Gatorade is choosing tonight’s NBA playoffs to unveil a new TV advertising campaign meant to regain traction for the brand after last year’s lackluster repositioning around the “G” theme. The aim will be to get consumers used to the idea of drinking Gatorade products before, during and after workouts and other athletic activities – not just for hydrating during them.

The isotonics beverage brand is invoking its glorious past as the creator of, and predominant brand in, its category since 1965. Its new spot (above) evokes a sepia-toned, reaching-into-the-vaults nostalgia for that 40-plus year past, including its most iconic spokesman of all time, Michael Jordan. Another spot links Gatorade’s heritage to its attempt to redefine sports drinks today with its G Series product line.Continue reading...

Among car brands, Peugeot has, of late, been a non-starter. As The Economist laments, "too many recent Peugeots, although well-made, have been dull to drive and ugly to look at."

That's why Jean-Marc Gales, who manages PSA's Peugeot brand, is excited about the launch this month of the RCZ coupe, which he says is "intended to announce a return to the virtues that made Peugeot great in the 1980s."

Indeed, the RCZ is just the first of a flurry of product introductions; 14 new Peugeot models will be launched over the next two years, according to Gales. It's a good thing, too, because it may be Peugeot's last chance to catch up to its competitors.Continue reading...

Schwinn bicycles is looking to get its mojo back with a $5 million campaign it hopes will click with recreational riders.

A new site, RideSchwinn.com, is targeted to women in the 25-54 age bracket because that's where the family's financial controller and leisure events coordinator is most likely to be reached.

The online hub will be supported with TV spots (watch after the jump), Web banners, social media outreach, and print ads, all striking a nostalgic tone that's reminiscent of the days when children actually rode bikes, outside, with iconic handlebar bells.

"We are renovating the whole iconography and language of the brand, and also renovating the in-store experience," commented Andy Coccari, CMO of Schwinn's parent company, Dorel Industries.Continue reading...

Welch’s has made a concerted effort to make its products more relevant to today’s moms, who are more concerned about the nutritional value of juice than its taste. And in so doing, the champion of the Concord grape has posted record sales and a renewed confidence that the U.S. grape growers’ cooperative that owns the brand is on the right track to further robust growth.

“We had been declining in sales in declining categories,” Welch's marketing director Dan Peirce, told brandchannel. “But last year we were not only profitable but had a record sales year.”

One way that Welch's has kept its main product line vital is to tout its health benefits. It recently added enhanced-fiber and enhanced-calcium products, and developed kid-friendly lower-calorie juices and yogurt-covered fruit snacks to boost sales. But Peirce acknowledged that Welch's has had to do more than just get a better handle on which products bear its venerable and trustworthy brand name.Continue reading...

Today's New York Times picks up on Crocs' new image campaign, as the maligned brand of soft-soled rubber footwear takes its new "Feel the love" tagline to TV and the streets.
The commercials are part of Crocs marketing effort to showcase its new spring styles, including the Melbourne, a men's loafer. Its design has also been refreshed with a stripe it's calling a Crocband.

Croslite, the proprietary odor resistant and soft material in all Crocs shoes, conforms to your foot -- and is the name of the animated shoe characters in the commercials. But is it catchy enough to win back fans of the once ubiquitous soft shoe?Continue reading...

Gatorade, the elder citizen amongst sports drinks, is in search of its mojo.

A campaign launching two new products, G Series and G Series Pro, debuts later this month and is geared primarily to teenagers and specialized athletes. G Series targets the high school athlete, while G Series Pro caters to "business" athletes, personal trainers or elite athletes.

The brand's touted three-part regimen – pre, during, and post-workout – redefines the Gatorade athlete in a much broader terms so it now includes skateboarders, surfers, acrobats and gymnasts - and females. As part of the pre-launch, a mobile locker room has been traveling to high schools promoting the G Series.Continue reading...

For sale: Slightly used, slightly abused, completely iconic mobile phone brand. Real fixer-upper, tons of potential.

Yes, in a move that has been suspected by fans of the brand for some time now, Palm has put itself up for acquisition. The move comes after recent sales numbers for Palm's Pixi and Pre units disappointed already low expectations, making the company's independent survival all but impossible. Existing mobile brands HTC and Lenovo are rumored to be interested. Some question the wisdom of HTC buying the brand, as Palm's operating system, WebOS, would clash with HTC's Android system.

But Lenovo? A purchase by Lenovo might be the perfect brand-building fit. Continue reading...

It's one of those iconic brands that defined the American sandwich. Wonder Bread, created in 1925, was America's first sliced white bread, packaged in plastic adorned with red, yellow, and blue balloons to appeal to kids.

But almost a century later, Wonder Bread, still on grocery shelves, is fighting to stay relevant. Today, the healthy qualities of wheat and whole grain have overshadowed white bread, often perceived as a processed product of little nutritional value. So Hostess Brands, Wonder's parent company, is launching a new ad campaign that introduces not just the nutritional value of Wonder, but a brand new positioning: Wonder Smartwhite. Stephany Verstraete, a VP at Hostess, tells Brandweek, "We wanted to make sure that mom understands that we get the nutritional needs of today's families."Continue reading...