Pot Noodle... it's what students live off you know!

It’s been a month since I completed my placement at Red C, and I’m back studying at university. I’m back into student life, which, in case you’re wondering, doesn’t just mean sitting around eating beans on toast and watching Doctors on daytime TV. But it does feel  strange as the reality of returning to university as a final year student is a far cry from what I imagined it to be. Whilst I’m sat in a stuffy lecture hall struggling not to fall asleep from the lecturer’s monotonous voice, making notes about theory models, I can’t help but think back to my time at Red C and think how different it was.

I find myself missing the hectic bustle of the office, the ringing phones, even having to check through all the email links. It’s then I realise just how much Red C has changed me, motivated me and inspired me. When I look around at the other students who didn’t complete a placement, I can’t help but feel they’ve missed out. I feel my time at Red C was invaluable in helping me develop and for setting me on course to achieve my goals in advertising.

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Our email marketing skills are doing us proud this year, producing great results for our clients and receiving another three award nominations.

The Jessops campaign has received two nominations: Best Retail Marketing Strategy & Campaign & Best CRM Strategy & Campaign. Whilst our strategy for Swinton has been recognised in the Best Financial Services Marketing Strategy & Campaign category

Now in its third year, the MiAwards identify and highlight the very best in marketing, media and communications agencies, teams and individuals across the whole of the UK.

Which makes our fourth nomination even more special for everyone at Red C towers and something we are all very proud of – North West Marketing Business of the Year.

So all fingers will be crossed on 17^th November and hopefully it wont just be champagne we’re picking up at the Gala Awards ceremony.

It’s 10am in the studio, everybody has finally woken up for a busy day ahead when someone pipes up “who’s turn is it to make a brew?” One by one heads disappear behind monitors and the same voice continues “I made the last ones, I’m not doing them again”. It’s a common dilemma across homes and businesses throughout the UK and most probably the world. Yes this is serious. What everybody needs in their life is an app – specifically a mobile app, to encourage hot beverage participation. What they need is ‘Brew Round’ our fantastic new app from the Red C studio which will solve all future conflicts and confusions.

Of course I jest, whilst Brew Round is our new app, it’s clearly much more light hearted than that, let me take you on a small journey, which begins on a cold wintery afternoon in November 2010…

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I’ve just returned from a truly memorable holiday to Barcelona.  Even before I left I had anticipated that I was going to love this city as it’s very much famous for two of my three passions; football and food.  However, I was overwhelmed as not only did Barcelona quell these passions but it also managed to quell another – my love of brilliant marketing.

The landmark I was most excited about seeing was Mercat La Boqueria and it was here that I witnessed some truly outstanding marketing.  For those of you that don’t know La Boqueria is a food market located on Barcelona’s most famous street, La Ramblas.  La Boqueria has experienced several changes since it first opened its doors in 1217 and I’m sure it will continue to evolve, but I’m equally sure it’s marketing principles will not.

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Following a 3 way pitch and 5 months work the new website for the iconic AGA cooker brand designed and built by Red C has gone live. The site has been completely redesigned to reflect the style icon of the AGA heat-storage range cooker while enhancing the usability of the site and bringing in social media aspects such as Facebook.

The project that took just over 5 months was a challenging one for all involved but Kathryn Lowe, Marketing Manager of AGA commented that “Red C researched, designed; built and facilitated the project brilliantly keeping every aspect under control making the experience a lot less painful than it could have been!” Red C even went so far as to test the site with their Eye Tracking equipment before the live date, comparing the old site against the new site with AGA owners and prospects to make sure that nothing in the process had been missed.

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At the weekend I got a whole day to myself. No errands to run, no one coming round to see me. It was a rare treat I was determined to make the most of. So what did I do with my time? I got in some online gaming of course.

You see I’m from a generation who have been brought up on a healthy diet of video games. From the illustrious original Nintendo to the not so well known Sega Dreamcast – I’ve played them all. So it comes as no surprise that when I heard about the Gamification of the web and the positive effect it is having for businesses, I had to find out more.

So just what is Gamification?

Gamification is the idea that you can apply the elements that make games fun and engaging to things outside of a game environment… like your standard company or ecommerce website. It’s a technique that is becoming increasingly popular as more and more consumers become addicted to games such as Farmville and enjoy participating in social apps like Foursquare.

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Imagine it’s a Monday night and you’re sat on the sofa watching Coronation Street. Roy Cropper is cooking up 2 Walls sausages on Warburton’s bread with a dollop of Heinz ketchup for Steve McDonald. Normally we wouldn’t know which brands Roy uses in his cafe, nor see any brands at all on the street – except for fake ones like Newton & Ridley ale in the Rovers Returns! But this could soon be the future of your favourite soap thanks to the new ruling by the Government to allow product placement on UK television.

Product placement is a form of advertising that uses branded products or services placed in a context devoid of adverts – like a TV programme or a film. Previously the government had always denied commercial broadcasters the ability to take payment in return for placing products on screen; however earlier this year Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw announced that the Government would be allowing it for the first time in television programmes.

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So imagine this. You’ve been tasked by a major TV Network to promote an animated series with a guerrilla marketing campaign. Your idea is a winner, and involves you sending some electronic devices (that resemble a character from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force) to several major cities so that some hired help can place them in places that have a high footfall.

Then you wake up on the morning of day one of your campaign to hear that a member of the public has spotted one of your devices and thought it weird enough to report it to the police. The police then call the bomb squad asking for help in identifying a device. They then shut down part of a major highway and the public transportation system while they disable what they think is a bomb with a smaller explosive filled with water.

It gets worse!

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A very talented retoucher by the name of Dan Watkins introduced me to TED last year and ever since I have been a massive fan. Over the weekend I got a chance to catch up on my TEDGlobal 2010 viewing. The highlight so far has to be this talk from British author Matt Ridley entitled ‘When ideas have sex’.

In the talk Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It’s not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.

Click the ‘read more’ button below to watch his talk.

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I’ll admit it to you all… I love Star Wars. And I’d love to have the powers of a Jedi. If I did, I’d use my Jedi mind-trick powers to stop unwanted ad clicks. Or better, I’d use my mind-tricks on an imperial storm trooper and get him to tell people to move along.

Ah well a man can dream… a man can dream.

Google does have a few tools, however, that we can use to help us direct our PPC ads at the people we want to see them and hopefully by-pass the ‘looky loo’s’, saving us money and improving our return on investment.

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