my agency fanzine

Poppy does us proud

2012-02-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

Our Blott dog Poppy does us proud winning the Pancake Day race in Guildford

People tweet the nicest things

2011-12-14T06:00:00.001-08:00

Russian Standard Campaign finally breaks in Russia

2011-12-14T03:02:00.000-08:00

Cyber Monday

2011-12-02T02:40:00.000-08:00

Cyber Monday has become the term of choice for the busiest on line shopping day of the year.

The United States has just had theirs. It follows ‘Black Friday” the first shopping day after Thanksgiving. The figures, given the state of the world, were pretty amazing. Online sales were up 22% over 2010 to reach $1.25 billion according to internet tracking firm comScore.

It was the biggest online spending day in history.

Not surprisingly there were recording numbers of buyers and a significant increase in average transaction value.

Based on historical on line sales patterns Cyber Monday in the UK is due to fall on Monday 5^th December.

Blott, our stationery business, is doing its little bit to help the UK create its own Cyber Monday record.

Blott is offering all fanzine readers 10% off everything on line between now and Christmas and free delivery on orders over £15. Discount code ‘christmas’.

Come on Britain you can do it.

Action points

2011-11-29T06:35:00.000-08:00

Last night I was invited to the IPA's President's Dinner. The President is, of course, Nicola Mendelsohn and the whole Interactive Mission gig was her initiative. So thanks Nicola and thanks IPA. Nicola called the dinner to discuss 'what next' now everyone has returned to their day jobs.

What was really interesting about the debate was a resolution to share the learning amongst all 250 member agencies. And equally importantly, a passion to re-state the purpose, role and future contribution of (advertising) agencies to commerce locally and globally. Sure we should all be rightly gobsmacked at what a stream of amazing companies have and are achieving in the States. However, we shouldn't be belittled or cowed by the experience. We should be invigorated, challenged, inspired to examine our own talent for ideas, for creative innovations, for the innate ability to connect fundamentally with people and then look to bring this vibrantly, dynamically, commercially and yes newly minted to market.

So watch this space.

Perhaps then it is timely to conclude with my own reflections on the Mission. Actionable learnings. Takeaways. Go Dos. Every trip like this is supposed to end with a list. So we wouldn’t want to disappoint would we? Here’s five things that hit us most violently between the eyes about the Interactive Mission to Sillicon Valley and Hollywood.

Ooze optimism
Change is scary. That’s what change is like. (S)he cant help it. But change is happening to everyone and no one knows how things will turn out. That’s why people gravitate to the optimist, the yey sayer, the one who maps out positive change. Advertising people are, of course, life’s optimists. They have to be. They face a blank art pad every morning and they have to ooze optimism that they can fill them each time with great ideas.

Be ambitious
Stanford say they expect Stanford people to change the world. And Stanford people believe they can do it. Do not shy away from ambition. Ambition is the secret source to unlocking growth in a post growth world.

Anything is possible
Twitter didn’t exist four years ago. Facebook is till in short trousers. Google isn’t even a teenager yet. It is amazing to thing that these baby bemoths are paranoid. But believe me they are! They know that anything is possible because they’ve done it. And they know that the next game changing idea is probably being dreamed up in a dorm somewhere (probably near Stanford) right now.

Celebrate smart failure
This one might be something of a management cliché, but you get a real sense this actually happens over there. People wear their failures as badges of honour. A swing and a miss is fine. As long as you swing for the fences. Because they believe their next “at bat’ is the one that goes out of the park.

Social and behavioural change is the key driver
In the end it all comes down to the man and woman in the street. A technology is only a product if they adopt it. An idea is only an experience if it speaks to them personally. This is not a plea for more research data. This is a plea for more human observation. Google’s go to innovation guru has this perfectly: not more prototyping for testing but 'pretotyping' for observation.

Ideas. Ideas. Ideas.
If you have an idea, you travel. You’ll go places. That’s why advertising agencies are still such great place and vital places. Particularly if these advertising agencies are agents for ideas and not just agents for advertising. The future has always been about ideas. Here’s the news. It still is.

The Studios: the view through broken windows

2011-11-29T04:09:00.000-08:00

The last set of meetings for the Interactive Mission were visits to three very different Hollywood Studios - Warner Bros., 20 Century Fox and Lionsgate - each facing very similar challenges and each taking very different approaches.

The movie studio business used to be all about windows. The first window was the theatrical release. The second window was the DVD sale. The third window was the rental release. The fourth window the pay TV airing. The fifth window being the free to air TV premier. Warner’s told us, “you could set your watch by our revenue streams….” (All you had to do was look out the window.) “now all that has changed.”

Thank you technology. The emerging ubiquity of proper broadband made the streaming experience first bearable and then possible in HD giving a better than DVD quality. Secondly, convergence. A TV is now a PC and a PC is now a TV. And thirdly, and in many respects the most interesting from a social perspective, there seems to have been a complete recalibration of the concept of ownership. People seemed to awake from a collective deep sleep and ask themselves why do I need to own the DVD of the movie? What additional value does ownership actually yield? This is not simply explained by the migration from physical to digital media where content is available instantly anywhere, anytime on any device, but is evidence of something more psychological in the zeitgeist. Something akin to the phenomena of a whole generation of city dwellers who see car ownership not as a status symbol but as a burden leading to zip car usage as the default option.

