Brand and marketing highlights of the week ending Sat. 20th, June, curated by Gbenga Bidemi.

7up Bottling Company launches a new product line, 2Sure Sanitizer.

The soft drinks company has taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to diversify its market by launching a new product called 2sure, a hand and surface sanitizer with 70 percent alcohol.

The brand signed Dakore Egbuson-Akande as a brand ambassador and released a new commercial titled Auntytohsure.

 

Twitter Launches “Audio Tweet”

Twitter has introduced a new feature called Audio tweet that allows people to attach a voice to a tweet. 

You can Tweet a Tweet. But now you can Tweet your voice!

Rolling out today on iOS, you can now record and Tweet with audio. pic.twitter.com/jezRmh1dkD

— Twitter (@Twitter) June 17, 2020

 

Airlines suspend alcohol on flights due to COVID-19 

Airlines will no longer serve alcoholic drinks during flights in a bid to cut down the interaction between crew and passengers and reduce mealtime as all are to wear their facemasks at all times.

While some airlines like Easyjet and KLM are placing a ban on alcohol for both domestic & international flights, others like Delta Air Lines, American Airlines & Virgin opted to suspend alcoholic drinks for domestic flights only. 

 

Netflix CEO and Wife make a $120M donation to HBCU’s

Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin made a personal donation of 120 million dollars to historically Black colleges and universities. 

Netflix is also committing to spend $5 million to boost Black creators, Black youth, and Black-owned businesses.

 

UBA Bank supports painter injured on their premises with N1 Million

United Bank of Africa reacted to a tweet by Oluyemi Fasipe, where he called out the bank for abandoning a painter who lost his arm and had various injuries in an accident that happened while painting the fence of one of their branches in Ado Ekiti in December 2019.

This man is a painter in Ado Ekiti he was contracted by @UBAGroup to paint one of their branches in December 2019. While he was painting the fence, the transformer within the premises sucked him in & he was electrocuted. Fellow Nigerians, help me ask UBA why they abandoned him. pic.twitter.com/10RCOj1afG

— Olúyẹmí Fásípè (Igbalode Pastor) (@YemieFASH) June 15, 2020

The bank responded by sending a delegate to present the victim with a cheque of 1 Million Naira to commence treatment.

The victim appreciated the bank, meaningful Nigerians who have also donated to him, and Oluyemi Fasipe, the Influencer that called the attention of the bank to the incident.

 

Heinz launches first-ever master brand identity to unite all products under a distinct proposition

The Master Brand Identity is necessary to create a more consistent look across the brand’s expansive lines of product portfolio, a study by its agency JKR revealed.  

 

Hilton Hotel to lay off 22% of its corporate workforce 

Due to the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality business, Hilton has announced that it will be laying off about 2,100 staff. 

In line with the announcement, Hilton’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kellyn Smith Kenny also announced her departure from the hotel giant via LinkedIn. 

According to skift “Employees impacted by the announcement are expected to receive severance pay, access to Hilton alumni resources, an expedited recruitment process when travel resumes and extended access to team member travel and loyalty programs”.

 

American footwear company, Merrell appoints CMO

Outdoor footwear brand “Merrell” has appointed Janice Tennant as its Chief Marketing Officer.

Tennant has previously worked in the marketing department for Kimberly Klerk, PepsiCo, and Cat Footwear. 

 

Following Aunt Jemima’s Footsteps, Uncle Ben’s Rice says it will evolve its brand identity

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Uncle Ben’s Rice will remove the image of the elderly white-haired black smiling man from packets of rice because it has been serving racist stereotypes for about 131 years.

Not only does he wear a white collar like those worn by servants in the US in the past, “Uncle and Aunt” is what they call black people in the South.