This ad for the Nike World Cup is a really good depiction of a global brand using a number of various cultural references to really emphasize the cross demographic tendencies of the World Cups fans. Nike, always a company that seeks to lead the market in brand exposure, has a knack for building their marketing and promotional activities around the idea of bringing people and communities together. The World Cup is a great place for that kind of sentiment, as no other sport commands as much global recognition and respect, or brings together so many different kinds of people from so many different walks of life. Check out the video, it’s pretty fun.
Matthew Kudej thinks we’ll see a lot more name brand European companies coming out this recession than we’ve seen in forever. I can’t see them continuing down this road without changing their work habits to become more competitive.
…not sure what I think about all of this yet, but rest assured, I am actually paying attention.
I’ve been following the American Express Members project for a few years now, and they’ve put the website up again this year. The project itself is a website in which American Express Card members can peruse a number of submitted social projects and select a number of them for inclusion in the final round of voting. The winners receive a dollar sum in support of their projects. Past winners have included projects such as KIVA, an organization that supports the creation and growth of businesses and enterprises in Africa, as well as Childrens Safe Drinking Water, an organization which provides PUR packets to underdeveloped nation to assist in drinking water cleanup. You’ll want to check out the video for that second one, it’s pretty cool.
The American Express Members Project, as I’ve mentioned in previous years, is part of a growing trend in which companies are making in roads to becoming socially and environmentally responsible within their community.
In fact, the Members Project is a unique initiative in that maintaining membership with American Express in the form of having a card is much like being part of a club in which anyone can join…assuming of course your credit scores check out.
The project allows its membership to have a say in how American Express does business in some respects, allowing a way for customers to pose feedback on how the company spends its money, and invites them to witness the results of their choices at least through the confines of the website.
The one thing I think would be really neat is if American Express took the program one step further and showed members the results of their choices first hand through a video or some other sort of follow up presentation. Still, it’s a good example of social marketing in a positive light, and you have to applaud the effort as well as the outcome.
It’s often common to see new products emerge from the recovering economy as the recession begins to retreat and new avenues of financial growth are sought out. In the past, ideas such as the iPod and Excite.com have become big business right out of a recession. Many of these ideas have grown out of advances in technology, while others are often retreads of old ideas made new through the use of innovation and practices. In the case of Coke’s Freestyle machines, both cases are true.
The Freestyle machines themselves work essentially like an old soda jerk, where you can select your flavor, and the machine makes the drink for you on the spot. Technology common in measuring tiny doses of chemotherapy drugs is used to release digitally-controlled amounts of concentrate flavor from dozens of plastic cartridges.
My first thought was that mixing soda using the Freestyle machine seemed a lot like mixing Kamakazis at my local pizza hangout as a kid. Mix all the flavors together and see what happens. No two are the same. Watching the video, however, reveals that the product seems more along the lines of a Vanilla Coke machine…just a couple different options…I’m sure so people don’t accidentally mix something disgusting together that they don’t really want to pay for. That disappointed me a little, but still, the idea of a soda machine that can mix so many flavors together right in front of your eyes definitely has a wow factor inherent in it’s use. Just see below:
The machines themselves were created by the people who designed Ferrari racing cars and were made in a classic style reminisent of old 50’s diners and drive ins. The Freestyle fountains have proved so popular that they have had difficulty keeping up with demand due to slow software and problems with spill over. The machine also charges over 30% more for Freestyle Coke products than normal fountain drinks.
Beginning this month new fountain drinks are being released to a number of markets throughout the United States with Coke stating that it would prefer to release the product gradually across the United States.
All in all, it’s an interesting product from a company, Coke, who has a history of innovation in the soft drink business. It should be interesting to see how this product turns out for them.
