Nice little article in the Sunday Times this week about bringing back brands from the dead. “Turn those oldies back into goldies” told the story of how Lucy Baring helped bring back her childhood favourite toy – PlayPlax. It made me think what brand I might like to revive.

There are many to choose from but perhaps inspired by the new Mini and the new Beetle (the latter of which I drive) I have settled on the Ford Capri. An iconic car originally designed to be a British version of the Mustang and sold as “the car you always promised yourself”. A Mark IV would be in desperate need of updating, but perhaps could be positioned as a great value sporty car that would let you escape from the realities of these tough economic times.

What brand would you revive?

Over the last decade, Marks & Spencer has effectuated one of the most successful brand revitalisations in recent history. Once haunted almost exclusively by grannies and the ghost of St Michael, the last ten years have seen M&S perform a complete 180, appealing more than ever to younger shoppers and those in search of a little more quality. And it’s not just the food – these days it’s not uncommon to see stylish 20- and 30-something young professionals scouring the M&S rails for a vintage-looking tea dress or a sharp suit, improved even further by designer collaborations and deluxe lines.

Of course, a large part of M&S’ new feel has been enhanced by its undoubtedly fantastic ad campaigns over the last few years – from the sumptuous “This is not just…” food porn to the Bond-esque Christmas TV ads and the tongue-in-cheek lingerie billboards. But adverts alone make for a rather empty brand identity – the cleverest thing M&S has done is to make its new brand ethos completely intrinsic and essential to the way the company present themselves and actually work.

Take, for example, their CSR policy: dubbed ‘Plan A’ (“because there is no Plan B”), it places M&S firmly at the forefront of responsible retailing, and thanks to the initiative’s wide-reaching scope and visible implementation (e.g. charging for plastic bags), as well as excellent publicising in-store, customers are now well aware of M&S’ active attitude to Corporate Social Responsibility, and respect them all the more for it.

This week saw M&S roll out a compostable dissolvable chocolate box tray – an incredibly on-trend invention that reinforces the brand’s position as a CSR leader. The tray, which in previous incarnations has been unrecyclable, will now be made of a material called plantic, which can be broken down on a compost heap in 3 weeks, or dissolved in minutes under a running tap. Excessive food packaging has long been a bugbear for many consumers concerned about the environment. With this new solution being rolled out across their chocolate line in time for Christmas (which, lest we forget, tends to be the season of ultimate gluttony and waste), M&S are showing that they truly have their finger on their consumers’ pulse.

Just a great example of how brands can avoid the classic “me-too” trap of CSR, proving to their customers that they take the challenge seriously (and aren’t just going through the motions), marking themselves out as leaders in a trend, and doing their bit for the planet at the same time. Bravo!

We continue to hold the art of brand revitalisation in high esteem – and so we’re pleased to announce that, as in previous years, we will be sponsoring an award for this category at the Marketing Society Awards for Excellence 2010.

The Brand Revitalisation award celebrates brands which ‘have undertaken activity that has successfully challenged public perceptions of a product or service and achieved significant commercial gain as a result’.

If you would like to enter your brand there’s still time – though you’ll need to be quick as the deadline for submissions is Friday 5 February.

The results are announced on 7 June at the London Hilton hotel – so watch this space… and we hope to see you there!

For more information about how we can help revitalise your brand please contact Giles Lury, our Director of Branding.

There was little Christmas cheer for poor old Barbie this year – a bitter pill to swallow for the iconic fashion doll who turned 50 in 2009.

Despite a mid life makeover, it is reported that annual sales are down in excess of 25%, a decline which one might argue reflects the perennial ‘age compression’ problem faced by all toy brands as kids gravitate towards video gaming at an ever younger age. However other classic brands have fared pretty well during this years recession with the likes of LEGO up 20% and Sylvanian Families up 40%, possibly reflecting a parental predisposition for nostalgic brands that provide comfort during such difficult and volatile times.

Successful toy brands continue to be those that have a clear set of values coupled with an ongoing investment in genuine innovation that ensures the refreshment of the experience for kids whilst providing traditional branded re-assurance for parents and grand-parents. The new ‘Monopoly City’ is a great example and was one of the top 5 sellers for the year.

Perhaps Barbie needs much more than a cosmetic make over if it is to re-engage with this new generation of kids, especially with the 2009 launch of Moxie Girlz. MGA Entertainment are behind these new dolls adding to their Bratz line which was launched in 2001, and which are still being contested legally by Mattel in the US. In recent weeks though MGA won its appeal to retain the rights to sell Bratz and so 2010 is set to be another challenging year for Mattel’s flagship girl brand.

Today my eye fell on an online petition about bringing back Kellogg’s Corn Pops cereal to UK supermarket shelves. As a Corn Pops aficionado, I started to wonder about the fate of this cereal overseas. I realised that, while this product disappeared over here a few years ago, Kellogg’s successfully re-launched Corn Pops in Mexico a few months ago with a change of image, packaging and tone of voice.

The overall purpose of the re-launch has been to grow the cereal consumption amongst teenagers in Mexico. Its population is the eleventh largest in the world, and almost twice as big as that of the UK. A third of its population is under 16 years old and it is the country with third highest cereal consumption per capita in the world, after Australia and USA. This emphasises the size of the business opportunity.

The new Corn Pops product has also come with pop characters and avatars that are meant to engage closely with teenagers. Although it is too early to say anything about sales improvements, the revitalisation of this product has triggered a lot of buzz around the brand on the other side of the Atlantic. There are several forums and websites with very enthusiastic comments about the brand from both target consumers and marketers.

It seems that a key success factor has been Kellogg’s strategy based on text speak – speaking in the same language that youngsters use when sending text messages through mobile phones and online chat.

Text speak is used across Corn Pops’ communications, virtual community and packaging as can be seen in these pictures.

As I left Latin America before the text messaging boom, I have to admit I don’t fully understand what Corn Pops is saying on its new Mexican packages and online community. However I have to say that this is a very good example of brand revitalisation. I reckon that Kellogg’s with this strategy would not only see its sales figures soar within its target market but it would no longer have to remove this product from retail shelves again.

Should Kellogg’s share its practices from the other side of the Atlantic, then there is hope for the UK online petitioner.

Brand revitalisation has always been at heart of the Value Engineers because we know what it takes to build a successful brand over time. For more than 20 years we have been committed to helping brands – large, small, global and national – to regain their profitability, purpose and momentum, and we have identified the 8 most successful strategies for revitalising brands. If you would like to find out more about our brand revitalising strategies, why don’t you get in touch with us?