Great stuff. This is what Viral Marketing is all about. Generate brand-linked content, that is so hot, it gets forwarded on, friend to friend. I'm talking now of the parody of the Cadbury Gorilla/Phil Collins commercial, by Wonderbra. It apparently contravenes Mr Collins' copyright, so has been removed from You Tube.
Even better then; it has been banned! This was a recipe for success since records such as Je t'aime, High, High, High, and Judge Dread, became off-air hits. Now I'm not wishing to break the law, or condone doing so, but it is a fact of life that the tabloids have long exploited: break a rule, and the compensation/fine paid, is less than the revenue from that gained by being naughty.
What? You want to see the spoof? Well don't tell anyone, but try this ... http://www.heggle.com/item/4994365/Wonderbra_Gorilla_Parody
PS. Now what about this for an idea ...Phil Collins doing the drum intro, to the King Kong movie soundtrack, whilst eating a chocolate bar? No? Oh, THAT'S why I'm not a Creative Director.
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Friday, 16 November 2007
Praising the enemy
In the news this week is footballer, Dave Kitson, who is effusing about the sheer skill of the Arsenal players and the team now playing in the English Premier league. Nothing unusual in that, but Kitson is a striker for Reading FC as well a life-long Tottenham fan. The thing is, that dropping prejudices in favour of identifying competitor’s qualities, is a healthy thing.
I once worked for a company that supplied direct marketing services to a well known luxury car brand. How refreshing it was to attend a new launch briefing session at UK HQ, where product managers would compare their new car with the competition. Not only would it be good analytical stuff, but they would be critical of their own model’s weaknesses and praising of the competition if they had anything that was better. Such objectivity can only help one learn and improve I know that might sound obvious, but try looking at a competitive entity and see how many good things that you admire and can list. It might surprise you!
I once worked for a company that supplied direct marketing services to a well known luxury car brand. How refreshing it was to attend a new launch briefing session at UK HQ, where product managers would compare their new car with the competition. Not only would it be good analytical stuff, but they would be critical of their own model’s weaknesses and praising of the competition if they had anything that was better. Such objectivity can only help one learn and improve I know that might sound obvious, but try looking at a competitive entity and see how many good things that you admire and can list. It might surprise you!
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
"'In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death taxes and...
Should fireworks be allowed to be used by amateurs, and should there be restrictions on how many days a year that they can be let off? Like with smoking restrictions, there are strong views on either side.
Actually, I'm not going to get in to this debate. But if I did, I'm sure I would hear pro-pyrotechnics folk cite the Nanny State and 'infringement of freedom' and so forth. My point is that, unless you live on an island - with a population of one, you already live with rules, mores and restrictions. It's just that some are there to protect people ...at the cost of perhaps your own indulgence.
So, if i could tread on Benjamin Franklins's* toes a bit, I would add a third certainty ...
"'In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and regulations."
*Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789.
Actually, I'm not going to get in to this debate. But if I did, I'm sure I would hear pro-pyrotechnics folk cite the Nanny State and 'infringement of freedom' and so forth. My point is that, unless you live on an island - with a population of one, you already live with rules, mores and restrictions. It's just that some are there to protect people ...at the cost of perhaps your own indulgence.
So, if i could tread on Benjamin Franklins's* toes a bit, I would add a third certainty ...
"'In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and regulations."
*Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789.
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Chaos reigns within - Reflect, repent and reboot - Order shall return
As I'm sure you are aware, the Japanese have a form of poetry called Haiku. It has very a strict 17 syllable 3 line form, namely: 1st line 5 syllables; 2nd line has 7; and 3rd line has 5 again.
The Japanese are currently replacing error messages [eg "This program has performed an illegal function and will now shut down."] with Haiku poems.
Try some of these, sometimes they have an ethereal quality
The web site you seek
Cannot be located,
but Countless more exist
Chaos reigns within
Reflect, repent and reboot
Order shall return
Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
Three things are certain:
Death, Taxes and Lost Data.
Guess which has occurred.
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
Where is the printer?
The printer can not be found
Though it is next to me
The Japanese are currently replacing error messages [eg "This program has performed an illegal function and will now shut down."] with Haiku poems.
Try some of these, sometimes they have an ethereal quality
The web site you seek
Cannot be located,
but Countless more exist
Chaos reigns within
Reflect, repent and reboot
Order shall return
Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
Three things are certain:
Death, Taxes and Lost Data.
