BY this time, most of my friends have already made their pick among the Selecta Gold flavors: Berry Strawberry, Chocolate Truffles, or Hazelnut Brownie. Which one is the best? We each had our own favorites.
The three flavors are concocted by renowned Filipino chefs: J Gamboa of Cirkulo for Berry Strawberry, Rolando Laudico of Bistro Filipino for Chocolate Truffles and Sau del Rosario of Chelsea for Hazelnut Brownie. To find out which one is best, my brother-in-law bought all three. I bought a couple of pints too, when I’m not really a regular ice cream buyer (and if I do buy, it’s not Selecta). The thought, though, of having gourmet ice cream done by chefs was irresistible.
Red Ribbon did the same thing, but with fashion designers. Rajo Laurel and Frederick Peralta designed beautiful tiered wedding cakes for brides-to-be to choose. Imagine saying, “My cake designer is Rajo Laurel.” Cool.
HP also came out with a Vivienne Tam HP mini notebook that looks like a sleek designer clutch bag (in chic red!). Bring this to Starbucks and check your e-mail and you’ll be the envy of many.
Tapping well-known designers and experts (like chefs) to collaborate on making your product may be more effective than getting a celebrity endorser. The expert, by working with you, gives the message that your brand is worth having an alliance with. You get to see how the expert can play with your product and improve it. And the customer gets the feeling that this is a limited edition of your product and so he has to get it.
Result: product image gets a boost and sales may increase. Nice move.
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
@Karen: I do agree with you on that. Or maybe, using the names and the faces of these personalities was actually the main objective for these companies just to boost their products and services.
And I have yet to hear that this and that personality is really part of that collaboration. If it’s all HYPE again, what’s in it for us? That is just another ‘old-school’ strategy just given a new spin or ‘bagong bihis ‘ika nga’.
June 9th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
@buddy, it’s true that a lot of products are being endorsed by famous people. However, most of the time these celebrities and politicians just talk about the product; they don’t really participate in product formulation.
June 9th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
when am still in my business i always consult my friends over a cup of coffee and ask them their opinion concerning my ideas on my product that i like to intruduce to my market. it really helps to consult someone more so if he is an expert.
June 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
this move is actually old as almost all brands are being endorsed by well known personalities. Just open the TV and you’ll see a lot of them being endorsed. Be it a fashion designer, an artist or a politician.