Planning for Fun

I've moved

2008-11-03T18:56:00.004+01:00

I've moved.

You can now find me here

Hope to see you there at some point. If you're feeling generous you could even update your links.

PS I went for wordpress because I'm a tightwad

see you on the other side...

2008-10-02T15:31:00.008+02:00

Picnicked from http://tinyurl.com/phototheft

I should have done this a while ago really.

On the very remote chance that is still read via a rogue feed somewhere in cyberspace, I've got a bit of news. As of today, planning for fun is no more. Frankly it's been moribund for a quite a while (some may say since the first post) so I thought it was about time I put it out of its misery. Who would have thought that something so small could have stopped such clearly vital discourse?

But, dear reader, fret not. For with this bad news also comes good (although clearly that statement hinges on your own point of view).

Last month, I was lucky enough to be offered a job at Wieden + Kennedy as Strategy Director, which of course I accepted. Aside from a ~~rather tedious~~ entirely reasonable four month notice period (of which I'm a meagre six weeks in) I'm obviously very excited and just want to get started. And with this, will come a new blog. I guess it's kind of expected. Out with the old and in with the new and that. Except it won't be on this platform, it'll be a wordpress or typepad jobby. I haven't decided yet. I'll pop a link up on twitter when it's sorted.

Until then, friends, adieu. See you on the other side.

In the meantime, I'll be lurking around at:

delicious.com/graemedouglas
twitter.com/doug_graeme
tinyurl.com/graeme-facebook

Yes we can

2008-08-29T16:27:00.001+02:00

Obama via Wordle

Post-digital Parenting

2008-05-20T12:41:00.002+02:00

Via Twine

Respite

2008-05-01T23:10:00.003+02:00

Pic credit here. Usual yaddy yadda applies

After a wickedly frenetic start to 2008 (do the first four months of a year all count as a start?) I'm away for a bit. I figured that what with a new baby, and last Friday being the very first day in 2008 that I wasn't under any kind of pitch pressure, I probably needed it.

So I've retired to here for a while (well, until the end of the week - just before I march down to Elland Road and watch the mighty Leeds send Gillingham down to League 2 on Saturday).

I'm kind of hoping that I can muster the energy to start blogging again properly (reading and writing) so hopefully a bit of Yorkshire air in the system will provide the requisite catalyst. We'll see.

I can haz CRM

2008-04-03T12:33:00.005+02:00

Call me a language fascist, but surely if you're planning on adopting a CRM strategy you'd employ someone who can write with at least a modicum of eloquence to manage the communication?

Homecall+ clearly don't agree. I received this email from them today:

Hi there,

I'm Ayesha the Sales Manager here at HomeCall+, and this is your 1st weekly Newsletter from myself.

As a valued customer of ours already I feel that it would be beneficial to you to recieve my weeekly Newsletter and be kept up to date on all our exciting products & services.

Therefore over the next couple of weeks I will be emailing you our informative weekly Newsletter showing you what other service's we do, introducing you to the team here at HomeCall+ and more importantly how we can save you money.

HomeCall+ is a national company who understands the importance of a quality service and providing best value, we also have invested heavily in our own 'in-house' training facilities, so that the engineers are constantly updated on technological advances and changes to regulations. We have in place our own Health and Safety Officer, Corgi Gas Service Technical manager's along with a network of quality managers who continuously monitor the quality of the engineers and their workmanship.

Kind Regards

I must remember to write to the Mail to complain about the failings of the British education system (or at least to Homecall to advise they run their spelling and grammar checks a tad more regularly).

For the moment, however, I await the next informative weekly newsletter with ~~baited ~~breath~~~~ bated breath. (oops - that'll teach me)

Dates for your diary

2008-04-02T18:18:00.003+02:00

As I make my daily emergence from the typhoon of nappies and sterilisers to take temporary refuge within the bowels of Parker Tower, I have once again begun to make - albeit brief - forays back into the plannersphere.

Good job too. Because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been aware of these two little shindigs that are bound to be of interest to the discerning reader. Amazing what you miss when you're out of the loop.

First up (in a couple of weeks in fact) we have Iris presenting 'Under the Influence', which as far as I can see is a booze-backed gaze into the future of the comms industry, held across five London pubs with all manner of interesting speakers sharing their view. Looks like a corker. All that - and it's free. What are you waiting for? Oh, the link, right, yes. Details are here.

And talking of interesting (see that link?) who could forget Russell's magnum opus of last year? Well guess what. It's back and coming to a Conway Hall near you soon. Ticket's aren't on sale yet - but keep up to date with speakers etc. here. It'll be interesting. Again.

Good afternoon.

Germans ARE funny!

2008-04-01T14:39:00.004+02:00

click to enlarge

Hahaha. Hans Zoff.

As run today in a few UK daily newspapers

Clinton hearts Obama

2008-03-03T22:42:00.002+01:00

Carrying on the political theme...

Is this a spoof or did it actually run? Either way, I love it.

Spotted here

It's nice to be wanted

2008-03-03T13:40:00.004+01:00

Isn't it nice to be a client in demand?

The Sunday Times yesterday reported a small furore around the amount of money that Saatchi and Saatchi were charging the Labour Party to run their ad account. The issue seemed to be that, at £8,000 per month, the retainer was, as one 'leading advertising executive' said, "ridiculously low" and therefore should constitute a non-cash donation which should be declared accordingly.

All good stuff if you're a Labour voter. I was less interested in that however, than the seemingly ill-judged comment made by Eleanor Conroy, a spokesperson for S&S:

“It is heavily discounted because we are so keen to work on it and so passionate about it,” mused Conway. “They pay for the costs. We give them a massive discount".

“It is not a charity but there’s stuff that you feel passionate enough about to want to work on. You are not going to charge the same as you would charge Toyota.”

Hang on a minute? Is that the same Toyota that spent (according to Nielsen data) north of £38m in 2007? Clearly money doesn't equate to passion for the chaps down in Charlotte Street - which is refreshing in ad land - although I'm sure CHI are smirking a little and are making every effort to demonstrate how passionate they are about the Toyota UK business...

Pops

2008-02-15T20:20:00.002+01:00

After a marathon twenty-nine hour labour, my wife Tasha gave birth to my new little baby boy, Rory Hector Douglas, yesterday.

As such, blogging operations will be temporarily suspended while I learn how to be a dad :0)

A broken Egg?

2008-02-06T09:46:00.000+01:00

Pic rules as usual. Credit

Under the looming spectre of the credit crunch (where the hell did that phrase come from by the way) and the - ahem, problems - faced by Northern Rock over recent months, certain financial institutions have starting becoming a little antsy.

Last week, Egg made its own contribution to calming down the public by announcing that it was to strip almost 10% of its customers of their credit cards with virtually immediate effect. No longer would they be able to spend any more on the cards, but, graciously, Egg have permitted those affected to continue to pay their minimum payment until the balances are settled. How very kind. (Only the cynical would suggest that Egg highlighted the 'minimum payment' route because it's by far and away the most profitable course of payment for them).

Commentators are split about this decision. Whilst some herald it as a masterstroke and an example of extreme business prudence, others (often found residing within the letters' pages of the press) are screaming about how grossly unfair it is ('I called Experian and I have a perfect credit score'). I'm probably somewhere in the middle. As a customer of Egg (clearly their risk algorithm isn't that effective as I still have my credit card) I can see the business logic of the move, but as an individual with a professional interest in world of branding, I think they've gone about this in utterly the wrong way - in fact, in a way that's got the potential to do some long term damage to their brand.

Granted, this is a difficult gig to pull off. You're always going to piss people off. But this can be managed, and as such I have two major issues with the way Egg have handled the situation. Firstly, who on earth thought it was a good idea to continue hawking for new business whilst this was going on? On one hand we have them quite loudly recalling thousands of credit cards, whilst simultaneously on the other we have them touting 0% deals in the pages of the national press. For me this behaviour is grossly incongruous (bordering on offensive) and simply fuels the image of the greedy, faceless corporation (which Egg have spent years trying to avoid) - couldn't they have waited a week or so before beginning another assault on the nation's debters? Wouldn't it have been better to use the space to communicate exactly why they had taken the decision in first place rather than expect punters to piece together the economic rationale from hearsay and comment?

The second issue is the seeming lack of return path for Egg customers to debate and discuss their situation with the bank. As an irate consumer there is nothing worse than feeling utterly cut off, with no room for further conversation. The 'they don't care' mentality is powerful and hard to shake off once established - and one which, if the customers' comments are to be believed, Egg are doing their best to cement.

Egg should be careful. When the economic issues eventually blow over (be in six months or six years) they will still exist and possess a brand that will be required to sell product. How a brand behaves during tough times could well have a major effect on its success when things are brighter.

Back in the chair

2008-01-30T11:01:00.000+01:00

photo taken on the wise advice of Victor :-)

It's been a brutally busy January.

In seeming anticipation of the baby-based workload that's likely to hit mid/late Feb my early 2008 workload has front-weighted itself (four pitches and counting) to create a maelstrom of busyness so fierce that it's not only knocked any blogging opportunities (reading and writing) on the head, it's also prohibited any semblance of a social life either (so if you happen to be one of the people I've cancelled/postponed/ignored in the past four weeks or so, do please accept my apologies).

