We would be jumping in the car to avoid being named and shamed by one of these bus-stop scales, used in the Netherlands to advertise Fitness First.

Not only does this arresting image have us looking at our empty takeaway wrapper with disgust, this ad for Montreal-based Gold’s Gym also provokes us to literally ‘burn’ those empty calories. It doesn’t even need a slogan.

This one originates from our home soil, which it declares will soon be invaded by carnivorous, fat-guzzling aliens. Despite it’s light-hearted intent, it generated an avalanche of criticism.

Conceived in beauty-obsessed Brazil, this unappealing ad works both positively and negatively. On one hand, it forces the consumer to take a frank look at their waistline, but by quantifying each bulging belly as a long-distance run, it tries to suggest that something can be done about obesity.

This ad literally tells you to ‘trim’ the excess, or in this case the elephant, to become a better version of yourself. It does include a small tagline ‘spend more time on you’, but no-one is deluding themselves into thinking this ad is about inner beauty.

Another belter from Gold’s Gym Costa Rica, this series of ads focuses on articles of clothing as the unnamed victims of obesity. The human faces are humourously trying to encourage people to get fit and take some of the pressure off their overworked buttons.

Source: www.trendhunter.com

We have also had the privilege of working with this incredible organisation:

This fantastic charity has previously been known only by it’s lengthy, clinical title ‘Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture’. In the words of Chief Executive Keith Best, ‘Our new name shows our double aspiration: to free people as much as possible from the effects of the torture they have suffered, and to see a world free from torture.’

In our humble opinion, these two campaigns are excellent examples of successful rebranding, where the identity of the product is not lost, but the organisation is given a chance to reword the way they communicate with the public about their work. But rebranding is a dangerous game and is not for the fainthearted. We thought we would take this opportunity to look at some of recent history’s most succesful and unsuccessful rebrands.

FAILURE: New Coke

In the 1980s, after consumer research revealed that people preferred the sweeter taste of Pepsi to Coca Cola, the drinks giant made a move that would go down in marketing history: they changed the recipe.

‘New Coke’ was introduced, and production of the old drink ceased. The backlash from consumers was enormous, with many US customers boycotting New Coke. Within just three months Coca-Cola reverted to its original recipe, which they released as ‘Classic Coke’ which outsold both New Coke and Pepsi. Conspiracy theorists reckon this was their plan all along.

FAILURE: Tropicana

It is customary for large corporations to occasionally reinvigorate the packaging they use, particularly after a decline in sales, as a way of reminding consumers about their product. But when PepsiCo redesigned Tropicana cartons the negative reaction from consumers, who described it as looking too ‘own-brand’, was so strong that they reverted to the old cartons within two months. No wonder, as sales fell by a massive 20% during those two months.

NB This was one of the first instances of consumers using social media to express their views.

FAILURE: Gap

When the powers-that-be at Gap decided to abandon their famous blue logo they drastically underestimated the the passion of their clientele. Disgruntled customers took the the internet in their droves in 2010 to complain about the new logo, with one person even setting up a facebook account as the ‘dumped’ logo. Literally within days of its launch the management had to announce that they were reverting the old logo, apologising for having ‘gone about the things in the wrong way’ with regards to informing their customers.

FAILURE: Post Office to Consignia

Dubbed by one critic as ‘nine letters that spell fiasco’, the rebranding of the Post Office to become Consignia was a disaster. After moving away from state control the Post Office wanted a new name to recognise its many business divisions. The name Consignia was chosen as a combination of ‘Consign’ and ‘Insignia’, supposed to convey trustworthiness.

The rebrand cost £2 million but was very quickly abandoned and the company promptly reverted to being called Royal Mail.

FAILURE: BP logo

Sometime rebranding misteps take years to reveal themselves. When BP spent $7 million in 2000 on brand strategy and a further $200 million supporting the rebrand, they were criticised for spending more money on this than on actually researching renewable energy. But it wasn’t until the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010 that the new green and yellow flower logo, meant to reflect their green credentials, was revealed for the folly it was. The logo was defaced by protesters, and Greenpeace ran an embarassing competition to redesign it.

