The Nielsen Consumer Insight Magazine February 2009

In this Issue :

New Product Innovation in a Recession.

While current economic conditions may be causing consumers to trim back, marketers need to resist that impulse on new product development. The key learning is that innovation can succeed during recessionary times if the fundamentals are right... Read More

Channel Shifting in a Tough Economy.

Battered by the economy, U.S. consumers are shopping less frequently, demanding value, trading down, buying less, moving to private label and shifting department purchases across channels... Read More

Global Economies Adjust.

Like a house of cards, one slight move and it all comes tumbling down. Around the world, the operative word in today’s economic climate is value. How are manufacturers and retailers coping? What are the biggest opportunities…and surprises for 2009?... Read More

Transforming China’s Growth Engine.

No longer able to rely on buyers in the rest of the world to drive its economic growth, China is relying on its own consumers to help stimulate its economy. But what will it take to get them to spend?... Read More

Awards Shows Take Centerstage.

And the winner is…. the retailer. Turns out there’s a very practical reason for performers wishing to win a Grammy or Academy Award—music sales skyrocket!... Read More

SA Marketing News

Advertising News
D&AD Student Annual goes online
Not only will D&AD student and professional awards judging coincide for the first time this year, 2009 also marks the launch of the Student Annual Online, which will allow featured students to link to their portfolios. Read full story... Send to a friend

DBB SA out of Jupiter's orbit
A consequence of the 49% acquisition of The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) & Partners by WPP, announced late last week, is that Jupiter shareholders will be releasing their shareholding equity in DDB SA. "DDB SA has enjoyed its short association with The Jupiter Drawing Room,” DDB SA CEO Glen Lomas told Bizcommunity.com on Friday, 30 January 2009. “We mutually benefited from the working relationship on a number of levels.” Read full story... Send to a friend

Dubai Lynx 2009 juries announced
The members of the four juries of the Dubai Lynx Awards have been announced. Judging will take place in Dubai, where 29 creatives and media experts from 14 countries will convene to discuss and award the best creative advertising from the MENA region. Read full story... Send to a friend

Cannes Lions open for entries
LONDON: Entries are now open in 56th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for all categories - Film, Press, Outdoor, Direct, Media, Cyber, Radio, Promo, Design, Titanium, Integrated and the new PR Lions category. There are also changes to Integrated, Media, Direct and Promo Lions, and more ways to enter Digital work in various categories. Read full story... Send to a friend

MMA releases mobile banking, updated mobile advertising overviews
NEW YORK, LONDON, SINGAPORE & SAO PAULO: The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) released its Mobile Banking Overview yesterday, Thursday, 29 January 2009. This educational resource is designed to provide analysis of the marketing opportunities and attributes that the mobile channel represents for the financial sector. Also updated this week was its Mobile Advertising Overview. Read full story... Send to a friend

The US president Barack Obama has undoubtedly inspired art, street art and fashion
The Getty Images Creative Research team finds how a politician is influencing marketing and advertising and how his look is becoming a visual reference. Read full story... Send to a friend

Loeries weekend date change
The 31st anniversary of The Loerie Awards will depart from its traditional Saturday and Sunday timetable; this year's festival weekend runs 25 - 27 September 2009 in Cape Town. With Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, starting on the evening of Sunday 27 September, the awards ceremonies will take place on Friday and Saturday nights. Read full story... Send to a friend

Branding News

Meltdown creates new global champions
We have now arrived right in the middle of that second half of the hyper-accelerated phase, where western brands start to fall like dominos. As pointed out in my column first printed in 2006, Global image repositioning race heats up, in the US alone hundreds of its world-class brands are being erased. From monster banking to mega manufacturing, some 73 000 stores alone being closed in the first half of 2009, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Read full story... Send to a friend

One crucial factor
Every brand relies on one crucial factor: what happens inside the company behind it, or what is known as the ‘inside out' factor. This is the specialist focus of Interbrand Sampson Inside, the new brand engagement consultancy in the Interbrand Sampson Group. Read full story... Send to a friend

Exhibition News

What happens offline drives online
When the IEC recently announced a second voters' registration weekend, where did you first go to find more information on where to register? What about when Thabo Mbeki resigned? Where did you find the lineup of the Coke Zero music fest or the photos of Barack Obama's inauguration? Most likely, your first point of call was an online search for information. Read full story... Send to a friend

