Last week we noted that the Guiness World Records 2011 Gamers’ Edition has ranked its top 10 video game characters of all time. But in what games did they appear? Answers revealed today:

A poll for the Guinness World Records 2011 Gamers’ Edition has identified the top video game characters of all time:

But in what games did these appear? Answers revealed this time next week…

The demise of the old ad-fuelled brand building model has been much discussed in the media and while I might argue it isn’t completely dead yet – alternative approaches are multiplying.
One such alternative will be arriving on UK TV screens on February 28th with the launch of product placement. Product placement provides a different way for brands to be integrated within everyday content and, at its best, for brands to be woven seamlessly into powerful storylines. It has been successfully used by a number of brands in movies for years. Anyone watching the new Broadwalk Empire series will probably have noticed the large neon Gillette sign which features regularly in long shots of the seafront gently reminding us how long they have been leaders for.
Ofcom have just released images of a new logo that will be played for 3 seconds at the beginning and end of programmes in which products have paid to be shown. The logo is designed to alert us to the fact that the choice of brands in the show may not have been completely random.

 
Product placement will be allowed in most films and TV shows but will be banned in childrens’, news, current affairs, consumer affairs and religious programmes. While it is open to most categories tobacco, alcohol, gambling services and ‘junk’ food and drink, medicines and baby milk are all banned under British legislation.
So while few product placements will have the same impact or ability to deliver such a focused message as an advertisement they will provide yet another alternative means of positioning brands.

2011 sees  The Value Engineers celebrate its 25th anniversary. As an homage to the branding world which has been our life for the last quarter of a century, we will be posting a blog on the 25th of every month, discussing everything ’25′.

To start our year of twenty fives is a story from 25 years ago but one for which the moral is as central to branding today as it was then. It’s a story of when 250,000 people were wrong and involves the world’s most valuable brand; Coca-Cola.

In the early 1980s Coca Cola (which according to some surveys is the second most recognised word in the world after ‘ok’), was in trouble. It faced the frightening prospect of losing its number one spot in the American soft drink market.

Pepsi’s aggressive ‘Taste Challenge’ campaign was winning market share and Coke had to rely increasingly on its dominance in restricted markets such as vending machines and fast food outlets to maintain its market leader position. Adding to the problem was the success of the brand’s stable mate, Diet Coke. As sales of Diet Coke increased and people become converted to the new brand, the pool of available sugar cola drinkers was getting smaller.

The team in Atlanta embarked on a mission to beat off the Pepsi challenge. Blind taste tests, whereby people are given samples to drink and rate but are not told what brand they are, were conducted. They showed – horror of horrors! – that people preferred the taste of Pepsi.

So the team decided to develop a new Coke. The new formulation they settled on was based on Diet Coke but instead of artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup was added to create a drink that was sweeter and smoother than original Coke and in fact more like Pepsi.

It is reputed that Coke then undertook the largest ever programme of taste panel research, interviewing over ¼ million people.  A clear and significant majority of these preferred the taste of New Coke.

So what should the executives in Atlanta do, launch New Coke alongside ‘Old’ Coke or replace it outright?  Worried that if they retained the original alongside the new it might split sales and give the leadership of the sector to Pepsi they chose to replace the old with the new. The need to maintain secrecy, however, meant that this decision had been taken without ever asking the consumers whether they wanted a new, improved Coke.

On April 23 1985 New Coke was launched and production of the original formulation was halted later that week. And everyone in Atlanta lived happily ever after. Well no, not exactly….

America was outraged. Rather than welcoming the better tasting New Coke, millions of Americans decided they hated it, even before they tasted it. Even amongst those who did taste it, the vast majority were convinced they still preferred the original! (So much for the 250,000 people with whom it had been researched!)

For so many Americans, Coke was much more than just a product: it was an institution, a way of life. It was something they had grown up with, something with which they felt they had a relationship. It was their brand. They reacted with horror to this change. They protested long and loud.

In the end senior executives were forced to hold a press conference to announce the return of the original – now called Classic Coke.

Perhaps luckily for Coke, the real surprise was that after the outrage came forgiveness and then celebration and while Coke did lose leadership to Pepsi in 1985, Classic Coke, the re-launched original regained its leadership in 1986 and kept growing. New Coke faded away.

And the moral of the story? Today, as well as back in 1986, a brand is much more than a product; it exists in the mind as much as it does on the ‘shelf’.

Now as we all know January is the time of diets. But when you think about most slimming and weight control brands it’s true to say that the majority are primarily targeted at women – think Special K, think Diet Coke, think Weight Watchers, think Slimfast, think Alli  (and as an aside isn’t it interesting how many of them are Red!)

While women are undoubtedly the major consumers of these products at the moment, men represent a major opportunity for lots of brands. In a recent government commissionsed Foresight report one of the conclusions was that “within 10 years, 81 per cent of men aged between 20 and 65, will be either overweight or obese, and 41 per cent of them will be obese.”

And while there have been one or two more male targeted ‘diet’ brands including Pepsi Max/Coke Zero and Men’s Health (the male equivalent of Slimming magazine), a topline analysis says that brands need to recognise that the levers for men and women are different – it is calories and celebs for women while it amy be  six-packs and sex for men

All of which leads to a slightly belated prediction for 2011 – namely a focus on more men’s health and weight control brands. (and, of course, we’d be delighted to help you develop just such a brand).