Chiquita bananas have launched a campaign based on their iconic blue stickers. DJ Neff has designed a huge range of fun characters, using the iconic colours and shape of the little blue sticker. They’re still instantly recognisable as Chiquita even when on their own - a brilliant example of brand equity. But what makes this a truly ‘2010′ project is that they’ve pushed the creative idea even further, linking it into interactive games on the brand’s website. Check out an interview with DJ Neff here.

I have recently returned from a trip to China. I was there to conduct a market audit for an International brand with Western heritage to work out how to build its appeal with a changing Chinese consumer.

As has widely been discussed and rightfully recognised, China has established itself as the new super power. This shift in leadership from the West has got me pondering - in ten years time will we all be sitting here at our Lenovo computers, sending texts via China Mobile before heading out with friends to share a Tsingtao beer?

The logic I am following is that we have for some time all been buying into the American Dream which has been the foundation of many successful brands. As America created itself as the global leader we all wanted to share in their glory by associating ourselves with their home grown brands - from Levi jeans and Nike trainers to Apple Macs and Google searches.

So the challenge that I keep coming back to is: what is the dream that China will be able to sell to the world? How are they going to successfully and legitimately market their national brands to create a universal appeal to a global audience?

Ok so I get that we are living in a digital, web 2.0 world where our lives (supposedly) are getting easier as we have more technology to ‘help’ us.  However with all these gadgets taking over our lives i’m almost certain there will come a time when we wont even have to think for ourselves any more, computers will control our brains.

Its already happening to boardgames, have a look at what Hasbro have done to my favourite childhood game, Monopoly.

“Gone are the £400 property bargains, the silver playing pieces  -  and the opportunity to sneak a note out of the banker’s box”

Yesterday to mark its 75th anniversary, Monopoly unveiled their 21st Century version called Monopoly Revolution.  In a move that mirrors whats going on in our own society the nostalgic boardgame now uses electronic banking instead of paper money and the board itself has also changed from a traditional square to a circular board with sound effects! The new version completely removes the need for players to use mental arithmetic and think for themselves, its what I said at the beginning…. technology is taking over our lives!

In another move, property prices have also shot up to reflect modern prices.  No longer a bargin at £200, Kings Cross Station now costs £2million and not surprisingly Mayfair has not escaped the price hike either, it can now be purchased for tidy sum of £4million!

An estimated one billion people have played Monopoly since its launch.  Designed by Charles Darrow in 1935 it has gone virtually unchanged, so why take the decision to mess around with it now?

In my opinion Monopoly is a classic & iconic piece of nostalgia that didn’t need updating.

As my Mum & Dad used to say to me - if it aint broke don’t fix it!

For years we’ve popping up our bread half way through the toast cycle to check its just the way we like it, peering over the top to make sure the edges haven’t burnt, narrowly missing singeing our eyebrows off.

Obtaining that perfect piece of toast hasn’t been an as easy task especially when you have such high standards.  Just read the requirements from some of the CPB toast addicts and you’ll know what i’m talking about…..

“Caught just before it starts to darken, white and pale caramel coloured”

“crispy golden on the outside, fluffy inside with burned bits round the edge”

“I am very particular about my toast.  I prefer hand cut bread, evenly done with a nice golden brown colour.  It mustn’t be too overdone and if it’s too lightly done it’s too soft”

“Golden brown evenly toasted all over . To ensure its evenly brown I frequently peer into the toaster to check how its coming along”

If only we could see whats going on inside I hear you cry!!

Well take a look at this………

Last night I attended a networking evening held by the lovely people at LS:N Global

For those of you that don’t know who they are - LS:N is an online consumer news and insights network set up by The Future Laboratory.  In its simplest form the guys at LS:N provide news of whats going on around the globe in fashion, interiors, architecture, design you name it they are on to it and last night they held a fascinating evening at The Connaught Hotel in London.

The topic of the evening was luxury and the way the evening was set up was a bit like speed dating.  6 tables, 6 speakers, 6 minutes all we had to do was sit and listen.

The speakers included Stephen Alden, CEO of the Maybourne Hotel Group who spoke about how luxury is becoming more meaningful in 2010.  ‘Frivolity, excess & waste’ have become a thing of the past, consumers are looking for values, authenticity and craftsmanship in their luxury brands.

And so farewell Cadbury. The nation’s favourite chocolate brand has been gobbled up by US processed cheese giant Kraft. Will we ever see your like again?

The news that Cadbury has fallen to the foreigners is obviously a major business story -it’s the biggest outside acquisition of a British business for at least two years. The weird thing is the effect that the news of Cadbury’s demise has had on the business-savvy brand junkies at CPB.

