bloom's blog

A tidal wave of patriotism

We all love a good reason to celebrate. And this summer, London is not only gearing up for the Olympics but also for H.R.H. The Queen's Jubilee Celebrations and not forgetting the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championship. So with that combination, it does not come as a surprise that every week we see established brands emerging with limited editions to play a role in national optimism. 

Whilst the Olympic brand (such as the Olympic rings, the torch and the flame) is protected, in order to ensure that sponsors get the exclusivity they have paid for, the national flag and the Queen’s equities are rather more permissive. As a consequence the iconic Union Jack is fast becoming omniprescent throughout the high street. A poignant symbol of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it tackles both the recognition of our Queen's 60 year reign and a message of support for 'Team Great Britain' as well as an opportunity to align brands to a culture of British pride.  So how are brands doing it?

 

Patriotic Pride

An unadulturated celebration of all things British is the brief here. Aligning the brand with the Union Jack in a way that is both relevant and appropriate. British flavoured / themed limited edition products are fast emerging every where. Here are just a few. 

1950’s Revival

Brands will always seize on the opportunity to remind us of their enduring appeal through landmark milestones. Several brands have dug into their archives to bring back some classic designs from yesteryear to remind us how long they've been gracing our cupboards. The Jubilee and its retrospective celebration of Britain over the years provides the perfect stage.

 

Diamonds, crowns and jewels

This category embraces brands that have earnt their right to celebrate the Jubilee through receipt of the Royal Warrant. Some are more overt whereas others a little more understated and elegant.

It would be a shame not to mention some of the great brands that Bloom has been working with to celebrate these occasions. A couple of months ago we couldn't move in the studio for the cultural british images and the red, white and blue flags filling our screens. Here's a few of the brands we've aligned with this wonderful occasion.

                              

    

 

Finally the Museum of Brands are curating an exhibition ‘Jubilee, Jubilee’ which is showcasing souvenirs and commemorative products made to mark the royal jubilees of the past, as well as the newly released keepsakes launched to commemorate this year’s Diamond Jubilee.

And with all the excitement this summer and the wave of patriotism sweeping the country, we wish The Queen a happy anniversary, Team GB all the best at the Olympics, England every success at Euro 2012 and hope that this might be Andy Murray's year to win Wimbledon!

Here's to all things British.

For futher examples of celebration packs click on our Flickr stream on the right of this post.

Lucozade in F1

We were very excited to see the new Lucozade marque, designed by Bloom, now gracing the Formula One stage. Lucozade recently signed up as one of the team sponsors for Vodafone Maclaren Mercedes with the marque making its first full race debut at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend. 

We wish Maclaren, Jenson, Lewis and Lucozade all the success in the remaining five races. Bloom will be following you closely...

 

 

A colourful new world - Planet Lunch

Everyone at Bloom is excited about the launch of our new designs for Planet Lunch.

For those that don’t know the range, they are lunchbox fillers from PepsiCo promising mums healthy food  that kids will love. The range consists of fruit bars, fruit squeezers and bread bites and are all 100%  natural.

Previously they looked like this…

Our biggest challenge was to give Planet Lunch an identity that would appeal to both mums and kids. This meant keeping the design simple and earthy to reflect the health benefits whilst delivering the mischief and imagination that appeals to 6-11 year olds.

Now they look like this…

You can find the new Planet Lunch packs in store from September ready for the new school year so give them a go whether you’ve got kids or not.

Quaker NPD on shelf

This week our innovation work for Quaker landed in store. With the Oat So Simple range experiencing 30% growth year on year Quaker seized the opportunity to extend the appeal of the brand to new occasions and consumers. 

Introducing the ‘Indulgent’ range to the adult market, the brand is now moving beyond its breakfast proposition to create additional opportunities in the day to eat porridge, such as afternoon coffee breaks or an evening snack.

We had a lot of fun designing the new Oat So Simple packs that replace the ‘Paw Ridge’ range.  Now mums who already bought OSS for themselves can buy flavours their kids will love as well. 

Also out this week is a brand new ready to eat cereals range, Harvest Crunch, whose bright colours and energetic design give it great standout on a particularly cluttered shelf. We also designed a new Jumbo Oats pack for Quaker but weren’t able to find it at our local Tesco Metro – if you spot it please let us know.

 

Lucozade

Did you see the lastest Lucozade ad last night, that premiered on Channel 4?.

You may have noticed the new brand marque, created by Bloom for GSK. The marque has been developed as a short-hand for Lucozade' energetic world view in conjunction with the current high profile YES ad campaign, created by Grey.

The new 'Lite' ad depicts a lighter way to enjoy Lucozade. Set to DJ Fresh's 'Louder' track the ad gives skaters Danielle and Candice a chance to show off their moves - bringing retro roller skates bang up to date.

Check out the new ad in full here.

The first ad for Lucozade Sport was a high-octane production featuring Tinie Tempah, Travis Barker and Katie Taylor and has been viewed nearly a million times on YouTube.

London Marathon Exhibition

This week saw the premier of the new marque we designed for Lucozade at the London Marathon Exhibition at the ExCel centre.  Thanks to Fast Track for implementing the marque so well - it certainly had impact!

Check out the new Lucozade ad here.

 

 

Bloom at the IFE

This week the anniversary logo we designed for The Fresh Olive Company featured at the International Food and Drink Exhibition at the ExCel centre.

nail biting

We're really chuffed to see our limited edition work for Johnnie Walker and Selfridges make it onto the Design Week Awards shortlist this year. Especially considering the tough competition. There's a lot of great work to feast your eyes on here.

we've been ffffound!

trumpet blowing

We thought we might blow our trumpet a bit and show you these
 

Johnnie Walker Black Label and Selfridges are 100 years old this year. To mark the occasion we've come up with these bespoke bottles. All 100 bottles are made have real leather and can only be found in Selfridges.