New Pepsi Branding :-(

Just when I decide that I think I like Pepsi more than Coca-cola they go and ruin their packaging. Now I don't want to be seen drinking it. Coca-cola cans were always cooler but now the pepsi cans look like a supermarket own brand. I'm not impressed atall. Good job I am cutting down on my cola intake.

I can kind of see what they were trying to do. Be minimalist. Coca cola cans are very simple. But the coca-cola logo is kitsch and classic and curvacious- it's interesting on its own. This new Pespsi logo is so timid and weak. It's got no energy or oomph. It doesn't say sugary, sweet, energised, fun, fizzy drink to me like the previous branding. It doesn't say much atall!

Coke has always positioned itself as 'classic' and Pepsi as more contemporary and hip, changing with the times to keep up with the kids but now I think it's gone backwards. Perhaps not backwards enough though. If only the cans looked like these classic beauties, I would be reaching for a can right now, if only to have it sat on my desk for a while to admire. You could say this branding is minimalistic and simple like the new branding so what's so much better about it? but these just have more impact, confidence and personality.

Personally, I think they should have saved a few milion dollars and gone back to this classic branding.

Or to be even more classic and nostalgic, I would love to see cans with this old logo on. It's perhaps a bit too much like Cocacla though.

But then maybe I need to stop comparing Pepsi to Coca-Cola and let it do its own thing.

I think I will just have to go back to liking Coca-cola more!

Strategically placed billboard ads- This one's got the X Factor!

I love seeing billboard ads which are strategically placed to utilise the surrounding ads/use the ads' content to make their ads more amusing, current and sometimes shocking. Not only does it make them noticable it makes them more amuzing and memorable- they seem to take over from the other ads and become like the star of the show. The ads around them seem less clever and pathetic in comparison. It's like they got upstaged, like they performed but then another ad came and did one better than them. In this sense, the latest milkshake ad from McDonalds certainly has the X factor.

It's probably the best one I've seen as it uses a very famous and contraversial campaign to promote the product. The loreal ads came under fire when cheryl was accused of using hair extentions to thicken her hair, therefore misleading consumers in the ads.

McDonalds claims their milkshakes are 'painfully thick', making fun of Cheryl Cole and suggesting that their milkshakes are extremely thick. I think it works becasue by making fun of the Loreal ads it portrays McDonalds as an honest brand that wouldn't advertise their products as something they are not. Although I think the mesage would have been simpler and more effective if it said 'genuinely thick' as 'painfully thick' is a bit confusing- im not sure exactly what they are trying to say- that Cheryl Cole is painfully thick to have done the ads perhaps? Not sure but I love it anyway.

Would Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez have played the US president?

I was watching a quiz show earlier when there was a question on Emilio Estevez (whom i'd never heard of)- 'Who is the famous father of actor Emilio Estevez?'- the answer was Martin Sheen and I remembered seeing him on a chat show talking about how he had changed his name a while back. But I thought if his son has taken his real surname Estevez, why had he changed his name, as it's a perfectly interesting, attractive and glamourous sounding surname- unlike mine (Hancocks). I then read that his real full name is Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez and that he changed it to avoid being type cast as ethnic characters. It totally made sense becaue hearing his real name didn't suit his persona atall- it didn't suit his brand. I realised that a stage name is like a brand name. Martin Sheen couldn't say powerful, white, American, good-guy any better and as a result he has played US president more than once as well as other athorative characters.

A recent advert for Aviva asked 'Would Walter Willis be the leading man in a movie?'- the answer is probably not but Bruce Willis would be! As with Marilyn Manson- would Brian Warner become a terrifying heavy metal super-star?

There are the many more obvious examples of stage names which create a brand- from 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg to Dita von Teese and of course Jordan.

And 'Jordan' is the perfect expample of how changing a brand name doesn't always work- as Katie Price is just as hated by the public! Maybe if she changed her name to Dita von Teese's real name, Heather Sweet she might get somewhere...

The Logo Board Game

I got the Logo Board  Game for christmas as my big sister knows I have an interest in logos. At firt I thought it's be a bit geeky and somethig that only I would enjoy and would have to pretend I didn't. But it's actually a really fun and interesting game for all the family. 

