Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s pick of new product, packaging and design launches this week:
- Lay’s serves up a deli variant;
- A brand refresh for Quirk’s magical Red & Yellow school;
- Virgin sexes it up in the malls; and
- Not to get too technical but Pyrotec’s access to new pack-printing technology means it can expand its African footprint.
Deli-inspired chips
A more-discerning consumer palette and the search for premium products — and no doubt the obscene focus on MasterChef and other premium cooking shows — have led to brands such as Lay’s adding a premium “Deli” range to its chip offering.
Lay’s recently launched its new Kettle Cooked Deli range, as it put it, tp “meet the increasing demand for additional choice in the South African premium snacks category”.
The new Lays Deli Kettle Cooked collection was developed with four deli-inspired flavour combinations: Cheese Gratin & Caramelized Onion; Sundried Tomato with Olive; Jalapeno & Cream Cheese and Creamy Peppered Fillet.
The creative campaign around the new range from Simba Chips focuses on the payoff line: ‘Lay’s Deli Brings Back the Mmm!’ and is the “ideal treat to enhance a couple’s shared moments”.
Since I’m probably not allowed to say that I find that a tad wanky, I’ll go with cringy instead. But the new flavours do sound delectable.
The Lay’s Deli range has been available from select key retail stores and forecourts in Gauteng from November 2013 and there is a full nationwide rollout early in this New Year.
Red & Yellow’s logic and magic
It was a collaborative approach spearheaded by Carmen Schaefer, graphic design and art direction lecturer at the school. Everyone across the business was involved in the flexi-logo development, including the students (being a large representation of the market itself).
It is intended that the corporate identity constantly evolve with the school and, while the ampersand symbol may vary, the rest of the logo stays constant. The flexi-logo also acknowledges the evolving marketing communications industry and how Red & Yellow’s courses will adapt and evolve as the market evolves.
The Red & Yellow element of the logo (the yellow symbolising logic and red, creativity) has remained constant. Staff member and student interpretation of the meaning they put into the brand will be symbolised by the ampersand they choose to display.
Virgin Mobile hits the malls
I love what is happening in the in-store and mall space which is, without a doubt, the new frontier in product direct and experiential marketing.
Virgin Mobile SA recently teamed up with Primedia Unlimited’s Mall Active to promote the brand and grow sales through a competition in which the ultimate prize was a Citroen DS3 Cabrio 155 Sport.
The goal was to drive traffic to the nearest Virgin Mobile store to enable customers, who signed up with Virgin Mobile on a contract or TopUp package, to be in line to win the car.
“With an awesome prize up for grabs and a highly visible activation campaign that takes place in close proximity to points of purchase, Virgin Mobile wanted to win more market share through this campaign,” says Mall Active’s Travis Brown.
When done well, mall and in-store activations can be an energetic and fun way to promote products and brands to consumers who are already a receptive, captive audience present to shop and be entertained.
Pyrotec boosts African footprint
Pyrotec, the sole South African distributor of Markem-Imaje’s range of machinery, can now also offer CSAT printing solutions to its customers as a result of the acquisition by Markem-Imaje of the CSAT inkjet subsidiary from Heidelberg.
CSAT, headquartered in Eggenstein, Germany, specialises in integrating digital printing and labelling systems into industrial production lines, and focuses on supplying the pharmaceutical and label conversion sectors.
According to Rowan Beattie, Pyrotec MD, the acquisition of CSAT expands Pyrotec PackMark into a wider sphere of operation and will act as a springboard to establish its footprint into Africa, an entirely new market for the company.
“Globally, the whole industry is going the digital printing route and PackMark’s core business also forms part of the digital printing world. We use the same technology, but with different applications,” explains Beattie.
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 19 of her more-than-25-year 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 publishing editor of industry trendwatching portal, TRENDAFRiCA, for consumer insight, research and trends in Africa.
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