The Gospel according to St John

Double MMA award win for Who Killed Summer?

2009-11-19T07:32:00.000-08:00

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) announced the winners of its Fifth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards on 17th November in Los Angeles.

These awards recognise companies and their campaigns across the globe for spearheading the adoption of the mobile channel for marketing purposes. Winners are selected by a commitee of global industry leaders from wireless carriers, technology and content providers, agencies and industry publications.

And we won!

Who Killed Summer? won Best Mobile Campaign Overall in a three-way tie with TIM Father's Day + UPS Jobs.

It also won the award for Cross-Media Integration Campaign (Europe, Africa + Middle East).

Amazing stuff!

Who Killed Summer? is an online drama that took place across the summer set against the backdrop of the European festival scene + targeted at a young, hyper-connected audience. Sponsored by Vodafone, Who Killed Summer? is a collaboration between MWorks, Hideous Productions and Big Balls Films, with OMD and Cake responsible for the media campaign and project co-ordination respectively.

Top 10 digital trends for 2010

2009-11-11T03:20:00.000-08:00

Shamelessly 'borrowed' from Ruth Mortimer's blog, these top 10 digital trends for 2010 below (created by Drew Neisser from Renegade Marketing) make for an interesting read.

Some are more obvious, others are less-so.

1. Social Media: A Marathon, Not a Sprint

Neisser says that a lot of brands – hoping to become fast friends with their targets – rushed into Facebook and Twitter in the last 24 months without investing sufficient time or resources. In 2010, savvy marketers will increase their commitment to social media by first listening and then offering up a steady stream of engaging content that their fans actually want.
This will be particularly true for B2B brands, only 38% of whom included social media in their 2008 marketing plans (vs. 71% for B2C brands). With one comScore study indicating that brandedsocial media activities can have a multiplier effect on search results, there is a quantifiable rationale for brands to up the social media ante in 2010.

2. Mash-Ups: Taking Inspiration from Biathlons

Neisser predicts that more innovative mash-ups will become standard in 2010. He recalls 2009’s campaign by E.P. Carrillo, a new cigar manufacturer, which created a Twitter and Google Maps mash-up for its “coming soon” site that tracked cigar tweets (http://www.epcarrillo.com/) from around the world. Neisser expects to see more campaigns that glide seamlessly between personal and business, online and offline, mobile and desktop, just like consumers do all the time. Farsighted marketers will bring together formerly disparate elements into a cohesive and self-perpetuating social media experience.

3. App Happy: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go Crazy

Given the success a handful of marketers enjoyed with their “apps” in 2009, Neisser expects a blaze of new entries in 2010. iPhone apps that provide demonstrable utility like Kraft’s iFood Assistant recipe finder, Benjamin Moore’s color matcher and Zipcar’s GPS-based car finder will continue to gain traction. Expect more apps that integrate with other social media like the Gap StyleMixer that allows you to mix and match clothes and share them with friends on Facebook. And don’t forget the non-iPhone universe. The steakhouse Maloney and Porcelli cooked up a humorous and somewhat deviant web-based app at Expense A Steak that extrudes faux expense reports.

4. Measure Up: Track Every Second

With more dollars earmarked for social media, marketers will undoubtedly use new tools to monitor the conversations that are happening with or without them. Neisser claims that Radian6 and Scout Labs emerged in 2009 as two of the leading social media monitoring tools. And while Neisser says these tools are great, each requires a sizeable commitment by the marketer in time of staff. Just ask JetBlue who manages to enhance customer loyalty daily by responding to any and every customer Tweet within minutes, following 117,000 on Twitter, and in the process generating over 1.3 million followers.

5. POV Power: Don’t Just Talk the Talk

Neisser says that while lots of brands raced into social media in 2009, few established true connections with their targets. The reality is that consumers engage with brands that they like on a visceral level and that provide a distinct perspective on the world. Aflac’s Duck quacks up a gaggle of quirky content, including charitable requests that appeal to over 161,000 fans on Facebook and 3,000+ followers onTwitter. Meanwhile, Geico’s Gecko has been left in the social media dust due to its surprisingly dry and unresponsive online voice. Ironically, a brand by definition is a point-of-view that once clearly definedshould guide all communications, social or otherwise.

