Alex Woodruff Biz Buzz

Nestlé does it again. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve tried to (constructively) criticise Nestlé’s inability to stick to design rules. So maybe I need to spell it out more carefully.

All right? Not quite
1) Update your packaging regularly. Make logos look contemporary. In some industries this could entail a redesign every 18 [...]

Multiple Mars manifestations.Source: http://twitpic.com/s3qwf
Mars are venturing forth again, “raping” the brand in Germany, along similar lines to the 2006 football campaign in Switzerland and Austria.
I’d seen this pack in the trade, but have Andreas to thank for pointing out that a visitor to Germany could easily get confused by all this on-pack clutter. Not [...]

Microsoft seem to be making a big thing of the Window 7’s touch screen technology. Now you can zoom in, select, scroll, skip, whatever with your PC monitor as you would on your iPhone.
But let me ask: how close do you have to sit to the screen to use this technology sensibly on a PC? [...]

What do the following have in common: onions, apricots, Brussels sprouts, watermelons and cauliflowers? Since 1 July 2009 they’re on the list of 26 items that can be marketed in Europe with knobs, bumps and curves.
The money-wasting regulations that classed cucumbers with a bend of 10mm per 10cm of length differently from cucumbers with [...]

Online, and pushing the new service
Pons, which English dictionary users will know more as Collins, has finally taken the plunge and not only gone online, they’re openly advertising the fact.
This will have been a tough decision for a company that sees itself as a seller of books. In strategic terms it represents a small [...]

Expensive to make, not dear to customers
Toothpaste manufacturers have a tough job trying to interest you in their product. The problem is, you’re not. It’s not a high-involvement product. Well, depending on the consumer. Maybe some people do put a lot of thought into their toothpaste, but for most it’s a habitual purchase.
So to make [...]

The “visual double-entendre” in this logo for a German company supplying tow bars is so blatantly obvious, I’m trying to work out if they know what they’re doing.

Deliberate or not? Source: www.rameder.de
Do they know something about Freudian advertising I don’t know? Is this a new way to “arouse” interest in keeping with the AIDA [...]

Don’t drink too much now…
Promoting a brand is essential to position it properly in the eyes (or in this case the taste buds) of the target market. You can promote through advertising and standard media, but also through every item of marketing material the potential customer experiences.
On a trip to Austria last year I stumbled [...]

Penaten website screenshot.

Source: company website
This is obviously a market that has passed me by. But not Johnson’s, otherwise known as Penaten in Germany.
After my trip to Italy last year, I’ve discovered that this miracle product is not just available in southern Europe.
Now, thanks to the efforts of international product managers, your German babies will sleep [...]

Last year Memorex decided to update its logo. Apparently it needed to carry out some market development (otherwise known as filling gaps to get to consumers who’re not yet buying existing products, cf. Ansoff). According to a Memorex press release:
we found that women were largely neglected by current electronics brands. Our specific target consumer is [...]