The Kokanee glacier has had a makeover. It's now a lower elevation, with the sun shining in the background and snow blowing off the slope: "the feeling of a cold, crisp B.C. mountain day that the core consumer can relate to," says Adam Armstrong of Jump Branding and Design, the company that refreshed the beer's packaging.
Facebook fans selected the packaging from a choice of three designs.
In addition, Kokanee is launching "It's all about now," a high-energy marketing campaign reflecting the active lifestyle of the brand's target consumers: Western Canadians.
Canadian digital behaviour
Canadians are a tight-lipped bunch when it comes to sharing personal info online.
A report by Delvinia Insights on the digital behaviours and attitudes of Canadians suggests most would prefer not to share their addresses or phone numbers online. Of the Net Generation (age 18-30), only 29 per cent feel "safe" sharing such personal information, while only 22 per cent of boomers (45-65) feel safe.
"While the proliferation of social networking in Canada has made the space comfortable for many, the majority of Canadians still have concerns of privacy, security and trust," said Adam Froman, president and CEO of Delvinia.
What girls (and boys) want
H&M, Zara and Roxy are the favourite clothing brands of teen girls, while teen boys prefer Nike, adidas and Lacoste, according to a survey on Habbo, a virtual world for teenagers.
Sulake, the Finish online company behind Habbo, released the results of its Global Habbo Youth Survey Brand Update 2009 this week, in which 112,000 teens from 31 countries took part.
In shoes and sportswear, Nike, adidas, Puma and Converse were the brands of choice for teen boys and girls alike.
"Targeting this young audience is often key to brands' success," said Emmi Kuusikko, Sulake director of user and market insight.
Campaigns worthy of gold
James Ready and its creative agency, Leo Burnett, took home Best of Show at the 2009 Marketing Awards this week for its "Share our billboard" integrated campaign, which urged consumers to help keep costs down by sharing some of the discount beer's media buy.
Red Bull was the night's second big winner, taking home the first ever Excellence in Brand Creativity award for its "Crashed Ice" campaign.
In total, 126 awards were handed out in 32 categories.
Cossette took home the most gold awards - six in all. Rethink and DDB tied for the most awards overall, with 14 trophies.
Brands we love
Even during tough times, people reach for M&Ms.
A Harris Interactive survey of brand equity puts the popular chocolate candies at the top of the list when it comes to familiarity, quality and purchase consideration. Other top-scoring brands are Hershey's Kisses and Arm & Hammer baking soda. Kleenex, Google and Crayola were the only non-food brands in the survey's top 10.
Consistent with the survey's previous years, tobacco brands fall to the bottom of the list.
The EquiTrend survey measured more than 1,200 brands across 39 categories.
Dianne Nice