Thebe goes greener in 2009
Thebe Exhibitions and Projects will ensure that all steps are in place towards a greener events industry in future. Managing Director Carol Weaving says the company's greening policy will be further refined and presented to exhibitors as part of its marketing strategy. Read full story... Send to a friend

Even more to talk about at Design Indaba
Despite the tough economic climate, Design Indaba Expo 2009 has reported that it has grown with more than 60 new exhibitors and has secured more than 20% extra floor space since 2008. With a month to go until the event, already more than 100 buyers have pre-registered, including 70 international buyers. Read full story... Send to a friend

Youth Marketing News

Campaign on the alert for smarties
Sasol regularly awards university bursaries to over 250 up-and-coming Grade 12 learners and BEng, BSc and BCom students every year. “To promote Sasol's bursaries programme among the smarties out there, we've launched a campaign that uses an awesome cast of seven characters,” explains Bronwyn Watt, Sasol group brand and marketing manager. Read full story... Send to a friend

Africa's first family and children's industry network
Being leaders in connecting families and children with brands, and building on the success of their monthly newsletter, Chirp, Egg Marketing & Communications will be launching Chirp Network, Africa's first family and children's industry network platform, in February this year. Read full story... Send to a friend

Marketing and Advertising trends for SA

The South African online marketing website bizcommunity.com released their Biz'09 Trend Report recently covering upcoming trends in SA.

Here are some of the predictions:

Special events to spur outdoor advertising in 2009
Changing shopper habits in 2009
How the digital landscape will shape marketing in 2009
Communication trends to be mindful of in 2009
The mobile media landscape in 2009 - a forecast
Sea change for SA Internet in 2009
eMarketing in 2009: exciting times, surprises predicted
A 2009 wishlist for African business objectives
Online consumer trends for 2009

Which would you choose - a hamburger or your friend?

Cherryflava reported on an innovative way Burger King used Facebook for a new burger campaign, the Whopper Sacrifice Campaign.

Burger King reckoned that Facebook friends are cheap, and by deleting 10 of them - you are rewarded with a health-problem causing Whopper...mmmm...meat.

Facebook, however, wasn't happy. It informed BK the application could not go against user expectations because Facebook explicitly says it will not inform users about friend removal.
For the application to continue, Facebook's tech team disabled the broadcasting feature.

After it learned of the restrictions, BK pulled the plug on Whopper Sacrifice. In just a week, the application boasted 82,000 users and more than 230,000 friends removed.

New African marketing journal call for editors

The AFRICAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT (AJMM) is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published that will be monthly by Academic Journals.
AJMM is dedicated to increasing the depth of the subject across disciplines with the ultimate aim of expanding knowledge of the subject.

Editors and reviewers
AJMM is seeking qualified researchers to join its editorial team as editors, subeditors or reviewers. Kindly send your resume to AJMM@acadjourn.org

Call for Papers
The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence, and will publish:

· Original articles in basic and applied research
· Case studies
· Critical reviews, surveys, opinions, commentaries and essays

We invite you to submit your manuscript(s) to AJMM@acadjourn.org for publication in the Maiden Issue (April 2009).

Our objective is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within four weeks of submission.

Following acceptance, a paper will normally be published in the next issue. Instruction for authors and other details are available on our website; http://www.academicjournals.org/AJMM/Instruction.htm


AJMM is an Open Access Journal

One key request of researchers across the world is unrestricted access to research publications. Open access gives a worldwide audience larger than that of any subscription-based journal and thus increases the visibility and impact of published works. It also enhances indexing, retrieval power and eliminates the need for permissions to reproduce and distribute content. AJMM is fully committed to the Open Access Initiative and will provide free access to all articles as soon as they are published.

For more information, please visit the journal site.

Consumer Trends to watch out for in 2009

With the new year, comes all the analysts' predictions as well - TrendWatching.com (an independent and opinionated consumer trends firm) recently released their list of Consumer Trends to keep an eye on:

The report is divided into 6 sections:

