FLYNAS REBRAND WINS THREE CMO ASIA GOLDEN AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN BRANDING AND MARKETING
It fills us with great pride to announce that flynas are the recipients of Three CMO Asia Golden Awards for excellence in Branding and Marketing in 2014. Flynas were honoured with the awards in three categories: Brand revitalisation, Effective Use of Marketing Communication, and Marketing Campaign of the Year.
Commenting on this achievement, Mr Raja Azmi, CEO of flynas, said: “Theses three awards truly recognize the success of our recent rebranding…”
Having created an entirely new brand from name to strategic platform and visual identity, we implemented the flynas brand culminating in its launch at the Dubai Air show. Along with our Saudi partners Charisma, we delivered all aspects of the new flynas brand within a comprehensive range of services and we are thrilled that this progressive airline now has the recognition it deserves.
The criteria for the Brand Revitalization award were focused not only on a Successful rebrand but also assessing the subsequent launch of a new modern identity along with its impact and popularity.
To date flynas now has 3.5 million likes on www.facebook.com/flynas, 253,000 followers on https://twitter.com/flynas and not to mention a very happy team at the airline with positive feedback from trippers, travellers and tourists alike.
We are thrilled for our friends at flynas and we look forward to helping them go from strength to strength in 2015 and beyond.
December 25th in most Western and some Eastern churches has long been the day on which Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, in recent years, Christmas has arguably become less of a commemorative religious event and more a modern brand capable of mobilising consumers in their billions with the irresistible allure of all things shiny, comforting and festive. It is now a tool that businesses and corporations use to enhance their marketing muscle with an injection of seasonal charm and sex appeal to leverage maximum spending.The origins of the Christmas brand image as we recognise it today can be traced back to Scandinavia when people would come to celebrate the winter solstice and the onset of lighter days. Fast forward to the Fourth Century AD, when church officials decided to make Jesus’ birthday a holiday and Pope Julius chose December 25th.
In the centuries that followed, significant brand developments have occurred including: the addition of the Christmas tree in the 1500s (German fir trees were decorated symbolising the paradise tree in the Garden of Eden), Santa Claus in the 1700s (Dutch colonists in New York changed the spelling of Sint Nikolaas to Sinterklaas) and American poet George Webster immortalising Santa as a citizen of the world by saying he lived at the North Pole, in his piece ‘Santa Claus and His Works’. The first company to fully seize the opportunity to leverage the Christmas brand was Coca-Cola, creating the first ads featuring Santa in 1931, illustrated by Haddon Sundblom. ‘The new Santa’ was introduced at the 1931 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Whilst the general look of Santa had already been introduced in Thomas Nast’s illustrations, it was the Coca-Cola Santa that truly established him as the ubiquitous icon for Christmastime.
Coca-cola adopting a popular festive icon as a figurehead of their marketing strategy arguably marked the start of the large-scale commercialisation of Christmas and symbolizes a departure from the more traditional religious aspects of Christmas. Indeed, in an increasingly consumerist world where Christmas brand icons include images of Santa, reindeer, snowmen, Christmas elves and Penguins, there’s barely a Baby Jesus or an Angel Gabriel in sight.
Last year David Blunkett MP told the Radio Times: ‘Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol” in 1843, introducing the world to Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim. It remains perhaps the most popular Christmas fiction story of our time. But since it was written, it saddens me that Christmas has become so commercialised and over-hyped that its true meaning has become lost beneath the welter of fairy lights, tinsel and extravagant presents’.
It isn’t hard to see how household brands now employ some of the classic themes associated with Christmas such as togetherness, sharing, love and family to emotionally engage us and encourage us to make direct purchasing decisions.
The power of advertising to re-shape our view of a traditional event can be seen in some widely recognised ads – for instance, as showcased in this advert by Coca Cola, we now commonly associate the colours of green and red with the festive season and arguably they are now the official brand colours of Christmas.
‘Holidays are Coming’
In the UK, the John Lewis Christmas advert is now a national yearly event, ushering in the mass shopping season. This year’s stars a cute love-sick penguin, named Monty – who of course has now been heavily merchandised.
‘Give someone the Christmas they’ve been dreaming of’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iccscUFY860
Sainsbury’s faithful recreation of the emotionally-charged First World War Christmas ceasefire has received much praise but has also been subject to criticism from viewers who believe that the advert was merely an insensitive and distasteful way to drum up sales.
‘Christmas is for sharing’
There can be no doubt that Christmas is one of the most, if not the most successful brands of all time, capable of harnessing all of our emotions and hard wiring them into a perceived need to buy stuff. If that statement sounds cynical, well, it’s because it is: so much about the Christmas brand has become superficial. Deep down we all know we’re being led blindly like moths towards the pretty lights, but that does not mean that we have to lose the essence of what makes Christmas special.
