Archive for the ‘Brands’ Category

Can P&G’s innovation strategy help address our economic woes?

11/20/12 by Alex Benady

It emerged today that Proctor & Gamble is planning to revitalize its stagnant business with a raft of breakthrough innovations that redefine their categories.

According to Marketing Week, Jorge Mesquita, P&G’s group president of new business creation, innovation and pet care, told an annual meeting for analysts that he aims to launch three times as many “change innovations” in the next five years as it has in the previous five years. He defined a “change innovation” as a “breakthrough that resets the competitive bar in the category and leads to significant share increases, category growth and competitive advantage”.

Innovation is a loose word covering anything from a new flavour of mayonnaise to the invention of entirely new technologies. Given that P&G spends or invests $2bn a year on innovation,  I wondered what effect the new strategy might have,  beyond its own share price –in the broader economy? (more…)

Five Beautiful Things – Autumn edition

10/24/12 by Sarah Cameron

The leaves are orange, the fog has come down and we’ve finally had to accept that an Indian Summer is not just around the corner… Don’t worry though; wrap your hands round a steaming cup of tea and check out our latest (and particularly bright!) Five Beautiful Things for inspiration despite the drizzle.

 

60 Shades of Royalty

 

 

Throughout the madness of her Diamond Jubilee, it seemed impossible to escape the Queen’s face, but a piece of colourful genius stood out amongst the generic QEII masks and biscuit tins. Leo Burnett has created a masterpiece ‘Pantone Queen: 60 Years of Matching Colours’.  Each colour of outfit is accompanied by the date it was worn, and the Pantone colour reference. And after all the press the younger royals are getting these days, we suspect Her Majesty will be blushing a rosy Pantone 231.

 

 

Jolly Brollies

 

 

This playful exhibition of colour and abstract beauty was featured in Agueda Portugal, as part of the Agitagueda Art Festival. The Wonderland-esque display carried a soothing elegance while maintaining a stunning array of colour across the sky. The umbrellas also proved to be somewhat practical by providing a shaded stroll for all those admiring the aerial spectacle; an umbrella function us Brits can only envy.

 

 

Inside London

 

 

OK, so it’s one of ours, but our drinks team at Coley Porter Bell are rather pleased with their new identity for Beefeater’s limited edition ‘Inside London’ bottle, planned as celebration of 2012 – a truly momentous year for London.
Our idea for the bottle stems from the British outwardly conservative appearance and ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude, contrasting with our ‘inner eccentricity’ seen in London’s diverse range of people, culture and activities.

 

 

Nice And Toastie

 

 

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the… bus stop? Caribou Coffee, along with the trusty sous chefs at Colle + McVoy, launch their ‘Hot ‘n Wholesome’ breakfast sandwiches by converting bus shelters in Minneapolis into oversized ovens. Not to miss a trick, these public appliances have been fitted with digital clocks and fully functional heaters.

 

 

Living With Patterns

 

 

Eley Kishimoto, a husband and wife duo, opened their ‘Living With Patterns’ exhibition at The Aram Gallery, London in September, coinciding with both London Fashion Week and The London Design Festival. The exhibition showcases their collection of women’s wear, named ‘In Shape’, and is on show until 27th October. If you like these retro inspired prints, Clarks will be launching a range of shoes inspired by this work in March next year in the UK.

http://www.thearamgallery.org/

 

Beefeater Inside London – Best of British

10/24/12 by Alex Ririe

 

We’ve just won another award for our Beefeater Inside London Limited Edition design!  This time for the Packaging Innovations London 2012 Best of British design.

Against stiff competition including Marmite’s ‘Ma’amite’ design and Tate & Lyle’s syrup ‘Happy & Glorious’ limited edition we won a silver.

Congratulations to all involved!

Explaining to the French why we tampered with a French icon. In English.

04/3/12 by Ridhi Sain

 

Ricard is much more than an alcoholic drink in France. It’s an institution, a cornerstone of French life and its design and advertising occupy a truly iconic position in French culture.

So it was with equal feelings of honour, pride and gut-wrenching anxiety that I stood up to speak last week at the opening of an exhibition of Ricard’s journey through the years in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

(more…)

What brands can learn from fishnet stockings

02/27/12 by adamsweeney

I hate to ruin my reputation as a wild twentysomething – hypnotised by X Factor, tweeting by reflex and primed to riot at the drop of a Nike – but last week, I tuned in to Radio 4 to listen to Start the Week.

Having slogged my way through 40 minutes of enriching (obtuse) chatter, with neither a live text vote nor a dancing Dermot O’Leary to keep my spirits up, these closing words from sculptor Peter Randall-Page grabbed my attention.

“We spend our lives making decisions about what’s inside a thing from what’s on the outside.”

(more…)

Pearlfisher creates ‘you count…’ brand for Waitrose

02/1/12 by Igor Astrologo

Pearlfisher has designed the brand identity and packaging for the ‘you count…’ range for Waitrose, part of the supermarket’s LOVE life offer.

