At the beginning of every year marketing experts begin to predict what they think will be the next big thing in marketing and advertising. In the past we have had the year of the mobile, the year of Twitter and the year of Social Marketing. Yet in 2011 in the UK, it could be that it’s not something new and technologically advanced that is the next big thing but something tried and trusted… the VAT-free direct mail pack.

Thanks to George Osborne’s planned rise in VAT on 4th January from 17.5% to 20%; it could be that the marketing departments for financial services clients turn to the good old VAT-free pack to help stretch their budget further.

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What's not to love!

Monopolies are a bad thing, we all know that. It is a universal truth that greater consumer choice creates competitive pricing, innovative products and a fairer world for all. Giant corporations that merge, acquire, undercut and annihilate their way to total domination are looked upon with fear and distaste. I remember, as a student, reading ‘No Logo’  by Naomi Klein and being enraged by the plight of the independent coffee shops, delicatessen’s and family run enterprises that had been crushed by the giant corporations.

As a result I, like most people, have an instinctive predilection to root for the plucky underdog as a response to the dominance of a competitor. It is this basic human instinct that companies like Virgin, Apple and Airbus have used to their advantage to become the global corporate giants they are today. In all areas of my life I will always give the little guy my business, even if it takes more of my time and comes at a premium. All areas, that is, except for the search engine I use. When I’m looking for anything online I’ll always choose Google.

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Have you heard of Direct Mail packs receiving multiple bids on ebay? I hadn’t either until I searched for ‘Rapha’ on ebay a few weeks ago. Rapha produce super stylish, retro tinged clothing for the road cyclist and is quite an aspirational brand for me. In fact completely aspirational as I don’t own a single piece of their clothing yet! The direct mail pack that was subject to intense bidding on ebay was a simple 16-page leaflet with ravishing full bleed black and white photography, no prices and few words except for the web address and a list of products. It sold for an incredible £8.50. Extraordinary customer behavior by any brand’s standards I think, let alone one that only launched in 2004 with one core product; a super expensive softshell jacket. Did I bid for the DM pack?  Of course not. I already had a copy of my own stashed safely away.

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It’s fair to say that here at Red C towers we’ve been a little bit miffed at England’s poor World Cup displays over the last few weeks. So miffed in fact that at one point the other day we actually turned the TV over to watch some tennis!

Luckily, we got word to Capello that we were having a bit of a bash at The Purple Pussycat in Manchester to watch the final group game and since some clients and suppliers were coming it may be good if England actually ‘turned up’, put some effort in and bagged us a win.

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We have been producing a monthly e-newsletter for our home shopping client Freemans for a few years and it’s called the “Style Bible”. The purpose of the newsletter is to position the brand as a fashion expert and to give the customer value added content in the form of videos and advice. It also needs to look different to the rest of the email plan (whilst retaining Freemans branding) so that a customer recognises it and looks forward to receiving it. At the beginning of the year we decided to revisit these aims and decided it was time for a re-design.

I was delighted to be put in charge of this and have really enjoyed the challenge. We have updated the look of the newsletter to make it look fresher and feel more like an editorial magazine. Each month I work with both Freemans and the Red C studio to produce a Style Bible that is jam-packed with news about the latest fashion trends and bodyshape advice. Getting under the skin of the customer is important when it comes to briefing and as someone who is interested in fashion; it’s definitely enjoyable because I get to research the latest looks and trends!

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There has been a scandal at the World Cup and no it doesn’t involve a dodgy penalty decision or some kind of WAG swapping saga. Instead it centres on a group of around 30 scantily clad Dutch ladies who were removed from a game and arrested. Yet it wasn’t their lack of attire that got them into trouble… the crime was them taking part in the dark arts of “ambush marketing”. So what exactly is ambush marketing? Basically, it’s a marketing campaign that takes place around an event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to that event. That means companies taking part in such sneaky tactics benefit from free association while also reducing the effectiveness of any rival brand’s connection to the event.

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Before I start this blog, I’ve set myself some ground rules. Simply because I know there are lots of blog postings, articles and galleries on the web dedicated to really funky and creative business cards. There is nothing wrong with these cards… it’s just that one of my biggest niggles about fancy business cards is that they don’t fit in my business card holder, or my wallet for that matter!

Ok that may be a bit old fashioned of me. But I like my business card holder. It serves the lovely purpose of holding lots of business cards that I can flick to in an instant. The only problem with it is that if the card is larger than 3.5 × 2 inches… I have to get the scissors out, or it just gets lost. And until someone invents a business card app for my iPhone, I’m going to stick to paper.

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The great Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff was the most famous exponent of the football philosophy known as ‘Total Football’, which is the theory that any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in the team, save the goalkeeper. It’s safe to say then that this evening, Red C’s Copywriter, Stuart Clark, gave Account Handling a right damn good lecture in the art of ‘Total Football’… meaning that Creative emerged yet again victorious against the ‘Suits’.

Yet it certainly was by no means a one man show as Red C’s two new Creative hirings proved themselves very handy on the football pitch. Andrew Campbell produced a display worthy of the great Lionel Messi as he dodged, chipped, turned and danced his way through the Account Handling midfield. And Junior Designer, Dean Spicer, let loose a few deadly shots and produced a string of fine saves.

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The classic advert for cigarette brand Silk Cut

About six and a half years ago I gave up smoking, having smoked for well over ten years. Giving up was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life, and I take great pride in the fact that I did it without the help of plastic cigarettes, patches or funny-tasting gum.

To a certain extent I quite miss smoking. I used to love the chats that I had with Jim, Neil and Nick in the dingy smoking room. I used to love lighting up after a really good meal and savouring the tobacco with a coffee or Cognac. More than anything, though, I loved the advertising… that was until the Labour Party introduced the legislative bill known as the ‘Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002’.

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I’ll be honest with you. I don’t usually spend much time looking round for new artists or unusual pieces of artwork. However last year I came across the artist Emma Hack, and instantly fell in love her work.

She uses body art on human bodies and blends them into detailed backgrounds to create intricate and fascinating photographs. Through a lot of dedication and hard work her career has developed from children’s face painting to makeup artist to a body illustrator.

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