Fox told us that the movie industry tried to fight back with technology. Most notably 3D. An attendance and revenue spike followed. Not least as ticket prices were hiked. But apparently the novelty is wearing off. Mainly because beyond novelty, 3D did not add substantively to the idea or the experience. It is now only in certain international markets where the phenomenon continues apace. Markets like Russia where the introduction of the technology required new or significantly refurbished theatres. So even there it is difficult to say whether the 3D movie or the new environment in the driver.

Fox seems to be less innovative in the development of new creative IP than the other two studios, but reeled off a long and impressive list of digital marketing firsts. Sensibly they are not looking for digital ideas per se but ideas that utilise digital. Therefore digital has ceased to be a foreign department within marketing and has been naturalised as "just the way we do things around here".

Warner’s still see themselves as a “content creation and distribution company” but now the rules have changed. Warner’s used to rely on channels, now they see that direct to consumer is the future. Warner is now “a service business and as such need to develop an unbelievable supply chain”. They are renting movies through Facebook. They acquired Flixster. They are now the world’s eighth largest game developer with 1,800 developers on staff.

They admit that “we’re not getting rich but we’re getting learning”. This change is creates stresses. There is a huge organisation change. From clockwork to chaos. One of their senior marketing team admitted to a Twitter slip up the previous night “and I feel 90 this morning – that’s how fast it moves.’ Ultimately, Warner’s aren’t scared by the fact that “not one thing has remained static in our business”, rather they “can’t recall a time that is as dynamic as now.”

Lionsgate told us that “you have to be experimenting in these areas because no one knows how it will turn out.” One such experiment for Lionsgate is Facebook. “We thought that Facebook was a marketing channel now we think it could be a monitisation channel.” They referenced Dirty Dancing which went from 1.5m fans to over 11m fans in one year with no marketing. The Dirty Dancing social game on Facebook attracted a 1m players in a month. And yes you can rent or buy the movie through Facebook. Watch out for the integration of Facebook with the remake of the movie slated for a summer 2013 release.

Lionsgate came across as the fastest moving and most innovative of the studios. This is probably a function of it being a “mini major’. They see a major shift in the strategy of studios from “moving the IP across platforms to developing new IP for new platforms.’ They see this “huge opportunity” emanating from the explosion in the number of screens consumers have and the collapse in the cost of creating professionally produced content.

What shines through is the pace of change and the radical nature of change that is facing a grand old dame of an industry. What also shines through is that the people dealing with the change do not fear it but positively embrace it for the creative opportunities that it is creating.

A week is a very short time in....

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

It is a cliché to say that things move fast in the tech space. However, sometimes we don’t quite appreciate quite how fast. So the Missionaries have been back a week from the trip to Silicon Valley and LA. And it is almost as if we need to be out there again getting an update. Here, in case you missed them, are some of the headlines made by some of the companies we visited with over the last week or so.

ZYNGA

Zynga previewed a new game when we saw them - CastleVille. A week later it is launched. It already has 5 million users. Yup in a week. A storm has blown up, as the company seems to have decided that it dished out too many stock options in its early days. The rumour in the press is that they are demanding certain employees surrender some shares or be fired. They are citing the Google chef, an early employee who came by some options and then found he’s made $20m on the IPO, as justification for the move. And surprise surprise Zynga files for its IPO.

TWITTER

Pam Kramer, Twitter's vice president of consumer marketing is said to be leaving the company after just three months in the role. This is less than a week after vice president of communications Sean Garrett tweeted to announce his exit from the company.

YELP

Files to raise $100m in IPO. Launches in Australia

FACEBOOK

Investor tips floatation for early 2012. Betting is on $100bn valuation. Facebook slashed six degrees of separation to 4.7 following research. Strong rumours resurface of the Facebook phone, code names Buffy. Facebook introduces ads to the ticker via sponsored stories.

Announce that it will sell additional stock in secondary offering. Shares slump 23% as insider dumps stock. LinkedIn announce R&D centre in Bangalore.

GOOGLE

Google launches iTunes rival Google Music. Google+ (Google’s take on Facebook) launches pages for brands. Google launches GoMo to encourage brands to optimise for mobile.

ADOBE

Announced it would stop making Flash technology for mobile devices. This means it will move to HTML5, a technology supported by Apple, Google and Microsoft. Said that it would cut 750 jobs as it shifts investment to Web publishing and advertising. Sales forecasts are cut as it moves away from revenue model that generates licensing fees from large corporate clients.

SALESFORCE

Announced that they were the first enterprise cloud computing company to exceed a $2.3 billion annual revenue run rate. (Stock still took a kicking, as The Street wanted even more growth.) Launched do.com a personal productivity / life organiser app which will compete against project management apps like Base Camp or MS Project.

DISNEY

Announced that in the two months since Puffle Launch was released, over 100 million virtual coins earned in the mobile game have been transferred into the main Club Penguin world. Bob Iger the CEO announced a 30% year on year increase in profits said "fiscal 2011 was a great year financially and strategically, demonstrating the strength of our brands and business.” Walt Disney and YouTube announced a deal to spend $10 - $15m on an original video series. Disney spends c$40m to acquire Babble media Inc. a website that carries news for parents which includes influential blogs by moms and dads.

