Briefly…Boomtime for Boomtown after REBRAND win; POD goes POP with U2; new date for Marketing Indaba; Katy Perry goes global with ghd; and iCover goes shopping at supermarkets
Boom time for Boomtown after international REBRAND win
The rebranding of the Cacadu District Municipality by Boomtown Strategic Brand Agency was named one of the world’s most effective rebrands in the seventh annual REBRAND 100® Global Awards. This prestigious accolade is the highest recognition for excellence in brand repositioning, and is the first and only global programme of its kind. The rebrand encompassed creating a tourism and trade brand from a District Municipality that should attract tourism, stimulate investment and promote the District as a destination rather than a government municipality.
To select winners, a new, international panel of multidisciplinary experts convenes yearly to review the best of the submissions. They consider “before” and “after” representations of brand transformations with written summaries. Emphasis was on executed strategy that made an emotional connection, and met the stated objectives and needs of the identified customers and prospects. Jurors were unaware of the brand strategists’ name and size when reviewing the projects. Consequently, a small consulting firm had as much opportunity to be selected as did global organisations with exponentially greater budgets.
POD goes POP with U2
It was the biggest rock concert in South Africa and POD (formally known as Primedia Outdoor) ensured they were part of this historic event.
“Unforgettable experiences are part and parcel of doing business with us,” says Peter Lindstrom, sales & marketing executive at POD, “and we wanted Johannesburg and Cape Town clientele to experience an unforgettable evening with us in the presence of one of the biggest rock bands in the world, at the biggest rock concert in South Africa. It was a great team building and client relationship cementing event and U2 did not disappoint.”
Local election date plays havoc with Marketing Indaba
Marketing Indaba will start a day later than planned. The new dates for Marketing Indaba are now set for May19-20, 2011. This is due to the recent announcement of South Africa’s Provincial Elections that will be held on May 18. The organisers, CADEK Media, apologise for any inconvenience, but made the decision to postpone the indaba by one day to allow all its delegates and visitors to vote. The Marketing Indaba incorporates the Marketing Conference and five co-located exhibitions namely the AdExpo, Promo Expo, ICT Expo, PrintPack, and CRM Expo. The event focuses on the marketing industry as a whole and will attract industry role-players from across the Western Cape and South Africa.
Katy Perry goes global with ghd
Katy Perry is the new face of ghd. ghd’s global partnership with international singing sensation Katy Perry kicked off this week. Understanding the importance of an ambassador who is in line with the brand, Katy Perry was a perfect fit with her unwavering sense of style that pushes the boundaries of both fashion and beauty.
World-renowned photographer, David LaChapelle, will shoot the global brand campaign. ghd has also signed on to become an International Tour Sponsor for Perry’s forthcoming California Dreams 2011 tour, and plans to involve its talented professional hair stylist ambassadors in concert-related events throughout the world.
iCover goes shopping at supermarkets
How simple would it be if one could purchase funeral cover at the supermarket? Sanlam’s icover provides an off-the-shelf starter pack, purchased at a retail point, registered at the Money Market counter that requires no medical tests and no lengthy forms to fill out.
Sanlam icover and Isilumko Media collaborated to bring this offer to the market through an extensive interactive in-store campaign. The campaign flow sees promoters selling the starter pack, with 14-days free cover, to customers in Shoprite and Checkers stores within metropolitan hubs. Nationally over 125 stores have brand activators selling starter packs and facilitating the registration process. Customers have the benefit of being able to select from the three product variants inside the starter pack: My Family, My Own and My Journey.
Lauren Durant, operations director at Isilumko Media, said: “The personal selling element is paramount in overcoming the significant barriers to purchasing retail based insurance products. The results boast a 20% conversion rate of all sales – 80% of which were achieved with the presence of a promoter. Our motto of “People Powering Brands” has never been more relevant than in our disconnected society and it is campaigns such as these that drive home the necessity of ‘communicating with’ rather than ‘speaking to’ customers.”
