We’ve all got a cupboard or a drawer that we fill with random bits of junk or those items that you never throw away, just on the off chance that one day you might need them.  I was sifting through my very own cupboard of this type last weekend when I came across my old A-Level Media Studies ring binder amongst old toaster instructions and dead batteries.  The temptation was too great so I took a gander.  I was quite impressed.  I was quite the academic.

Anyway, whilst sifting through the binder I came across a project entitled “My favourite advertising campaign”.  The campaign I had chosen was the United Colours of Benetton.  Within the report I had showcased some on my favourite ads and to be honest with you, I was blown away all over again.

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Fire up the Quattro

My name is Steve White.  I’ve had an accident and I’ve woken up in 1982.  Am I mad, in a coma or have I gone back in time…. or has the advertising world gone nostalgia mad!?! Well, although my wife will certainly vouch for madness.  I can confirm that the latest trend in advertising is leading me to have my very own ‘Ashes to Ashes’ moment.

It simply can’t have escaped your attention as to just how many big British retailers have gone ‘nostalgic’ with their campaigns over the last year or two.  M&S, Persil, Virgin, Hovis, Milky Way and John Lewis have all used campaigns that hark back to their past.  But why are so many brands going down this creative route?  Why are so many brands looking back and not looking forward?

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We love books at Red C. And we especially love books that contain great advertising case studies, just like ‘Advertising Works 18′, which features a case study on our award-winning work for the Swinton Mystery Tipper.

‘Advertising Works 18′ shows how marketing communications has helped organisations including UKTV, Swinton Group and Halifax, to translate big ideas into impressive results on small budgets. So it’s perfect for anyone wanting to produce effective campaigns or drive their business to greater success.

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Whilst catching some Xmas sunshine it was really interesting to see how South Africa is preparing for the 2010 World Cup in particular in the many townships.

The FNB is the national bank of South Africa a major sponsor of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and in line with its sponsorship of the much-anticipated event, is transforming the skyline of several of the host cities. With some larger than life outdoor building wrap advertising campaigns in some of South Africas largest townships.

The most striking of these building wraps had to be the ones that I saw on my visit to Soweto – the largest township in South Africa. Here two of the four huge cooling towers, which belong to a currently decommissioned power station, carry FNB’s 2010 Fifa World Cup branding. The artworks are reproduced on canvas – about 12 800m2 of it – and the wraps weigh between 700 and 900kg each. Apparently the whole project took 12 000 litres of paint, and it took the team 720 hours each to complete their sections. Each tower is 60m high with a circumference of 120m at the bottom and 70m at the top.

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Holiday Cottages Group (HCG), the UK’s number one holiday cottage rental agency with more than 10,000 properties in the UK, is launching its first TV campaign in three years. The advert will premiere on Boxing Day and run throughout quarter one.

Holiday Cottages Group has reported sales of domestic holidays are up by 12 percent on 2008 and following this success it is looking to strengthen its position further in 2010.

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We’ve cracked open the Champers and fired off some party poppers in celebration of being shortlisted for our Swinton Mystery Tipper campaign for the IPA Effectiveness Awards 2009.

The IPA Effectiveness Awards are recognised by agencies and clients as Adland’s most rigorous awards scheme because entrants have to prove to a jury of experienced clients that their communications strategies have worked in hard business terms.

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