STUDIOS

Netflix has agreed an exclusive multi-year deal with Lionsgate Entertainment that will make it the only online streaming service to offer first-run movies. Warner Bros signs rights deal with LoveFilm thought to be the first one with a major Hollywood Studio. Netflix strikes exclusive deal with Twentieth Century Fox to produce an exclusive revival of the cult classic series Arrested Development.

Each one one of these announcements could represent either a major opportunity (or threat) to brands. This is most definitely a space that you need to stay on top of.

Meet Mr. Soundbite

2011-11-23T04:01:00.000-08:00

The IPA who together with UK Trade & Industry put together the recent Mission to the Silicon Valley and LA also recorded a video diary of the trip.

Nick Wright our Managing Partner - or Mr Soundbite - features in this video about the creative and marketing practices of the Hollywood Film Studios.

Nick's words of wisdom appear around the 2 min mark.

CAA - the post advertising agency

2011-11-23T02:37:00.000-08:00

If you've watched Entourage you'll know what I mean. If you haven't watched Entourage then stop reading this and go and watch Entourage. Creative Artist Agency or CAA as they are known is a talent agency. However, that undersells them to the same extent as calling Man U a footie team. You could describe them as the talent agency. A phenomenon would better catch it.

CAA is what advertising agencies used to aspire to. A fuck me office (yes the one in the picture). A Saatchi gallery of original contemporary art thrown on the walls. A boardroom that takes a full 20 minutes to circumnavigate. A boardroom table made from a Stonehenge of marble. Here's the future of advertising made real. The time when we used to win elections for political parties and anything seemed possible.

Our hosts are pop star corporate lawyers, McCool McKinsey types, faux fun hedge funders. They are the rich who are inheriting the earth - what's left of it after they ripped all the marble out. (Unfortunately Ari Gold couldn't make it, but everyone else showed up.)

You see they came up with an idea. They figured that if they couldn't come up with the idea, then they would come up with the people who made (many of) the ideas happen: talent. And then they cornered the market. Seriously cornered the market. So much so they should be facing an anti trust suit. Only they won't, 'cos they’re really corporate lawyers. They started out representing A List Movie Talent. Now they have 10 divisions. Directing talent. Sporting talent. TV talent. Production talent. Fashion talent. Business talent (500k for an after dinner motivational talk anyone?) They refuse to publish their client list in the same way that McKinsey does. That is because you already know their client list: anyone who is anyone. Here's the killer quote: “have the right talent and the rest will follow”.

That was horribly smart. Horribly. Us advertising types, dying to be loved by our clients, ('cos we have no confidence left) practically give our ideas away. Meanwhile, CAA clean up as they have the talent. And the corporate lawyers.

And now they are adding yet more strings to their bow - brand talent. Brands like Diageo (hello wake up at the back that's our clients people) now have retainer relationships with CAA. And now CAA are originating and brokering projects that bring brand talent and creative talent together. And there's not a creative agency in sight.

Agencies talk (almost always fluffily) about content, these guys are doing it. CAA 'walked us through' slide after slide of live projects that they were curating, executive producing. Tellingly almost all of these projects were happening in the digital space. (Yes, CAA have incubated and spun out digital talent.) In old money webisodes would cover it. In new money content for the way we will be consuming (streaming) content – anyway, anywhere, anytime, anyhow. The Missionaries has to leave after slide 126 because our collective lack of confidence was quickly becoming a collective complex.

These guys are serious players. They are taking over the now marbleless world. So what are our options? Actually, we only have one. Think big. Get confident again. Put ideas front centre again. Get the right talent and the rest will follow.

Russian Standard Vodka is back

2011-11-22T04:53:00.000-08:00

Our Vodka As It Should Be campaign for Russian Standard Vodka is back on our screens following a terrifically successful first burst in May.

A mixture of 30", 20" and 10" runs up until Christmas. The campaign launches during tonights Champions' League matches.

Disney Magic

2011-11-22T03:09:00.000-08:00

So after two and a half days in Silicon Valley, the Interactive Mission decamped down to LA. A 45 minute flight to very different, but increasingly converging worlds. World’s being transformed by technology. But – and here is the kicker – worlds that understand that the true IP starts with ‘the idea’ and not the technology.

First stop Disney. A meeting with two Brits just to make us feel at home. Andy Bird, Chairman of Disney International, who told us proudly how he started out at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester, and MT Carney, a Glaswegian, ex-Naked and now CMO of Disney Studios.

And boy these guys are magic. There to greet our mini bus with a smile as we rolled up ten minutes late. There to wave us off 90 captivating minutes later, memories safely made. Pure class.

So you want the text book on managing a global brand? Go to Disney. And if the Missionaries were not scribbling furiously, it was only because they were manically tapping out notes on our iPads. So what did we learn?

They key thing, in fact the very first words on the corporate video are: “it starts with the idea”. If there’s no idea, there’s no thing. So that means there is a primacy placed on creativity, on the understanding and integrity of the idea. Not that they would, but there’s no mention of ‘exploitation’, or ‘properties’ or ‘franchises’. You really get the sense that they do not need to be this cynical; once you have an idea the rest is easy. Andy Bird said that there was a fundamental belief in the philosophy that “if you do the right thing, the money will follow”. This was an interesting echo of some of the Valley businesses concentrating on making the product great first and worrying about the monetization later. MT Carney reminded us of what we all know to be true but often forget, “it is always harder to market products that are not good”.

