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It’s not easy being apart, but we can do this together! #TogetherApart #StayHome #FlattenTheCurve

Last year, with their exclusive partnership with Live Nation, the Co-op became the first UK’s food
retailer to have a supermarket at four major festivals.

Amanda Jennings, Director of Marketing Communications for the Co-op said at the time’ This shows
our ambition to reach out to new and young customers, providing essential and quality products. Co-
op is all about getting close to the customer and it doesn’t get much closer than being right outside
your tent’

Melvin Benn MD Festival Republic replied, ‘Having an environmentally-conscious food retailer like Co-
op on site will give fans easy access to all the products they need for our festival while reinforcing our
green principles.”

A year later Co-op pop up shops appeared in seven other festivals including the most famous of all,
Glastonbury.

As a partner at events for the Co-op for the last 3 years, Ice were asked to plan, create and execute
the Annual Trade Briefing, an event where Co-op showcase their new ranges and come face to face
with food suppliers, we wanted to continue this festival vibe, minus of course the mud, poncho’s and
tents.

Our watchwords were sustainability, diversity and inclusivity to bring to life the motto of ‘Co-op. It’s
what we do’, showing that Co-op cares about the world that we share

So, the world that we built was, as the brief asked, an immersive conference experience that made
the attendees feel they weren’t attending a conference.

A relaxing, exciting space that had the vibrancy and charm of a festival.

We staged their very own Co-op festival.

With a top DJ providing live music, acts such as Groove Armada, Jess Glynn and Sam Smith were on
the bill.

Reducing waste and recycling were the order of the day, with décor furniture made from recycled oil
drum and reclaimed wooden pallets. And totally plastic free.

From the newest tunes to the latest bites. culinary wonders for every palate and every dietary
consideration. From juice bars to yoghurt stops, from pizzas to a selection of dishes from Asia. There
were also some super salads to try exclusively at the festival, ahead of their launch in stores.

The areas where buyers meet food producers had a relaxed informal feel that helped engagement,
with a message wall highlighting Co-op’s top achievements proving what they do for the community.

Meetings to discuss specific topics felt like mingling at a gig rather than a formal environment and
took place under a colourful canopy of festival style ribbons and festoon lighting. This area provided a
focal point to the whole show.

At Ice, we’re not green when it comes to being green

We appreciate that the corporate world is evolving into one where important social issues are
espoused and championed by unique partnerships between socially responsible companies sharing
similar environment concerns.

We feel it’s vital to work with such companies, like the Co-op, to help further those important issues
through event marketing that mirrors those sustainable, diverse and inclusive themes.

Create great ideas that have maximum impact on the consumer but minimum impact on the
environment.

Have friendly events that are most importantly eco-friendly too.

So, we aren’t just helping our clients tell the world there is something amazing going on.

We’re doing it in a way that’s kind to the world as well.

From Nike’s “swoosh” symbol to Starbucks’ twin-tailed mermaid or siren, the world’s largest companies take great care of their logos.

For most people the logos of such firms immediately connect our minds to the business in question, sometimes without the need to see its name.

Think of the golden arches of a popular fast-food chain, or the apple with a bite taken out of it representing a certain tech company.

This type of instant recognition is the holy grail for a business.
So, is it this perceived cache in their brand names that caused Doritos and Mastercard to recently remove their name from their logos?

Or is it an attempt to reconnect with younger consumers by not displaying overt advertising?

In ‘No Logo’ Naomi Klein talked about a shift to anti branding, with companies having to change their thinking on using old fashioned branding. She said, it wasn’t about selling a brand but rather promoting a lifestyle, because brands had such a negative effect on the younger generation.
The lack of a name could negate negative thoughts about that brand that the name conjured up.

But then did Nike taking their name off and just having the swoosh, really stop people thinking about the exploited kids that made their trainers?
Or is less branding, as Mastercard stated, a way of achieving modern simplicity?

People need an image to look at, as Aristotle said, ‘the soul cannot think without an image’.

But in a visual world of memes and symbols, is less, really more?

Maybe simpler branding is part of a bigger plan, a deliberate attempt to again attract a younger audience with subversive marketing?

But will they really think you’re so cool because you don’t have your name on your packs?

So, why bother?

The younger generation heralded the birth of Adblocking because they hated advertising so much. And with many consumers in these price conscious times indulging in product promiscuity rather than brand loyalty, is the writing on the wall, or rather not on the packs, for brands?

Not necessarily.

A company in the US called Brandless eschews all established brands and just has products called Peas or Sweet Corn, no names .no logos.
But surprise, surprise, Brandless has become a brand.

So, gimmick or trend?

Like most new attempts to attract Generation Z, companies need to back up any activity with something more substantial.

Your logo is how people recognise you, and it helps express how you’re different from your rivals – warmer, greener, stronger, and so on. But for a logo to be successful, the company behind it must be a respected and trusted brand. A logo won’t allow a company to build a respected brand on its own.

Age UK is working with Cadbury over the next year to bring the plight of lonely older people to the attention of the nation and do something about it.

Cadburys new Donate Your Words campaign is just purple packaging without the purple prose, no words at all appear on their packaging. Instead those words are donated to highlight the crisis in the UK, where 1.4 million older people struggle with loneliness and 225,000 old people often go a whole week without speaking to anyone.

Customers are not stupid, they know that companies have spent millions designing and promoting their name and logo’s.

They don’t drop them without very good reason.

Or, a very good marketing ploy?