On top of that I have managed to inexplicably shift from a person who almost never got ill (a descriptor valid from roughly March 1979 to November 2007) to a person who almost never gets well (December 2007 and beyond). The highlight - although clearly that's the wrong word - of the plague stories was the great tooth abscess, which was more pain than anyone should have to suffer - marginally worse than the pain suffered by those unfortunates who followed my incessant twittering of the saga.

In the midst of the pitch-based carnage and plague-ridden suffering however there have been some bright things emerge elsewhere in the plannersphere; two of the finest young minds have got jobs (good work chaps, and well done to the lucky establishments that have snapped you up) and my mate Faris has upped sticks to take his unique brand of, well, farisness, to Naked in over in the big apple - and I know he'll make a great impact over there. Good luck one and all. On top of that, the awesome Torchwood has returned, and I saw Moz at the Roundhouse last week before he cried off ill, so it ain't all bad.

Anyhoo. This is all a roundabout way of saying I'm back in the (blogging) chair. I've been tagged by two fellow bloggers - thanks Neil and Katy - I'll have a little think and get memeing (can meme be a verb?) shortly. Just what the doctor ordered to get me going again.

---BUSY----

2008-01-18T10:37:00.000+01:00

Apologies to the legion of readers (chuckle) that frequent this lil ol' corner of the internet for the distinct lack of, well, anything for the past month or so. All's been a bit busy what with Christmas, pitching early in the new year and the wife moving into the final throes of pregnancy and I seem to have lost the blogging bug a wee bit.

Well I'm determined not to let this site join the pantheon of neglected weblogs so normal service will be resumed shortly. Pitch on Wednesday first to negotiate though....

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T13:10:00.001+01:00

from me, Bowie and Bing. Have a good one!

The Festive Long Tail

2007-12-10T10:31:00.000+01:00

It's good to see that even during the Yuletide season, the Long Tail is in full effect. Just take a look at the Christmas 'classics' that have reappeared in the UK hit parade (it's still called that, right?) in the run up to the big day.

#8 Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

#12 Pogues & Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York

#23 Wham! - Last Christmas

#25 Andy Williams - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

#27 Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day

#33 Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone

#37 Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody

#38 Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?

All we need now is a bit of Bowie and Bing, Stay Another Day and Stop the Cavalry and that's my Christmas playlist sorted.

Here comes another bubble

2007-12-05T12:30:00.000+01:00

"Won't you blog about this song"

Er, yes. Because it's funny. And because it's true.

(Clearly not at all because it's an easy post and I'm really rather busy at the moment. Oh no.)

The glamour of advertising

2007-11-28T16:41:00.000+01:00

Me, wearing a psycho butcher-style apron, getting up close and personal with a dairy cow yesterday. All in the name of being a better planner. You know how it is.

The prize for best milker went to Matt Boffey, who demonstrated that he has clearly honed far more than just his planning skills at Wiedens....

It was messy and interesting - but above all, bloody scary.

We're Hiring

2007-11-20T15:37:00.000+01:00

Fancy a new gig?

I know it's hard to do a recruitment post and not look desperate, but I'm going to give it a go anyway ;-)

Due to a number of large wins during the year (with nice shiny accounts such as Johnson & Johnson and Mattel joining a current crop that includes Diageo, COI, Adidas and Renault) we're looking for interesting and talented comms planners of all levels to come and join the Carat UK family over in the big blue tower.

I won't bang on about how great we are (except that we've won 'Media Agency of the Year' an unprecedented two years in a row), instead, if you're interested, drop me an email for more details.

Oh, and we're all very nice too.

Amazon Kindle: will it be a success?

2007-11-19T18:11:00.000+01:00

I love reading, and the concept of next-gen reading devices really does intrigue me. As such, it was with interest that I read Amazon (which I also love) launched their own effort today - the Kindle. But will it be the product to really kick off the e-reader revolution? I have my doubts...

- For a start, it's almost $400, which is probably $100 too much.

- $9.99 for a book download seems a bit excessive. I would assume that represents a sweet margin. Knock 30% off that and it'd seem like a reasonable bestseller rate to me.

- It's really, really ugly. In fact, it looks like it was designed by Clive Sinclair on a grey industrial estate sometimes in the winter of '85. I know it's in the eye of beholder, but the iPhone this ain't.

- Real books rule. Fact. Always have, always will. Nothing beats beauty of a wonderfully designed hardback. I have my doubts that until these new fangled things look and feel a bit more like a book, they'll never really take off, no matter how good the technology.

All that said, anytime wireless downloading of literature is very cool, there's bound to be a green spin, 80,000 titles at launch is pretty impressive, the display looks awesome, and if anyone knows how to flog this, it's going to be Bezos and co. Oh, and apparently Neil Gaiman likes it too.

But of course, if anyone wants to send me a UK compatible version for me to test, I'm more than happy to oblige ;0)

This is England?

2007-11-17T10:49:00.000+01:00

Currently running in Belgium, the above Eurostar outdoor work is trying to flog England trips to the locals.

Says Eurostar:

"It's fun, it's supposed to show how cosmopolitan London is. Yes, I really think it says London is cosmopolitan ... you could walk down Camden market and you can see someone like that. It just captures your imagination, stops you, makes you think. People get it."

I personally quite like it - aside from the chap possessing quite remarkable aim, it's well shot, provocative and actually quite funny - but I'm sure middle England might see it slightly differently...

Update: Looks like middle England really doesn't like it... check here for some comedy responses from the readers of that paragon of morality, you guessed it, The Daily Mail

Not sure who the agency is - if anyone knows do please drop me a note.

Free Rice (again)

2007-11-13T16:44:00.001+01:00

Rice grains donated by day via freerice.com

I've just been looking at some stats on the rice donation levels on Free Rice (as blogged about a few days back).

The numbers are in the graph above, and there's a story in there about the power of social networks, tipping points and of course human nature, depending on through which lens you look at it.

The Green Marketing Manifesto

2007-11-11T11:32:00.000+01:00

So John's new book has launched, and to help promote it a little, being the clever devil that he is, he's engaged his fellow bloggers to help the push with the tried-and-tested freebie approach.

Never one to shy away from free stuff, I for one am happy to help (especially after having to pull out of going the launch shindig due to that inconvenient beast that is work) and having watched the development of the book from its embryonic stages on the greenormal blog, I can't wait to read the final work. As with his other stuff, it's guaranteed to get people talking, and given the subject matter, that's an incredibly important thing.

Free Rice

2007-11-10T20:15:00.001+01:00

This is a wonderful initiative from efundraising guru John Breen for the UN / World Food Programme.

Free Rice is a site based on a very simple ad funded, user reward model. Capitalising on what seems a bit of a trend in personal intelligence testing and enhancement (Dr Kawashima anyone?) it's essentially a vocab test where you are presented with a word and asked to pick the synonym from a list of five options below. For every one you get correct, ten grains of rice are donated to the programme, and you climb up to a higher level (increasing the difficulty as you go). You get smarter, the WFP gets to distribute food. Great, huh?

It seems that I'm a little late to the party here (it kicked off over a month back) and whilst I've been snoozing interest has hit fever pitch, built through all manner of web 2.0 type initiatives (including the de rigeur facebook groups, natch), culminating in more than a billion grains of rice having been donated at the time of writing.

A simple idea, brilliantly executed and marketed, yielding phenomenal results.

Oh, and kudos to the many brands that are supporting this. Good on you.

A cigar called Hamlet?

2007-11-08T14:46:00.001+01:00

What a nice thing to stumble upon on a grey Thursday lunchtime.

Google trends analysis: 'Happiness'

I just hope all those that were searching for happiness found it.

Two Cups Full of Joy

2007-11-06T18:57:00.000+01:00

This is one of the 'better' user-gen (at least I assume that's what it is - if anyone knows otherwise please tell!) parodies of Fallon's now famous 'Drumming Gorilla' spot.

For some reason embedding is disabled on this one, so have a look here.

(And yes, I know it's aimed at the Nuts crowd, but there's always going to be a part in every man that stuff appeals to...)

UPDATE: Phil Collins clearly didn't see the funny side of this and the ad has now been withdrawn from You Tube et al.

For the geek in your life this Christmas

2007-10-31T22:39:00.001+01:00

Awesome. Just awesome. Gotta get me one of these wifi detecting T-shirts...

As spotted (belatedly) over at Organic Frog

Man 'Flu

2007-10-31T14:57:00.000+01:00

This was filmed in my house at some point over the past three days.

Come to the Capn's Table

2007-10-30T08:42:00.000+01:00

We've all seen AMV's new Bird's Eye ads with Suggs. You know the ones, where he sits amongst the idyll of a nuclear-ish family, freezing time when someone happens to chuck a load of produce in the air whilst espousing the multifarious benefits of deep frozen, nay, 'good mood food'. (All set to the a-little-bit-too-obvious backdrop of 'Our House').

