See the below chart of Google Algorithm changes made in 2011, courtesy of HigherVisibility

Top Google Algorithm Changes of 2011 by HigherVisibility

SEO Crossword Puzzle

Enjoy!

We had a great line-up of panelists to address us on Design and Packaging from various industries that are very influencial in the entire process. The panelists were as following: Gareth Pearson – CEO and Shareholder at BMI Reasearch, Andrew Human – CEO of The Loeries Awards, Adam Botha – Creative Director of Switch Branding and Design, Mariette Du Plessis – Partner at Adams & Adams, and Karen Saville – Client Service Director at Y&R (Johannesbburg).

Jeremy Maggs opened the discussion by sharing a few consumer behavior studies done which reveal that 70% of purchase decisions by the consumer are made in-store hence the importance of outstanding packaging which gives the consumer a different experience in their “mood of purchase moment”.

Gareth Pearson then took over taking us further into detail of “Consumer Insight” by adding how consumers are looking for value and convenience as the main factors influencing their purchase decision. And with the “Green” movement, now consumers are also environment conscious which affects the packaging of products.

The recycling process has quite a huge impact on logistics therefore added costs to the manufacturing of packages. Even though the Green movement has slowed down over the years, government regulations are being discussed to be put in place and the packaging industry will self-regulate through the Waste Management Bill.

Also social media has an impact on packaging, one example being the QR  codes on Doritos pack which pack design and product testing were done resulting from the impact of Waste Management Bill. But regardless of some of the limitations that affect design of packaging, we still come up on top for creativity and innovation in the world with the 2009 World Star Awards being testimony to that as South Africa won 9 awards, Japan 7, Norway 2 and Singapore 1. We must not downplay how creative we are.

Andrew Human then filled us in on how new and innovative packages create a different experience for the consumer. The Loeries Awards focus on the following quality of packaging trends: innovation and relevance to brand and audience. He then shared a few winning examples like, packaging by Bushmills and Cabriere.

It appeared that the most package conscious manufacturers are the Alcohol and Perfume industries. Well it has been researched and discovered that Alcohol and perfume purchases are highly driven by their packaging. Consumers almost exclusively purchase based on the packaging, which affects the pricing of the product.

Another example of great packaging is the Café Royale Tequila packaging – great innovation where South America meets Italy was the theme of the design.

Adam Botha talks sustainability of packaging design, the impact of CPA and the challenge to be creative taking all those parameters into consideration. As packaging is the final point of contact before the consumer makes a decision to purchase, it’s important for your product to stand out driven by creativity as the consumer notices what’s different.

A few techniques you can use is illustration to create a hand crafted, sustainable look. This can also help to curb the new rules of the CPA as The new CPA legislation is challenging creative minds to stay within the boundaries therefore limiting designers from being more innovative.

Karen Saville from Y&R shares with us their Pick ‘n Pay on Nicol project with us and all the design elements that went into the project including their target of their entire concept and how they brought that innovation to life with the help of the contractors they worked with. PnP brought global best practice, briefed architects and went away from the box format.

Y&R focused on making the store a sensory and comfortable experience for the visitors by being involved in every detail of the store. They used iconography rather than wording to achieve a more pleasant and interactive in-store experience for consumers which will make them spend more time in the store and make more purchases there.

Thyme on Nicol restaurant is seamlessly intergrated into PnP on Nicol whereas Good Food Studio is sexier and focused on ingredients. “the more pleasant and interactive you make your in-store experience, the more time people will spend in your store.” ~ Karen Saville.

With all the creativity and innovation needed in the design of your packaging, the companies who succeed at this face a lot of copy cats of competing products using the same theme of their creative to try to steal the loyal consumer purchases made based on the winning packaging.

Therefore it’s very important to register your creative to avoid such, as most companies do not register their creative which would cost them way less than a legal lawsuit against copy cats would cost them. Product creative counterfeiting is the biggest growing industry in the world!!!, and that’s where legal firms such as Adams & Adams come in.

Mariette du Plessis educated us on the legal and regulations side of the whole matter at hand. Any packaging can be protected if it can be graphically presented. She used the Jack Daniels packaging as an example of a very distinctive and subjective design. The Coke bottle is also a great example of trade marking.

Words like “pure” and “natural” cannot be used on packaging. “Original” can only be used if you are the first to launch such a product in that category.  Due to the CPA we need to design packaging to be more transparent and give the right and full information for the consumer. The package must not just only say “green” but the brand must be able to support by giving more information.

Conclusion:

Packaging design is a highly influencing factor in consumer purchase, therefore for product manufacturers, design innovation must be an informed business decision. Not just the design, but also the green and organic factors are now being considered by consumers in packaging.

Innovation in packaging is determined by budget as packaging can cost up to 45% of the overall product cost. Design registration is very important to protect your creative design from copy cats.

Insights for the day: Be interactive, responsible, sustainable, innovative and creative.

Social Media marketing and management of this event was done by saidWot and Virtuosa.

