Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- Slo-Jo focuses on taste
- SAB launches Blue Label
- Platinum gets a shine/skitter
Becoming a beverage brand
Beverage industry taste architects, Slo-Jo, has become a individual brand after being the industry’s best-kept secret for 15 years. Shelf Life asked marketing manager, Nadine Damen, about the brand’s transformation from a ’90s-inspired silver logo to the standalone retro lips that depict everything Slo-Jo is about: taste.
Back when Geoff Prissman and Johnny Davis, friends and cofounders of Slo-Jo, rescued a beverage company heading for liquidation, smoothies weren’t a popular drink choice, or even featured on restaurant menus. Fifteen years on, Slo-Jo has morphed into a business that markets a 360-degree consultation, conceptualisation and training solution with its products. From smoothies, fruit crushers, hot drinks, milkshakes, ice teas and coulis to boozy shakes and speciality beverage toppings, their marketing strategy is built upon the backbone of good supply channels, solid relationships and innovation, above all things.
According to Damen, Slo-Jo crafted the new brand using a mixture of old and new elements, and a new slogan “Taste Architects” was married with the original candy stripes and ’50s-styled waitress holding a serving tray: “The look and feel of the brand encapsulates the nostalgic brand feel, with the innovation of cutting-edge design and smart packaging. Slo-Jo has also recently refurbished [its] packaging design — incorporating consistency in terms of colours and interweaving Slo-Jo’s ‘candy stripes’, lips and retro waitress on every range of product packaging.”
Since Damen joined the team, she’s dedicated her time to ‘brand housekeeping’ and putting identity guidelines in place to create consistency and uniformity amongst all the products: “I started the repackaging project to streamline and unify Slo-Jo’s packaging for every product range. This was to align the products with Slo-Jo’s corporate identity, brand guidelines and institute a stronger product association with the revised look and feel of the brand.
“That was just the beginning; we have renamed some of the products to ensure longevity, categorized; and regrouped products that allow for a better user experience with our clients — our catalogue is now intuitive and easy to navigate.”
Damen has used the ‘best bits’ of the brand — the candy stripes, the ’50s waitress mascot and the lips icon — to develop a well-rounded nostalgic brand that portrayed innovation: “I think the rebrand captures our ‘fun’ side a little more,” she says.
The team travels extensively to hone in upon trends that have exploded globally, and these trends are brought back to South Africa and localised to best suit the South African palate.
Blue is the new black
South African Breweries has launched its first single-malt variety beer, Carling Blue Label. The new addition joins the Carling family, which until now has been represented by Carling Black Label, SA’s most internationally awarded beer.
Carling’s general manager, Vijay Govindsamy, says the move by Carling was made after it was certain that it could deliver an exceptional product that would be distinctive and yet retain the qualities of Black Label: “We have created our first single-malt beer that is exceptionally made and provides a richly rewarding experience for anyone wanting to make a bold choice. This beer is brewed for those who are unafraid of doing things first and who are bold enough to try new experiences. Those who learn, explore the world and create new things.”
Brewmaster, Danie Odendaal, says it is made from a select single-variety malted barley: “The normal blended barley-malt varieties are not used in this beer. This malt is specially selected and cultivated, and is stored separately from other blended malts, to ensure its single-variety integrity when used in Carling Blue Label Beer.”
Design consultancy, Berge Farrell, created the new bottle, can and secondary packaging design as a visual expression of the premium, ‘contemporary masculinity’ of the brand, and its single-minded pursuit of excellence.
The new variety is available at all main liquor retailers and may be found in 330ml non-returnable bottles and 440ml cans.
www.sab.co.za • Twitter • Facebook
Putting the glossy into platinum
At the 16th annual Plat Africa Awards in Sandton this month, Anglo American Platinum partnered with SHINE/SKITTER magazine to unveil the latest jewellery and accessories trends for next year alongside the magazine’s 2016 edition.
Meant to be synonymous with excellence in platinum jewellery design, the awards are open to students, apprentices and professional jewellers working in SA. The industry’s top achievers were recognised for their work, with the student category winner being Karin Niehaus from Jack Friedman Jewellers and top honours in the professional catergory going to Bhekithemba Ngema from Ben & Co Designs.
The event also saw the launch of the 2016 edition of SHINE/SKITTER magazine — an annual glossy showcase of the world’s finest gems, jewellery designs and watches, published by Media24 Magazines’ Women’s Interest Division and bagged with the December 2016 editions of FAIRLADY, True Love, Sarie and Grazia. This reach reportedly makes SHINE/SKITTER the biggest luxury, jewellery and watch publication in SA.
www.angloamericanplatinum.com • Twitter • Facebook
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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Carling Blue Label – so why does SAB not print the ingredients on the bottle? This could be because they put a few things other than just barley, yeast and water into their mash tuns!