If you are in London anytime over the next few weeks, check out this great photography exhibition at the Getty Image Gallery sponsored by Nikon.

Nikon and NOOR have been working together for a few years developing projects that show the real power of photography.

Solutions looks at human stories about alternative power sources, renewable energies and how people are dealing with global warming.

It’s only on until Saturday 25 February. The gallery is just off Oxford Street and is the perfect antidote to the busy shops.

So do 371 others, and as you can see, 50 shares.

Alfa Romeo makes beautiful cars but they are not all about style. They come with award winning MultiAir engines, revolutionary new technologies such as ALFA TCT and D.N.A., 3 years warranty and servicing and great finance packages. The Alfa Giulietta is also the safest car in its class with a prestigious 5 star Euro NCAP rating.

The campaign is based on complete confidence and has a very clear and direct call to action – Test Me.

DCH worked with Alfa Romeo UK to adapt the Italian created TV ad and make it relevant to the UK market. If you haven’t already seen the ad, here it is…

A press campaign is also running alongside the TV with the main focus being on 0% APR and 3 years complimentary servicing. This promotes the current range (MiTo and Giulietta) and also highlights the unique Alfa D.N.A. technology and the revolutionary MultiAir engines.

Just before Christmas, eBay opened a shop in Dean Street, just a few steps away from the real shops of Oxford Street. In the eBay shop, you could browse real products in themed rooms – for kids, one with boys toys and one for the ladies. These products had a QR code label that you could scan and then buy the product online. If you did not have a smartphone to do this, plently of iPads were on hand for you to use. The shop was very nicely done out and a great place to spend time away from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street. Plus eBay were actually making some sales from it there and then.

The same can‘t be said for the lastminute.com Top Secret Collection that made a temporary appearance at the Getty Images Gallery on Eastcastle Street, again just off Oxford Street. Just like the eBay shop, the place was beautifully decked out with a mocked up hotel room showcasing, as the press ad in Metro said for the event, “a luxury hotel experience, the best that lastminute.com can offer”. There was even pink cava and cupcakes. Yet no way of accessing the lastminute.com website other than on your own smartphone. It seemed most strange that they had gone to all this effort, yet when it came to the soft sell, there was nothing.

Creating a real life version of a website is a really neat way of extending the brand and building something beyond the virtual experience. But at the end of the day, it is still a website and when we go to websites that sell things, we are there to buy.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!).

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)…

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:

Oh, and here’s Poppalina Bumfreys…

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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).

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…

Oh, and JLOs in it too…

I’ve often talked about using the brand website to drive email acquisition, and after lots of huffing and puffing we usually get a small box somewhere near the privacy policy which says ‘sign up for email’.

I’m often left scrabbling around for examples of brands that do this properly, and I can never find any, so imagine my delight when I found a superb example this morning!

We’re doing some work for an American fast food chain and looking at some competitor eCRM programs, and I came across Bob Evans – not only is the email sign up on the homepage, but it pops up as an interstitial, it’s a properly branded program (“BEmail” no less) and there’s an incentive to sign up front and centre (center) – a BOGOF coupon.

Brilliant.

Yes – it is made entirely from Lego. There is a sign next to it asking people not to take off any pieces away. But it was tempting. Even all these years after being far too old to play with these bumpy small bricks, it still holds an amazing attraction.

I guess with some things, you never grow out of them.

…Seriously.. it’s bigger than the PSU!

We’ve made it onto the Campaign New Business Rankings this week.

A couple of agencies including Saatchi and Saatchi, HMDG, Partners Andrews Aldridge and Albion, won’t be happy, as they’ve now slipped out of the rankings altogether.

Even more frustrating for them, as this happens to be the last edition of the year.

You learn or gain something from this.

I get rewarded with cake.

How great is that?

It’s just a quick post really (yes a little bit of a cheat) to say hello to everyone. I’m Nats and I’m new: I’m covering for Kerry, who’s already sent in her oh-so-cute pictures of her new bundle of joy.

My incentive to introduce myself has been provided in the form of the lovely Donna’s cupcakes. I hear they’re delicious. And I might add quite a nice idea to ensure we keep our blog updated. As passionate communicators we should be regularly sharing our news, views and any information we’ve gleaned with you.

So what have I learnt?

That the promise of cake is a real motivator - another simple truth from DCH.

Our new Christmas campaign for Saint Agur is now live.

The campaign includes an advertorial in The BBC Good Food Guide and back page adverts in Good Food and Delicious (a nice bit of media planning and buying from Paul and Ceri, which look great) as well as broadsheet Sunday supplements.

We’re sponsoring goodfood.com recipe pages and their eNewsletter.  We’re also running a competition to win a hamper of goodies – sorry, you know the rules, DCHers can’t enter…

The campaign targets Stilton eaters and aims to convince them to try a new blue this Christmas.  So, when you’re shopping for your cheese board over the festive period, stick a wedge of Saint Agur in your trolley… so to speak.

DCH has been appointed by ULN UK to work on its Saint Agur cheese brand. The agency will provide creative and media support for the brand and has been briefed to develop a Christmas advertising campaign.

ULN UK, who previously worked with Publicis, is the French cheese giant, Bongrain's, British subsidiary. Set up in 1985 its presence has grown rapidly and ULN is now one of the top continental cheese suppliers in the UK.

ULN UK owns four core brands that have a strong retail presence in the continental cheese market: Saint Agur, Cœur de Lion, Le Rustique and Caprice des Dieux.

DCH will manage communications for the Saint Agur range, including the traditional wedge format, Saint Agur Crème and Saint Agur Délice.

DCH has initially been tasked with developing a Christmas campaign to target current blue cheese eaters to switch to Saint Agur.

Work for 2012 will focus on increasing penetration and driving frequency of the brand.

It really made me stop and think.

It’s a message from a ‘mum’ on a forum, asking for advice about the merit in having a child’s name tattooed on her neck.

I’m too much of a lurker to post my advice to her.  But I don’t mind telling you it would involve getting someone else, maybe two people, to proof any proposed tattoo she gives her tattoo artist.

The Fiat Group has consolidated its £15 million UK Chrysler and Alfa Romeo advertising business into DCH.

DCH picked up the work without a pitch, and will now oversee all of the car company’s integrated advertising, creating campaigns to promote both existing models and new launches.

For the full article visit Campaign’s website here.

With December already upon us, so the countdown to Christmas begins!

To help with that countdown, we have launched the Nikon Advent Calendar on Facebook where every day until Christmas day, each door will reveal competitions, tips, games and PRIZES! Click here to open today’s door.

Sadly DCH'ers can't enter any of the competitions, but don't dismay, there's loads of other fun things behind the doors too.

Well done to all involved in this project, it looks great and Nikon loves it!