FT-86 G sports concept
Toyota are to give their brand a new image with the launch of some exciting new cars.
With the thanks to a new boss Toyota have got their performance mojo back.
Currently the cars are only a concept however they have produced a whole range branded the G Sports range.
The car also features in the up and coming Gran Tourismo 5 game for the Playstation 3.
For now the G Sports brand is set to be a Japan only enterprise but if it proves to be successful I’m sure that they will look to bring the series to the UK. Watch this space!
After the recent news of Tiger Woods’ infidelity, large brands Gillette and Accenture have decided to drop their advertising opportunities with the golfer.
This follows another recent incident with a celebrity who currently featured alongside Tiger Woods for the Gillette brand. Theirry Henry’s recent handball incident left people wondering if the star would be dropped from the campaign however, after that incident, Gillette stood by Henry.
On the other hand Nike have decided to stand by the golfer and have announced that they see it as a minor blip in his careern and that they expect him to further his career in the near future and all of this will be forgotten.
Last week he announced that he would be taking a break from the sporting action to concentrate on his marriage but recent reports suggest that the golfer’s wife is set to file for divorce.
To add fuel to the fire Athletic wear brand Puma, large competitiors to the Nike brand, is contemplating signing Tiger Woods’ wife Elin Nordegren as spokesperson for its new Swedish-inspired clothing line called Tretorn
Can an incident like this really ruin a brand’s image?
Evian have joined forces with Paul Smith to launch a special edition water bottle designed by the clothes designer.
The branded bottles will feature 5 different coloured bottle tops to collect.
Paul Smith continues the annual designer bottle tradition, which began with a limited edition design by Christian Lacroix followed by Jean Paul Gaultier.
The British designer has included his trademark stripes on this latest edition of branded Evian water bottles.
Back in 2002 Evian collaborated with Kylie Minogue to supply free bottles of ‘Kylie’ water to concert goers on her Fever Tour. Each bottle was branded with Kylie’s name across the bottle in place of the Evian logo.
In the face of unemployment spiralling out of control and the wide spread debt suppressing the UK population during the current recession, an interesting outcome has been that luxury alcoholic products are flying off the shelves.
We’re not talking bog standard here, but the premium brands – which is odd given the results of research recently carried out by the International Wine and Spirit Record showing the market share increasing.
For example, sales of standard champagne brands have shrunk from 55.12% to 53.72%, whilst luxury champagne has grabbed a morsel more of the market share (up from 42.6% to 44%) over the last two years.
Interestingly, the way that premium alcohol has achieved this is largely by re-establishing older brands, and repackaging them in smaller proportions.
By reducing the bottle volume, say 75cl traditionally now appears in a 50cl bottle, and improving the packaging to appear more attractive, alcoholic brands are still retailing for the same price. Cunning heh? Sadly, we’re all too eager to snap it up so premium brands get away with this daylight robbery.
Prestigious champagne brand Taittinger has repackaged its full range in a bid to ensure that their six products are readily identifiable with the brand. Identically shaped labels, branded foils and smaller neck collars have been key to achieving this.
Keeping the redesign inhouse, artistic director Vitalie Taittinger, and daughter of managing director Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, was tasked with a redesign that respected ‘the existing codes of the house’.
She was to continue the tradition of evolutionary rebranding, rather than revolutionary in order to coordinate the display of their branded products.
What is remarkable is that sales are expected to continue to soar during the recession, as while society struggles financially, the desire to treat themselves to the occasional luxury will keep the premium market afloat.
And it’s not packaging alone that the drinks market is concentrating on. Vinance have recently gone through a whole rebranding process to bring their brand up-to-date.
This includes everything from their logo, down to their packaging, all in a bid to improve their positioning in the market place. This kind of thing isn’t a short process, but in the long run, as Taittinger and Vinance will discover, can be very lucrative.
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