Amidst the shopping frenzies and fake snow, what is still undeniable is that Christmas can bring people together, families, friends and communities. It is an historic brand that has been hand-crafted by the people, for the people and it is open to interpretation. Whatever your traditions, however you wish to celebrate this time of year, religious or not, it is possible to do it without spending vast amounts of money just for the sake of it.
Ultimately, what has not been lost, is that for many of us, it is still a time to take stock, celebrate life and to remember what is really important in our lives.
Category: ThinkingComments Off on Ding Dong Merrily We Buy
Sitting in the top trending stories last week were 19 Worst Selfie Fails Of All Time, which makes for pretty hilarious viewing if, unlike me, you are not sitting opposite your boss at work.
By definition a selfie is an image that one takes of oneself, typically with a Smartphone or a webcam and shared via social media. But what’s in a selfie – what’s the point?
Well Dr Apter, a psychology lecturer at Cambridge University, believes that we take selfies in search of self-definition; we take these pictures to help us figure out who we actually are. Selfies help us to accept our own internal experiences, thoughts and feelings in such a way that helps us to better understand how we interact with the world.
Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, Hockney, Munch, Hopper, to name but a few, are all artists who have turned a canvas into a mirror. Whilst they couldn’t publish their self-portraits on social media, these works were their own form of personal legacy – a form of “self-advertisement”.
But selfies are also about self-transformation. Selfies that we publish show us how we want to be seen by others, meaning we take control of our own ‘brand image’ and portray the person we wish others to believe we are, be that sporty, funny, courageous…
What’s the outcome? Selfies represent a moment in our lives, but are a veneer to perhaps misdirect others from understanding our deeper motivations, insecurities or self-doubt.
For example, were Bilbo Baggins to take a selfie on his journey to the Lonely Mountain, I’m pretty sure he would be smiling whilst in the far distance would lie a panorama of the unknown. This image would portray to others a happy, go-lucky hobbit not fearing the adventure in which he was partaking. Actually this is a far cry from the truth. As unadventurous folk, hobbits would never elect to leave the Shire; Bilbo never wanted to leave Bag End and was pressurized by Gandalf and the dwarf brethren to do so. He would much rather have stayed in the comfort of his home, smoking pipe-weed and avoiding any excitement whatsoever.
So next time you take a selfie perhaps you will ask yourself why. On our never ending journey for self-definition and transformation, perhaps an introspective glance of what drives you to take that selfie will help you towards knowing yourself better and, in so doing, help you “to thine own self be true”.
Many people are by now familiar with Tuesday’s Twitter storm after a (probably now unemployed) member of Sainsbury’s Romford Road, Stratford team accidentally put up a poster meant for the staff room in a shop window. The poster was asking staff to encourage customers to spend more during every shopping trip in a concerted sales push towards the end of the year.
The offending poster created quite a stir as TV freelancer Chris Dodd tweeted the picture @ the Sainsbury’s Twitter account along with the caption: ‘Not sure this is supposed to be in your window…’ Cue articles in just about every morning newspaper going and the inevitable office water cooler conversations about that Sainsbury’s poster.
Whilst the Sainsbury’s brand will never scream its value message in the way that rivals Asda and Tesco do, this does somewhat seem to go against their most recent brand promise of ‘Live Well for Less’. Historically Sainsbury’s have opted to take a more subtle approach than their rival discounters in an effort to appeal customer emotions. However, whilst they might not necessarily make a noise about competing on price their current strap-line definitely implies that customers will be getting more for less and it is easy to see how loyal shoppers would be well within their rights to be angry after this picture was published online.
In a nutshell – Sainsbury’s appear to be promising something that they are not delivering.
Call me cynical but it does seriously make you wonder how many companies (especially in the food retail sector) actually intend to deliver on their brand promises. With the amount of money companies spend on convincing us that their brand is superior/sexier/better value, this sort of thing is often hard to judge at face value. In this case however, the speed with which people are prepared to jump on the anti-Sainsbury’s bandwagon after an incident like this is very telling.
Sainsbury’s were quick to dismiss the suggestion that it was deceiving customers by saying that the poster was merely ‘a bit of fun’. Whether or not this is the case, it was clearly not a well-thought out strategy, the damage is now done and Sainsbury’s are left clearing up mess in a fiercely competitive market place. The FT has now published an article that describes the UK Groceries market as being in a war-of-attrition-like state and that Sainsbury’s were expecting a decline in sales in the run up to Christmas following a 3% dip in sales in the second quarter.
What we absolutely loved was how quickly German rivals Lidl reacted to Sainsbury’s unfortunate mishap with this genius ad and a great hashtag in this morning’s metro.