It was instructive how often the idea word kept coming up. We were told that Disney is 32 businesses but one idea. We were told that the company rallies around the idea. Told how Disney people rip the idea apart, examine it from every angle and put it back together in a kind of “open source storytelling way”. This means the key to success is the idea and the quality of transmedia storytelling of the idea across movies, retail and theme parks.

So if the idea is king then the role of marketing is what they called “relevancy”. They gave some great examples of this. First, some on line mash ups created by a VJ called Pogo. When Disney first heard about this the first instinct was slapping a ‘cease and desist’ on him. Then they saw the opportunity. Rather than Pogo ripping off third generation footage, Disney gave him first generation material to help him improve the quality of his work. (Quality is a big thing at Disney.) Check him out on Youtube - they’re great and they’re popular. Just the 7.6m views and counting.

Facebook has been another user generated initiative that has been curated by Disney. Disney now has 29,497,367 likes. You can debate the value of a like all you want but you can’t argue with 29 and a half million of the things. Dory the minor if lovably forgetful fish from Finding Nemo has just a fin short of 14 million likes.

Finally perhaps the most interesting example. Disney English language classes in China. Again the idea came from observation of what was happening in the real world. Chinese youngsters were picking up the English language through viewing Disney movies. So Disney decided to do it properly. Cleverly, they resisted the notion of ‘Mickey does English lessons’, using the lessons to get the children on the crack cocaine of a merchandising programme. Rather, they decided to build a world class English as a Foreign Language course enlivened by the Disney magic of storytelling, fun and immersive entertainment. They figured that the kids would be able to make the connection pretty easily and quickly to other ‘ideas’ in the Disney portfolio.

Andy explained that three principals helped them land this opportunity, set to become a massive business in itself.

1. Acting as the Chinese Walt Disney Company and not the Walt Disney Company China. (A smart expression of the Glocal verbiage.)

2. Being very clear about what the brand is and what the brand is not. (It is not Mickey, it is what Mickey stands for.)

3. Doing things that people remember. (Which is truly noble mission.)

Call me an old softie but they got me. I left Disney completely spellbound.

X Ray Future Specs

2011-11-21T02:14:00.000-08:00

Media X sounds like an achingly hip post digital agency pumping out same-as-it-ever-was comms. Turns out Media X is an achingly square group doing achingly hip things.

From our side of the pond we sometimes forget why Silicon Valley is in Silicon Valley (as it were). The answer is, of course, the presence of world-class academic institutions such as Stanford. We have already commented on the homage of Valley businesses to their Alma Mater in the form of their office buildings. However, in Media X there is a genuine connectivity.

In many ways the tech businesses commercialize and mainstream advances in tech. Mathematical algorithms (Google), Virtual Reality (Xbox Kinect et al) are two obvious examples. And the tech gets done in academia. And Stanford is about as gold standard academia as you get on that front.

The role of Media X is to offer a “public partnership for science, technology and development” as Dr Martha Russell, an Associate Director of Media X at Stanford, explained when she met with the Interactive Mission. Media X focuses on the “human use of advanced communication technologies”, conducting primary interdisciplinary research at the “intersection of people and technology.”

I love the notion of the exploration of “edge questions of interest” as that is where innovation happens. Issues such as form factors, content, virtuality, data sets robustness, the role and usage of avatars. It is these three to five year out issues that are addressed by the Stanford thought leadership.

Companies join as affiliate membership or strategic partners and it is kinda like buying your ticket to play in the future. Dr Russell could not tell us who these companies are but it is pretty safe to assume that they are the usual suspects. Knowing what they are working on now gives a fascinating insight into what will be part of mainstream tech down the pipe. In no particular order and only pretending to understand what they are boffing on about here comes the future:

Measuring and increasing the productivity of knowledge workers particularly when they are not co-located
The meaning of and fostering creativity across different cultures
Collaboration in teams
Reinventing workflow
Agile networks - network orchestration

The New Economy

2011-11-21T02:06:00.002-08:00

AirBnB is a service that puts people with spare rooms in their homes in touch with people who want to rent them for short stays across city break holidays or business trips. It is a great example of a business that has been made possible by the so-called social web. Renting a room – or even your entire home – to a stranger? Nah. Staying in a stranger’s home? Are you mad? They might be mad! But it works. AirBnB has been touted as the next big thing. It turns out that they are pretty big now. They are now operating in 192 countries and earlier this year they passed a million nights booked.

This is an example of a community that scaled. Globally. As the AirBnB guys said when the Interactive Mission met with them, they are tapping into an entire economy built around sharing. This sharing is not just the sharing of physical assets (i.e. rooms) but the sharing of genuine experiences, stories and human connections. The end of hotel anywhere. Sure they are right for the economic times – they launched at just the right time when the global economy went wrong – but they are right for the psychological times and that is what really gives their business a shot at longevity.

There’s more from Joe Gebbia, AirBnB’s founder on Vimeo. And to Joe’s point, once the “sharing is good” story is owned, AirBnB becomes the brand that consumers will trust and consolidate around. Then AirBnB moves seamless into car share, office space share and so on. And them, presumably, AirBnB moves seamlessly towards an IPO.

Blott gets the thumbs up from Yummy Mummies

2011-11-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

To read the blog go to http://mostlyyummymummy.com/2011/11/09/blott-up-for-review/

Here's an IDEO for you...

