DIGITAL AND RETAIL COME TOGETHER

IT’S ALL ABOUT INTEGRATION THESE DAYS. Can the web coincide with the retail environment? Can the ad campaign be in synch with an event that also has a web show? Managing this process requires integration of the marketing and creative teams. It also requires an individual who can navigate between the client and the agency without getting bogged down in the minutia and politics often associated with branding campaigns.

Creating meaningful experiences online has always centered on finding interesting ways to weave the product story into a compelling dialogue with the consumer. Brand integration begins with the strategy, advertising, retail and web teams coordinating not only to find the voice of the brand, but the visual threads that help consumers recognize a consistent and coherent personality.

As the web evolves, so does the consumer’s quest for a more complex, networked and personal relationship with a brand. This tribal behavior online helps fuel social networks and spread the viral capacity of a brand, giving it a larger playground than the traditional branding landscape would have allowed. Retailers are finding that their success rests on reinforcing that relationship, allowing consumers to immerse themselves into the product or service.

Surf brands are suffering... duh!

Could this be the death of the mom and pop surf shops? The surf industry has been on a steady growth curve for the past 10 years. With the California mortgage meltdown in full effect, who has money to buy a new board? Watch for consolidation, Chapter 11s and basically crappy news coming from the manufacturers. 

I'm addicted to fresh & easy

Okay -- it's a little funky at first. The wider aisles. The minimalist landscape. The private label products that seem to be very healthy looking -- and cheaper than the other guys. After shopping the store for the past few months, I'm slightly disgusted to walk the aisles of Albertson's. 

Saturn: Brand Makeover

Challenge: Revive a forgotten automotive brand that was well-loved in its hay day but hasn’t delivered on styling and craftsmanship in the past 10 years.

Insight: Saturn’s new vehicles are smartly engineered and appropriately sized for a nation that is facing $4 gasoline prices and over-priced European autos.

Solution: We chose to remind people that Saturn was a smart choice in a world gone super-sized. Our attitude in advertising communications attacked the excessive consumption of our society and offered Saturn as a smart and savvy purchase decision. We were able to make the brand relevant and unique because of it’s humble appeal, contemporary appearance and thoughtful engineering.

TGI Friday’s Brand Revamp

Challenge: Bring new life and pizzazz to a well-known brand that had lost just a little of its luster in the wake of new and more exciting restaurant concepts.

Insight: TGI Friday’s was the birthplace of fun but had become a cliché. It had become just a place to eat, rather than a destination for fun.

Solution: For starters, we reminded people that the Friday night experience was only a visit away. By taking ownership of the fun and excitement of Friday nights we were able to reinvigorate the brand with contemporary relevance, while retaining its core values. Our external and internal communications featured the updated décor, new tantalizing entrees and the flamboyant cocktails that Friday’s became famous for. We made Friday’s newly relevant – and fun.

Fresh & Easy Launches in U.S.

Challenge: Create an entirely new brand from scratch in a category dominated by large established players. Design over 2000 private label packaging designs. Launch over 100 stores in the first year.

Insight: Consumers perceived that fresh food was the domain of the supermarkets and that convenience meant stores with a limited range of food at high prices. The opportunity existed for a convenience store that offered a comprehensive range of high-quality yet competitively priced fresh and pre-packaged food.

Solution: From packaging and in-store experience to offline and online advertising, the fully integrated campaign focused on quality, freshness and easy to shop locations.

The Price of Gas

Evian water 9 o.z = $1.49
That's $21.19 per gallon!