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I am personally a fan of what Galen Weston and the crew at Bensimon-Byrne are doing for the President’s Choice brand. Below is an example of one of the ads you are all familiar with by now. It does a great job of aligning Loblaws with the lofty ideals of saving the world, one plastic bag at a time.
But the one that catches my eye every time is the one featuring Indian Naan. The story goes that these two entrepreneurs took the build it and they will come strategy when building their business. Their oven is the largest in the world and produces some of the best Naan on this side of the Atlantic. The best part is that Loblaws bought in to it and has single handedly helped to make these two guys millionaires.
Great, but why am I telling you all this. Well this post was inspired by a recent trip I took to the local Atlantic Superstore in downtown Halifax. It is currently being overrun (as most Loblaws stores are I imagine) with images of Indian Naan and the usual POS stuff trying to get everyone to bite (pun!) into this new trend.
In the store, there were these little placards with the words “Try it with Indian Naan.” (I’m paraphrasing a bit on the copy) On its own, a fairly boring ad but its placement around the store was key. It was with EVERYTHING! There was one with the cakes at the bakery, there was one with the ketchup, there was one in the magazine isle and there was even one on a pin on a store employee.
Now I’m sure “Nancy” would have been very tasty with a lil’ Naan but I just don’t see a triple layer triple chocolate heart stopper squished in between two perfectly toasted pieces of Indian Naan as a delicacy to salivate over. Obviously the store manager got a little carried away with the little sign but his enthusiasm should be commended because after all, Galen Weston just wants to open people’s minds to new types of food options. Even if, that means hocking a Kraft Dinner & Naan sandwich as the best thing since sliced bread.
I’m always curious when companies try to freshen their brand image and change their logo; for better or worse. It seems like such a minor thing to those outside the industry but it can have, as many of you know, a massive effect on a brand if done well.
Take these for example:
I almost had to look twice to see the difference. But I think the overall change was pretty good. The simpler typeface and lack of stars goes a long way to making it look more contemporary. I look forward to seeing it this coming April at the NFL Draft.
I honestly could care less but Purolator updated their logo as well. I’m not a huge fan of the typeface they chose as I always liked the old logo and I doubt this will have any impact on their brand. However, if it makes them feel better, power to ‘em. You can check out their website to see it in action.
Still trying to decide on the right theme to move forward with. You’ll most likely see minor changes for a while until I’m completely satisfied.
Let me know what you think!
Here I am, sitting in class. International management to be exact. The prof’s ice breaking idea was to have everybody go to the front of the class and talk about where they are from, where they have been and what they want to do after they graduate. Not exactly the greatest material for a blog post you may think.
There were many stories of trips to Africa and shopping in Paris and smoking weed in Amsterdam…but what was really interesting (to me anyway) was people talking about the differences between Halifax and Cape Breton. Everybody from the Cape Breton mentioned how cities like Sydney, CB are much more laid back then places like Halifax. They went on to say how everybody is always in a rush in Halifax and that it was a major change for them when they moved to “the city.”
On the flip side, people from elsewhere (Toronto, Paris, New York etc.) kept saying how much slower Halifax is then where they were from. I have always said that I came to Halifax for university because it was so chill compared to Toronto and it was interesting to hear people share my view.
I can only imagine what people from Cape Breton think of places like Toronto, New York, LA etc if Halifax is fast paced.
So it’s your first day at university. You have to contend with your parents pestering you with questions and the throngs of other mystified first years trying to get to their affairs in order. It’s a confusing a half day to say the least… Class schedules, room assignments, a new roommate, unpacking, frosh week activities, boisterous frosh leaders, public washrooms, a new computer and all that goes along with it, groceries, hooking up and stocking the beer fridge…. the list goes on. After you said goodbye to your parents for the third time and have unpacked some of your essentials, you finally have time to sit down and sort out your frosh week supplies.
At Dalhousie, and I’m sure at many other universities and colleges as well, you are given a big bag filled with schedules, Frisbees, t-shirts, water bottles and lots of advertising. And by a lot I mean it has the most advertising per square foot of any available media around (other than here). There are ads for condoms on stickers, condoms with ads on them, ads for Internet service on hats and ads for every other possible service a student could need on a stack of flyers. At my Dal, someone was smart enough to pop an elastic band around all the flyers for easy disposal. Not good for the poor Quik-E-Mart guy at the corner who paid to have that in there but given everything else that happened that day, it’s a life saver.
From Now Magazine (2005):
Frosh packages handed out by the student unions of Toronto’s three universities could all use a little less corporate junk and a few more goodies pumping conscious consumerism. But which university’s grab bag for impressionable first-year students is the most socially responsible? Here’s the trouble we found when we took a peek inside.
York University (Atkinson College)
The good
Not much, save for the Atkinson Handbook, printed on 100 per cent recycled paper with vegetable-based inks and fully union and volunteer made.
The bad
Lots of unrecyclable plastic stuff.
Major corporate presence: cologne from Lacoste and Axe, Ikea gift card, Fabutan sunscreen, Wrigley’s Excel gum.
