Upside Downturn

I thought about doing a post on advertising since Upside Downturn started. And as the length of time between the last post and this one spiralled out beyond my expectations (and my control) the more the idea of managing to squeeze a post in before the end of the decade played on my mind.

I had fragments of posts written about various ads but they were little more than rants and I like to have something vaguely positive to say in my posts here. What tied it all together in the end was one of those pointless commercial TV countdown shows. The ‘50 Best Racist Sitcoms’ sort of thing. This one billed itself as the 20 greatest ads of the decade. I guessed I could bear to sit through it because of two things.

1. The ability of the ITVplayer to fast forward and

2. The thought of seeing any of the Sony Bravia ads again.

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andy Brands, marketing

I went to lunch at the new River Cottage cafe in town. I have to say that the food was faultless. That and the values he runs the place by make it a winner but there was a one, quite big problem: the cost.

The prices charged were presumably so high because no corners were cut in the ethical sourcing of ingredients (that and Bath’s sky-high business rates!) and, as I mentioned, the quality of what was on the plate was fantastic.  But there was an issue with the overall experience. The setting was nice (in the foyer of an old cinema) and the decoration simple and taseful but really basic. On the downside, the chairs were uncomfy, the presentation sloppy,  the portions small, the staff were forgetful and the service chaotic.

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andy Brands, marketing

Recently I’ve been looking for an idea for an iphone app to develop. Apple have announced they’ve had over 1 billion app downloads, which makes it a recession busting industry, and one that it’d be very nice to be a part of. Here are some of the ideas that didn’t make my final cut:

twitterpunch

Ever wondered why you tweet pictures of your cat, tweet about the cost of organic food, or tweet about your social incompetence? Help is at hand, this app will punch you every time you twitter; not just when you do lame, naval gazing tweets.

boat

Useful if you are stuck on an island based reality tv show with 12 muppets and a conflict-baiting camera crew.

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Paolo Brands, downturn, marketing, recession

Walkers crisp’s new ad campaign is very clever and works from most angles. It has involvement from the public at all stages and a great TV ad (unlike the horrendously misjudged ‘Mud, glorious mud’ from last year!). The supporting website is bloated and not very well thought out, but even there the content is good.

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andy Brands, marketing

You might have a day like I had yesterday at some point: the kids were being rude, both morning meetings were cancelled at the 11th hour, the lunch meeting was cancelled by text (20 minutes after it was due to start and just as the food I had ordered while waiting turned up at my table) plus it rained (on the day I had decided to walk). The meetings were all efforts to attract more business and I could have been doing something far more useful with my time than wondering round in the rain feeling despondent.

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andy Brands, planning, strategy, whinging

No. 1 in an occasional series – MFI

Where we try and stay away from the nostalgia that swamps an occasion like the closing of Woolworths and think of a few words to say about the brand and how it conducted itself in life, as well as in death, and if there are any lessons we can take from that.

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andy Brands, whinging