The actions of pressure group, Greenpeace, have led to Lego ending it's 50 year old marketing partnership with oil giant Shell.



Greenpeace targeted Lego, in a technique that has been refereed to as brand jacking, the Youtube campaign they produced called 'Everything is not awesome' now has over 6.5 million views. The video was comprised using lego pieces which showed a horrific oil spill in an arctic environment and the devastation it caused.

This story is reminiscent of how many brands departed ways with SeaWorld after pressure from public groups and the publicity of the documentary 'Black Fish'. Virgin America dropped SeaWorld from its airline reward programme, while one of its top corporate sponsors SouthWest Airlines ended its 26 year partnership. Other organisations such as American Express also ditched SeaWorld.



Shell must be wary that there is not a similar knock on effect, particularly with the brand jacking technique which can really gain traction and raise awareness among the public.

With recent news that HMV is stealing back it's market share in the entertainment industry, rising from it's 10.7% during its administration to its current level of 14.7%. Since being bought out HMV have redesigned store layouts, offered live in-store gigs and overhauled their marketing with a new look website and new loyalty programme. We decided to take a look at other brands that have come back from the brink and how they did it!

Lego - Some brands seem too big to die and that is the category Lego falls into. Lego was a leading toy manufacturer since its creation in 1932, however the turn of the century saw a huge increase in the popularity of electronic toys and video games. By 2004 the company had nearly $1 billion of debt. On the verge of bankruptcy, the global recession actually helped rather then hindered Lego. Sales began to rise due to it's low prices, the company reduced its workforce and halved its produce line to become more profitable. It now stands as the fourth largest toy manufacturer,  enjoyed recent success with its blockbuster movie

Old Spice - Another hugely successful brand, it reached its peak in the 1970s but things turned soured by 1990s as their consumer base had aged. Procter and Gamble bought out Old Spice an completely revamped the brand with series of amazing adverts aimed at a younger generation. These videos went viral and as a result restored Old Spice as the leader of the body wash market. Here's one of our favourite Old Spice ads;


Netflix - Around three years ago, not many people still believed in Netflix and according to a Forbes survey; people thought that blackberry was more likely to survive then Netflix. But thanks to a number of original series they developed, including Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and a revamped Arrested Development, Netflix destroyed all other streaming devices. Its used 10x more than rivals Amazon Instant Video and Hulu. It's originality and the fact it established itself as market leader lead to Netflix being the second best performing company in 2013 by stock price.

Burberry - Burberry's own success was also its biggest killer. Their famous checkered pattern had been associated with chavy Britain and as a result damaged the brand. Their was also a lack of vision and clarity throughout the company which left Burberry in no mans land. Angela Ahrendts came in as CEO in 2006 and created a vision of connecting Burberry back to its roots. Over the next six years, it took factory closures, layoffs, leadership shake-ups, and a re-invention of the brand to make this happen. Burberry has gone from strength to strength and now is one of the most anticipated shows at London Fashion week, with Interbrand recently reporting Burberry as the 77th most valuable brand in the world.

Jessops - Famous british retailer was another high street brand to struggle during the recession. Within 18 months of calling the administrators in and reopening Jessops were announcing £70million profits, an incredible feat. This is partly due to Peter Jones who bought the brand for £5million (with £81 million worth of debt). He described Jessops as ‘a very tired, weary estate of 200 stores, of which over 100 were just not profitable," taking inspiration from Apple he redesigned the stores to be more interactive. This, combined with Jessops knowledgable staff (most of whom are avid photographers themselves) created value-add services which are hard to replicate and something that consumers really value.

Brighton digital agency iCrossing has announced the win of British retailer Debenhams' natural search and SEO business to help push online sales.