And just in case you haven't seen one, here's Marcus' favourite spot de jour, 'revision':

You can see what they're trying to do. And aside from some trite cues it's done pretty well. I'll even forgive Suggs. But sorry chaps, it's by no means the best work from Bird's Eye ever.

After doing a bit of research into their back catalogue I came across this gem, which in my eyes (and on watching you'll see why) beats the current crop hands down. A good old fashioned product quality claim, and a reference to the greatest football team ever to grace this land. And the Captain is nowhere in sight (anyway, he's probably on some kind of register by now).

And the takeout? During the '70s, working-class Northern lads ate frozen burgers and couldn't afford sportswear, and posh condescending Southerners worked in advertising (check out the closing v/o!).

Utterly brilliant.

I could eat a horse

2007-10-15T23:05:00.001+02:00

I've been away again (last pre-baby city break and all that), this time to Slovenia. Ljubljana and Bled are both wonderful places, and I wholeheartedly recommend a trip over there.

And they sure know how to sate a post-England semi-final pilsner induced hunger over there. Not sure it'll catch on over here, mind...

I must admit though that the sign is a bit misleading. You really think I ate red 'n' hot horse in a primal post pub hunt for food? Pah.

It wasn't in the slightest bit red.

Great! It's Shortlist Thursday

2007-10-02T17:51:00.000+02:00

This is awesome.

Mike Souter, Managing Director of new London free mag (yes, another one) 'Shortlist' decided the best way to instruct his team of 'agents' on the fine art of pissing off the public by shoving crap into their hands on a grim Thursday morning was to put together this high-octane, not-at-all-scripted video showing him imparting his sage-like advice.

The result? David Brent sells freesheets...

As spotted everywhere (but first, I think, over at Scamp's place)

Fair & Handsome

2007-09-25T18:01:00.000+02:00

This product has just gone on sale in the UK, although I doubt that they'd be able to run this spot over here. Thoughts?

(The BBC have a decent analysis here that's well worth a read)

I know how to make TV better....

2007-09-25T13:17:00.000+02:00

Stick more ads in, that's how! Or maybe not... (rare media post coming up)

This is precisely what's being considered by OFCOM in the UK at the moment, who are looking into increasing the maximum amount of advertising terrestrial broadcasters are allowed to air. The average is predicted to shift from 7 to 9 minutes but with a maximum of 12 minutes in any given hour.

12 minutes?! Great. Just what we needed. Not only will this dilute the already diminishing impact of TV advertising (ad recall is - amongst other factors - linked closely to number of ads in a break) it will surely serve to piss viewers off. Almost half of UK adults feel that are already "bombarded by advertising", and with nearly 40% of people agreeing that "most TV advertising is annoying" (both source: TGI 2006), increasing commercial minutage seems like an incredibly short-termist and naive move.

In an age where we're moving away from a push model of advertising, and seeking to engage consumers with our brands, saturating their leisure time even further with ads doesn't seem like a very smart move to me.

I can think of two parties who will be pleased with this - the BBC (and they need a boost at the moment) and manufacturers of PVRs (hello, free Sky+ boxes).

Sustainable Contacts

2007-09-19T17:03:00.001+02:00

How's this for on-brand?

Clownfish, a brand consultancy "committed to social and environmental responsibility", left this stamp in a colleague's notebook when he requested a business card. Apparently thousands of laminated cards aren't particularly eco-friendly.

What a great idea. (Shame the box that it came in was apparently the size of a 80's mobile, but hey).

So what happened in the last two weeks?

2007-09-17T18:33:00.000+02:00

Leeds keep winning (hurrah!) but The Smiths lost (sorry Marcus, but booo).

During my holiday, this little chap lived outside my window for 9 days. Any arachnologists out there that can identify it? I'm hoping it's a super venomous bad boy, but somehow I doubt it.

Anyway, it's nice to be home. Hopefully I'll raise the effort to start posting slightly better and more regular content shortly.

Closed

2007-09-03T09:56:00.001+02:00

Off on holiday, back in twelve or so days. See twitter for more details (of course).

Have a fun start to September!

In the Air Tonight

2007-09-02T11:45:00.000+02:00

Utter genius from Fallon for Dairy Milk. (And even though I detest Phil Collins, the track is wonderfully appropriate).

It also spawned a glorious comment on Brand Republic:

"I think the creative had an Alan Partridge moment when pitching.

Cadburys: So what's the idea?

Fallon: Erm...cooking in prison.

Cadburys: No

Fallon: Monkey tennis.

Cadburys: No

Fallon: Inner city sumo.

Cadburys: No

Fallon: Gorilla drumming?"

In off the red!

Kill the Gun

2007-08-29T13:08:00.000+02:00

Sadly gun crime is very prominent in the UK at the moment and not a week seems to pass without another heinous and senseless shooting occurring somewhere around the country.

The below (now well covered) 60" spot, from AMV BBDO / Therapy Films for Choice FM is a beautifully harrowing reminder about the issue of gun crime and the devastation that firearms can cause, created by a powerful juxtaposition between serenity and obliteration.

Impactful stuff.

Via Nicola, who worked on the project at iChameleon @ AMV

Neat!

2007-08-29T10:03:00.001+02:00

Unlike a certain proportion of my fellow countrymen, I'm not in the slightest bit anti-American.

Nevertheless, Americanisms entering the language do irk me somewhat (although I do confess to being guilty of overusing the word 'cool'), and as such the below ad for VW, spotted in that bastion of Britishness, The 'London' Times, did annoy me slightly.

Not the message it's trying to convey. Nope, no problems there. In fact, yes, Mr. VW, I am a little worried about fuel prices and I do often contemplate what new and ingenious ways may be emerging to slash my petrol costs.

But I have never, ever, in my entire life, called anything clever 'neat'. Unless I am referring to the laying of a table, or, going back a few years, my efforts at 'colouring in' at school. At the very least I have certainly never described, an admittedly admirable feat of engineering, neat.

Perhaps I'm being over-sensitive. Perhaps I'm very much in the minority and the word 'neat' is being used regularly in this context on our side of the pond. Or perhaps I am actually succumbing to that jingoistic middle-Englander mentality that I profess to loathe so much.

But really, is it too much to ensure that an ad contains copy that actually reflects the language of the audience?

Click to enlarge image

Adsurbism

2007-08-17T13:20:00.000+02:00

Pic via

At interesting a couple of months back, Jack Schulze gave a passionate talk about his love for comic books and the things that make them great. One of the (many) cool things that he discussed was the creative use of the physical limitations of comics, that is, when characters broke out of their two-dimensional worlds, recognising they were part of a contained alternative universe, and began to interact with the space outside of the page. This, I thought, was awesome.

It reminded me of my A level English (back when they were real qualifications), and when I first watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Breaking the observer's 'suspension of disbelief' (directing the viewer to the fact that they're watching something that is, essentially, not real) by removing traditional theatrical boundaries was a trick employed to great effect by Stoppard (and many others in the Aburdist movement).

Although my reaction as the time probably wasn't the same as when Jack was discussing The Filth, it was, nevertheless, an arresting device. Ignoring the pre-ordained rules about spacial limitations and challenging what the viewer expects to happen is a very powerful trick indeed.

This is all a bit of a rambling explanation as to why I like this so much. Although clearly not as sophisticated as the two examples above, anything that uses space so creatively, and challenges what the viewer thinks they are going to see, is always going to have impact.

Shame I don't speak French.

Scary...

2007-08-14T11:17:00.000+02:00

... but exciting.

Baby Douglas at 12 and a bit weeks. A long way to go, but all appears OK so far.

The Ides

2007-08-08T20:11:00.000+02:00

If you're reading this, I find it hard to believe you won't have heard of Marcus Brown, or at least one of his alter egos.

If you haven't, suffice to say he's one of the cleverest, funniest and innovative English printers living in Munich who's blogging today. (In all seriousness, remove those last few descriptors and the initial set up still remains true).

In one of his most interesting moves to date (and there have been a few) Herr Brown has unveiled 'The Ides of March', a new business venture offering ideas for hire. The premise is simple - you brief, he ideates (is that a word?). You don't like it, you don't pay, and Marcus publishes it on his blog as a form of 'open source rejection'. But, as I'm sure is likely, you think it's got legs, you decide what it's worth and pay as you deem right and fair.

I'm utterly convinced that we'll see some great stuff come out of this, and that the Ides will be a great success. I can't wait to see some of the output.

So, if you've got a (creative) problem - if no-one else can help - and if you can find him, maybe you could hire: the ides team. (Sorry - that's woeful).

Go take a look.

In Search of Lost Time

2007-08-06T10:40:00.000+02:00

While we bloggers flock to celebrate all that is new, shiny and digital in the media world, spare a thought for the stuff we grew up with. And stuff that our parents - and possibly grandparents - grew up with. The dusty old stuff that used to be loved.

It was with heavy heart that I read today that The Dandy, the world's oldest comic (or media brand, as we might call it today) is to (all but) close.