• Nichetributes - are attributes / features / additions to existing products, making them more practical for specific user groups, while at the same time signaling to those users that the brand 'gets it’, that it cares, and in some cases even pays tribute to their lifestyle
• Luxyoury - In 2009 YOU define what is luxury. So in the next 12 months, instead of worrying about missing out on the next big thing in luxury, focus on defining it. Declare that the end is nigh for anything that’s getting a little too affordable, too accessible, or just too well-known. Then introduce something very different (if not the opposite), appealing to the in-crowds ready to jump ship anyway.
• Feedback 3.0 - FEEDBACK 3.0 (which is building as we speak) will be all about companies joining the conversation, if only to get their side of the story in front of the mass audience that now scans reviews. Expect smart companies to be increasingly able (and to increasingly demand) to post their apologies and solutions, preferably directly alongside reviews from unhappy customers. Expect the same for candid rebuttals by companies who feel (and can prove) that a particular review is unfair or inaccurate, and want to share their side of the story.
• Econcierges - are firms and services dedicated to helping households go green in any possible way. And while any advice that reduces a household's (harmful) consumption is beneficial enough, the fact that such advice leads to savings makes this a very 2009 development. In the coming 12 months, count on cash-strapped consumers to embrace sustainability with a vengeance, but first and foremost for monetary reasons. Next? How about helping consumers to make money by being green, by for example letting them generate and sell excess power to the 'grid'?
• MapMania - As the Googles, Nokias (who expect half of their handsets to be GPS enabled by 2010-2012), MapQuests, Navteqs, Openstreetmap.orgs, Apples and TomToms of this world continue to build the necessary infrastructure, devices and apps, any consumer-focused brand would be stupid not to be partnering or experimenting with map-based services. Why? Geography is about everything that is (literally) close to consumers, and it's a universally familiar method of organizing, finding and tracking relevant information on objects, events and people. And now that superior geographical information is accessible on-the-go, from in-car navigation to iPhones, the sky is the limit.
• Happy Ending - 2009 is an excellent year for those businesses keen on showing consumers that they really care. At the same time, this is a great moment to innovate: shrinking budgets and diminishing revenues from existing offerings normally bring out the best and most creative in business professionals.
  But the most important side effect of more austere times is probably that consumers start questioning what truly makes them happy, which more often than not steers them towards the realization that happiness ain’t (just) about traditional consumption.
  

Download the report here.

SAMRA announces rates for 2009 Conference

SAMRA, the Southern African Marketing Research Association, has announced the rates for delegates for the 2009 30th SAMRA Conference, which will be held on the 28th and 29th May 2009 at the Spier Wine Estate Stellenbosch in the heart of South Africa's Cape Winelands.

The 2009 Conference aims to bring together researchers, research users and marketers from all over Africa with the goal of growing and improving marketing research in the region.As an added bonus at the 2009 SAMRA conference, the rates have stayed the same as the 2008 rates. The rates for the 2009 conference can be found on their website.

Bookings for the 2009 30th SAMRA Conference open on 10 November 2008 and early-bird rates apply until the 31st January 2009. For more information or to make a booking for the 2009 SAMRA Conference contact Lebo Maphosa on (011) 704 7770 or e-mail lebo@thelime.co.za or visit www.samra.co.za.

Please note that this is a draft programme for the 2009 30th SAMRA Conference and therefore is subject to change and will be updated:

The 23 paper synopses selected are:

• Making sense of nonsense, a re-examination of brand attribute association matrices - Amien Ahmed - TNS Research Surveys
• Death of the analyst - the case for data calibration and advanced weighting - Joe Boniaszczuk - Research International
• A World Without Surveys? - Joanne Campbell, Nicky Liddle, and Taryn Smart - TNS Research Surveys
• What Consumers Really Talk About: Understanding the true power of word-of-mouth - Gillian Drewett - Synovate Brand Lab
• The Fundamentals of Market Structure - Kyle Findlay - TNS Customer Equity Company
• The sanitation of real human beings - Jean Green - Jean Green and Associates
• A quasi experimental investigation into the effect of interviewing methodology on the findings and applications of socio-political studies - Mari Harris and Wayne Viljoen - Ipsos-Markinor
• The Only Universal Law in Marketing? - Jan Hofmeyr and Martin Bongers - Synovate and Synovate Brand Lab
• The Research Club of Kenya - Research Demystified! - Maggie Ireri and Nanzala Mwaura - The Steadman Group
• Beyond the 'What' in Social Polling - Measuring the strength of the Zuma brand in South Africa - Nomsa Khanyile - The Nielsen Company
• Global Speak? Or is Local Lekker? - Monique Leech - Millward Brown
• Using Online Qualitative Methodologies To Catch The Big Fish - Justin Levitt - Synovate
• The development of a Tastetometer for bridging the gap between scientific evaluation and consumer experience in the beer category - A heuristic approach to understanding the experience of taste in Sub Saharan Africa - Andrea Marais - Consumer Lab
• Why innovate? Is change genuinely necessary within the field of market research based on the changing attitudes of consumers, clients and market researchers? - Stephanie Matterson, Matthew Glogauer, Tanja Naidoo, Claire Speirs and Adam Rosenberg - Kauffman Levin and Associates
• Get Back to Modelling Basics - Caution from an End User - Walter Moldenhauer - Telkom SA Ltd.
• Research 2.5: Ceding control to consumers as co-researchers - Henk Pretorius - Columinate (Pty) Ltd
• Tangled Webs and Other Grey Areas - Where are we headed, and can we come back from the brink? South Africans' shifting attitudes to crime, ethics and morality - Kathryn Ann Robinson - TNS Research Surveys
• The difference between online and non-online consumers: How much bias is there really? - Adam Rosenberg, Candice Watt, Matthew Glogauer, and Sally Timcke - Kauffman Levin and Associates
• Marketed Research: Personal promotion and network effects within our industry - Enrico Tronchin - TNS Customer Equity Company
• Come join the joy ride... 30 thrilling years of wild and wonderful research - Carel van Aardt and Mari Harris - Bureau of Market Research (UNISA) and Ipsos-Markinor
• Consumers are much richer than we think: Reweighing AMPS income data using analytical hierarchical process modelling techniques - Carel van Aardt and Sean Louw - Bureau of Market Research (UNISA) and Synovate
• The influence of online social networks on long-term consumer behaviour - Lesley van der Walt and Lorcan McHarry - TNS Customer Equity Company
• Optimising the Retail Landscape: Utilising shopper research to enhance the in-store experience and optimise the retail space - Peter Wilson - TNS Research Surveys

In addition to the above papers, we are delighted to include in the programme two Q&A sessions with experts:

1. Carol Affleck, who runs her own consultancy and qualitative research agency, Youth Focus, will introduce and answers questions about Effective methods for Researching the Youth Market through an Understanding of Developmental Levels.
2. Gary Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Primedia Face 2 Face, will introduce and answers questions about Targeting the Bottom of the Pyramid Market.

Keynote addresses include the following:

• Discovery Health (Johan van Rooyen, COO; Francois Theron, Head of Service; Andrew Webb, Head of the Service Laboratory) will present The Discovery Health Science of Service approach, which includes service metrics throughout the client journey, the Discovery Health quality, people management, independent measurement, client segmentation, and infrastructure systems, the result of this science and becoming the best service organisation in the world.
• Graham Page, Executive Vice President of global solutions at Millward Brown, leads a team that develops new solutions and approaches to help marketers drive their brands and services forward. Graham's research areas include neuroscience and neuromarketing, the role of emotion in advertising and how to measure it, and brand elasticity.
• Dawie de Villiers, CEO of Sanlam Structured Solutions, oversees the Derivative Structuring business in the Investment Cluster and the Smooth Bonus and Annuities businesses for Sanlam Employee Benefits (SEB). Dawie will illustrate how successful research leads organisational strategy and can be used to achieve a thought leadership status by means of the Sanlam's Annual Retirement Fund Survey example. He has been instrumental in the design, analysis and presentation of the latest Sanlam Retirement Fund Survey.
• Ged Parton, CEO Global Brand Practice and Qualitative at Synovate Global, London, is responsible for Brand and Communications Practice, Qualitative Practice and The Synovate Marketing Sciences group. Ged will share his view on Confronting Industry Challenges.

Nielsen Consumer Insight November newsletter

Nielsen has released their November newsletter:

Media infuses life into modern-day politics. New strategies optimize spending in hard economic times. Texting flourishes as a mainstream medium. A brand transcends the test of time. Creative thinking tackles obesity.

Politics Unusual: Media & the Making of a President.

Keyboard politics and the Internet have replaced the backroom dealings of Presidential elections with a more immediate, personal and opinionated forum for evaluating candidates and platforms. read more

Economic Blues Color Holiday Outlook

Scrooge will be in good company this holiday season, as American consumers tighten their belts and hang on to their wallets, with 85% planning to spend less or the same as last year. read more

Gourmet Shoppers Cook Up Retail Opportunities.