In our new technological age everyone is armed with their own weapons of mass communication and there really is nowhere to hide. When a traditionally well-loved food giant like Sainsbury’s makes this kind of slip-up, people are all-too savvy and eager to grab their moment of glory by exposing a large corporation for all to see.
And of course, as with Lidl, competitors are always waiting in the wings ready to reinforce their own brand values and capitalise on such a situation in order to seize a slice of the market pie chart and educate people as to the benefits of their brand. The moral of the story – “Brands! Stick to your promises, be transparent and be careful”.
As June leaps off the bench this year, it brings with it not just the promise of the Great British Summer but also the excitement of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
It is almost impossible to escape the surrounding furore, as everyone tries to get a piece of the brand value silverware on offer, through association (officially or otherwise) with the tournament.
Nike were one of the first off the mark, with an ad that at once plays up to their other cinematic spectacles of recent years (complete with a brilliant Hollywood cameo), while also tapping into a grassroots appeal that keeps their campaign grounded. The insight that kids play as their favourite stars while using jumpers for goalposts is an obvious one, and boys playing alongside their heroes is a classic fall-back for sports equipment, but there is a wit and style that gives Nike’s guerrilla offering an edge here.
Certainly over Adidas, whose dark dreams from Lionel Messi may appeal to an older crowd, but their campaign may have missed the nostalgia-fest that Panini and the BBC have also picked up on. Panini’s sticker albums have had a new burst of life, as a new generation of boys raised on swapping sticker albums in the playground have children (or even just a disposable income) to justify collecting again. The BBC, meanwhile, have gone for a Subbuteo style aesthetic, to reassert their position as being a big name in football, but still small enough to keep you engaged in your living room.
The brand with the most at stake, however, is Brand Brazil. With a rapidly growing economy, the huge South American country will be looking to raise it’s international profile, in the way London 2012 did for Brand Britain. Buses have been carnavalised and samba styles have infected many other products looking for association with the tournament. Whether the brand engagement will have the same lasting impact as the London Olympics, remains to be seen – a large part of the brand success came from the tournament’s smooth-running and fantastic show. Brazil has got off to a shaky start already, with its delayed stadium preparations. Whether it can build up a positive momentum of international engagement that can peak at the next olympics will be the challenge. Otherwise, Rio 2016 may have to be a second chance for Brand Brazil. But let’s hope they don’t need it, and the Beautiful Game has a beautiful tournament lit up by its greatest champions.
Adidas – Messi’s World Cup Dream
BBC’s promotion for its coverage of the tournament
Mark has 15 years experience across a range of design disciplines within the world of branding. From working directly with CEO’s and refining their brand vision, through to bringing the brands to life visually in all their communications including: identity, print, advertising, exhibition and web design.
As a design director Mark’s experience at number of top agencies has seen him work on a huge variety of exciting projects for international clients such as Russian Standard Vodka, SWIFT, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, Osborne Clarke, Selftrade, Symrise, Rainmakers’ CSI, Ballantine’s, Craegmoor, ICAEW, Brand London, Nakheel and the Palm Islands.
Category: peopleComments Off on Mark Teisler-Goldsmith
Creating a higher performing brand for Saudi Arabia’s pioneering provider of business aviation services.
Context
Arabasco came to us as it was preparing for it’s next chapter of growth needing to find a clear, relevant and defendable brand proposition. They asked us to help bring this to life with a compelling stand out visual and verbal identity system.
Ambition
To create an aviation brand that provides a commercial and a luxurious advantage by understanding customers at both business and personal levels. We wanted to deliver a brand that was constantly looking for the better way, the more elegant answer, the ingenious solution. Our purpose in forming the new Arabasco was to permanently offer private aviation’s highest standards of service, technical excellence and planning expertise.
Action
So with progressive thinking, from planes to planning we ensured that the Arabasco brand would be precise and purposeful in delivering every aspect of its service to its customers. By consistently delivering a high quality service, we made sure we were giving Arabasco’s clients exactly what they wanted, heightened performance.
Results
Having created a fresh visual identity and fully responsive website we have now implemented the brand culminating in its launch at this years MEBA Exhibition in Dubai. See the new site here https://www.arabasco.aero/
We recently worked on the re-launch of this UAE based international management consultancy.
The fantastic Iolas team bring significant experience in corporate and enterprise strategy, corporate finance, marketing and sales, M&A, start-ups, transformation and turnaround, organization change and leadership, corporate governance, product and service innovation, performance improvement, operations, and manufacturing.
They help their clients identify and capture high value opportunities, build higher performing processes, teams and capabilities, and enable brands and businesses to expand across borders to achieve lasting strategic and operational excellence, and healthy financial performance.
