Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
- Spree revamps
- Moving Tactics helps show off Under Armour’s moves
- Iceland’s Reyka Vodka comes to SA
Spree reinvents
South Africa’s largest online fashion store, Spree, has unveiled a new look to its website and logo, representing the retailer’s move towards a more customer-focused e-commerce company which is meant to appeal to both male and female consumers.
Spree, part of Media24’s ecommerce division, offers women’s and men’s apparel plus children’s and baby clothes from local designers, suppliers and international brands and labels. Says Vincent Hoogduijn, Media24 Ecommerce CEO, “Our business has massively evolved since our inception four years ago; along with our rapid growth over the last few years, it’s very important to be relevant to all our customers. With our attention firmly on the service and value we add to our customers’ lives, we pride ourselves on our innovation in tech, with solutions such as the Image Search and Similar Style features found in our app and as the first of their kind in retail in Africa.”
Reflecting its vision for the future, Spree’s new logo was designed in-house by Ryk Benade and represents its continued focus on its customers with an elegant and simple design.
Alongside the launch of The Index, an online sneaker and streetwear destination for men and women, plus Spree’s mobile-app-first approach, the logo update represents its ongoing transition to a company well beyond its original female-focused heritage.
spree.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
Under Armour launches in SA
Under Armour, the American performance footwear, sports and casual apparel brand, recently teamed up with Moving Tactics for a fun, interactive, activation event to create awareness for the opening of its new store at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
Three technical elements worked together to drive interaction with shoppers, who registered to take part in the event via tablets. The first element involved a “bicycle dual” [sic], in which two participants would cycle against each other on stationary bicycles to achieve the best overall speed. Two large 55-inch screens displayed and recorded their times for them to monitor in real time while cycling. Secondly, the “punch power” element recorded how hard shoppers could hit a punching bag. Micro-sensors placed inside the bag recorded the power of the punch and relayed this data so that it could be displayed on a 42-inch touchscreen. Based on individual performances on these two activities, shoppers were rewarded with Under Armour discount vouchers.
According to Lorianne Cloete, marketing lead at Apollo Brands, “we had nothing but positive feedback on the activation, which ticked so many boxes — engagement, fun, hype, driving traffic to store etc. We had loads of really good sales generated from the 20% vouchers and a fantastic amount of traffic to the store. We also managed to create a database of over 1000 people which is incredible.”
Says Andy Higginbotham, creative director at Moving Tactics Digital Impact, “We also created a custom-designed touch table that provided shoppers with information regarding Under Armour’s product range and the various technologies and R&D innovations that differentiate their product offering.”
Under Armour will be running the same centre court activation in Sandton, Johannesburg, in this month.
movingtactics.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
underarmour.com • Facebook • Twitter
Arctic Vodka
Iceland’s first vodka, Reyka, which debuted in 2005 and swiftly gained a global reputation as a clean, smooth vodka with a natural sweetness, is now available on local shelves.
A product of Borganes, a small village steeped in Viking history, Reyka Vodka is handcrafted in tiny batches in Iceland’s first vodka distillery.
Says Shaun Stemmett, brand manager for Reyka, “Fuelled by living on the edge of the Arctic Circle, Icelanders come from a tradition of self-sufficiency and making many things by hand, infusing nature and our own unique perspective in virtually everything we do. From the resourceful use of lava rock and glacier spring water, to being the only vodka in the world that uses a Carter-Head Still in distillation, Reyka Vodka is able to bring you the essence of Iceland by producing a smooth tasting vodka unlike any other.”
Winner of the Vodka Trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) and, in 2013, the Gold Medal in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Reyka Vodka is retailing at SA liquor stores for R299.95.
reyka.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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