2011-11-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

IDEO is a poster child for many agencies. Although they are 30 years old they are cited as the future of the advertising agency. Something that tells you all you need to know about advertising agencies. Hell, even we've got them posted all over our website. So excitement and nervousness mixed in equal measure when The Mission rolled into their Palo Alto HQ. There was always the nagging worry that it would be like meeting your favourite footie hero in person - a crashing and crushing disappointment at the discovery of their mortality.

Well here's the news - it was a not quite experience. They are very good. But they are human like us. Like us they try every day to turn out great work. And guess what, great work does not end up being turned out every day. Sure they command lumpy fees, but boy do they have a lumpy overhead machine they need to feed. Because they are trying to good work. (Any procurement guys listening?) The result is they have the same boring fiscal stresses as us. And like us, they face the same struggle with clients to be allowed to find solutions to source problems rather than being invited / instructed to wallpaper over cracks through all surface execution.

That doesn't mean we have nothing to learn from IDEO. Far from it. We could start with managing our own agency brand in the same classy way as they do. (On average they show over 70 people around their studios every day and they have requests for many more.) Their solutions are compelling because they have compelling confidence in their solutions. Maybe in our rush to avoid the accusation of arrogance, we are too apologetic about what we do. A manifestation of this is the confidence to charge clients (a lot) for what they do rather that charging them not a lot and then giving a tonne of stuff away on top for free.

We also shouldn't be afraid to position ourselves as a multi specialists which is subtly different to being integrated. Because we are. IDEO is a management consultancy, design company, branding agency, organisational change company, industrial design company, a product invention company (toys are their thing) and watcht out chaps an advertising agency. We all know about their famous T Shaped talent strategy (something that was pinched from IBM by the way), but hey most ad agencies have people like that as well! See our website for details.

They walked us through one of their case studies for a mattress brand in the States. It was great stuff. However, the most exciting thing that struck me and I could tell pretty much every other agency from The Mission in the room is that we all could have done that. In fact we do do that. Yet there remains one fundamental difference between us and IDEO - we are deemed to be selling executions so we are 'downstreamed' from the CEO to the execution manager who is not interested in, experienced about or bonused on the bigger picture. So I guess we left having learnt a lesson we already knew. Swim upstream. Fast.

Playtime with the Zynga boys

2011-11-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

Zynga has turned the gaming business upside down. By doing some upside down thinking. In many ways they have taken the same disruptive approach as Nintendo did with Wii. In many ways they both succeeded through anti or reverse innovation.

How so?

The established console guys and the games developers got caught up by the seductive tech complexity spiral of making things ever bigger, ever more powerful, and yes expensive. Hell games we're costing more than movies to make. And longer. Well this was inevitable, so they said, the better to exploit the power of the innovative hardware.

However popular, however successful, gaming failed to really cross over into the mainstream. Not least as the games were so damn tough to play. No one likes to be made to feel like an idiot and that's just what happened. The technology - soft and hard - just got too complicare and so disconnected with many people.

Enter the concept of Social Gaming. Wii didn't dumb down technology, they innovated by simplifying it. The innovative smarts was the stripping away of complexity in order to get to the fun quicker. If not anti innovation, then under innovation or reverse innovation. (Or any kinda catch phrase innovation that I could spin out into a management book and sell in airports.)

And in so doing they brought the mainstream into gaming.

As with Wii so with Zynga. Zynga did not see themselves as being in the packaged goods market, selling expensive boxed software through blockbuster releases followed by a franchising exploitation model of sequels. Zynga's reference point was the TV soap. A simple, consistent and low cost formula pipped into your home that could be consumed for free. With regular, often weekly, additions of new elements to keep what they call the 'fiction', fresh, alive and addictive.

Zynga's games - like FarmVille - live within the most social platform of them all, Facebook. By their own admission their games do not aspire to the form of art. No gaming Oscars, BAFTAs or Emmies for them. They aspire to fun. And a huge part of the fun is that it is free to play. In a similar fashion to TV that is notionally free to watch.

The result is that as Facebook exploded so did players of Zynga games. To the tune of 60 million unique players a day. Which, of course, is more than TV soaps get. And guess what the advertising dollars are and will continue to follow the audience; that is away from day time TV and into Zynga. Zynga declined to tell us anything about their upcoming IPO as they are in a quiet period. However, they said no with big smiles all over their faces.

Here's the insight we walked away from Zynga with. Innovation is not about advances in technology per se. Innovation is about advances in insight. Innovation is not about science, it is about people. And this offers hope to agencies. We can play in the future only if we remain to be seen by clients at hard wired into consumers' hopes, fears and dreams. If we remain the richest place to find business making insights. If we do that then maybe we can innovate with the best of them.

May the force be with you.

2011-11-09T06:03:00.001-08:00

Meet Simon Mulcahy. He is Director of Strategy at Salesforce. On the face of it, he's pretty unassuming. A sports jacket and slacks kind of guy. But rip those off him (sorry Simon) and you may just reveal the saviour of the ad industry. How do I know? Well, the Interactive Mission just spent lunch with a Superhero.

We have met with some awesome (well we are in California) companies over the last two days but you know they are secretly pretty scary. The Googles, the Facebooks, the Twitters et al that are all frighteningly successful. And they are going to continue to be successful with or without Agencies. Ultimately they are after our clients' money and to coin the phrase they absolutely will not stop ever, until you are dead.

