I was watching Harry Hill’s TV Burp on Sunday afternoon and it was whilst he was refereeing a fight between a “commercially available instant noodle product and River Cottage’s immediate noodle pot based item” that a rather random thought occurred to me.

What would happen if online marketing was to have a fight with offline marketing? Which one would win? Which one is more effective? Well for me it’s easy. Though I love the more traditional offline forms of marketing I think there is only one winner… and it’s online all the way.

So what am I basing this view on?  Why do I think online marketing is the heavyweight powerhouse of the marketing mix?  Well, my view is very much dictated by four key factors.

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It’s not often you purchase a book so big that it comes with its own display stand. Believe it or not the version of Sumo that graces our reception is the mini version… the original release was so big that it came with its own table and broke records for weight, dimensions, and resale price!

I first came across Helmut Newton’s work when I was studying photography and was immediately captivated by his distinctive, seductive and original style. I hunted down images created by him and even had a scrapbook dedicated to images that I had found by him… images that I would try my hardest to emulate.

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Old stylie vinyl records

As a child of the 80s, I’m old enough to remember when buying music meant a trip to the local record shop, browsing through vinyl collections and being mesmerised by the cover art. If you were lucky enough, your chosen album would come with ‘extras’ such as snap shot photography taken during a live concert, maybe a small bio of the band members and more often than not, the lyrics to all your favourite songs.

As we approached the digital age, records became CDs, which to me, never had the same impact. Sure there was the additional CD booklet, but they lacked the tactility of records, and the brilliant photography lost some of it’s shine squashed into the smaller not-quite-square format. CDs will inevitably be replaced by downloads, if they haven’t already, (I don’t really know anybody who buys CDs any more), but what about all the cool ‘extras’ we’ve come to expect?

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Abram Games was one of the most influential Graphic Designers that this country has ever seen. He created some of the most memorable designs of the 20th Century by following his own personal belief of: Maximum Meaning, Minimum Means… and back in the early 90s, maybe ’92 or ’93, I had the pleasure of attending a talk by this true great of design at Icograda (the International Council of Graphic Design Associations) Conference.

To be honest, when I attended Icograda that year, I had absolutely no idea who Abram Games was. In fact as far as I was concerned he was just a warm-up to the main attraction… Neville Brody. Yet as I entered the Odeon Cinema where Icograda was being held that year and was greeted by his work… it soon became clear that even though I did not know the name Abram Games… I certainly knew his work.

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I was first introduced to Claire Read whilst working at another agency. It was there when I first noticed the style and detail of her visuals. Whether it is black and white or colour sketches, they are always meticulous and of a very high standard. It’s impressive to see Claire turn my rough scamps into polished visuals with relative ease. I find Claire to be an affable character, which makes working with her a pleasure. She has a great sense of humour and as long as she can go on the internet for reference she’ll produce some fantastic illustrations!

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QR Codes. Great little invention… bloody boring to look at though. Well not any more thanks to the Tokyo based agency SET who have found a way to make these two dimensional barcodes visually more interesting.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with QR Codes. A QR Code (The QR standing for Quick Response) is a Japanese invention that was initially used for tracking vehicle parts in vehicle manufacturing. They are common in japan and with the rise in popularity in smart phones on these shores… we’re beginning to see a lot of them in adverts and magazines.

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So what TV show you watched last night did you discuss at work today? CSI? The Wire? Lost? It’s fair to say at some point during your working day you will have discussed a TV show you have seen with someone. Or perhaps it was a movie you saw at the weekend.

Imagine, though, having a conversation with someone about what you have both seen… yet what you watched and how the episode or film ended was totally different for you both! Not only that, but while you were watching you took part in a car chase that meant you test drove the new BMW Roadster and during the episode the character put some music on when they got home… but the music they put on, you chose!

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Believe it or not, Mahatma Gandhi is a bit of a hero of mine. I forget how many times I’ve said to people “Be the change you want to see in the world”… which I always confess is stolen from the great man himself.

One of the lovely things about Social Networking is how it has galvanised people into creating interest groups with the aim of creating change in the world. A quick search on Facebook under Darfur reveals one kind fellow promising to give $1 to every 1,0000 people who join his Facebook group.

Although such campaigns have the best intentions, you never really get to see whether they have worked or not, mainly because these groups have such lofty ambitions. There are, however, Social Networking sites out there that have a better plan… a plan that involves changing the world one small piece at a time.

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