Remember when Prince’s “1999″ was the focal point of your plans for an end of the century party!
That’s right – The golden era of the 80s when we watched Fraggle Rock, wanted to change our name to JEM, wished we were a Goonie, got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide, held all our birthday party’s at McDonald’s, wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks, sported super cool mullet’s and we ‘wired for sound’ at all times.
PSYCHE!
Well it’s not the 80’s anymore but if there’s one thing that survived all those years it’s probably your tennis whites.
So time to dust them off and get into the Wimbledon craze with a twist at THAT club on July 4th.
An outdoor terrace of Greenwich’s THAT Club will be turned into a lawn court with staff in 80s tennis gear and ‘serving’ up five sorts of Pimm’s.
Also, a culture crumbs endorsed match will be played between midget players in John McEnroe wigs. Take that the 80’s!
4 JULY, THAT club, 338 Boord Street, SE10, thatclub.com, 10p,-6am tube: North Greenwich.
Oh how long I have idealized forgone days of revolutions and fighting for a collective cause.
People no longer ‘live’ in society but rather wake up each day to just exist in it.
It’s time we turn our manicured brows to a new way forward – a cultural upsurging so great it will have Mr. Marx doing summersaults in his grave!
Today is that day and that way forward is embodied within The Chap manifesto: Society has become sick with some nameless malady of the soul.
Pleasantness and civility are being discarded as the worthless ephemera of a bygone age – an age when men doffed their hats to the ladies, and small children could be counted upon to mind one’s Jack Russell while one took a mild and bitter in the local hostelry.
Instead, we live in a world where children are huge hooded creatures lurking in the shadows; the local hostelry has been taken over by a large chain that specialises in chilled lager, whose principal function is to aggravate the nervous system.
The Chap proposes to take a stand against this culture of vulgarity.
We must show our children that the things worth fighting for are not the latest plastic plimsolls but a shiny pair of brogues.
We must wean them off their alcopops and teach them how to mix martinis. Let the young not be ashamed of their flabby paunches, which they try to hide in their nylon tracksuits – we shall show them how a well-tailored suit can disguise the most ruined of bodies.
Finally, let us capitalise on youth’s love of peculiar argot and only replace their pidgin ghetto-speak with fruity bons mots and dry witticisms.
It is time for Chaps and Chapettes from all walks of life to stand up and be counted. But fear not, ye languid and ye plain idle: ours is a revolution based not on getting up early and exerting oneself – but a revolution that can be achieved by a single raised eyebrow over a monocle; the ordering of a glass of port in All Bar One; the wearing of a particularly fetching cardigan upon a visit to one’s bookmaker.
In other words: a revolution of panache.
We shall bewilder the masses with seams in our trousers that could cut paper, trilbies angled so rakishly that traffic comes to a standstill; and by refusing the bland, watery substances that are foisted upon us by faceless corporations, we shall bring the establishment to its knees, begging for sartorial advice and a nip from our hip flasks.
And what better way to kick off this revolution then with an afternoon of sportsish based activities from Cucumber Sandwich Discus to the marathon length of one’s moustache!
So get out there and start the panache revolution!
Thought that everybody is already on Facebook? Surely it’s slowing down and people are looking for the next big thing? Apparently not.
Facebook has now taken 3rd place in the rankings of the UK’s most visited sites from Yahoo with 23.4m unique visitors in April (NMA, 18th June 2009).
The same article also points out that in that same time period Facebook also increased its users by 63%, so not only are loads of people visiting, loads of new people are still signing up too.
Jeepers.
It won’t be long before the only reason you’re not on Facebook is because you’re dead – and even then you’re probably still going to be on as you won’t be around to delete your profile.
So, what does all this mean for marketing – well, in my view, it’s just another channel to be used as and when the time is right.
You don’t have to be super clever and make a super duper app for a brand to be on Facebook, nor do you need to actually make a fan page and get people to be your friends.
You could, but you could also just use it to hit your target in a place where you know they are, with something interesting, and treat it for what it is, another channel.
Something else that caught my eye this week was the campaign for the new Transformers movie (NMA again), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, out this Friday if you didn’t know – Megan Fox, hmmm.