The overwhelming reaction here hasn’t been ‘Oh what are the new business opportunities?’ There hasn’t even been a dispassionate analysis of the new entity’s brand portfolio. No, it has been sadness. Anyone would think that Kraft had bayoneted our teddy bears from the reaction. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that people wept in the corridors while hardened brand warriors rent their clothes and tore out their hair, when they heard.

Sadness? Sadness? How can that be? In what way is that an appropriate reaction to a business takeover?

Of course there’s a jingoistic element to our collective response. “We don’t want foreigners taking over our brands,” said one sophisticated strategic planner who normally has a markedly global perspective.

Others cite concern for the Cadbury work force. “Kraft are paying too much and will have to make deep cuts to finance the purchase. I’m worried they will compromise the values of this ethical corporation.” said an ambitious young account exec.

But one of our account directors came closer to the truth when she said, “I hope they don’t mess with the chocolate. I don’t think I could bear it if they started to change Cadbury’s. It’s the best chocolate in the world. That’s how proper chocolate should taste.”

What she was saying was that Cadbury, the brand, doesn’t belong to Cadbury’ shareholders -or even Kraft’s. It is hers. It resides in her. As a child it defined the taste of how chocolate should be. It reminds her of parental love and infantile indulgence. Even as an adult it puts her in close touch with her inner child.

And that’s an important point for any brand owner to remember when they are considering tampering with their most famous products. Brands reside not in brand rooms or marketing plans or ad campaigns, but in the hearts and minds of consumers -and other stakeholders. If you mess with them, the response is unlikely to be measured and analytical. It will be emotional, visceral even.

Sadness is only the start of it. The next stage in the bereavement process is often anger. Brand owners beware.

I’m a subscriber to Time Out magazine and I’ve just received an email from them with a link to a digital version of this week’s magazine. It’s a free service and they have very kindly created this format for me so that I don’t miss out on any upcoming events because of the postal strike. And, I’m reliably informed, they will continue to produce a digital version until Royal Mail industrial action ends.

How cool is that? I’m really impressed. Not only because here’s a brand that is being proactive and thinking of its loyal subscribers but also because I actually love the format!

As a bit of a ‘green’ I’d actually be really up for receiving my mag in this way EVERY week, strike or no strike. I also find the growing pile of Time Outs on my living room table is getting a bit out of hand… but I don’t want to throw them out in case I need to reference one of them at some point in the future! In this new digital format, perhaps they could be stored in the Cloud for me to access at any time? There’s something so much nicer about the magazine layout and design than having to navigate the web page.

Nice one Time Out.

With more and more of our time being spent in the digital environment, are we being conditioned to live in a world where nothing is finished?  In a world that’s constantly changing?  Where there’s never an end goal?

Within the digital world we’re all in a permanent beta state … one of continual forward motion, one of always being tested, evolved and improved, one of never being satisfied with the status quo.

Does this mean that we’ll expect the same of our off line experiences, will commitment become a dirty word, or will we embrace its solidity.  Will marriage, mortgages and motherhood become too permanent a commitment or will we all start to seek them out more enthusiastically. 

Will more of us take up hobbies that we can start, take part in and complete all in one session?  Could even I be compelled to learn to cook, at least there’s a clear beginning, middle and end!

Or will we demand this continual state of motion in everything we do, will we constantly be searching for new experiences, the next buzz, challenge, or laugh.

And what does this mean for brands and brand identities.  We already know that for many brands consumers have become the brand owners and managers. The only thing that is currently truly managed is their visual identity, but even this is changing.  Brands in the future will need to have a clear kernel for their identity, but they will also need to have the confidence to be flexible, to allow certain elements of their identity to change on a constant basis.  The real skill is going to be to identify this kernel, the visual expression of the heart of the brand, and to encourage its audience to play with the rest of its visual identity … you never know as brand guardians we could learn from where they take the brand.

How sad to see a once great brand reduced to pap

Haagen Daz broke so many rules when it was launched…..Before HG, there was no such thing as adult ice-cream, no recognition of the potentially sexy nature of ice-cream….no real passion for/or in the product.

Then, in the very capable hands of BBH, HD launched and changed everything…..

Fast forward to today and it’s like it never happened.

Take a look at this meaningless, anodyne piece of euro-crap that broke on TV this week…..

Little wonder they didn’t pick us to work with them.

Has anyone else noticed a minor invasion of furry creatures recently? The fuzzy little critters are cropping up everywhere from Spanish car adverts to dutch mobile phone ads, even coca cola have crawled onto the bushy bandwagon. Is there a recession-based psychological reason behind this phenomenon, or is it just a cool trend that people are copying? Have they always been here and I just haven’t noticed? I’m sure there are more examples so let me know if you have any more sightings!