For me, The Dandy evokes childhood memories of sunny days (though I'm sure it must, on occasion at least, have been rainy), running down to the corner shop with thirty pence, picking up the latest issue and a handful of penny sweets, and retreating to the swings in the park to enjoy the latest shenanigans of Desperate Dan, Bananaman and Beryl the Peril. (Clearly I would have preferred a PSP but unfortunately I was twenty years too early). Happy days indeed.

The Dandy brand will continue to exist in a bastardised format (Dandy Xtreme, natch), pandering to shorter attention spans and a wealth of other entertainment options. As 'ed' puts it: "following extensive research, we discovered The Dandy readers were struggling to schedule a weekly comic into their hectic lives. They just didn't have enough time". I can almost smell the focus groups.

So while I whittle time away today and over the coming weeks with my shiny new media friends, I'll whisper a lament for old chums, friends no longer deemed relevant, who just couldn't keep pace with kids today.

Although I haven't read it for years, I'll miss The Dandy. Farewell, old pal.

Social Networking Etiquette #1

2007-08-03T14:43:00.000+02:00

If a client requests 'friendship' on Facebook, what do you do....?

Shhhhhh......

2007-08-01T22:28:00.000+02:00

Even during my blogging mini-hiatus, I'm heartened to see that - according to my friends at Google Analytics at least - regular readers are still sticking around and popping back from time to time. Which is lovely.

Sorry it's been so quiet. I have two big pieces of news to share in the coming week or two that for reasons that will become apparent I'm unable to discuss now, but they both are contributing to the PFF downtime.

Normal service will be resumed very shortly. Thanks for sticking around. I look forward to boring you all again very soon ;-p

First rule of logos...

2007-07-22T16:41:00.001+02:00

When you're the new kid on the footy broadcasting block, ensure that your logo bears no resemblance whatsoever to a previous football broadcaster who almost brought the English game to its knees a few years back. Let's face it, football fans have long memories.

Oops.

Fig 1: The New Player, Setanta
Fig 2: Where's Monkey?

Comics are ace

2007-07-20T12:55:00.000+02:00

As was de rigueur after interesting2007 I posted some thoughts about the day, and I mentioned that my one of my favourite talks was about the physics of comic books. Unfortunately due to my utter ineptitude I couldn't recall the speaker's name, let alone get hold of the presentation.

Well thanks to both Russell and Carl (who writes a very good blog himself - check it out) I know now and I can give the due deference. The chap was Jack Schulze, and his excellent presentation can be found here. If you didn't attend the day, it's well worth a read whether you're a fan of comics or not (and even if you did go, it's certainly worth revisiting).

Oh, and the above pic is of a chap called Hiro Nakamura, one of the lead characters in the most excellent Heroes, which incidentally starts in the UK on BBC2 next week (25th July, 9pm). I watched it on Sci-Fi (and absolutely loved it) and I wholeheartedly recommend if you didn't catch it on its first run, you really must when it kicks off on the beeb.

Do the chickens have large talons?

2007-07-19T14:43:00.000+02:00

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently - quite a lot on both personally and professionally at the mo (all good though... quite probably more on that soon).

And so it continues. But what better way to keep the blog active than with a lazy YouTube posting?

I do, however, promise this is worth a watch though. Especially if you're a fan of the second greatest comedy of all time Napoleon Dynamite (after Ghostbusters, clearly). And if you're not, shame on you.

It's a great corporate video presented at a Microsoft conference, featuring Bill Gates (need to working on the acting dude) in skit with the film's eponymous hero. Enjoy. I'm guessing that Jon Heder got paid considerably more than the $1,000 he received for the original flick.

Normal service to be resumed next week, I hope.

I Believe in a Brand New Religion

2007-07-13T15:40:00.000+02:00

... well, for the purposes of my IPA dissertation I do anyway.

I've taken Russell's advice and stuck my work online. You can find the dissertation here. (If anyone from the IPA has a problem with this please drop me a note).

When reading, do please bear in mind we were working to quite specific guidelines on what would get us marks, so if it seems as though something is not fully explored or indeed over-egged, this may be the reason. Of course, it could also be that I just didn't think about it properly. In fact, that's probably more likely... :-)

I'd be very interested in your feedback, although please be gentle - I am a delicate soul.... (well, maybe).

Graeme Douglas' Excellence Adventure

2007-07-11T08:55:00.000+02:00

As some of you may be aware (certainly those readers who follow me on twitter) I recently completed the IPA Excellence Diploma, for which the final graduation ceremony was held last night at IPA HQ down in Belgrave Square.

In return for our endeavours we graduates received a rather swanky perspex memento for the mantelpiece, and for three lucky chaps (myself included - blush) the prospect of having our final dissertations published in a Campaign supplement some time in November was an extra sweetener.

It was a very tough 18 months, with many a lost weekend reading obscure pieces by Giep Franzen and friends, but an utterly worthwhile endeavour which was both inspiring and challenging in equal measure. It's an expensive gig (I think the IPA charge about £5k for it) but if you can stomach the workload and your agency will stump up for it, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

But back to the evening. In the end, only two 'pass with distinctions' were awarded, of which I was the very fortunate recipient of one, with my mate Faris bagging the other. Mr Yakob also very deservedly secured the President's Prize for the best dissertation - big respect due.

Needless to say, it was a boozy do, with Hamish Pringle and company kindly supplying many a libation (as I write my headache is still pounding away) but in this instance, a slight over-indulgence was justified, and dare I say after hundreds of reading hours and over 20,000 words, well deserved.

It was bloody hard work. But in a funny way, I'm going to miss it now it's over.

NB. I'm just checking with the IPA about posting my final dissertation, but as soon as I'm allowed, I'll pop it up here for you to have a read of if you're interested.

Headline to end all Headlines?

2007-07-04T16:12:00.000+02:00

Good to see that the British tabloid art of writing concise, pithy headlines hasn't been lost.

As spotted in today's Daily Record

To be a Planner

2007-06-29T20:58:00.000+02:00

Scamp very kindly linked to me this week, which is a big compliment.

In the post that contained the link (along with links to Charles and Neil's superb blogs), an anonymous wag penned a comment headed 'a guide to planning' which made me chuckle so much I had to reproduce it here (I hope anonymous is cool with this - please let me know who you are and I'll happily give the appropriate credit!).

In all its glory:

1) Simply disagree with what the last person just said. Whatever it is.
2) Talk with utter conviction despite what you say being nothing more than ill-informed opinion based on personal taste & experience (actually this applies to all advertising disciplines).
3) Wear glasses.
4) Say the word "Digital" a lot.
5) Always say something in a meeting. Preferably the word "Digital."
6) Steeple your hands together in front of you when someone else talks.
7) "Win" arguments in meetings by talking louder and for a longer time than the person you disagree with.

Thoughts? Anything that's been missed? (I'm thinking something about Moleskins....)

My wife seems to think much of this applies to me - I'm not quite sure how to take it :-)

Love will tear us apart

2007-06-26T19:34:00.000+02:00

I spotted this great stencil of the legendary Ian Curtis today in Shoreditch. Creating a buzz for the forthcoming movie Control? Or simply an homage to one of the most iconic figures in music of the past thirty years?

Either way, it's a lovely piece of art, and those sublimely tragic lyrics would stop me in my tracks wherever I was.

It's what Ian Rush drinks pt. 2

2007-06-25T11:37:00.000+02:00

I received an email this morning from somebody asking what the relevance of the title of my last post was.

I've now realised that if you weren't a footy mad kid in Britain during the 1980's it probably would seem quite oblique, so sorry about that. To rectify the situation (or to wallow in nostalgia) watch the above spot to see the reference in situ. (And, if you really want to, find out more about Ian Rush here).

It's what Ian Rush drinks

2007-06-23T16:47:00.000+02:00

I've been doing some work for Cravendale recently and as part of this I've been reacquainting myself with the milk market in the UK. Immersing myself in milk, so to speak.

Something rather interesting and frankly quite surprising has struck me during this work. And that is, it seems to me at least, that the market is primed for the glorious return of the milkman.

Ah, the milkman. Bastion of British life, pillar of the local community, source of dubious comedy and adultery-based gags around the land. The decline of the milkman was a national tragedy - but fear not. I reckon things are about to change. Bored housewives of the land celebrate. But why?

Not to mention convenience, over and above most supermarket purchased milk, milk delivered by the milkman offers:

- Low carbon footprint (one milk float rather than dozens of cars, and it's often electric)

- Extremely low waste, thanks to totally reusable (and recyclable) packaging

- Fresh local produce with traceable origin

What do you reckon? Could it happen?

A shift back towards home milk delivery looks good for consumers, and good for the environment. Whether it will be good for the current milk behemoths depends on how they embrace it.

it really was...

2007-06-18T11:22:00.000+02:00

Image via

After such an inspiring day at Conway Hall on Saturday, it would be remiss of me not to commit something to (electric) paper about Interesting2007. So here it is. As so many bright people were there undoubtedly you'll see better, more eloquent paeans about the event, but inelegance notwithstanding, here goes.

