Vodacom says ‘Yebo Gogo’ to Vodafone
March 17, 2011 at 11:07 am | Posted in branding | Leave a commentTags: Cell C, rebranding, Red Bull Mobile, Vodacom, Vodafone
Seems that making a splash in the media is where it’s at for cell phone networks in South Africa lately. I’m sure I don’t have to mention Cell C’s rebrand again, and what about the recent launch of Red Bull Mobile?
Perhaps it’s something to do with the fact that, as CEO of aquaonline, Brent Shahim,explains, “the market is saturated with 48-million or 50-million numbers out there, more than the population,” so network providers need to look to other avenues to remain competitive in the market. Sure, that has to come down to service delivery, affordability and features such as the ability to browse online effectively, but apparently it also involves renewing their image.
The latest to jump on the rebranding bandwagon is Vodacom. Plans to refresh its brand and marketing image with a new or at least ‘tweaked’ corporate logo and identity were first announced in November last year, but according to MyBroadband, these plans will be put in place at the beginning of next month.
And, just as Cell C dropped its white background and red lettering for a bolder black on white/ white on black incorporating the colours of our national flag, it looks like Vodacom is also set to drop its iconic blue and green logo in favour of its parent company, Vodafone’s red inverted comma logo and white text.
I have to admit, when I first saw the mock-up of what the logo might look like, I almost reeled in horror – I mean, the original logo is part of South Africa’s marketing landscape and is recognisable to everyone. My immediate thought was, “They’ll have to seriously rebrand Vodaworld!”
But thinking about it (and let’s be clear here, just what the new branding will be is pure speculation at this point), in reality the Vodafone branding is already quite a significant part of the Vodacom brand – my colleague just got a BlackBerry on a Vodacom contract and the screen display is certainly not green and blue, but rather that fiery red. After all, Vodafone now owns 65% of Vodafone, while Telkom (ostensibly where the green and blue originated from) is no longer a stakeholder, so it’s what you’d expect, isn’t it? On top of this, I for one don’t really understand what it is that distinguishes Vodafone and Vodacom, or where they work together, so perhaps solidifying the partnership makes sense in that it will be clearer that they’re one and the same, or at the least that one is an off-shoot of the other.
In any case, get ready for the marketing campaign heading our way in April – 1 April is said to be the official launch date, with the brand planning to make use of the Sunday papers on 3 April as a launch platform – and whatever the new branding and brand identity is, it will certainly be more Vodafone-centric, according to Vodacom CEO, Pieter Uys.
A long way from the days of ‘Yebo Gogo’… and I wonder just how the Blue Bulls will feel about being sponsored by a red brand?
Can Smart Water and Jen Aniston go viral?
March 8, 2011 at 1:17 pm | Posted in Online ads | Leave a commentTags: Glaceau, Jennifer Aniston, Smart Water, viral videos, YouTube
The marketing gimmick of the moment is viral videos. How we all wish we knew the secret, fool-proof ingredient to make those internet videos go viral, because of course, by now we should know that you can’t ‘make’ a viral video – you’re just lucky if it happens.
Glaceau Smart Water parodiesthis idea in its latest internet video. Jennifer Aniston is the star, as in the other Smart Water ads, but this time she tells the audience, “I’m here to talk to you about Smart Water. But in this day and age, I can’t just do that, can I? I have to make a video apparently that turns into a virus.” And so begins Aniston and the directors’ plight to find the key to making their video go viral. Cue lip-syncing kids, cute puppies, dancing CGI babies, a ‘double rainbow’ and even kicking a guy in the crotch (because “that should be worth about 100 000 hits.”).
However, the clincher is when Aniston drinks suggestively from a Smart Water bottle, resulting in the would-be viral video being called ‘Jen Aniston’s Sex Tape’. Seems the idea that sex sells is never far from marketers’ minds 
Interestingly, trawling through YouTube, although the video has been posted several times, it has yet to get more than a few hundred views. So, is Smart Water trying too hard? Can consumers see too clearly that this is an ad trying to be funny and go viral? After all, most viral videos like said ‘double rainbow’ was never meant to be an internet hit, which Smart Water clearly hopes its video will be.
Clever idea and certainly pertinent commentary on the ludicrousness of viral videos, but is this a hit or a miss?
