Some 45 years ago pantone first introduced its colour matching system for us designers and as a result it’s now a worldwide industry standard for graphics and print. In later years, the company started producing lifestyle products such as stationery, bikes and those gorgeous mugs no self-respecting design studio would be without.

The latest addition to its weighty portfolio is somewhat of a grander scale, as Brussels now plays resident to The Pantone Hotel. Yes, I know a hotel!

Created by Belgian architect Olivier Hannaert and interior designer Michel Penneman the hotel boasts seven floors and 59 rooms and suites in a variety of colours and hues. Guests are invited to choose rooms based on their mood – each of which have stunning facilities and enviable views of the city. In fact the rooms even come with their own range of Pantone toiletries, talk about deep branding!

In addition there are meeting rooms,a stylish roof terrace and a bar when you can even order colour matched cocktails, such as the Daiquiri Green 12-0435.

Oh well, just as long as they can ensure my croissant is a scrummy PMS 144 and not a 447!

Body language experts say that when you copy somebody else, you are saying…’I feel comfortable with you’

No, this isn’t a blog about my political persuasion, but what’s really interesting to me at the moment in terms of branding and marketing, is the brand alignment conundrum that our recent hung parliment has thrown up.

We all know very well that brand alignment can work exceptionally well, after all it’s no great shakes that Pepsi Max is embedded in extreme sports, as is Red Bull or that Zanussi recommends Ariel. Which all kind of makes me wonder about the overall success of a possible Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, yes Nick Clegg may get promises of a referendum on an alternative voting system but what effectively would the coalition do to the Lib Dem brand?

It’s a well mooted theory that many Lib Dem voters often go for the tactical vote in a two-horse race and plump for Labour in order to try and prevent a Conservative win. And as many of Labour’s policies are not as far removed it doesn’t feel too wrong for them. However, I do wonder how they feel about it all now. Plus, if you are viewing this from an internal communications standpoint many Tory and Lib Dem MPs have spoken out against such an alignment.

But, this is not the first time this has happened, Innocent in 2007 famously got into bed with MacDonalds and we all waited with baited breath to see what would happen. Many claimed initially that they had ’sold their soul’ but as a rather interesting school of thought pointed out at the time, it was felt that it would not harm the brand but indeed have positive effects on both. They concluded that in actual fact the product still remained the same and by selling it into MacDonalds it managed to reach, influence  and convert an audience it had not previously engaged with. MacDonalds, on the other hand tried to further their ‘look we’re healthy’ image.

That said, there are many examples whereby brands have not wanted to align themselves anymore with philandering sports stars who have discredited themselves in a variety of ways  - let’s face it, Gillete dropped Tiger Woods quicker than a hand grenade….

So how did Innocent manage the trial of one of their drinks in the outlets of one of the most demonised brands? Well, the product remained the same, they didn’t change how they looked or felt, plus they had an audience that truly loved them beyond all reason and felt very emotional about the brand. But, perhaps mostly importantly they asked what everyone thought. They called a meeting and discussed it internally, over lunch, and then they asked their customers via a blog….’to burger or not to burger‘. Look at this one post:

“I fully understand the other posters’ views and largely agree with the comments about McDonalds, however… Innocent is still Innocent – healthy drinks from an environmentally and socially responsible company. If this partnership leads to less children drinking rubbish, then great!”

And, those that were disgruntled will have forgiven as they went about it in true innocent style, honestly.

So, Nick Clegg, David Cameron say’s it’s decision time, but I say have you listened, have you engaged with your audience? Do you really know what your supporters want or have you just talked ‘at them’ on your blog? Will you back the right horse or at the very least go about it all in the right fashion, or will you damage your brand and lose some voters for good?

The Lovely Package people have tracked down some great branding for dog treats – in a hugely cluttered marketplace this packaging really err takes the biscuit (err sorry can’t believe I just did that). But isn’t it great? Simple, stylish and wholesome I am sure this really appeals to those empty-nesters that are time poor and like to ensure their pets get the best. Bit like me really.

Pet packaging with personality – pure doggie style?!!