Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s pick of new product, packaging and design launches this week:
- Johnnie Walker Red bottle undergoes its first redesign in over a decade;
- DHL speeds into Africa; and
- Fashion Media helps Edgars talk to consumers in store.
Colour Christmas ‘Red’
Johnnie Walker has updated its Johnnie Walker Red Label bottle, which has remained unchanged for over a decade, with a slicker look to bring the brand in line with the other Johnnie Walker variants.
The story goes that Alexander Walker designed the iconic ‘square’ bottle in 1860 to allow for safer shipping. The label was angled at exactly 24 degrees. It hasn’t changed that much since then and this is the first redesign in 10 years.
“The redesign includes chamfered corners to give the bottle a slicker, sharper and more masculine finish and to bring Red Label in line with other Johnnie Walker variants. Increased bottle height, double collar neck profile and a higher quality Striding Man logo contribute towards a sleeker, more elegant design,” the brand states.
Accelerating DHL Africa rollout
Engen is helping DHL roll out its services into Africa with a new partnership that will see DHL extablishing express services at Engen forecourts across the continent: the pilot project will be in Namibia, followed by rollout in Botswana, Ghana, DRC, Kenya and Tanzania.
DHL is also introducing a new product offering, Express Easy, to streamline document and parcel delivery by offering consumers a choice of seven sizes of envelopes or boxes ,with a fixed price per size, rather than weight.
Comments Sumesh Rahavendra, DHL Express head of marketing for sub-Saharan Africa: “The express logistics industry, and specifically retail services for consumers and small and medium enterprises, are becoming hugely important in Africa. For us to better service this market and open up global opportunities for students, small business owners and general consumers, we needed to both increase access to our express products but, simultaneously, make it easier and more affordable to use them.
“Engen is therefore an obvious partner for us – they are not only a solid African business but have an extensive retail network across the continent, which can benefit consumers. ”
Edgars unveils makeover
Edgars has had a makeover, rolling out its new-generation store design using Fashion Media to promote its new look and new brands to customers in store.
Targeting new and existing Edgars consumers, Primedia Unlimited’s Fashion Media has used multimedia platforms to promote new clothing trends and brands being carried in the various stores, and to highlight the chic new interiors that have resulted from the store refurbishment programme that was completed in September.
“Edgars realises that innovation, cutting-edge store design and fabulous brands are key to remaining one of the leading fashion and cosmetic retailers in the country. The new-generation stores are not carbon copies of each other and do not carry the same lines; each store has been tailored according to market needs and their interior advertising needed to reflect this individual style,” explains Sean Reed, Fashion Media CEO.
The Edgars Club Magazine is being used to advertise the store upgrades and raise awareness of the new brands, and Fashion Media marketing material is being employed in 56 stores, using various elements including window branding, escalator branding, hanging banners, lift doors and sensomatic branding.
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 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 South Africa’s industry trendwatching portal, TREND. at www.trendlives.info, in partnership with MarkLives.com.
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