Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches:
- A portable water filter product from Aqua4Life that could save lives
- Havas gambles on new experiential brand campaign
- Get the Skinny on this World Design Capital 2014 design collaboration
Portable water filter
Aqua4Life has launched the chemical-free, micro-filtration system called LifeStraw in South Africa. Drinking water through a LifeStraw can assist in the prevention of illness from any bacteria or microscopic parasites that may be present in untreated water, as it claims to remove up to 99.9999% of bacteria, viruses, parasites and turbidity by filtering particles larger than 0.02 microns.
The LifeStraw product range is from a Swiss-based company, VerstergaardFrandsen, committed to improving the health of vulnerable people. It was awarded ‘Best Invention of the Year 2005’ by TIME, ‘Europe’s Best Invention, 2006’ according to Reader’s Digest, and was proclaimed to be ‘A Water Purifier that can Change Lives’ by the New York Times.
The product range launched in SA includes: LifeStraw Personal (filters up to 1000 litres), LifeStraw Go (filters up to 1000 litres), LifeStraw Home unit (filters up to 4500 litres), and LifeStraw units which filter from 1000 litres up to 100 000 litres of water — ideal for rural and disadvantaged communities.
The product will be available through selected retailers end-May 2014. With the purchase of any LifeStraw product, Vestergaard promises to provide clean water for a child in SA for the period of one year through its social responsibility programme.
Dicing with addiction
Each individual art piece consists of 6048 dice, each individually stuck down by hand. The total size of the art pieces spans 1.1m high and 1.5m wide.
“This idea was proactively generated by our team and then created in cooperation with the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP),” explains Eoin Welsh, executive creative director at Havas WW Johannesburg.
Continues Welsh, “Gambling is a very serious problem in its own right, and the repercussions of this move far beyond the money one might lose. This addiction puts one’s family and whole life at risk, and we are proud to be able to use this project to create some much-needed awareness and talkability around this subject.”
These outdoor installations are being showcased at an array of public places, including popular shopping malls.
No wallflowers here
In line with Skinny laMinx’s WDC2014 theme of cross-pollination, designer Heather Moore approached local wallpaper company, Robin Sprong, to team up on a collection of made-to-order Skinny laMinx wall coverings. The result is a celebration of shape, colour and composition, showcasing a selection of Moore’s much-loved designs including: Orla, Duikers, Brancusi Stripe, Wild Flowers, Bowls, Woodpile and Flower Fields.
The Skinny laMinx collection wallpaper is made to order from Robin Sprong Wallpaper, which has recently started using a new type of pre-gummed wallpaper that is PVC free, 100% recyclable, and is printed with non-toxic latex inks.
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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