SUCCESS: Norwich Union to Aviva

When Norwich Union went about rebranding themselves as Aviva in 2008, they actually already operated under that name in over 20 countries. The ads featured celebrities who had changed their names before becoming famous and successful, totally facing up to the rebrand and turning it into an instrument of positive change. Although the campaign set Aviva back £9 million and included some of the most expensive adverts ever made, the proof is in the profits, which rose by 26% to £2.6 billion in 2010.

SUCCESS: Marathon to Snickers

In 1990 Mars rebranded the Marathon bar as the Snickers, the name it was already known by in international markets. It is reported that ‘Snickers’ was the name of the Mars family’s favourite horse. At any rate, UK customers may have complained but the Marathon/Snickers remains the best-selling chocolate bar of all time with annual sales worth $2 billion.

SUCCESS: Opal Fruits to Starburst

Mars invented Opal Fruits back in 1960, before they were launched in the US as Starburst in 1967. Eventually Mars realised they would save money on promotion if the product was known under one name across its worldwide markets. Although the rebrand wasn’t cheap, costing Mars £10 million, Starburst curently brings in about £83 million worth of annual sales.

SUCCESS: Jif to Cif

Though the idea of Unilever spending £2 million substituting one letter for another back in 2000 might have seemed ridiculous to some, Jif/Cif demonstrates how the benefits of a rebranding exercise can be two-fold. Not only do you save money on marketing by having a universal product name, but you have a chance to raise brand awareness and get people talking about what is, in relative terms, a pretty unexciting cleaning product.

The consistent packaging reminded customers that whilst the name had changed, the quality had not, and overall the rebrand coupled with some product innovations has made Cif the world’s best selling abrasive cleaner.

Here are the nation’s top ten favourite British brands. (In a bizarre example of mistaken brand identity, Heinz came fifth on the original list despite being American-founded and owned.)

10. HP Sauce

It has long been rumoured that the name ‘HP’ stand for Houses of Parliament, where the sauce was allegedly served at the turn of the 20th Century. Regardless of the provenance, the image is now a firm part of the sauce’s identity. Launched in 1903, the recipe had been sold by greengrocer Frederick Gibson Garter to the founder of Midlands Vinegar Company for a £150 to settle a debt. After changing hands several times durnig the last fifty years, it is now manufactured in the Netherlands and sold worldwide.

9. The Financial Times

How do you differentiate your newspaper from its competitors? Don’t change the content, change the paper. An example of simplified brand identity at its best, the FT is still printed on distinctive salmon-pink paper, and in 1998 became the first British newspaper to sell more copies internationally than at home. 

8. Harrods

London’s most famous department store is synonymous with old-world British luxury and prestige. Although it is now owned and controlled by the Quatari royal family, this image is a powerful one and holds particular appeal with wealthy internationals. A recent study showing that the average Chinese shopper spends 125% more than an American visitor to the Kensington store has the company planning to open a branch in Shanghai.

7. PG Tips

Pre-Gest-Tee, soon abbreviated to PG, was launched in the 1930s by Brooke Bond. The brand was famously promoted on television by a collection of tea-drinking chimpanzees, a motif which remains central to their brand promotion today. Unilever bought Brooke Bond in 1984 but unlike many of our favourite Brit-brands PG Tips is still manufactured in the UK and exported worldwide.

6. Marmite

You either love it or hate it as the saying goes, but evidently a large proportion of us are proud of the divisive spread. First produced in 1902, the brand is now owned by Unilever and is (according to them) available in 25 countries.