Everything about the day was great, from the venue itself, through to the attendees and of course the speakers. Being a bit of a geek, my personal highlights were the Physics of Comic Books and the History of Tubes (apologies for not noting speaker names down, and quite possibly not getting the exact titles correct) though I'm sure I'd join every other attendee by saying that there wasn't one poor speaker or any air of pretense - everyone was enthusiastic, fun and, well, interesting. Which was kind of the point, so that's good.

And as for Sacrum... I hope your feet are OK from such a trek.

It was also great to meet such a large contingent of the blogging fraternity there; some familiar faces and some new. All lovely people. To those I met, hello, and to those I didn't, I wish I had - next time, hopefully.

Oh, and I finally met Northern Planner too, which was very cool.

Congrats to Russell and his team for pulling off such a wonderful and unique event. Quite a standard has been set for the surely inevitable Interesting2008, which I really want to speak at, although about what, I'm not quite sure. I guess I've got circa ten months to work something out...

Oh, and Beeker, I've just bought this as a result of your gig. Despite a degree in Literature, I'm only familiar with Ibsen's poetry, not his plays. Which is quite embarrassing. Not for much longer...

When will I be Famous?

2007-06-15T23:42:00.001+02:00

Jonathan Durden, "self-made millionaire", co-founder of media agency PHD, current partner at MCBD and author of trash* has entered the Big Brother house. What on earth has possessed him do it?

I wonder what will be the pet topic in the trade press over the next few weeks? Looks like Cannes will have to take second billing....

*This isn't really fair as I haven't read it. However, given the salacious tabloid stories that are bound to emerge in the coming weeks, he'll have to endure far worse than that!

Thanks to Faris for the heads-up

Update:

And so it begins. Perhaps the pick of the tabloid rot dredged up at the weekend was this impressive expose in The Mirror:

"Although personally worth more than £5million, he recently signed up with an escort service and was paid to have sex with women.

As he was introduced to the giggling BB girls, he gasped: “I’m going to have a heart attack in a minute.”

Jonathan, who boasts of having a “fruity past”, said he sold himself as an escort “for the hell of it”.

Grannie will be Proud

2007-06-14T17:23:00.001+02:00

I had a nice surprise this morning when a colleague informed me that an edit of one of my inane blog ramblings had been featured in the 'best of the blogs' column in this week's Campaign. Must have been a very slow week in the plannersphere. However it got there, it's my first (although quite possibly last) appearance in the mag so I was quite chuffed.

If you're interested, you can read the full piece here.

I wrote it when I was in a bit of a mood about something, and that probably comes across in the tone of the post. I'm just glad I included the 'not at my agency' caveat :-)

Probably the Best Ambient Campaign in the World

2007-06-14T16:20:00.000+02:00

Like Victor who spotted this over on CMM News, I also missed this when it ran originally. What an awesome idea though. One campaign you surely wouldn't mind being 'interrupted' by.

One of those 'I wish I'd thought of that' efforts....

Some Blogs are Good

2007-06-11T22:12:00.000+02:00

My ever-so-kind chum Faris over at the excellent TIGS has very kindly nominated me as one of five bloggers that makes him think, and as such, I get to proudly display the above badge and also pass on the honour to five other blogs that stimulate my grey cells.

So, here we go (and I've tried to go for sites that haven't yet been tagged):

First up, I'll nominate Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress. For any fan of American TV (especially Lost or Heroes), this is a must-read resource from a rather large player on the US geek scene (which is a compliment!).

Secondly, I'll point you to Weekly Thunk, the 'other' outlet for the brains behind CMM News (everyone's favourite 'worst ad blog'). Slightly more low-key than its sister site, this new(ish) blog really is one to watch.

Next, have a look at The Jason Recliner - client side pot-shots from down under; always punchy, well written and honest.

A Closet, written by future Adcentre student Oakie, is always worth a read, not least because he's blogging in a foreign language and is so enthusiastic. Inspiring stuff.

Finally, who else, but Herr Brown himself. He doesn't need me to sing his praises, and I'm sure all readers will be familiar with his oeuvre. Always interesting, always fun, always clever, and normally with a touch of madness. A must read.

Say I sent you. Enjoy.

Talent Imitates, Genius Steals

2007-06-09T16:33:00.000+02:00

Surely this is pushing the boundaries of some kind of copyright law.

There I was, pottering down the dairy aisle in Tescos, when I saw possibly the most blatant brand rip-off ever (maybe).

Sitting right next to the UK's favourite butter (and my client) Lurpak, was a spunky new rival, resplendent in silver, offset with some natty blue and yellow piping calling itself - wait for it - Butterpak.

Lurpak have recently undertaken a massive repositioning campaign and I'm sure all readers will be familiar with the super spots produced by W+K that have been running recently. For my money, this brand plagiarism is nothing more than a shabby move by a bog-standard own-label product to ride on the buzz created by this campaign.

I'm sure it'll work well for them - and the title of this post isn't just an homage to TS Eliot and an excellent blog. But, regardless of how smart it may be, it's just not cricket. So I say: Tescos - you should be ashamed.

Have a look at the picture below and see what you think.

What would Douglas say?

By the way, I'm having a BBQ tonight so please excuse the alcohol-laden trolley.

Spotted in my local Tescos today (9th June 2007 for the record).

Last time, on Heroes

2007-06-04T11:28:00.000+02:00

If you're a geek like me, you'll be watching the excellent Heroes. If you've missed it, I utterly recommend that you watch it when it appears on BBC2 later in the year.

If you do watch it, have a look at this very funny skit from MADtv - it's bang on the mark. If you don't, it won't really work - but bookmark and come back once you've witnessed the series' awesomeness.

Via the great Infinite Regress.

Vexillology

2007-05-31T15:50:00.000+02:00

Are you a vexillologist?

If so (and quite frankly, even if you're not) this site is well worth a look.

And yes, I am aware that this is quite possibly the most random post ever.

Ideas

2007-05-31T14:33:00.001+02:00

Apologies. Minor media industry rant coming up.

Ideas are invaluable to everyone. To agencies, for whom ideas provide market differentiation and allow us to charge a fee consummate with the generation of such a scarce commodity, to our clients, to whom ideas can make the difference between a brand flourishing or dying, and of to course consumers, who enjoy the stimulation and experience that a great idea provides.

Why then, do so many people (in the media industry at least, although I hasten to add not at the place that I call home) still regard them simply as 'fluffy' and inconsequential; an optional extra or final layer of icing, as opposed to the primary force behind a campaign?

Ideas are, by their very nature, amorphous and abstract entities. Along with allowing me to use overly verbose words to describe them, it's also why they are often so difficult to handle, and I guess for many, are too much hassle to bother putting the effort in.

Ideas have been the currency of the creative agency since time immemorial, but it's probably only in the past five to ten years, when the industry began embracing communications planning as a genuinely important discipline, that media agencies have had to become more competent in creating and handling these most enigmatic yet powerful of entities.

Depressingly, we're still way behind where we ought to be. Too many people enjoy the easy comfort which the comms equivalent of a worn-in pair of slippers provides (400 ratings and a bit of press). We are getting better. A quick look at some of the Media Week / Campaign awards from last year provides hope. However so long as these great ideas are still the exception, we need to push forward and continue to promote just how important inspiring ideas are for the future success of our business.

Man I love the cake

2007-05-23T00:46:00.001+02:00

Lovely new spot for Skoda by Fallon. Simple idea. Great execution. Nice cake. If Mrs. Beeton was in advertising (and alive), she may have come up with something similar.

Going Green?

2007-05-19T02:15:00.000+02:00

It's about time we started taking this seriously. And it's awesome that such a prominent figure as Mr. Grant is leading the charge.

To find out what's going on, read this (sorry for being dictatorial, but in this instance, it's probably justified). It was presented at an APG meeting this week.

Apparently John is heading to our office soon to present this. I, for one, can't wait. I guess the industry can't, either. I just hope we listen.

Kiss my Face(book)

2007-05-16T21:06:00.000+02:00

Well I finally succumbed and activated my Facebook account yesterday.

I really never intended to bother, with two factors driving my apathy. Firstly, I really have not got any spare time, what with reading blogs, occasionally writing my own blog, obsessive twittering and being married. Oh, and an occasional annoyance known as work takes up a bit of my life too. Secondly, and I may regret admitting this, it all felt a bit, well, mainstream. Rarely in my life am I 'front of the curve', but over the last couple of years I've stumbled into an unlikely position of digital early-adopter (at least compared to the population at large - I'm still positively luddite compared to chums such as Faris) . So in other words, arrogance was holding me back too. (Moi? Arrogant??!)

On having a little mosey around for a client yesterday however, and noticing that the world and his wife seemed to be actually quite enjoying the whole social-networking thing (although I did kind of know that), and that Facebook seemed to be, well, less shit than Myspace, I took the plunge. And after 24hours, I'm addicted.

I've accrued over 20 friends so far (count 'em! that's almost one an hour!) and have signed up to loads of groups (from the Alan Partridge Appreciation Society through to the Leeds United are still the biggest club in Yorkshire despite relegation gang), though I'm not entirely sure that I can promise each group my full and diligent attention.

