Simply Because

Time For Change

The fields roll by like rose-petal confetti as the sun winks its last goodbye of the day. Much like Sam Beckett this leap is not going to be the leap home, but a leap into the unknown. Okay semi-known - I’ve been here before on an experiential marketing roadshow for E-On called Brand Transition. To emphasise E-On’s switch to renewable sources (they were then in the process of developing one of the largest wind farms in Europe) we created a buzz around saving energy, with a prize to have a bash at a game called Wind of Change (a la The Crystal Maze only without Richard O’Brian doing his Norman Bates bit about Mumsie. which would, let’s face it, have given the kiddies a bit of a scare).

Anyhoo, I digress. I was thinking about this roadshow and particularly it’s title as I read an article about plans to build a solar power station in the Sahara. Twenty blue chip German companies (of which E-On is one) are debating a £400 billion investment to cover 0.3% of the Sahara with Solar panels – enough to provide electricity for the whole of Europe.

Twenty blue chip German companies (of which E-On is one) are debating a £400 billion investment to cover 0.3% of the Sahara with Solar panels – enough to provide electricity for the whole of Europe.

I for one, and I’m sure a lot of you guys reading this will agree with me, hope this goes ahead. We are fast approaching the tipping point as far as climate change goes, and a direct current link to a sea of solar panels in one of the hottest and brightest areas of the earth is something that leading environmentalists like George Monbiot have been urging for years. Finally leading energy firms are seeing the value of such an enterprise. Even if you have your business hat on and forget the ethics of renewable energy sources, imagine the positive marketing opportunities for energy suppliers who can confidently lay claim to being responsible for saving the planet?  Whichever hat you have on (and you can leave it on if you’re wafting it coquettishly at a slathering audience) this could truly herald a wind of change.

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Posted by Pawan on June 30, 2009

Transformers 2 , can Friday come quick enough!!!!

Of course the other problem with all this lovely weather is that it brings out the Transformers and do they bother with factor 30 suncream, do they heck, it’s straight in there with the engine oil!!!

So, the curious and impatient child in me is counting down the days til I have enough pocket money to go and see Transformers 2 this Friday. After the first with it’s breathtaking special effects and excellent work by Mr Shia Labeouf and Miss Megan Fox, I was hooked. From all accounts Michael Bay has pushed the boundaries yet further with this second instalment and if it were not for the fact that I am located in a peaceful Starbucks, I would scream out loud!!!  Ah what the hell…........, sorry luv, you’d almost finished it anyway!!!!

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Posted by Josh on June 24, 2009

Ronaldo Versus The World

Now what sort of football fan would I be if I let the transfer of the summer slide by with absolutely no comment at all? Being an ardent Liverpool fan I was obviously overjoyed to see Ronaldo make plans to disappear from these shores, if only for the purely selfish reason that it might give us a greater chance of winning the Premier League.

Imagine my alarm, then, when I see reports this morning that Ronaldo’s agent is wrangling for improved personal terms. Apparently £200,000 per week after tax isn’t quite enough for Rocket Ronnie. He is allegedly demanding 55% of his image rights (Real Madrid normally only go as high as 50%) to potentially take his earnings to over £550,000 per week.

It is hardly a rude awakening (for all you old-school wrestling fans, I’m sure you’ll see the similarity between Ronaldo and Ravishing Rick Rude, below) that football clubs in the top divisions are no longer just that. They are global brands competing in a free market to attract new support, new business and ultimately new success. This is the whole ethos behind Real Madrid’s Galactico policy. Madrid’s President Florentino Perez understands the high marketing potential of world famous players playing in the same team. Given the nature of Ronaldo’s fresh demands, the questions remain: Will Ronaldo’s team mates take kindly to his lofty opinion of himself? Will Real’s captain, Raul, allow Ronaldo to take his number 7 shirt? Can these two huge brands gel? Come August when the season starts we’ll certainly find out.

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Posted by Pawan on June 18, 2009

Is it a bird? Is it a plane or maybe even a UFO???

Incredibly, has’nt it been warm and glorious this week, many people caught off-guard looking upwards at this strange spherical bright, yellow object suspended in the sky, I later learned on a news channel was indeed the sun!!!

As with the Great British tradition, sun creams are flung in the opposite direction as people strip themselves of their now uneccessary clothing, knowing that every minute counts in this country, you could get down to your last sock to be greeted by hailstones!!!

