Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches.
A Tuff environmental campaign; start-up success story’s bold new stores; Z-Card worms its way into creating Turkish delights; and sampling in the loo.
A Tuff campaign
In a neat twist of irony, the Tuffy brand has decided to launch a book to encourage people to help save the world, while highlighting its own recycled story. It pulls out 4200 tons of junk annually from landfill sites to manufacture their refuse bags.
Their quirky book ‘The Lazy Man’s Guide to Saving the World’ has been created by Saatchi & Saatchi and comprises a collection of anecdotal tips through the eyes of the character, Lazy George, complete with idiosyncratic visual imagery.
Tuffy marketing director, Rory Murray, says that Saatchi & Saatchi was tasked with telling Tuffy’s 100% recycled story in a way that would resonate with consumers in a fun way, while reminding them that by choosing Tuffy 100% recycled refuse bags they are doing their conscious bit to save the planet.
“People have had enough of being told to save the world, so we decided to speak to the lazy guy inside all of us, that gets across the importance of doing simple small things that impact on the environment in a visually appealing and humorous way,” explained Gavin Whitfield, Saatchi& Saatchi executive creative director.
Whitfield added that the project was time-consuming, but very rewarding. “The agency is making more and more of this kind of work and clients are buying it, because it works, and the fact that it has a ‘good’ message, makes it more worthwhile.”
The project was launched for World Environment Week last week and the book is available at niche retail stores in Cape Town. It can also be viewed and downloaded for free.
iFix. You happy
We all know that every worthy start-up begins in a garage or mom’s spare room, or in the case of iFix, in a Stellenbosch University dorm room.
The specialist stores repair Apple and Samsung products and the retail concept was started by a frustrated Alex Fourie when he was a student in 2006 and couldn’t get his iPod fixed. He taught himself how to online and ended up fixing all his friends’ and their friends’ devices from his dorm room – and he’s now launching his fifth and sixth stores, expanding to Canal Walk and the Eikestad Mall in Stellenbosch.
The stores are open seven days a week and pride themselves on the fastest turnaround time for repairs – in under 30 minutes. Qualified Apple and Samsung technicians are employed.
Fourie tells us this is his service philosophy: “Many stores fix technology, but the whole iFix experience has been tailored around not just ‘Fixing’, but turning a bad situation into a pleasurable one.
“iFix provides a unique, instant, pleasurable repair service to upmarket mobile devices. iFix knows that people cannot go without their beloved gadgets for long and as a result iFix provides quality repairs, immediately. No waiting three weeks for an assessment from some anonymous workshop in Koekenaap. Walk-in, speak to a technician, drink a coffee, walk-out with a repaired device, smile.”
Hanno van Zyl is the Cape Town designer responsible for the stark, clinical look of the iFix stores.
Pop-up media activation
Z-Card Turkey produced an innovative dye-cut worm Z-Card activation for Kia to promote the new red and yellow logo in the Mutlu Magazine Group (MDG) Instyle magazine – circulation 25 000.
Z-Card Turkey is part of Z-Card Africa, India, Middle East and Turkey (ZAMI).
Kia’s new logo is being used in all of its marketing campaigns, including the Z-Card, which promotes the Kia Soul, Kia Rio, Kia Cee’d and Kia Sportage.
“Z-Card Turkey managed to turn this job around in a mere three days, as client needed the cards urgently to insert into the magazine before it was distributed,” said Z-Card Turkey’s HanifeYüksel.
MDG’s Group’s Güven Odaman indicated the group was looking at other different shaped Z-Card activations from PocketMedia.
MDG is the publisher of various magazines in Turkey including Instyle, Boxer, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated.
TLC soft soaps consumers
With the relaunch of its Crème Hand Wash Soap range, Satiskin has embarked on a branding and sampling campaign within the restrooms at targeted shopping centres.
Primedia Unlimited’s washroom advertising media platform, TLC, placed the brand into mall and cinema bathrooms where the dwell time is high.
“Interacting with a brand is the first step towards purchase. That’s why Satiskin has made sure that women are able to sample and thus directly interact with the Creme Hand Wash Soap inside the washroom environment where they would naturally wash and pamper their hands,” said TLC’s Brett Tucker.
Satiskin is utilising the tester frame, door wrap and mirror decal media platforms to ensure consumer engagement with its brand during May and June 2013.
– 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.
– Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
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.
– Industry profiles you’ll make time for. Sign up for our free newsletter!