6. Expose Yourself: Win the Crowd With Honesty

Neisser argues that the emergence of several “tell all” consumer-created sites signals the arrival of a new era of honesty and transparency – especially for brands targeting those under 35. Sites like fmylife.com,textsfromlastnight.com and MyParentsJoinedFacebook.com reflect a generation willing to bare and share all without the least trepidation. Even the emergence of “Untag Mondays” speaks to the socially acceptable norm of posting embarrassing content that one might not want a parent or employer to see. Marketers that share this sense of honesty, that admit mistakes and address shortcomings in real-time willfind a youthful army of comrades willing to do their bidding. As Comcast discovered, this kind of honesty can even transform a PR nightmare into an industry-leading customer service.

7. Hold the Presses: Major Comebacks are Possible

Though a 50% decline in ad pages certifies 2009 as the worst year in its history, don’t write off print as a viable media channel just yet. Neisser claims that more than 80% of US consumers still subscribe to at least one magazine and 83% believe newspapers are still relevant. Experimenting with video in print publications = like Entertainment Weekly is but one of the ways certain magazine segmentswill hold onto their targets and satisfy their advertisers. And while P&G shut down its 72-year-old TV soap opera Guiding Light in 2009, they are cranking up the presses with the custom published glossy, Rouge, which expects to reach a whopping 11 million North American households in 2010.

8. Go to the Video: Separate from the Pack

The emergence of viral video rankings in 2009 reflected the mainstreaming of this approach to audience engagement, claims Neisser. While everyone and their branded brother aspired to cut through with aviral hit, surprisingly few found an audience. In 2010, marketers will undoubtedly crank out more of the same while a savvy few will worry less about mass reach and focus more on grass roots appeal, providing content that their core target really wants. B2B marketers in particular will find that using informative videos that transform the complicated into the comprehensible, like Commoncraft’s Plain English videos, will generate quality leads from grateful prospects.

9. Mobile Media: Catching Up at Last

Despite all the hype by this author and others, less than a third of marketers had a budget for mobile in 2009. In 2010, smart phone penetration should rise to at least 25% (from 17% in Q2 ‘09) making it alot easier to deliver a rich mobile experience worthy of consumer attention. Neisser says that the blending of mobile and social apps like Facebook, Loop’d and Twitter has also created a new openness towards this medium. Given the desirable demographics (18-34, good income) of smartphone owners, at minimum, marketers should give strong consideration to creating a mobile friendly website, thus allowing prospects to engage whenever and wherever they happen to be.

10. Be Positive: Attitude is Everything

Neisser says that while honesty is a worthy friend to marketers, don’t forget that almost no one wants to date a Debbie Downer. A recent poll by Adweek/Harris found “relative little enthusiasm and lots of indifference for ads that refer to the downturn.” Even if the economy is slow to recover in 2010, find the silver lining for your customers and prospects with both words and actions. Like the athletes whose positive outlooks and superior skills propel them to victory, so, too, can marketers find success with an upbeat message and an unimpeachable value proposition.

Demographics are dead..

2009-11-02T08:48:00.000-08:00

It's funny how the TED Talks seem to magically answer the questions that are going around in your head.

I've been thinking lately, as we work more and more on 'content' briefs, that the traditional approach of developing a proposition to connect a brand + a story with its intended audience just doesn't work here. Different people connect with stories in different ways, depending on who they are, what they're into, what they've experienced themselves + what they're looking for.

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie talks about the temptation to form an opinion on a person or a place based on just one aspect of its being. A person, a place, a situation cannot be described by just 'one story'. It is what it is because of the multiple stories that have shaped it.

