips for Summer Video Contest, the winner of which—announced in September—will get a free trip for four to the Omni Bedford Springs Resort in Pennsylvania.

There's no substitute for trying before you buy,

and what better time to let consumers try a camcorder than when they'd most likely use it in real life, such as on vacation? Take note, purveyors of holiday-minded goods!

NEW PRODUCT - NISSAN Leaf - first electric car with strong symbole

NISSAN UNVEILS "LEAF" - THE WORLD'S FIRST ELECTRIC CAR DESIGNED FOR AFFORDABILITY AND REAL-WORLD REQUIREMENTS

The "Leaf" name is a sgnificant statement about the car itself. Just as leaves purify the air in nature, so Nissan LEAF purifies mobility by taking emmissions out of the driving experience.

• A car with no tail pipe -> no emission
• A lithium-ion battery and a regenerative-braking system for -> 160 km (100 miles) autonomy
• Overnight charging for -> an everyday fun to frive experience.
• Max. speed -> 140 km/h (90 mph)
• Price -> affordable (no more details)
• design ->

watch all the details under the official website:

http://www.nissan-zeroemission.com/EN/LEAF

NEW TREND ? - Embracing slowness: the anti energy drink

Out to help those looking for a quick relaxation fix, a new drink from Canada offers ‘an acupuncture session’ in every can. An antidote to energy drinks like Red Bull, SLOW COW was developed to help people de-stress.

• Under the premise that caffeine-packed drinks tend to increase anxiety, Slow Cow contains theanine, chamomile, valerian, passiflora and other ingredients known for their calming effects.
• The beverage is meant to increase mental awareness while improving relaxation, without the post-hit dip that caffeine and other stimulants cause.

Slow Cow, whose tongue-in-cheek logo apparently did not amuse Red Bull, might have found a gap in a market saturated with energy drinks of every possible variety. It's not the only beverage to position itself as a relaxation drink, mind you, (Drank is another), but Slow Cow gets our vote for best branding. Seems like a natural fit for spas, hotels, airlines—or anywhere else consumers could use a serving of relaxation.

BUSINESS IDEA - 100 flavours in new Coca-Cola soda machine

Developed on the assumption that there's no such thing as too much choice, COCA-COLA FREESTYLE is a new self-serve soda fountain that can dispense up to 100 different drink flavours.

• The machine is being tested this summer at fastfood restaurants in California and Atlanta, with the intention of rolling out units across the US early next year.
• Flavoured teas, waters, juices and soft drinks will all be available from Coca-Cola Freestyle, letting customers select drinks based on brand, calorie content or caffeine levels, all through the system's touchscreen interface. Combinations will be pre-set, meaning Raspberry Coke and Peach Fanta are available on tap, but frat dares combining tea and Sprite won't be possible. Many of the flavours on offer are new to the US market.
• RFID tags will keep track of the syrup the machine uses, telling retailers when to refill, and providing Coke HQ with insight into popular flavours and locations. By tracking sales, Coca-Cola gains valuable INSIGHT into which drinks would be most successful if offered bottled or canned. Which means the intelligent technology doesn't just offer a new level of choice for customers, but also streamlines supply chain management and informs new product development. (Related: Drinks vended & blended on demand — Ice cream factory in a vending machine.)

LONG TERM STRATEGY - Reckitt's 'Power Brands' Strategy Pays Off - interview

Brandweek: "Reckitt Benckiser has been posting consistently strong quarterly earnings, as larger rivals like Procter & Gamble and Unilever have taken a hit from the recession. What’s your strategy for growing brands—and sales—in tough times? "

Rob de Groot: "It’s a good set of results that we’re happy to give to the outside world. It is something to be glad about. It’s also confirming the strategy that we’ve had for the last 10 years. It’s a very focused strategy. We have 17 power brands that we focus on as a company. [Eleven of those 17 power brands are in North America, including Clearasil, Calgon and French’s.] And it’s very focused on those power brands and fueling those power brands with investments. It’s something we’ve done differently than other players, which is to continue to invest and focus on our [core] brands in tough times.

