SHIB+

I've moved....

2010-07-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

I've moved. I'm now over at : http://shib.posterous.com/

The best.

2010-02-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

What's the best thing since sliced bread?

"This is the best way."

"He is the best."

"That is the best."

You see "best" and phrases such as this are subjective.

What is "the best" in one persons eye is not "the best" in anothers.

This is something we come across heavily in our daily lives, however the best way to do things is dependent on who is doing them and who they are speaking to.

The problem in making things "the best" is that by doing so we become complacent, best practise, best strategy, best approach. They are all things that are said to avoid exploring and testing different rountes. We become lazy and unimagnative, we don't want to test new ways of doing things because we already know the "best" way, but like I said "best" is subjective so we should never settle for best unless we can truly prove that our chosen is the best for all parties involved.

Don't get too close!

2010-02-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

One of the things that happens naturally as you begin to work on a brand is that you begin to learn the in's and out's of it. What every product does, what every acronym stands for, how every product was manufactured.

Don't get me wrong, this is all great to know - the only downside is that you can often get too close to the brand and begin to assume that customers have the same level of respect and understanding about the brand as you do. When, in reality, the brand is likely to be a very small part of their life, only thinking about it when they are in the buying zone for that particular product.

Instead, don't learn everything about the brand you work on, be ignorant to the jargon as a customer would be, look at the market how the customer would and become closer to your customer's mindset not the mindset of the company's CEO.

The right way, the wrong way and the max power way!

2010-02-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

customers are the (new) media

2010-01-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

Smiling is contagious.

Simple thought but it rings so true.

Brands spend so much time to understand social media and everything around it. Twitter, Facebook, blogging...you know the usual stuff.

All they really need to understand is that their current customers are the (new) media.

This by no means is a new theory; word of mouth has always been and always will be the most powerful vehicle for selling products. However, customers are now more powerful than ever. If they give your product or service a bad review that may put off potential customers.

Contrary to popular belief, brands CAN control this. How? By creating outstanding products and under promising and over delivering at every stage of the customer journey. Not simply making customers a sales statistic, creating and harnessing a relationship that these customers will want to talk positively about. Complacency can damage a relationship, just because they have bought your product doesn’t mean they will buy again. Just think about a personal relationship. Someone you know only becomes a good friend after you have worked to develop the relationship. It doesn’t simply happen after one encounter.

Brands need to stop concentrating on the media and concentrate on what has always mattered. The product and the customers. Creating great products and great relationships.

Keep it simple and stop interrupting people. Easy as that.

2009-12-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

I'm sure by now most people have seen the IKEA Facebook idea. If you haven't it's below.

So, why is this idea so good and why are so many people trying to copy it? Well, because it's simple.

It uses the functionality that already exists within Facebook, it isn't getting the audience to do anything complicated and it's not interrupting their usual activity.

As an industry everyone raves about "keeping it simple" yet we fail to do it on so many levels. This being a prime example. We need to realise that our ideas aren't going to change people's behaviours, our ideas need to be embedded into their existing behaviour. The IKEA idea takes something that people already do (tag photos) and uses this to their advantage.

I think the one thing that surprised me with this was that it hadn't already been done. Well, it had been proposed, just not on a large scale! I along with Adam & Dan presented an almost identical idea a few months ago. The target audience was different, as was the product but the idea was essentially the same. Tag, spread and create a buzz.

What we need to understand is that social networking sites are not different to real life. We speak to our friends; we share information with each other and we hang out. It's like chatting with your friends in the street.
.

Now, if I was having a conversation in the street with my friends, you wouldn’t walk up to me and interrupt our conversation or jump up and down in front of me trying to get me do something else. It would be plain rude and pretty annoying. This doesn't change online. I'm trying to socialise with my friends so stop interrupting me! Social networks are exactly what they say on the tin, a place to socialise. I don't want you trying to push your brands message in my face.

What would be the best way to get my attention? Simple. Give me something to talk about, give me a benefit, and give me something useful. Basically, what I wrote here. I'm not interested in joining your group or confessing my bread sins. If I was, I would have already done it. The point I'm trying to make is that we can't control people's behaviours online. We can't do it offline so why is online any different?

I think the important thing to realise is that majority of people that are engaging with social media do so without any deep understanding of what they are doing in marketing contexts. Many people are producing their own content without a critical understanding of user-generated content. This can be anything from Facebook groups, twitter tags and YouTube videos. They're doing it for kicks, for laughs and to say to their friends "look at this!" Not to spread your brands message. If your message is good enough it will spread organically.

I'm sure two of my friends won't mind me sharing this:

Why did they make this video?

For a laugh and to see how many people would watch it and find it funny.

Their aim wasn't to help Michael Buble sell more albums. However, this could be an after effect. If you watched the video and liked the song, you might end up purchasing it. Just because they understand how to use the technology doesn't mean that they understand the effects of what they are doing. Most social network users don't think about their information sharing practices or user content generation, they just do it. Brands need to create content that is worth sharing, talking about (or talking to) or re-creating. Simple.

This brings me back to my first point. We need to embed our ideas into existing behaviours. Create content that encourages engagement and interactivity without changing people’s behaviours. If it's a good enough idea it will spread itself, you can't control it. You can only plant it. Much like the IKEA idea. So let’s stop over complicating it, let’s keep it simple and let's stop interrupting people’s activities.

You're successful? Says who?

2009-12-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

picture via

I had an interesting conversation with a friend today regarding the definition of success His definition of success is different to mine, mainly due to cultural differences.

