Good looking, with lots of gadgets – This is definitely one for me.

Great ad as well… liking the way it was released through Facebook.

I haven’t posted in a long while – apologies and explanations will come at a later date.

I saw this video a while back and found the content compelling enough to get me blogging again.

There are so many people who still insist on disregarding these digital trends as ‘fads’ or worse still as comercially unviable – The change has already happened, the user behaviour is already set and the revenue streams are emerging… the choice is simple, get on board or get left behind.

Gotta go, that’s my train

Enjoy:

Cool new product coming out soon from O2, just seen the ad on YouTube which looks like it was made for TV so expect to see this gracing your telly soon.

Cool product from O2 and, as always, decent creative from VCCP:

It was great to see some new players at the new venue, The Hospital Club.

Everyone played admirably but after all the efforts, I managed to clinch 1st place… again.

This is a challenge to anyone who likes to play cards – Be at the next London Media Poker Night and (try to!) steal my crown – In particular I am talking about @JMacDonald, @Digitcool, @Witters, @KT_Johnson, @drewellis, @acton, @photogirlUK, @glen_richardson.

Post-round up on The Hospital blog.

Will announce details of the next event soon.

Onwards and upwards

In the past 24 hours I have read two pieces of horrendously incorrect information from people who should know far better.

The first is that Blyk was allegedly closing its UK operation, this is absolutely FALSE – The story seems to have been first published by NMA and as JMac rightly states in his piece offering clarity, this seems to be the latest in a long string of events whereby the industry tries to kill itself.

There is an article written by David Murphyfrom Mobile Marketing Magazine with comment from Ann Sarimo, Blyk’s Head of Communications – read it here.

The second piece of absolute rubbish was included within the aforementioned article published by Mobile Marketing Magazine and it centred on the mobile agency YOC not returning to Blyk because it did not have enough REACH!

The excerpt reads as follows:

Christian Louca, UK Country Manager and Head of Publishers at YOC, told Mobile Marketing:

Why does any media activity need reach?

Because many of the communication recipients will not interact/be interested in what they receive.

Why will they not be interested?

Because the communications will not be relevant.

So, with most forms of media the ‘reach’ argument is valid but the reason why Blyk was considered so pioneering, the reason why it raised all the tens of millions of dollars of funding and the reason why it attracted some of the best brains in the business to work there is if you use the power of Blyk’s offering correctly, communications become totally relevant and reach is ABSOLUTELY 100% IRRELEVANT.

ASK people what they want to receive. Deliver what they have requested. Simple.

In short, YOC either knowingly used Blyk for the wrong reason or did not understand how to use the platform in the first place – either one is an absolute waste of everyones effort as well as the clients cash.

Not great in times like these.

 The team @IPGLAB have published this rather handy little guide to getting started on Twitter.

Download for free here.

Thanks to @dabitch and the crew at www.adland.tv

Can’t remember where I originally saw this clip but it is hilarious to anyone involved in the media scene.

Showed it to a friend of mine who works in finance… didn’t really get the same reaction.

Wednesday, April 22nd – First hand dealt at 7PM

The March event saw an increase in attendance on previous months and April is set to continue that trend – Expect prizes payout of £500.

One Alfred Place provides a luxurious backdrop for London’s media crew to trade banter as well as chips across the poker table. 

The final table will have it’s own dealer and there will be free drinks for those that are quick, courtesy of the generous people at Woodford Reserve.

At least the top 3 will get paid (maybe more, depending on attendance) and the winner will also take home a bottle of Woodford Reserve premium bourbon.

One Alfred Place have taken the decision to increase the entry fee for non-members to £10. As always, non-members are admitted free of charge – All guests still receive a comlimentary Woodford Resevre drink.

Tournament buy-in is £10, all of which goes directly into the pot (no registration fee).

As always, seats are limited and entry is strictly by guest list only.

Email, call, text or tweet guest list requests to cranealistair@gmail.com, 07886 465 471, @adfundal with attendee and company names.

Map:

McDonald’s have put a nice twist on their outdoor display at Piccadilly Circus.

The world famous photo hotspot for tourists has been turned into a fun picture opportunity using digital signage and a little creative thinking.

I am always encouraged when I see brand activity that has obviously been well thought through – There IS room in advertising for creativity after all, it’s not just about reach and frequency.

I would like to see McDonald’s taking the interaction opportunities one stage further and embracing other technology that would improve this prime promotional site even further – What about enabling the public to MMS/email photos of themselves to a shortcode/email address which then displays their photo on the massive screen in the centre of London.

Think about the engagement factor… let alone the opportunity to capture data and profile the userbase (mobile number, handset type, sex… just for starters).

Anyway, cool stuff with great opportunity to do more.

Thanks to Becky Wilding at Shiny Red for letting me know.