However the marketing guys for suncreams have apparently done their job this year with an increase in awareness of lets say the obvious dangers of skin cancer that people that people are all too ignorant of. I truly am a convert, practically marinating myself in the stuff, well they now tell me the sun ages me!!!, cant have that now…

So again we are led to believe that this will be another excellent summer, that is after the predictions for the last 2 years that were given by some guy called Noah who had an extremely large boat, even bigger than Roman Abranovich’s!!!  I must be honest I have a feeling that this year could be the one, if wonderful summers are indeed cyclic then I’m pretty sure we’ve done a full 360 on this one.

On that note I will be dragging out my bicycle from the garage, propping it against the fence where I’m sure I will admire it from afar, admire it from afar and you guessed it admire it ........... Ah well, think of all the calories used in getting it out from the garage, a keen athlete me, just don’t know when to put the exercise regime away!!!

So for all of you, like me, who are feeling the pinch from this annoying economic slump, rejoice I feel there may be more than a glimmer of hope of a beautiful summer this year, Yeayyyyyy…......

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Posted by Josh on June 17, 2009

Though You Die La Republic Lives On

For those of you who are already slightly alarmed, I quote the great Gary Johnston:
“I promise I will never die”.

But it was another Matt Stone and Trey Parker creation that had me buzzing when I got home after a marathon train journey on Sunday night. After a hard time in Brighton suffering problems that not even those dudes who took refuge in the Los Angeles underground could solve (they still exist there today as soldiers of fortune, you know) I was glad to be going home.

Yet, as my fellow blogger Liam says, the thing about event marketing is that you make the best of it and, if making the best of it takes it out of you, the South Park boys will whip you up in a comedy maelstrom so you not only pack up your troubles in your old kit bag but you give them a hefty kick out of the window for good measure. I am, of course, referring to soggy old Gregory’s fine call to arms.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the film I include the link below, but for those of you unaware of South Park or have sensibilities that are easily offended I should probably add a word of caution (although by their standards this is pretty tame stuff. Just ask John Travolta and Tom Cruise).

So though the rain comes down
In buckets on my head
And we don’t hear a sound
As the promenade is dead
And when the calls abound
As to what is going on
Though we cry The Republic lives on.

Vive La Republic!

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Posted by Pawan on June 10, 2009

There’s something behind you….....!!!!

Its Monday afternnon and there is a distinct chill in the air, the sun dominantly rules the blue sky above me with what little cloud there is beating a cowardly retreat as if they had mutated into surrendering white flags, so warmth there was!, however the odd dramatic shiver accompanied me like a dark shadow…....

So the scene is set, before me the entrance to one of London’s plushest hotels and then forthwith through numerous over-polished grand doors and I am sat amongst 30 other eager spectators for a private screening of

“Drag Me to HELL”

.  Yes Ladies and Gentlemen Sam Raimi is back doing what he does best, dramatic pause…. HORROR!!  I am in the enviable position of being able to see the film 2 weeks before it is released and then post film, if we have’nt all perished, there will be the individual vox-pops by us the promotional people to camera, that will later be edited and used to promote the movie.
The lights go down and the film begins, though initially you can’t help but notice the 2 cameras with night-vision, trained on us for our every pathetic reaction. The distraction passes and quickly I am absorbed, this is how horror used to be, the thrilling crescendos of suspense that you try to predict the outcome of in your mind to avoid a big girly squeal, ahhppphhh, nah, did’nt see that one, there goes another shriek!!! Thankfully we are all bonded by this misfortune and as such smile at each other with muted relief and gratitude, only to be panicked back to the screen by the orchestral thump of the next scene.

Wow, 2 hours later and I have to say that I thorougly enjoyed the movie. In a few words what first springs to mind is the age old adage “Bad things happen to Good people”, I’ll tell you one thing, you’ll think twice before turning down that Lucky Heather next time it’s offered to you!!

Many would say that “Pigs would Fly” before a producer would ever go back to the old school of Horror filming making, but it appears that in this time of

“Swine Flew”

, Sam Raimi clearly has a flock of pigs at his studio…

Drag Me To Hell Vox Pop

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Posted by Josh on June 10, 2009

On The Road Again

Such is the life of promotional staff. I arrived at our hotel in Brighton after a tough day – our agreed site turned out to be too small for our trailer; the second choice we couldn’t fit the wagon through; it seemed as though the security staff hadn’t got the message that we had moved to a third.