With rising inflation and gas prices taking a bite out of household budgets, now is a good time to cater to high-earning, big-spending home-grown gourmet cooks who account for one in five U.S. households. read more

Flying Fingers

Text-messaging has become so popular that U.S. mobile subscribers now send and receive more text messages in a month than they do phone calls. Increasing 351% since last year, it has become a ubiquitous method of communication. read more

One Nation Under Madden.

How does a brand stay true to its core, and continually reinvent itself for 20 years and manage to thrive in the challenging new media? The Madden video game scored with a commitment to authenticity and a three-screen approach. read more

A Widening Market: The Obese Consumer

Obesity is on the rise around the world, but is especially predominant in the U.S. How should marketers navigate this sensitive, but opportunity-laden environment? read more

"Below the Topline" - Asian Persuasion.

Asians in the U.S. are often overlooked by marketers due to the tremendous growth of the Hispanic population. However, marketers will need to dig deep in order to reach this rapidly growing segment. read more

Top Tens and Trends

Our latest intelligence on Movies, TV, Books, Music, CPG Trends and more. read more

The JSE - to let?

Images: Cherryflava

It seems the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is "to let". But on a closer look, it is an ad for Investment Management. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Here is the copy: To Let. It's hard not to worry. Emotions move people - and the markets. We know that understanding them is the key to building wealth.

And here the press release:

JSE Building to Let

The JSE building is up for grabs. A large ‘To let’ banner hangs on the outside of the home of the SA stock exchange. Recently, the media has been dominated by images of traders, heads in their hands in utter dismay at the demise of the market and some of the industry’s biggest players. In these tough economic times, we are quickly getting used to the idea of expecting the unexpected.

At a closer look, the banner is in fact an advert for Sanlam Investment Management. The headline that follows the ‘To Let’ sign reads, “It’s hard not to worry”. In the face of turbulent times. Sanlam Investment Management is standing strong and certain with a bold message to investors and the public. The campaign was conceptualized by The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town, who recently won 3 eagle Awards for work done for Sanlam.

This creative statement dramatises the fear and uncertainty that investors worldwide are experiencing. The ad's resolve indicates that Sanlam Investment Management understands that human emotions move people and the financial markets. They indicate that understanding these emotions and the shifts they cause is the key to building wealth.

“The strength of the idea is two-fold. One is the idea to use the JSE building as a platform for the message. The second is to be tactical on the current situation of the SA stock exchange and the world economy,” comments Jupiter Executive Creative Director, Ross Chowles. “Combined together, these two ideas make it a powerful and compelling piece of communication.”

See into the future ...

Image: www.docjaksonsplace.com/fortunetellerstent.htm

A few weeks ago I wrote an entry on Perkonomics and how it seems to be one of the trends to keep an eye on according to Trendwatching.

They have now released some Q&A's on trend watching in their November Top 15 Trend Questions and Answers:

Q15: “How do I spot and apply trends?”
Q14: “What are good trend resources?”
Q13: “What will be the next Facebook or Google?”
Q12: “What’s next for ?”
Q11: “So how does PERKONOMICS relate to…?”
Q10: ”What trends are affecting ?”
Q9: “How do I know a trend isn’t just a fad?”
Q8: “When is the right time to act on a trend?”
Q7: “What are the trends in ?”
Q6: “Who sets trends?”
Q5: “How do I become a (better) trend watcher?”
Q4: “How much influence do trend watchers have?”
Q3: “What is a trend’s life cycle?”
Q2: “What’s going to be big in 2009?”
Q1: “How is the financial crisis going to impact my business?” .

It makes for some very interesting reading.

Road as Medium, Plays Back Music

Image: gigdoggy

Imagine driving past the beach and hearing the Coca-Cola jingle playing while you drive, (without your radio being on) - A Japanese engineer, Shizuo Shinoda, has come up with an idea to use the grooves in asphalt to play music.

The system works by cutting thousands of little grooves in the asphalt that produce a sound when a vehicle drives over them. The grooves are a few millimeters deep and 6 to 12 millimeters wide, and the closer you bring them together the higher the pitch will be when driven over. Production cost is about $20 000.

Mr Shinoda got the idea by driving his car over markings a bulldozer had previously scraped off a street and realized he was generating a series a tones.

The Japanese had dabbed at some security measures to keep drivers awake and alert - now with these musical roads they found their new toys. Already three streets in Japan have been “tuned” to play popular regional songs and famous tunes like the theme from “Alvin And The Chipmunks”. The streets are situated in Hokkaido, Wakayama and Gunma. One has been sponsored by Honda in Lancaster, California, one plays “Marry Had a Little Lamb” in Anyang South Korea, and yet another exists apparently somewhere in Holland.

