Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- Lancewood extends braai master experience
- Olli launches meals for mums
- Mudanga.com for African artifacts
Emoji meals
Keeping up with the trend of real-time social media consumer engagement, cheese brand Lancewood has brought an interesting addition to its Ultimate Braai Master campaign — Emoji Meals.
According to Shereen Anderhold, Lancewood marketing manager, the team recognised the need to provide their social media followers with an entertaining, interactive bot that enhances the televised Braai Master viewing experience. The Emoji Meals mechanic was conceptualised by M&C Saatchi Abel, which partnered with sister company, Creative Spark, to develop an app that would ensure viewers could easily access a variety of different content.
By sending a food emoji to Lancewood’s Facebook page via private message, the bot instantly responds with a recipe or tip related to the emoji. For example, a strawberry emoji returns a recipe for fruit cheese salad with strawberry vinaigrette.
“People are often bombarded with a slew of marketing messages on Facebook pages. These posts quickly lose their appeal as they lack the essence of what these platforms are about: engaging with customers, giving users the opportunity to receive information in a fun, educational way and speaking to their core interests via inspiring, relevant conversations. We wanted to take our support of the Ultimate Braai Master to another level and give followers of the series a quality, instant offering that is attuned to their passion for social media channels.”
lancewood.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
mcsaatchiabel.co.za • Facebook • Twitter • Ramify
creativespark.co.za • Facebook • Twitter • Ramify
Olli on the go
Olli Organic, a range of foods aimed at moms and their toddlers, has rebranded to Olli with a new look-and-feel, using illustrations on the packaging to set the brand apart from its competitors, and launching three new products.
Olli foods are made locally using ingredients from vetted suppliers and producers to ensure the foods meet exacting standards. The rebrand is a result of it becoming increasingly difficult to secure organic produce in the quantities and varieties needed to meet demand. Olli took the decision to increase the supplier network to ensure availability.
First on shelf are the new on-the-go-snack Olli Rice Bites, gluten-free and suitable for vegans, plus free of artificial colourants. Not forgetting the moms, OlliMoms are an on-the-go snack for breastfeeding moms whose bodies are working hard to keep up, making them hungry more often. The individually-wrapped handmade Just-For-Mom Biscuits are high in fibre, high in energy and protein and contain prebiotics Inulin and Oligofructose to stimulate the growth of good flora.
olli.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
Focus on Africa
Recently launched Mudanga.com is an online marketplace what essentially provides emerging creatives and small businesses an alternate avenue to market and sell their products, as well as tell their stories.
(Mu)Danga is an ancient Shona word describing the heart of every home — the kraal. Tino Gavaza, Mudanga CEO, says: “In Africa this is the lifeline of every tribe, carrying the base of ritual performances and, of course, showing the prosperity of the people. In a quest to shed light on African origins, we have designed a platform to educate, enlighten and invest in tribal distinctions weaved across the motherland. We live in a land that is rich in culture and tradition so it is our duty to expose the best of who we are to the world.”
The platform sells African products made in Africa by Africans — from fashion to wine and literature — while capturing the essence of an authentic African market, narrating the stories that represent the craftsmanship and creativity behind the scenes: “Our main goal is to uplift communities around us, firstly by providing a platform where our vendor partners can make a living and support their families; and secondly through community development projects in partnership with various non-profit organisations.”
A percentage of every sale made on Mudanga.com goes into the Mudanga Community Fund, which will be used to fund community-development projects.
mudanga.com • Facebook • Twitter
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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