It was Punctuation Day on 24^th September which, I’m sure, was observed respectfully by you all.  No doubt you spent the day taking extra special care to ensure all your apostrophes’ were correctly placed… and tempered your use of ellipsis and exclamation marks!!!

This weekend also saw a surprise appearance from the interrobang on Q.I., and, believe it or not, I actually knew both the name and purpose of this peculiar punctuation mark – probably the first and last time I’ll ever know a Q.I. question outright. So after gaining my massive chufty badge, I began digging around the weird and wonderful world of obscure punctuation and uncovered some bizarre characters indeed.

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At the beginning of August I had the pleasure of judging the 23^rd SUN Awards (Shot Up North). Showcasing the best photographers north of London is now in it’s 23^rd year. The judging took place at Doug Curries studio in Leeds where I meet some great people all with different backgrounds:

Ed Horwich, photographer and organizer of the awards along with Doug. Seamus Ryan – Photographer, Rob Walker – Photographer, Vicky Munro from Brass, Clair Watkin from Comma Ca and Jon Cohen of Fuji Film (non-voting chair and adjudicator) oh and we couldn’t forget Woody the dog.

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Unless you have been living in a dark room with no access to any type of media, social networks or office gossip you’ll probably be aware of the recent super injunction scandal concerning a certain footballer’s indiscretions.

In early April, a story about serial WAG, Imogen Thomas’ six-month affair with a footballer famous for his ‘family-man’ image was leaked via Twitter. Ordinarily a story about yet another footballer having yet another affair with a glamour model would barely raise an eyebrow, so why did this one cause such a stir?

Because the footballer in question had a taken out a super injunction – the highest level of legal gagging order – to ensure Ms Thomas kept her mouth shut and his identity was kept well and truly out of the public domain. This led to a bizarre situation where the national press were legally prohibited from printing the player’s name but social media networks buzzed with speculation. Within days a Twitter user had revealed all: the mystery man was none other than ‘squeaky-clean’ Manchester United star, Ryan Giggs.

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I have to admit, even though I’m professionally still unsure about Twitter, there are some quite interesting people whom you can follow and get some great updates from. Personal favourites include Jonathan Ross, Stephen Fry and, one that I shouldn’t really admit to, Tori Black!

For guaranteed slices of comic gold, though, you can’t beat the updates by some of the many fake profiles that people have set up on Twitter. Now there are a few fake profiles on Twitter that are just not funny and some that started out funny but haven’t been updated in ages (like this one for George Bush), but the ones I have listed here are wonderfully written and beautifully play upon your perceptions of the person they are pretending to be to give you the odd wry smile and even a few belly laughs.

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I don’t have a great track record when it comes to April Fools.  Two years ago I greeted my wife by covering my head with tomato ketchup and lying motionless at the bottom of the stairs.  My wife finally started talking to me again on April 4^th.

Last year I had the brilliant idea of playing a prank of Julian.  I called into the office with a fake voice and informed reception that Julian’s precious and beloved Saab had been hit by another car in the car park.  Although Julian fell for it, I have a horrible feeling the last laugh will belong to Julian given his new lofty status as MD!  I’m not expecting a pay rise anytime soon.

Anyway, despite not quite hitting the mark with my April Fools activity over the past two years I’m happy to say that 2011 was different.  As I’m happy to report that I’ve been involved in two April Fool scams for Jessops that have created quite a buzz!

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Comic Relief is arguably the highlight of charitable TV marathons in the UK, and has been since its inception in 1985. Originally, fundraising for the event was focused around buying red noses and getting sponsored for sitting in a bath of beans.  But that was then and now things are done a little differently. Despite the financial pressures of a recovering economy affecting everyone, this year’s total broke all previous records. Were the British public particularly eager to part with their cash? Or could social media have played a part in helping them reach such a grand total?

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I’m no budding photographer, but like many people, I do love the convenience of capturing what I want when I want. However, despite finding my iPhone’s camera feature being incredibly handy it can get a little boring. You see, I’m a big fan of instant photography and was very sad to see the demise of the Polaroid and cameras alike. What I loved about them, particularly Polaroid cameras were the reddish tints, grainy prints and dark edges. It gave your photographs so much more personality than those found today on Facebook. It’s hard to explain what it is, but it’s like when you’re having a clear out at home and you find an old photo of your parents from the 70s, there’s something instantly hypnotic about it. Don’t get me wrong, digital cameras are fantastic in their own right. The ability to take hundreds of photographs, preview, edit and upload them to the web in seconds is just a few reasons why film photography has been left dead, not to mention it’s a hell of a lot cheaper. What I want though is something that gives me the quality and personality of Polaroid and the convenience of digital.

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As forward thinking marketers it is one of our many jobs to seek windows of opportunities, for our clients. We actively seek new ideas and ways, in which brands can be brought into the fore front of customers minds. For our account team, staying ahead of the game for our client, Swinton Insurance, certainly paid off last week.

Working alongside the personal lines marketing team we are always actively looking for what I like to call “windows of opportunities” to push client boundaries and expectations of our agency and ultimately to reach into consumers’ minds.

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Last year, like many brands and organisations, London Fashion Week flirted with Social Media by having event details, links to stories and comments posted on Twitter and Facebook… so far so very 2009!

This year, though, sees London Fashion Week take a great leap forward by embracing even more Social Media technologies and making London Fashion Week open to the masses rather than the privileged few… and they’ve done it in some predictable and also some surprising ways.

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I know… I agree… it does seem strange having the words ‘fun’ and ‘insurance’ in one headline but have you noticed nearly all the leading insurance brands are attempting it? I know that Meerkat has just popped straight into your head but it’s not the only insurance brand to be using a ‘character’ to try and instil more fun (and consequently more brand recognition of course) into the fight for your insurance quote.

We all hate getting them… whether its quotes for home, car, pet, buildings, contents (the list goes on) and all we really want is the lowest price with of course the most comprehensive cover, so is this approach working for insurance brands and how are they achieving it?

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