Guess which has occurred.
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
Where is the printer?
The printer can not be found
Though it is next to me
Thursday, 27 September 2007
If I Ruled The World
If I ruled the world, not only would every day be the first day of spring, but I would also bring in a new law (as well as eradicating Brussell Sprouts from the planet). I would make it near impossible to change the name of a pub.
Trivial, I hear you say? OK, it's not on the same level of importance as combating HIV, but public houses are more than just places to drink. They are historical entities that transcend generations; they are directional markers, they are like trees that watch the future go by.
I moved to Harrogate sixteen years ago, and one old pub has changed its name in that time from The Rum Runner, to The Honest Lawyer, and is now called The Iron Duke. My neighbour remembers it being previously called The Old Tradition. On Tuesday I went to The Muckles, which changed from being Scruffy Murphy's, then on to The Alexandra, which was called The Rat & Parrot last year and something different a year or two before.
The world changes very fast these days, and personally I reckon we could do with a little stability here and there. Or would you like to discuss this over a pint?
Trivial, I hear you say? OK, it's not on the same level of importance as combating HIV, but public houses are more than just places to drink. They are historical entities that transcend generations; they are directional markers, they are like trees that watch the future go by.
I moved to Harrogate sixteen years ago, and one old pub has changed its name in that time from The Rum Runner, to The Honest Lawyer, and is now called The Iron Duke. My neighbour remembers it being previously called The Old Tradition. On Tuesday I went to The Muckles, which changed from being Scruffy Murphy's, then on to The Alexandra, which was called The Rat & Parrot last year and something different a year or two before.
The world changes very fast these days, and personally I reckon we could do with a little stability here and there. Or would you like to discuss this over a pint?
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Tilting
In our enthusiasm for modifying our behaviour, we often go for All Or Nothing. However, I believe that TILTING is more realistic. Like when I gave up eating meat for 17 years, I still used leather ...so I tilted in the direction of lowering my dependency on domestic animals. Now we are (hopefully) beginning to embrace our carbon footprints. But I can't help using long-hall flights, a car and a trillion other things that are really not going to help the planet. I do recycle, and have done so since collecting milk bottle tops for Blue Peter in the '60s. I do turn things off more, choose less carbon nasty goods and so on. So what I am consciously doing is tilting towards being carbon neutral.
Now if everyone of us in the industrialised world did one small energy-saving thing each day, then the result could equal the output of one power station in a year. So if we all started tilting a bit in the same direction, the collective result would be good, and hopefully the titling gets stronger.
So my motto is: "Less Guilt, just Tilt."
Now if everyone of us in the industrialised world did one small energy-saving thing each day, then the result could equal the output of one power station in a year. So if we all started tilting a bit in the same direction, the collective result would be good, and hopefully the titling gets stronger.
So my motto is: "Less Guilt, just Tilt."
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Pathetic Fallacy
It's great weather, the blossom is bursting out and it's just about the best time to be most places, especially Britain.
So where am I off to tomorrow? Alice Springs in the centre of Australia. Accepting the invitation to speak at the conference there, seemed a good idea at the time. Wish it was raining here now!
So where am I off to tomorrow? Alice Springs in the centre of Australia. Accepting the invitation to speak at the conference there, seemed a good idea at the time. Wish it was raining here now!
Friday, 13 April 2007
Unique Names
I started this blog off, using the Sobriquet 'Blog Bloke'.
I was asked by the "original Blog Bloke" to not use that name, as he apparently has it "trade marked".
OK. I've happily changed my monicker; no sweat ...BUT is there a point in restricting unique usage? I mean, we all have our given names, registered at birth ...but we are rarely the sole user of that name. I'm happy to be enlightened!
I was asked by the "original Blog Bloke" to not use that name, as he apparently has it "trade marked".
OK. I've happily changed my monicker; no sweat ...BUT is there a point in restricting unique usage? I mean, we all have our given names, registered at birth ...but we are rarely the sole user of that name. I'm happy to be enlightened!
Thursday, 5 April 2007
Spike Milligan
I vaguely remember watching a Spike Milligan series on UK TV show in the late 60s or early 70s, where every now and then, there would be a fake commercial for 'Snibbo'. Whatever, the problem, Snibbo could solve it. Anyone out there know what I'm talking about?
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