Newspapers are multi-faceted things, addressing the needs of many different groups of readers. But that makes the need for a coherent thread, a single unifying idea or characteristic, -a set of brand values if you like, more not less important.

It’s a point that Guardian newspapers might care to consider when they assess the effectiveness –or otherwise of this week’s last-throw-of-the-dice redesign of The Observer.

It is in part brilliant, in part dire and on the whole, totally confusing. I suspect that my confusion as a reader reflects the lack of certainty at Guardian newspapers over exactly what the paper should be doing.

The overhaul has been thorough, starting with the paper’s most basic ‘architecture’ - its rag bag of supplements and sections. Three of the excellent monthly magazines have been spiked and the paper has been reduced to four sections: news, sport, an expanded Review section and the magazine.

So far so good. It feels more focussed and somehow more confident.

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?

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.

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!

It’s probably a bit late to post this considering this event is taking place this weekend, but I thought I’d put it up anyway because it’s good reference. Onedotzero is a festival of the latest digital happenings going on at the BFI Southbank. Click on the link below for a closer look.

http://www.onedotzero.com/event.php?id=31216

And look at this video to give yourselves a taster of what’s on.

onedotzero interactive festival identity - preview from onedotzero on Vimeo.

Ever wanted a years supply of Krispy Kreme donughts?  Well now you have the chance, the much loved brand has launched a global contest to search for their number 1super fan.  All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to tell people  “How has Krispy Kreme made your life special?”.  This is a really fun and engaging way of connecting the brand to consumers, a good exapmle of crowsurfing which we spoke about back in March.  To find out more about the competion check out the Krispy Kreme fan search website

Optimsim in design and communication is a trend that we at CPB identified in the latter stages of 2008.  We put together a great Visual Futures semniar, which was presented earlier this year and what is great is that we continue to see forms of optimsim creeping in to every day communication.

Have a look at these great examples from Microsoft which were spotted on the coolhunter website

LS:N wanted to explore the impact the recession was having on design with another members networking event last night that took place in the ‘rising cultural hub’ of Kings Cross. In the courtyard of Rabih Hage Gallery we met seven practitioners that are influencing design in a wider context, and therefore have an opinion to share. Captured below are some of the sound bites gathered from the roundtable debates by those of us who attended.

Logic leads to simplification
Sam Hecht, co-founder of Industrial Facility, who has worked with clients such as Muji spoke about his common sense approach of how logic leads to design simplification. By examining what is fundamentally relevant to the user and rediscovering the mundane encourages designers to be creative and produce surprising results. He didn’t appear to feel that the recession has affected design. If anything, it could be argued that his works embraces the increased need for functionality and discretion in design, as evident in his pared back solutions, like the Jetlag clock.