But that isn’t stopping “A Bunch of Carrots Farmers” from launching their baby carrot campaign.
The group is launching a campaign called “Eat em like junk food!” The commercials are pretty funny and are obvious parodies of other junk foods you can buy like chips and candy.  The question is, Is witty packaging and commercials enough to encourage people to give up actual junk food for healthy food hiding behind junk food packaging? In the next few months we will be keeping tabs on the results and post them here for you to see.

For the time being extreme baby carrots is at least making the headlines all over the internet.

You can view one of the ads here:

Consumer Loyalty- the act of showing faith and allegiance to a product or service.

For the second year in a row, the iPhone topped the New York consultancy’s “Loyalty Leaders” list. The list compiles the top brands that consumers show loyalty to. It demonstrates that in a time where products are lacking in differentiation, brands need to establish an emotional connection to consumers to earn their faith and trust. No one does a better job at this than Apple thus, their momentum continues to intensify and their connection with the consumer market grows deeper.

Brand Keys conducted the interviews which provided the data for the list. In August, they polled 35,000 consumers about 501 brands in 71 categories. The age range of the consumers was 18-65 years old. 80% of the surveying was done over the phone while 15% were personal interviews and 5% were done online.

The iPhone was followed by Samsung phones with Apple computers and Blackberry scoring high. Other notable moves on the list included BP going from the leader of gasoline retailers to the bottom of the list for obvious reasons. Toyota dropped a little bit but it’s position remains #2 among autos. Beer brands dropped in the survey as vodka brands climbed. In fact, Three Olives vodka jumped 64 positions on the list landing in the top 25.

New additions to the list includes Bing, which was second among search engines to the respondents. Google is still ranked very high although, it dropped to #11 this year from #3 last year.

Progressive Insurance claimed the highest increase on the year with spokeswoman Flo into her second year of campaigning through advertising channels.

Nearly 75% of the Top 50 brands on the list came from three categories: cosmetics, technology, and retail. The emotional connection derived from cosmetic brands impacts self image, technology changes the way consumers live their lives, and retail improves quality of life.

Here’s a look at the Top 15 Loyalty Leaders:

1. Apple iPhone
2. Samsung phones
3. Walmart
4. Grey Goose
5. Apple
6. Hyundai
7. Amazon
8. J. Crew (catalog)
9. Blackberry
10. Avis
11. Google
12. Mary Kay
13. J. Crew (retail)
14. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee
15. Bing

Many marketers adhere to consistency with their marketing messages across social media and email channels. But when looking at the findings in the report we find that the audiences across these three channels have different needs and motivations.

Daily Twitter users who followed a brand were more than twice as likely to purchase a product from that brand than a Facebook user who “liked” a specific brand. Further, Facebook fans were the most likely group to disagree with the question as email subscribers fell in the middle.

The pattern among Twitter, Facebook, and email was similar when individuals were asked whether they’d recommend a brand in their social circles. 33% of Twitter users were likely to recommend brands while 24% of email subscribers and only 21% Facebook users responded in favor.

According to the study, Twitter followers are the most attractive group to marketers though it’s a smaller user base. Only 3% of US internet users follow a brand on Twitter. That 3% however, are the brand influencers compared to Facebook users and email subscribers. Facebook users generally become brand fans more for self-image because a connection has already been established in real life.

More info:
E Marketer

Most sectors of packaging have been taking a hit during these tough economic times, but not sustainable packaging. Sustainable packaging has experienced positive growth over the past two years and it’s not expected to slow down. According to “Sustainable (Green) Packaging: A Global Strategic Business Report”, the green packaging market should to be worth $142 billion by 2015.

What sectors of packaging are the key developers of sustainable packaging? Cosmetics and personal care, food and beverage, shipping, and healthcare packaging have all embraced green packaging to a large degree.

There are key driving forces that account for the growth of sustainable packaging. Growing concerns of the environment around the globe is number one. Also, stricter government regulations are making it mandatory for companies to adhere to sustainable practices and production. Other drivers include increased awareness about recycling of packaging wastes and companies cutting costs by using recycled and reusable materials in manufacturing.

The United States and Europe currently cover more than 70 percent of the global green packaging market. Recycled material is the most important packaging category in the US, accounting for 90 percent of the total demand.

The fastest growing region for green packaging is expected to be Asia-Pacific with 10 percent annual growth over the next 5 years. The fastest growing segment of the packaging industry are biodegradables with the highest demand coming from bioplastics.

Pew Internet Project released a new study that outlines how fast consumers are embracing applications on their mobile devices.

82% of adults in the US are active cell phone users. 43% of those cell phone users have applications on their phones with more than two-thirds of them are using the apps on a regular basis. In other words, nearly 25% of the US adult population is actively using mobile applications.