Product shots on a white background, navigational cues and calorie content set in bold, bright, colourful type… but I can’t help feel the range looks a little too clinical and unappetising for my tastebuds.

waitrose you count... packaging by Pearlfisher

Happy Diwali in Lantern Light

10/28/11 by Charlotte Newbold

In celebration of this week’s Diwali festival Coley Porter Bell designed and installed a window display at Coutts London head office on the Strand.

The design, which wishes everyone a ‘Happy Diwali’ in Hindi and in English, features gold and fuschia lattice work that sits above three huge live edge acrylic lanterns. The pattern work and the design of each lantern represent a different part of the festival.

Diwali Lantern Light

Diwali Lantern Light

Happy Diwali on the Strand

Happy Diwali on the Strand

The circular yellow lantern marks the first day of Diwali, which welcomes Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. This is the start of a new year and a new financial year, when people light up their homes to symbolize hope for the coming year.

The second lantern gives reference to the blooming lotus flower that Lakshmi sits within. On the central day people pray to her for wealth in body, spirit and mind.

The third lantern reflects the final day of Diwali, which celebrates the love between brothers and sisters with the sharing of traditional food and gifts in their homes.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Lotus Flower Lantern

Lotus Flower Lantern

Lantern of Brotherly and Sisterly Love

Lantern of Brotherly and Sisterly Love

People start the new business year at this time, and some will say prayers to Lakshmi for a successful year. Regardless of your preferred mythological explanation, the festival stands for a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a celebration of the simple – and some not so simple – joys of life.

The window display was build and installed by Limited and Capital Models. Watch the installation in time release animation here, http://www.youtube.com/couttsandco

Lanterns in Daylight

Lanterns in Daylight

Lovely Reflections of Light

Lovely Reflections of Light

Designer: Charlotte Newbold

Design Director: Richard Clayton

Can Coca-Cola Really Make You Happy?

09/20/11 by Chris Button

While it might not be a recognised cure for depression, a couple of studies by The Economist suggest that there may at least be a correlation between Coca-Cola and happiness.

In 1997, The Economist took a look at the world through a Coca-Cola bottle. The following two charts were a result of this study:

The fact that there was a loose correlation between increased wealth and increased Coca-Cola consumption is not surprising. More interesting is that there was a much tighter correlation between increased HDI (Human Development Index – a measure of life expectancy, access to knowledge and standard of living) levels and increased Coca-Cola consumption. The Economist did not speculate on any possible causes for the correlation.

In 2008, The Economist took another look through the bottom of a Coca-Cola bottle. This time they specifically focused on Africa:

The observation that problems within Coca-Cola’s pervasive distribution network could be used as an indicator of social upheaval well in advance of other measures led to the suggestion that Coca-Cola could be an ‘Index of Happiness’ in Africa. In cruder terms, when Africa is ‘unhappy’, Coca-Cola’s presence declines regardless of consumer purchasing power.

If any unifying conclusion can be drawn from the two Economist studies, it is that Coca-Cola consumption is broadly reflective of social harmony and equality. As Andy Warhol once put it, “A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking”.

There are many ‘happy’ brands at the moment; Coca-Cola is one of them. What can make Coca-Cola distinct is recognition of its role as the world’s greatest brand. Melinda Gates and the ColaLife movement have independently highlighted Coca-Cola’s pervasive distribution network as an example of how to bring aid to those in need. In English, there are two possible interpretations of the ‘Open Happiness’ name given to Coca-Cola’s recent campaign: open as a verb encouraging the consumer to release happiness; open as an adjective describing a kind of free-spirited happiness. The actual campaign is rooted in the former verbal interpretation. By focusing on the latter adjectival interpretation, Coca-Cola can develop from a product that influences to a brand that inspires.

Contact Lens Solution Breaks Category Conventions

09/19/11 by Chris Button

In the sterile world of contact lens solutions, bottles are basically clinical and white while secondary packaging is bluish and functional. That was until Pentagram designed the packaging for Biotrue.

Biotrue is Bausch & Lomb’s category-defining solution that is “inspired by the biology of your eyes” to match the pH of healthy tears.

The primary packaging is available in a nicely textured clear bottle that allows the consumer to see the actual product in much the same way as they would with a bottle of mineral water. It also serves the functional benefit of allowing the consumer to see exactly how much solution is left. The secondary packaging uses blue and green in reference to moisture and nature in a clean and fresh looking design inspired by bio trends in cosmetics. This essence is captured in the logo which breaks the name into a green ‘Bio’ and a blue ‘true’ while the ‘i’ is dotted by a droplet that encapsulates the name in its reflection.

This blog is about all the things that inspire us as we make brands beautiful: insights and ideas, points of view, fabulous work, nascent trends - all the things that excite us and help us to see new possibilities for the brands we work on. So please enjoy, add your comments, forward the link, and come back and see us. We’ll be posting regularly.