brandopus

Is it irresponsible to play up pester power in the current economic climate? Nir was asked to give his thoughts on the subject to The Marketing Society, published in Marketing Magazine today. See his response here, and the full article after the jump.

"In the midst of the economic crisis, it is irresponsible for the politically correct army to suggest that there is anything wrong with retailers who stock children's toys, not to mention criticising those outlets that dare to market to their end user.

Don't they want to keep the economy alive by encouraging trade, which is so important to the retail industry, even during more optimistic financial times?

Littlewoods' 'Christmas gift ideas' is set to become the most-complained-about campaign of 2011. Beyond being a particularly bad ad, it is not really selling any of the products featured. It is an ad for credit, and children are not the target audience for finance.

A quick look at the complaints posted about the campaign told another, different story. Most viewers were concerned that Littlewoods has effectively 'killed' Santa by suggesting that mum buys the Christmas presents, unnecessarily shattering a magical illusion for many children.

Of course, the irony is that Santa was the inventor of pester power."

Research by our design research partners over at The Big Picture shows that shoppers go for emotive feel-good designs when choosing ʻsustainableʼ products. Products that show they are ʻsustainableʼ with simple, emotive pack designs are more likely to win when shoppers make snap decisions on environmental credentials in the supermarket aisle.

New in-depth consumer research from The Big Picture reveals that most people would reject a ʻsustainableʼ product with a scientific or more rational pack design, even if that product had the best environmental credentials on the shelf.

They found that packs with dominant images of people or animals benefiting from the productʼs sustainability were seen as ʻgreenestʼ by consumers when they were shown a range of packs in the coffee and laundry sectors. Consumers also judged packs by what they perceived as excessive or unnecessary packaging using materials such as plastic, which they see as less recyclable, regardless of whether a product had a recycle friendly logo or similar, the research revealed.

The findings have been welcomed by Nir, who responding to a request for his take on the outcome says, "The results of this research are extremely interesting, and suggest that the role of branding is more important than the additional visual messaging on pack.

"Hopefully these findings will encourage marketing departments to stop shouldering the responsibility that political policy places on sustainability, and understand that it is the brandʼs role to make products that meet consumersʼ needs. The brand winners will be those who shift consumers towards sustainable mindset gradually whilst staying true to brand values, rather than jumping on the eco- bandwagon"

For more depth on this story read here.

We were approached to give our thoughts on health information legislation and how it affects food packaging design, as part of an article published on Marketing Week today. See a little excerpt of the larger article below.

'Experts in the design industry have voiced their concerns about health related information on food and drink packaging stifling the creative process, as legislation becomes more rigid year-on-year.
The remarks come as McDonald's became one of the first UK retailers to display calorie information on the menus of its 1,200 UK restaurants earlier this week under the Government's voluntary Public Health Responsibility Deal.

Legislation is making it harder for agencies to differentiate brands according to Avril Tooley, client service director & partner at strategic design agency BrandOpus: "Now more than ever, it is essential for agencies to design brands in such a way that have a role over and above their product, enabling them to successfully overcome these enforced category generics."'

Excerpt from a larger article published on Marketing Week.

Our managing partner, Nir Wegrzyn, had some thoughts on the consumer's role in the moulding of brands published today.

Here's a snippet, you can find the full article on Pitch, the online portal for Marketing Week and Design Week.

Should brands be consumer focused? The answer is ‘no’.  The idea that the consumer must be the starting point for brand building is actually a downward spiral, eroding the brand itself and its impact, argues Nir Wegrzyn, managing director, BrandOpus. The key to brand success, he says, is not to start with the consumer.

http://pitchdesign.marketingweek.co.uk/dont-follow-the-consumer/1004179.article