Coca-Cola, Valentine’s Day and all things red
February 18, 2011 at 9:05 am | Posted in branding | Leave a commentTags: branding, Coca-Cola, colour, red, Valentine's Day
I’m not sure if any of us are consciously aware of the role colours play in, well, our consciousness of the world around us. The most obvious colour to look at is red – signifying passion, whether love or anger, or danger (think of a red traffic light) – and in the right context we understand the symbolism of this colour without having to look much further for the meaning.
But in terms of branding, when I say red, what brand is the first to pop into your mind? I’m guessing Coca-Cola… am I right?
According to Context Creative, colour helps us process and store images and, as a result, remember them better. We recognise colour before we read words or even see shapes. In fact, studies show that consistent use of colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%. Colour creates such a strong association, that without seeing a logo, product or packaging, you can instantly recall a brand by its colour.
Colours have a significant impact on people’s emotional state and have a wide variety of specific mental associations. With this in mind, it’s important to choose the right colour or combination of colours for your brand to ensure that it adopts the desired associations.
And, as in Coca-Cola’s case, it’s even better if your brand can own its colour so that not only is it associated with the colour, but consumers also associate that colour with your brand… in much the same way that red might be associated with love, it’s also very much associated with that refreshing fizzy drink, which helps Coca-Cola stand out from its competitors without having to be overt with its branding.
As Valentine’s week comes to an end, I want to compare the capitalization of this holiday with Coca-Cola’s capitalisation of red as part of its branding. We all know that when we see red and pink hearts and rose, that Valentine’s Day must be approaching (some might run for cover, but that’s not the point). And in the same way, when we’re in need of refreshment and we see that bright red branding, we know Coca-Cola’s come to our rescue. In both instances, no words were necessary. It shows you the importance of symbolism and living your brand or cause boldly.
And, reverting back to where I started, it’s funny how both Valentine’s Day and Coca-Cola truly embody the passion that red symbolises (I won’t bore you with the many examples of Coca-Cola’s campaigns encouraging consumers to ‘Open Happiness’)… good choice of colour, then – I think we could all take a leaf out of this book when it comes to successful use of colour.
Are we moving towards more sponsored tweeting?
January 27, 2011 at 11:53 am | Posted in branding | Leave a commentTags: brand ambassador, Bulldog Reporter, celebrity, celebrity endorsement, Cell C, corporate spokespeople, digital times, Edelman Trust Barometer, Facebook, minutiae, multitask, promoted posts, Sally Falkow, sponsored tweeting, statusphere, Trevor Noah, Twitter, word-of-mouth
by Leigh Andrews on 27 January 2011
Sally Falkow states on the Bulldog Reporter’s ‘Daily Dog’ that the 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer shows corporate spokespeople are back in favour, following an initial decline thanks to social media. Corporate spokespeople may well be flavour of the month again, but celebrity brand ambassadors are starting to fall out of favour. What makes it worse is that these are such influential people in the statusphere.
I’m talking the likes of Trevor Noah, who some would argue has already had more than his 15 minutes of fame – does anyone remember his actual original career path as a stand-up comic? Possibly, seeing as the Chief Experience Officer has 64 000 followers and counting on his Twitter feed, and most of his tweets are of a funny (not Cell C-related) nature. But he is undoubtedly the face of Cell C, now and forever more.
It’s amazing how technology has changed the way we live. On any given day, businessfolk around their country log into their Facebook and Twitter accounts and have learned to multi-task to such an extent that we are distracted at the best of times and up-to-date with the tiniest minutiae of the lives of our friends and family alike – even celebrities, who don’t know the rest of us from bars of soap in their local shopping centre.
Celebrity endorsement of products comes up as a topic of debate time and again, more so now that it’s that much more obvious to us, with their every thought and action cluttering up our Twitter and Facebook feeds. Much has been said about whether celebrity endorsement of products counts as advertising or just a word-of-mouth recommendation, seeing as it’s often paid for.
Interestingly, if the promoted posts prediction for Facebook comes true, everyday users who click the ‘like’ button for a brand may soon find those actions retransmitted on their friends’ pages as a “sponsored story” paid for by advertisers – turning everyone into a celebrity, or minor scale ‘ambassador’ based on the power of their recommendations.
