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11/22/11

SoCal Food Tours – Something Fun & Tasty To Do In San Diego

Sometimes a project comes out even better than you’d hoped it would. SoCal Food Tours was one of those projects. We handled the logo design and the website design and development, if we may say so, it came out great. More important that our sense of self-satisfaction was that our client was uber-happy. Check out their glowing testimonial.

We had so much fun getting to know more about SoCal Food Tours during this project. They offer walking food tours in San Diego and Coronado. Jeff and I had the opportunity to take the Coronado food tour, and I have to say, we had a blast! Even though we’re not foodies, the tour was super fun, informative and very, very tasty. Kelly and Patti, who are foodies, are the founders of SoCal Food Tours and they really have their stuff together! The restaurants and establishments on their tour are some of the best places in Coronado and offer a wonderful cross-section of flavorful delights. And their tour host extraordinaire, Donna, is so fantastic — she’s the perfect mix of fun, funny and knowledgeable.

We wish all the best of luck to Kelly and Patti as they launch their new business! And if you are looking for something fun to do for yourself or any visiting friends and family, I highly recommend checking out SoCal Food Tours. You will not be disappointed! Tell them Cat at Tribe sent you, and get a free hug from Donna. :)

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06/21/11

A Study in Snacking & Brand Loyalty

To redesign or not to redesign, that is the question.

Another question is, what the heck is a big company thinking when they decide to overhaul their entire brand look? Are they bored? Did they hire a new Creative Director who was itching to make his/her mark? When a product has built brand equity, recognition and loyalty, it’s a risky move to change the entire look of a package, nay an entire product line. This was the case with Nabisco’s SnackWell’s.

I admit, I have nibbled on my fair share of Fat Free Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes in my time. So, I was quite surprised when I was searching for these chocolatey goodies the other day and could not find them. I scanned the shelf for the familiar dark green package with it’s large, serify-font SNACKWELL’S logo yelling at me “BUY ME NOW”, but it wasn’t there.

I looked again, and behold, it was there, but in a “new look” lighter green packaging with cursivey font SnackWell’s logo, gently suggesting “pardon me nice shopper, look over here, if ya wanna”. It was like they took the squishy marshmallow & chocolate cookie right out of my mouth, handed me a look alike and said, “here eat this, you’ll like it”. I was wary to say the least.

Alas, the cookies are the same (thankfully, otherwise, Nabisco would be getting an earful from one unhappy cookie lover). But I wonder how other consumers will react to the new packaging. Will they notice? Will they care? Will they wonder why the big change after years of successful snack merchandising? Maybe not as much as I do, but then again, I take my snacking and brand loyalty pretty seriously.

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06/14/11

The Power of Good Marketing & Taco Flavor

OK, I admit it, I am a sucker for good marketing. Whether it’s a clever commercial, an eye-catching ad or well-designed packaging, it can sway my buying opinion. So, when I caught a glimpse of the new-old Doritos bag, I was hooked.

There I was walking down the chip aisle looking for a tasty snack for my upcoming road trip. I really had my heart set on some Cheetos Puffs, but then what do my eyes behold? A Doritos bag, but not the schnazzy, bold, “extreme” logo and packaging. No, this is the Doritos packaging from my childhood. I take a closer look, and it’s even the old Taco Flavor.

So I quickly say goodbye to my Puffs in favor of the flavor of nostalgia. I ignore the “Limited Edition” call out at the top of the package which reminds me that I’m being a bit of a marketing puppet, but oh well, I admit it, they got me by the strings. Their clever retro packaging had tapped into my sentimentality, my youthful memories and my wallet. That’s the power of good marketing.

Well played, Frito-Lay. Well played!

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