UNBOX IT

#Unboxing is a phenomenon that gained momentum with the proliferation of gadgets and digital products. So much so, that the unboxing videos on #YouTube gets thousands of views.

Now if you are a smart #brand, you will pick up a trend of one category and apply it nicely to your category. This is what #Adidas does with their ZX 2K BOOST footwear, which are supposed to be quite advanced footwear in terms of design and technology.

So, these shoes also come packed in this specially designed box, which has been called 'Premium Artifact' by the design agency.

This custom engineered box offers a truly unique unveiling and comes adorned in its own retro, space-tech reusable carrying case. All the material is 100% #recyclable.

I find the #packaging quite cool and goes well with the brand personality.

WORLDWIDE REPUTABLE COMPANIES 2020

As per the Global RepTrak 2020 survey, the most reputable companies of 2020 are:

1. 🇩🇰 : Lego
2. 🇺🇸 : The Walt Disney Company
3. 🇨🇭 : Rolex
4. 🇮🇹 : Ferrari
5. 🇺🇸 : Microsoft
6. 🇺🇸 : Levi Strauss & Co
7. 🇺🇸 : Netflix
8. 🇩🇪 : Adidas
9. 🇩🇪 : Bosch
10. 🇺🇸 : Intel

How was this determined?
The 2020 Global RepTrak was conducted between December 2019 and January 2020 and considered 80,540 individual responses from across the world’s 15 largest economies: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.

There were a total of 153 companies measured, who all have a global footprint and annual revenue of at least $2 billion.

It should be the goal, the dream and the aspiration of every company to feature in this list.

HAVE A BREAK, HAVE A KITKAT YOGHURT SAKE!

#Japan is known for introducing exotic flavours of KitKat every year and a lot of those flavours may not even be accepted beyond the island, but these innovations drive the brand in Japan in a big way.

Their recent launch is KitKat Yoghurt Sake, which is an extension to the Sake KitKat that was launched in 2016. This new variant is in collaboration with former Japanese soccer star and now accomplished sake connoisseur Hidetoshi Nakata, who is bringing this special sake combination - rice wine made with super rich Jersey yoghurt into the chocolate world.

As a #chocolate lover and a KitKat fan, you may or may not be comfortable with the idea of seeing #KitKat in such a unique flavour, however the Japanese consumer will be paying a premium price for these chocolates coming in an eye-catching sky-blue packaging.

If you are a tourist traveling to Japan anytime soon, these alcoholic Kitkats might be something you want to add to your souvenir list.

If you want to know how KitKat become such a big craze in Japan, then this NY Times article would be the perfect place to start. Be prepared to be surprised and shocked.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/24/magazine/candy-kit-kat-japan.html

TOAST IT THE WAY YOU LIKE IT!

Although bread is eaten universally, not everyone likes to have their bread toasted at the same level. Some like it lightly toasted while others like it to be dark.

However, most toasters only have two settings - burnt and not burnt. You can do your own trial and error to get the perfect toast but it is never consistent.

The R180 toaster from Revolution in USA doesn’t have that problem. They turned an insight into an opportunity and it lets you toast your toast exactly how you want it.

To let people know about this toaster, they launched a print ad where they showed all the possible shades of toast that you can achieve and they smartly used a colour swatch card to drive the point by converting it into a toast swatch card.

Innovation in product, creativity in communication - a perfect combination.

SYMPATHY NOT SOLUTIONS

Sometimes, when our team members, peers, colleagues or family members come to us and start telling us their problems, our immediate reaction is to start offering them solutions.

However, we need to remind ourselves that a lot of times, they already have and know the solutions. They are not looking for solutions but rather someone who can give them a sympathetic ear to just hear them out, let them vent out their feelings, listen to them without judging or giving them help.

It is not easy to resist offering help, but the ability to know when someone needs sympathy and when solutions shows the strength of your own judgment.

NAPKINIZED

Why waste paper when you can have dual utility to it? This is the clear insight on which KFC is working in the markets of UAE and Lebanon.

They have converted their receipts, menus and even paper bags into a material that can then be used a napkin!

All of this material comes with the words NAPKINIZED so that consumers know what to do with it beyond its obvious use.

The receipts and menus use a special UV printer machine with bio-degradable and eco-friendly ink, so that after you have read them, you can easily use it to wipe your face or hands.

I hope that this does not stay limited to just these markets. It is a brilliant idea that needs to scaled up across all KFC restaurants worldwide and potentially by other QSR brands too. 

Image credits: bandt.com.au

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Across the world, skin colour has always been one of the factors leading to bias and discrimination.

Societies and companies have evolved a lot and made #diversity and #inclusion a core part of their agenda. However, there is still a lot more to be done. 