By taking the time to appreciate the many stories that surround who we're talking to will help us understand how we are all different, instead of how we are similar. Afterall, everyone is unique + wants to be seen as an individual, not as part of a demographic group.

So rather than transmitting a single message designed to appeal to a large audience based on just one aspect of their being, we can instead engage all sorts of people in different ways, through the various aspects of the story we're telling. Enabling them to interpret it in their own way, take what they want from it, share their thoughts, debate, hypothesise - and ultimately demonstrate their individuality- all of which allow us to connect with them on a much deeper level.

86% of brands plan to engage with original content

2009-10-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Good news!

An article over at at e-marketer shares the results of a survey undertaken by King Fish Media which reports that 86% brands are planning on creating original content with which to engage their audience, with 74% believing it to be more effective at generating ROI than traditional advertising.

In addition to this, brands now believe the best ways to communicate with prospective leads + customers are their corporate website (75%), social media (73%), custom content + media (70%) + face-to-face events (69%).

And in line with this, e-marketer + almost everything else I've read today seems to talking about the importance of measuring the ROI of social media. And not just the non-financial intangiable return, or even against digital sales; but most importantly how we can measure its impact on offline sales.

Olivier Blanchard talks about this at length over here. And Coca-Cola's Carol Kruse shares a little about their aggressive digital plans for the future + how they plan to measure its affect on sales over here.

CLICK HERE to tell our global leaders you're ready to commit to a global climate change deal

2009-10-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

tcktcktck talks about all things climate change + in the run-up to COP15 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference), it's asking us to submit our names to say that we're ready for the global leaders to sign an ambitious, fair + binding deal that means the world is committed to a plan which will hopefully turn the climate change problem around.

Please take a few mins to leave your name + then tell all your friends.

They're currently at 2.2m names + have until December to get as many names as possible. Go, go, go!

Source: You Might Like This

Piano stairs make it fun to be green!

2009-10-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is great. What an exciting world this would be if we created a fun alternative to everything that negatively impacts the environment..

Source: Do the green thing

We're happy to be working with..Change for Climate Change

2009-09-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

We've recently started working with new charity, Change for Climate Change.

This is very exciting for us because, for once, this is a climate change initiative that feels like it will work! This is because it understands that it's only when business and industry change their bad habits that this problem ever has a chance of going away. And with this in mind Change for Climate Change wants to harness the power of consumers all over world to inspire that change..since it's the consumers who drive industry.

More about Change for Climate Change at their blog over here. Unfortunately they don't have a website at the moment (we're still working on it)! But this post talks about how they've recruited their first partner, David Lloyd Leisure. And how together they have created a project called The David Lloyd Lefini Project which will empower their members to help fight the impact of deforestation across the world.

Watch this space for news of CFCC's lovely new website coming soon.

Take 3D pics + vids with Fulifilm's new 3D camera!!

2009-09-23T06:12:00.001-07:00

Just spotted this on Mintel..how very exciting!

As 3-D cinema offers an alternative to the download culture, 3-D cameras might offer manufacturers respite from the threat of phones.

Fujifilm is launching a camera which takes 3D video and photos, without recourse to special glasses. The FinePix REAL 3D W1 launches in the UK this month.

Its integrated processor creates an image from using two slightly different angles and as such harks back to the pioneers of sterescopics. Images can be vied on the camera’s LCD screen or shared on the FinePix REAL 3D V1 photo frame monitor or as prints on special lenticular sheets.

Source: Mintel, 22 September '09

Happy Birthday Lee!

2009-09-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's Lee's birthday today - happy birthday Lee!

Lee is our Creative Director + it seems we only ever blog about his birthdays which is odd?! I think it's because as one of the more mature members of MWorks we have to look after the old guy.

The question is..will he remove his jacket for the occasion? It's not looking too promising at the moment, but there are still 1.5 hours of the working day left.

Til next year xx

Who Killed Summer? - all is revealed TONIGHT!

