Bank of Mum and Dad Ad in the Times...

...today, a brilliant full page advert (click it to zoom in)...it's actually for Shelter, a jolly clever bit of advertising... ;)

AdTech London...

Off to Ad:Tech London...just got to print out my little visitors badge and work out the optimum route from the Wharf to Kensington Olympia... ;)

Ad Placement Fail

Sorry for the terrible photo quality, only had my phone and fluorescent light to help me snap, however, the subject is rather a good ad placement cock-up (well spotted mother!) by the guys that put together the local paper for Oxted...in fact, they probably couldn't have done it any worse if they had tried to sabotage it deliberately... ;)

Oh and tonight, the next season of "The Apprentice" kicks off, giving me an excuse to show you this badge I was given, without any explanation, at London Bridge a couple of weeks ago...and yes, I'm still a little confused as to exactly what they thought I was going to do with it, certainly not put it on my coat...had it been something *useful*, like a ticket holder, then I would have probably helped them virally convey their "message", but if I actually wore this I would just look like a bit of a prat...so (sorry people who want to promote apprenticeships) an advertising fail here too...

Your Station advertising

This really annoyed me when I spotted it..."Your Station, the best stop for food and drink", I mean, who (in their right mind) thinks "Hmmm...I'm hungry/thirsty" and then sets off purposely towards the railway station? I mean, we don't even have a guy making tea or coffee at Earlswood station! How on earth this ever bobbed to the surface and ended up as a live advertising campaign is absolutely beyond me...Railway stations have one purpose, and one purpose only, to get people from A to B (and then back again), to attempt to dilute this *responsibility*, especially after months of disruption, is frankly insulting, like anyone would ever think - Oh well, my train is cancelled again, but at least I'm stuck in the best place I can think of to go and buy a bite to eat...!

What utter rubbish...

Take over Disneyland!

Hehe, sorry, couldn't help myself, (I know) it's *blatant* advertising, but it is so cleverly done I just had to share...Well, admittedly some bits of the grammar don't work too well ("It's a Angel World" for example), but I really enjoyed it none the less... ;)

So don't miss out, it's your chance to rename Disney World to something completely different, although not swearwords I'm afraid...(Yes, I knew what you were thinking, you cheeky little imps)... ;)

When you get to the landing page scroll down to the bit at the bottom to generate code to embed it on a website, that saves you having to fill out the form at the top... :)

Happy "holidays"... ;)

Getting into Classical Music

So last week, frustrated by total lack of decent signal for "Classic FM" in practically every situation when I might wish to listen to it (mostly commute), I decided to get hold of some portable classical music of a more "on demand" (and non-wireless) nature...Simple, one might think...however, it proved to be a bit more of a problem than I originally anticipated - there is a collossal amount of classical music available, and it is of distinctly variable quality (beauty is in the ear of the beholder and all that), so where on earth does one start?

I decided I would begin my quest completely at random with a 3 CD collection called "Beethoven - Piano Concertos (Pollini - Abbado)"...it took me a couple of days to get through it all, I recognised very little of it, I also (unfortunately) enthusiastically liked very little of it either...with a bit of (half-hearted) repetition some of the good bits of the compositions started to pop into my mind when it was being otherwise idle (over the weekend, that sort of thing)...but largely, I judged myself to have made a rather dissapointing choice, and thus an inglorious first foray...

Attempt two faired only a little better as I then, rather foolishly, rushed to the complete opposite end of the scale and picked up a VA release called "The Top 100 Masterpieces of Classical Music 1685-1928"...while the first couple of tracks were interesting and new it then descended rather quickly into track after track that probably should have been titled "The Top 100 Masterpieces of Classical Music 1685-1928 that you are already sick of hearing because they have been ruthlessly battered to death and subsequently dumped in a stream by the Advertising Industry"...and although I'm only on track 58, the horrifying conclusion I'm starting to uncomfortably and uncontrollably slide towards is that all the really good and catchy bits of Classical music are already down there - and starting to decompose - waiting to be discovered by someone that was "just out walking their dog"...and who will react as I did - with some revulsion...

I'd love to be wrong...any suggestions?

(Update - Duo Des Fleurs does sort of work on the escalators in Cabot Square)...

Paddington Marmite advertising campaign

Some of you will know, that I work for a rather large media agency in London and am interested in advertising campaigns .... so when an email with this link dropped into my inbox this morning, i had to share it with you (since I think it's quite cool!)

http://paddingtons-kitchen.marmite.co.uk/

Enjoy

Hilarious Wonderbra Ad - Delia Online

Ads running on Delia Online today - "Today doesn't have to be pancake day".

Genius.

Online Marketing 07

So yesterday took a trip up to Angel to visit the NMA sponsored Online Marketing 07 conference, got a little bit lost trying to actually find the place, happening first upon the tradesmens entrance in Liverpool Road, and being directed to walk around the block (back the way I had come) by a burley security guard when I tried to follow a lorry driver in through the loading bay -

- so, I finally managed to locate the *proper* way in -

- where there was a queue of about 20 people waiting to pick up their badges (which I joined the back of), the person who was two in front of me hadn't registered, so was sent, blushing, to go and fill out his demographics by the front door and then (like a naughty school boy) join the back of the queue, next the person in front of me (who smiled smugly and presented her filled out demographic form) was then left stuttering when it was announced that the "on the door" registrants had to pay TWENTY QUID ADMISSION! "But why is it so much?" she asked, to be told "Admin costs", "But it's free to register online!" she protested (to a shrug and a "sorry"), at which she acidly flicked over her credit card...(personally I would have gone and found a cyber cafe or walked up to the library and registered rather than cough up, but she probably just expensed it)... ;) Anyway, being a good boy, and having pre-registered, I handed over my e-ticket, collected my complimentary "Doubleclick" neck strap, attached my newly printed name badge to it, and headed towards the doors...being handed a complimentary bag of popcorn (courtesy of "Big Mouth Media") as I did so... ;)

Muching handfulls, I wandering the stalls, spotting (and politely endured sales pitches from) content management providers, SEO/Search specialists, end to end agencies, SEO/Search specialists, design studios, SEO/Search specialists, email and banner serving providers, SEO/Search specialists, the odd new media association (trying to invent themselves), SEO/Search specialists and yet more SEO/Search specialists (who by then I was hurrying past with my NMA carrier bag in front of my head) -

- went to a number of the (generally very interesting) workshops, the best of which (about current general marketing strategy and trends) was largely ruined by the young lad who was *supposed* to be doing the AV for the PA system, but seemed much more interested in sneaking bits of his Burger King lunch from the drawer beneath the controls) -

- tut...anyway, had a really good day, will certainly attend again, as it's facinating to see things from the "other side" (i.e. what the marketeers are being advised to do, going forward), oh and I also got a load of pens, and (a *real* coup) a doubleclick T-Shirt (when I volunteered us to be on the public beta for their widget dashboard) (don't ask)... ;)