MELISSA SHOES This sexy Brazilian footwear company has been taking the fashion world by storm for nearly 30 years. Melissa has challenged the conventions of the industry by manufacturing its entire range using eco-friendly mono materials that can be disassembled and recycled. The brand has already collaborated with the likes of Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano to design unique ranges but also remained true to its Brazilian roots, including this Amazon rainforest themed range.
It’s also not just the shoes that turn heads - the brand’s vibrant and artistic in-store displays are now as just as iconic, with Melissa placing great importance on creating a unique in-store experience. As the brand continues to expand across the world, partnering with designers and growing its loyal fanbase (including the likes of Katy Perry and Dita von Teese), Melissa’s future certainly looks bright.
PETROBRAS Petrobras may be the largest organization in Latin America and one of the world’s largest energy companies, but it’s also one of the most collaborative, placing great importance in Brazil’s cultural production, helping to fund films, theatre plays and scholarly works - making Petrobras the largest sponsor of culture in Brazil since the 1990s.
Petrobras’ most recent collaboration with magazine and image site Lomography sees the brand inviting people from all over the world to submit images of what energy means to them, creating a huge user-generated images around the concept of energy. This isn’t glossy greenwash but real photography from all corners of the world. Have a look at some of the shots.
If it means believable characters, realistic sets and increased production value, should we welcome product placement with open arms?
For many brands, the rise of the home TV recorder has signaled the death of primetime advertising. According to Mintel, 84% of Americans now fast forward the commercials when they’re watching TV on a digital video recorder. This shift in behaviour is making advertisers reluctant to pay over the odds for primetime slots when exposure can no longer be guaranteed. With declining exposure, product placement is now an increasingly attractive and effective option for brands.
As of this month, under new Ofcom rules, commercial broadcasters can accept payment to use or display certain products in TV programmes in the UK.
Product placement isn’t just advantageous for big brands trying to sell us their products. The cars on our drives, the clothes on our backs and the food in our fridge is all branded. Brands are part of our lives, so why wouldn’t they be part of the characters’ lives we watch on TV?
In the US, product placement has been around almost as long as television itself. In recent times, ABC’s Desperate Housewives has been one of the best examples with the writers making brands work with the packaging of the show.The middle-class suburban environment has made for a highly popular television series (now in its seventh season) providing countless opportunities for brands. With families and couples of almost every age (a street full of almost exclusively ABC1 households) there’s a seemingly endless array of marketing possibilities for furniture, automotive, fashion, homeware and FMCG brands.
Casting seems to be something that doesn’t just apply to the characters on shows like Desperate Housewives. The producers have gone to great effort to place the right product with the right character and by doing so, have added a sense of realism to the show.
Eerily perfect housewife Brie Van De Kamp drives an immaculate Lexus Hybrid, whilst soccer mom Lynette Scavo drives a seven seater Ford Flex minivan. There are even elements of brand loyalty – Teri Hatcher’s character, Susan Myer, is on her third Volvo in the show with Volvo North America actually using Desperate Housewives as a showcase for the new XC60 crossover SUV before it was even on sale in the US.
There’s another benefit to product placement. As broadcasters and studios face shrinking production budgets, the extra investment brought in from brand partners isn’t just a fleeting temptation, but could prove to be a real and prevalent requirement for the sustainability of the entertainment industry.
If carried out thoughtfully, brand partners can be carefully embedded into a TV show without sacrificing production value or our viewing experience.
The interesting question will be beyond the UK and US – how product placement begins to work in other nations across the world – how will brands get involved with Brazilian soaps, Chinese dramas or Russian gameshows?
It’s likely wherever you are in the world; brands are going to play a greater role in the interests of entertaining us.
Collaborative consumption describes the rapid explosion in swapping, sharing, bartering, trading and renting being reinvented through the latest technologies and peer-to-peer marketplaces in ways and on a scale never possible before.
The movement, pioneered by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers, came to notoriety through the book, What’s Mine Is Yours.
From DVDs to cars, collaborative consumption is redefining the concept of ownership. It is a profoundly important movement, marking a huge shift in the way people interact with brands and products but more importantly, how they interact with their own neighbourhood.
Rachel Botsman is giving a talk at the RSA in London today on ‘The Rise of Collaborative Consumption’ and Wolff Olins will be attending, so watch out for our live tweets on the @WolffOlins twitter feed.
To whet your appetite ahead of the main event, we thought we’d share three great examples of collaborative organisations:
The People’s Supermarket
This London cooperative is challenging the might of the big chain retailers that dominate the British retail space. In return for volunteering to work in the shop for 4 hours a month, members of the People’s Supermarket get a 20% discount in the store. So far there’s only one location on Lambs Conduit St but it’s a huge step in the right direction – providing honest, quality food at a reasonable price and fostering a community of like-minded shoppers in central London. Last month, The People’s Supermarket celebrated its 400th member and continues to grow.
Most urban dwellers are familiar with member car sharing services such as Streetcar and Zipcar, but few people are aware of brands like Whipcar.
Unlike Streetcar, which uses its own fleet of vehicles, Whipcar simply provides the infrastructure support to book, insure and pay for rental, but the vehicles belong to other Whipcar members.
Owners can set the rental price and availability of their car and make money from a vehicle that might usually be parked unused on a street for long periods. Renters get to choose from a wide variety of vehicles of makes, models, colours and sizes. What’s more, Whipcar is also a lot more personal than other car sharing services as you actually meet the car owner before you rent.
Why spend $100 on a power tool you only use for 10 minutes a year? Whether it’s power tools, baby toys, deckchairs, vacuum cleaners - almost anything can be rented or borrowed from people on NeighborGoods. Just type in your postal code and list items you want to rent or answer requests from those looking for specific items.
