That's coming along swimming-ly!

As i was doing some research for a re-branding module i am currently doing in University, i came across this new logo for the North Devon resort Ilfracombe. As you can see below the new logo has caused a stir in the town, with people likening the swirl on top of the 'I' to that of a sperm cell. The Town Council, whom dished out £5,000 to Bread Marketing for the redesign, are assuring locals that it was merely meant to represent a dolphin or a fish. However this hasn't changed the opinions of the locals who see it as a laughing stock!

The live brief I am working on at the moment, is to redesign the Staffordshire Moorlands town of Leek, however i don't think the Leek locals would go for such a drastic change as they have in Ilfracombe!

Ooooh and incase you were unaware, it's only 4 weeks today until the big day!!! Let the festivities begin!

T.H.G x.x.x

Oopsiee daisy Google...

My dear friend has just informed me of a HUGE mistake Google has made... when she typed in 'ladies fashion' in the search icon and the 'very well paid for' sponsored links appear at the top of the search results, the new clothes site 'Very' has a spelling mistake in the access link, ww.very.co.uk as appose to www. meaning that the Very page cannot be accessed... Check it out below or for yourself!!!

This mistake is surely losing out to customers visiting the site and i'm sure Very wont be Very happy with this mess up!!!!

You heard it hear 1st.

T.H.G x.x.x

Simples...

Aleksandr the meerkat is coming to Harrods!!!

There will be 5,000 of these extremely adorable dolls in Harrods stores in December this year. The controversial compare the Meerkat ads were created by VCCP London, whom I have visited and spent a day at, doing a live brief (which was an incredible experience). When I went to VCCP last march, they had just released the Meerkat campaign and it created an amazing buzz around the agency! But some people are becoming irritated by the Ad's due to the over play. I can sympathise with this, but no one can deny that the campaign on a whole is so clever and intricately thought through and well researched!

I love these, the doll even repeats the iconic "Simples" catch-phrase and squeaky noise when squeezed! They are £19.95 with some of the profits being donated to London Zoo's conservation! Top chrimbo pressie!!

Jolly Love T.H.G x.x

This christmas... theres only one place to be.

I know i keep banging on about Christmas but this year i'm really getting into the spirit of things!!! The new Waitrose Christmas ad has tantalised my festive spirit now, created by MCBD (Miles, Calcraft, Briginshaw & Duffy) it features the beautiful voice of rising star Camilla Kerslake. Home is the central theme to the ad, and it really plays on this, tapping into a very wide target market that probably will be returning home for Christmas! Take a look...

Waitrose uses delicious, mouth-watering food as its selling point and this really does prevail over the overall 'Home' theme. Good news for my hungry appetite :-)

Merry Christmas!!!

T.H.G x.x.x

Christmas truly isn't christmas without M&S...

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! It is by far my most eagerly awaited time of the year (obviously nothing to do with the fact that my birthday is 33 days before!) and christmas just isn't festive enough without the good olde M&S adverts being flung in our faces!!

Well, contain your excitement as they are almost here... created by RKCR Y&R, they showcase a good handful of Celebs doing very christmasy things!!

Check it out: http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/thework/news/965561/M-S-wouldnt-christmas-without-RKCR-Y-R/

We see the very intellectual Stephen Fry, the comedy duo of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, James Nesbitt with his adorable scottish twang, obviously the M&S favourite Twiggy, and the legendary duo that is Wallace and Gromit!! Cracking line up! I am in awe of it already and its still a mere 43 days until the big day! The theme of the advert is witty and very relatable, as each celebrity shares with the audience a memory they have of christmas, and the presents or food they would like, and understandably this can be found all under one roof...

The twinkly music really does set the scene, and i have to admit, when i first saw it my scrooge attitude to christmas (created solely by the ridiculously early and highly irritating DFS ads!) went straight out the window and my festive butterflies excited my tummy!!!

Merry christmas everyone!

Because, lets be honest, christmas wouldn't be christmas without our M&S!

T.H.G x.x.x

There's a magical place, we're on our way there...

I am so excited! I've just read that Toys R Us are reviving their 1989 'Magical Place' advert and bringing it back to our screens over christmas!! I can't find out who or if they are re-vamping the classic ad (see below) or if they are just using the classic... so if anyone knows pleeease comment!

Just listening to the opening line has brought back so many childhood memories and i could of only been 3 or 4 when the advert was originally released!! Crazy! Im sure everyone has had that "kid in a sweet shop" experience of Toys R Us, overwhelmed by the sky-scraping amount of toys upon toys stacked high up into the ceiling!! For me it's always held memories of a cold winter night, due to my birthday being close to christmas, and still to this day i am reminded of Toys R Us everytime the clocks go back and i venture out into that brisk breeze.