Which brings us back to Clark Kent, sorry Simon Mulcahy. He is reaching out to Agencies. He's begging for it. He wants to play with us, not play with us if you follow. This is because he wants our help. And it is not so that he can pinch our clients' wallets but because his company Salesforce has landed a compelling concept called the Social Enterprise. However, bland their tag line and dodgy the logo it kinda captures it - the Social Enterprise connects to employees and customers like never before.

Simon has the Platform and Tools. Simon has the Scrum and the Agile methodologies to make things happen. But Simon is looking for the Vision thing, the Strategy thing, the Idea thing, the Experience Design thing. And he see this as the domain of Agencies. Simon is so sweet.

So this then is the start of a potentially beautiful relationship. Forgive the horrible management speak but Agencies can and should be all about doing the right thing and Salesforce is about doing that thing right.

And together the geeky guy (Simon) and the sexy chick (Agencies) give birth to a genius little offspring named Value.

And so rather than getting in an ugly fight with some 800lb gorillas for the few remaining $$$ that our clients have left, we create Value. And Value goes and transforms relationships between clients and their bands and the people and their customers and their consumers.

And it all ends happily ever after.

And it is based on a true story.

Here what other IPA delegates think about the Interactive Mission at

http://infovisionipa.blogspot.com

Twitter: A sceptic repents

2011-11-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

A confession. This was the one I was dreading. Yup. I was the guy who didn't get Twitter. There I've said it. I've resolutely stuck to the view it was all tw@ts tw@@tings about what they had for breakfast or los@rs retw@eting 'clever content' they themselves had never read. The fact that the Arab Spring did not confirm to this world view was conveniently glossed over. Put in the same debating bucket as why does God allow suffering.

And so I stepped into the confessional an (ironically) pretty soulless space in San Fran. And then they got to work on me.

It turns out that this is a platform that caught the wave perfectly. 'Open, public and unfiltered' (as they call it) is the defining feature of both Twitter and web 2.0. Real time - another web 2.0 staple is what Twitter does. And of course mobile, or more pointedly smart mobile.

The weight of numbers is undeniable. 600,000 new accounts a day. 250 million tweets a day. 8,000 tweets a second for Beyonce's on screen announcement that she was pregnant. Over 5,000 a second for the they got Bin Laden moment.

However it is the emergence of the ubiquitous two screen culture that really seals it for Twitter. Where screen one is either the real world or the TV, and screen two is the mobile device. (This, of course, is something that those clever peeps at Apple has spotted and explains the unique integration of Twitter into iOS 5.)

And it is at the intersection of these screens where the true opportunity for brands lies. So the most surprising thing was not that I am now a believer but that there are so many opportunities for brands to leverage all this creatively in ways that ultimately seem missing from some of the other key platforms that we have been visiting over here. We're hoping to get some of the examples through from Twitter to share.

And the most amazing thing is that this change the world company was, until just 12 months ago just 150 strong. It certainly does cause one to pause and consider which 150 strong agency has achieved that feat.

So all in all I feel blessed at having visited with Twitter. At least my confession need only be 140 characters long.

Here what other IPA delegates think about the Interactive Mission at

http://infovisionipa.blogspot.com

Yelp - where fans are the brand

2011-11-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

Day Two of the Interactive Mission started with Yelp. yelp.com Yelp is the local recommendation engine. People may be more familiar with TripAdvisor and Yelp is in that domain. However, the yelp guys would probably yelp at the comparison.

Yelp was set up in 2004 to help people find great local businesses. It is another in a long line of companies slowly eating Yellow Pages to death. Sure their the location based map technology piece which is still pretty cool. But the much cooler aspect is the community. The fans. The fans literally are this brand. A whopping 22 million reviews that provides the real utility to the tech.

It is also a utility that really comes alive in the mobile space. And what is really interesting is the way in which the mobile device (i.e. phone) connects you to people are not in your immediate environment, the geo location aspect of the mobile device (i.e. computer) connects you to your immediate environment with rich information about the businesses around you.

Yelp is the 5th most popular iPad app of all time and sits at number 15 on the iphone. Yelp is in the UK already but is planning to ramp up activity in Q1 next year. Expect even bigger things.

Here what other IPA delegates think about the Interactive Mission at

http://infovisionipa.blogspot.com

A dog of a business

2011-11-08T20:35:00.001-08:00

Omens.

Today on the Interactive Mission tour we saw two super smart companies - Yelp the recommendation engine and Zynga the company behind the phenomenon that is Farm Ville. And both had four legged friends in the house.

For Zynga alas the mutt is no more. He lives on in the spirit and in the company logo.

For Yelp the founder's furry friend was very much about the place.

Which makes us think (and hope) My Agency is doing something right. Our clients have come to know and love Nelly our Agency dog who works with us three days a week.

And Poppy who is one of best selling characters for our stationery business Blott. www.blottshop.com

So Zynga is currently in a quiet period prior to a potential IPO that will value the company in the multi billions. Yelp was rumoured to have turned down a buyout offer from Google equally in the billions. And us? We live in hope that every dog has his day....

Here what other IPA delgates think about the Interactive Mission at

http://infovisionipa.blogspot.com

If walls could talk...

2011-11-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

One of the fascinating things about Day One of the Interactive Mission were the buildings. Agencies, of course, like a bit of environment. Not that type of environment. The bean bag, basketball hoop type. And we saw a lot of environment.