Being a British Muslim, I have a somewhat of diverse upbringing. I have values that I have acquired from my traditional Muslim upbringing but then I have grown up in a Western society so that has had a big impact on my life and often the two have conflicted and contradicted each other. The main problem is that there is a mixture of expectations placed on you by family, friends and society as a whole. All these have different definitions of success. Essentially you are trying to tick a lot of different boxes.

Societies and cultures define the meaning of success in different ways. In modern capitalist societies, success is normally defined by the outward indicators of wealth. Essentially, being wealthy is seen to be successful. However in a different culture, having a family and respect in the community is deemed successful as opposed to materialistic wealth (see South Asian communities).

In this situation individuals may live their life trying to be accepted by different segments of society and ultimately not achieve their individual goals or satisfy their ambitions in fear of failing one or the other. The perceptions held by members of society concerning an individual's level of success clearly influence how successful individuals actually regard themselves to be. Individuals may take decisions that do not in please themselves but may deem them to be more successful in the eyes of others.

So how do you actually define success? It is pretty much a grey area. One way I guess you could define it is through happiness. You could be struggling to get by in life in a financial sense but still be content and happy with life or you could be a millionaire and a manic depressive. So, which one is the success here? Ultimately I think success depends on what angle you look at and from which person’s viewpoint.

For me success is extremely difficult to define mainly for some of the reasons mentioned above!

Clever little hamsters.

2009-12-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

I recently saw this ad on the TV for Drench, the water brand. I thought it was fantastic!

A great example of a brand zagging, when I think of water ads I seem to recall mountains and people running. This completely takes a different approach, as viewers you stay locked in and want to see the whole thing. Brands need to do a lot at the current time to make them stand out, especially in a category such as water where there are so many competitors selling in essence, the same product. Brand personality is very important in this category. Hence the Evian baby ads.

What also occurred to me is that the ad still pushes the brands core goal, to keep people "drenched". You are reminded that staying drenched helps you perform better. Humour is all well and good but you it's all about the sales at the end of the day. In the worlds of David Ogilvy, "I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information." The Drench ad delivers the information and entertains at the same time.

On further investigation, they have seeded some rather humorous clips on YouTube. The clever hamster auditions. Although not as great as the mighty meerkat, they still go a long way in terms of engaging customers with the brand and adding the much needed fun element to staying hydrated. Something that can seem trivial for a lot of people, yours truly included.

A late addition to the post: just read they placed x-factor style ads in the Sun and the Metro for the clever hamster auditions. The tune from the ad will also be released in time for Christmas. Brilliant use of channels.

When brands play the lottery.

2009-11-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

Finger crossed. Via.

The lottery. Something that takes place on numerous occasions during the week and something that 1000's of people participate in. For what? Essentially a quick fix to their problems, you don't need worry about the bills or any of life’s other problems if you win it. You can make a lot of money quickly; after all, the draw takes seconds. The main problem however is that usually only one person wins, for the rest it's as the image indicates; it's about crossing their fingers for the following week.

Now, not everyone plays the lottery. There are other ways to get a yacht, a villa in an exotic location and some really nice sports cars. However, this takes a lot longer, a lot more work and can be more of a risk then £1. But who wants to do that?! Surely it is easier to put your money into a short term gain and hope for the best? You would think that wouldn’t you.

Being a advertising-y blog, I suppose I have to relate this to brands and show why it doesn't work. So here it is:

Often brands are in a position where not a lot is going right for them or they need a boost to their bottom line. So they take a gamble, obviously it costs a lot more than a £1 in this situation but essentially they are after the same result. Something that will elevate them from their current situation in a short period of time
.

picture via

A great example is Starbucks. A while back they bought out an instant coffee brand. This was done to grow Starbucks sales. Now, when you consider the whole point of going to Starbucks is to get a good coffee, surely instant coffee would damage the brand in the eyes of the consumer.

Instead of looking for ways to solve their core problems they continue to damage the brand by looking for a short term fix. Starbucks sales aren't suffering because people are buying instant coffee - they are suffering because Starbucks is expensive! They need to address this issue instead of gambling and hoping it works out. This is a recent attempt by Starbuck's. Much the same as the instant coffee idea in my opinion....

Brands need to realise that by l utilising these quick fix tactics for short term profit they are damaging their brand in the eyes of the consumer. If not in the present then definitely in the long run. Instead they need to focus on your core problems, improve their brands offering and understand the people who interact with their brand.

I'm now off to buy my lottery ticket ;)

Henry? That guy who...

2009-11-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

pic from

I've been busy the last few days so this post is a bit late in terms of writing. However it has been going around my head for a couple of days.

Now, the dust is beginning to settle on the Henry handball situation. One of the debates I have had with several of my friends is if this is what Henry will now be remembered for.

I refer back to the old story of service. If you get great service in a restaurant every time for a 100 visits, you may tell the odd person. However, if you get terrible service just the once, you tell ten people, who then tell ten people etc etc. Basically, one bad deed can ruin a brands reputation for good, people may never trust/use that brands product or service again. It also creates a knock on effect as people tell their peers.

Now, does this work in terms of brand Henry? Of course it does. Sure, he scored some screamers; he won the Premier league title and the world cup. He was once arguably the best player in the Premiership. However, the handball is without a doubt the most negative aspect of his career. Unfortunately for Henry it is extremely likely this is what people will talk about when they mention his name in years to come. Don't believe me? What is the first thing you think of when I say Maradona? Thought so.

Challenge the big guy!

2009-11-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

How do you measure up? Pic from.

Like many around the world I tuned in to see David Haye take on the giant, Nikolai Valuev. Haye was speedy, stuck to his tactics and placed his shots. Valuev did little or nothing, slow to react, threw the odd punch and ultimately hoped his sheer size would win the fight for him.

Now, I will be honest, I was surprised Haye won. He didn't really land many punches apart from one big one in the final round but he did something Valuev didn't do. He showed heart, confidence and dared to stand toe to toe with the big man.

