Radio 4 - Today

If I was asked to recommend a primer for young wannabe account handlers entering our industry I'd say listen to Today on Radio 4. Forget breakfast TV and Chris Moyles. A quick blast of Today on your way to work or while you're having your breakfast. For those who have it at home before they get to work that is - now that's a whole new blog in it's own right. But to digress a moment when did people stop having breakfast at home and start eating cereal and toast in their offices? At Woodreed we've a whole Sainsbury's fixture of breakfast cereals, bread, muffins, jams, spreads.... When did this trend begin and why? Why do people prefer to eat at work than in the comfort of their own home? My preference is for Chris Evans and cereal at home, John Humphreys and Today in the car on the way to work or client meetings. Perfect.

Back to topic... a quick blast of Today a few times a week will give you the opinions, the general knowledge, the wider awareness of current and past affairs and enough of an insight into such a breadth of topics that you'll be able to hold your own in any client meeting or social situation. You'll absorb it all without even trying and it will give you a whole stack of useful stuff which you can draw on in any number of situations.

One of my favourites a couple of weeks ago was an interview with designer Karl Lagerfeld, creative director for Chanel, talking about how designers usually took more risks during challenging periods.

"Very often in difficult times fashion is more interesting than in times when everything is too cool, too safe, in a bad moment change is the best thing that can happen."

It was a fascinating piece but the bit I really noted was when he said he had no plans to retire, saying he was continuing to come up with new ideas and made this lovely point...

"The brain is a muscle and you have to work out," he said. "The French say you get hungry when you are eating, and you get ideas when you are thinking."

Inspirational.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

I studied war poetry at school and this poem affected me. Maybe it will have the same impact on you.

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, 


Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, 


Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs 


And towards our distant rest began to trudge. 


Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped on, blood-shod.

All went lame; all blind; drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots 


Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.


Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, 


Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; 


But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, 


And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. . . 


Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, 


As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. 


In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, 


He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. 


If in some smothering dreams you too could pace 


Behind the wagon that we flung him in, 


And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, 


His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; 


If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud 


Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, 


My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory, 


The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen
8 October 1917 – March, 1918

Tough. Beautiful. Polo.

I think that this new Polo advert is inspiring. It doesn't feature a car, driving or even a road, but merely two people dancing beautifully and the single line at the end: Tough. Beautiful. Polo. How clever, simple and incredibly captivating....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8enXlJeJ2LI

A lost art

This is going to make me feel and sound a lot older than I am. But, I think the majority of people have forgotten, or if you are younger, never been taught how to write a letter. Correctly. Where to pop your name, your address, the recipients name and address - and heavens above, how to sign it off! Now it's all Best Regards and the likes....what happened to faithfully and sincerely?
The reason I bring this up now is that I received a letter today from a chap who was keen to get into 'advertising' Nothing too odd there, but it was the style and content of this letter that left me feeling rather let down. When I was trying to get my first job, and on direction was asked to write in I made sure it was eye-catching, relevant and left them wanting to at least invite me in.
I think nowadays, people have become lazier (symptomatic of the advances in technology) and because everything is available (and expected) instantly less time and thought goes into some very important communications.
I'm glad I don't have to worry about ruler widths and blotting paper, but no matter what you write, it has got to have had some thought go into it - otherwise, it'll invariably disappear into my waste bin, as quickly as it arrived.

What's the first brand you can ever remember?

I remember walking to the village post office holding my mums hand, when I couldn't have been more than 5 years old. It was freezing and getting dark, the post office was called Wilkinsons and it was owned by a mutant with buck teeth called Frank.

Why I remember this journey so distinctly is that right beside this shop was a garage flanked by a giant advertisement hoarding/poster site, and there, almost spotlighted by the garage lights against the twilight sky was the biggest bar of chocolate I had ever seen in my young life (on a giant full colour poster)!. I remember saying to my mum (and I swear this true), "Can I have that (that being the size) chocolate bar to eat?". The name of the chocolate bar was Cadburys "Extra". I have never forgotten that moment.

Another time was seeing a picture of myself in a lovely bright

yellow short sleeved shirt, which had step and repeated worldwide airline logos all over it. (that would be really trendy now. it couldn't have been trendy then because my father who bought it donned a leather trilby hat 24 hours a day), but all I remember was picking my favourite logo (motif in those days) on the shirt which was "Sabena".

There you have it then, the first 2 brands that made me notice. Cadburys and Sabena.

Does anyone else remember their earliest brand experience?

Eight arms are better than two (apparently)

Now, many blogs ago our esteemed creative director argued that sometimes ideas are ok without insight and planning. I argued vehemently for the opposing view. I believe that all ideas must be based on research, understanding and insight - the key that opens the door to the opportunity for your brand to connect with your audience.

You only need to take a look at last weeks Apprentice to see how right I am. Last week was my favourite episode of the series – the one where they make the rubbish ads. The task – to design a new brand of cleaning product and create an ad for TV and radio to launch it.

Bring forth exhibit A – “Octi-clean”, because apparently women genuinely wish they had 8 arms (perhaps only to punch each member of team Synergy in the face with for creating an ad that was so desperately partronising it made Michael Winner look like a campaigner for women’s rights in comparison) . Plus call me a crazy rational fool (indeed an oxymoron – perhaps a better name for their product), but surely if you call a product Octi-clean then it needs to erm, like clean 8 ways or clean 8 different surfaces or something vaguely ‘oct’

Now for Exhibit B – the insane ‘Germinator’; the entire strategy cooked up (with added gravy) based on a strapline and the vague notion of wanting to do something “different” in the cleaning product market. Backwards, mad and wrong wrong wrong Plus note to ‘tomorrow’s captains of industry’ (yeah right) the product promised to get rid of germs, the ad was about getting rid of stubborn stains, the bottle looked like B&Q’s own brand of sink unblocker and to top it all the ad contravened all the rules of the ASA by using a child in the ad. Bloody marvellous shout-at-the-telly telly though and you’ve got to love it.

Anyway back to my initial viewpoint - I rest my case: The best ideas in advertising can only come through insight.

Music and adverts

I don't know about everyone else but I just love it when, in my opinion, a really good song is used - it just makes the advert. My music tastes are really quite broad now as I've got older but I'm just loving some of the adverts that are being shown at the moment.

Just some of my favourites currently are : -

M&S - Don't put a foot wrong this Christmas - The Bee Gees - You should be dancing

Virgin Atlantic - Got it - Muse's cover version of Nina Simone's - Feeling Good (A previous blog of mine)

Confused.com -Cara sings - Cover version of Queen's - Somebody to love

Ikea -Kitchen Party - Jona Lewis - You'll always find me in the kitchen at parties

John Lewis -Christmas 2010 - Ellie Goulding's cover of Elton John's - My Song

Not only are the songs good to listen to, but the adverts are also worth a watch......

http://www.tvadmusic.co.uk/

P.S. Jodie - I know how much you love the Yeo Advert that's being shown during the X-Factor breaks - people are campaigning to get it to No 1 for Xmas!!!