Fun in Telford at the Fiat Dealers Conference

Jan
17

The agency teams for Alfa Romeo and Chrysler went to an excellent Fiat Dealers conference last week in Telford.

As well as some excellent presentations, including one from 110M hurdler and latterly Strictly star Colin Jackson, one of the highlights of the day was our own Donna Coombs having a ride in the Alfa Giulietta stunt car. Here is Donna with the driver.

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Check out this video to see what a Giulietta can really do. I think that is a smile on Donna’s face for most of the time.

Donna’s stunt ride in an Alfa Giulietta

One final other highlight that should not go unmentioned, was the cross-country / road walk to the station after the conference. The agency team all took it in their stride and it meant we were back in London in time to enjoy the agency Xmas Party – yes we know it’s January already.

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Will wee, won’t we?

Jan
10

Today more than ever we are bombarded with advertising and promotions from every brand trying to get our attention and ultimately our money.

Is anywhere free from the constant messaging?

It seems not – especially if you’re in Exibit Bar in Balham South London as they’ve installed the the world’s first video game controlled by the direction of ‘a man’s stream’.

This brand engagement game is changing the 60 seconds most men spend in the toilet into an engaging experience, and offers brands pre-game, in-game and post-game promotional opportunities.

Proof in the pudding?

Prelaunch trials have seen an impressive 50% increase in purchases and brand recall. 80% of customers surveyed said they were more likely to stay longer or return to the bar because of the system, and 100% said they would (or had already) told friends.

Impressive results. Just remember – don’t cross the streams!*

*Dr. Egon Spengler - Ghostbusters

     
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Advertising on a Kindle?

Jan
10

I just read this article in Marketing Week and can see both sides.

Basically, Amazon are developing an advertising platform for the Kindle. My initial reaction was shock horror.

I got a Kindle for Christmas and can imagine how annoying it would be if I’m in the middle of a nail biting part of my book when all of a sudden I’m distracted by an advert.

However, I can also see the positives of a relevant ad at the beginning/end of a book, or an advert for other books I might like when I’ve finished reading.

 
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40 years of better

Jan
10

I saw the Virgin Money TV ad at the weekend and I think it’s a lovely example of an advert that you actually stop to watch, rather than going off to make a cuppa.

To me, Virgin feels like a trustworthy brand, so I think they’ve got a good chance to make it as a high street bank.

Having worked in Financial Services in the past, I was also amazed at the speed at which they turned around the rebrand of the branches (although a couple of the signs did look stuck on!).

 
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Save a Life

Jan
04

I played squash last night, so the thought of a heart attack has been on my mind.

Coincidentally, I came across this video this afternoon, apparently it’s on TV.  The BHF used to be a Client, so I have no hesitation punting their meat.

I have to confess, unless it was Kelly Reilly collapsed in front of me, I’d be running for my train (after dialling 999 of course). But this video from the British Heart Foundation shows just how easy it is to attempt resuscitation without having to kiss (unless it’s Kelly Reilly, in which case it’s ok)…

 
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New Year New Inspiration

Jan
04

Getting as old as I am (well into my 30s now), I’ve come to realise that the good ideas are the simple ones.  When an idea is so good you have to talk me through the execution and the art direction, for that reason, I’m out.

So I love this from Dulux.

Did you know your average laptop or even smartphone can display 16.7 million colours?  And if you think about colours, and you think about Dulux, you probably start to use adjectives such as ‘eggshell’, ‘fusion’, or ‘reflection’.

Well Dulux have started to raise money for Unicef by allowing you to buy some of the 16.7 million colours, and give them a name.

Beautiful.

Here’s the site:

Capture

 

Oh, and here’s Poppalina Bumfreys…

Capture

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MIDWEEK MEDIA 8

Jan
04

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PROMETHEUS

Ridley Scott is back. The legend behind Alien and Blade Runner returns to the genre he helped define with Prometheus. A team discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a trip to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. Originally the rumours had Ridley Scott working on an Alien prequel, however Prometheus is its own film, although it does appear to be set in the Alien world or he could just really dig that style. I’ll let you decide.

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LET ME GOOGLE THAT FOR YOU

This week I bring you one sarcastic site after having the pleasure of being on the receiving end of it (rightfully so I may add). I’m sure we’ve all been asked something where the only logical answer isn’t the answer to the question but “Google it”. Now you can go one step further and deliver some awesome sarcasm with this site that even shows you how to use Google!

Let me GOOGLE that for you

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STONE SOUR – WICKED GAME

This week I’ve mostly been listening to bands like System of a down, Korn, and Slipknot. Which lead me to discover that the lead singer of Slipknot Corey Taylor (yes they have a lead singer!) started a side project called Stone Sour. They have a sound that is a lot more mellow which is all good by me as his voice is amazing, one track in particular that needs to be shared is their Wicked Game cover. It’s not on sound cloud so please use this link to listen on Youtube.

http://youtu.be/ho2C_OFKFaA

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STASIS (PC)

After taking many arrows to the knee in Skyrim over the holidays I stumbled upon this little gem called Stasis which is an indie developed space adventure game! Too much awesome I know. The trailer sets a nice dark tone and clearly is influenced by Alien in style and trailer direction. It’s a WIP at the moment but one to watch and hopefully this will come out sometime in 2012.

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London Pride ad ranked in Nielsen’s Best TV ads of 2011

Dec
20

 

Nielsen has measured and analysed every FMCG ad that has been on TV in 2011, to gauge how effective and engaging they are.

The survey, published in The Grocer (17.12.11), judges memorability of the ad and brand recall.

Bearing in mind there are 1000s of ads produced a year, our James May campaign for London Pride fared pretty well as the 58th best ad of 2011.

London Pride Best Ad

   
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There is no danger of developing eyestrain from looking on the bright side of things.

Dec
15

Although this is true, the same cannot be said of looking at a computer screen for hours at a time. I was getting frustrated with getting up in the morning and staring at a bright computer screen so I decided to Google and came up with F.lux.

F.lux is a program that runs silently in the background slowly changing the colours of your monitor over the course of the day and night (see below image).

f.lux

Basically speaking the program makes your computer screen look like the room you're in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again. Taking the strain off of your eyes. There is also an option for disabling F.lux for an hour while you are doing “Colour sensitive work” so it will not hinder productivity.

Ok, time for some vitreous humour… Sorry, I deserve 20 lashes for that – I’ll stop now, it’s just getting Cornea and Cornea…

  
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New Harman spot from Detroit

Dec
14

Lovely spot from our friends over the water, and big props (as they say) to the EVP, BL, KW (Kevin Weinman) with whom we’re working on a few Transatlantic projects.

Oh, and JLOs in it too…

  
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