It made me think about the market place that many brands operate in. They won't compete head on with the big market leader, the sheer dominance and size of the leader brand scares them, after all one blow could, in a sense could knock them out. So, instead they follow the leader brands footsteps and do little or nothing to take its customers.

What they should do instead is exploit the leader brands weaknesses. Be nimble and take risks. Larger corporations are slower to react to trends, less likely to take risks and in many markets will coast along as they don't think anyone call challenge their dominance. A great example is Virgin.Virgin Atlantic had less than a fifth of BA's marketing budget but, thanks to its aggressive and provocative advertising - as well as Sir Richard Branson's fondness for PR stunts - the challenger airline now has a high profile.

So, take one out of David Haye's book. Take on the big guys, they aren't as scary as they look. Even how hairy they are!

What makes a good planner? All in 140 characters please...

2009-11-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

picture via

Redscout’s SPUR video series is something of great interest to me and many others, I'm sure. Being a young planner "wannabe" it's interesting to see how experienced practitioners view the world of planning and how they think it will shape up in the future. I'm looking forward to future editions of the video series.

Here's a something I found particularly interesting:

"Planning was conceived as the thinking behind creativity. But the conventional planner has become a caricature: thinking in an ivory tower and post-rationalizing the doing of others. But today – as the industry, agency, and world-at-large have evolved – the definition of planning, and its future, is unclear."

Building on this thought, I recently asked some planners on twitter for their views on "what makes a good planner?” all in 140 characters. All the responses that I recieve will be added to this blog post, as and when I recieve them.....

All other responses are also welcome :)

Armano "Curiosity, excellent communication skills, an analytical mind, creative spirit and the ability to detect and synthesize patterns"

markhadfield "A good Planner is being able to provide more than 1 answer to this question, but throwing out the wrong ones and keeping the best." "(and to always have the last word. ;-) )"

jasonlonsdale "A great planner should be the trusted provocateur: strategically robust yet creatively inspiring; laser-focused yet open-minded"

Will_Humphrey "A good planner has the same qualities as a chinese finger trap."

FamousRob "There is rarely one 'correct' answer, but a great planner helps focus the thinking and creative work as close to it as possible."

katylindemann "A good planner should be interested as well as interesting, have an insatiable curiosity, and able to make the complex appear simple."

theplanninglab "A respectable planner combines strategic + creative excellence, and a positive can-do attitude with as little bullshit as possible."

VicHoon "Speaking as someone who works for planners, the most successful ones are curious polymath critical thinkers with an ability to wing it."

Manuel Stolte "a good planner feels and thinks like consumers and has the lead in knowledge of human nature..."

GabrielRossi "Understanding that marketing is a way of thinking rather than just a set of tools. Planning is jut part of the equation."

tarik "Passionate by people and their behaviors. Not afraid to cut the crap and fancy to please the only one opinion that matters: Consumer’s"

paulisakson " Furious curiosity, endless empathy, intelligent intuition, acute insightfulness and a fierce loathing for the status quo."

bud_caddell "A healthy ignorance of business as usual, little to no reverence for the past, and a desperate need to build the future."

johngriffiths7 "Someone who can find the shortest path between insight and execution and prevents egos getting in the way."

Adverplanner "Great Planners complete a rubik’s cube of trends, tech, insights & brand values so creatives can use it to create something amazing."

jo_vanna "Curiosity, digging skills of a detective, love of anthropology, ability to see and make conceptual connections, love of learning."

faris "Ask instead perhaps what planning is, and what makes it good. Then get really nice, really smart people and get them to do it."

chrisgallery "There are two kinds of people in advertising,those who simplify and those who complify. Good planners simplify,bad planners complify.Simple."

BenShaw "Being able to look at every aspect of life and apply data, insight and creativity to blow peoples minds away with brilliant ideas."

I've got a confession to make...

2009-11-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

Kingsmill confession's is really bugging me.

What were they thinking? Who has confessions about bread? The answer: not the majority of the people who buy the product, in fact, not many people in general!

The actual confessions on the site seem a bit forced, even fake. For example:

I lock myself in the stationery cupboard at work so I can enjoy my favourite sandwich in peace and quiet"

Here is some of the more "real" confessions that have been posted as comments on YouTube:

"I wipe the under side of my balls with kingsmill gold........it's very refreshing"

"Kingsmill confessions haven't posted mine up about me being a former employee that used to jizz in the dough."

"I wipe my arse on kingsmill.... its soft and very absorbent"

Well, I guess the last one isn't so bad. At least they got the message that the bread is soft.

People will remember this campaign for all the negative jokes it's generated not the actual confessions on the website.

Damage to the brand? I think so.

Engaging customers with your brand is important but I think a lot of brands need to assess if what they are doing is truly engaging. Good engagement is viral, you tell your friends, and you share it. I doubt confessing your bread sins on a website is something you would mention to your friends, unless you were telling them one of the jokes above.

The best advertising, is not advertising?

2009-10-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting point made by the AKQA founder Ajaz Ahmed, earlier this week.

I totally agree! Increasingly people are becoming more savvy. Blocking out advertising that doesn't benifit them. Advertising is seen all around us, yet how much of is actually taken it? How much of your marketing activity sells your product or service. After all isn't this the name of the game?

The best forms of advertising in this day and age is not advertising.

So how do you reach people now?

By being helpful and giving solutions.

By helping people connect with each other.

By creating genuine benifits.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it's not about creating campaigns that create short term gain for a brand, its about movements. This is done through creating relevent content that engages, answers problems and enhances peoples lives.

Creative planners?

2009-10-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

bridging the gap!