5. Bentley

WO Bentley sold his first car in 1921 but the company was sold to Rolls-Royce only ten years later. After a long period of dwindling sales, the maker of staid and stately limousines saw a resurgence in the 1980s, eventually being bought by Volkswagon in 1998. Most recently the brand has partially thrown off its pipe-smoke-and-pimms image by producing a super-luxe sports car which sold out throughout 2005 and was purchased by celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Denzel Washington.

4. Marks and Spencer

Started as a penny bazaar in Leeds in 1884, the store differed from its competitors by displaying products on trays for customers to examine, rather than keeping all stock behind a counter. Look how that innovation caught on? (We’re talking to you Argos). However despite being beloved at home, Marks and Spencer’s international activity has been troubled to say the least.  After closing all its European outlets in 2001 due to unprofitability, M&S are now taking tentative steps towards opening a store in Paris.

3. Rolls-Royce

When Henry Royce and Charles Rolls met in Manchester in 1904, they agreed to create a company to manufacture “the best car in the world”. The Rolls-Royce company was formed in 1906. In 1971, the British government had to take over the then-ailing company, with the motor car business floated in 1973. But by 1987 it had recovered sufficiently for all its units to reconvene under the one brand. In 1998, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was sold to Volkswagen, although BMW retained the name and marque.

2. Cadbury

Britain’s best-known chocolate company was founded by a grocer named John Cadbury, who opened his first commercial premises for the manufacture of cocoa and chocolate in 1831 in Birmingham. The first milk chocolate bar was launched in 1897, with Dairy Milk hitting shops in 1905.

The Cadbury name houses some true giants of the confectionary industry, but to take one example, the Cadbury Creme Egg is the highest selling chocolate item between New Year’s Day and Easter, has sales in the excess of 200 million per year and an estimated brand value of £50 million. Cadbury was bought by American food giant Kraft in January 2010, despite enormous opposition from chocolate-lovers and politicians alike. Kraft closed the Cadbury factory in Keynsham, Somerset, in March 2010 and switched production to Poland.

1. Aston Martin

Number one in the poll of top British exports goes to James Bond’s car of choice. The company was founded by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin, who named their own brand of car Aston Martin after a successful negotiation of a hillclimb course at Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire.

In 1964, the DB5 was driven by Sean Connery in the film Goldfinger, giving the car, and the the brand legendary status. By 1987, when 75% of the company was bought by Ford, the company had changed hands numerous times. In 2007, the company was sold to two international investment houses. But, like so many on this list, despite its international ownership, it remains an iconic British brand.

(Source: www.msn.co.uk)

The creatives in the office are constantly brainstorming, sketching, crossing-out, and re-thinking, and are known to nibble on a pen here and there. We hate asking to borrow a pen and receiving a seemingly mauled plastic tube or lending our pen out to a known pen-muncher. Hakkens undoubtedly could relate to this, hence his edible creation.

The candy used to make the pens is similar to that of candy bracelets, so it does not melt in your hand when using it. The whole pen, including the ink, is edible except for the tip where the ink is released from. This solves the problem of those half-chewed pens being strewn about the office! Furthermore, the tip can be saved and used in a different flavoured pen.

Our only qualm with this very cool invention  is what one should do if they wish to put the pen down after having chewed it a bit. Perhaps an old-fashioned quill holder would solve this germy problem? Our favorite part of the product besides its power to cure a sweet tooth is its reduction of plastic waste. So often we throw out a pen after the ink runs out without even taking into consideration how much of the product is going to waste (as Hakkens pointed out, essentially 90%). Quite the double positive.

(Sources: M. E. Design and Dave Hakkens)

It seems quite anticlimactic, doesn’t it? That’s because it’s not very exciting– those of us not ashamed of our affinity for American television have been buffered for this advancement for years.  Product placement has been commonplace among our advertising counterparts in the US since the 80′s – you may have noted American Idol judges’ preference for Coca-Cola, Gossip Girl’s endorsement of Verizon, or even Jerry Seinfeld and friends’ love for Junior Mints.