Anyway, they’ve really gone to town with a campaign that includes, viral, mobile, red button TV, augmented reality ads (remember Yorkshire Tea, from last week) and Playstation Home advertising – not sure if anybody actually uses this other than once however, really rather pointless IMO, although I’m ‘probably’ a ‘bit’ old!
The website is really good and has a Robotize me feature – me as Optimus Prime attached, nice! It’s a nice campaign with really high production values and let’s face it everybody wants to be a robot. Roll out.
iPhone apps of the week
1. Not strictly an app, but it’s got to be the 3.0 software this week, if you haven’t got it yet get on iTunes and update, it came out last night – it adds everything that the iPhone has been crying out for since it’s launch and more, and best of all its free.
2. Tentfinder – genius idea. Allows you to log the location of your tent at this summers festivals using the GPS in your iPhone and then get directions back when your pissed later, it’s even got a built in torch – super genius.
Obviously you could also use it to find your car in a carpark if you’re a girl. £1.19
Fetaured in the marketing press today (Marketing Week) is a letter from Justine Clement, Managing Director of incentives agency Unmissable talking about how Hula Hoops have got this on-pack promotion right.
Hula Hoops is back on TV to advertise an exciting new on-pack promotion, an interactive website and a new TV advertising campaign.
Launching in July, the campaign from United Biscuits UK will ensure Hula Hoops is the star performer for retailers this summer.
The £78m brand is launching the Golden Hoop Film Awards campaign to encourage consumer participation and, simply get them to do what they usually do when they pick up a pack of Hula Hoops, to put them on their fingers and play with them!
The promotion encourages consumers to take inspiration from the TV campaign and have finger fun with Hula Hoops, challenging them to produce a creative short film using only their fingers and Hula Hoops to win a holiday for a family of four to Hollywood.
This competition has been designed to engage consumers and generate mass consumer awareness.
Helen Warren-Piper, Marketing Director of Bagged Snacks at United Biscuits, comments:
“Hula Hoops is a well established brand with a loyal following.
This new TV advertising campaign, along with the on-pack promotion will drive further consumer participation with the brand and will provide retailers with increased sales opportunities.”
Consumers can make their miniature film up to two minutes long and should then upload it onto the dedicated Hula Hoops website www.hulahoops.comwhere members of the public will vote for their favourite films.
The top 100 voted films will then be short listed and an expert judging panel will decide on the lucky winners who will win a family holiday to Hollywood.
There will also be a people’s award for which consumers will have complete control over who will win. In addition to this, all voters will be entered into a daily prize draw to win pocket camcorders!
United Biscuits’ £1.5m marketing campaign promoting the Hula Hoops competition, which includes TV advertising, will be on air from the start of July.
The advertising campaign will see the return of the much-loved brand to TV screens with brand new puppetry inspired films.
Each will have a tag at the end promoting the Golden Hoop Film Awards initiative and will drive sales for retailers.
The competition will be communicated across 50 million handypacks and multipacks, on the dedicated Hula Hoops website and via targeted consumer PR.
The massive consumer awareness generated by this TV and online marketing campaign will provide retailers with increased sales and profit opportunities.
Helen Warren-Piper continues:
“Currently sales are up 15%. Hula Hoops is a much-loved, iconic brand which appeals to a wide range of consumers.
This memorable advertising campaign will capture the imagination of consumers and encourage them to get involved.
Retailers should stock up now to ensure they make the most of this great exposure and cash in on the incremental sales opportunities this campaign will drive.
Biggest news in tech/digital this week is the announcement of the launch of the new iPhone 3GS (arriving 19th June) and the 3.0 software (arriving 17th June) for iPhone 3G and iPhone. The 3GS is, as the name suggests, an upgrade to the 3G with very similar specs but with a few nice additions, the S stands for Speed, so as you’d expect its faster to use.
