Archive for July, 2006
Free business idea: Branded ice
Posted on 19. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
You know that when you travel [especially to Bellville] you’re supposed to order your double Klippies on the rocks without the rocks – right?
The reason is that you don’t know where the water used to make the ice has been, or come from. Think about that one for a bit…..
Right – so now, they’ve invented branded ice cubes.
Ice Rocks are prepackaged, ready-to-freeze individual ice cubes made
from French spring water. Geared primarily toward the (upscale) tourism
market, they assure worried travelers that the ice is safe to use.
Soon to be released are Scotch Rocks (for the whiskey drinker looking for nice tasting ice to go with that pricey shot of bliss) and Kids rocks (to get the young ones all all freaked out and scared of life at an early age) for Coke and stuff like that. [via]
Check:
World Cup 2010 logo spoof
Posted on 19. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
No sooner have we turned our backs to fight and argue amongst ourselves – and some Russians come along and rip-off our precious 2010 logo.
If you’re wondering why the logo looks like your granny’s racy leopard print nightgown – its ’cause those pesky vodka villains think the leopard is the official animal of South Africa. Tsk tsk.
Haven’t they heard of the Springboks?
Hopefully Danny Jordaan will take swift and decisive legal action against them – or pay them lots of money and replace the current official logo.
See their whole unofficial campaign here. [via]
Found – Craig Jamieson
Bad logo
Posted on 19. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
Before you carry on going mental about the South Africa World Cup logo which you think is so nasty – please consider this rather unfortunate company symbol which some ex-employee purchased for good money.
Its for the Instituto de Estudos Orientais – whatever that is.
Obviously it looks rather strange, but jokes aside – what on earth were they trying to illustrate here?
Previously:
World Cup 2010 logo – Cherryflava
Is viral marketing’s holy grail?
Posted on 18. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
Its no secret that; those irratating 30-second ads that brands insist on disrupting your pleasurable viewing of the tenth rerun of The Terminator on SABC 3 with, cost marketers a small percentage of the gross national product to produce.
Even more ironic is that all marketers and ad agencies know that you change channels when the ads come on, but they still spend good beer money on making and flighting them.
So, is the solution to go ‘viral’?
To get someone to produce a short film clip so edgy, dangerous and ‘outthere’ – slap your logo on it and hope the world spreads your good message of luv through their mailboxes.
In the last two years websites dedicated to hosting the
sort of content that might go viral, have themselves become internet
traffic hubs.
You Tube now attracts more viewers than MTV, and that means a potential goldmine for advertisers.
Already. viral ad agencies have sprung up and viral ad hosting sites are charging brands around $8,000 (£4,300) a week for the ad to get placed on the front page, guaranteeing a large initial audience.
Sure viral is a nice idea and a cost effective way to communicate, but here’s a warning – be prepared for a bumpy ride. Its nice and Web 2.0 to go the route, but its like throwing your brand out there and asking the world what they think of it.
Be prepared for some negative reaction.
Marketing’s viral goldmine – BBC News
Budweiser – Wassup Commercial: The Original – YouTube [our all time favourite]
John West fights a bear for a fish – YouTube [another viral classic]
Banned XBox 360 ad – YouTube
McD’s sundial billboard
Posted on 18. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
When it comes to choosing, and marketing, the right artery-jamming edible gunk brand – its a war out there.
McD’s have just fired a deadly salvo with their new sundial billboard.
Check this out – as the sun moves along in the sky as the day progresses, the little M indicates what junk you should be ordering from your local golden arch.
Brilliant.
BTW the billboard is intended to make people living in Chicago choose McD’s as their preferred breakfast venue.
A hospital group should use the opportunity and put up a ‘by-pass surgery’ billboard right next to this one…where that beer ad seems to be.
Mmmmm – beer.
McD’s launches next strike in breakfast war – in Wrigleyville – Chicago Business
The ZOOP Car
Posted on 18. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
With petrol now costing almost as much as Jack Daniels, it won’t be long and people driving those Smart cars, a Toyota Prius and this Zoop car will be the envy of all.
It may look like a rotten egg, but this thing packs a high performance 150 kw three-seater electric engine, capable of 180 km/h and offers performance to match most supercars. The new 70 A/hour 370 V Lithium Polymer batteries offer a range of 450 kilometres.
Remarkably, the Zoop is not the product of an automotive manufacturer,
or even an automotive design house. It is the third fully-operative EV
prototype produced by globally renowned Paris-based fashion design
house Maison de Courrèges (the same people that invented the miniskirt) and has had very little publicity outside of
the car’s native France. [via]
Don’t go sell the SL55 just yet, but maybe appreciate the roar of a V8 while still affordable outside of NASA.
High performance Electric Vehicle from the team that gave us the MINI (skirt that is) – Gizmag
Wine made for pizza
Posted on 17. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
Although to serious marketers of fancy, labeled, rare-cultivar South African wines this idea might make you choke on your Montecristo and miss your next shot at the platinum spittoon – but we think this is a good one to put out there.
‘Pizza Vino’; from California, available in a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Pinot Noir; is made to be enjoyed with pizza. [via]
Statistics show over 3 billion pizzas are sold annually in the US and over 93% of Americans
have pizza at least once a month.
That’s a fair sized market – if you can get just 1% of it to change from chugging beer with their cheesy dinner to your finely produced bottle of plonk.
In South Africa there are literally thousands of different wine brands fighting for a market that’s perhaps a little wine ignorant and alcohol-type promiscuous. Most look the same, sound the same, taste the same and its all become too damn confusing for those of us who don’t keep tasting notes.
By marketing wine in a niche it takes the guess work out of what to drink with what.
Graca scored big by aligning the brand with seafood – why can’t a small Boland wine estate make ‘Braai wine’ or ‘Droe Wors wine’.
To compete you have to be memorable and easy to find. How many South Africans braai on a weekend?
More:
Vodafone’s office on the go
Posted on 17. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
This fairly snappy outdoor tactical was spotted doing the rounds in London. Its for Vodafone’s 3G services – and is a desk car – complete with water-cooler, desktop PCs and a bored looking employee obviously trying to surf for porn.
In this country, its still technically illegal to answer a phone while behind the wheel, let alone conduct a full business meeting while negotiating the M3. [via]
What Branson will brand next
Posted on 17. Jul, 2006 by Cassandra.
Its like living in the time of those Wright brothers all over again.
The world’s first manned plane powered by conventional dry-cell
batteries soared five meters (16 feet) above the ground in a
demonstration flight in Japan.
Think this puppy would look cool with red Virgin wings. [thanks Nick]
World’s first battery-powered plane flies in Japan – Yahoo news
