Puma rolls out new eco-packaging

When I was growing up, compact discs came in these tall cardboard boxes that were half-empty. It was years before anyone had the bright idea of just shrink wrapping the cd case and calling it a day. Puma just did a very similar thing with the shoe box. To be fair, I've seen shoes sold in bags before. It's still significant that such a large company with a global supply chain has taken a serious move to be more green while really improving the look and feel of it's packaging.

Molson Coors dropping a clear beer

Brandrepublic is reporting that Molson Coors is gearing up to launch a clear beer that will be low in calories and come exclusively in bottles. This comes after extensive market research regarding women's attitudes towards beer and a general interest in achieving higher levels of penetration with the female market. The company tried out a product last year that had green tea and dragon fruit flavoring. Thankfully, this product will taste more like normal beer. If you have a good idea for a name, get at them as they don't have anything nailed down yet.

Trend spotting and nice denim

Well. We've hit the mainstream. When J. Crew starts doing it, you know it is extremely trendy. Hypebeast is reporting that J. crew is set to roll out a line of men's jeans that are made from selvedge denim in collaboration with a Japanese line Warehouse. The cotton is grown in Memphis, TN and then woven and dyed in Japan. The price tag is around $300. There are a lot of questions that remain. Will the jeans be washed? If not, how is J. Crew going to sell unwashed denim to preppy white people and get them to wear in their own fades?

I guess there are no surprises here. J. Crew seems to have a knack for emulating what is becoming trendy and presenting it to the public in an accessible manner. You can easily spend $300 elsewhere on Japanese denim but you can spend a lot less too. Warehouse denim retails right now for about $275. I guess this really gets to the question of what J. Crew value proposition is. I think it is something like- "We identify and validate what is cool because you are either too lazy, afraid or otherwise need hand holding to make style decisions. In exchange, we are going to charge you a lot." the other question is how they are going to present this denim to its customers.

Tiger woods ad

You'll see this everywhere else but I can't really call this a marketing blog without putting this up. I do love how Nike can take a different approach to all this. Obviously the brand sponsors Tiger so it is going to try and take a high-road. I, for one, haven't been particularly interested in getting to the bottom of a very personal issue for someone I've never met. Still, Nike ties to make a thoughtful ad. What positive can we make? Can we explores the challenges that are presented in one individual's journey through life? Being cynical about Nike is a little tired. What else do you want from Nike or tiger right now?

Speaking of totally gross ads

I was watching Lost last night and zoning out during an ad break when I realized I'd been watching an ad featuring some guy painting over his bare chest and stomach. My first though was, "Who on earth thought this ad was a good idea?" BUT, the ad did cut through my meditative state. It was an ad for Zegerid OTC which is an antacid product.

I wanted to embed the ad but I didn't see it up anywhere. Not to worry, the bare chested guy is part of Zegerid's overall communications campaign and is displayed proudly on the site's front page.

I have to say, it got my attention. I still give the ad a thumbs down though because my brand-recall definitely has negative associations.

Speaking of chocolate packaging

Good lord. This is amazing. The chocolate is a hand-made by La Molina, which is an Italian company. The crafty aesthetic of these packages is pretty convincing that the product is hand-made and unique. The company's website is in both Italian and English so perhaps you can find this stateside.

Under Armour ticks off its neighbors

In a not-so-enlightened marketing move, Under Armour painted it's logo on Federal Hill in Baltimore last week. For those that don't know, UA is Baltimore-based and it's headquarters isn't far from the hill. Residents were not pleased with what could be considered an ambush marketing tactic. Under Armour has decided to cover the ad but the damage with the local community may be lasting.

photo from The Baltimore Sun