Ill keep u updated if i hear anything else, and please let me know if you hear anything!!!!

Heres hoping for that kiddie sized pink Barbie car this Christmas!

T.H.G x.x

The fun theory really works...

An initative of Volkswagen, known as 'Thefuntheory' (or 'Rolighetsteorin' as its known in Sweden) has begun! Created by DDB Stockholm, the initiative aims to bring fun into every day tasks such as walking up the stairs or recycling things.

"This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better."

http://www.thefuntheory.com/

The latest idea was to create a bottle bank arcade, giving users points if they put the bottle into the right hole at the right time (indicated by a light). And the iniative seems succesful, they attracted over 100 people on the first day, in comparison to the average bottle bank who attracted only 2 users!

Another initiative was Musical stairs... i personally love this one! Watch the video below and its incredible how many people use the escalator after the piano is installed...

This ambient initiative is really clever! It puts fun into everyday 'chores' in an genuinely interactive way without Volkswagen rubbing their brand everywhere! I believe fun should be present in all we do, and to incorporate fun in a way that keeps our planet green is a bonus!

High 5 DDB Stockholm!

T.H.G x.x

Mac v's PC...

I am, and always have been in love with the Mac v's PC ads! They are cracking! I am, and proud of it, on team Mac and the humour that is portrayed in the short 30 second clips is absolutely and contagiously hilarious! You find yourself thinking "that is so true" whilst smiling excessively. I think this is helped by the story of how Apple grew from a small time, nerdy brand, in the shadow of the Microsoft skyscraper, into a cool, streetwise, must have brand!

Im a tad annoyed however, that we are constantly being bombarded on prime time TV (between Corrie, Hollyoaks that sort of thing) with the new "PC" ads, with everyday consumers, doing everyday things in gyms and taxi's, claiming they designed windows 7 (or 2 year olds showing us how to sort out our pictures). And im starting to get really irritated by it! Im not too sure how it works but ive never seen a Mac ad on TV at prime-time or any time thinking about it? I think it could be that they are already so uber cool that they don't need to stoop to PC's level of rubbing Macs in peoples faces! They have their ace ipod ads which make you want to reach out and hold one of their savvy, lightweight pods in your tech-no hungry hands!!

Im still holding out for the day when everyone on planet earth realises Macs are the future, and leaves their stone-age PC's as far in the past as possible! If you haven't already check the ads out and you'll see what i mean...

http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

Happy Tuesday.

T.H.G x.x.x

The big bad Wolff...

Many apologies, I have been a very busy undergraduate recently and haven't blogged for AGES! Thus meaning that i have a lot to talk about!!

Last week I was in the beautiful city of Liverpool, at the Liverpool Design Symposium to listen to the captivating and legend that is Michael Wolff. He was giving a talk on "Branding the City" which conveniently co-insides with my latest Uni project... re-branding the town of Leek in the Staffordshire Moorlands. I've never heard him speak before and i was genuinely captivated by all his views and opinions and his straight talking approach to the advertising industry. For anyone that doesn't know he was the second half of the iconic agency Wolff Olins (that is still very successful today, be it without Wolff)

He had a very philosophical theory, that design practitioners have 3 muscles... the inquisitive muscle, the appreciation muscle and the imagination muscle. All 3 of these must be present to really succeed and achieve in the design field, and I really love this theory! Without these 3 'muscles' then nothing can really be achieved. He also touched on the issue of 'like'.. how can advertisers and designers really know what everyone likes in order to please them all? We don't really ever know why we like something and there isn't a set route or instruction, it just either ascetically pleases us or intrigues us to think more about it. This got me thinking is branding about creating desire or like-ness or is it about giving something a meaning and being? And how do agencies or designers really address all these issues? After all a bad experience that someone may have can overshadow there overall opinion of that thing. Just like if you visit a city you've never been to before and the first thing that attracts your attention is litter, your impression of that town will always begin with the litter...

Wolff talked openly about his experiences within the advertising industry, saying that he feels some agencies have become more concerned with the salaries and cars than producing truly inspiring like-able work, and also that he felt they lacked courage and passion to be daring with design, sticking with the mundane norm. This is a brave opinion to put out there and i feel he isn't completely right. There are some agencies who truly do push the boundaries with their work considering all target markets, or really know the ones they aim to attract and these get it right!

He left us with a final thought on city branding... Its an easy illusion to brand a city, but it only covers up what is wrong at the heart of that city. Do things that reach people, touch them and truly gives them an experience.

I hope this inspires!

Toodles for now.

T.H.G x.x