Diet Coke has decided to recycle it’s favorite tagline “Just for the taste of it” for their new partnership with the Heart Truth.  Diet Coke, with help from Heidi Klum, debuted a commercial from the extensive ad campaign last night on American Idol.

The slogan is linked with the Heart Truth and its red dress logo via TV, print and online ads.  The Heart Truth red logo will also appear on six billion packages.  In addition to traditional advertising, Diet Coke will sponsor “The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection” fashion show on February 13th during Fashion Week.

The messaging in the ads is “Good taste is about making a statement” and “Where there is a red dress, there’s a way.” The ads direct consumers to dietcoke.com to learn more about heart health.

For more information on the campaign, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/packaged-goods/e3ic91a89e95431f4d5df8f5875b5f831cf

Vitrue, social-media services provider, launched a social-media index last year which measures the conversation around 200 brands on a variety of social-networking, blogging and micro-blogging sites. The survey measures mentions, not the tone of those mentions or word pairings.

The top 20 most social brands are listed below, with the rest of the top 50 here.
1 iPhone
2 CNN
3 Apple
4 Disney
5 Xbox
6 Starbucks
7 iPod
8 MTV
9 Sony
10 Dell
11 Microsoft
12 Ford
13 Nintendo
14 Target
15 PlayStation
16 Mac
17 Turner
18 Hewlett-Packard
19 Fox News
20 BlackBerry

Yahoo Games, EA Online and Disney games are all benefiting from the slow economy.  Each company provides the type of no & low-cost entertainment that thrives during a recession.  Online gaming sites, like those listed above, grew 27% to 86 million unique users in Dec. 2008, versus the previous year.

Yahoo Games had a 20% increase in audience to 19.5 million, EA Online (which includes Pogo.com) saw an increase of 21% in its user base to 15.4 million, and Disney was up 13% to 13.4 visitors in December.

comScore’s research proves that Americans seem to be spending more leisure time at home instead of going out and spending money.

For the full Adweek article, go to: http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i4d0245b6b2f3242230804a25de301526

A new Pew Research report, “Generations Online in 2009,” found that teens 12-17 are spending more time playing online games (78%) than on social networking sites (65%).  On the other hand, 50% of Generation Y (18-32) spends their time with online games compared to 67% on social networking site.

The study also found that teens prefer text and instant messages as a way to communicate, instead of e-mail.  Since teens and Generation Y are more inclined to use the Internet for fun instead of utility, it makes sense that teens would prefer the instant communication avenues that text and instant messages provide, in lieu of waiting around for an email.
For more findings from the study, go to: http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i6229a90fa9a407c3133942621597a19a

Photo Courtesy of Adweek.com

Hilton Garden Inn has taken a new approach in training its managers.  Instead of boring seminars, the hotel chain handed out free Sony PSPs loaded with the program Ultimate Team Play.  Ultimate Team Play is a training game that allows managers to respond to various guest-related scenarios within a 3-D virtual environment.  Points are rewarded for the appropriate problem-solving strategy.

The game is part of Hilton Garden Inn’s global training plan which aims to attract younger talent and keep existing employees engaged.

For the full article, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/promotion-incentive/e3i67264dea25a495e08076131e16ecf278

Mom Life (jenandbarbmomlife.com) is a new website that chronicles the day-to-day adventures of real-life moms Jennifer Pate and Barb Machen. The site features a blog and webisodes, which are typically 4 to 5 minutes long. The aim of the site is to reach out to mothers, via an online community, to start a discourse on various topics from things like healthy cooking to handling the in-laws.

Kraft and S.C. Johnson are the first two companies to sign up as sponsors of the website.  Each webisode will begin with a brief commercial for a Kraft of S.C. Johnson product.  There are also value-themed ads on the side of the featured video.

The site’s launch drew inspiration from the fact that moms make up the majority of packaged goods purchasers, which provided the perfect opportunity for Kraft & S.C. Johnson for target them via this website.

For more information about the website and it’s partnerships, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/promotion/e3i6229a90fa9a407c3008fbc3eb060d752

Real Simple magazine has pinpointed 20 ways that households “leak” money and has provided easy solutions for how to keep your hard earned cash.  Below are the 20 financial “leaks” according to the magazine:

- Paying bills by snail mail
- Paying an annual fee of $60+ for a frequent-flier credit card
- Paying airlines for extras
- Using cash to pay tolls
- Subscribing for cable TV, Internet and phone service from 3 different providers
- Paying the minimum on credit cards
- A cell-phone plan that doesn’t match your needs
- Paying online shipping fees
- Taking your time to redeem gift cards
- Letting the water run
- Keeping six months’ worth of salary in a savings account as an emergency fund
- Not taking advantage of flexible-spending accounts
- Bounced checks
- Purchasing a supplemental life insurance policy through your employer
- Paying for credit reports
- Eating out on vacations
- Thinking that “all-inclusive” mean “all-inclusive”
- Too much insurance
- Springing for a pricey renovation to boost your home’s value before putting it on the market
- Frequent trip to the ATM to withdraw moderate amounts of cash

The full article includes fixes to all these money leaks: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/01/28/rs.household.money.leaks/index.html

In this tough market, there is one element that advertisers can be sure will resonate with consumers, the sense of family, community, society or “We.”  “We” will be the most important positive word in 2009 for two reasons.  First, consumers have a natural reflex to “bunching up” in times of uncertainty or crisis, it helps elevate the importance for social values vs. individual benefit.  Secondly, the “we” mentality allows the consumer to feel like they are in control, not the brand.  It allows marketers to communicate with consumers at eye level, instead of speaking at them.

There are a couple of companies who are already adopting this “we” way of branding.  Ikea, for example, has a loyalty program that focuses on the consumer and reward them for each purchase that is made.  T-Mobile’s new viral campaign is also using the “we” approach to break into the social interaction arena, with their new commercial.

Knowing how the “we” approach positively influences consumers, it will be interesting to see which companies use this tactic and who actually gets it right.  For the full AdAge story, go to: http://adage.com/globalideanetwork/post?article_id=134148