Luckily they arrived, so by then a meal and a few well-earned drinks were high on the agenda (not too many, obviously. I still had an event to run in the morning, after all). When we got back to the hotel and they were playing Portishead in the bar, the music sifting eerily up to my room on the first floor, and the barman (who, incidentally, looks like a strange cross betwixt Johnny Depp and Richard O’Brian) tells me that there iss no lime for my corona. There is, however, lime cordial. Many people prefer it, he tells me. “Not that I’m saying you’re weird,” he adds. I’m speechless, given that the lasting impression of the hotel is more than a little Jack Torrence.

All Corona And No Lime Makes Pawan A Dull Boy.

By now (and I’m sure you can empathise with me here) I’m wondering exactly what the hell is going on. As direct marketing goes, it doesn’t exactly grab you by the lapels. As I notice a Picasso print eyeing me in that second-hand way that they seem to manage, and as Portishead floats into my mind, a chap assures me that he’s local and only has a short cab ride home. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m a character in a Raymond Chandler novel. At what point do the dots converge? Answers on a postcard please….

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Posted by Pawan on June 05, 2009

Cats and People are they really so different…?

Oh how the responsibility of looking after cats, really isn’t a responsibility at all. What a life they have!!

Up early this morning, any planning of my day always starting with the essential feeding of the fur babies, their ritual thanks and their hasty dash upstairs to avoid detection and in so doing avoid being put outside for the day. So I think to myself , well there they are taking their daily sample and running off to blend into their surroundings to avoid detection, isn’t that so often the case with people, the memory of that sample fading post swallow!!

So what if I were to chat to the cats before I served up their meaty morsel, what if I held them for a while, salivating, anxiously listening to what I had to say, not knowing whether it was all going to be worth it, but with every waiting moment, with every change in voice pitch and tone, every movement of my arms it was becoming ever more exciting……. Finally heres the meal, they feel they know the full recipe and the origins of the meat, though they don’t even speak my language let alone spell experiential marketing!!

Will they remember me tomorrow for the free sample or for the experience they had.

Cats and People are they really so different.

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Posted by Josh on June 03, 2009

The Future Is Now

I’m not a fan of the Black Eyed Peas. Or, at least, I’m not a huge fan. Well…until now. I refer to an article by Angus Batey in last Friday’s Guardian (yes, last Friday. I’m so 3000 and late, as Fergie from The Peas would say) about their latest single, Boom Boom Pow. I’m not sure I love the song – love is a strong word – but the idea behind the song is the future, and it tastes a lot like garlic bread.

Read the article and it’ll let you know know, know-know know know, know-know know know, know-know there’s no limit. The single is currently number two in the U.K. charts and has a number of remixes already – as does every other album track – which will be released through will.i.am’s social networking site Dipdive.com.

Fans are encouraged to turn in their own remixes, videos and variations thereof will be uploaded to Dipdive and thus become part of the release of the original version, while the same goes for the other album tracks. According to Will, The Peas “wanna use the blogging, the uploading, the sharing, the interaction, the refreshing, the updating, the remixing - that’s the album. What we used to know as the album now is just the brochure for the commercial of the experience.”

At the risk of concocting a heady brew (at least 7% ABV, I would say) consisting of The Black Eyed Peas, The Guardian, 2 Unlimited and Star Trek, you’ve got to say that it’s an album, Jim, but not as we know it. I’m just waiting for the guy with the pointy ears to show up and it’s a done deal.

” title=“The Future”>Boom Boom Pow

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Posted by Pawan on May 28, 2009

Starring at people in carriages

Has my train of thought pulled out of the station.

Here I am, finding myself complimenting the tube system of London. Now normally I am a conscientious driver, feeling that the cost of driving will always be outweighed by the sense of freedom enjoyed. Although I find myself when driving occasionally in traffic jams, I am able to outmanouevre these with TomTom.

So, back to the tube comment, yes what a joy, I was able to listen to music, plan ahead for the rest of my day and although it was particularly busy on the carriage what a joy to discreetly stare at people and gleen from them how they react to stimulus around them.

From this I could deposit even more ways to approach people into my promotional bank. When a new person arrived, each would react in a different way to his arrival, what was it they did that made us more receptive to them, or what made us dismissive.

Tell you what, I have a glass of what the former is drinking, the latter tastes too sour for me!

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Posted by Josh on May 27, 2009