The Strategy is two parts

1. The first is innovation and
2. The second is investment, or money to communicate to consumers.

We’re moving away from a world where we split marketing and sales and trade. We’re talking very much about our consumers and they have different touch points with which they get their information from: There is TV, Internet and in-store, of course.

One of the things we started a few years ago is to communicate—360 degrees, as we call it—with consumers and we try to touch them at different moments of the day at different moments of their life. And so, our investment towards the consumer has been more multi than single point and the number of connections we have with consumers is much higher than before.

NEW INTERNET STRATEGY - Toys 'R' Us - Toys Around with Internet Domain

Toys "R" Us relaunched the internet domain Toys.com with a goal of building its online brand portfolio in the search market for toy and baby products.

• The site provides the retailer with a new way to redirect users to the company's family of e-commerce sites including Toyrsus.com, Babiesrus.com, eToys.com and babyuniverse.com.
• Some unique features of the site include unadvertised and exclusive deals with many posted on the site before anywhere else on the web. With "Deal of the Day," users can also get special pricing for items once the customer adds the product to their shopping cart.
• In addition to “Deal of the Day,” Toys.com serves as a hub of information on the latest deals and promotions available in Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores and online at Toyrsus.com, Babiesrus.com, eToys.com and babyuniverse.com.

Toys.com also highlights news in the toy and baby products markets, and offers a source of customer comments and product information to help shoppers make informed choices about their purchases.

OBAMA & FOOD - The German Touch

While American hucksters wasted no time in cranking out the Obama T-shirts and memorabilia, it took a German company to come up with the questionable idea of marketing Obama-branded fried chicken. German newsweekly Der Spiegel reports that frozen-foods firm Sprehe wanted to ride the wave of Obama-mania and nothing could appear more natural than chicken fingers (with curry sauce, by the way). The magazine quotes the firm’s marketing manager, Judith Witting, who remarked that, “It was supposed to be an homage to the American lifestyle and the new US president.” When asked by the magazine whether they might be playing off traditional racial stereotypes, Ms. Witting remarked that the thought had never occurred to her.

SONY & FOOD - Coming Soon: PlayStation Food

April 21 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) recently named Target Entertainment Group as licensing agent for PlayStation software IP across Europe and Asia.

Target Entertainment plans on developing a wide range of consumer products, including PlayStation apparel and accessories, stationery and gifts, housewares and – yes – food.

Stephanie Freeman, licensing manager at SCEE, said, “Many of Sony Computer Entertainment’s ’s first party software titles and characters are now recognized by millions of people around the world – from the legendary Ratchet and Clank through to the iconic Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet. We really want our consumers to have the ability to interact with our brands and characters in ways other than just on screen.”

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR - How it works, what it costs and why it’s worth it

By recognising innovation, Product of the Year promotes a wide range of benefits, improving packaging, quality and value for money.

Product of the Year follows five easy steps:

Stage 1: You submit your product

• Entry is free and open to all FMCG products launched in the UK over the past 18 months.
• Products should demonstrate innovation in one or more areas, including (but not limited to) design, function and packaging.

Stage 2: Our jury selects the finalists

• The jury is made up of experts from various fields including manufacturing, marketing and journalism.

Stage 3: The public chooses the winners

• Category winners pay a fee of £12,500 for the licence to use the Product of the Year logo on all communications for one year.

Stage 4: Product of the Year Awards Night

Stage 5: The winners carry out their promotions and see the sales uplifts!

• For 12 months, manufacturers of the winning products can use the Product of the Year logo on their packaging, promotions and advertising.

----- UK - Product of the Year drives sales -----

Research shows power of the Product of the Year in the UK A new report from Market Research company TNS shows that winning Product of the Year can have a dramatic impact on the sales of a new product.