Sometimes, some of the simplest products around us can play a key role in celebrating diversity and inclusion. Tesco in UK realised that and has come forward and launched a range of plasters to match the different skin colours in order to reflect racial and ethnic diversity. 

Tesco will now offer three options - light, medium and dark across all their 740 stores as well as online. No other supermarket had ever done this before, so it is a first.

Kudos to Tesco for taking this opportunity forward. 

FLAGS

This is such a fantastic print campaign by Vittoria School for Language Mediators in Italy!

Using books, notebooks and notepads as props, each ad then represents the flag of a country.

The message that Vittoria School is giving is that not only does it teach a language theoretically but it also teaches about the culture of a country and how the people of that country speak in normal conversations. 

For me, the campaign is extremely creative without losing the simplicity. I just love the way the educational props have been used. The agency behind this campaign is La Fabbrica Creativa, Italy.

CUTE WATER BOTTLES

Yesterday, I came across a little collection of #Evian bottles in the supermarket 🛒

While it brought a smile to my face, it also got me thinking on the strategy and logic behind these specially designed and packaged bottles 🍶

Some of my hypotheses of the rationale behind their launch are:

1. Shelf stand out: It goes without saying that these bottles stood out from all the other bottle brands on the shelf 🔍

2. Price value equation: Evian water is priced higher than the other bottles in the market. Other than the quality of the water, this kind of unique #packaging also helps in justifying the high price 💶

3. Increased consumption: A bottle design like this induces you to drink more water which is not only healthy for you but also healthier for Evian's business 💰💰

4. Getting children excited for water: If parents are looking ways to get their children to drink more water instead of other drinks, then a fun packaging like this can play a key role 🔐

THE ECONOMIST

Advertising of The Economist magazine is known for its intellect, wit and use of less words.

They want to reflect in their #advertising the same level of intelligence that they expect from their readers. 

Here is yet another example of their style of communication.

FEEL IT

They say, you cannot unsee something after you have seen it. 

The Coca-Cola Company is pushing the pedal in its new outdoor and print campaign in Europe, where they are relying on the strength of consumer memory.

The company is putting the Coca Cola logo on different platforms in the same font and angle as how it appears on their bottles.

The line above every ad reads 'Feel It' and that line triggers the mind to visualize the bottle without the bottle being there! 

This is an idea by #Publicis where they have gone ahead and leveraged the visual icons of the #Coke brand - the red colour, the font and the iconic bottle.

It is a great example of how consistency of certain elements around your #brand play a big role in brand building. Go ahead and see all three pictures and I am sure that you will also feel the bottle.

BUY WITH YOUR TIME

'Time is money' is an aphorism that was coined by Benjamin Franklin two centuries ago. It seems that IKEA Group is keen to prove it to its consumers .

In UAE, #Ikea gave consumers the opportunity to pay for their goods using time as a currency! Yes, that is right. 

Most Ikea stores are located far from the city centres and it takes lot of time for #consumers to reach the store. This is a pain point for consumers. Ikea understood this consumer insight and converted it into a delight for them. 

How?

Ikea put a certain time value to every item in their store. Consumers had the option of paying for those goods, using the time that they had spent in reaching the store. 

Check out this video to see more.

LONELIEST PERSON ON VALENTINE'S DAY

Burger King Corporation does it again! This time, it is Burger King India that launches a video for Valentine's Day, telling people that the loneliest person on this planet is none other than the clown of McDonald's - Ronald McDonald. 

The video then encourages people to take a selfie with Ronald, upload it by tagging Burger King India and then come to a #BurgerKing outlet to get a free #whopper.

Usually, I am not a big fan of comparative or competitive #advertising as you tend to contribute to the other brand's salience without them spending any money.

However, in this case it works because:

1. It is not new for Burger King to troll McDonald's. They have been doing it across their markets for quite some time now. It is part of their style that resonates with its audience. 

2. The campaign gets lot of earned media and social media currency to the brand by people posting pictures and tagging Burger King handle. 

3. To get a free whopper, people would visit a Burger King cafe. Usually, they wouldn't go alone or would not just eat a Whopper. So in both scenarios, this helps in increasing the footfalls as well as the sales of the cafes, which is what every piece of advertising is supposed to do. 

FIVE QUESTIONS TO ASK

If you ever get stuck, asking yourself whether you should be putting effort, money or your time behind an idea, ask yourself these five questions that advertising legend David Ogilvy recommends.

Chances are, that you will know whether the idea is worth betting on or just letting go. This could show you and your business the path to success, to innovation, to legacy, and more! 

PLASTIC WITH EXPIRY DATES

In order to bring change, sometimes it is important to shock people so that it affects their behaviour. This seems to be the approach that a few supermarkets are taking in UK. 