After some interesting conversations on twitter earlier today and of course having been to several large ad agencies over the last 3 years, I’ve been thinking about the agency of the future.

Integration is so important in advertising campaigns these days but what about integration in actual advertising agencies?

I’ve spoke to various “old school” type planners in the past month; they are working or have worked at some of the biggest agencies in the country. One thing they all echoed is that advertising is indeed changing and the roles will be next to change.

Advertising agencies will need people who can thing strategically and creatively.

The days of the pure left brain thinkers (planners) and pure right brain thinkers (creative’s) could be numbered. The new breeds of advertisers will infuse creativity with strategy.

They will bring strategic direction and art direction.

They will bring insight and creative flair.

Above all, they will design profitable yet appealing solutions.

One of the things that were said to me by a traditional planner is: your course is too far ahead of advertising. Basically, it is already producing “creative strategists” like me. I found it very difficult to put a label on what I do; I'm a strong creative but just as strong analytically. So I don't fit into any set agency role without losing one aspect of my skills. The larger, more traditional agencies don’t have room for us yet. They will have in 5 years when the changes have happened but until then we have to choose what we want to lose, creativity or strategy.

The type of role a creative planner would play was summed up nicely on Ivans blog over at adsoftheworld.com:

This guy brings to the table his knowledge and proficiency in understanding a client. Strategic thinking is definitely a pivotal part of this new role, but at the same time he can creatively interpret data coming from the client, and create a platform for the creative team. He gets a task from the client for which he creates an insightful brief. Then he briefs the creative team, giving them enough meat to create a campaign. The team then gets back to him with the solution, which he evaluates, keeping in mind the client's requirements and also the creative aspect. If satisfied, he presents the work to the client.

So what are your thoughts? Is this already happening? Does it need to start to happen?

New business ventures and brand marketing (rant #1)

2009-10-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

Picture via: http://www.startagardeningbusiness.co.uk

At 3 Monkeys No Banana we are often approached by small start-ups wanting marketing/branding advice and direction, which of course if fine. However what we seem to find is that we are undertaking a lot more than simply brand strategy, it turns into business strategy. A lot of businesses come to us with business problems and try to answer these through branding. Of course you can't solve an underlying business problem through brand strategy.

The most common problem for this seems to be the lack of understanding of the customer’s needs, they have a product or service yet know little in terms of how this is any different then an existing offering or how their particular product/service can fulfil a customers need, whether that be functional or emotional. It can be frustrating at times especially when the owner of the business doesn't see a need to carry out research or feels he/she knows enough through assumptions.

Every business should start by identifying its markets, primary and secondary. Finding out how their product benefits them, what their customers want, need, fear, live and breathe. I can’t see how you can start a business venture without having a deep understanding of who your customers are!

As marketers the first hurdle for us is convincing the client that simply creating a nice logo, print ad and slogan won't sell the product. One of the things we try to do is help them understand their value proposition and then devise and deliver a more defined and measurable strategy along with understanding their market, customers and innovative marketing techniques.

The worst thing, well most frustrating is when they have worked with "marketing" people before who are nothing more than bedroom graphic designers. The clients have the ideology that producing a few pieces of marketing literature that simply communicate the product and its features will gain sales and brand loyalty. Strategy defines your communications not creative. It takes a lot sometimes to drive this message home to business owners.

Ok, rant over.

Good old Confucius....

2009-09-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well apparently it's Confucius's birthday today or so the new Google logo of the day tells me.

So, I thought how Confucius's teachings can be relevent today, 2,560 years after his birth. Not as tough as you may think.

As this is a blog centred around all things brand, I got thinking and found one of his famous quotes:

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Now how can we apply this thinking to everyday brands? If we think of customers they are bombarded with advertising, it may be on the radio (I hear) on the tv or via the outdoors ( I see).

The one thing that non of these mediums can do is interact with them, yes we they can hear your great radio jingle or watch your amazing tv advert but the one thing that engages people more than anything is being a part of something!

Let's take a recent example, t-mobile. They created effective communication by involving their audience and engaging them with the brand both offline and online. This proves more effective then simply giving your audience a one way piece of communication. Interaction is king. The more your audience can connect with you, engage with your brand the stronger your message will be. I'm pretty sure the people in the video below will remember this for a much longer time then any other piece branded communication.

Remember, it was written over 2,000 years ago but it's as relevent today as it has ever been!

Create movements, not campaigns

2009-09-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

Where ever you look these days a similar trend is seen:

- Mediocre products
- Undifferentiated benefits
- Poor media placements
- Little or no ROI

So, you have to ask the question: why are brands still creating short term campaigns that give no benefit to their brand in the long term? The simple answer is to make quick bucks. In an environment where customers are more savvy, media tolerant and after the best deal, outwards campaigns do little or nothing to gain their loyalty. Brands need to create movements not campaigns. Loyalty cannot simply be achieved by short term tactics, strategies need to be created and implemented focusing on the customers core needs.

The best approach to this is using a multi channel strategy. Find the idea and then apply it across the mix. The one thing to bear in mind is, the mix doesn’t simply mean paste your message everywhere you can! Find out where your customers “hang out”, if it’s YouTube create video content, if it’s facebook, create facebook applications. Simply bombarding customers with your message isn’t the solution. As you can see from these examples, interaction is king. Let your customers do the talking and by all means join in, word of mouth is still the strongest form of advertising and this will create momentum for your brand. Brand building doesn’t happen with one campaign, it’s a continued effort, connecting with your customers on many platforms and not pushing the hard sale.

Small and furry is the way forward.

2009-08-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm waiting for the next furry animal to become an internet sensation....now taking bets!

Communication: then, now and back to then.

