I have a question for you.   What do ‘Um Bongo’, ‘R Whites’ and ‘Shake n Vac’ have in common?  Well, if you’re an 80s child, like me, the answer will be obvious. The answer is each of these brands has had hugely memorable advertising jingles, which I’m sure you could probably hum along to even today.

Let’s try it.  All together now; “R Whites Lemonade, I’m a secret lemonade drinker, R Whites, R Whites”

Over the course of the years, I’m sure there can’t be a single person who can say that they haven’t had a marketing jingle stuck in their head.  I for one have been driven near mental by having Go Compare’s annoying tune implanted in my skull for days on end, but do they care?  Do they heck as like.

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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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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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Everyone at Red C today is chuffed to bits after hearing that our TV Commercial for Cottages4you has been nominated in the ‘TV Commercial Over 30 Seconds’ category at the 2010 Roses Advertising Awards. Attended by around 400 key individuals from the advertising industry, the Roses Advertising Awards allows the creative community the opportunity to demonstrate and prove their innovation and creativity.

The nominated advert aims to highlight the benefits of a self catering holiday by focusing on the experiences guests take home with them. Customer research carried out by HCG showed that the main features of a cottage holiday were relaxation, freedom and enjoying being ‘back with nature’. The scenarios depicted in the 40 second advert reflect these feelings and capture the essence of a cottage holiday.

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According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), illegal downloading of music is solely responsible for a 23% decrease in worldwide sales of music CDs between 2000 and 2006. And in 2008, music sales fell from 449.2 million in 2007 to 360.6 million in 2008, according to Nielsen Co.’s SoundScan service.

It will come as no surprise then that people’s attitudes towards illegally downloading music have changed dramatically in the last few years. Researchers in the UK from the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP) found that 1.3m people used one file-sharing network on one weekday, from that they estimated that over one year these downloaders would have free access to material worth £12bn. And there is no sign of attitudes changing towards illegally downloading music.

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