The benefits speak for themselves:

• proven increased sales from 10% to 100% or more
• high-profile boost to new product launches in the UK and across Europe
• early market penetration and trial feedback
• independent endorsement from the UK’s largest consumer survey
• easily recognisable shortcut for consumers looking for a better product

Case study: 120% yoy increase in sales* for Pantene Pro V Repair & Protect (2005 Hair Care category winner). Pantene used the Product of the Year logo across the whole marketing mix from PR to TV ads to packaging and saw a fantastic return (*source: Procter & Gamble salon leaflet, 2008).

----- Web sites -----

UK: http://www.productoftheyear.co.uk/default.asp?section=460 USA: http://www.productoftheyearusa.com/ GER: http://www.produktdesjahres.de/ FRA: http://www.produitsdelannee.com/ ITA: http://www.prodottodellanno.it/ for other country website: go under the UK site and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

HEALTH - Lactose intolerance

Did you know that around 75% of the world’s population suffers from lactose intolerance?

• Lactose intolerance refers to gastrointestinal symptoms resulting from undigested lactose being present in the large intestine.
• These symptoms occur when a lactose intolerant person consumes too much lactose.
• Symptoms include bloating, cramps, production of excess gas and diarrhoea.
• There are several tests available to determine if someone is lactose intolerant. The most widely used method is a hydrogen breath test.

Even in countries where the prevalence of lactose intolerance is low, lactose-free products enjoy the popularity of a broad group of consumers.

• These consumers purchase low lactose products for all sorts or reasons, for example easy digestibility.
• Dairies all over the world are discovering the opportunities of the lactose-free product market, by using Maxilact®.
• This leads to increased availability of lactose-reduced products around the world, thereby serving a growing group of consumers.

WELCOME TO THE GROWING WORLD OF LACTOSE FREE CONSUMERS

SPAIN - NUTRITIONAL PANEL: Consumers prepared to pay for nutritional panel: Study

Spanish consumers are more willing to pay a premium for food products that carry a nutritional panel on packaging than for those that just make a ‘light’ claim, according to researchers.

• New nutritional labelling regulation is currently making its way through the European law-making process which would make certain information mandatory on food and beverage panels, including levels of certain nutrients like fat, sugar, salt and calories.
• Moreover, the new nutrition and health claims regulation allows for specific claims to be made, it the product meets conditions. For example, a ‘light’ claim can be made if the product contains 30 per cent less of a nutrient, such as fat or calories.
• The ‘light’ claim the most widely used form of nutritional claim in Spain, but the team said that both nutritional panels and light claims are useful to manufacturers in differentiating their products.
• They set out to assess how consumers value the different approached on food packages while shopping. Although they looked just at the Spanish market, and full EU-wide assessments would be advisable, their findings “have important implications for the European food industry and policy makers”.

----- Method -----

• The researchers used a choice modelling approach in their study, since the shopping context means consumers naturally have to make trade-offs between the products available.
• The results, they say, “suggest that although consumers value both types of nutritional information, the nutritional facts panel label is valued more than a specific nutritional claim”.
• “Specifically, using a choice experimental approach, consumers’ willingness to pay a premium is about twice as much more for a box of breakfast cookies with a nutrition label than for a box of breakfast cookies with a ‘light’ nutritional claim,” they wrote in the journal Food Quality and Preference.
• However they also said that the presence of a well-known brand is valued more than health attributes when shopping – although health attributes are playing an increasing role.
• Information or labelling of some kind is important because the health attributes of a food cannot be directly observed when shopping.
• The researchers did not dismiss ‘light’ claims altogether, but concluded that “there is room for both types of nutritional labels given that they are shown as important determinants in consumers’ food choices”.
• The findings should be tested in other European countries and using other food products, they said.

Source : Food Quality and Preference 20 (2009) 463 – 471 DOI: 10.1016.j.foodqual.2009.03.010 Consumers’ valuation of nutritional information: A choice experiment study Authors: Gracia, A; Loureiro, ML; Nayga, RM.

PRIVATE LABELS: Parents avoid switching for their children

While the switch to private labels may be gathering pace, consumers are reluctant to switch to store brands on purchases for children, says a new survey.

