ASSISTANCE OR NO ASSISTANCE?

Shopping behaviour differs from shopper to shopper. Some shoppers prefer to get help and assistance while they are shopping while others like to browse on their own and then reach out for help only when they need it. 

When it comes to beauty products, the shopping experience is even more personal, and hence some customers want assistance while others are happy to shop on their own.

Sephora understands this quite well and therefore, in a lot of their stores, it provides two kinds of shopping baskets (black and red). Shoppers can choose the basket based on their need. This allows the different shoppers to get exactly the kind of #retail experience that they want and it also gives a clear indication to the store staff on who needs to be assisted and who doesn't. 

Such a simple and effective solution!

EAT YOUR WHISKY!

That seems to be the message that whisky brand Glenlivet is giving to the world with its new capsule collection. 

The Glenlivet Capsule Collection is set of fully #biodegradable pods that can be popped into the mouth for a burst of scotch without the need of a glass or a stirrer. #Whisky connoisseurs are obviously not happy with this, but every new #innovation comes with its set of naysayers. 

The smart thing that the brand has done is to keep it as a limited edition to gauge the #consumer response and then decide whether the idea needs to be scaled up or not.

 

                                                       #product #kunalviews #idea

WORLD'S FIRST SMART NUTRITION BOTTLE

As the world population continues to become more aware and conscious of its health, nutrition and lifestyle, we keep seeing companies come up with #innovations that may or may not set the market on fire. 

Technology start-up firm LifeFuels claims that it has launched the ‘world’s first’ smart #nutrition bottle', which comes with an #app to track your hydration and nutrition goals.

The bottle uses naturally-flavoured FuelPods along with water to provide a variety of functional ingredients such as electrolytes and antioxidants.

The bottle comes with a seven-day battery life, and can hold up to three FuelPods, which can craft up to 90 customised beverages, depending on your taste and your mood. 

The question is whether such a product will see scale or remain limited to a niche audience. 

Venture capitalists seem to be giving the company a thumbs up so far, as LifeFuels has just secured a Series A funding recently.

Lets's see how this segment and category evolves and whether the big players jump onto this opportunity or not.

PicStory : Power

Mahijur Rahman had felt intoxicated with power for the first time at the age of 16 when he was chosen as the Head Boy of his school in a small town in Bangladesh. Suddenly, the students feared him and the teachers respected him. This was not a feeling that he had ever felt before and he enjoyed it a lot.

Now he had to figure out how to hold on to that power. So in college he started participating in the elections and soon became the President of the University. It didn't take long for him to realize that no one is as powerful as a politician holding his chair. Bit by bit, year after year, Mahijur began building his clout and within ten years, he had become a critical member of the ruling party.

His golden opportunity arose when the party president and the running Prime Minister decided to step down due to health reasons. The party chose Mahijur as its face and all his hard work paid off. He won by a landslide and was chosen as the Prime Minister of his country. To Mahijur, there wasn't a high, bigger than this in life, and he relished every bit of it.

Unfortunately, this joy of his was short-lived as ten years in office, and he was shot dead by an individual who didn't agree with his policies and decisions. However, Mahijur had such a big impact on the citizens of Bangladesh in those ten years that they asked a well known artist to put up a wall art right at the border so that Mahijur could watch everyone entering the city.

Even after death, Mahijur continued enjoying his power over his country!

                        Pic details: Clicked on the streets of Porto, Portugal in Sept 2019

COCA COLA ENERGY + FLAVOURS

Earlier this year, Coca Cola Energy was launched in a few select markets and it has slowly been rolled out to 25 markets globally. 

Based on the initial response, #Coke is now rolling out the launch of Energy in USA. This launch will be accompanied with an exclusive cherry flavour launch for the US market. There will also be the zero sugar versions for Energy and Energy Cherry that will be available.

It is interesting to see how #CocaCola is diversifying into multiple #beverage segments beyond carbonated soda.

What is also interesting is the fact that Coke has a 16.7% stake in the energy drink Monster's company Monster Beverages! This means that Coke will try to dominate this segment from all fronts.

The energy drink category will see much more action in 2020 and beyond. Market leaders like Red Bull will also be watching this entry closely and coming up with their own game plan.

SAMSUNG GOOD VIBES

hashtag#Innovation doesn't always come by asking the consumers. Great innovation often comes by understanding the consumers and their problems beyond what they are telling you. 

This requires observation, empathy, understanding and realization that your easiest solution may still not be working for a set of people due to various reasons. 

#Samsung seems to be understanding consumers quite well, and then coming up with solutions to their problems. They have just launched an app - Good Vibes, which is a two-way communication app for the deafblind, built on Morse Code that allows them to feel words being said to them. It gives them an opportunity to significantly change their ability to communicate and share emotions with their loved ones. 

To announce the launch in #India, they introduced a very powerful and emotion packed film that makes you sit up and notice! This is the power of a meaningful innovation.

9 HOURS OF CHARGE

In the Argentina market, Beats Electronics wanted to highlight the special feature of 9 hours of charge that their headphones deliver. 

