Tablet Explosion

This year CES is expected to be dominated by the continued trend of personal mobile computing and a slew of new tablets are leading the way. Apple has shown the tremendous marketability of the iPad and other companies have quickly lined up to bring their own offerings to the table – many of whom got the product to market right before the holiday shopping season. But for anyone who wants to take a breath and focus on just what is what and who is who now that Christmas is over, CES is more than happy to go over the details. Motorola, LG, Vizio and Toshiba are some of the first ones to follow in Apple's footsteps.

And don't forget about the Smartphone. CES has not typically been the forum for cellular providers to tout their wares, but that all changes this year. Verizon talks about how they will now carry the iPhone while everyone else is talking Google phones, Windows phones and 4G.

2011 is truly the year of 'personal technology on the go'.

More here at CNN Tech...

Spiced Apple Cider with Rum Whipped Cream, Featuring TUACA!

The New Year has started early for TUACA, with another delicious drink to add to the list! In the January 2011 issue of Bon Appetit magazine, you can find a warm and delicious apple cider, which features TUACA. The Spiced Apple Cider with Rum Whipped Cream is a mouth-watering, cold-weather treat, perfect for all of those holiday parties. This recipe specifically features TUACA for its vanilla, Italian brandy and orange flavors, which add to the overall experience of sipping this winter drink.

The cider is showcased in a section labeled “Entertaining with Style, Ski for Your Supper", a portion of the issue devoted to providing warm winter recipes which are perfect for company or simply for your own enjoyment.

The recipe is as follows:

Prep: 30 minutes

Total: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Cream

• 1 cup Chilled Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp Dark Rum
• Fresh Nutmeg, grated

Cider

• 12 cup (3 quarts) Apple Cider
• 40 Whole Cloves
• 10 Cinnamon Sticks
• 8 2-inch-long Strips of Orange Peel
• 4 2-inch-long Strips of Lemon Peel
• 2 tsp Whole Allspice
• ½ cup TUACA
• ¼ cup Dark Rum

Cream Stir all ingredients in medium bowl. Chill until ready to use, up to 1 day.

Cider Bring first 6 ingredients to a boil in heavy large pot, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture is reduced to 6 cups, 35-40 minutes. Strain cider into medium saucepan. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover and chill.

Return cider to simmer. Remove from heat. Mix in ½ cup TUACA and ¼ cup dark rum. Divide cider among 8 mugs. Beat cream until peaks form. Spoon whipped cream atop cider and serve.

Enjoy!

For additional/nutritional information, please visit the Bon Appetit website!

TUACA Body Art Ball's 2011 Website Launch

We're very proud to announce that the TUACA Body Art Ball is entering its sixth year running, starting with the recent launch of the event’s 2011 website! The Body Art Ball will tour in eight cities this year, and perform a total of 11 shows, beginning with Las Vegas, NV on January 5.

Produced by Chris and Candy Productions, TUACA Body Art Ball is a spectacular event where beautifully body-painted artists put on a sassy and sensual performance that continues to captivate the audience. The website displays pictures and videos from past events, as well as gives consumers the opportunity to test out the Mod Your Bod program. This program allows participants to upload your photo, and then with a little creativity, become a painted work of art as well! Consumers pick the pose, background, body art, and accessories they want. Afterward, the photos can be added to Facebook or downloaded for further use.

Consumers can also register for tickets through the newly launched site, or text in the market-specific keyword to 68405.

For more information, please visit the Body Art Ball website. You must be 21+ to enter.

This Christmas, Give the Gift of Chambord

Chambord® Flavored Vodka and Chambord® Black Raspberry Liquer have been featured by OK! Magazine and Marie Claire as a “perfect present”, one of the “must-have gifts of the season," and one of the "Most Awesome Stocking Stuffers Ever". We love the idea of using Chambord as a fashionable stocking stuffer, or a sumptuous present that once unwrapped helps toast to holiday cheer. Find the shout-out by OK! Magazine here, and see Marie Claire's full description on their website. Put Chambord on your holiday wish list today!

O’Fallon Brewery Has Done It Again!

O’Fallon Brewery has released the newest addition to their Brewer’s Stash series, called Sticke It To The Man Sticke Alt. O’Fallon says of the brew’s title, “Sticke It To The Man is a playful nod to all beer enthusiasts that yearn for flavor and ingenuity in a time where we are inundated with watered-down, ordinary and expressionless beers.” To learn more about it, run to a store and pick up a 4-pack; each addition to the series comes with a flavor card so you can learn a little about the history of the type of beer and how the guys over at O’Fallon have lovingly interpreted the flavors into their own mix.

As for the design, our very own Ron Krebsbach has provided our friends with a kick-ass new label design to accompany their kick-ass new brew. Ron had a good time with this design, even throwing a few jabs at the Big 3 with a little tattoo that says “BMC,” Sticke-ing it to Bud, Miller and Coors.

So grab a beer, sit back, and Sticke It To The Man. Cheers!

Tuaca's New Bottle Recognized!

This year has been an exciting one for Tuaca and Boxing Clever. Tuaca is a premium delicious vanilla-citrus liqueur that mixes well with all sorts of cocktail possibilities but is also well known for being a great chilled shot. While it’s especially tasty by itself, it can also be paired with everything from pineapple, to root beer, or even s’mores by the fire!

Tuaca is celebrating a dramatic facelift of its brand this year, with the introduction of a brand new packaging design. Boxing Clever provided all the advertising, promotional and digital support for the new launch; it’s been an exciting and rewarding process, and we’re excited that Tuaca is getting the recognition it deserves!

We’re pleased and proud to announce that TUACA was recently recognized here as having one of the 47 best package designs! For more information, check out this website, and continue developing your adventurous TUACA spirit!

Mind The Gap

In what seems to be one of the most bizarre brand interactions with the internet community at large, the Gap experienced a backlash so immense in regard to the introduction of its new logo, it had to tuck its tail and run back to square one.

Here's highlights of the game:
Gap unveils its new logo.
Nobody knew that they were planning to unveil a new logo.
Everybody and their dog loathes the logo. And makes their opinion known.
Gap tries embrace the chatter and create a dialogue with web mob.
Web mob doesn't know how to fix their logo. Only to reiterate that they hate it.
Gap goes back to old logo and retreats. Waits for the mob to disperse.

Lessons to be learned? It's doubtful that anyone foresaw this amount of unpleasantness and upheaval because of a logo design. Granted, the Gap did not "announce" its intentions of changing the logo, but brands don't need to ask permission. Or do they? It seems the fans of the Gap feel just as much ownership of the brand as the people that are on the Gap payroll. And that's not a bad thing. Such passion is reminiscent of when Coke changed their formula and there was a huge public outcry, with the outcome giving birth to New Coke and Coke Classic. (And some say that it was a conspiracy to draw even more marketshare and attention away from Pepsi, but we digress).





So having a dialogue with your patrons can feel like a bite on the hand sometimes, but it's got to be nice to know that your customers are there and they're paying attention. And in the end, it forces the brand to be better, even if it is something as benign as a logo design.



What's amazing is that in the course of a week, the Gap releases a new logo heading into the holiday shopping season, get thousands of negative comments on its Facebook page, becomes the butt of several spoof site jokes and turns a full 180 degrees. For anyone that's keeping score, that's months of corporate planning dismantled by the public in a matter of DAYS.

The power of the internet, indeed.

Some sites of note:

Make Your Own Crap Gap Logo
Biggest Marketing Blunder List
New logo has its own Twitter account

CNN's John D. Sutter
The Internet Kills Gap's New Logo

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