The ones in Japan induce slow driving as the recommended speed to unleash the most accurate melody is 28mph.

Brand Xpo coming in 2009

Affinity Publishing, parents of Encyclopaedia of Brands & Branding in South Africa, organise a new brand exhibition next year: Brand Xpo. It seems the expo will be in September 2009 and a selection of iconic brands will be showcased for all to see.

According to Bizcommunity.com

Brand Xpo is Affinity Publishing's brainchild but its advisors include an impressive line-up of marketing experts: André Beyers (André Beyers Marketing), Andrew Human (The Loerie Awards), Andy Rice (Yellowwood Brand Architects), Derek Carstens (First National Bank), Derick de Jongh (UNISA), Gab Mampone (SABC), Gordon Cook (Vega School of Brand Communication), Heidi Brauer (Ipsos Markinor), Jeremy Sampson (Interbrand Sampson), Mike Perry (Perry & Associates), Nicola Kleyn (GIBS), Roger Sinclair (BrandMetrics), Sean McCoy (HKLM), Sizakele Marutlulle (Moonchild) and Thebe Ikalefeng (Brand Leadership).

The Advisory Board has already suggested Brand Xpo's primary audience be segmented into three groups - marketers of today, marketers of the future, and consumers - and that activities and displays be developed to appeal to, and benefit, all three.

The first two groups, marketers of today and marketers of the future, will achieve maximum benefit from the ‘industry days' that will form the backbone of the exhibition. According to Preston, these are aimed at SMEs, branding agencies, corporates, colleges and universities, all of whom will derive great value through skills transfer sessions and displays, and learning how the various elements of branding are used to build profitable brands.

Brand Xpo will held at Gallagher Estate in September 2009.

For further information, contact Ken Preston or Samantha van Staden on 011 442-2366.

D&D Awards 2009 - almost time for entries

The D&AD 2009 Awards, familiarly known as the ‘Yellow Pencils’, are the most internationally respected and prestigious creative awards for the design and advertising industries, and has announced the lineup of jury foremen:

Ambient: Mike O'Sullivan, Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand
Art Direction: Grant Parker, DDB London
Book Design: Damon Murray, Murray & Sorrell FUEL©
Branding: Glenn Tuttsel, The Brand Union
Broadcast Innovations: John C Jay, Wieden & Kennedy
Digital Installations: Matt Clark, United Visual Artists
Direct Advertising: Ian Haworth, WWAV Rapp Collins
Environmental Design: David Adjaye, Adjaye Associates
Graphic Design: Alan Dye, NB:Studio
Illustration: Marion Deuchars, M Deuchars
Integrated: Mark Cridge, glue London
Magazine & Newspaper Design: Andy Cowles, IPC Media
Mobile Marketing: Dan Rosen, AKQA
Music Videos: Lizie Gower, Academy
Online Advertising: Dave Bedwood, Lean Mean Fighting Machine
Packaging: Bruce Duckworth, Turner Duckworth
Photography: Tony Chambers, Wallpaper*
Posters: Tay Guan Hin, JWT Singapore
Press: Rosie Arnold, BBH
Product: Sebastian Conran, Conran & Partners
Radio: Ralph van Dijk, Eardrum
TV & Cinema Advertising: Mark Waites, Mother London
TV & Cinema Communications: Grant Gilbert, Double G Studios
Typography: Nick Bell, Nick Bell Design
Viral: Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship
Websites: Mauricio Mazzariol, Big Man
Writing for Advertising: Will Awdry, Ogilvy & Mather London
Writing for Design: Adrian Shaughnessy, Shaughnessy Works

The D&AD Awards span 30 different categories encompassing all aspects of creative communications from writing and art direction to architecture, graphic design, music videos and photography.

They annually attract over 23,000 entries from internationally leading agencies and design groups, clients, in-house studios, architectural practices, as well as film and post-production companies of over 58 nations.

Important Dates:
15 October 2008 - Call for Entries launches - enter online starting from this date
19 November 2008 - Discount Deadline - all entries completed by this date will receive a 10% discount
21 January 2009 - Final Deadline

To be eligible into the D&AD Awards 2009, work must have been commercially released for the first time between 1 January and 31 December 2008.

