Independent industry news for marketing, advertising & media execs
Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches.
Alcohol brands dominate this week with Glenfiddich whiskey celebrating 125 years this year; Avondale wines launching sustainable new packaging; a tall order for the Heineken brand; and Danone extends its school programmes.
Back in the ancient history of the internet (we’re talking 1982 here), four students at Carnegie Mellon University designed the first ‘internet appliance’ – an internet-accessible vending machine. The story goes that these computer science students were working quite far from the departmental cold-drink vending machine, and would have to deal with frustration and disappointment when, having made the trek across the campus to get a cold beverage, they would find either an empty machine or one that was filled with warm drinks.
So the people others would say were ‘geeks’, but whom I’d call pure genius, got together and hacked a solution. They installed sensors in the vending machine that interfaced with their departmental mainframe, a DEC PDP-10. From then on, these four students could be anywhere in the world and by merely using a program called Finger they could to get the vending machine to tell them exactly how many drinks were available, and how cold they were. To appreciate the marvel of this, we’re talking a time when most people had faxes.
The very first internet-accessible vending machine spawned many successors, making it—in effect—the first ‘internet meme’: vending machines in campuses across America, coffee pots being watched by webcams, a toilet being watched by a webcam (a gag – this was just a single pic, so nobody’s privacy was invaded) . Oh, the fun that was had in the days of the Arpanet (aka the pre-Internet).
Well, times have moved on and the internet has changed. Now we have Twitter. And yes, vending machines have evolved too: they have LED displays, soft lighting and wonderful clear-glass fronts, so we can watch the robot arm as it reaches up to the correct place and collects our desired beverage (or snack) for us.
In our modern era, we also have clever marketers who don’t miss a trick, like BOS’ digital agency Cow Africa, who were asked to come up with an original marketing tool to persuade people to try the product out.
Sex. The fact is, most teenagers do it, and varsity is the place where most people leaving their teens can first be open about experimenting, discussing and learning about sex and relationships. As young adults, varsity students are able to express their sexuality more openly amongst their peers.
That’s why Durex actively targets this segment, using ‘youth media’ like MTV, YouTube, and Facebook, and sponsoring youth events whilst also engaging in sample campaigns on campuses. Early adoption means a better chance of brand loyalty and of committing to safe sex.
Durex is an acknowledged masterbrand, and the name is a generic term for the condoms in much of Europe, the UK, Japan and SA. In the US and Canada the condom market is still dominated by Trojan, although Durex has been chipping away at this market share over the years.
Despite everything we know about safe sex today, selling condoms to youngsters is still a hard sell (if you’ll forgive the obvious pun).
Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches. We couldn’t resist a screaming goat, although we don’t think the meme will outlast kittens; Kellogg’s and JWT lauded internationally for local brand launch and Consol lets its inner party animal loose.
The big switch off is part of The Earth Hour campaign, which has been running since 2007 and was conceived by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) with the help of the Leo Burnett Company. Aimed at creating awareness of the impact the consumption of power by human beings is having on all the other inhabitants of this planet; this WWF inspired campaign encourages homes and businesses to switch off non-essentials and to think about the need for all of us to take action on climate change.
Held on March 23, 2013 from 20h30 to 21h30 during the local time of participating countries, the first event in Sydney saw some 2.2 million locals down under switching off non-essential lights.
Under the slogan “Uniting people to protect the planet”, this year Earth Hour began in Uganda, a state where 6000 hectare of forest is destroyed each month. The WWF in that country pegged 2,700 hectares of degraded land that it challenged government, business and citizens to repopulate with about 500,000 trees. In Botswana the country’s former president, Festus Mogae took up the challenge by promising to plant 100,000 trees in a local region where land has been compromised, called Goodhope.
Earth Hour 2013 CEO and Co-Founder Andy Ridley said acts like this were by no way extraordinary: “People from all walks of life, from all nations around the world, are the lifeblood of the Earth Hour interconnected global community. They have proven time and time again that if you believe in something strongly enough, you can achieve amazing things. These stories aren’t unique, this is happening all over the world.”
When we think of the exemplars of the human spirit, it’s easy to think of sporting heroes, artists and other remarkable people who have truly excelled. One’s mind easily turns to extraordinary South Africans like multi-award winning paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit; or the internationally acclaimed singer Miriam Makeba; or renowned author and anti-apartheid activist, Alan Paton. Then there’s the man who suffered greatly but overcame to lead a nation and in the process became a global icon – Nelson Mandela.
All these people have something in common: a spirit of determination to persevere, to overcome and to triumph. These are the kinds of role models we hope our children will emulate. But there are other, more everyday heroes, whose successes don’t always play out on a public stage.
Recently I heard a story from a friend who stopped at a garage near Estcourt, and happened to pull up alongside a KZN hospital outpatient bus. Whilst filling her tank, she watched as the emergency worker helped an old man with Parkinson’s up the bus’s narrow stairs. One slow step at a time, the man painstakingly climbed the vehicle’s stairs to take his seat.
All the other pensioners in the bus were grumbling and impatient, waiting to be taken to the local hospital timeously for their check-ups and medical visits. It must have taken at least 15 minutes for the man to board, but not once did the medical employee show any sign of impatience. He just calmly and compassionately supported the old man, as they worked to achieve a common objective.
MarkLives.com runs a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week. We recognise well thought out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three in one) magazine covers and celebrate the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them.
Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches.
A couple of international awards, a new baby range coming soon and attempts to promote the humble rice flour as a wheat and gluten alternative.
This week I want to tell you about an ad that cuts straight through the clutter to reach a niche group with an elegantly simple message. And the target audience is perhaps one of the hardest, most stressed, hard-working and difficult people to reach – doctors.
As everyone knows, South Africa’s public health system is not quite what it should be. For marginalised and rural communities, access to health services is (unfortunately) hopelessly inadequate. This is desperately sad because of the government’s good intentions and the fact that this country has a very competent minister of health. But despite good intentions and excellent policies, and fair budgets being in place, this country is missing a key ingredient to assuring better health care across the country – qualified healthcare professionals.
Approximately 35% of posts in public health are vacant. While equipment and buildings are often well-equipped, because of the lack of personnel, patients are under-serviced, outpatient facilities are crowded and long waiting lists are the norm. Conditions like these often put healthcare professionals off working for the public sector, so growing human resources within the public health sector becomes a bit of a Catch-22.
South Africa’s medical schools are world class, but of the 1200 doctors that graduate each year, half emigrate at some stage in their career. 75% of qualified doctors elect to work in the private sector, and of those who choose the public sector, the vast majority prefer to work and live in urban centres. Less than 3% end up serving rural communities.
Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches.
It’s all about Design Indaba this week and what we learnt about beautiful things, product design and innovation.
