SEMINAR REVIEW

Re-inventing an Aussie icon

Blue Marlin’s Client Development Director, Jonathan Samuel, and Schweppes’ Group Marketing Manager, Enda O’Sullivan, took centre stage at an Australian Marketing Institute breakfast seminar, ‘Reinventing an Aussie Icon: The SOLO Success Story’, in Sydney recently.

Jonathan Samuel opened by discussing an icon he had just met – Sir Jackie Stuart, three-time Formula 1 World Champion and an icon of the 1970s. His break came as a mechanic, when one day he was asked to race for one of his customers. He came second in that race and first in subsequent races. Within 18 months he was racing in Formula 1 and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Steve McQueen, Sean Connery and George Harrison – all icons themselves.

Samuel said: “Jackie clearly had talent, but also a bit of luck. For marketers on the hunt for that iconic status for their brands it’s not easy, even despite ‘branding’ having been around since Babylonian times. The trouble is that few brands can actually transcend time and become true icons.”

He continued: “According to Douglas M. Holt in his book ‘How Brands Become Icons’,  cultural myths, populist authenticity and a charismatic aesthetic are all part of what makes an icon. However, in a decade that has been labelled by LSN Global as ‘The Turbulent Teens’, marketers looking to build iconic status for their brands will need to ensure that their brands can not only manage continual change and cultural disruptions, but also be able to reinvent their brand stories to remain relevant.”

This was the challenge for Enda O’Sullivan, who arrived in Australia in 2006 when brands such as VB, Vegemite, Arnott’s and Holden were already iconic not just in their own categories, but also in popular culture.

O’Sullivan said: “Solo had the enduring ethos of the ‘Solo Man’ but over time the brand had lost its relevance. By 2007 it was in need of reinvention. The team and I worked on reframing the brand’s objective to make it more relevant for the target market of today. We saw an opportunity with soccer as so many youngsters were now participating in the sport. In competition, man is free to be his instinctive self and with football, kicking a ball with your foot is man’s first instinctive sporting moment. Sport is man’s release. It’s a timeless insight.

“There was a clear opportunity for us to reinterpret Solo’s past and apply it to the current world. We owned the crushed can before with the fist; today we had the chance to own it with the foot.”

O’Sullivan shared his many insights on navigating the challenges and opportunities that come with managing probably one of the most differentiated brands in the soft drink market. Solo is a brand with a lot of heritage and a well-established identity. By reinventing itself by reinterpreting the past and applying it to today’s world, Solo has achieved impressive growth over the past three years.

Solo is a great example of a brand that has managed to transcend time and remain culturally relevant, proving that to become iconic and remain iconic you have to keep moving.

Back to Marketing Update home page

Seen at the breakfast seminar ...