It's obvious that people love it. No wonder brands get so excited by it all. (Picture the scene. Brand manager to agency: "I think we should set up the Febreze Supporters Club on Facebook. It'll be ace. Everyone will join". Perhaps.)

Why is it such fun? It's hard to say. Having everyone in one place helps, and the fact that you can so simply and conveniently converse in an uninterruptive way is kind of cool. The barriers that are built by physical interaction dissolve and everything is just that bit more relaxed and fluid. Even the language it uses - the wall, for example, perhaps alluding to graffiti - gives an air of freedom and liberation, releasing the user from the constraints imposed through other methods of communication.

Every friendship acceptance that you get is a little piece of self-affirmation and feeling of worth, something that we all crave, dispensed in handy bite-sized chunks. Plus, and this applies to blogging or any kind of community based activity, you feel part of something. Driven by the social angst created by the post-modern world, the feeling of 'place' is becomes increasingly important.

Or - perhaps it's just because you can have a laugh with mates, new and old, while the boss isn't looking. I'm not sure.

Although I'm left wondering if web 2.0 basically constitutes people stumbling from one fad to another, I'm going to enjoy the ride. Whether I can juggle all these ever so slightly different online identities for much longer is another question.

All hail the Masters of Powerpoint

2007-05-13T22:26:00.000+02:00

Slideshare recently ran a competition with the aim of crowning someone the king of the slideshow. Or something like that.

Anyway, the entries have spewed some remarkably interesting narratives, with a couple yielding some exceedingly nickable slides (all under creative commons, of course).

Below are my favourite couple, but it's well worth checking out the other notable entries here.

Joost - Now Open

2007-05-09T12:54:00.000+02:00

In the unlikely event that you don't have an 'invite' for Joost access, drop me an email / tweet. Every beta tester now has unlimited invites to distribute (see what they've done there? someone's been looking at seeding models) so let me know if you want in.

There's been a lot written about Joost. Does it live up to the hype? At the moment, I'm not sure - I think there's an awful lot more they could do with the quality of the content and there is definitely scope for developing more social interaction. But, the branding is gorgeous, it is still in beta, and given the noise about it, it's well worth having a look to see for yourself.

If you do have a play with it, or you're a current beta tester, I'd be very interested in your thoughts.

Update:

I've given it a bit more time, and it's growing on me. Although the quality really isn't great, some of the shows are actually quite watchable (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit or World's Strongest Man, anyone?). I probably didn't give it enough time initially to fully explore the social side, and in fairness, all the basic boxes are ticked (IM, blog, P2P recommendations etc.) but it still doesn't feel quite as intuitive as it should be. But maybe that'll come with familiarity. Anyway, I'm a little bit more excited about it now. Will Joost revolutionise TV viewing? And will they crack an acceptable and innovative ad model (hint to Joost: the ad channel doesn't cut it...)? Let's see what happens.

Whispers from the Other Side

2007-05-06T14:55:00.000+02:00

If you haven't connected with the other side yet, you really must. No ouija board required. Just a little old link.

Not only will you bear witness to the funniest spirit since that one out of Rentaghost, you'll also be helping with a very good cause.

Master Herbalogist...

2007-05-04T10:30:00.000+02:00

... is apparently one of Steven Seagal's (presumably multifarious) 'official' skills. Along with roundhouses, no doubt.

So, what would a mob-busting high-kicking herbmesiter actor do with his spare time? Concoct a range of energy drinks, of course. But not just any old energy drinks. He's only gone and made the best damn energy drinks in whole wide world. At least according to him.

Says big Steve: "I have travelled the world creating this drink ... there is none better that I know."

Wow. Gotta get me some Lightening Bolt. In 'Asian Experience' flavour, of course (Root Beer Rush and Cherry Charge also available).

As seen on the Beeb. (Come on, give me a break, it's Friday!)

innocent?

2007-05-03T10:38:00.000+02:00

There's an absolutely fascinating debate raging over on the innocent blog over their decision to trial their kids smoothies in a limited number of McDonalds in the North East of England.

As you'd expect from a brand that has developed such a close bond with its consumers (built largely, I'd argue, from it's honest, friendly and human persona) this move has elicited a passionate response (well worth a read), played out in full (and - as you expect - with honest, friendly and human responses from the innocent owners and well as the blogosphere's very own Dan) on the company site.

Aside from whether or not you agree with decision (opinion seems pretty split at the moment) one has to admire the way that innocent have handled this. They have recognised the potential umbrage that many may take, and approached the issue head-on, encouraging opinion and being incredibly straightforward about the reasons behind the move.

Ultimately, it's only a trial in the North East, that, if you think about it, would have passed most by if innocent themselves hadn't flagged it. That they chose to be so open about a key business decision with their consumers, and the way in which they have handled it and nurtured debate, says far more to me about the company than the decision itself.

Thanks to Paul for bringing this debate to our attention.

Update:

The CEO of McDonalds UK has even weighed into this debate on the blog now (at least he claims to be him...). I have a feeling that this will run and run...

Fantasy Football - For Real

2007-05-01T17:36:00.000+02:00

We've all seen the various web 2.0 projects encouraging mass collaboration for a common goal. None, however are as ambitious, evocative and downright audacious as My Football Club.

It's aim? To buy a professional football club, and democratise all major decisions involved in running it. From buying players, to kit manufacturer, all 50,000 "owners" will have a joint stake in everything, right down to voting on substitutions, based on various in-match conditions and scenarios. Oh yes. And there won't be a manager. Instead, a head-coach will be in place to train players, advise the owners on performance, make recommendations but ultimately action the decree of the masses.

Says the website:

"The primary aim of MyFootballClub is to breathe new life into a football club and secure its future by handing ownership over to its Supporters Trust.

Without having to rely on the wealth and goodwill of an individual owner, the club will benefit from the pooled resources, knowledge and enthusiasm of thousands of football fans worldwide.

Although the club will enjoy an increased income, MyFootballClub members will never be able to vote on any decisions that could threaten the club’s stability, such as over-spending on player transfers"

It's £35 to join. And I've signed up. If you're a footy fan, how can you resist? Testing the wisdom of the football crowd is an awesome and fascinating proposition... what better experiment into mass participation than in a field which exudes such passion and support? Fantastic.

I need something to rekindle my passion for the beautiful game after the season we've just had.

Going Global

2007-04-30T14:11:00.000+02:00

I'm working on (another) pitch, and this time we've gone global and thus (for the first time at my current agency) I'm working quite closely with our (very impressive) international team.

The first thing that struck me was how embarrassingly woeful it is that my foreign language skills are, how shall I phrase it... non existent. In a room full of poly-linguists, you feel pretty inadequate pretty quickly when you realise that your colleagues are happily carrying out an elegant business conversation (if there is such a thing) in what is their second or third language. This isn't really going anywhere, except maybe an excuse for me to say that I really think we need to overhaul the priority given to foreign languages in British schools. But I digress.

What really got me thinking was the notion of an 'international communications strategy'. One of the purposes of our first session today was to begin to craft the European direction, a platform linking our key brand and consumer insight, off of which all communication ideas will be sprung. There's nothing remotely unusual in this - it's standard practice at most media agencies - but, for a local market boy like myself, it felt very unusual to be doing this it such a macro level.

Is it really possible, even in this age of glocalisation (I love a good portmanteau) to devise a single strategy that will really and truly connect with consumers in markets as diverse as rural Romania and suburban Paris? I find it hard to believe so. Surely if your platform is rooted in key consumer and market insights, this will be inherently different across varying cultures?

Maybe I'm not getting it. But I would argue that campaigns are always going to be more effective when planned and managed locally, with genuine local insights and expertise. Sure, this may be cost-prohibitive for some. But for the big multinationals, those companies that seemingly often plan in this way, this shouldn't be an issue. It seems to me that 'international' arms of agencies would be best deployed in a client management and market co-ordination role, rather than farming out cumbersome mandatory 'strategies' than risk irrelevance in local markets.

But like I say, maybe I'm not getting it.

I love Twitter...

2007-04-25T19:55:00.000+02:00

... even more (if that was possible) after getting the below message a minute ago:

Pity the Fool...

2007-04-24T10:22:00.001+02:00

...who doesn't endorse the use of Mr. T in as many ads as possible.

Taxi Driver Wisdom #1

2007-04-23T21:01:00.000+02:00

On my way to a training session today, asked a cabbie if he knew where the Institute of Contemporary Arts was.

Of course, he said, adding: "it's the place where they send painters who can't paint".

Back

2007-04-20T12:48:00.000+02:00

Well that was nice.

I can thoroughly recommend a holiday in Belize to anyone that is perhaps feeling a little jaded or in need of some sunny respite. Varied, friendly and fun. No GPRS action either so the blackberry didn't work, which was a good thing. Oh, and it was very, very hot.

Places like this are awesome:

As was this:

And the only advertising related thought I had was that we do not have enough hand painted ads in the UK. Nowhere near enough.

But what's happened in the blogosphere during my absence? Russell is ceasing advertising-related chatter, and Marcus' blogs seem to have, well, disappeared... anyone care to fill me in? Mr. Brown? Sacrum?

