Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches:
- University of Johannesburg rebrands
- A sporty new launch for Bos
- Shift’s hard work on Lovers Plus
- Creative new offices for 99c
Rethink, reinvent UJ
A new brand positioning was unveiled yesterday, Wednesday, 19 March 2014 by Mortimer Harvey for the University of Johannesburg (UJ), with the goal of communicating the university’s achievements in research, real-world applications and its illustrious alumni, both local and international.
“UJ has established a great foundation of communication with undergraduates. The new positioning aims to connect with a broader audience, building on its reputation and bringing attention to its position as a leader in education internationally,” explains Jeremy Bouwer, Mortimer Harvey head of strategy.
The new positioning, ‘The Art of Accomplishment’, was inspired by the many success stories coming out of the UJ, says Bouwer. “Its research facilities are taking part in ground-breaking projects, its alumni have gone on to make their mark in Johannesburg, South Africa and beyond, and its students are constantly achieving academic and sporting excellence. The Art of Accomplishment is about recognising these achievements in students, faculties, global partners and alumni confidence and celebrating their success. The new visual identity seen in the ads is inspired by the campus and the city — the architecture that houses the spaces where these success stories are achieved.”
The core message, Bouwer adds, is that UJ is a world-class institution, where success is realised through academic excellence, positioning the university as an institution that is making a real-world difference in Pan Africa and beyond.
The new creative approach falls in line with global advertising trends of visual communication with more considered illustrative techniques, and a stylised and daring design. Typography is an integral element to the design and has also been carefully considered, commented Gerald Harvey, chief creative officer of Mortimer Harvey, at the launch.
Bos gets in the game
Innovative rooibos tea company, Bos, best known for its iced teas and additional rooibos dried-tea range, has launched into the lucrative sporting market with a rooibos sports drink range consisting of three flavours: Lemon Lime, Mandarin Orange and Red Berry.
BOS Sport builds upon the health properties of rooibos (which is naturally high in anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories, essential minerals and electrolytes) by adding potassium, magnesium and sodium.
“We want to imbue BOS Sport with our attitude, a way of thinking that builds on a platform of health, fun and self-expression,” says founder, Grant Rushmere.
The product reinforces the Bos philosophy of creating healthy, colourant-free and preservative-free beverages — using only natural flavours and premium ingredients.
Joe Public gets playful
Shift Joe Public is hard at work launching and relaunching some big brands, such as Lovers Plus in the condom category, a very practical category characterised by a lack of brand love as decisions are based typically upon price and perceived quality.
The agency’s thrust with this product has been to reposition the brand in such a way that it allows for brand and product innovation, including packaging intended to be more playful. In the context of sexuality, ‘playfulness’ may be expressed in a series of characteristic snapshots or details which capture the very essence of playfulness: unexpected, surprising, quirky, not without humour, often irreverent and always creative.
Explains Maciek Michalski, Shift Joe Public executive creative director: “We were tasked to refresh and reposition the Lovers+ brand. The idea took us into a space that was more relevant and contemporary to its audience. With the brand’s range of products and innovations, we evolved this to allow for more freedom. With Lovers+ it is fine to play with a final evolution into a new look and feel, as well as a new payoff line, ‘It’s Playtime’.”
How to contain creative office space
I’ve always believed that a creative space makes you more creative, and recent research has borne out how uniform, sterile open-plan offices are not all that beneficial to health or productivity. The new office design for agency ninety9cents, by Inhouse Brand Architects, has used a container to create additional space in an innovative design.
Inhouse approached the design process with several goals: to enhance the site’s spectacular views (the 3000m2 premises occupy the top three levels of the Atlantic Centre, a new office development on Cape Town’s eastern foreshore); to create a fully functioning environment to suit the client’s daily business needs; and also to reflect the creative nature of the agency and its employees.
The Inhouse team, steered by Inhouse creative director Aidan Hart and team leader and senior designer Moiisha Visagie, looked at the employees’ possible needs from the perspective of ‘activity-based work principles’ to provide 99c with an understanding of what the most effective space-planning layout would be.
Managing director of 9ninety9cents, Andrew Brand, says it is important that “our new office space not only expresses our creativity but also encourages and enhances it.”
Inhouse has allowed for all types of interaction and both “high-focus” and “high-communication” zones. The need to meet less formally is catered for by various so-called “campsites”, which are collaborative, shared spaces. To achieve greater connectivity for the ninety9cents team and preclude any ‘us and them’ separation of departments, Inhouse has cut a hole in the existing concrete slab between the 8th and 9th floors (where the mezzanine level is located) and inserted a new stairwell.
In keeping with the theme of sustainability and respect for the natural environment that runs throughout — and also as a nod to the creative nature of the agency’s skills — a recycled shipping container has been converted into an up-to-the-minute waiting room. It’s ‘out the box’ thinking ironically demonstrated in a box…
Shelf Life by Louise Marsland is a weekly column on MarkLives. Tweet new product, packaging and design launches to @louise_marsland or email her at louise.marsland at gmail.com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
Louise has written about the FMCG, media, marketing and advertising industry for 19 of her more-than-25-year career as a former editor of magazines AdVantage, Marketing Mix and Progressive Retailing, as well as websites Bizcommunity.com and FMCGFiles. She currently edits the weekly Wednesday Media & Marketing Page for The New Age newspaper and is the publishing editor of industry trendwatching portal, TRENDAFRiCA, for consumer insight, research and trends in Africa.
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Russell Southwood is the founder of Balancing Act and the web TV channel Smart Monkey TV, and has been an analyst in telecoms, internet and broadcast in Africa for the last 14 years. Smart Monkey TV aims to capture the energy at the crossroads between African culture and technology. MarkLives is syndicating content from Smart Monkey TV on a weekly basis for the column “Smart Africa TV”.
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