What are your thoughts? Is sponsored tweeting par for the course with the digital times we live in? Leave your thoughts below.
New media technologies – the iPad, iAd, 3D TV and more
January 17, 2011 at 12:53 pm | Posted in Advertising News | Leave a commentTags: 3D TV, advertising, app development, CNN, console games, content publishing, couch potato, e-readers, iAd, iPad, iPad magazine, motion-controlled, News Corp, next frontier, Nintendo Wii, Playstation Move, PR, smart phones, tablet advertising, technology, television, tip of the iceberg, TV, unfortunate name, Wikipedia, World Association of Newspapers
by Leigh Andrews on 17 January 2011
There’s no doubt that the iPad is the ‘next big thing’, worldwide. As a content publishing platform, a new frontier for advertising, and something for the PR industry to consider, the rise of the iPad and similar content platforms such as e-readers and smart phones have signified a dramatic ‘forward boom’, technology-wise.
No longer simply seen as having an unfortunate name, as was the case pre-launch, today’s iPad comes the iAd (specially designed advertising, optimised for the platform – and it doesn’t stop there, as The World Association of Newspapers’ next global conference is specifically focused on tablet advertising), as well as a rise in app development, so that iPad owners have access to pretty much anything their hearts could desire. Not convinced? Think Wikipedia in magazine format, especially for the iPad, and News Corp taking the plunge in deciding to release an iPad magazine.
And this, of course, has ramifications on the media industry as a whole. So as not to be seen as the ugly older sister of the digital-mobile Siamese twin, TV is also reinventing itself, with 3D TV (without the pesky glasses) expected to be the norm in a few years.
CNN also reports that the popularity of motion-controlled console games like the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation Move may lead to a need for a new TV-viewer term as ‘couch potato’ no longer fits the bill for those who have turned it into more of an ‘active’ than ‘sedentary’ activity.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Comments? Please share them below.
Why do advertisers think we think like that?
January 14, 2011 at 9:49 am | Posted in branding | Leave a commentTags: advertising, blog, brainstorm, comedian, consumer, creative, laugh in recognition, real people, translate, tweet, Twitter
by Leigh Andrews on 14 January 2011
One of my favourite local comedians (that’s because I know him personally, not because he’s had his face posted all over billboards and become an extension of a brand) recently tweeted about a very cool website.
It’s called ‘things real people don’t say about advertising’, and pokes fun at the key statements that are thought to come out of the advertising brainstorm thought process in terms of the message they’re trying to drive home and how well this actually translates to the audience.
Have a look, I’m sure you’ll laugh in recognition, whether you’re a member of the creative/ advertising industry, or a frustrated consumer… this may well cause advertisers to take a step back and rethink their strategy, especially if they wear their ‘consumer’ hat.
Sirens ring as Starbucks previews new logo
January 11, 2011 at 10:02 am | Posted in branding | Leave a commentTags: Gap, logo, Starbucks
Starbucks. I’m not even a coffee drinker, and yet the name makes me yearn to go back to London or Canada and walk into one of those perpetually crowded little cafés, be enveloped by the smell of fresh, strong coffee and tell the barista, “I’ll have a tall London Fog, please!” And, oh, the excitement when I heard Starbucks was available at Montecasino!
Starbucks really is one of those brands that’s known and loved worldwide – and it should be, it’s been around for 40 years and really hasn’t changed its identity much in all that time, continuing to offer high quality coffee and service to its customers with very much the same look through the years.
But last week the brand previewed its new look logo, which not only sees the most ‘drastic’ change to the look of the brand since the change from brown to green in 1987, but also signifies the start of Starbucks offering products other than coffee, in places other than its cafés, to its customers.
The most significant change is that the words, ‘Starbucks Coffee’, have been removed from the logo and the ‘siren’, the two-tailed mermaid that appears in the centre of the old logo, has been freed from her ‘ring’ to become the central ‘star’ of the new logo. She’s also been changed from black to green, to maintain the colour the Starbucks brand has for years been associated with.