We are all for product placement when done subtly and tactfully. It can be a great opportunity for the product to be seen and buzzed about as long as it doesn’t affect the content of the program. For instance, Britney Spears may have made $500k on her video for Hold it Against Me, but the product placement was far too much, making the video look like cheap advertising for Sony, PlentyofFish.com, and Make Up Forever.  However, here we are writing about it, so we suppose the point was made. Nice one, Brit. In the end, we look forward to spotting those sneaky placements in our favorite UK shows, and following up to see if there are any changes in sales for advertisers.

And what would Friday be without us sharing an ad campaign we enjoyed this week? We love this one from Oreo which gives a twist on their newest tagline “Milk’s Favorite Cookie.”

Milk’s Favorite Pampering Technique

Milk’s Favorite Breakfast

Milk’s Favorite Cookie

Though we would have liked a line that flowed better than “pampering technique,” overall the campaign seamlessly tied creativity with a great product shot.

(Sources: GOOD and Ads of the World)

The result is a very cool looking ceiling that has dramatically increased the acoustics of the restaurant, whose high ceiling had forced the restaurant’s sounds to bounce around, echoing.

The curved shape of the wine bottles allows the sound waves to instead be “broken,” resulting in better sound quality and ambience. The bottles, most of which are shades of green, also illicit a smooth glow throughout the restaurant.

(Source: Tree Hugger)

(Source: Ads of the World)

What if you could melt and make your own as you please? A design student cleverly came up with wax dishes that you can make on the go, melt again and remake.

The set, called Meltware, is made of 3 stoneware pieces: a spoon, a bowl and a carafe. Seems a bit limited, but it actually gives you a fair amount of possibilities, as it allows you to manage the size of the dishes you are creating. So bowls, big bowls, plates, side dishes, big spoons, small spoons, it’s all possible, and it’s all up to you.

What’s even better is the fact you can just melt the whole thing off for storage, so as not to clutter your cupboards with 25 plates!

It sounds like a lot of fun to do as well, even though a bit of practice is probably needed before managing to make whole sets that are pretty consistent. But still, a good buy for Christmas! And you can then show off at your dinner party, calling yourself a true designer. How cool is that?

But obviously a few precautions have to be taken, such as not serving hot tea in one of those, as you’re pretty sure that the whole thing will melt away. But otherwise, perfect for a cold buffet!

(Source: Co.Design)

‘Hunger Pains’ is a series of outfits that have not only been inspired by, but actually designed using the ingredients composing the meal craved by selected models.

We find it pretty hilarious that apart from the artichoke dress, which by the way is absolutely beautiful, all other outfits are pretty much made of carbs, something that no models would go near. No wonder they crave food such as bread, pasta and brioche.

We find the execution very impressive, it has taken hours for each outfit to be cooked, created and assembled. The artichoke dress took 6 hours to make, as each leaf was individually attached to the model. But the result is blow minding.

And the meat on this one definitely reminds us of Lady Gaga’s meat dress, although it looks a little bit less disgusting.

(Source: My Modern Metropolis)

First was the World’s Largest Gummy Bear, which weights about 5 pounds, the equivalent of 1,400 regular gummy bears!  And with 12,600 calories, better not eat the whole thing in one go, so it’s a good thing that it has a year long shelf life.

The enormous gummy bears must sell pretty well, as they have now introduced the World’s Largest Gummy Worm, which pretty much follows the same principle as the bear.

One gigantic worm is the equivalent of 128 average sized worms, is 26 inches long, and weights 3 pounds. A tad smaller than the bear then, but still 4,000 calories!

We guess they can be pretty good to impress guests at a party—the website suggests to serve it like turkey on a silver platter—but they could turn very dangerous in the hands of one person: they probably contain enough sugar to turn someone diabetic.

We must admit… we would love to have one in our hands, but it would probably put us off candy for the rest of our lives!

(Source: TrendHunter and vat19.com)