Will they still be here next year
Once again that time of the year is upon us. For those of us who prefer to remain in denial until the clock strikes 12:00 and the sound of ear-splitting gunfire heralds another year, may I apologise in advance for reminding you that the end (of this year) is near! For many of us this is a time for retrospection and reflection. To take stock of what has passed, regroup, take a deep breath and prepare to take on another year. So let’s take a moment to look back specifically at the new products launched in 2015 and how they fared.
Globally, 2015 was the year when Apple finally launched a watch, Heinz and Kraft merged in the largest deal in the history of packaged food and Volkswagen was hit by the biggest scandal in its 70-year history. It was the year when Pepsi decided to launch a smartphone, Coca-Cola launched a premium milk brand and Hershey’s diversified into meat. In other words, 2015 has been a year of paradoxes – where consolidation has gone hand in hand with diversification and where big power brands were threatened by smaller clean slate brands. This is the year that has taught brands to never take anything for granted, as dynamics shift and consumers become pickier about authenticity, brand purpose and provenance.
In Pakistan, 2015 saw a slew of campaigns – from the telecom battling it out for 3G and 4G supremacy to household appliance brands going all emotive to win salience, while the financial sector (which had largely been on an advertising hiatus) re-emerged, prodded awake by an improving economy. Buoyed by increasing consumer confidence there were a number of product launches this year. Here are the ones that attracted my attention – and in no particular order.
Novella