In its role as a constant source of inspiration on cutting-edge subjects, Contagious magazine recently ran an article on the trend of Newsjacking. In most people’s vocabulary, ‘Jacking’ has certain connotations – in this case around the removal or theft of an item – however what the article outlines is a trend for brands borrowing, stealing or hijacking memes* in order to present their own message. The act of Newsjacking, therefore, is the act of piggybacking on existing events, and if correctly executed can be a shortcut to engendering consumer goodwill.

Branded content is of growing importance in the marcomms budget and if successful it can provide low cost engagement with consumers who will transmit it free of charge across social media if it proves to be engaging enough.

One piece of engaging content that picked up numerous awards and generated over three and half million YouTube hits, as well as millions more for associated brand videos, was K-Swiss CEO Kenny Powers’ video. In the video, a character from television series “Eastbound and Down” was inserted as the CEO of K-Swiss. Please be warned: the viral itself is not for the faint-hearted or easily offended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI_9Yxr0blo

The difference between content and Newsjacking is that for branded content, there is not necessarily any current meme to hijack –  so the content can be created differently. Where Newsjacking is concerned, the risk for the brand is heightened, as public interaction with a new story can be potentially disastrous if the interaction comes across as domineering, foolish or cynical. One such example of the risk involved comes from apparel brand Kenneth Cole, whose namesake and founder attempted to Newsjack during the recent uprising in Egypt by tweeting;

‘Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumour is they heard that our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo – KC’

Unfortunately Kenneth’s cultural dials were wrongly tuned to the frequency and backlash from the Twitterati was swift and punishing. Read the full story here.

So for any brands out there looking for their next source for content creation simply open a newspaper and follow these simple rules:

• Make sure you are responding to a meme recognised by the mainstream
• Be the first to react
• Make it tasteful: bad news travels faster than good
• Make it impactful – but without transgressing bullet point 3

Or contact The Value Engineers to talk to us about your Digital Strategy.

What’s the first thing that to springs to mind when thinking about grasshoppers, crickets and caterpillars? I’m willing to bet it isn’t mmm… delicious! Yet this is exactly what four students from the Royal College of Art are trying to pioneer with their new brand Ento.

On a rational level there are many arguments for the human consumption of insects. Global food demand is outpacing population growth and is set to double by 2050. The current livestock industry is notoriously resource-hungry and has a large carbon footprint, not to mention some dubious ethical issues over the years. As a food source, insects are inherently more efficient, producing nearly ten times the amount of meat as cattle from the same quantity of feed. And it’s high quality meat too – only 16% fat, compared to the 48% found in beef.

For Westerners though, the thought of eating insects is a cultural taboo, something confined to ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ However, for cultures across Asia, Latin America and Africa eating insects (or entomophagy to give it its official title) is nothing unusual. So why are we so afraid of putting the little buggers in our mouths?

It comes down to preconceptions that they are dirty, gooey, and unsafe – none of which are true. In fact, they have a meaty, sometimes crunchy texture with a subtle, savoury taste. Clearly a cultural leap is required.

One key insight provided a starting point for the RCA students – the more abstracted the dish (in other words the less it looked like actual insects) the more open consumers were to trying it. This in itself is not exactly surprising, however the subtle take away is how powerful the abstraction effect is – even a superficial layer of breadcrumbs is enough to do the trick. The idea is that this will provide a gateway to further products and services as the concept gains acceptance.

Before you completely dismiss the idea of using cricket mince for your Spaghetti Bolognese, consider a British tourist guide from 30 years ago warning about the strange and off-putting Japanese habit of eating raw fish; now you can buy sushi at Boots and Marks & Spencers, two of the most quintessentially British retailers. So perhaps one day fresh insects will be a regular sight on supermarket shelves. Watch this space.

Not only does Sir Jonathan Ive design great products he speaks eloquently about the whole process of design and his and Apple’s approach to it.

While I’m sure most designers will already have read many articles about him and interviews with him (indeed many designers may have seen him talk; he returns quite regularly to his old polytechnic Newcastle Polytechnic, now Northumbria University, to give guest lectures), having read the two interviews published in The Daily Telegraph last week I would recommend them to marketers everywhere.

In them Ive talks about how Apple relies on the values of “simplicity”, “clarity” and “care” as it seeks to identify new products.

Now I had expected him to talk about “simplicity” and “clarity”, but at first “care” seemed superfluous and indeed a bit hackneyed. How wrong I was. His description of what “care” meant to him and Apple was fascinating…

The care that goes into Apple’s products is something that Ive speaks about earnestly. It’s a principle that he traces back to the industrial revolution. “One of the concerns was that there would somehow be, inherent with mass production and industrialisation, a godlessness and a lack of care.

“I think it’s a wonderful view that care was important – but I think you can make a one-off and not care and you can make a million of something and care. Whether you really care or not is not driven by how many of the products you’re going to make.”

“We’re keenly aware that when we develop and make something and bring it to market that it really does speak to a set of values. And what preoccupies us is that sense of care, and what our products will not speak to is a schedule, what our products will not speak to is trying to respond to some corporate or competitive agenda. We’re very genuinely designing the best products that we can for people.”

But for me what then helped bring this to life was one example and the way Ive described it. He talked about the ‘care’ to the minor often unseen details in its products – what he called the desire to “finish the back of the drawer”.

“We do it because we think it’s right,” he says.

His views on simplicity and clarity are equally worth reading too.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9283486/Jonathan-Ive-interview-Apples-design-genius-is-British-to-the-core.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9283706/Jonathan-Ive-interview-simplicity-isnt-simple.html

Rebranding is a notoriously tricky business – just think of PwC’s brief flirtation with Monday, the Post Office trying on Consignia for size, or the awkwardness that Kraft suffered following the recent Mondelez debacle.

It’s something that many brands have tried, but here at The Value Engineers we believe there are a few key principles to keep in mind to avoid catastrophe – so we were delighted when our co-founder, Paul Walton, was invited to draw on his 30 years’ experience in the world of brands and branding to comment on the perils and pitfalls of rebranding in The Independent this Saturday.

Click here to read Paul’s thoughts and the article in full, and let us know: which rebrands make it into your hall of fame or shame?

Many people talk about the idea of a brand narrative or rather a brand’s narrative; the concept of a brand that has a story to tell. Virgin is often likened to a knight in shining armour riding in to our defence; the consumers’ champion.

However I have long thought that it is equally important for a brand to be able to tell stories about itself; its creation; about key moments in its history and the behaviours of its employees. Not only can they be a great PR tool but they can play an important role in creating and maintaining the culture, history and ethos of those brands. The stories celebrate the brand and serve as a means of communicating the behaviours that the brand wishes to promote.

I therefore admit to being a sucker for stories about brands, their origins and the people involved with them and came across another one recently in Waitrose Weekend, where Henrietta Lovell told the story of how RAF Teas for Heroes was born.

“In 2009, I had arranged to meet some RAF pilots to make a video about tea and the RAF. The Navy had rum and the Army had beer and the RAF had tea.

One of them was veteran Terry Clarke, a Battle of Britain survivor. I thought “I must take him a really good tea.” I made them this wonderful old-fashioned blend. Terry loved it and said “ohh, I could have some more of that.”

After that it went crazy…then I got a call from Whitehall. Some RAF officers said “We love the tea you made for Terry and we’d like you to make it for us and raise some money for the veterans.

“We want it on every kitchen table… only the best will do. And Terry gave us his blessing.”