2009-07-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

The story starts many, many years ago when the first caveman invented the wheel. Let's call him Bob. So, one day Bob was carving his stone and suddenly he had an amazing idea, why not create a round object? Once he had created the round object he tested it, made sure it did what he wanted and then went and told his neighbour. Soon word spread of Bob's invention and everybody was using it, one to one interaction had communicated the message. Essentially advertising was born.

Skip forward a few years (well more than a few) and along comes Henry Ford. His way of reaching the masses is to use mass advertising, send one message out to everyone. Famously he said "you can have any colour as long as it's black." This was the same approach he took to communication, everyone got the same message, some took notice and responded whilst a lot didn't therefore a lot of waste.

Let’s skip again, this time to the present. Mass marketing has died, marketers have learnt to segment their audiences, select which communication portal they wish to use etc. However again, it doesn't please everyone; a lot of time is wasted. Suddenly, digital arrives on the scene. We can now contact people specifically and individually through emails, through social media and through digital word of mouth (online reviews, recommendations from peers etc.)

So from looking at this what does it show? It shows communication has took a big round circle and we are back to where we started, having the ability to talk to people on a one to one basis, as humans. As advertisers we have to seize this opportunity by creating a dialogue with people, and being transparent. I love companies who are using twitter to solve customer service problems, to interact with their customers and above all make the customers feel valued. This is the future (and the past I guess). People are more likely to engage with a brand through another human being, not through TV ads, pieces of paper or flashy logo’s. It’s time for companies to go back to the basic way of communicating, one to one. Well done Bob.

You sure?

2009-07-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

Saw this today whilst getting my dinner...obviously not the best when you can't even spell Staffordshire right! Pretty much the worst place you could make a mistake: the first line and your supposed claim to fame. Unlucky City Cabs.

The 3 Monkeys No Banana office.

2009-07-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

We've been working as an ad agency for just under two weeks now. Here's a few snaps from our cosy office.

Mine's the the messy desk, with the PC! it's is nice office, we are working with in punching distance of each other and the jukebox is always playing good music. Can't compain, especially when we aren't paying anything for it ;)

And I don't know why I'm under "not cool" on the cool wall, damn creative's!!

Forget the rules!

2009-07-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Recently whilst working at my mundane part time job I noticed a t-shirt a child was wearing, it had the above print on it.

Following the rules is something we are taught from an early age. If we break rules we will lose, if we break rules we will be punished. Once you start working in the big bad world you soon learn you have been lied to.

Rule breaking is what creates the next big thing; it’s what separates brand A from brand B. Rules are there to be pushed, broken and rewritten. This doesn’t just apply to the work we create, it’s not simply about being outlandish with a piece of communication but about pushing a brand to make decisions that will harness creativity & innovation. Of course, embracing and encouraging innovation should be a part of any brands long term strategy. However from my own experiences I have found you often have to nudge clients into taking risks and breaking rules in order to find the perfect solution to their problems, the sooner they see that rules ARE for fools the sooner they will taste success.

I am now looking for this t-shirt, so if anyone knows where I can get one, drop me a message ;)

Original?

2009-07-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

I saw this recently on the one size fits one blog by Anjali Ramachandran. It immediately struck a chord with me so I thought I would share it.

Well done Nike.

2009-07-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

It's being buzzing around a lot of blogs recently and on TV as the tour de France has been going on. Just thought I would share it in case you haven't seen it. It's a robot that chalks a message onto the ground along the route that the cyclists will be taking. The message can be anything. Users can submit their message via the net or sms and then they will be emailed a link showing their message if it is chalked by the robot. It's a great example of online and offline media integration, great idea, well executed and something that creates a lot of publicity for the brand. The only way this could have been improved is if you could get the image from your message printed on a t-shirt too. Maybe you can do this too and I simply haven't seen it.

Hopefully we will be seeing a lot more online/offline integration in the near future from lots of brands, well done to the people who come up with this idea, brilliant!

Christian aid, need some advertising aid.

2009-07-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

I've seen this outdoor ad (well something really similar to it) around a lot recently. It doesn’t work at all in my eyes. The copy is very weak and doesn't evoke any emotions. The call to action on the actual print points you online which I doubt many people are going to do. Being a charity ad you will assume that once you go online you are going to be asked to depart with your money. Which let’s face it, less people are willing to do at a time like this. The pull factor isn't there for the average Jo, when people are curbing their own spending, buying less, down grading, the last thing they are likely to think about is giving money to charity. Definitely the wrong approach.

Pro-activity gone banana's!!

2009-07-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

Right, just thought I'd give an update on what I've been doing since I graduated 2 weeks ago (seems so long ago). I'm in talks with a few agencies, a few people in different agencies too but it seems a long process in terms of getting a job so in the meantime I have begun working at:

wwww.3monkeysnobanana.co.uk

What is this you ask? It is a graduate agency started up and run by myself, Adam & Dan. They recently won best new blood for their great advertising portfolio at DNAD new blood. It's a mean of income, experience and pro-activity. We are currently working with a few companies and charities, creating advertising and doing bits of brand strategy too. So far it's going down well, work is coming in and we are having a good time in our own little office, the only bad thing being I'm stuck with a PC whilst they rock the Mac's!

My role is account management/account planning/new business. It's experience with real clients, real budgets and real briefs. Something that is invaluable when going into industry.

You can follow us via twitter: http://twitter.com/3MonkeyNoBanana

That's all for now :)

The best drink in the world!

2009-07-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's the tiredness talking as I type this blog post but Lucozade energy is the best drink in the world. Lets think about it:

- it does exactly what it says on the bottle - gives you energy!
- it tastes damn good!
- you can buy it for 89p everywhere!!
- It stops me from falling asleep

Not forgetting it has got me through so much at university and it's still powering me now, i've just done a week's work in around 6 hours, (will explain on my next post the reason why I had to do it in 6 hours) my hat comes off to Locozade energy, a brand that will alwaya be very dear to me :)

The 9 needs.

