Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging, design and food launches:
- An untamed look for KWV Wild Africa Cream
- USN launches endurance range
- The Capital aims to take over business travel space, and
- Nespresso promotions deck the halls
Wild Africa ‘untamed’
KWV Wild Africa Cream liqueur, which recently won Double Gold at the 2014 Michaelangelo Wine & Spirit Awards and was named ‘Best Liqueur’ Trophy Winner, has been rebranded to drive international sales in 2015 (and in time to take advantage of Christmas sales end of last year), with a self-titled “#EleganceUntamed” theme (hashtag included)
The new look is described as being more elegant and is aimed at “tripling” global sales. Which will probably work — put one of the big five on it and the tourists will buy it (me, too, actually).
Comments Anneke Mackenzie, global brand manager for RTDs and Liqueurs at KWV: “The new packaging, designed by Bravo Design, now more accurately reflects the product’s intrinsic quality, drawing on the leopard, featured in countless African myths and legends, as the inspiration for a new-look Wild Africa Cream. It is elegant but with an untamed twist; it is ‘elegance untamed’.”
The main label has intricate detail printed on metallic paper, with gold-foil detail. High builds have been applied to the logo and the grain of the leopard print to provide a tactile experience. The label shape has been adapted to form a shield at the top, down to the leopard print at the bottom. The capsule in gold has an embossed logo that has been shaved to expose the silver underneath it.
The new customised, more-elongated bottle shape is meant to provide standout value within the category, and the embossed leopard accent around the shoulder of the bottle and the brand name at the base should add brand differentiation. The main ingredients are fresh cream, caramel and brandy.
“We believe that we can triple our current volumes globally by attracting loyal customers who will purchase the brand on many occasions throughout the year,” adds Mackenzie.
KWV Wild Africa Cream liqueur is distributed all over the world and is most popular in Germany, Paraguay, Angola and Japan, according to KWV.
Purefit in a bottle
USN has launched a new range of supplements called Purefit Series, which has been developed for both novice and professional endurance sport enthusiasts with performance-enhancing nutrients. There are no artificial colourants, flavourants, sweeteners or preservatives.
Gareth Powell, national marketing coordinator at USN, says the brand has been busy with a sampling campaign to introduce the new range to consumers at various high profile sporting events.
Purefit Series began rolling out at pharmacy retailers from the end of November 2014, and into independent bike shops in early December through appointed wholesaler, TWT.
New hotel group Capital
The Capital’s properties are made up of hotels and fully-serviced luxury apartments, offering a broad range of short, medium and long-term accommodation and conference facilities at affordable rates.
The Capital Group managing director, Marc Wachsberger, explains: “From the outset, we identified an escalating need for safe and cost effective accommodation that would directly address the needs of the ever-growing number blue-chip and multinational firms basing themselves in Gauteng’s bustling Sandton business district.
“This growing demand, coupled with a state of economy dictating that company-travel expenditure be more closely monitored, meant that executive apartments fast presented the more affordable alternative; a quality, yet ‘no frills’ product that delivered real value to business travellers.”
This concept, now a popular global phenomenon, combines the best of both worlds — a full hotel service with the option of self-catering apartments, and a host of facilities geared towards the requirements of both business and leisure travellers.
The current portfolio consists of six properties situated in Sandton, Johannesburg, and average occupancy rate sits at 83% month on month.
“Our ambition is to have 17 properties by 2018, from Sandton to Pretoria, Cape Town, Gaborone and Windhoek. We’re working towards that and the rebrand is one further step. Our existing client base is 95% international, from large corporations, staying for four days and longer. They want their own space and rates are the determining factor,” Wachsberger adds.
Each of the hotels and apartments have their own style, character and grading from five star to three star, so travellers have a choice to suit taste, needs and budget.
Festive coffee
Since December, Nespresso has been ‘owning’ large malls near its main retail outlets and stores to promote its Nespresso machine to Christmas and holiday shoppers. The ‘Festive Delights’ campaign is being run by Primall Media, Primedia Unlimited’s shopping-mall advertising specialist.
“Targeting the LSM 10 bracket, the campaign [is making] use of big, bold centre-court packages and sites that are close to points of sale to make a big impact in the targeted malls,” says Primall Media’s executive: sales and marketing, Lee Curtis.
Digital screens were also used with the objective of increasing awareness levels and the frequency of the message for amplifying the brand message.
The national campaign started in November 2014 and runs until January 2015 in the following malls: Menlyn (Pretoria), Gateway (Umhlanga), V&A Waterfront (Cape Town), Sandton City (Johannesburg), Brooklyn (Pretoria), Canal Walk (Cape Town) and Tygervalley (Cape Town).
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 over 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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