Insane $120 price tag.
Not much pushing political and other campus causes.
All the companies the university uses are supposed to “properly remunerate employees,” but the towel and insulated lunch bag were made in China, where unions are illegal and wages are rock bottom.
Several made-in-Mexico polyester T-shirts, including a Hawaiian-themed number that looks like it will bleed dyes for several washings.
The skinny
Mostly a big loot bag. Atkinson tried to stay responsible - the college actually removed some corporate stuff added to the pack by York - but probably didn’t want to look cheap. After all, colleges do their own sponsorship fundraising and want to outshine the competition with impressive “gifts” like the cheap transitor masquerading as an MP3 player included in this kit.
The quotable
“We took out things that competed with services provided by student-run organizations.”
Michelle Steele, executive director, Atkinson Students Association
University of Toronto
The good
Most of the corporate goodies (or is that baddies?) that filled frosh kits in years past were jettisoned.
The $4.50 price tag.
The bad
The Nalgene water bottle. The jury’s still out on whether Lexan polycarbonate resin, which has been linked to developmental abnormalities, poses a health hazard.
Nalge Nunc International, the company that makes the bottles, is the target of a boycott because of its manufacture of restraining devices used in animal research.
The skinny
U of T’s student council is trying to clean up its frosh act but could have upped its eco and social responsibility rating by opting for a Canada-made hemp bag instead of the India-made cotton number and by tossing the made-in-China flashlight. The made-in-Mexico T-shirt is also worrisome (the student union admits to not being able to source them), given what the Maquila Solidarty Network has uncovered about sweatshops in Mexico.
The quotable
“We did want to make it corporate-free, but we also understand that we need some corporate sponsorship to make a frosh kit. One thing we’re trying to do for next year is avoid credit card advertising from MBNA.”
Samson Romero, vice-president, campus life, U of T Students Administrative Council
Ryerson University
The good
Rogers Media sponsored the kit but didn’t put its name anywhere on it.
The cotton laundry bag is made in Canada. It’s free.
The bad
While there’s not much in the way of corporate-sponsored trinkets, Fido, Apple and Travel Cuts make their presence felt with coupons offering savings and special deals on larger purchases.
The student union says none of the kit was made in sweatshops, but it’s worth noting that the whiteboard and pen are made in China - again, probably by exploited workers.
The skinny
No fancy distractions like Hawaiian shirts to distract attention from info materials on how to get active on campus and in the community and get more out of Ryerson’s Student Union.
The quotable
“We had to cut our budget, so we were forced to have the frosh kit we had. We actually missed deadlines because of the diligent research being done on the manufacturing and cost of our kits.”
I ended up using three things from my original frosh pack. My purple frosh shirt (because I had to), a Dalhousie frisbee and a Dalhousie Nalgene. Everything else got trashed, most without even looking at it. That is an unfortunate reality for most advertisers in the college arena whether they know it or not.
How does one break through? I can’t say. But I can tell you what pitches actually stuck during the first month at school.
Every single student at Dalhousie knows Casino taxi, now the biggest cab company in Halifax. If you ask one of the RAs (Residence Assistant) or the staff at the front desk of the residences around campus, they will most likely tell you to call Casino. Many don’t even know why, it’s just the only one they know.
Say you want to order a pizza, as I did 7 times in my first week, and you’re a new student who does not know the area. Who do you call? Well, you ask the only person you know who knows more about the city you are in than you do. Most likely the RA on your floor (see where I’m going here?). They will probably tell you PizzaTown if you go to Dalhousie. In the last couple of years they have bribed the Dalhousie staff to say PizzaTown and it is working for them. My roommate works at the front desk of one of the residences on campus and he gets 15% every pizza he orders (and only 10% from Extreme Pizza) and a free pizza every once and a while. Not a bad deal for me either 
Besides bribing the RAs and residence staff with free beer and whatever you are trying to sell, there are other ways to get on campus and be heard. Try putting up a booth in the Student Union building on your campus. In the first month of school, that building will have the highest traffic numbers of any place on campus. You may not get many people to chat, but you will get a lot of eyeballs that have parents who want them to be safe and comfortable at university.
If you are in a telecom, lock up the university with a contract to supply all their students with long distance plans and TV service in their rooms. When I moved out of res and needed to hook up the Internet, I knocked on Aliant’s door first because they were the ones I had to buy long distance from in my room.
Postering campus (placing posters on all of the telephone poles) continues to be an effective way to get a hold of people. It may be hard to break through the clutter but effective ads will be seen and may even stop the person in their tracks. Billy Talent is playing at a club downtown and the word has been spreading primarily through the posters around town. It’s cheap and it still works.
Final thoughts: University students see more in their first few weeks of school then at any other time in their university career. I suggest you either skip the rush or make your communication so engaging (and more importantly, useful) that the students who come in contact with it can’t help but get sucked in. Otherwise you are no better than the poor Quik-E-Mart guy on the corner.
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