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Today's big stories

🚀 Pfizer's brand strength is soaring

🚂 Coca-Cola Australia is on the hard seltzer train

💰 Simone Biles is launching a NFT collection on Autograph

Oh, and get this...

Canva - aka the $16 billion tech startup making child's play out of design - has a brand new WFH policy that'll have the Big 4 banks shaking. It will only require staff members to show up to the office just 8 times a year. E-I-G-H-T. That means employees will only need to wear work clothes twice a season. 

Pfizer’s brand strength is soaring - which means hello brand equity

Background: Pfizer is the pharmaceutical worth a whopping $353 billion. It makes it squillions by developing, manufacturing and selling a broad range of bio-pharma products.

What happened: It's the company behind Advil, Viagra, Xanax, the EpiPen... And now, thanks to its Comirnaty (COVID) vaccine, Pfizer has become a household name. 

What else: According to a new brand report that measures the world's 100 biggest companies by the strength of their brand, Pfizer's jumped 15 places on the ranking to sit at #30. And this calls for a big celebration for Pfizer's brand equity.

So what's the key learning?

💡Brand equity is the premium that a company gets from being trusted and well-known. In other words, when a brand has positive brand equity, it can charge customers more for a product than a generic competitor.

💡Think Nike, Apple and Tesla. There are competitors with similar products at a lower price point. But we still choose them. For the premium-feel, the prestige, the social proof.

💡And generally, brands with higher brand equity don't actually spend that much more than brands with lower brand equity. Which means much greater margins.

Coca-Cola Australia joins the hard seltzer train

Background: It's the healthyish, spritzy, summer-vibez drink that's just about everywhere right now. There's Saintly, Good Tides, White Claw...the list goes on. 

What happened: The hard seltzer market is worth a whopping $6.1 billion (and growing at 16% each year). So obviously, Coca-Cola Australia wants in. So, it's launching a brand new alcoholic drink called Topo Chico (Spanish for "Little mole").

What else: This is big news for Coca-Cola Australia because it has never actually entered the alcoholic space before this. They're hoping this will diversify their brand a little. 

So what's the key learning?

💡Major food brands are looking at more ways to get into the mouths and stomachs of their customers. Like Maccas and McCafé, or Lipton Ice Tea getting into kombucha.

💡These companies leverage their existing marketing, manufacturing and distribution to create different brands. And ultimately, build even greater dominance.

💡And studies show that adding more brands to a company's portfolio actually increases consumer confidence in the brand. Hopefully Little Mole is as good as it sounds.

Simone Biles is releasing an NFT collection with a platform called Autograph

Background:  Simone Biles is the 24-year-old US gymnastics star with a casual 30+ medals from the Olympics and World Champs under her belt. She's the most decorated gymnast in her generation...

What happened: Now, she's released an NFT (non-fungible token) collection with a platform called Autograph, which was co-founded by US football star Tom Brady.

What else: There will be over 10,000 Biles-themed NFTs available, each for 12 buckaroos (less than a Big Mac meal). 

So what's the key learning? 

💡 Outside of their actual job, celebs and athletes have been leaning pretty heavily on brand sponsorships and merch to make their money. But now there's a new sheriff in town: NFTs.

💡Recap: NFTs are digital assets that are completely unique and can't be replaced by something else. Kinda like one-of-a-kind, signed Baggy Green. And this market is red hot. 

💡Celebs have been cashing in on the NFT trend for a while. Snoop Doggy Dogg has his own NFT collection, so does Ellen DeGeneres, and even Paris Hilton is on the train. But now, it's taken off in the sports world too. 

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