2009-07-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you read my previous post's regarding D&AD new blood you will know I met Jon Sayers, a genius copywriter at Publicis. Amongst the many interesting things I learnt in his workshop I felt this is one of the best one's to share: the 9 needs of customers. In every piece of communication one of these needs has to be covered, this is the only way the customer will take notice, and of course the more needs covered the better!

1. Make money

2. Save money

3. Save time/effort

4. Help the family

5. Feel secure

6. Impress others

7. Gain pleasure

8. Self improvement

9. Sense of belonging/belong to a group

I will definitely be checking against these points in the future when producing any work and you should too!

Not always how you see it.

2009-07-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite comedians without a doubt is Omid Djalili. I was watching this clip earlier and it made me think...whatever we create in advertising it can always be interpreted in a different way, maybe positively or negatively. It's always important we consider every meaning, zoom out and ask others for their view point before finalising anything...

New blood: day two, three and a summary.

2009-07-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Right, I'm back from new blood and in all it was a rather good experience!

Day two was busy, busy, busy! Plenty of agency folk, students and general interesting people floating around...I managed to make some good contacts and chat to some great creative teams. The work on show was great; some of the ideas where well thought out and really shows the quality of graduates coming out of university.

The highlight for me was beating Falmouth uni in the "advertising face off" hosted by shellsuit zombie. I pitched our idea to a crowd of about 50 students, it was received very well. This shows the quality of the course I have just finished, even though we are BA and they are an MA our idea was much stronger and won the face off...much to our delight!!

Leading on from this, everyone I talked to was amazed by our "cutting edge" course, the advertising & brand management course is structured in the same way agencies run. We work in bigger teams, often having an account manager, planner and two creative’s, something that no other course does. This gives us great strategic thinking and creative flair to....something that not many graduates can say they have. Just to give my case more backing, Adam & Dan (two creative’s I have worked with heavily) won the best blood award for having the strongest portfolio at the whole event! Well done to them guys and well done to our tutors for creating such a great course!

I also got to meet a rather interesting gentleman by the name of Jon Sayers...industry people may well know Jon very well. He has achieved a great deal during his writing career and now works at Publicis as a copywriter. We talked for hours, exchanged contact details and he invited me to Publicis to meet some planners and creative’s....watch this space for updates!

So overall a good experience, if anyone else attended, met me or wants to find out more about anything mentioned above, leave your comments below!

New blood - day one

2009-06-30T00:48:00.001-07:00

So finally got to new blood, setup went well and the opening night was really good. I've made a few good contacts already, for those of you who took my details, I hope to talk to you soon and if I took yours again I will be in touch asap!

Two shout outs or rather three to: Adam & Dan for picking up a new blood award for their portfolio and also for Rob from Nonsense London for taking the time out to come and talk to us and give us some brilliant feedback and advice, great guy :)

Right off to day two now!

Sent from my BlackBerry®

End of an era....

2009-06-22T08:41:00.001-07:00

I got my results today, ended up with a 2:1, so now I'm officially a graduate. It's been a good 3 years, ups, downs and plenty of good times. I have learnt an awful lot during my time at uni, not only about advertising but also about myself, I've developed a lot of my core skills and definitely improved as a person. However as one door closes another opens...bring on the world of work!

New blood is next week so if anyone is attending please come say hi, I'm at stands 4-5 with some of the good looking people you see in the image below ;)

Have you spotted a transformer?!

2009-06-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Im loving the marketing behind the new transformers movie thats coming out! Online blogs have been set up where the writers of the blogs post videos/photos of recent transformer sightings! The amatuerish films really make it appealing, great stuff. Its creating a lot of hype around the movie with thousands of people viewing the blogs.

Its a great way to interact with the fans, with many fans interacting with the writers of the blogs by writing their own theories and stories, a simple idea executed well, good work!

The blogs are:

http://www.gianteffingrobots.com/

http://www.therealeffingdeal.com/

Video of the week

2009-06-18T09:35:00.001-07:00

A masseur who specialises in rubbing down models would prefer a nice boring desk job.

Created for internet provider UOL, this viral has been second only to Susan Boyle in views recently.

Nick Griffin and his eggs

2009-06-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

My late chipshop awards entry :D

New blood around the corner...

2009-06-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

I am at stands 4 and 5 - to the left of the main entrance at new blood! If your attending make sure you come say hi, will be free food at the stand too ;)

Currently reading...

2009-06-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Much like my "video of the week" posts im going to be posting what Im reading at the current point in time, once finished I'll give it my professional verdict :D

So lets get the ball rolling, the first entry is:

The joy of graduation?

2009-06-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

So...its nearly that time in my life when I should be smiling and be looking forward to getting into the world of work, my graduation is scheduled for next month. However having met some of the graduates from last year earlier this week, the world of work (or lack of) seems a bit bleak!

Many are still going from placement to placement, others have changing career paths and a few have landed a job. It s a hard time to be coming into the world of work, competition is not only coming from this year’s graduates but also last year’s graduates and people who may have lost their jobs!

Now is the time to shine thought, persistence is the key, hard work and dedication has never been so important. So to everyone graduating this year, good luck, we are all in the same boat! Don't give up and I might even bump into some of you at an interview in the future ;)

Mainstream social networking.

2009-06-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

2009 is going to be a big year for all brand communications, the recession is here to stay for a long time, customers are less trusting and brands are dying left right and centre. However on the bright side (if there is one) more and more brands are beginning to become more transparent to their target audiences using social media networks.

