Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches.

A new purple logo for Kraft Foods SA and a name change; collaboration is the game for Lego and Cartoon Network; adidas runs an experiment and Tile Africa renovates its logo.

Kraft SA becomes Mondelez

July 31 heralded a name change for Kraft Foods South Africa to Mondelez  South Africa after parent company Kraft Foods split in 2012 to create Mondelēz (pronounced ‘mohn-dah-LEEZ’) International, the world’s largest snacks group.

The name change last year was despite a 100-year brand legacy for Kraft. The US  business keeps the Kraft name. ‘Mondelēz’ is a mashup of the Spanish words for ‘world’ and ‘deliciousness’. The name change was implemented in SA despite controversy over the “ugly” logo and the name, which when pronounced, can sound like it means the colloquial vulgarity for oral sex in Russia, according to Business Insider and AdAge.

The company, whose Cadbury brand is its best known in SA, used the occasion yesterday to reiterate how vital South Africa is as a market for Mondelēz International and a gateway for Mondelez SA operations in Southern and Central East Africa, going as far north as Ethiopia.

Gawad Abaza, who took over in April as managing director in Johannesburg, has made it his mission to expand the company’s business, develop its people, brands, and sales and manufacturing infrastructure.

Mondelēz International’s business in Southern and Central East Africa was worth $585 million last year, contributing some 15% of total revenue for the greater Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) Region. EEMEA, one of five business regions in the Mondelēz International world, generated $3.7 billion in revenue in 2012.

The company has a presence in 18 countries in Southern and Central East Africa where it continues to invest in growing these markets. In South Africa, its brand portfolio includes: Cadbury Dairy Milk, Jacobs coffee, Halls, Oreo and Trident/Stimorolgum, Chappies bubble gum, Lunch Bar, Dentyne chewing gum and Royal Baking Powder.

 Lego, Cartoon Network build innovative partnership

More and more brands are beginning to team up to provide unique customer experiences, with fashion designers for example, and in the case of Cartoon Network, with Lego.

Cartoon Network and The Lego Group have announced that they will jointly produce an unprecedented new global entertainment franchise: Mixels, launching in 2014. The new venture will feature animated content (primarily shorts), a rich digital gaming experience, a collectible building toy concept and more.

Animated content will air on Cartoon Network featuring the colourful Mixels creatures that can mix and combine with one another in creative and unpredictable storylines; an app-powered gaming experience will engage fans in a deep mobile game that will cover the sprawling world of Mixels; and this will be followed with a collectible portfolio of low-priced mini building sets from Lego.

The two companies joined forces when Cartoon Network Studios had an interest in creating original content based on the inherent open-ended values of Lego play, while at the same time that The Lego Group was exploring a new concept involving small creatures – and hence Mixels was born. The property was developed by a multinational team of content innovators, designers and animators – from Los Angeles to Atlanta to San Diego to Connecticut to Denmark.

“This is the next step in the evolution of Cartoon Network Studios and the way we develop original IP,” explained Rob Sorcher, chief content officer, Cartoon Network. “Bringing together worldclass animators and game developers with Lego content and product design teams at the earliest stages of creation proved to be an energising collaboration, showcasing the creative strengths of both brands.”

Cartoon Network Studios will drive all narrative, animation and digital content and Cartoon Network Enterprises will handle Mixels non-toy licensed merchandise. The Lego Group will focus on Mixels toy design, manufacture and distribution as well as licensed LEGOMixels publishing to support the property.

Mobile running statement          

                        

adidas South Africa is taking its adiVan mobile pop-up store to races and sporting events around the country to showcase its technical running product to the running community in South Africa. The aim is to target runners with the message that adidas is a serious running brand.

The adiVan was developed by adidas in conjunction with experiential marketing agency, Stretch, says Bradley Stern, senior trade marketing manager, adidas SA. “The brief was to create a mobile showcase of the adidas technical product range. We will give consumers a chance to physically experience the product and provide incentives to try and ultimately purchase the adidas product to improve their game or sport of choice.”

The mobile, interactive showcase offers consumers a real opportunity to experience the adidas technical product range, by combining the marketing tools of the adidas footscan, micoach trial on site, and digital integration with the adidas club newsletter, 3Stripes.

The mobile experience will also visit football, rugby and cricket matches and through partnerships with various clubs, Discovery Health and Virgin Active gyms, will try reach an even bigger segment of its target audience over time.

Tile Africa’s new corporate ID

With its celebration of 25 years in the home improvement market this year, Tile Africa has refreshed its corporate image, including its logo, which will be used on all applications, including store signage, internally and externally through stores, advertising, digital media and stationery from mid-2013 onwards.

The new corporate image is a move towards a slimmer and more sophisticated font and colours, to make the new logo more stylish and approachable.

The retailer says it is going through a change cycle in line with the shifting needs of its customers and it’s implementing various initiatives to offer customers the best possible experience. “We’re looking at a number of exciting projects that encompass marketing, store development, our value chain, people development and operational systems to keep us at the forefront of providing a great customer experience,” says Richard Nuss, Tile Africa marketing manager. “This new cycle of change is about being on-trend, stylish and fast. We want to make it both easy and enjoyable for our customers to do business with us.”

Tile Africa’s signature tangram design remains part of the logo as well as the key message ‘our home is your home’.

The logo design was a collaborative effort between Andrea Jacobs, creative designer at Tile Africa and niche design agency Daniel and McKay based in Bedfordview. The updated design features two tones of grey as well as the classic black, white and orange.
– Shelf Life by Louise Marsland is a weekly column on MarkLives. Tweet new product, packaging and design launches to @louise_marsland or email her at louise.marsland at gmail.com.

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Louise Marsland has written about the FMCG, media, marketing and advertising industry for 18 years of her 25 year media career as a former Editor of magazines AdVantage, Marketing Mix and Progressive Retailing; as well as websites Bizcommunity.com and FMCGFiles. She currently edits the weekly Wednesday Media & Marketing Page for The New Age newspaper; and is the co-founder and Publishing Editor of SA’s newly launched industry trendwatching portal, TREND. at www.trendlives.info, in partnership with MarkLives.com.

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