2009-09-15T08:00:00.001-07:00

It's been a long, hot summer for the Who Killed Summer? contestants. And for the most part it's been amazing fun rockin' up at festivals like Benicassim, the Croatia Garden Festivals + Relentless Boardmasters - they've met their idols, made new friends + some among the group have even reached more intimate levels of friendship!!

But recent events have seen the best summer ever turn into their worst nightmare..

It turns out that ex-junkie Tete's new boyfriend was actually paid by a warped blogger going by the name of David Hampton to seduce her and get her back on drugs. He also revealed pictures of sweet virgin Claire dragging a virtual stranger into a hotel room, destroying her relationship with her boyfriend. What sort of a weirdo would do this?

This is all just scratching the surface, but David Hampton fills in the gaps perfectly over here.

So needless to say, the whole group is hugely disturbed at how close David Hampton has been getting to them...and since finding out that David Hampton isn't even his real name + that he's in fact using the name of a dead conman, most are now convinced that David Hampton is one of them. He just couldn't have got hold of certain pictures and information any other way. This has led them to turn on each other and all the while David Hampton continues to twist the knife.

All will become clear tonight though. David Hampton sent each of the contestants a Facebook invite to meet him on a boat just off the Sussex coast..sounds a little fishy to me! They've all accepted, so all we can do now is sit back and watch as the mystery unfolds across 3 episodes going live tonight at 8pm, 9pm and concluding at 10pm over at www.wks09.com.

The Who Killed Summer? Facebook fan page will also be buzzing with activity as it works with fans to get to the bottom of this sinister storyline.

Who Killed Summer? is a collaboration between MWorks, Hideous Productions + Big Balls Films (the guys behind Kate Modern + Nokia's Somebody Else's Phone) + is sponsored by Vodafone. The depth + breadth of this combined expertise has delivered an online drama that demonstrates TV-quality production values, (properly) exploits the potential of social media to engage its audience, and allows people to watch it in (almost) real time, for the first time.

All Saints jacket for beer money - bid now!

2009-08-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

All is not good in the WKS09 camp. Only last week we noticed some warped blogger is targeting the WKS crew, and now they're squabbling amongst themselves.

A few weeks back Jude shared his ingenious (?) way of collecting beer money using ebay. The idea of Fleabay is that someone in the group steals something from another member of the group that is of great value to them, but worthless to anyone else..like a left flip flop. The owner of this item must then bid to get it back. All money raised goes towards beer. Hmm..

Anyway, this has riled Kian who tends to be Jude's favourite target - his pants went missing last week and can be found for sale right now. This lead to an argument which concluded with Jude getting run over! And NOW to get his own back, Kian has put Jude's most treasured possession on fleabay - his All Saints leather jacket. Obviously, this isn't something that's only valuable to Jude and has attracted 11 bids already. Oops. Jude won't be happy.

An interview with our Tom about Who Killed Summer?

2009-08-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Brand-e.biz interviewed MWorks MD, Tom Thirlwall about our current online drama, Who Killed Summer? You can see the whole thing over here.

And you can watch Who Killed Summer? over here. Is good!

Who Killed Summer? LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!

2009-07-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

After a mere 2 years in development (!), Who Killed Summer? is finally live!

Visit the site, watch the first episode, tell us what you think? We're desperate to know.

Who Killed Summer? launches tomorrow

2009-07-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Finally! Our 'baby' is fully formed + ready to meet the rest of the world. It's been a long time in the making, but after 2 years (!) of hard work, countless documents, some laughs, many tears and medium-sized palpitations, Who Killed Summer? is to launch tomorrow.

Who Killed Summer? is a collaboration between MWorks / EI, Hideous Productions + Big Balls Films (the guys behind Kate Modern + Nokia's Somebody Else's Phone) + sponsored by Vodafone. The depth + breadth of this combined expertise has delivered an online drama that demonstrates TV-quality production values, (properly) exploits the potential of social media to engage its audience, and allows people to watch it in (almost) real time, for the first time.

So what is it?