One of the recent examples has been the integration of twitter into mainstream media, such as TV. The Conservative leader David Cameron recently used twitter to field questions from the general public and is planning to use YouTube to update the public regarding legislations and changes in the law. Another example of public services using it has been the Boston police, updating their twitter feeds to show the kind of work they do on a regular basis – at the time writing they had 4,419 followers which goes to show people do care! This isn’t just restricted to non profit organisations though, MTV are looking to bring out “a talk show format show inspired in part by late-night programming, with topics ranging from movies and music to the latest YouTube sensations to to see if their singing, dancing, or other oddball talents are for real. And there will be no screaming crowds in Times Square. Instead, there will be tweets."

Mainstream media is starting to become influenced by social media, from creating stars over night (Susan Boyle) to keeping the public up to date with the latest laws. Now is the time for all brands to embrace social media and use it to gain a deeper connection with its audience. There are millions of opportunities out there, restaurants can advertise their latest deals, suppliers communicate in real time with their clients, and game companies can show off their latest products or why not go one step further? Use social media to advertise a publicity stunt for a brand, Lucozade are planning to get a lucky (or not so lucky hmmm?) individual to carry out some of the toughest physical challenges around the globe and tweet/blog/YouTube their experiences. A simple idea, which if executed well will create a lot of exposure for the brand.

As a creative and forward thinking industry it is time to embrace cross media integration and really communicate brands in a way that appeals to consumers and embraces the social media culture, so....what are you waiting for?! Get the ideas flowing 

Video of the week!

2009-05-30T04:55:00.001-07:00

Love this apprentice spoof done by cassetteboy on Youtube, thanks to http://adamlowecreative.blogspot.com/ for showing it to me ;)

Feeling lazy?

2009-05-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.readitfor.me/

A billion brilliant business books (or so) pave the road to the cover of Fortune. But who has time to read and remember them all? ReadItFor.me does it for you. This idea packed, weekly podcast reveals the best takeaways and instantly applicable ideas from the world’s best business brains.

Its a pretty good site, check it out and learn quicker then you ever have before!!!

Race against time

2009-05-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

This is going around twitter a lot at the moment, two planners are writing an APG paper in 24 hours and streaming their efforts live for all to see. If you haven't seen it yet:
1. where have you been for the last day?!

And 2. check it out now!!

http://www.twoplannersinaroom.com/

I know your sick of reading about Susan Boyle but......

2009-05-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

Like thousands across the world, I have watched Susan Boyle on YouTube, probably more than once. An old spinster from Scotland has literally become a global phenomenon overnight. While watching the show on Monday night, it got me thinking...what can brands learn from Susan Boyle?

To find out we have to dig deeper then the champion of the Susan Boyle brand, yes her voice is amazing but what has really caught the public’s affection is the STORY behind Susan Boyle. This is idea is what brands have to take on board, simply the product will not sell itself, if we had simply heard Susan Boyle's voice and not seen the woman, been exposed to her life and bubbly personality we will not have been as affectionate towards her as we are.

If we had heard Susan’s voice over the radio, with no picture we may not have felt the same affection towards Susan as we do now. The reason? The back-story behind Susan Boyle. Without knowing that she had such a sad and hard life before coming onto Britain’s got Talent, the majority of her fans would be nonexistent. Although the selling point of her brand is her voice, without telling a story it wouldn’t differentiate her from a lot of the competition (well apart from DJ talent!).

The lesson we can learn is that a brand has many competitors, selling similar products, some may even be superior products but the brand that has the most compelling story, the one that connects with the consumer and creates an emotional response is the one that will prevail.

Are you a genius?

2009-05-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

Video of the week....

2009-05-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

I thought I would start posting my "video of the week", this being the first week I thought I'd start with a video that always keeps my attention throughout, one of my hero's and a legend in everyone's eyes, the greatest of all time....MUHAMMAD ALI!!!! enjoy :)

M&S: quality worth every penny?

2009-05-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

The new Marks & Spencer's campaign went live recently, re-positioning themselves as the retailer that offers the best quality to its customer. I'm not too convinced though..after seeing the outdoor ads dotted around town it comes across as a weak attempt to regain the loyalty of customers who have long since jumped ship to a cheaper retailer. The ads consist of the strap line with a product shot in the back, it doesn't distinguish M&S in anyway, the same products can now be purchases at any retailer and most probably at a cheaper price!

Having done my dissertation on "consumer loyalty during the recession" I found that a lot of consumers don't see the quality differences between the supermarkets, it isn't a strong message to push forward. This campaign does little but to re-in force what the brand is already trying to say - we sell quality foods, however most consumers won't think they are worth every penny especially during such tough economic times.

The TV ad features a celebrity (twiggy) taking a trip down M&S memory lane, something that has been done to death (Hovis!!). Even though the 1p bazaar is going to pack M&S stores this won't bring back customers regularly, M&S needs a new strategy to push forward as a brand, not copy others and become a me to business and not get into a price war with the cheaper retailers. This definitely isn't the M&S of a few years ago and this definitely isn't the "my M&S" campaign.

For people who don't like water but like funny Japanese ads

2009-05-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this yet its definitely one to watch, the Japanese style adverts that appear now and again (most memorably the 3 adverts from years ago) always make and impression and you always want to watch it again. It works for me, its funny, its viral and above all I now know oasis is for people who don't like water and love great giant ducks, cant wait see the rest of the campaign, good work from Mother yet again!

Final year assessments.

2009-05-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

The last few ajustments were made today for the assessments tommorrow, marking the end of my uni career, Its been a good few years, learnt a lot, had a lot of laughs and made a lot of good freinds that i'm sure I will know for years to come! Just got graduation to come in July and then I am officialy a "graduate".

