Retail

Every brand has a unique personality. It may be the product of careful image and identity management as it applies to everything from logo and packaging to signage and ad copywriting, but it's primarily an association made on behalf of the consumer. Your brand's personality can be defined by...

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Canadian retailers rejoice: new data shows that online spending is about to boom. According to the latest Retail Ecommerce Forecast from eMarketer, last year's online spending is set to double by 2015 to reach an estimated $30.9 billion.


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Cheers to Vancouver
When we think of Vancouver, we think of mountains, the ocean, that crazy suspension bridge--and now liquor. Absolut Vodka has selected Vancouver as the latest honoree in its city-themed bottle series, a Canadian first. A new Absolut Vancouver bottle, designed by local artist Douglas Fraser, depicts a sea plane soaring over a V-shaped, West Coast-inspired skyline. In conjunction, Absolut's Canadian distributor is hosting a local art competition at AbsolutVancouver.ca. We just hope the new bottle's contents won't make us feel as wobbly as the suspension bridge does.

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Emboldened by our new-found frugality, it seems we consumers now want downtrodden companies to actually pay us to watch their ads. A global survey by marketing research firm Synovate finds that although more than two-thirds of us think there are too many ads on television and try to avoid them by flipping channels, 42 per cent of us would gladly watch more ads if companies would make it worth our while, perhaps in the form of a lower cable or Internet bill. So just to recap: Lower our cable bills and we promise not to use the skip function on our DVRs.

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Ketchup maker to Heinz it up
You know ketchup is savoury, but did you know it's also a saviour? (For the ad world, that is.) Heinz said this week it will spend about $400-million (U.S.) on marketing during the current fiscal year, an increase of about 15 per cent from last year and almost 50 per cent more than five years ago. The company said the recession has eaten into profits because consumers are showing a preference for less expensive private label products over national brands. Are we the only ones thinking Heinz is missing an opportunity to remind people that, in tight times, they can always afford ketchup soup?

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Brandweek has revealing interview with Sapna Shah, a principal of consulting firm Retail Eye Partners.

Among her observations: "We think this holiday is going to look a little different than what everyone has gotten used to in the past few years. Previously, we've seen the few days prior to Christmas are when the bulk of purchases happen. That's when the best deals are and when retailers are trying to unload their inventory. It's also because the shopping culture has become one of procrastination. Over time we've seen that shoppers buy closer to need--that's happened for back-to-school, holiday shopping and Easter shopping. This year we're seeing that shoppers are buying when there is a good deal."

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iAnnoy
Apple has filed a patent application for a system that could compel users to submit to advertising. Apple has developed what it calls an “enforcement routine,” which, if deployed, could prevent a device from working until the user watches an ad. After the news broke, the company refused to comment, though some Apple-shining bloggers pointed out the technology appears to have been developed with an eye to giving away iPhones to consumers in the developing world. Seeding a desire for a trophy brand in a poverty-stricken market? Apparently, there's an app for that.

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No toys for those who smoke
In the spirit of the season, we would like to pause to acknowledge the fine pro bono work done by three companies to help promote this Sunday's Santa Claus Parade in Toronto: PR company Harbinger, interactive agency Dashboard and Cossette, which came up with the creative. We like Cossette's “naughty or nice,” ambient work, which involved placing sticker decals near No Smoking, No Parking and No Loitering signs to remind people that Santa is coming so they'd better be good. Still, are we the only ones who think it's a little ironic when ad folk remind others not to be naughty?



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A KFC giveaway with lots of fine print
Marketers regard Oprah Winfrey as a rainmaker, but here's one publicity stunt where we bet the involvement of the daytime talk show queen wouldn't be welcome. On Nov. 1, KFC Canada is promoting its new boneless chicken fillet with a two-hour, 250,000-piece giveaway. Back in May, when Oprah helped spread the word about a similar KFC promotion in the U.S., thousands of consumers went home empty-handed after stores ran out of its new grilled chicken meal. Just for fun, we'd like to see a Canadian celebrity try to gin up that sort of frenzy. George Stroumboulopoulos, the gauntlet has been thrown.

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WHO KNEW BRITAIN HAD HIGHER STANDARDS of truth in advertising than it does of military intelligence? Sure, it may have invaded Iraq six years ago over a fishy report about enriched uranium, but woe betide the beverage maker who makes false claims in advertisements! This week Coca-Cola had its wrist slapped over a trio of Vitaminwater ads that claimed the drink was beneficial to drinkers' health. One poster bragged the coloured liquid had “more muscles than brussels,” which the Advertising Standards Authority said had to be removed because it could be misleading. The best part of this story? A total of three people complained.

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HAS DON DRAPER QUIT SMOKING? A cigarette held suavely in his right hand is as much a part of the ad man's identity as a highball and a leer. But in Canadian transit ads for AMC's Mad Men, Draper's smoke has been cut out of the iconic silhouette, the victim of local anti-tobacco laws. "Smoking is a big part of the show," said Jan Diedrichsen, the senior vice-president of affiliate marketing at Rainbow Network Sales, which reps the network's shows abroad."But it's much more important for us to get promotion for the show than to stick to our guns and have cigarettes on there."

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ONCE UPON A TIME, A SHARP DROP in the stock market meant mass suicides. Now? Mass stripping! The Puma Index is an iPhone app that features models in states of undress that are linked to the various major stock indices. Dow's gone down? Comfort yourself in the sight of some lovely (or hunky) model removing another item of clothing. When things get really bad--er, good--the model is left wearing nothing but Puma Bodywear. Now that's what we call a Great Recession!



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