And unlike Northern Planner during his hiatus, I have zero posts planned or written to hit the ground running with. But I'm sure something will crop up very soon.

It's nice to be home.

Closed

2007-04-05T21:00:00.000+02:00

The title says it all.

PFF is shutting down for a holiday. I'm heading to Belize first thing tomorrow morning.

So no blogging for a couple of weeks (not that I've been that prolific recently). But I've got a feeling I'll still indulge in a spot of twittering.

Have a nice fortnight.

TTFN

Meeting Bloggers

2007-04-02T23:19:00.000+02:00

I just back from a thoroughly nice evening, organised by Marcus.

Also in attendance was Paul, Ben, Will, Charles, Henry, John, and Russell (for a bit).

Marcus was handing over the above rather nice picture that he's painted to raise money for a mountain rescue charity (back story here and here). There'll be an auction soon.

Weighty topics such as twitter, John Lewis' 'brand voice', putting ads on blogs when you're not supposed to and blog washing were discussed over a civil few pints. All of which quite successfully took my mind off losing 'the big pitch' that I worked on from Jan-March (an occupational hazard, unfortunately).

What a friendly bunch everyone is too. Until the next time (er, Faris' shindig on Wednesday, quite possibly).

Innovation

2007-03-29T22:31:00.000+02:00

Who said innovation had to be complicated?

Apple clearly didn't, as typified by a groovy little feature that they've just added iTunes that has really grabbed my attention.

Not sure if this has happened to anyone else, but I have - on a number of occassions - bought one or two tracks from an album, only to a few weeks later wish that I'd bought the job lot, but refused to buy the rest as I'm a tight sod and didn't want to double up on purchases. (It happened to me just last month with the superb live Kraftwerk album Minimum-Maximum).

What was a man to do?

Well I need suffer these pangs of cognitive dissonance no longer. For up to six months after your initial purchase, you can go back and buy the rest of the album, minus the cost of what you've already bought -which you couldn't do before.

Simple. And very clever (well, it clicked with me!).

Anyway, I'm off to listen to Trans Europe Express.

I can't believe it's butter

2007-03-29T20:54:00.000+02:00

Lovely new work from W&K for Lurpak.

Not what you'd automatically expect from a butter (saying that, you wouldn't expect an expert trombonist made of butter either) but it once again goes to prove you can find beauty in the ordinary.

There's also some cracking new work for Lurpak stablemate Cravendale (also from W&K) on the horizon that I posted about at the weekend... these will be reposted soon (as soon as some digital rights issues are resolved, apparently).

Lovely. Milky Milky

2007-03-25T15:27:00.000+02:00

I used to work on Cravendale. You know, back in the days of those scary cows.

But alas, those days are long gone (well, about 9 months gone) and, well, times they are a-changin'.

Check out Cravendale's brand-spanking new look, complete with these two super sweet, very much 'of the moment' stop-motion spots (courtesy of W&K).

How do you make milk interesting? Pop some wacky little dudes in an ad and get them to hunt down the creamy nectar of course. Brilliant.

Holibobs

2007-03-24T22:06:00.000+01:00

Phew. It's been a busy 2007 so far. Come to think of it, 2006 was hardly quiet either. I think I deserve a holiday.

Good job in less than two weeks I'm off to Belize. And I can't wait.

I had a pretty close shave with cancellation last week, when 'the office' requested that I considered postponing my holiday due to a large pitch that I'm currently working on, and I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I entertained the idea, going as far as getting a price for rebooking it (and discussing it with the wife... big mistake). It all ended happily however, with it finally being deemed that I was in fact temporarily dispensable, so long as I work my arse off for the period in the run-up to my trip.

So with the dissertation due in soon, and the pitches under my belt, it'll be strange to have no major projects to worry about when I'm away. Strange but good. I'm all too easily subsumed by work, and with all my bits and bobs going on over the past few months it's all got me quite stressed recently. So a bit of time off - proper time off - is hopefully going to do me some good.

So instead of thinking about brands and the web (well, except twitter - expect some hardcore Belizean twitter action) and consumers and channels and business, I can think about things like this instead...

... but, not quite yet. Two weeks to go. A little bit more brands and religion. And more waiting for clients to decide pitch results. And a dash of audience interrogation. But soon.

Religion & Brands

2007-03-23T10:16:00.000+01:00

"A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, … beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them"

Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912)

So the dissertation's almost done. Due in a week today (which is also my birthday - what a present that is), hence the library-esque silence around here recently. During the writing process I've uncovered a veritable cornucopia of material for the blog that should keep me going right up until the summer, so there's all that to look forward to (ha!).

And the quote above is my opening gambit, from the man who's inspired the work. He's a bit of a legend. More on him later.

I will of course be posting the final work for ritual abuse once it's done. For open-source comedy purposes only, you understand.

If you only watch one film this year...

2007-03-16T16:46:00.000+01:00

Watch Pan's Labyrinth. Bought the DVD, saw it last night.

It's absolutely stunning.

Beatbox

2007-03-14T19:50:00.001+01:00

Another random post. But so awesome I had to share.

Check this guy's audition out (first minute and a half-ish). It runs into the judges comments after that - and my French is so appalling I have no idea what they say to him. (If anyone cares to translate, do please let me know the jist!)

Oh, and I'm sure I heard a bit of Kraftwerk in there somewhere. Always a good thing.

Woodstock for the Plannersphere

2007-03-12T23:03:00.000+01:00

Could this be Woodstock for the Plannersphere?

Russell's organising a 'Conference of Interestingness' which you can be pretty sure will be superb.

At £20 a pop, it'll be pretty darn good value too.

To find out more, look here.

Marketing by Numbers

2007-03-11T09:13:00.000+01:00

Pic via

Comms planner? Copywriter? Account man? Warning: this post may have you trembling. Or perhaps not....

A company in the States called Spot Runner is doing, according to CBNC "for television advertising what Google did for web advertising – that is, making it simple, targeted and affordable for small businesses".

Using a self-service model, Spot Runner claims to make TV advertising quick, easy and affordable for local businesses by allowing them to buy off the shelf TV spots and media laydowns. Clients select from a stock of generic ads, overlay their own logo and v/o, and then select how much they want to spend on media value. Spot Runner then do the rest and the campaign hits the airwaves.

It's an interesting model. Obviously this'll never work for higher spending clients... assuming that you can effectively use stock ads, and bypass any semblance of comms/media strategy is just plain silly. But, I can see enough small businesses being interested in this no matter how many of us in the big agencies scoff and scorn (which we will - just look at those ads!) to make it fruitful for the owners. Just to be able to say "as seen on TV" is a powerful motivator for many non-marketing focussed clients and this route in could be about the easiest and cheapest (though admittedly I've not pored over their pricing model) available to them.

Whatever next? Consumers making their own ads?!

via springwise last week.

New Blogs Ahoy!

2007-03-08T16:11:00.000+01:00

Since my blogging became 'public' at work I've had the usual mix of banter, abuse, support and compliments (in various doses).

What I am particularly proud of, however, is the role that my blogging and badgering has had in the fact that three of my colleagues have taken up the mantle too. And it's a good thing - they're all very clever chaps, and I'm sure that their take on things will be well worth a read.

First up, we have Greg. He's been posting intermittently for a while now, however he's assured me that he's taken something for this and that he's now ever so regular. Which is a good thing, because his punchy opinions are never less than interesting.

Secondly, please say hello to Rozza. He claimed to take a vow of advertising abstinence when it came to blogging, although looking through his site so far he seems to have broken this a few times already. A man of the world, and a fellow twitterer, Russell's already been commenting on his site, so it must be good. He's on vox though, which for my money is all wrong. But don't hold it against him.

Lastly, Gagey. He's only last as he hasn't written anything yet. But, as a veteran of the 'mega comment' on both this site and others, this is a blog that (I think) will be well worth the wait and certainly one to keep an eye on. So get cracking mate - the plannersphere will be richer for it! (PS - hope you don't mind me making your site public so quickly!)

So there we go. Take a look and see what you think.

Good luck chaps!

Disclaimer: Planning for Fun cannot be held responsible for the quality of external sites ;-)

Social Microfinancing

2007-03-07T21:57:00.000+01:00

I've been experiencing unusually high traffic over the past couple of days, and I have a strong suspicion that the 'advertising cocks' post had a lot to do with it. Anyhow, I thought I'd try leverage this for the greater good (not in the Hot Fuzz sense). So here goes.

I found out about Kiva via my uncle today (I suspect I may be well behind the times on this one) and I have to say it's a genius idea. Named as one of the business ideas of 2006 in the New York Times magazine, in a nutshell it's microfinancing for the masses.

Basically, you lend a few quid to small-time third-world entrepreneurs to help them set up in business. You don't earn any interest, and in theory you might not get your money back (although globally microcredit projects have received >95% repayment). But you do get the satisfaction of helping to finance a farmer in Kenya, or a baker in Togo (etc.). The theory is:

I could bang on about what a marvellous demonstration the power of the networked world this is blah blah blah but you all know that already. Instead, please go and have a look and find out a bit more, and, if you like it, why not get involved. You'll feel all warm inside!

