Cup Noodle Making it Easy!

There are brands that do not stand out for their luxurious or colorful design, but for pure convenience and practicability. One of those brands is Nissin's Cup Noodle.

If you have been in a convenient store in Japan you might have bought there some instant noodles and used one of the microwaves available to get them ready to eat. Furthermore, anybody that has been in Tokyo knows that the vending machine concept is taken to another level and can be found pretty much anywhere.

Cup noodle has now taken this concept by heart and a step further in their latest promotional campaign. Already known as a convenient product,its key brand value, it is trying to reach the "geeky segment" with this campaign. Besides, I am pretty sure that as a by product the media coverage generated will also reach other segments of interest.

But now more about the campaign. Until the end of March, Cup Noodle fans will be able to enter a contest to win one of 3000 limited edition "My Vending Machine Cup Noodle dispenser/water heaters". Want to know more, well just check out the video.

I just found this an interesting way of promoting a product while further emphasizing the brands key value. Thank you cup noodle, and thank you Japan for offering sometimes things that are just a bit different.

2008 Top Global Brands!

And the winner is .................. Coca Cola, probably no surprise. Once again the beverage giant is on top of the world according to Interbrands 2008 ranking. Silver and bronze go to IBM and Microsoft respectively. However, one of the newcomers that is pushing hard is Swedish apparel brand H&M which comes in at 22, a great spot for the first timer in this ranking.

Other brands that should be mentioned.

Google jumped up from 20 to 10 in just one year. Not bad!

Financial services brands have all lost a few spots, no wonder, considering what happened in that industry last year. (Citi, HSBC, UBS, Merryll Lynch, etc.)

Samsung (21) still provides Sony (25)with headaches

It will be interesting to see what happens in 2009. Strong brands should endure a recession. Lets see who takes advantage of this situation and rises to the top.

危机 = 机会 (crisis = opportunity)

The link to the full ranking

The Brand Watches YOU!

Over the last years we have gotten used to the fact that everytime we are surfing the web companies as Google and Yahoo are collecting data on our behavior and what particular ads we are watching. Japanese NTT Communications has taken this thought now to billboards in Tokyo. From this month on a digital billboard in a railway station will be equipped with two webcams and a software that analyzes how many people watch the ad and for how long. An interesting concept that will enable advertisers to make necessary adjustments much quicker and thus billboard advertising more efficient, adding a whole new dimension to AD-ROI. Will we feel watched; well I guess we are already, but for a brand manager it can surely be helpful when he is deciding on how to distribute his ad $$$.


Check the article here

Picture courtesy of fastcompany.com