The new bits are:
a built in compass – so now maps can really show you were you’re going rather than just where you are,
an improved camera – its now 3MP and has autofocus and the ability to film and edit video,
voice control – you can now voice dial and in fact control lots of parts of your iPhone just by talking to it
Other than that its pretty much like an iPhone 3G running the 3.0 software, which has added lots of new functionality and is a free upgrade when it’s released next week. The new software adds the following stuff:
Cut, Copy, Paste – system wide, you can copy a web address and paste it to mail to forward on for example
MMS
SMS forwarding
Multiple images can now be attached to emails or in fact MMS
System wide spotlight search – helps you find email, apps, contacts, SMS etc
Voice Memo app
More access to the app store – you can download movies and audiobooks plus redeem vouchers from the iPhone
Landscape keyboard in Mail, Notes, SMS etc
Push notifications for apps
Find my iPhone – if you’ve a MobileMe subscription and you lose you iPhone you can now log in and its location will show on a google map – you can then send it a message and if necessary wipes its data
The bad news though is that unlike last time there is no free upgrade for existing iPhone users at the moment – you need to pay to end your contract and start again if you’ve an iPhone 3G and want a new one. This has really annoyed the geeks on Twitter with #O2Fail currently trending as a hot topic, and O2 getting a bashing on their own Twitter feed, @O2. It’s only a matter of time before a ‘Aren’t O2 bastards’ Facebook group appears.
Online Campaign of the week
Thanks to James for spotting this one – Yorkshire Tea. Go to John’s Cuppaand click on a on the Nav bar. As well as top tea tips, the John’s Cuppa section features the ability to use your webcam to have your very own John Shuttleworth appear on your box of Yorkshire Tea. Best to experience it rather than me explain so check it out. There’s a forum coming soon also making yorkshiretea.co.uk the best place to go for all your tea based discussions. Smashing.
iPhone App of the Week
Your Reebok (Free)- an app that lets you design and then go online to order your very own customised pair of Reebok trainers – would be better if you could order direct from the app, but you can’t have everything can you.
So – in searching for this weeks culture crumbs I entered a conversation with soon to be Mrs. Foster aka (P to the IP!) who asked me ‘like b-rye, ver is ur culture crumbs kause dey are like soooooo camp and I totally wanna see what is happening dis week my girlfriend!’ and I was soooo like ‘well duh – Being gay is totally the new coolest thing!! so that’s why I’ve decided to write the gayest cultural crumbs ever! I’m so excited I can feel my poopenschafte tingling!’
And- only a little while longer to wait as my personal spiritual savior and the voice of Austrian youth TV will be showing his bulging muscles and gigantic schawasenstucke on screens all across the UK BRUNO!!
Sasha Baron Cohen (BORAT) returns with a new sociopolitical satire that will of course be nothing short of brilliant on July 10th so get out there and see it!
I often wish that if all people were just a little more camp the world would be such a better place. Just think that if house music was around in the 30’s World War II probably wouldn’t have even happened!!
These are challenging times for FMCG brands, as consumers take a tighter grip on their shopping baskets. Marketing invited category experts to debate the key challenges at a roundtable discussion in association with Yahoo!
Am I the only one feeling a little disappointed that the only conclusion to the ‘Opening Up FMCG’ feature’ (Marketing, 10th June) is that brands need to have ‘communications ideas at the heart of their strategy and engage with consumer in a relevant and appealing way’? Surely, this as a given for brands and their agency partners, and has been so for quite some time?
That said, it was good to read of brands being discussed as ‘facilitators’ - with the challenge being to find those ‘extra dimensions for interaction’ through which consumer can engage with them. And that leads back to an insight-driven core communications idea from which all TV, digital and of course sales promotion (had to get that one in there) will spring.
Without that any budget is wasted. Simple really, isn’t it?
Remember when Prince’s “1999″ was the focal point of your plans for an end of the century party!
We launched the new on-pack promotion for McCoy’s – Win Gadgets – at UB’s head office last Friday.
The website is really good and has a Robotize me feature – me as Optimus Prime attached, nice! It’s a nice campaign with really high production values and let’s face it everybody wants to be a robot. Roll out.
Fetaured in the marketing press today (Marketing Week) is a letter from Justine Clement, Managing Director of incentives agency Unmissable talking about how Hula Hoops have got this on-pack promotion right.
The £78m brand is launching the Golden Hoop Film Awards 
Online Campaign of the week
So – in searching for this weeks culture crumbs I entered a conversation with soon to be Mrs. Foster aka (P to the IP!) who asked me ‘like b-rye, ver is ur culture crumbs kause dey are like soooooo camp and I totally wanna see what is happening dis week my girlfriend!’ and I was soooo like ‘well duh – Being gay is totally the new coolest thing!! so that’s why I’ve decided to write the gayest cultural crumbs ever! I’m so excited I can feel my poopenschafte tingling!’