How can your brand reflect these serious times?

Think like Greek cosmetic brand, Korres, who are bang-on-trend with their new brand aesthetic.

More and more brands are adapting their packaging design to the new ‘rough luxe’ environment, reducing sparkle in favour of a more austere, serious aesthetic.

Here Korres’ products are starkly labelled with simple fonts and white space, ideal for the new rough luxury consumer.

Korres Natural Products has roots in Athens' first ever homeopathic pharmacy.

Set up in 1996 in order to use its extensive scientific resources to create safe, effective products, the company today offers a complete skin and hair care range including make-up, sun protection products and herbal preparations.

Ref. https://www.lsnglobal.com/seed/view/393

How can you use all the mechanics of new media to break your brand news?

Think like Michael Surtees who took a close look at the interaction between different media sources covering the crash of Flight 1549 into the Hudson River. 

Just by keeping up-to-date on his tweets and tracking down live video and photographs, Surtees was able to stay involved with events as they took place. 

His article explains how he followed the story via a range of different sites. 

DesignNotes reflects on the day’s activity: http://designnotes.info/?p=1645

“Thinking about it now, the speed of events was pretty crazy.

Within an hour and half I’d learned that a plane had landed in the Hudson, saw images within minutes of it happening, watched the rescue live, heard survivor interviews soon after, and by the time it was over knowing that everyone was going to live, I was listening to music from A Flock Of Seagulls.

All the tools that I used to get more info was available to anyone out there, which was kind of cool in itself.”

Ref. http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/the-mechanics-of-new-media-for-breaking-news.html

How can you help people become more responsible?

Think like Mycashplus.co.uk – the plastic card that makes it impossible to get into debt.

 It works like a pay-as-you-go phone.

 You simply top up with cash, or from your bank and you can even have your wages paid straight to it.

 (Cheers, Wadey)

A prepaid card is similar to the gift cards available from most UK high street chains.

However, prepaid cards are more widely accepted, and can be used internationally.

They’re the same as credit cards but without the credit.

The majority of UK prepaid card providers offer cards embossed with your own name, and some are even CHIP & PIN cards.

Check out http://what-prepaid-card.co.uk/, a comparison site featuring cards such as Bread and Splash as well as Virgin and Tesco.

How can you take your brand to the people so the people don’t have to come to you (or the retailer)?

Think like Google who’ve launched an Internet Bus in order to educate Indian people about the web and its benefits.

The customised, web-enabled vehicle is bringing the online experience to several towns and cities across India's Tamil Nadu region, with demonstrations focusing on education, information, communication and entertainment.

The initiative is part of Google's overall strategy of ‘organising the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful’.

Its efforts have also included localising and translating multiple Google applications.

Prasad Ram, head of R&D for Google India, explains:

"We are passionate about empowering users with information, and the internet democratises access to information. With this initiative, we want to take the power of this medium to people who will really benefit from it.”

How can you develop a distinctive and iconic brand that’s also capable of continually adapting to the world around it?

Think like Tel-Aviv agency, Designlab, which has developed a modular packaging format for milk that can change shape and colour according to the weather or the value of the dollar.

(Thanks, Dr Woo.)

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/5401/dag-designlab-tal-mor-and-shlomi-azulay.html

How can you use the web to help people keep track of what’s happening in their lives?

Think like Bedpost, the online beta site that helps people track their sexual encounters.

Each time you’ve had sex, simply log in and enter the key details. Users begin by creating a profile for their most recent partner and then enter details such as when it happened, how long it lasted, some descriptive tags and a star-based rating of the experience.

The site then presents all the information in a map of activity for the month on the user's dashboard. For a historical view, Bedpost tracks summary statistics including frequency, average rating, and totals for the month and year so far.

‘Solo sex’ tracking is also available.

As Bedpost notes in its privacy section, sexual data is potentially second only to financial information in its sensitivity. But will consumers be willing to trust a third party with that information—and will the benefits make any risk worthwhile?

Time will tell.

How can you develop cost-effective ways for people to personalise the stuff they buy from you?

Think like Sydney-based Grippiks, which sells coloured and patterned adhesive sheets for you to customise your IKEA furniture.

Grippiks Surface Accents are pre-cut to just the right size for some of IKEA’s most popular items, including its Billy, Benno, Expedit and Effektiv storage solutions, Lack tables and Malm drawers.

http://www.grippiks.com/

 

How can you create an antidote to this 24/7 stressed out world?

Just take a leaf out of F*** My Life’s book...

Response: "I agree, your life is f***ed - you deserved that one."

How can you help ease people’s anxieties about health, the environment and violence?

Think like the late avant-garde composer, John Cage, who composed the longest and slowest piece of music in history, designed to go on for 639 years. The piece is called ‘As Slow As Possible’ and the first three notes, which will last for a year-and-a-half, were played on 11 February on a church organ in Halberstadt, Germany.

How can you enable your brand consumers to shape their own experience?

Think like Barry Judge, Chief Marketing Officer of Best Buy, one of the world’s largest retailers. Barry uses the power of the ‘Wisdom of the Crowds’ on Twitter* to grow his business, openly inviting people to attend brainstorming sessions and even critique Best Buy’s not-yet released advertising.

 

Are you making the most of the mobile opportunities for brand building?

With over 500 million iPhone apps already downloaded, maybe you could take a leaf out of major US retailer ,Target, who have their own iPhone application. The app is a gift finder app that lets you search for gifts by price and gender

How can you make your customers the star of the show?

 Think like two British radio presenters, who’ve created Fauxshow, a personalised radio shows that put ‘you’ in the spotlight. Designed as an unusual gift experience, Fauxshows are popular for weddings and birthdays, although any request will be catered to. Customers pick a recipient's favourite music tracks and submit anecdotes for the presenters to ‘broadcast’.  

Friends and family then ‘phone in’ to Fauxshow and record messages about or for the recipient. Jingles and effects are added in the final stage of recording to make the show sound as authentic. Around three weeks after ordering, the show arrives on CD ready to surprise and delight. Fauxshow is still a tiny start-up, and the presenters welcome calls from customers to discuss ideas. Prices are £200 for a five-song, five-message show, or £250 for eight songs and eight messages. Other options are available on request.

 

Taking comfort in the past

In times of uncertainty we often take comfort in the past, but how can you add that refreshing twist to make it relevant for today?

Think like Dashing Tweeds, Britain’s latest tweed textile company. Opening up a contemporary arena for a classic quality fabric, Dashing Tweeds has created a range of tweeds for the 21st century, designed by photographer Guy Hills and weaver Kirsty McDougall. (tx to Alasdair, Elmwood Melbourne for this one).
 

The Scooter Coat, below, is an innovative example of old and new, based on the Household Cavalry greatcoat. And at night, its reflective pattern means it’s safe as well as elegant.

How can you do the ‘right thing’ and build brand loyalty?

Think like restaurateur Peter Ilic of Little Bay restaurant in London’s Farringdon. He’s come up with a radical way of keeping his eatery afloat during the credit crunch: for February only, he’s doing away with bills and inviting customers to ‘pay what you think it’s worth’. “

It just seemed the right thing to do with everyone under the cosh and feeling pretty miserable,” he said. “We’ve seen so many more City folk coming into the restaurant lately looking for a better value lunch. This is the ultimate value meal.”

How can you look at every surface as a possible place to begin your brand story?

Think like GoGORILLA Media whose latest guerilla marketing innovation, CoffeeMedia, gives advertisers a way to tap their catchy slogans out in chocolatey powder and broadcast tm to unsuspecting audiences - in this case customers enjoying the relative solace of a quiet cafe.