Added Value has today announced the appointment of Janine Hawkins as Worldwide CEO. She replaces Angus Porter who will be moving to FTSE100 business Thomas Cook as Group Strategy Director. The change takes effect on 1st June 2008.
Added Value is part of Kantar Group the information, insight and consultancy arm of WPP. Added Value has offices in 15 countries and serves as a brand development, research and insight partner to clients including AT&T, Vodafone, Pepsi, SABMiller, Colgate, Deutsche Bahn and Allianz. Added Value is seen by clients as distinctive for its customised marketing solutions, quality of insight and ability to work with creative partners such as design agencies and advertising agencies.
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Published in: Horizont, Special edition “43rd Congress of German Market Research”
Author: Christoph Prox
Chris Prox talks about consumers longing for real promises of branded products and why concrete benefits will become important again. Germany is untightening its belt again. For five years Saturn advertised with “Stinginess is cool” and with it, verbalized the oppressive feeling and the pessimism of the “post-new-economy-era” and the “9-11-depression”. In the beginning of the year it was replaced because the mood in the country had turned. Compared to 2003, the proportion of people who focussed more on quality than price rose by more than 10%. Although optimism decreased somewhat in recent months, nevertheless the spirit in Germany is still more positive than in 2005 or even in 2006. Nevertheless, not everything is as easy as it was before – consumers say yes to brands but they are more critical towards the believability of quality promises.
Click here for the related study (German)
For more information contact: Anne-Kathrin.Kirchhof@icon-added-value.com
Published in: MARKENARTIKEL edition 4/2008
Author: Dr. Oliver Nickel
Brand stories and consumers aspirations need to find a balance again otherwise we run the risk of loosing the foundations of marketing work. Even brand management is subject to fashion and zeitgeist. It’s about gaining competitive advantage following the “Survival of the fittest” principle. Is one level of advantage exhausted, look for the next one and scale it. Key success factors in this context are: relevant offer, clear structures, significant differentiation, a consistent core, noticeable momentum, a credible story and the translation of the brand promise into perceivable emotions. The combination of these success factors is in the end more than the sum of all components. The brand as the object of the company’s success is often the heart of the entire value chain. For managing brands the so-called identity-oriented approach has prevailed. But this apparent clarity also has its down side. Because “identity-oriented” brand management sometimes concentrates too much at the identity of the brand only – and forgets that identity is worthless if not anchored in needs and motivations of consumers.
Click here for a complimentary copy of the complete article (German)
Intervista con Hildegard Keller-Kern su “Insight sul consumatore. Internet e la ricerca di mercato”.
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“E sai cosa compri!” Potrebbe essere lo slogan perfetto. La marca dà sicurezza. La marca garantisce qualità. Affidabilità e fiducia, chiarezza e pertinenza, oltre che differenziazione: questi sono i fattori chiave, che ogni ricerca sul brand deve analizzare e controllare. Ma non tutti vogliono o possono vedere la questione in questa prospettiva, il che non è un male, perché stimola la concorrenza.
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adidas GRUN - Spring/Summer 08 sees the launch of this collection that aims to better the environment by efficiently utilising natural resources. With three guiding elements of “Made From”, “Recycled” and “Reground”, adidas Grün offers a range of products all made from recycled and natural materials. Natural materials include bamboo & hemp whilst the “Reground” range is fully biodegradable, even down to the zips – a world first. Check out the launch ’guerrilla gardening’ campaign.
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Each month News invites an expert to give us their view on a topical issue. This month we approached one of our expert speakers at the ‘Green 2.0: Avoid the Greenwash’ summit in March this year – Keith Fletcher, Propositions Manager, E.ON UK, to share the challenging journey of a brand in a ‘dirty’ industry. Read more…
2005 was the year of the Primark effect; the year when the fashion tables turned and all of a sudden an £12 jacket was in Vogue’s hit list. Since then the concept of fast, cheap thrill, throwaway fashion has become a cultural norm, the affordability of style never more democratic.
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