5 things you need to know this week

Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign inspires 2.8 million women to exercise

Sport England’s ‘This Girl Can’ campaign continues to prove its effectiveness. Stats released earlier this week show that it inspired 2.8 million women to get active.

According to the research, 2.8 million 14-40-year-old women who recognise the campaign say they have done some or more activity as a result, while 1.6 million say they’ve started exercising. Yet despite the impressive results Joseph believes this is just the beginning.

“We are delighted the campaign has had such a great start but completely recognise that we have a long way to go,” Joseph told Marketing Week. “The gender gap has narrowed but only slightly. We need to get more women doing sport and the proportion of women doing sport to be greater.”

Innocent plans to bring veg juices to the masses

Innocent is mainly known for its fruit smoothies, but the brand is hoping to change that in 2016. Last year the brand introduced various new products to the market, including its coconut water and fruit and veg coldpress juices, with the brand’s UK head of marketing Helen Pomphrey stating that the new innovations were a deliberate move to “launch products that really stretched the spectrum of health and wellness”.

This year, however, the brand is hoping to capitalise on consumers’ changing habits. To get the new products in the hands of the masses, sampling will become a bigger focus for the brand going forward. Whether it’s through in-store activations or the use of bloggers and vloggers, Pomphrey is keen to use the method “in an interesting and engaging way”.

She commented: “We have launched so many new products now. And taste is important to people, so getting the product into people’s hands and trying it is vital. Creating word of mouth is something that we really want to focus on.”

Disney wants consumers to live ‘Healthily Ever After’

Forget about ‘Happily ever after’ – it seems that ’Healthily ever after’ is the message which needs to hit home with consumers. At least, that’s what Disney is aiming for. It has launched a new campaign to prove its brand can help families lead healthier lifestyles.

The activity is based on research run by Disney which found that parents often find it hard to get their children to eat well and take part in regular physical activity. Disney hopes to reach two-thirds of mums with its message, using Disney assets including its characters and stories to inspire families to be healthier.

Anna Hill, CMO at Disney UK & Ireland, says: “The #HealthilyEverAfter campaign uses the power of our stories and characters to inspire these behaviours and encourage parents to share their tips with other families around the UK. In the coming months and years, we will continue to try to do our best to help families in the UK live more healthily.”

Aldi and Lidl ‘cement transition to mainstream brands’ as they top best brands list

Aldi and Lidl have continued to build on their success. After a strong Christmas period where both retailers convinced an extra one million Brits to shop with them, the bargain retailers have topped YouGov BrandIndex’s list for the second year in a row, confirming their popularity among the British public.

According to Sarah Murphy, director of YouGov BrandIndex UK, both retailers have had a successful year, boosted by creative advertising, ambitious expansion and a progressive wage policy.

She says: “Aldi and Lidl hold the top two spots in our rankings for the second year in a row but their marketing strategies have evolved over the past 12 months. While they have always marketed themselves as being value for money the emphasis now is on the quality side of that bargain and not just the cost.”

Lynx shows off its softer side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzTSE6kcLwY

No more ‘babes in bikinis’ – Lynx has officially moved on and instead is hoping to connect with male consumers on a deeper level. In its biggest global campaign to date, the brand (known as Axe outside the UK) encourages men to celebrate their individuality.

Kicking off on 18 January in the US and late March in the UK and nine other markets, the brand’s campaign – ‘Find your Magic’ – will span TV, print, social and outdoor and include custom digital content created in partnership with Vice.

Rik Strubel, Lynx’s global vice-president, told Marketing Week the brand was at a stage “where it was time for a change”.

He explained: “This is a brand that wants to reflect the way men see themselves. We need to be progressive and provocative, so we felt it was time to review our brand purpose.”