Since the last few days, lot of food and drink items in the supermarkets have started appearing with expiry dates of the plastic! Yes, that is right. 

All the labels show an expiry date of 2499 and state "please recycle me". This should be enough for people to rethink their purchase and consumption pattern as well as how they dispose their #plastic. 

This idea is the brainchild of Grassroots campaigners, Gagandeep Jhuti and Joe Foale-Groves, who have been labeling products since the start of the new year to get people to think before they buy. 

So far, they have been doing this without the supermarkets permission but I think it won't be long before supermarkets welcome them for this initiative. 

Would we also see similar activities in other parts of the world soon? Let us wait and watch.

13 MONTH CALENDAR

As we reach the end of the first month of 2020, which is also a leap year, it is time to revisit the proposed standard calendar that has 13 months of 28 days each, and every date falls on the same day irrespective of the month or the year. Each month has exactly four weeks and every year continues to have 52 weeks divided in 13 months.

This International Fixed Calendar is a solar calendar proposal, designed by Moses B. Cotsworth. It was presented way back in 1902. Though it was never officially adopted in any country, entrepreneur George Eastman adopted it for use in his Eastman Kodak Company, where it was used from 1928 to 1989.

Such a calendar comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but who knows, it might just be something that gets adopted in the future.

WILL THIS BE THE MOST INSTAGRAMMED PRODUCT?

#Ikea has launched a unique product that you may have never seen before: the Müpolash.

What is it and how did it come into existence? 

Their consumer data analytics showed them two things:

1. Out of all their products that consumers put up on #Instagram, these four products are Instagrammed the most: a mug, pot, lamp and shelf. 

2. White is the most Instagrammed colour. 

Combining all of this analysis, they created the Müpolash (a combination of the four products mentioned above) made of 100% biodegradable materials, and crafted through 3D printing. 

The idea behind this new object is that if IKEA’s mugs, pots, lamps and shelves are getting a lot of traction, then the MÜPOLASH should be the “most Instagrammable thing ever made.

Müpolash is currently on display at the Design Museum of Gent, Belgium. There are only four other Müpolashes in the world. To win one, you need to use the #Müpolash AR Instagram filter and capture a nice shot of the product in your home.

It will be interesting to see the digital traction that an idea like this gets, which comes at a very marginal cost.

INNOVATION: SAMSUNG SERO

The thing with breakthrough #innovation is that you have to be the first one to come up with something that the consumer hasn't asked for. Then you have to create the demand and desire for such an innovation through the story that you tell. In such instances, there will be lot of failures and you have to be ready to embrace them to unearth that one gem that the world will talk about.

The #CES or Consumer Electronics Show that is held in Las Vegas every year is a Mecca of innovation where each company and brand tries to outdo others by showcasing ideas, concepts and ready to launch products.

This year is the 50th edition of the show and there are lots of exciting launches coming into the market soon. One of them that I found quite interesting is #Samsung Sero.

The #Sero is a rotating television so that you can watch content in the traditional way and also enjoy your social media feed and mobile content in a vertical format. Priced at £1,240, this 43-inch TV comes with a 4.1-channel, 60W speakers.

Will this become mainstream and would other brands follow suit is something only time will tell. However, it is worth applauding the ingenuity and bravery of Samsung to venture into this new space. 

SMART BOTTLE CAP

As the world is moving to personalized #nutrition, how can personalized hydration be behind?

Danone has introduced smart bottle cap Coach2o that can easily fit on their Spanish mineral water brand Font Vella and track water intake and coach consumers towards adequate hydration.

Once the cap has been placed on the bottle, the user can pair it with the Coach2o app, that will then automatically measure the user’s water consumption. 

The smart bottle cap tracks how much water the individual has had and emits a blinking light, reminding him/her to hydrate again. This has been made possible by the technology developed by Danone’s partner, water.io.

hashtag

#Danone says that this is the first device to track water intake and it is being test marketed in Spain before being scaled up. 

Quite an effective and cool #innovation. Let's see how it delivers on business. 

                                   #kunalviews #water #solution #idea

GAME CHANGERS

When we think of #sustainability, we often think of plastic, emissions and such elements, but it never strikes us that a simple thing as a tennis ball could be playing havoc with the planet. Every year, 300 million tennis balls are produced and hardly any of that gets recycled. 

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. being the sponsor of The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament wanted to do something about it as they believe in the circular economy.

They recycled tennis balls and came up with completely new products, including a playground. This took the tennis world by surprise and got them great earned media. You can read all about it in the link below, and also see the case study video that made them the winner at The Drum Experience Awards 2019. 

                                          ABN Amro turns tennis balls into playground

hashtag