At 8pm on Thursday you'll meet 6 young, hot music lovers from across Europe brought together by Vodafone for the summer of their lives. They'll hit the hottest gigs, the best festivals and the wildest parties, capturing content on their mobiles, while a film crew records every intimate moment in high definition.

..it should make for the most amazing summer ever, but will it?

We like..Smirnoff Original Nights

2009-04-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

Smirnoff's Original Nights is a series of alternative events in London, involving (among other things) a bit of dressing up, plenty of dancing + a lot of drinking. Which is why it's got my attention!

Smirnoff invited London's Promoters to apply for a £10k bursary to host one of four nights in London as part of their Smirnoff Night Vision initiative. They then asked London nightlife experts; Shaun Roberts (Promotions Manager of Fabric), Simone Baird (Social Club Editor at Time Out magazine) and Crispin Dior (Promoter behind Field Day, Adventures in the Beetroot Field) to hand-pick who they considered to be the most exciting and forward-thinking promoters from those who applied.

The chosen four were then given the cash to create an event from scratch on behalf of Smirnoff. And they really do all sound incredibly innovative, unique + exciting.

Normal people like us can win tickets to whichever event takes our fancy by posting a comment on the discussion board for that chosen event. And it looks like it's going down really well with nearly 50k fans on the FB page + big numbers begging for tickets on the discussion boards. Pretty please, Gods of Fun, can I win tickets to the Hothouse Revue event, I've been practising my Lindy-hop like a good girl + everything:

People Are Germs

Bash Studios – Saturday 18th April

Juliette Hughes and Claire Bartolomeo - better known as People are Germs - are hosting a special, one-off party that dreams are made of.

A rollerdisco like no other, party-goers will be able to skate to their hearts’ content whilst enjoying cutting edge live acts Primary1 and Magistrates and DJs The Glimmers, Hot Chip, Foals and Nadia Kasabia.

Taking place in an East London warehouse space, the night will boast flashing disco lights, party-loving people with colours and scenery to make your eyes fizz.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150223705719&ref=mf

DJ Flicks

The Curzon, Soho – Friday 24th April

The brains behind disco hub DJ History.com present DJ Flicks; a movie and a party rolled into one. Known as much for their web blogging and record digging exploits as their legendary Lowlife parties, Frank Broughton and Bill Brewster will be transforming The Curzon, Soho into disco decadence.

Showing new, rare and unseen films recounting the disco genre in all its guises, the night will morph into a unique club night, connecting one of history’s pioneering DJs to the exciting scenes they inspired. DJ Kenny Carpenter, a one-time resident jock from the much-lauded Studio 54, and modern day instigators Disco Bloodbath will be taking to the decks. With electro don Arthur Baker as host for the evening, films being screened will include ‘The Godfather of Disco’, ‘Pioneers’ and ‘Disco Godfather’.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=62496567524&ref=mf

Hothouse Revue

No. 5 Cavendish Square – Wednesday 29th April

UK festival producers and promoters Ben DeVere and Michael O' Shea are forming The Hothouse Revue, a 1920s night quite possibly bringing more elegance and decadence than the capital has witnessed for 80 years.

Inspired by the heyday of Berlin's Kit Kat club and Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, expect a brazen blur of burlesque, cabaret, swing-jive and lindy-hop, private lamp-lit tables, fine-food, intimate service, race rhythm, gypsy jazz, and all-round sass as Ben and Mike take over the grand No. 5 Cavendish Square venue. With no detail overlooked, it's the faded glamour of the pre-war roar spruced to a high sheen; so don't forget to dress up before you get down.

http://www.facebook.com/smirnofforiginalnights?ref=ts#/event.php?eid=59732993729&ref=mf

3D Disco… In The Round

Date and venue TBC shortly

The final promoters in the series are from NOVAK Collective, Adam Finley, Elliot Thompson, Andrew Nixon and Keith Daniels, the dynamic team behind the popular AV party 3D DISCO™. Not ones to rest on their laurels, they will be taking the 3D Disco concept they pioneered to a whole new level with 3D DISCO™ In The Round transposing the eye-popping, high-definition club visuals into a completely immersive environment.