My top reads include:

Seven Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen F. Covey
First published in 1989, it has sold over 15 million copies in 38 languages since first publication.

Lessons to be learnt from this book:

• Habit 1: Be Proactive
• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
• Habit 3: Put First Things First
• Habit 4: Think Win/Win
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
• Habit 6: Synergize
• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Mainly it’s about bringing out the best you in business and in life.
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, M.D.
This motivational book was first published in 1998, and was a New York Times business bestseller since release. It describes change in one’s work and life, and four typical reactions to said change by two mice and two “littlepeople”, during their hunt for cheese.

Lessons to be learnt from this book:

• Change Happens: They Keep Moving The Cheese
• Anticipate Change: Get Ready For The Cheese To Move
• Monitor Change: Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old
• Adapt To Change Quickly: The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese
• Change: Move With The Cheese
• Enjoy Change!: Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!
• Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again: They Keep Moving The Cheese.

Screw It let’s Do It by Richard Branson
In this book, Sir Richard Branson sets out some basic guidelines that have formed the foundations of his success.
There are core messages in the book which are:

• Just Do It!
• Have Fun!
• Be Bold
• Challenge Yourself
• Stand On Your Own Feet
• Live the Moment
• Value Family and Friends
• Have Respect
• Do Some Good

Which books have inspired you in the past, and what are you reading now?

MetropolitanRepublic – Wimpy
Trying to infiltrate the World Cup into the brand, didn’t use soccer but tried to use the patriotism of the country.
We wanted to ignite the brand of Wimpy and the world cup was the perfect opportunity. More than just the add also built a microsite  www.nationalbreakfast.co.za to hold all our viral elements. We also used billboards at the airports, we did a tie up with Engen where Wimpy was situated around the country. Found out that there are various legalities with putting ads on YouTube and therefore the microsite was the perfect solution.

Black River FC – Mini “6 Colours to stand By”
The initiative  for this ad was really to create some buzz and the idea was to get as many flags out there as possible. Mini manufucters give out flags for your mirror for free.

The intention really was to ge South Africans amped. The brand was the catalyst for making the public want to own the flag. We wanted South Africans to love the brand.

Nandos “Ama-Visitors”
Foreign visitors misconception about South African we wanted to have some fun with it. Created various ads showing these stereotypes and how ridiculous it is.  The brand is about commenting about things in society quickly in  a way that Nando’s have become known for.

King James – Kulula.com “the campaig for the ‘you know what’”
Initially pricing campaign – wanting to advertise flights for R499. Sort of expected Fifa to come at us but that just made our jobs easier at the end of the day.
Ran a second add where we removed the icons that Fifa complained about. This campaign success was really on Twitter and Facebook with all the conversations going and free publicity. Once we realised how powerful the anti-Fifa sentiment was here in South Africa we  followed up to trademark the sky on April fool’s day and continued the campaign right through the World Cup.

DDB SA- McDonalds “Four Shadows”
Objective to recruit children to be players escourt during the World Cup. Really wanted to leverage the dream that children have.

We actually added on activities where we went to rural communities and schools to give kids across the country to enter. The purpose of this was really to promote the healthy lifestyle more than just the menu items.

Ireland Davenport – MTN “Africa United Campaign”
Challenges was to do something that will work for a lawyer in Cape Town but also a fanpark in Ruwanda. Created a huge expectation for football in Africa and have high hopes to use this campaign going forward for future. After all the xenofobia attacks in South Africa this campaign was meant to really struck a cord with all.

Volcano – Sony “Imagine football in 3D”
Campaign based on Kaka but one of our challenges was how to show 3D to people watching on 2D.
The activition was key and you have to see this to experience it really therefore we built a huge 3D Dome at the Nelson Mandela Square to showcase our products.
This was not just focused on South Africa but important that it works for South Africans.

The Jupiter Drawing Room (Cape Town) – Hyundai “Gees”
Struggled with Hyundai as it seen as a non-competitive brand in this market. Objective was to improve brand tracking and sales during this campaign. We come in intentionally late to try and understand what the people on the ground is feeling. We have more traffic on our site than Volkswagen and since April we have been outselling Toyota. Hyundai is associated with the World Cup because we wanted to try and push product. The thing that changes perception in the mass market is that people want to buy cars that they have seen on the road

Ogilvy  – SAB “Superfan”
Great idea of reconciliation and making these people ambassadors for the brand. The fans is the liveblood of the sport and SAB reflected that in this add showing the true dedicated fan.

The second day of the symposium has opened with Trevor Johnson  (Head of Strategy and Planning, Facebook EMEA). His phenomenal presentation on the importance of understanding social media and Facebook and it’s relevance to the South African market – clearly emphasized the keen interest that Facebook has expressed in being heavily involved in making the application more relevant to the African market and it’s desire to co-operate with cellular brands to enable this initiative to be a success.  He further stressed that Facebook prefers to be acknowledged as an online provider and not a social media platform. Johnson highlighted the influence that Facebook has in the digital landscape via statistics such as 200 million people logging into Facebook  on a daily basis with  100 million people utilising their  mobile devices to engage with the site.  Johnson highlighted that you have to make the user engagement an experience of value. Johnson advised that it’s time to think differently instead of relying on traditional media metrics to try and define the value of campaigns in the social media space. 