Advertising Cocks

2007-03-04T18:53:00.000+01:00

Charlie Brooker takes aim at his ten biggest strokers in UK advertising. This is very, very funny (and a tiny bit sweary so may be NSFW).

Via Lee over at the ever-superb Serendipity Book

On Distractions

2007-03-04T12:44:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure why I'm struggling so much, but my dissertation really isn't progressing at the blistering pace at which I had hoped that it would.

Having just had a week off on study leave, I had anticipated swaggering into work tomorrow with c.10,000 stunningly original and paradigm shattering words that I would then have four weeks to whittle down to the 7,000 word limit, basking in my own seminal prose as I went.

Needless to say, that isn't likely to be the case (I say likely as of course I have the rest of today - Sunday - with which to wait for a miracle).

Admittedly, I haven't completely wasted my time. Loitering on Sacrum's blog is obviously time exceptionally well spent (I'm wondering how to craft 'brand warmness' into my essay). I've also managed to accrue another 1,000 odd listens on my last.fm profile, which is always handy. And I've managed to watch a few films too - I'm pleased to report that Hot Fuzz is amazing.

In fairness, I've also read a lot of 'background' stuff for the dissertation (reading about religion is probably not a bad idea when you're claiming to be able to be able to build a brand development framework using it). I've gone through all my notes from last year too, and picked out some choice cuts from the various tomes that I dissected during the halcyon days of modules one to six.

So here I sit at my laptop, with a reasonably clear view of what I want to write, but still feeling the need to write a ridiculous diary-esque entry on my blog rather than getting on with the task in hand. However, I've drafted a structure, picked some decent references to work with, and have crafted (although that word may be seriously overselling it) about 2,000 words to get me going. I suppose that's not too bad really. After all, it's due in on 30th March (my birthday - hurrah) and I have another week off the week after next to finish things off.

I'll post the final dissertation when it's done for regular readers to laugh at, along with all the various bits and pieces from the course overall. Open source and all that, eh Sacrum?

Oh, and if anyone's got any burning opinions on what brands can learn from religion, don't hesitate to call ;-)

Excitement is...

2007-02-26T20:04:00.000+01:00

.... waiting for these two books to turn up.

Viva global shopping!!

And whilst I'm on a ridiculously off-topic, self-indulgent, geeky superhero tip, I'd like to ever-so-respectfully suggest that you check out 'Heroes', Mondays 10pm on Sci-Fi (though soon to show on BBC2, and already running on NBC in the States).

Seek it out. It's awesome.

(Disclaimer: I am a bit of a geek).

Pitching

2007-02-24T11:37:00.000+01:00

lazy pitching pic via

I, as I suspect many in adland do, have a real love/hate relationship with pitching.

On the one hand, there's the fantastic sense of camaraderie amongst the pitch team when you're in full flow, the enormous adrenaline rush when you're actually in the pitch and of course, the satisfaction of having the time and focus to be part of what is - win or lose - usually an exceedingly insightful and intellectually satisfying piece of work (simply because it has to be). And of course, let's not forget that some of the most hilarious agency anecdotes are sprung from pitch scenarios.

The less attractive symptoms of pitch fever, however, may include (though are not limited to): ridiculously late nights in an eerily quiet office (which develop from poring over the brief in the gestation phase to fighting over powerpoint the night before the gig), shredded nerves leading to some quiet catty and terse comments (I often think an agency bod's personality is at it's truest during a pitch - "in pitching veritas" and all that) and of course, taking utterly non-constructive abuse from senior management who have waltzed in late-doors to the project and suddenly want to overhaul everything (although - of course - I must confess this has not been my experience at my current residence).

Fresh off the back of a major pitch last Tuesday (which went very well, thank you very much for asking) I received a second brief of equally high magnitude yesterday. This was a bit weird. I had spent Wednesday and Thursday feeling slightly lackadaisical and deflated after the pitch pressure had been released, yet at the same time actually enjoying my temporary malaise because of the shorter hours and lack of stress that it heralded. I had expected this feeling to stretch well into next week, eventually petering out with the gradual realisation that I've got a dissertation to write. The new pitch brief has put and end to all this, and while I was supposed to be crafting my essay yesterday, I instead spent the day poring over the pitch questions. And so it starts again.

I'm sure it's probably a hitherto unrecognised masochistic streak coming to the fore, but I'm actually quite pleased.

The new pitch will be my first in my new role as "strategy director" so it'll be fascinating to see how my pitch input will differ. Suffice to say I'm bound to need all that help that I can get, and that given the whole industry has read it, I'll be picking up a copy of this to see what the fuss was all about.

Let's see what happens, shall we?

Proof: blogging IS useful

2007-02-21T15:38:00.000+01:00

I just had lunch with Jon Howard from Quietstorm who kindly took some time out of his day to chat with me about how the worlds of brands and religion overlap, what the former can learn from the latter, and how in a period of post-modernity we are merely reverting back to a pre-reformation mindset. Oh yes. All this simply in the name of me trying to get a half decent mark in my IPA dissertation.

What a thoroughly nice, clever and interesting man he is too. It was an enormously useful and thought-provoking lunch and it is likely to have a big influence on my final work.

And if it wasn't for this crazy world of blogging, I would never of had the opportunity to chat with him. In the unlikely event that you haven't read his blog, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - hurrah for blogging!

Agency Futurescoping

2007-02-16T13:44:00.000+01:00

Still pitching. It's all a bit pressured at the moment. But we're getting there, and it seems to be going well. Touch wood.

Anyway, there's life after next Tuesday - in fact, immediately after the pitch, I'm supposed to be doing a talk to our grads about 'the future of the media agency'. I think what they're really after is a slightly provocative and rousing 'who's going to hold more sway in the future world of comms' type turn - 'us' (media) vs. 'them' (creative agencies) - with media ultimately winning.

Obviously any such battle would inevitably result in a Phyrric victory (in-fighting is always messy), so rather than talk about some big balls fight for dominance, I'd much rather talk about how we can restructure our approach as an entire industry to produce the best ideas and work for our clients (we need to be lovers not fighters).

But, as my crystal ball is still a bit dusty, any thoughts? How should we approach client problems to get the best results? What's the most effective way of coming up with ideas that work cross platform and beyond advertising? Should the comms/account planning roles be fused? What role do media owners have in all of this? Is the creative/media divide actually as divisive as I think - do we need to change at all?

Answers on a postcard please... your name could be echoing through the halls of Parker Tower (amongst grads at least) for weeks to come.

Banksy's Breakthrough

2007-02-10T11:53:00.000+01:00

This week Banksy was placed firmly in the established art elite when one of his works, Bombing Middle England, sold for £102,000 at Sotheby's.

So how did he react to this critical commercial breakthrough?

Here's how.

Gotta love it.

It's oh so Quiet

2007-02-03T10:49:00.000+01:00

I've been a bit quiet recently. Sorry about that.

I've become engulfed in an avalanche of work stuff - 2 rather meaty pitches, plus the small matter of not entirely screwing up my IPA dissertation that I'm also supposed to be writing. So, I'm not having a deliberate hiatus, it's simply a rather annoying squeeze on my time. As such, for the next two weeks or thereabouts, posting may be slightly sporadic.

Anyhow, I'm changing roles at the end of Feb - moving from the comms planning department to our strategy team (potentially permanent but initially 3 month secondment, which I'm possibly getting a little too excited about), and wrapped up within that new position is the directive to spend more time blogging (I kid you not... great huh?). So pretty soon the output will start revving up again, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective.

And my car's just packed up. Bugger.

TTFN

Pic credit

Fortune: Million Pound Beg

2007-01-30T21:41:00.000+01:00

Has anyone else seen this programme?

If you haven't, the premise is thus: a combination of people, some odd and stupid, others desperate and worthy, present a 'pitch' to a panel irritatingly dubbed "the fortune five" (five "high profile millionaires", most of whom are utterly full of themselves and whose very presence on the show says so much about them) and basically beg for a share of £1,000,000.

Hosted by the nauseating Richard Madeley (surely the most patronising man on TV?) the 'contestants' have to battle for the sympathy of the panel, in the hope that some scraps will be thrown their way.

Inevitably there are some vaguely comedic moments (like when an absolute moron who lost everything to his turf accountant came asking for money to buy a racehorse to curry favour with his old 'friends' down the track) but the leitmotif of the show is surely the poor individual baring their soul in front of the nation.

It's fantastic when they get the money. Some hugely worthy causes have been pitched and have succeeded in receiving life-changing amounts of money. But at what cost? And is it right?

I suppose if you get the dosh you'll be happy enough. But what does it say about us (and ITV) that we are happy to make and watch a show where people have to go on TV and prostrate themselves in front of millions in the hope of being deemed worthy enough to be thrown some crumbs by "successful" individuals ?

So why do we watch in our droves? Is it to share in the euphoria when the underdogs get some respite? Or is it because we have a grotesque desire to be witness to a parade of people that are worse off than ourselves? Depressingly, I guess it's a combination of both.

Long live reality TV eh?