The coffee chain says it is honouring its 40th year and Starbucks’ next chapter of history, and the new logo will begin rolling out in March. However, reactions to the preview have not all been positive, with fans of the brand saying there’s nothing wrong with the old logo and commenting that the move is risky in light of the controversy that surrounded Gap when it tried to change its logo – resulting in the clothing brand reverting back to its old logo eventually (but to be fair, Gap’s new logo was a much bigger step away from the iconic blue square we’ve all come to recognise). On the other hand, some comments have been a bit more positive, saying that the update is “a beautiful and compelling way to move the company towards the new millennium,” and that the new logo is “streamlined, modern, simple and elegant.”
I guess there’s never a way to please everyone, but Starbucks says it is “committed to the new logo” and that the change is a strategic support and a business decision that continues to embrace the brand’s heritage while “remaining relevant and poised for future growth.” But for now, and until March, the old logo, and debate surrounding it, remains… interesting to see what happens when it’s implemented.
The effect of advertising on children
January 5, 2011 at 10:52 am | Posted in Advertising News | Leave a commentTags: ad breaks, advertising, age restrictions, Barbie, brand loyalty, Bratz, Burger King, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, childhood, childhood obesity, commercial breaks, commercial-free childhood, digital babysitter, food marketing, Kelis, kiddie friendly, marketing to children, milkshake, movies, parental control, Pokemon, sexualisation, Spongebob Squarepants, TV ad, tweens
by Leigh Andrews on 05 January 2011
Ah, childhood. The most blissful life stage for most, as your biggest worry is generally what you’ll get to eat and which crayon to use next. That’s the way it should be – a stress-free time of learning and new experiences, discovering what you like and don’t like. At the same time, it’s a very sheltered stage, as your parents tend to make most of your decisions for you, such as which TV shows you’re allowed to watch, and for how long. This brings us to the ever-present ad breaks, where you’re bombarded with images for certain brands of cereal, toys and fast food take-aways – and that’s just during certain time slots, on certain channels.
My concern lies in the fact that over and above instilling a certain level of brand loyalty at such a young age. It’s not just these ‘kiddie-friendly’ channels children are exposed to, as many don’t have that level of parental control/ guidance and are allowed to roam free, channel hopping to their hearts’ desire and viewing all manner of things. This is where the campaign for a commercial-free childhood comes in.
The official ‘Campaign for a commercial-free childhood’ (CFC) website, while American, lists the following as concerns which are no doubt global: marketing in schools (using certain branded teaching products and toys), sexualisation (with overly made-up, sexily-dressed dolls such as those from the Bratz and Barbie ranges getting most of the brunt), media violence (this is where age restrictions on movies fits in) as well as food marketing and the resulting rise in childhood obesity.
It’s a touchy topic for some. Please share your views, but before you do, click on this link to view one of the commercials the CFC objects to. It makes use of Spongebob Squarepants to advertise Burger King to children… with the result that the kids go around singing the somewhat questionable, catchy song – which was, surely, the intention all along. This reminds me of how horrified a friend of mine was a few years ago, when her much younger, then-’tweenaged’ sister would innocently sing along to Kelis’ ‘Milkshake’ song.. there’s a Pokemon version of the song out, too.
What’s too ‘adult’ for kids to be exposed to? Do we need to rethink the strategy of marketing to children? Or has advertising become so interwoven in the fabric of our modern lives that we longer bat an eyelid?
A taste of Cannes
December 13, 2010 at 11:57 am | Posted in Advertising News | Leave a commentTags: Cannes Lions, Cinemark, Ogilvy Johannesburg, Selinah, The MediaShop, Topsy Foundation
The MediaShop held its final media forum for 2010 at the Sandton City Ster Kinekor complex on Thursday, 2 December, where Cinemark, as the local affiliate for Cannes Lions, presented the 2010Cannes Lions show reel.
The invitation called on attendees to “come and watch the world’s best television advertising,” and this was by no means an exaggeration. From downright silly and laugh-out-loud funny, to thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and even cover-your-eyes scary, the Silver, Gold and Grand Prix Film Lions winners at this year’s festival certainly delivered. It was also great to see our very own Ogilvy Johannesburg’s ‘Selinah’ entry, created for the Topsy Foundation, up holding its own with its international counterparts, having won a Gold Film Lion.
Along with the show reel was a highlights package showing snippets from the seminars, master classes, awards ceremonies, football tournament and overall fun that was had over the festival week – definitely something I’d love to attend one day!
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