Although applications are not nearly as popular as other cell phone activities such as texting and taking photos, the app growth is rapid and relentless. Considering there was no app culture two years ago, it’s a remarkable tech story. Here’s a list of the top cell phone activities amongst US adults taken from the Pew Internet Project study:

Percentage of adult cell phone users who use their phone to do the following:
Take pictures- 76%
Text message- 72%
Use internet- 38%
Play games- 34%
Use email- 34%
Record video- 34%
Play music- 33%
Use an app- 29%

Top 10 most popular app categories among US adults:
1. Games
2. News/Weather
3. Navigation
4. Social Media
5. Music
6. Entertainment/Food
7. Banking/Finance
8. Sports
9. Productivity
10. Shopping/Retail

Further, app growth has led to steady growth for social media. Twitter CEO Evan Williams earlier this month blogged that 46% of active Twitter users regularly use a mobile device to tweet. The number of users accessing Twitter on mobile devices had jumped 62% since mid-April. Overall during that period, the number of people using Twitter rose 27%, from 106 million to 145 million.

Social Network with Sunrise Packaging:
Twitter
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Last winter, Toy Story 3 shattered box office records and is due out on DVD and Blu-ray on November 2, just in time for the holidays. Pixar recently showed what they have in store for collectors by revealing the custom packaging for their Toy Story Ultimate Toy Box Collection. The collection will include Blu-rays, regular DVDs and digital copies of all three Toy Story movies- a total of 10 discs.

The packaging features a square box on the outside with a Toy Story character on each side. On the inside, an original wagon toy box holds all of the discs. By going the extra mile with exclusive custom packaging, Pixar is hoping to attract both collectors and youth to the box set that is retailing on Amazon for $65.99.

Not only big budget film releases like Toy Story merit custom DVD packaging. This example of DVD packaging comes from the Gutek Film Company who’s celebrating their 15th Anniversary by paying homage to the artistic Italian cinematography of Michelangelo Antonioni. This collection features eight classics targeting film art lovers (lovers of multi-level sophisticated film art that is difficult to perceive).

Package design for the project is simple containing two boxes. The main “grand box” holds a smaller box inside where the DVD discs and booklet are held. The book jacket is made of black cardboard and has a logo cutout. On one side of the disc holder sheet is information relating to Antonioni’s works while the other side features specially shaped envelopes that holds the DVD discs.

Isaiah Mustafa.
If you don’t know the name, you know the face. He is the currently an internet viral sensation who is also the poster boy for Old Spice. Old Spice’s genius marketing campaign has become a YouTube hit. The original commercial, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” currently has 19,625,583 views! After the original’s success, Mustafa and Old Spice created Youtube shorts that answered his fans questions, these fans included celebrities like Ellen Degeneres and Alyssa Milano.

Old Spice is getting attention from more then Youtube.  The company has seen an increase in their social networking interactions. Old Spice Twitter followers were up 3200%, Facebook interactions had jumped 800-1,000%, Google searches were up 2,200% and traffic to the Old Spice website had risen 350-500%.

And that’s not the end of this success story either.  According to Dean McBeth, a digital strategist for ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, sales of Old Spice body wash have risen 55% and some SKUs are up as much as 1,900%. So what’s the secret behind this marketing campaign?

Old Spice changed their image to appeal to a wider age bracket by redesigning their products and rethinking their marketing strategy. Their new commercials and campaigns are witty, funny, and memorable. The commercials also target men and women. Not only that, but by having Mustafa answer fan questions, Old Spice was able to make the brand personal to the public.

It looks like Old Spice is back in a big way.

eBay just launched a new set of eco-friendly reusable boxes as part of a pilot program to make packaging a little greener. Starting in October, the company is giving away 100,000 shipping boxes to eBay sellers, and encouraging reuse. According to eBay, if each box gets used five times, the program could protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water, and conserve enough electricity to power 49 homes for a year.

The boxes engage sellers by emphasizing potential benefits to the planet with friendly illustrations and copy. Tips for greener packing include finding “a new calling for old phone books.” A happy little bird asks, “Where to next?” And to track each box’s journey, there’s space to write a note so the next person to receive it can see just how far its come.

Each eBay Box is made with 100 percent recycled content certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), printed with water-based inks, and designed to require minimal tape. And once it reaches the end of its useful shipping life, it’s fully recyclable. From the box’s fine print: “Don’t worry, it will come back as something nice, like a birthday card or movie theater popcorn bag.”

The company will also set-up a special web page for the recipients of the boxes, on which they can register their box and give updates on its condition. The company will use the information to track the boxes and plan future replacements when a box gets too damaged.

More info on the eBay Boxes at www.ebaygreenteam.com