8 things you might not know about me
March 12, 2008 | 3 Comments
Following a trail that’s going around the blogosphere, I have been tagged by the highly delightful Eaon Pritchard. The idea is to get to know each other better by revealing 8 random things about yourself so here you go:
1. I love being surrounded by animals. I have a cat called Bear (because he’s big and hairy) and on my desk you will find two goldfish and a Leopard Gecko (yes a real one).
2. My Dad is a great musician and was in a rock band which was fun as one of my babysitters was Mitch Mitchell.
3. I’m a fan of Marshall Arts and got my Red Belt in Kickboxing.
4. I have been playing the guitar since I was 12 and my Fender Stratocaster takes pride of place in my living room.
5. I love food, both eating and cooking equally. I particularly love anything that once lived in the sea.
6. My Mum is a hippy. She is a Reiki Master and I love going to see her as it’s like visiting a little retreat.
7. Four years ago I accidentally fell in love with my now Managing Director. Fortunately it was reciprocated.
8. I studied Business Information Systems at University and wanted to be a developer. I took a job in advertising until I figured out what to do with my life.
Now I pass this onto another 8 bloggers, so over to you……look forward to reading them!
Barcode revolution
December 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This is not new, but it is still cool which is why I am writing about it. Design barcode are a collective based out of
Google launches My Location
November 29, 2007 | 1 Comment
Google have today released the details of a new product on their mobile blog called My Location. My Location uses beta technology (as with a lot of Google’s products) that uses cell tower identification to provide you with approximate location information, so it will work on phones without GPS. Start Google Maps for mobile, press [0], and the map will indicate your approximate location by centering on a blue circle. This is a great piece of technology when visiting other cities when the lure of sushi is just too much to take.
Critics hit back at Unilever
November 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Unilever are under scrutiny as activists, journalists and bloggers have criticised the company for being hypercritical through the latest Dove “Onslaught” campaign where Dove show the ugly side of beauty, whilst building a brand in the form of Axe through the use of beautiful bikini-clad women.
The video was made by Rye Clifton, a Senior Strategic Planner who claims he didn’t realise that both brands fell under the Unilever umbrella and when he found out his immediate thought was “that would make a perfect video on YouTube.”
Unilever have issued a statement saying “The Axe campaign is a spoof of ‘mating game’ and men’s desire to get noticed by women and not meant to be taken literally”. With the ever growing popularity of Social Networks becoming an educational tool, I would really like to see Unilever use this medium to communicate with their critics and look at how they can address this issue.
Blog Action Day
October 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment
So today (15th October) is Blog Action day where over 15,000 bloggers worldwide will discuss the same issue to get everyone talking towards a better future. This years issue is the environment so here you go:
A couple of weeks ago I have a rather interesting discussion in the pub with Punk Planning’s Charles Frith and Make Marketing History’s John Dodds, on what responsibilities do brands have to consumers and how can they talk to consumers without preaching.
An example of educating consumers done well would be Innocent or even to some extent M&S who have recently opened their Green store in Bournemouth where changes include infra-red light sensors within the changing rooms, air-conditioning at only head level, electricity sourced from a green provider, LED lighting strips within freezer cabinets and 80% of all the waste from the store is recycled. Both companies do not preach to users on how they should be spending their money but rather guiding them on “this is how we do it and this is why we feel you should do it too”.
With brands facing more pressure from consumers to become responsible for their actions, they must ensure they don’t fall into the trap of making any ethical stance their key message as consumers are wiser than we usually give them credit and brands offering a greener more ethical alternative should be a given not a USP.