Our awards scheme is international.Full information will be available on the awards site at the beginning of October. Please contact awards@dandad.co.uk if you have any other questions.

Perkonomics - the new currency?

According to Trendwatching.com Perkonomics (where perks and privileges are the new currency) is the trend to keep an eye on in the coming year.

Consumer infatuation with perks and privileges isn't new. For years, airlines, hotels, credit card companies and private banks have been cleverly rewarding their most valuable customers with surprises, status symbols and convenience.
But as we move towards a consumer society that’s based more on experiences, on status stories, on the ephemeral—and in which, for many, time is now the only true scarcity—expect perks and privileges to become an integral part of every B2C industry and sector.

A new breed of perks and privileges, added to brands’ regular offerings, is satisfying consumers’ ever-growing desire for novel forms of status and/or convenience, across all industries.
The benefits for brands are equally promising: from escaping commoditization, to showing empathy in turbulent times.

Read more about Perkonomics in their October 2008 report.

007 is Proudly South African

I am a huge 007 fan and belong firmly in the Daniel Craig camp (even though you'll find no argument from me that Sean Connery was the best James Bond ever) so image my delight to see that Craig is Proudly South African!

Cherryflava has posted a pic (click on the image to enlarge) that clearly shows Craig walking with a South African flag as a keyring, they humorously also speculate that the entire tabloid reading United States population [will be] wondering and speculating if the keyring is a symbol of his sexual orientation or the logo of the new hybrid he's driving.

For other die-hard 007 fans - the good news is that the new movie, Quantum of Solace should be released during the course of the next month.

Brand magazine suspended

The board of award-winning B®AND magazine has decided to suspend publication of the print version of the title with immediate effect while founder, editor and publisher, Di Paice, takes a much needed sabbatical. The decision has been taken for personal health reasons - Di has been fighting cancer for three years.

They are still leaving the website up in the interim for those who wish to browse back issues for free. All you need to do is register to access the magazine.

Cause related ads can raise sales by 74%

According to the 2008 Cone/Duke University Behavioral Cause Study there is a very strong link between the choices consumers make and cause related marketing.

The Study consists of a two phase research methodology. The first phase was conducted throughout October and December 2007 in a behavioral lab study at Duke University among a random sample of 182 participants, ranging in age from 18- to 62-years-old. The second phase, conducted online in July 2008, consisted of a demographically representative U.S. sample of 1,051 adults, including 625 women and 426 men.

Here are some of the highlights:

• 85% say it is acceptable for companies to include causes in their marketing (compared to 66% in 1993)
• 79% would be likely to switch brands if the other brand has a good cause associated with it
• 38% had purchased a product associated with a cause in the previous 12 months (compared to 20% in 1993)

Future trend they have identified include:

• Social Consciousness Elevation

Companies will serve as a catalyst in increasing understanding and fostering empathy among mainstream consumers about the ways in which complex, often unfamiliar global issues, such as access to clean water, human rights and gender equality, impact business and the health of society.

• Product Innovation

Companies will increasingly create new products or market existing ones with an eye toward manufacturing responsible goods that meet the everyday needs of their customers.

• Widespread Collaboration

Companies will look beyond NGOs as the sole source of their credibility halo.

• Global Customization

Multinationals will steer away from focusing on a single issue to creating global citizenship platforms, tailoring their efforts to meet the needs of key markets.

• Stakeholder Customization

To harness the passion and actions of their stakeholders and to deepen engagement, companies will identify legitimate opportunities to co-create cause efforts.

• Transparent Operation

To effectively build trust among even the most skeptical stakeholders, companies will disclose not only the details of a specific cause program, but also of the peripheral business issues that impact their actions

• Business-to-Business Translation

Business-to-business companies will become more accountable to their unique stakeholders, including employees, customers and vendors, and will brand, package and communicate their citizenship efforts.

• Measurement and Justification

Companies will be forced to redefine measurement metrics no longer based on outputs, but on the outcomes for society and their business.

Nielsen newsletter

Nielsen Consumer Insight has just released their October 2008 newsletter covering the following:

• Honey, We Acculturated the Kids!

Trying to tap the Hispanic market? You’ll need to take nativity (country of origin), linguistic ability and the influence of children into account to shape an effective marketing campaign and media strategy...

• Welcome Back to the Live Commercial.

