Stella Artois Idiocy

This ad has been out for a while now, but it's currently plastered all over the Victoria line Northbound platform in Oxford Circus, so I am subjected to it on a daily basis.  Correct me if I am wrong, but based on my rudimentary knowledge of beer making, isn't brewer's yeast a vital ingredient too? Tut tut. 

Britain, Britain, Britain

How apt that there is a forum thread about 'Moody Britain', as I was about to post something about the Great British Brand.  I spent Saturday morning basking in the Majorcan sun, but Saturday afternoon was spent indoors, in the North East of England, freezing.  As soon as I got off the aeroplane, I was greeted with a gale and lashings of rain.  It felt like a stereotypical landing in this country, as everyone traipsed into baggage reclaim whinging and shivering.  And it was something everyone on the plane, everyone in the airport and everyone collecting people seemed to be talking about.  Rain in June.  There wasn't so much an 'I can't believe it' tone in the air, it was more like an expectant, 'This is typical'.

 
British rain is a strong, differentiating value that differentiates us from our warmer and more temperate European cousins.  I reckon our climate is quite pleasing, if there wasn't so much rain to dampen the mood.  But then again, isn't it a wonderful thing? It inspires conversation and outbursts of emotion.  Sometimes it even inspires dancing and frivolity!  However, in Britain, it's much more likely to lend towards a good old fashioned whinge!  Yes, complaining about the rain is a much more popular British emotive response!  And why not? A British product value, with an even more British response - I like it.

So, what else is sums up the brand of Britain? Is it more iconic, like Big Ben, bulldogs, royalty and queues? Or are these all outdated cliches? ... What do you reckon?

Hollyoaks' cinematic theft!

For those of you lucky enough not to be hooked on the dire soap opera Hollyoaks, I'll give you a heads up.  They've recently featured a 'hard-hitting' storyline about teenage heroin addiction.  Last night's First Look Hollyoaks however sunk to new lows of blatant content theft.  The music in the heroin addiction scenes was ripped straight out of the junkie-misery flick 'Requiem for a Dream' and the general plot of 'Just lock the kid in his room until he sorts himself out' stolen from the legendary Scottish smack-fest 'Trainspotting'.  Maybe this is just how to go about communicating 'generic heroin addiction', but they could have at least shaken it up a little.  The Hollyoaks brand is meant to be about having a youth-led, fresh and modern approach, yet it just turns around and nicks old cinematic content!  At least there wasn't a demonic newborn overhead, but that wouldn't have surprised me!  

Bands and Brands

I am a bit of a gig nut.  Last night I was wowwed by the Californian lo-fi masters, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at Shepherds Bush Empire.  It was a super performance, as ever, from those transatlantic gems.  It got me thinking about branding and as there's now a huge presence of brands at festivals and music events, whether these associations are working anymore.

I think the important point is relevance, whether these brands can add anything to the consumer's experience and whether the presence is relevant for the brand itself. Brands can't just be there for the sake of it, they have to be shown to be giving something relevant back, by being participative and engaging.  I am looking forward to the O2 Wireless Festival, as O2 are having various 'bubbles', one being a bar and live act area, one being a place where you can make your own music videos amongst some others.  Not only does this fit with the brand strategically and executionally, but it provides a relevant experience for consumers in a receptive environment.  O2 have invested a lot into music, most notably with their branding of the O2 arena.  As O2 is a young, progressive brand, this activity complements its personality which is particularly important in the combative mobile service provider category.

However, there has been a brand backlash, with the summer event A Day at Hop Farm purposely lacking any brand presence. So, is this is indicative of a trend against brand presence at festivals? This will certainly appeal to the anti-corporation No Logo fanatics, but I am not sure that everyone thinks this way. This space is getting very crowded at the moment, which is why brands are panicking, but still what's important for brands is staying relevant to the event and true to themselves, and if the association matches that then I think it is a good idea, like with O2. 

Although whether consumers are sick to the back teeth of seeing brands popping up at their beloved festivals is another thing.  Personally, if I could swap my cheap glasses for Raybans, get some free Carling, possibly win some more free gig tickets, charge up my phone, make a music video and have a nice sit down afterwards because of the brands being dotted around, then I am all for it.   

And now for something completely different... I am off on holiday next week, somewhere hot and lovely, so there won't be any posts until I get back.  I will probably be doing my usual holiday activity of finding the most hilarious European brands, Pschtt lemonade being a favourite of mine!  I'll keep you informed

Welcome ad fans!

This is my first post as a BrandRepublic blogette! So here goes, the news and views from a young ad starlet...

I watch the BBC News every morning, mainly to see the weather and whether I should wear a jacket or not, but today they were on about alcohol AGAIN!  This time they're telling us it's ok to have 5 small glasses of wine a week because it reduces the risk of arthritis.  This comes in the wake of two big alcohol awareness campaigns  - Diageo's 'Night to remember / Night to forget' and the Department of Health's 'Know your limits'.

With the Department of Health and a huge drinks brand favouring this responsible approach, they are pushing the responsibility  movement in the hope of a culture shift away from binge drinking.  I for one think that the 'Know your limits' campaign for one has been a fantastic vehicle to demystify alcohol units.  Back in the day a small glass of wine was 1 unit, now we're in the era of large glasses as standard, we need to be reminded that that's 3 units we're drinking.  Schweppes, however,  has gone one step further in the responsibility movement by going back to their soft drinks roots and saying that it's ok not to drink at all! 

So is this anti-alcohol messaging? Or is it about limits? That's confusing enough, particularly as now we have been given permission to have a drink again!  There isn't any other way to say that a few glasses of wine can help reduce the risk of arthritis, without taking a pro-drinking sort of stance. 

The whole point is moderation, clearly, yet I don't think it's getting through as well as it should.  With limits on the one hand, Schweppes saying no and Swedish research saying yes, I can see why the 'feast or famine' mentality is confusing the nation.