• Consumers have increasingly turned away from national brands towards private label, or store brands, as they have begun to feel the effects of the economic downturn. The latest survey, carried out by ICOM, a division of Dallas-based Epsilon Targeting, suggests that the “perceived risk” of children’s products leads to a reluctance to change to sort brands.
• “Perceived risk, that’s what is driving these key consumer decisions. This is the kind of insight that national brands can use to reach customers with promotions that meet their needs and bring them back,” said Warren Storey, ICOM marketing director.
• “These results highlight that understanding customer psychology, and tailoring promotions accordingly, is a significantly more effective win-back strategy than scatter-shot, one-size-fits-all offers.”
• Last week, FoodNavigator-USA.com reported on results from a poll by GfK Custom Research North America for the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA), which found that over 90 percent of American consumers say they are likely to continue buying store brands even after the economy improves, and nearly half would like to see more of them.
• The poll also showed that 35 percent of consumers are trying private label products for the first time in categories where they once only bought national brands – and 94 percent said the store brand products compared favorably.
• The new poll shows that 59 per cent of the 1,530 American consumers surveyed by ICOM have switched to store food and household products and away from national brands in the past six months.

However, when it comes to store brands for children and pets, American consumers are far more reluctant to switch from national brands.

• “The good news for national brands is that there is, in fact, an opportunity to win back customers who have switched. Some marketers were worried they’ll never return. But the win-back depends on knowing who is switching and why, and responding with targeted incentives based on that strategic information,” said Storey.
• In the 2001-2003 recession, private label’s unit market share climbed from 20 percent to 21.8 percent, according to the PLMA. Likewise, in the 1990-1991 recession, unit share for retailer brands moved up from 17.6 percent to 20 percent. And consumers tended to stick with private label even after the economy recovered.
• Private label products account for more than $81bn in the US, with health and wellness claims including no trans fats, no saturated fats, multi-grains and antioxidants among the strongest-growing categories.

By FoodandDrinkeurope.com

BRAND IMAGE analysis should not be limited to a descriptive function presenting scores on a series of attributes.

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BOOST YOUR IMAGE RESEARCH THANKS TO MIDAS

THE BASE FOR OPERATIONAL DECISION

For more information: visit us on our website http://www.ecs-conseil.com/ or contact us directly on info@ecsmarketing.ch . A presentation in your office, including practical examples, will tell you more and inform you on practical applications for your Company/Brand.

SAVE THE PLANET WITH YOUR LOGO - For every Brand and Logo, a species to be saved

From the Lacoste crocodile to Charlie the Tuna, countless brands around the globe use animals and plants to personify and represent them. After years of profiting from those species' images, such companies and organizations can now help preserve and protect them through a new French effort called Save Your Logo.

• Nearly one-quarter of the world's mammal species are threatened or extinct, as are roughly one-third of its amphibians and one in seven of its birds, according to the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) Red List of 2008. Launched last fall, the Save Your Logo program lets companies and organizations that use the images of such species donate to the Endowment Fund for Biodiversity to help protect them.
• Each organization can donate up to EUR 1.5 million over three years to the fund, which is held by the World Bank, according to French press agency AFP; the World Bank will reportedly add up to 33 percent. Also behind the effort are the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the IUCN. Companies without plants or animals in their logos can participate as well by supporting 'unclaimed' species, Save Your Logo says. Either way, funds received from the private sector are distributed to organizations that specialize in biodiversity and local conservation projects, with part used to finance the creation of an Emergency Fund for the conservation of lesser-known species on the IUCN Red List. Organizations that participate can enjoy a tax cut of up to 60 percent of their donation, limited to 0.5 percent of turnover, according to the Save Your Logo site.

Tax benefits aside, of course, the effort will not only help endangered plants and animals, but also promises to add that much-sought-after sparkle of genuine corporate generosity to the images of those who participate. Lacoste and French insurer MAAF—which uses a dolphin in its logo—have already jumped on board. Jaguar, Puma, Peugot, Geico, Exxon, Taco Bell and countless others... what about you?