I think it should perhaps be called the Brand Board Game as it's more about brands than just logos but  'logo' is a probably a more fun sounding word. The questions are about all sorts of brand related things; some are about identifying brands from their logos and packaging and some are about slogans and origins of brand names. There are cards where you are given a clue such as 'Animals' and are then asked to name a brand of boiled sweet for example: the answer being 'Fox's'. Then there are cards where you have to name the box of chocolates from looking at the shapes of the chocolate- definatley a good game for sweets and chocolate lovers. I found it to be really fun and competitive because you get questions that only certain age groups might know and all the questions are about things you could possibly know. You don't need to be clever or full of knowledge, the answers are all around you.  It was also really educational for someone wanting to learn about brands because you learn things abut brands you didn't know before and you can find out some interesting trivia to tell your fellow graphic designers if you want to be really geeky! Do you know what animal is hidden in the toblerone logo? That will give you something to look for next christmas...

Something's not quite CLEAR to me...

I've just come accross this future phone release from Sony Ericsson- a 'futuristic' phone with a see-through screen. I feel like I'm missing something... although it's obviously a new technology, and sounds quite amazing, it seems a little pointless somehow. Why would you want to see through your screen when a screen is there to display information to you. Mobile phone screens can be hard enough to read in daylight as it it but this screen must make it near impossible, unless it uses some kind of light reflecting technology to make the text stand out. I'll have to wait until 2010 to see one for myself before it will be clear to me.

Madonna for Louis Vuitton

These are definately the best looking pictures I've seen of madonna in a few years. Highly airbrushed they might be but who cares. She looks much better airbrushed and the photographs are really stunning. They are for Louis Vuitton's latest campaign for their Autumn 2009 collection. I love how the Madonna appears to glow in vivid colours but the photos have just been made negative in places- an effect I don't think I've seen or appreciated before. It makes the images look quite surreal and dreamlike. I think they're look great as giant billboards if they are used for that purpose.

The MILK Carton

At first I thought this photograph was just a cool typographic ad for milk or an illustration for the work 'milk' but in fact it is real packaging and actually contains milk. When you look closley it makes sense that it wouls actually work and would probably stand up alright too. It was designed by Julien De Repentigny and Gabriel Lefebvre and has the same dimensions as a standard milk carton so it would sit nicely on the shelf next to other brands. The downside is, it would contain less milk and the increased surface area of the packaging would require more materials than a normal carton. Nice idea though..

Cool and Clever Doritos Packaging

I love, love, love Doritos and I love, love, love this new packaging concept by Peter Pavlov! The bendy box design uses the shape of the Doritos in it's structure and also the Doritos texture to decorate it. The packaging looks amazing on the shelf and just makes you want to have one of your own. It's almost like a work of art and would look great on a party spread. The best thing about it is that it stands up and acts like a bowl for easy nibbling and sharing and when you've finished, if (if) you still have some left you can close it with a simple fold and keep them fresh! Genius!

Another great thing about the packaging is, although it seems like a lot of packaging for some crisps, it must be better for the environment because the card would be recyclable, unlike the current foil bags. I hope they actually go into production and aren't just an idea. 

Another great use for Velcro

When researching the topic of Velcro for my latest project, i came accross this video about an ad for Coca-cola. The ad used velcro to demonstrate the new bottle's extra grip. They were placed in bus shelters when people are likely to touch and lean on the ads. Cleverly running the ads in winter, meant that people's winter knit-wear stuck to the ads and grabbed their attention and comunicated the message with impact. I think it's a really clever idea, literally gripping the audience to demonstrate the grip of the bottles, and adds to the long list of uses for velcro.

How to get people to use stairs

When given the choice, people usually take the convenient option for anything. It's a natural thing to do and these days there's almost always a more convenient option to what we have used for decades or centuries without trouble. Stairs for example- when given the choice to use an escalator instead, naturally we choose the escalator, unless for some reason the stairs would be quicker. 

Perhaps if stairs were more fun, more people would choose to take the stairs? As this video demonstrates, a lot more people would. 

 

Maybe a bit of curiosity was also involved!

This was done an 'Initiative of Volkswagon' and I think, similarly to the Cadbury's Gorilla and Eyebrow ads, it is an advert for Volkswagon, without actually saying anything about Volkswagon. It just adds to their brand image. It makes you think that they are concerned with making everyday things more fun, making life more pleasurable and being creative. I think it was a brilliant idea and a very interesting observation of human behaviour.