Sunday, 3 January 2010

Shut the FA-CUP ITV


Shortly i'll be departing for my visit to Upton park for the third round FA Cup tie between West Ham and Arsenal. This is now the second year that ITV have out-bid their competitors to broadcast matches from the tournament and alongside this they have rebranded their football side of the channel.

The strap line: "We are football united"

I feel that this strap line is awfully broad, especially considering that football is a game of competition and hatred of other clubs. This makes their message unclear! Are they purely describing the obvious that people are united by watching ITV? Are they talking about the coming together of football fans? To me it just sounds like a campaign for fair play not a brand strap line that captures what we all love about the game!

http://www.itv.com/sport/football/facup/

ESPN the newest broadcaster to show the beautiful game has really hit the nail with their clever and non-intruding strap line.

"It's great to be here" - It suggests that they are your guests and that it is our game and that they are merely here to provide a good service and not change anything!

Anyway, I must get ready!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Saturday, 2 January 2010

New Splash page


I've added a new graphic to the website.
Mainly for potential future employers whilst i'm sending out job applications. A little bit of cleverness before they enter the website is what I feel is needed to grab the attention and interests of these agencies.

Fingers Crossed!

Friday, 1 January 2010

Happy New Year (noughties summed up)


Been a week or so since my last post, due to some heavy drinking and stuffing (ye the edible stuffing).

Yet another year has passed and as we head into a new decade we see a number that looks like something out of Blade Runner. Twenty Ten (2010) has arrived.

Listening on the radio I have constantly heard the question, what will you remember the n0ughties for?

The general consensus was that the horrific bombings of 9/11 was what the majority of people will remember the decade for. 9/11 is also my choice of remembrance of the decade a moment history that can not ever be forgotten.

But, if I was asked the question, What sums up the decade?

The answer would quite simply be Social Networking.
Social Networking had been around for quite some time, I used to use Habbo hotel years and years ago. However the noughties saw a huge change in the way that Social Networking would be used.

Friends Re-United - Paved the way for social networking in my opinion, especially within the UK. The way that we could instantly receive messages and get in touch with people from the past so easily was a revelation.

MySpace - Not only could you build your own stylised profile to your taste, but you could integrate music into your profile as well as message friends and meet new people. It became the new way for unsigned music talent to get themselves noticed.

You Tube - Video content that can be embedded onto any webpage. A massive leap into the way that people can view content and not having to read pages of information.

Facebook - I think that Facebook is a product of all those previous. Are the Facebook creators genius's? I'm not so sure as the elements were already there, but, they did take a massive opportunity that nobody else had jumped upon.

Within businesses Social Networking is become more and more vital for getting information from p2p much quicker and more efficiently. It's a universal way that a large majority of people can recognise or learn easily and this is why we have seen the emergence of business focused networking sites such as Linked In.

We now know that Apps and the integration of interactive media is an integral part of the marketing strategies of most Brands. However, we really are at the early stages of content being made available in every nook and cranny. If we make as much progress that has been made in the last decade then we really will be living in a scene from The Fith Element.

Exciting Times !!!


Monday, 14 December 2009

Some updates

I've made some updates to the site.
Most noticeably, the portfolio now has some examples of the vast array of work that we can produce.

Also some minor design changes.

Go have a look:

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Here's a solution to the issue of driving whilst on the phone

Recent figures have shown that people are still using mobile phones whilst driving. It seems that people aren't too worried by the fine and 3 points anymore.

Anyway.
A while ago I came across this Welsh advertisement.


I don't ever recall seeing anything like this in England. Sure i've seen plenty of similar shocking campaigns for speeding and drinking but something like this would surely have a huge impact!

Saturday, 12 December 2009

To succeed, your users must'nt read


With the emergence of cross-media platforms. Information that would usually have been read as an article would now be seen as a video or interactive activity.

Most major brands have all invested millions into the technologies. And let's be honest we all prefer to watch rather than read!

The problem for those smaller companies is that to produce content for all these different channels they need to invest in developers and content managers. This costs a bomb!

However, its believed that this problem will soon be demolished!

Adobe Flash CS5 is on the horizon!
With a release date yet tba. If Adobe deliver what they promise then the world will become a much less content read place!

It promises consumers to easily place together websites with video content, magazines with video content, Pdfs (yes now with embedded video) and most importantly! I phone applications!

No longer will you need to employ a developer who knows how to read chocolate (well cocoa). It can all be done with the visuals of the Flash interface!

Friday, 11 December 2009

A personal word from God. Well Kevin Roberts - Worldwide CEO Saatchi & Saatchi


Click image to enlarge.
It was a great honour to receive a personal message from the main man! Took him a day before he managed to respond. Amazing, considering his very busy schedule!
The message reads:

Craig.
I see us on the same spectrum... just at different stages... both believers in the unmeasurable power of creativity

KR