They launched a set of print ads which talk about different genres of music, but if you look closely, each word is split into smaller words of three letters. The three letters represent an airport in one country which are then connected to next three letters which is the symbol of a different airport in another country. The flight distance between the two destinations is 9 hours, signifying how you can enjoy your music continuously during the entire flight duration if you wear your #Beats headphones. This is brilliant creativity and fantastic execution. The colours of the layout have also been matched with the different colours of the headphones. 

However, as a marketer I miss the brand name in the entire ad unless it was mentioned somewhere else. I strongly believe that the best creativity is of no use if it doesn't connect people to the brand behind it. 

What are your views on this? Let me know in the comments. 

POWER OF VISUAL

21st Sept, 2019 was World Alzheimer Day. It was a day when people needed to be reminded that there are others who forget easily, and not only do they need to be reminded again and again, but they also need to be cared for. 

Alzheimer Athens came out with a #print ad in Greece that gave out a strong message in a simple way. This is the power of a strong visual. It doesn't need to say much but the audience still understands.

NO NEED TO FLY AROUND THE WORLD

In the world of #Instagram and #Facebook, where travel is a passion and aspiration for all, people are flying to faraway destinations much more in this decade than ever before. 

German Rail was feeling the pressure of this as 72% Germans were flying out rather than taking trains within Germany as they felt German destinations were boring.

Here is what German Rail and #Ogilvy did to fix the problem:

1. They identified great locations from around the world and juxtaposed it with a similar shot of a German location next to it to encourage Germans to holiday in their home country.

                                  

2. They used Facebook data and targeted travel enthusiasts interested in those specific destinations on Instagram and Facebook.

3. Through geo-tagging technology and Google Search, they served video ads to the audience, updated with real-time prices, comparing two gorgeous locations (one in Germany and one abroad), detailing the cost of travel from their closest airport to the foreign country.

Results: An increase of 24% in brand revenue. This is a great example of: 

• Using #insights to convert it into an idea.
• Then leveraging #data to sharply target the right audience.
• That ultimately results in #revenues, which is what matters.

So many lessons in this case study!

THE MORE HATE YOU WEAR, THE LESS YOU CARE!

In today's social media world, #trolling is as common as giving likes. Brands get trolled, celebrities get trolled, common people get trolled. No one is spared. You always have two options - either get bothered by the trolls or ignore them. Clothing brand #Diesel came with a third option - Hate Couture. No, this isn't a spelling mistake of haute couture, but a very well thought out approach by the brand. Diesel took all the bad comments and turned them into limited edition merchandise and clothing for celebrities, for consumers and even for their staff. This was done across the fashion capitals of the world, slapping hate across their clothes and converting an insult into a self-declared identity! No wonder, this idea and campaign of Diesel has won the #Clio Gold Award for 2019. Check out the entire case study video to see what they did.

                                             #creativity #kunalviews #marketing #strategy

NBA IN MY BACKYARD

NBA is gearing up for its first ever game in #India featuring two of its teams - Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers. The objective is to make TV viewership of Basketball games more popular among the youth of India. As a result, DDB Mudra has launched a very exciting video #NBAInMyBackyard with peppy music and Mumbai city as the backdrop of a basketball game that is unique and not what you expect! The video surprises you first and then you start enjoying the scenes and what is happening in each frame. Nicely done.

BARBIE FLIES VIRGIN ATLANTIC!

In its 60th year, #Barbie from Mattel Toys has introduced three new careers in the aviation industry for its dolls - pilot, engineer and cabin crew. 

This initiative is to inspire girls around the world to follow their dreams. A research by the toy maker identified that starting at age five, many girls begin to develop limiting self-beliefs and doubt their full potential – this is called the Dream Gap. Through its dolls, Barbie wants younger girls to continue believing in their dreams. On the other hand, Virgin Atlantic wants to increase women representation across the board and wants to highlight the various career choices available to women. The dolls have been designed just like real #VirginAtlantic uniforms, showing different ethnicity and body diversity. These dolls will be sold on board the Virgin Atlantic flights and also at their key retail partner stores. This joint initiative works for the objectives of both the brands and the idea is backed by a strong #purpose behind it. So kudos to both the brands for this powerful launch!

BURGER KING MELTDOWN

Starting today, Burger King has launched a sustainability initiative 'The Meltdown' by getting rid of plastic toys from all its junior meals in UK. 

This is a step towards reducing #plastic and driving the conversation around sustainable solutions. This move will help in saving 320 tonnes of plastic each year. It doesn't stop there. There is more:

• Customers are invited to donate their plastic toys, whether from #BurgerKing or anywhere else ;) into the amnesty bins put up across their 500 restaurants.
• On dropping a toy and buying a full meal, a kids meal will be given free along with Meltdown stickers and a Meltdown crown.
• Recycled materials will be used to create a giant toy – an oversized jeep with a driving bunny 'Beep Beep' melting. This will be put up on the streets of London for all to witness. 

• They are tagging McDonald's on social media platforms and continuing with their banter, asking them to come and donate their toys too. 

This is yet another marketing coup by their CMO - Fernando Merchado and his team, who have been doing phenomenal work on the brand. Love the video - it is fun, cheeky and drives the message loud and clear!