As the struggle continues to increase the visibility of brands, an evolution of storyline product placements where brands join shows as near “cast members” is taking place. Advertisers are reaching deep into their playbooks back to product placement’s roots—the live commercial....

• Out with the Old – In With the New.

Retail shelf space is limited. A new item in, typically means an old item out. But delisting items can lead to severe opportunity costs. Knowing which items to delist — and why — are just as important as knowing which new items to launch...

• Private Label: What’s Really Driving Growth?

Long a stalwart of budget-conscious consumers, private label goods have enjoyed a sales juggernaut during these financially uncertain times. Or so it would seem. Turns out, growth is driven more by higher commodity prices than consumers shifting away from traditional brands...

• Brazil – A Happy Place to Live.

With strong financials and a diverse population, Brazil’s optimistic consumers are looking to their huge array of retail choices to help them trade up, as the largest economy in South America expands its presence around the world...

In the Trend Index Top 10 Digitally Downloaded Songs were:
1. So What - Pink
2. Whatever You Like - T.I
3. Disturbia - Rihanna

Cover Wars

The American Society of Magazine Editors has released their finalist for the Cover of the Year award, here are a few of the finalists:

With the PICA awards coming up this year (keep 21 November open) the AMSE's is a nice warm-up.

The PICA's has not been without controversy this year as The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has suspended seven of Media24's women's magazines. They are: True Love Babe, InStyle SA, True Love, Lééf, Fairlady, SARIE and True Love Bride. Apparently TrueLove Babe and InStyle SA inflated their ABC's by almost 50 percent!

Best Global Brands 2008

Interbrand has released their Best Brands for 2008 report recently and here is what the Top 10 looks like:

1. Ranked 1st in 2007, brand value +- $m 66,667
2. Ranked 3rd in 2007, brand value +- $m 59,031
3. Ranked 2nd in 2007, brand value +- $m 59,007
4. Ranked 4th in 2007, brand value +- $m 53,086
5. Ranked 5th in 2007, brand value +- $m 35,942
6. Ranked 6th in 2007, brand value +- $m 34,050
7. Ranked 7th in 2007, brand value +- $m 31,261
8. Ranked 8th in 2007, brand value +- $m 31,049
9. Ranked 9th in 2007, brand value +- $m 29,251
10. Ranked 20th in 2007, brand value +- $m 25,590
    

Here is what you can expect from the rest of the report:

• Guest contributor Harvard Business School Professor Nancy Koehn speaks out
  on managing brands
• The six laws of collaborative branding by Jason Baer - A guide to understanding the new era of branding in a consumer driven world
• Sustainability and its impact on brand value by Paula Oliveira and Andrea Sullivan -Can organizations structure their green, or sustainability, initiatives to produce value growth for the brand?
• The Red Thread by Jez Frampton - Putting the brand at core of the business becomes a uniting force behind everything you do and say to drive value
• Taking action: acting like a brand leader by Graham Hales - Practical steps for acting, behaving, and managing like a brand leader
• Interbrand’s method for valuing the 2008 Best Global Brands - Understanding our method and approach to looking at brands through a financial lens
• Profiles of the 2008 best global brands and industry insights - A snapshot of the top 100 global brands and insight into what’s driving growth in each industry
• The business purpose for brand valuation by Nik Stucky - A look at how we understand brands as business assets, and how brand value is a barometer for a healthy business
• The impact of risk on brand value by Jean-Baptiste Danet and Valérie Herdlicka - Brands create shareholder value and should be managed to mitigate risk of decreasing value
• The future of future-proofing brand investments by Greg Silverman - How will we measure the unobservable and make informed brand investment?
• Planning your touchpoints to accelerate profit by Rune Gustafson - Understanding brand as a central organizing principle requires the management of every touchpoint to build the experience for consumers
• Building brands in emerging markets by interbrand’s leaders in Brazil, China, India, and Russia Aléjandro Pinedo, Nicola Stanisch, Iain Ellwood, and Jonathan Chajet talk about the challenges and opportunities to build brands in developing economies
• Brands create nations by JÜrgen Häusler - A look at the association between nations and their brands
• The luxury kingdom by Manfredi Ricca - Understanding the laws ruling the luxury market
• It’s what on the inside that counts by Stephanie Colton and Carolyn Ray - An employee’s engagement with the brand means the difference between satisfied customers and bottom-line results
• The value of creativity by Andy Payne - A creative director’s point of view on the value of brands