One of the objectives of the IPA trip was to get a sense of the entrepreneurial environment in the Valley, the culture of creativity. Better to intravenously feed it back into London. This was a good if hopeless ambitious objective given the flying nature of our visits. It left us playing Lloyd Grossman like discerning culture from environment.

So in my best Lloydie, he goes.

What reeked (about from the free flow Starbucks) from the places was their Uni origins. Facebook was a student dorm. Linked In was the MCR. Google was the campus. Adobe was the Emeritus Professors office.

And here to borrow and abuse a famous phrase is the Innovator's Dilemma. There seems to be a progression correlating the age of the company to the nature of the environment and some might argue to the innovatoryness (if that is a word) of the company.

From creative chaos to corpulent corporate the buildings tell us all we need to know.

Here what other IPA delgates think about the Interactive Mission at

http://infovisionipa.blogspot.com

Wonderland

2011-11-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

I guess that this was the one that everyone was waiting for. The Big One. And it didn't disappoint. This was Developer Disneyland. Tech Themepark. Web Wonderland. And boy did they put on a show. Slick. Sophisticated. Sexy. However, back to Disneyland. I'm looking at my notes and I don't seem to have any! Like Disneyland you may wish to get in there doing the cynical Brit thing, but you get find yourself getting caught up in the entertainment of it all. You get suckered in. In a good way. Oh and like all good theme park it has a killer shop. Let the memories begin.

Google hit us with two themes in the theme park. The first was what new at Google. And this was a roller coaster ride through idea after idea. If you don't like this one, here's another. And another. We were obliged to sign an NDA so I can't tell you about them. But frankly there's so many I can't remember them. So here is my NDA busting scoop - boy they were coooool.

The second theme in the themepark was innovation. And here we had Google Cabaret from The Lion, oops The Innovator King. He was a dude. Had us eating out of his hand. Signing along in the aisles. If we weren't in California I think the entire IPA crew would have been on their seats swaying with their lighters above their heads. And like the Lion King you can only purr at the content. The Innovator King reigned supreme.

As will Google.

Here what other IPA delgates think about the Interactive Mission at

http://infovisionipa.blogspot.com

Democratising creativity

2011-11-08T08:01:00.001-08:00

Next stop Adobe. And their box fresh, no expense spared experience centre. In the end this turned into the most fascinating of the visits. Unexpectedly. Although I am not 100% certain all of the IPA delegates would agree with me on this. And here is the reason. Adobe is an old world company. Its heritage is in professional software. Or software for professionals It's traditional business model is boxed product sold through retail or reseller partners. The products go through extended upgrade cycles and attract licencing fees. In many ways they are the Microsoft Windows of the Design community. And designers have the same love / hate relationship to Flash, Creative Suite, Photoshop as suits do to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. And clients have same grumble about being obliged to shell out for ever more arcane upgrades.

Then the world changed. As it did for Microsoft; so it did for Adobe. The world got faster. The world got Agile. The world got simple as opposed to complicated

And as a consequence, Adobe faces a huge reinvention issue to remain relevant. To avoid being bypassed. Ultimate to escape becoming extinct. Well maybe the last is a bit dramatic but the view of 'The Street' is that if you're not growing, you're dying.

And you can see and feel the tension of transition all about Adobe. The old world of Adobe lifers mixing uneasily with the new world of Adobe which often means acquired companies, people, philosophies and technology.

But you know they might just be figuring their way through all this. Once the corporate ppt was religiously walked through we got to play with product. And as it always does the show transformed the tell.

What Adobe has figured out is that in the new world the key to success is to democratise creativity. And they are doing this through a concept of the Creative Cloud. http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud.html. Underselling it hugely the Creative Cloud is a suite of affordable touch based apps that facilitates fast creativity. Fast concepting, fast photo shopping, fast prototyping. There is for example a cool app that allows folk to create clickable wireframes in seconds.

Technology gets out of the way. Which is of course what technology should do every time.

So two things. One interesting: one dangerous. First the interesting one. This democratisation piece means a transformation of Adobe business model (at least in part.) No longer are they an enterprise software business but a consumer retail brand. I'm not sure they've quite got their head around the that one. And now the dangerous one. What the Creative Cloud does is transform a legion of ipad totting account peeps into wanna be creatives. It may be unfashionable given the year we have but I might here some protesting that after all

democracy might be a bad thing.

Here what other IPA delgates think about the Interactive Mission at

http://infovisionipa.blogspot.com

Linking in to LinkedIn

2011-11-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

From Facebook then on to LinkedIn. And from one world view to another.

Obviously the inexorable rise of Facebook members - over 800m is well documented. But through LinkedIn's eyes it is not about 'how many but who'.

Again it is amazing at how many successful businesses are driven by an insight that ultimately defines who they are and what they do.

Sure Facebook is about the who - the timeline of your life etc - but one still gets the real sense they still get their real buzz (as they did in the movie The Social Network - on their march to global ubiquity.

LinkedIn's universe is of course not the whole universe as it is for Facebook but the professional universe. And right now they are at 130 million. A little factoid that was new to me was the while the US represents their biggest community, the UK has been knocked down into third by India a really interesting piece of evidence for the rise of the global middle class in that country.

LinkedIn provide a brilliant showcase for the case for data driven web. They have some fab tools, products and services that enable professionals - individuals or companies - to find 'the one(s)' they are after. And, conversely, when people are searching companies they have equally smart tools allowing businesses to present tailored content to these people that is served up based on the data connected to the person concerned.