Here's a few shots of my work from the day, not very good shots but shots non the less. On another note, there was a reporter from the uni press, who took photos of me and the Sofa Design team and interviewed us about the project, we are going to feature in the uni newspaper and some local press publications....5 minutes of fame here we come!

Blackberry ad

2009-05-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

I have to say having a BlackBerry has changed my life, for the better in my opinion, however some tend to disagree as Im alwayyyys on it!

Anyway to hell with them! Heres a scamp that every BlackBerry owner will agree with :D

Im some new blood!

2009-05-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

I will be at the DNAD new blood exhibition this year, displaying some of my advertising work. Hopefully it will be a good event for all attending, plenty of young creative talent and plenty of industry people taking a look around!

If your going to be attending, I'd love to hear from you. DNAD are doing some crazy photo collage/image thing on their website, any who here's the link to mine: http://newblood.dandad.org/#538

Apprentice and Margate

2009-05-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

If anyone didn’t watch this week’s task it was to rebrand Margate as a holiday resort/destination for British people. The two teams both pitched different ideas, one aiming at the family market whilst the other aiming it at the gay market.

Ok, choosing the target market is all good and well but am I the only one who gets frustrated at watching the contestants lack of creative thinking? Creativity is a key skill anyone needs who wants to be successful, especially in these tough times; creativity solves problems, creates profit and engineers new companies. What’s even more frustrating is that I could do a better job than the candidates did and that is exactly what I am going to do....

New one day brief: rebrand Margate!

Watch this space!

Twit-job

2009-05-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Riding the Twitter tidal wave, a Dutch marketing agency is asking job applicants to apply in 140 characters or less.

Utrecht-based Energize is looking to hire an account manager and a strategic planner, and has designed an application form that looks exactly like a page on Twitter, including an empty text field. Candidates enter a short message-their "twillicitatie", or twapplication-describing why they're the person for the job, plus their email address and Twitter username. Uploading a resume is optional. For privacy reasons, Energize won't publicly tweet the applicant's message.

While it might seem like a gimmicky way to recruit new staff members, the process highlights that Energize is looking for people who actively use social media. More importantly, by forcing them to be both engaging and succinct, it's the perfect way to test a candidate's writing skills. Quite the time-saver for the hiring manager, too ;-) (Related: Dating profiles in 140 characters or less.)

Website...

2009-05-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

My website is finally up! Its a bit basic as of yet but it has my work and contact details on there...which is always a plus! Please take a look if you get chance and let me know what you think. All feedback is welcome :)

www.shibplus.co.uk

My CV..

2009-04-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

So, thought i'd write a CV....

http://tiny.cc/DQen8

Any feedback welcome :D

Stoke-on-Trent....

2009-04-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

I randomly went on "msn local" and typed in where I live...as you do, and heres what came up:

"Close-knit, inner city and manufacturing town communities, Older families living in suburbia, Older people living in social housing with high care needs, Younger families living in newer homes, Low income families living in estate based social housing, Upwardly mobile families living in homes bought from social landlords, People living in social housing with uncertain employment in deprived areas"

Really sells Stoke-on-Trent eh?

All about my business...

2009-04-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

I can finally be a fully professional account manager now (checking my emails on the go and all that!) My blackberry curve arrives Tuesday...well according to the guy on the phone.

It was a hard choice, the iphone is so cool but the prices are not so cool, oh well looks like I will have to wait until I have a job to join the iphone club....until then Blackberry all the way :D

Tanning in your home....

2009-03-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you have read about this but it's a funny site! Tanning in the comfort of your own home....the worst thing is I can imagine some people sitting there and actually thinking they are getting a tan :D

http://www.mystique.net/cybertan.htm

How to get work done....

2009-03-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

These are all things that have helped me come up with ideas at some point during this semester....feel free to add any that work for you!

Drink a bottle or two (ok sometimes three) of Lucozade energy

Watch some funny video's on youtube

Be the Youtube DJ for the rest of the studio...requests are welcome!

Suggest putting the client in a Cadbury's eyebrows style viral video during a brainstorm

Go get an overpriced smoothie from across the road

Try to make a human sofa that can seat two people (I wouldn't advice this one!)

Phone up competitors and pretend your someone rich

Have stupid debates....that have nothing to do with what your ment to be doing (this works well!)

Throw a ball around the studio

Haha hope this doesn't make me sound like an idiot and unproductive but sometimes the best ideas come when your not actually trying to find them!

Just as I was thinking of business card designs....

2009-03-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

this is interesting....

http://www.luxury-insider.com/Current_Affairs/post/2008/01/Handshake-Ring-Challenges-Business-Cards.aspx

Apprentice apprentice apprentice!!

2009-03-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Im sure im not the only one looking forward to the launch of the new apprentice series, with the first episode airing tonight everyones going to be picking their favorite to win and im sure many arguments/debates will occur around the subject in the following weeks!!

Last year saw an advertising brief for the contestants too, they were tasked with developing and pitch a perfume idea, I wonder if there will be any this year hmmm?

Busy, busy, busy!

2009-03-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much time to keep this thing updated....the workload at uni is starting to mount up!

However I have started making my website which should be live by the end of next week, fingers crossed :)

Shib

Welcome!

2009-02-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome to by blog! Im Shib, a young creative strategist....im currently in my final year of uni in a dynamic course called advertising and brand management. It has given me a 360 approach to the industry, I am a strong creative and also a strong strategist. I have learnt several different techniques to create ideas and looked at many different approaches to implementing a brands strategy in a creative and design led manner. Actions speak much louder then words so I will post up my work soon via my blog, well atleast until I finish my website!

Keep reading :)