The show will be hosted in an IGLOO tent which, as the name suggests, provides Novak with the 360° projection space they will require.

For your chance to win tickets, check out the Smirnoff Original Nights discussion posts http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/smirnofforiginalnights?v=app_2373072738&viewas=741085245

BakerTweet from Poke

2009-04-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

BakerTweet is a clever little device created by Poke using Arduino hardware + software that means bakers everywhere (+ in this case Poke's neighbours, new Conran cafe Albion) can announce the readiness of their delicious baked goods at the very moment they leave the oven.

By installing this device in the kitchen, bakers can simply turn a dial to select the variety of completed baked item which then sends out a tweet to tell the world that freshly baked yumminess is waiting for them. You can keep up on Albion's baking here.

Indeed cakes + biscuits sure are tastiest when they're hot from the oven. Though sadly we at MWorks may have to settle for lukewarm - Redchurch Street is at least 10 mins away.

We think The Modern Pantry next door should invest in a BakerTweet.

MWorks on blogging in .net this month

2009-03-11T04:51:00.000-07:00

A slightly embarrassing large picture of my head, but what can you do?

This is an article I wrote for this month's .net magazine which talks about using bloggers to drive word of mouth for brands, following a campaign we ran that did just that for our client, Creative + Cultural Skills to launch their new site Creative Choices last year.

Visit the 'work' section at our site for more information on the Creative Choices blogger advocacy campaign.

Bebo's got a friend feed

2009-02-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

Bebo is introducing what it calls a 'lifestream platform' which, like Friendfeed, aggregates users' various social networking updates in that one place. So while at Bebo, users will be able to see what their friends are doing + saying on Flickr, Facebook, Myspace, Delicious etc. And it seems you don't even need to be registered with Bebo to benefit from it.

It's a clever but obvious move to increase dwell time at the site + is surely the way all the social networks will end up going.

Full report from the Guardian here.

Now that's what we're talkin' about

2009-02-18T09:28:00.001-08:00

Here's a great example of how social media can be used to influence opinion.

Blogger + Chef, Niall Harbison made a throw-away comment about Seesmic in a post. The magic of google alerts meant it was then picked up by Loic de Meur who runs Seesmic. He left a comment on Niall's post complimenting him on his work, pointing out that Seesmic is approaching 1 million videos + asks 'I wonder why you have to be so aggressive?' then signs off by wishing him success in the future. How nice! How can anyone, having received such a lovely comment from the very guy that runs Seesmic, not investigate further to prove themselves wrong? Niall finds that Seesmic has vastly improved since he last visited + even goes so far as to film a post in which he positively advocates the site + Loic's approach at challenging his view. Seesmic was now approaching 1,000,001 videos + everybody lived happily ever after.

That TMobile ad

2009-02-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

I can't work out how I feel about the TMobile flash-mob / ad / act of genuine kindness (ahem)- whatever you wanna call it. So I wrote about it over here.

MWorks in Marketing Week

2009-02-06T04:26:00.000-08:00

Marketing Week wrote this article on word-of-mouth marketing which features a case study of the blogger advocacy campaign we ran for Creative + Cultural Skills last year with the support of Talking Voices + Cheeze - how very nice of them. You can see our campaign case study at our agency site.

Source: Marketing Week Published: 05 February 2009 00:00

As brands seek consumers to create a buzz about their products, Mary-Louise Clews discovers that the tools for encouraging personal recommendations are not just confined to the internet
T he Royal Mail recently claimed it had identified a new "breed" of young, educated, urban and online social networking consumer. It called it the "recommendation generation".

The report, compiled for the postal service by thinktank The Future Foundation, found that two-thirds (66%) of people who regularly use online social networks like Facebook and Bebo are more likely to buy something following a recommendation.

