Liguria in style.

What is the definition of "Italian"? Is it Sicilian mafia, big gestures, great food or the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (the furniture fair)? Or is it perhaps traditional villas climbing the terraced hills of the Ligurian coast line?

Or maybe it's the perfect combination of old and new, traditional and modern, Italian and Scandinavian? At Villa Rosmarino, where I spent a night recently, it all comes together, and makes perfect Italian sense. Even on a rainy day. The traditional villa is renovated into a stylish and comfortable getaway by Mario Pietraccetta and Fulvio Zendrini, and is positioned on the lush slopes of little fishing village Camoglia.

 

Absolut/ely person/al

We relate to brands much like we relate to people. Some enhance our personal image, some we feel indifferent towards, and yet some we would never want to be associated with. And we make a mistake if we think this only applies to B2C brands. Research show that the more complex and the higher the economical risk is, the more likely we are to be influenced by our emotions when making a buying decision. And even more so for B2B.

This is why my main focus in my brand strategy work is usually the brand personality. Getting to know it internally to form a mutual agreement, and then making sure everybody in the organization live and communicate this personality to the people on the outside (and new people coming in).

Some brands take this a little bit further. In a former bank in Stockholm, in a space called "Absolut Atelier", the brand Absolut Vodka moved in last November. It's said to be the home of the vodka brand, would it be a person. This is a place where the brand hosts creative workshops, bartender courses (Absolut Akademien), gala dinners and social interactions between employees, partners, media, creative collaborators and ambassadors of Absolut "in the true spirit or Absolut Vodka" (Bartenders Choice). I guess this is proof of concept of the Absolut philosophy: "Doing things differently leads to something exceptional in an Absolute world."

So, what does the home of the Absolut brand person look like? Anna Kamjou, Global Design Director and Björn von Matérn, Global Director Absolut Brand Education, describe how contrasts has been cruical in the eclectic miljeu, decorated with avant garde design mixed with cosy seating arrangements in the library. With its long history of artists creating Absolut art for advertising, this art is also an element present.

Absolut Atelier will stay open until November 2011 (who knows where the brand person will move next). Perhaps there is time to get invited for tea and get to know the Absolut brand person.

iPad magic saving the paper world.

Read today that Richard Branson, or excuse me, Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin is launching a magazine only for iPad. Tuesday next week there will be a press conference in New York about "Project", the working title of the project.

Virgin has done virtually everything else in media but magazine publishing, and perhaps the timing is connected to a new subscription solution that Apple is launching for iPad. But it's most likely also connected to the fact that Branson wants the Apple magic to rub off onto Virgin and himself.

But Branson is obviously not the only one to spot a business and brand opportunity. Most major news conglomerates are lining up to create iPad versions of the dying paper dittos.

And, by the way, we are still awaiting Rupert Murdoch and News Corp's The Daily, said to launch in December.

Bred development.

As we buy more and more semi- and pre-manufactured food, a counter-trend is simultaneously getting increasingly stronger: cooking advanced dinners and baking bread (particularly sourdough) will get you a lot of brownie-points in front of your trendy city-friends. I have to admit I fell for the sourdough movement and have been baking sourdough bread for the past two years.

The food chains are naturally catching on to the trend of the increased interest in cooking and, more recently, baking. And today I saw these two additions in my grocery shop.

One is a mix for making "lussekatter", a traditional Swedish kind of buns eaten before Christmas, and the other (and a greater surprise to me) is the super-flour Manitoba Cream, well-known in the sourdough subculture. The latter somewhat magical, in the sense that we've heard about this super flour, but very few of us have actually used it, since it's been very difficult to find in Sweden.

And so, today, I found Manitoba Cream in my regular food shop. No surprize, the front of the packet displayed a picture of one of Sweden's top names in baking, Jan Hedh. His brand promoting the flour brand and perhaps helping the brand to position itself among the speciality flour brands. The price? About €5 ($8)…

Peter Saville and the horrible branding people.

A rainy day in November, I listen to Peter Saville talking at the University of Design and Craft in Gothenburg. Peter Saville, the designer behind legendary album covers for Joy Division and New Order and one of the founders of The Factory in Manchester in the 60's. He later worked in fashion, and with Yohji Yamamoto he challenged consumerism in the early 90's.

Peter Saville knows what he likes and what he doesn't like, and one thing he dislikes is marketing, communications and "the horrible branding people", who he feels are steeling our cultural heritage to position businesses.

Obviously knowing a lot about the music industry, Saville dismisses the idea that there is a clear communicative goal when designing a record cover:
– There is no real message that needs to be communicated on a record cover. It doesn't matter. The brief is that the artist is happy, that Madonna is happy. In the case of Joy Division and New Order there was no brief.

Peter Saville at the University of Design and Craft

Saville is today the Creative Director of the city of Manchester, his home city, where he feels he's got a certain obligation to give something back, since the city "made my career in the first place" and it is perhaps a way to continue to make a difference, an idea he holds high. But the position is also a way to reposition himself, his own brand.
– I hated what had happened in design, so I started working for Peter Saville.

Another way of expressing himself today is through art, and he states that the right place for self expression is at an art gallery. He will do a commercial job if he likes the people involved, though.
– It's ok to help someone communicating if they have something worth communicating.

His website is yet to come, or so we hope. I think there are lots of people who are interesting in finding out more about the brand of Peter Saville.

Recycled ideas

It's been a while since my last post. The reason for this is that I've been busy. Not a really good reason, so I'll try to make it up to you from now on.

Today I came across an advert for T-Mobile which mimics the famous Mac Ads, and at the same time ironizes over the lately more and more criticized Apple brand. I'm not sure what I think about it. An avid Apple lover, I too have not been completely unaffected by the latest flaws and stories concerning the Job-run giant.

Here it is, see for yourselves:

A meter of African culture.

Vuvuzela. The word reminds me of African smells, colours and moods. I find it fascinating that a whole world gets so upset over a one meter long piece of plastic. The vuvuzela was not, despite what many people might think, invented for the world cup this year, but has been used for years. Freddie ”Saddam” Maake claims to have invented the vuvuzela in 1965, and it has been popular since th 1990's on football games to annoy the opposite team and its supporters.

I don't mind a ban in other countries, but when in Rome… Or South Africa…