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If you’re a soft drink company what do you do to keep market share high in a down economy? Let the good times roll, and put on a happy face? Well, I’m not sure, but that certainly seems like the plan for mega giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.

According to Pepsi, 95% of their target market (individuals born between 1980 and 1990) prefer to maintain a positive outlook on life. Additionally, those born from 1980 to 1990 (individuals referred to as “Millenials,”) are confident about the remainder of 2009. (Data according to StategyOne)

With those statistics in mind, Pepsi launched a new campaign which includes a redesigned logo that looks like a smile and welcoming greetings such as: Hi, Yo, or Howdy.

Coca-Cola on the other hand, is no stranger to marketing happiness (think their early 90’s polar bear campaigns). The company is at it again, with their newest slogans: Open Happiness and The Coke Side of Life, around billboards nationwide.

As for who has it right, I guess only time will tell. For now, let’s just hope the glass is half full for both Coke and Pepsi.

By Kelley Blakewood

Carnival Cruise Lines debuts its Dream ship this fall with a 12 day Grand Mediterranean Cruise departing from Rome.   Onboard this grand ship will be the company’s latest innovation, dubbed the FunHub, a comprehensive shipboard intranet portal featuring the cruise industry’s first on-board social network. The portal provides access to a wide variety of information on the ship’s services, facilities and daily activities.  FunHub will allow guests to create online profiles, meet and interact with other guests, send and receive messages, check menus and weather reports, and more.  Available free of charge 24 hours a day, the FunHub will serve as a resource to keep guests connected to everything related to their cruise experience.

Check out more on the Dream ship featuring the new FunHub portal here. 

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Every morning on my way to work I drive past McDonald’s, and every morning I can’t help but ask myself… is it really possible? Is it possible that the days of Ronald McDonald, happy meals, and gigantic golden arches are really over?

The McDonald’s Company began raising eyebrows in 2003 when executives decided it best to drop their traditional kid-centric image in order to target an older more mature market. Six years and billions of dollars later, they have actually begun to achieve what most deemed impossible: change their brand image. To compete with coffee houses and café type restaurants, McDonalds has revamped both its menu and store layouts. McDonald’s restaurants now offer a variety of coffees, ranging from iced chocolate mochas to espressos. Additionally, most McDonald’s include coffee bar tables, metal barstools, and free wireless internet access. CEO Charlie Bell says, “These changes are meant to offer consumers a better overall brand experience.”

I’m certainly going to miss the iconic child friendly McDonald’s, but I’m pretty excited to see what the new McDonald’s has to offer. Maybe one of these mornings, I’ll stop to enjoy a cup of coffee and actually be able to say, “I’m lovin it.”

By Kelley Blakewood

Source: EmeraldManagementFirst: Re-Branding: the Mcdonald’s Stategy

Remember mixed tapes? The old school cassettes made for friends containing your favorite songs, with clever titles such as “Road Trip Mix 91″?

Fast forward 20+ years and enter slotRadio. From the looks of their advertising, the new music player + music card is targeting moms … busy moms in particular (although really, what mom today ISN’T busy?). I fall into this category, and it seriously took reading the ad several times plus a visit to their website to help me understand exactly WHAT they were selling. Is slotRadio a music player? Actual music? A big idea?

It’s really all three. slotRadio is a music player, with special “pre-filled” cards loaded up with music from specific categories. For example, I can choose a card with 1000 country-specific songs ready to play in my slotRadio player. Or a health and fitness card that has seven playlists created with specific activities in mind (cardio, cooldown, yoga, etc.). Great concept. Appropriate target. So what’s the problem?

The name. slotRadio. Sure it’s descriptive. Yes, it’s functional. But this is a category definer. No other manufacturer has a product like this. Imagine if Procter & Gamble had chosen to use “Dust-Trapping-Cloth-on-a-Stick” for their inventive product in 1999.

To make things even more confusing, the pre-loaded cards are branded slotRadio, as is the player. But the slotRadio card can actually be played on the Sansa Fuze and the Sansa Clip+. Seems to me a better option would have been to name the player slotRadio, and give the card (new, unique, different) a (new, unique, different) name.

Apple defined the personal music category with the iPod. Now SanDisk has a chance to redefine the playlist. Unfortunately I think the choice of name leaves the door wide open for a second player to come in and dominate with a more original brand name.