by Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland) These are some of our favourite designs, launches, activations and new products, featured in Shelf Life during 2014, in the FMCG and marketing communications industry in South Africa… (in no particular order).
Exclusive Books
One of the most high-profile rebranding exercises was that of Exclusive Books, by Switch, following upon the sale of Exclusive Books to a consortium led by Global Capital. In August, the iconic brand launched its new brand identity, interior and exterior store branding, as well as the new in-store coffee shop brand, the EB. Café.
The stated vision for the book retailer is to create bookstores that are destinations in their own right. Switch developed a design that was inspired by the idea of the colophon, the printer’s logo that appears on the spine of books.
Made by You and Cavendish
Native VML’s pop-up store at Cavendish Square shopping centre in Cape Town in October, contained usable goods and resalable art created from the shopping centre’s waste. ‘Made by You and Cavendish’ was the name of the store and the experiential campaign from Native for client, Cavendish Square. The idea was to make shoppers part of sustainable product design by letting them know the kinds of things that their rubbish can produce that have value.
Tashas Dubai
Trendy Tashas from Famous Brands went global with its first international restaurant in Dubai a few months ago. Specialist hospitality interior design agency, Design Partnership, was responsible for the latest addition, which again featured Tashas famous paper ceiling-art installations, commissioned for each site with a unique theme for each store. The installation in Dubai was created by Elonah O’Neil Reid from Studio Meer in South Africa.
Primedia Broadcasting
An important rebrand took place on 1 September when Primedia Broadcasting unveiled new brand identities for all five of its commercial brands: 947, 702, KFM, CapeTalk and EWN plus Crime Line, as well as a refreshed logo for the broadcaster itself. The brand refresh was aimed at distilling the core values of each media platform, following upon research by Yellowwood Brand Architects.
Chaplon Tea
Johannesburg Stock Exchange
The new Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) brand identity, courtesy of the team at Interbrand Sampson De Villiers, caused a strong debate on social media when the new logo was unveiled earlier in the year. The objective was to make the JSE brand more relevant to all stakeholders and a truly African brand.
John Brown South Africa’s new office
Peppadew pasta sauces
The Peppadew brand branched out and launched a range of pasta sauces mid-year, in addition to the popular pickled peppers that made it famous globally. The pasta-sauce range has a shelf life of a year and comes in: Piquanté Pepper and Garlic; Piquanté Pepper and Olive; a Green Pepper and Garlic sauce; Tomato and Basil; and a Tomato and Jalapeno Chilli sauce.
Nedbank ice bed
Joe Public launched the coolest brand activation — literally — with the Nedbank supersize ice bed set up at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg in June for the 2014 Nedbank Winter Campaign to encourage the donation of blankets to the less fortunate.
Oreo in 3D chalk
Billed as a “world-first”, Oreo launched its 3D chalk Oreo display in June to promote its partnership with Paramount Pictures for the global release of director Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction. The impactful 3D sketch was created in collaboration with local artist, Mak1One, at The Zone @ Rosebank, Johannesburg.
Shelf Life will return in January 2015
Shelf Life is a weekly column by Louise Marsland. 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 20 years as a former editor of magazines AdVantage, Marketing Mix and Progressive Retailing, as well as websites Bizcommunity.com and FMCGFiles. She also edited the weekly Wednesday Media & Marketing Page for The New Age newspaper. She is currently the publishing editor of industry trendwatching portal, TRENDAFRiCA, for consumer insight, research and trends in Africa; a regular industry columnist and speaker; a consultant on content strategy; and contributing editor to Fast Company South Africa magazine, which has just launched in South Africa.
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