James Murphy, editorial director of the Future Foundation, says: "The development of the recommendation generation is part of a fundamental shift in the basis of consumer capitalism.

Ultimate endorsement
"Modern consumers are so confident in themselves that the ultimate endorsement of a product comes from the lips and clicks of their friends. This is an environment in which brands can benefit greatly, but they will need to be more sensitive than ever before to the voice of the consuming public."

The report also admits that the role of key influencers on purchasing decisions is just as important in offline environments. For example, influencer marketing is an important aspect of consumer activation in many markets but none more so than those with a "fashion" basis to their adoption of brands.

"The trick with this type of marketing is to recognise who the early adopters are - whose voice and behaviour carries most weight and influence," says Matthew Coles, partner at Cardinal Research.

However, he warns against trying to infiltrate the process with positive spin or guerilla techniques.

"A 'good' brand will enjoy natural spread, which may be accelerated by techniques such as staff recommendation incentives," says Coles. "It is all about credibility - those same influential people do not want to be seen promoting something they don't believe in, so the lesson is simple: work out what type of brand you have and who the audience for that brand really is. Then understand who that audience admires and respects. Above all be honest about the credibility of that brand and stay true to that."

With new technology delivering novel ways to catch the eye, it appears ambient or outdoor advertising is experiencing a renaissance, and its purveyors are keen to point out their role in helping to create talk and a buzz about a brand.

As more people turn away from traditional TV advertising, not least because of new technology such as Sky Plus, advertisers are finding it harder to reach people as a group in order to stimulate off-the-cuff discussion about a product.

This is where the creative use of ambient poster sites comes in, according to Tim Bleakley of CBS Outdoor. "Outdoor is the perfect way to create a buzz about a brand," he says. "Nine out of ten of us see some sort of outdoor advertising each week, and if viral advertising relies on people seeing or hearing something and passing it on, outdoor is positioned to do just that because it is one of the very few places where there is still shared viewing."

The scale of coverage that outdoor offers means that, in theory, entire cities can be wallpapered with a brand. Even schools aren't immune from the advertisers' reach and agencies working in this area are keen to point out how poster sites in "heavy traffic" areas of schools to create discussion among young consumers.

Youth clubs
TenNine, a company which runs "responsible", targeted poster and experiential marketing campaigns in secondary schools and youth clubs across the UK, says it is important to discuss how to carry out youth marketing responsibly rather than criticise all its forms.

"There is lots of positive marketing already occurring at secondary school level, where it is important that social issues, such as the effect of a knife crime culture, and health and hygiene issues are discussed with children," says the company, which has carried health and crime campaigns for the Government, as well as advertising for the likes of Lloyds TSB and Universal.

Positive responses
The company says it uses a "responsible poster" checklist to ensure its campaigns are ethical. Independent research commissioned by TenNine revealed that 95% gave positive responses. By contrast, the agency points out that 49% of social network users say they don't want ads appearing next to their profiles.

Such intelligence is crucial if brands are going to proceed down this route. Unless you understand your target key influencers very well you risk ending up red faced.
Direct marketing agency WDMP has established a specialist word of mouth division with which it is offering clients the use of data to identify and recruit influencers relevant to a product category.

"Data selection identifies individuals who are genuine influencers - people who are knowledgeable and passionate about a product category and who take personal satisfaction in making a brand recommendation," says WDMP managing director Gavin Wheeler. "As long as they have had a positive brand experience you don't need to pay them to spread the word as they do it naturally on your behalf."

He claims that his agency has been able to deliver up to 80% referral rates using consumer-to-consumer programmes, and 70% brand advocacy.

However, new research by Rise into how people advocate has revealed a common misconception, the agency claims. While blogging and other digital mass communications are increasingly important, face-to-face conversation remains the primary drivers of word of mouth, with 92% of people advocating in this way, compared to 50% making recommendations by email, 46% using text messages and 35% using web postings.