Angus Robinson (Founder of Brandsh Media) in his presentation relayed how brands are utilising social media, highlighting how cellphone companies are integrating social media within their application strategies.  He also addressed the attributes of openness, contribution and vulnerability of brands within social media. Robinson also discussed the way brands should  gear themselves up for addressing briefs that require social media as part of their campaigns.  Content augmentation and community functionality were areas that he highlighted to note when working on social media campaigns – he stressed the value in considering the mindset of the user when structuring social media campaigns.  Robinson also presented case studies emphasizing the tidal wave of social media has arrived and agreed with the statement made by the franchise MacDonalds – “The head of your social media strategy is your customer”.   Robinson stressed the importance of taking care of the user beyond their action of a click and that it would be beneficial for one should have an intimate understanding  of the principles of the Conversation Prism (by Brian Solis) that would guide companies in humanizing their brands within the social media communities – thereby bolstering perception of the brand within the social media space. He also punted the benefits of social media releases.  Robinson also touched on the practice of Primal branding which encompasses points such as the creation story, beliefs, icons, rituals, non-believers, language, leader.

In terms of identifying additional opportunities for social media – Robinson recommended Sports sponsorship as a favourable route to explore. Johnson further reiterated the importance of crowdsourcing being a powerful mechanism for  knowledge-sharing in the social media space.

Andy Ellis and Adam Whitehouse, Creative directors at Stonewall+ The Digital Marketing Agency delighted the audience with the analogy of The Web in Wonderland.  They colourfully described how they take brand stories and translate them online. They further elaborated on how important it is for a brand to understand it’s story  and know how to skillfully communicate it online- meeting the needs of their target audience.  They explored the positivity of In the box thinking and brainstorming works with the current parameters that exist for translating stories  in the online space.

This symposium has been a worthwhile event and we wait in excitement for the next one in 2011!

Energy ideas

• After 2010 how are we going to cope with household and business energy needs? Get hold of a solar water heater
• Look at the possibility to invest into a small systems to use sun energy
• You need to convert your lighting to energy efficient lighting
• Wood – use wood burning stoves rather than open burning fires

Environmental ideas

• Respect water and how we use it
• Education is at the basis of everything – need future generations to understand how fragile our planet is
• Support Eco warriors – the people that work tirelessly for the environment
• Johannesburg Zoo – a jewel in this city, support it and likewise establishments

5 Marketing Trends and Ideas

• Consumers new value equation from impulse and indulgence to value and simplicity
• Brands will have to redefine and re-articulate their essence
• Business should be marketing: yet marketing is not always business
• Definition of consumer equity will need to take into consideration the intangibles – more on meeting unmet needs
• Giving is the new taking and sharing the new giving

5 Marketing Opportunities for 2010

• The 2010 FIFA World Cup has immense opportunities for both country and brand – build next 1994 moments
• The soccer spectacular will build legacies for brands that are not just external- great opportunity to motivate staff
• Brands that connect with soccer will build a new emotional connection with their existing and potential market
• Accelerate the brand externally towards measurable results, legally – use the 2010 as springboard

Keys to success for 2010 and beyond

• Be prepared for the most unlikely events
• Think the unthinkable
• Focus on value but never forget values
• Have a story to tell
• Be adventures
• Be proactive
• Be revolutionary, incremental changes is backward changes

Strugglers are low on confidence and low on financial flexibility
Struggling to survive which has great bearing on what products and brands they buy. Most of them spent money on food. Highly resourceful to stretch their money – bargain hunters. Low Brand loyalty. Have also influenced culture, can’t share anymore.

Pre-family
Brands are very important to them, all about me and me. Don’t compromise on brand image

Young Family
Being hit very hard, sacrifice a great deal. Going more and more towards house brands. They are developing intense dislike of shopping. Looks at the future rather than today.

Older Black Middle Class
Brand is still important, not going to give up anything, brands are still important. Self image and brand are very important.

Prime Timers
Lifestyle spending money on, and to try and improve on it. Not going to change my lifestyle.

It’s fantastic to see that the quality of digital work coming out of South Africa is growing at a rapid rate and exciting to be part of this ever changing industry. In my opinion the Digital Marketing: Microsite category showcased some phenomenal work, the interactive world of the Cell C ‘createme’ campaign by Gloo Digital Design & Wicked Pixels and customizable characters of the ‘Feed your Ego’ Campaign by Hello Computer were inspirational. As well as the clever ‘Idea Bounty’ by Quirk featured in the Digital Marketing: Social Media category. For a full list of the events winners and work check out the Bookmark Awards 09 website.

We look forward to competing in next years awards and contributing to an industry that clearly has a bright future. Check out our great pictures from the event!