With so many marketing avenues for companies to utilise, it’s easy to lose sight of the essence of effective messaging.

It’s something that you see in a lot of corporate viral marketing campaigns – the companies are going for intangible brand awareness rather than an increase in sales.

Using Carlton Draught’s Big Ad as an example, sales of Carlton Draught actually dropped – despite reaching a Worldwide audience of  3 million people, who viewed the ad on the internet.

The reason for this, was largely because there was no compelling reason to buy Carlton Draught presented in the campaign – instead, the ad was designed to create brand awareness alone. The ad failed in the one area it counts – the “Big Ad” failed to sell beer!

You could argue that brand awareness strategies are fundamentally flawed by an assumption that people will buy a product just because they are familiar with that product. Given the choice between two identical products, one which provided you with a compelling reason to buy, and the other which was a known brand, most people will pick the compelling offer.

So in the case of the ‘Big Ad’, the  failure to monetize through advertising wasn’t so much about marketing avenues, as it was about a failure to communicate any key product benefits.

“With hindsight, it’s hard not to see the irony within the Big Ads Lyrics…

“It’s a big ad? Expensive ad?
This ad better sell some blooooody beer!”

The prediction for 2011 is for growth in sales of luxury brand products like Gucci, Burberry and Louis Vuitton. This has been forecast by Bain & Company, a consultant firm who produce an annual study on the luxury brand market. The main reason for the growth is the demand in China by the newly rich looking to promote their wealth through buying luxury products.

The strategy for growth by Versace and Max Mara is to invest heavily in marketing to the Chinese consumer. Gucci has also been successful in introducing their brand to this market by making their products accessible through the design of simple wallets and accessories. Both Gucci and Louis Vuitton have been the most successful luxury brands in China. The key to their success is understanding the tastes and habits of their new consumer.

Luxury brands had record sales in 2007, but the prediction for 2011 is for sales to outperform this record. Leather bags, jewellery, shoes and watches are forecast to see the biggest demand and growth.

Not only does the design of this watch look cool, but the packaging design has been considered for both its look and functionality. The brand, Nooka, has cleverly created a point of difference with their packaging design for their product – the watch container can also be used in the microwave to heat up food, along with any other uses you can think of. The simple, elegant design is made of cooking grade silicone so it looks great as packaging as well as a simple addition to your designer cookware. The packaging design beautifully reflects the shape, colours, material and style of the watch.

Design is a great way a company can add value and create a point of difference. What a great marketing and branding strategy, being able to sell a product based on multiple uses.

It shows the power of the Apple brand when a company releases a product with such high expectations. Their previous big release of the iphone was such a huge success that the benchmark for this new product was so high.

With all the hype around the release of the ipad, there has been a continuous stream of comments posted over the web. Supporters of Apple products all appreciate the company’s core brand attributes of design, technology, innovation and simplicity. Although there are very mixed reviews, the true brand advocates seem to be as passionate as ever about the new technology even though some have not physcially seen or used the ipad. Based on Apple’s track record they are certain it will be great. They feel assured that Apple always knows what they’re doing and they have a great track record. Such trust! That really shows the power of Apple’s branding.

Illustration is a great way to help tell a story around a brand. At a glance, the illustration creates a sense of personality and character. It is a very effective way of communicating especially for packaging design where shelf appeal and a point of difference is essential.

Firstly a brand consultant will determine the concept behind the product. What is the core message they want to convey. Illustration helps bring this message to life, develop the story and create emotive visuals that can engage in a way that is sometimes more effective than words or photography.

An illustrator can add a touch of quirkiness, cuteness or create a looseness or unstructured feel around a brand. A sense of fun has been captured on the packaging for Asda’s milkshakes with illustrations in the shape of a strawberry and chocolate but with the personality of a cow.