Case study: creative and cultural skills

Creative and Cultural Skills (CCSkills) is a Government-funded organisation that aims to help those wishing to enter or move around in the creative industries. Agency MWorks was briefed to raise both awareness of and registration with the Creative Choices website among CCSkills' broad target audience of learners, teachers, careers advisers, career changers and those in creative industries.

The brief demanded this was done in an innovative way that didn't just rely on search and banner advertising but also used the web to create effective word of mouth.

The resulting campaign focused on online recommendation using bloggers who are influential in the creative sectors that CCSkills represents to act as advocates of the Creative Choices site.

This involved encouraging them to blog at the Creative Choices site on topics relevant to the creative sectors and careers. The bloggers then promoted their posts to their broad "spheres of influence" through various online channels such as their personal blogs and social bookmarking. The campaign generated over 10% of the traffic that Creative Choices received across a three-month period. It also reached several influential individuals within the creative industries and also the mainstream press, helping Creative Choices reach broader audiences.

Case study: Teenage pregnancy awareness

As a part of a youth-focused ad campaign for Teenage Pregnancy awareness, the Department of Health used TenNine to promote its message to secondary school students.
The aim was to raise the profile of the campaign among teenagers in England, and also to drive traffic to the DoH youth information website ruthinking.co.uk, which targets 14- and 15-year-old boys and girls.

Six-sheet posters were displayed in 600 secondary schools across England and TenNine distributed brochures to students.

The campaign initially ran for a fortnight in March 2007. Posters reached an average of 1,200 students per school, each of which is seen about 25 times by every student over a fortnight. This means the campaign message would have been viewed over 18 million times during the two weeks.

Independent research by the Higher Education Information Services Trust and COI showed campaign awareness was 88% among students attending schools where the posters ran. The average roadside six-sheet poster typically generates an awareness level of 28%. Awareness of the website ruthinking.co.uk nearly doubled following the campaign. Only 23% of students surveyed had heard of the site before campaign, but 45% had afterwards, and traffic to the site increased by 67% after the display of the poster campaign in schools. The campaign also produced a 6% increase in the number of teenagers who said they could think of somewhere to go for advice.

When our snowmen went all charitable

2009-02-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

As yesterday progressed, we noticed that not only did our homeless snowfamily attract a constant stream of people stopping to take photos, but many were actually leaving money in Snowdaddy's coffee cup too!

That's when we realised that what started out as a bit of fun could actually be used to get people thinking. We added another sign encouraging passers-by to consider the homeless in London during the cold snap - to whom the snow wouldn't be nearly as much fun as it is to us. The sign featured a url to use to make a donation to Shelter, the homeless charity.

At the end of the day our coffee cup contained almost a tenner in donations too, which we'll be passing on to Shelter.

Sadly our snowfamily had disappeared by the time we came into work this morning. But they certainly brought us a huge amount of joy yesterday + hopefully helped some other Londoners too.

If you would like to donate click here.

London's biggest snowball fight TODAY

2009-02-02T05:50:00.001-08:00

..at 6.20pm at Trafalgar Square. Follow @snowballfight on Twitter for updates.

I can hardly contain my excitement, this snow is making me crazy.

The Snowmen of St Johns Square

2009-02-02T03:29:00.000-08:00

Finding your way to work through a snowstorm has its rewards - the 4 members of MWorks who made it into the office today have caused a bit of a stir in St John's Square by building a family of homeless snowmen. A whole gallery of photos can be found here.

Tom + Jamie's combined effort.

Tach's snowbaby.

My slightly confused snowteenager.

The whole family.

The making of.

Passers-by + even those in vans + taxis have been stopping to take their pics..and some have even donated money to help the family survive the cold patch!

How young people REALLY think, live + behave

2009-01-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

This is a great presentation from Mobile Youth highlighting how so many brands are getting it horribly wrong when trying to communicate with the youth audience.

mobileYouth.org I am...not interested in mobile marketing

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: cell student)

As I used to say when I was a teen - 'TOLD!'