Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- New Bratz dolls for South Africa
- Wild design from Wildetecture
- KWV commemorates Big Bill
The Bratz are back in town
Bratz dolls, an MGA brand that had been on “vacation” for the past two years, are back on South African shelves with a new range and a strong social media campaign.
In collaboration with Chat Factory, Twiga Communications strategised a social influencer campaign to drive awareness and generate interest in the new range of dolls on behalf of Prima Toys. Bratz dolls matching the look, interests or personality of a selection of social influencers were assigned to each of them and they received dolls, together with personalised notes which ended with a question, prompting the influencers to share their answers and generate excitement using #BratzinSA.
Explains Franco D’Onofrio, MD of Twiga Communications, “Targeting specific influencers played a key role in the virtual launch of the dolls. As such, the campaign was a success from the outset, trending on Twitter from the early afternoon through to the evening on the day of launch.”
The virtual launch was followed by a ‘real-world’ launch, with the social influencers, members of media and other VIPs welcoming the dolls onto the shelves the night before they went on sale nationally.
D’Onofrio says it was important for the overall PR strategy to be aligned to the brand objective of augmenting the Bratz presence in the virtual world: “The Bratz campaign needed to be highly targeted, effective and make a big noise in a short space of time, and then be supported long-term through sustained messaging. More importantly, the campaign needed to get Bratz off the shelves and into shopping baskets, which it is successfully doing.”
Jodene Shaer of Chat Factory adds, “We thought out [of] the box and didn’t do the obvious, which would have been sending the dolls to moms with daughters. Instead we targeted social influencers who have exciting, engaging audiences and know how to have fun online. We gave adults, not kids, the dolls to play with.
“While PR is evolving, and there is a large focus on digital, it is important to balance this off with communications across all channels, including broadcast and print. The #BRATZinSA campaign was ‘integrated’ in this sense, and this is the key to success. It is not only about understanding your target market, but also the needs of the client and their business requirements. A successful campaign delivers on both fronts.”
www.primatoys.co.za/brand/bratz • Twitter • Facebook
A whale of a design
When Cape-based Wildetecture Design Studio was approached by a Scottish engineering firm, specialising in marine engineering, to design furniture for its new offices, it looked to the company’s Viking ancestry for inspiration, leading to some rather unconventional results.
According to principle designer, Dean Hoffman, the end product is as visually powerful as it is delicate: “To achieve this fine balance of intricate and delicate strong lines was a timeous and subtle process. This Wildetecture example exemplifies exploring design concepts through ancestral influence. It’s a vehicle to a sense of rightfully belonging.
“The outcome is a beautiful piece that will grace the boardroom of a Scottish shipping company that appreciates the concept of a warm welcome from a far-off distant shore.”
www.wildetecture.com • Twitter • Instagram
Larger than life
William ‘Big Bill’ Millar — boxing champ, decorated war hero, Springbok rugby captain and the first general manager of KWV in 1924 — is the motivation behind Big Bill, a new wine brand launched this month.
Millar passed away in 1948, but his legend lives on with this new brand launch: a Petit Verdot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz red blend and Chenin Blanc/Sauvignon Blanc/Grenache white blend.
Says KWV global brand manager, Tania Joubert, “The brand’s great flavour, combined with its vintage look — which is appealing on shelf — has already proven to be successful internationally, particularly in the US and the UK and, we soon realised its local potential.
“There is only one wine barrel in the world large enough to bear Big Bill’s name, which resides in the KWV cellar. Believed to be the biggest vat in the southern hemisphere with an almost 22 000l capacity, the French oak barrel dates back to 1843 and, even lying on its side, dwarfs all other barrels in the cellar.”
According to Brenden Schwartz, owner and package design specialist at Bravo Design, which developed the brand’s retro vintage handcrafted look-and-feel, he took his creative inspiration from the colossal barrel and traced the actual lettering from the vat and, from that, developed the brand around Big Bill’s life story: “The result [is] a brand that is on trend and visually appealing with strong lettering, colour and form, backed by an authentic story. Having a brand with a real life story of a person who was such a legendary character attached to it is priceless.”
Available at Makro and Spar Liquor Shops nationwide, the white blend is R50 and the red R58.
www.kwv.co.za • Twitter • Facebook • #BigBill
Shelf Life is MarkLives.com’s weekly column covering all things new. Notify us of yours at shelflife at marklives dot com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
Cheryl Hunter (@cherylhunter) has written for the South African media, marketing and advertising industries for more than 15 years. A former editor of M&M in Independent Newspapers and contributor to Bizcommunity, AdFocus, AdReview and the Ad Annual, she has also produced for various television networks and currently consults on communication strategy and media liaison.
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