Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches.
Olli Organic is back on the shelves; McCann launches Allsome new rice brand; Checkers is on a roll with its new cheesy TVC; Whiskas’ purrfect shelf stoppers; and remember Sodastream?
Olli Organic rebrands
If you’ve noticed the Olli Oganic baby food range has been missing off shelves, it’s because the brand partnered with ForeBaby and has undergone a rebrand to help educate parents about the benefits of organic food and to comply with new guidelines in the SA Infant Feeding Regulations.
Locally produced, Olli Organic baby food is certified organic and offers a range of jarred purees and cereals, made from organically certified ingredients.
Olli Organic does not contain sugar, salt or starch and is free from preservatives, colourants and genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). It also contains no egg, gluten, dairy or wheat, making it suitable for babies with dietary allergies.
The ready-to-eat jars of baby food are colour coded according to age groups. The range is also both Halaal and Kosher.
“The demand for locally produced organic baby food in South Africa is set to grow. In the UK, organic baby food is growing at an average of 10% year-on-year, which means that local retailers can expect to see growth within this category in the near future,” predicts Loren Young, managing director of ForeBaby.
Olli Organic is available at Baby City, Pick ‘n Pay, Checkers, Dis-Chem and Toys R Us stores nationwide.
New rice brand from Allsome
A new South African rice product, Allsome Rice, from Allsome Brands, has been introduced onto retail shelves by McCann.
Allsome Brands is a consumer goods company based in Pietermaritzburg, and a joint venture of the Willowton Group, South Africa’s largest sunflower seed crusher, and Louis Dreyfus Commodities, a global merchandiser of commodities and a processer of agricultural goods.
The agency described it as an “epic” task to launch a new rice product in a market dominated by existing brand leaders.
Its strategy was to show the audience ‘The Beginning of a Good Thing’ – the campaign’s tag line, as Pierre Odendaal, McCann chief creative officer explains: “With plenty of strong competitors to contend with, Allsome needed to stand apart from the rest. With a fresh name and a bold new look in the bag, a humorous touch ensured the brand’s debut was something to smile about.”
The launch TVC features a love-struck supermarket security guard trying to win over the heart of his feisty female counterpart as they patrol a supermarket at night. “It’s a new brand story to climb into and chuckle at, with characters you’ll root for! Not only is Allsome the beginning of a new mealtime staple, we trust it is the beginning of a long and rewarding brand relationship,” adds Odendaal.
Allsome sales and marketing director, Shoaib Moosa, comments: “We feel that in a very generically marketed category we have created something that is completely different and will leave a lasting impression with the target audience.”
Whiskas shelf stopper
Cat-egory marketing… Whiskas has launched innovative shelf stoppers in store to entice cat slaves (otherwise known as cat owners) to buy the brand. A loud purring greets passers-by or shoppers who lean into the shelves stocking cat food at retailers such as Pick n Pay. A sensor is triggered in the shelf stopper with Whiskas branding as a shopper passes close by. Purrrrrfect!
Dotty over Sodastream design
That brand from our childhood has modernised to the extent that it’s winning international design awards: Sodastream just won the international ‘Red Dot design award’ within the product design category for 2013, for its Sodastream Source product.
Jury members are made up of 37 experts from 24 countries – all of whom are independent, qualified designers, university professors or specialist journalists – including, for the first time, design star Jimmy Choo.
Designing the Source was a collaborative process between Sodastream home carbonation systems and Yves Béhar and his team at fuseproject, an international design firm with a reputation for sustainable design.
The Sodastream Source was painstakingly developed to result in simplified aesthetics and functionality. Béhar ensured the sleek, minimalist design made the user experience as intuitive as possible – from the Snap-Lock mechanism and the refined mechanics making the entire top surface responsive to touch, to the LED display providing instant feedback on carbonation. Powered by a CO2 canister and featuring high gloss surfaces, brushed aluminium and polished stainless steel details, the machine has an all-over refined feel.
Using water direct from the tap, the Sodastream Source instantly creates sparkling water, and carbonated flavoured beverages.
The Sodastream Source is available from DionWired nationally and online at Yuppiechef.
Checkers’ cheesed off
You’ve seen the commercial, now sample the wine and cheese. Checkers has launched its new cheese range, led by the top cheddar brand from Wyke Farms in the UK, as well as South Africa’s own Fairview blue-veined Roquefort, along with new wines from eight of the world’s top wine producing countries.
New wines, including French Bordeaux blends and Italian Chiantis have been launched by the retailer which is emphasising its quality food ranges.
As Neil Schreuder, Checkers marketing director says: “We’ve sourced best-in-class, world-renowned cheeses from artisanal and other specialty producers to bring the pleasure of the delicatessen back to the supermarket, giving more South Africans a true taste of local and international flavours. The same goes for our wines that we’ve selected, not only from South Africa’s best, but also from top-flight European winemakers and those from New Zealand and Chile.”
And if you haven’t seen the ads yet, featuring celeb chef Gordon Ramsay and SA artiste, Nataniel, you must have been hiding under a rock. They went viral before launch and are probably among the most talked about retail chain ads ever flighted in SA. The first one featured the duo and Checkers’ new meant range.
– 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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