The final observation for now is how fast LinkedIn has been to evolve their business. Two examples of this. Firstly, mobile. LinkedIn realised that professionals are mobile and they ploughed into this space big time and fast. Secondly, content. - LinkedIn has overnight become a huge and influential content aggregator. However, their original mission: to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful gives them permission to play. And LinkedIn are playing big time.

Facebook

2011-11-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

Our first mission was to Facebook.

What was fascinating to me was not the cool tech but more the depth of their thinking about human behaviour. And so their tech become not so much something that changes the way people behave but rather helps people behave as they have always behaved. And that behaviour is of course social, forging personal connections and deepening those connections by sharing personal content.

Their contention is that as the world of information explodes in almost infinite ways and brainspace remains resolutely finite (and in my case seemingly reducing), the role of personal connections (friends) becomes ever more vital in providing a editing, navigating and curating function.

And it is at this point Facebook say that the opportunity for brands presents itself. But it is also a challenge for brands as well because brands need to enter these friend conversations in a natural, unforced and engaging way by aligning to what matters to people. It is fair to say that many brands (and their agencies) have a long way to go on this.

The FB guys showed a case study of one successful exercise. However, the unacknowledged irony of the case study was that the most engaging, fun and impactful aspect of the campaign were the elements that lived in the real world. This for me was a key take away. We should resist talk of 'doing a Facebook campaign' because in the end it is a communications channel like every other channel. Real fans for brands are created through cleverly connected cross channel campaigns.

Here come the Brits

2011-11-07T21:24:00.000-08:00

So this is the front cover of the Mission Brochure that has been produced by the IPA and UK TI. Credit where credit is due both parties have done a wonderful job at facilitating the Mission. The brochure features a Foreward from Jeremy Hunt the Sec of State for Culture underlining the importance of creative industries to the economy and Nicola Mendelsohn the IPA President writes a piece underlining the global standing of the the member agencies. The brochure includes a brief profile of My Agency. It is obviously a huge honour for My Agency to be included in what is a who's who of UK agencies. The brochure is being shared with all the mover and shaker organisations with which we are meeting over the course of the week. Here's a link to the IPA press release. http://bityurl.com/5dad31 If you're interested in a copy of the brochure we can send that to you.

Interactive Mission

2011-11-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

So My Agency is currently in California. We have been invited by the IPA (our esteemed trade body) and UK Trade and Investment (the government's department that helps promote UK based companies succeed abroad) to take part in an 'Interactive Mission' to San Francisco and LA.

We are one of a dozen or so UK agencies on the trip. The purpose of the trip is to meet, connect with and learn from some of the companies that are changing the way people around the world communicate. Companies that are having a profound and irreversible influence on how brands engage with their fans. Companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google in the San Francisco area and companies like Walt Disney, Creative Artists Agency and Lionsgate around LA.

We have been promised unique and privileged access to some of the brightest and the best at these organisations and it should be a thrilling if knackering week. Watch out for regular updates on this blog.

"Fanvestors"

2011-10-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Not our words by the title of an interesting piece in The Times from the back end of last week.

It comes from a story about BrewDog the small Scottish craft beer that is kicking up a storm in the (real) ale sector. They raised over £2m from over 8,000 fans and investors (or fanvestors) to fund further expansion.

The bit I really like is the sales pitch from James Watt one of the founders of BrewDog who says investors "literally get richer with every beer they drink".

‘Fanvestors’ retain thirst for BrewDog

Dominic Walsh

Last updated October 19 2011 12:01AM

The small Scottish craft beer company behind such tipples as Punk IPA and Trashy Blonde is to push the button on plans for a new brewery and five pubs after tapping its drinkers for £2 million of funding.

BrewDog, which describes itself as a “beacon of non-conformity in an increasingly monotone corporate desert”, turned to its customers after struggling to get sufficient bank finance and balking at the cost of a conventional stock market flotation.

Its online share offer, Equity for Punk, gives beer drinkers the chance to buy shares in BrewDog for a minimum investment of £95. Perks include a 20 per cent discount on beers bought from its online shop and 5 per cent off purchases in any of its bars.

The brewer, which raised £750,000 by a similar means two years ago, said that after raising £1 million from “fanvestors” in the first month after July’s launch, the total raised had now reached almost £2 million and it planned to leave the offer open to the end of the year.

James Watt, who founded BrewDog four years ago with his friend Martin Dickie, said the offer had attracted 8,000 investors from as far afield as New Zealand and South Africa who would “literally get richer with every beer they drink”.

He said that BrewDog had applied for planning consent for a state-of-the-art craft brewery in Balmacassie, Aberdeenshire. The low-carbon, £7 million plant would create 25 jobs initially, with another 50 over the next five years.

“The new facility will give us ten times the brewing capacity, allowing us to meet demand that is growing all the time,” Mr Watt said.

The group, which has three bars in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, will open a venue in Camden, North London, next month and has sites in Manchester and Newcastle. It is also considering opportunities in Leeds, Birmingham and Sheffield.

Mr Watt said the fundraising showed drinkers were “turning their backs on the limp, pale-yellow lagers peddled by giant global brewers”.

Hyperoptic - Making the News

2011-10-19T05:09:00.000-07:00

Our client, Hyperoptic has been make a big noise in the Broadband space. Whilst other providers continue to get their wrist slapped by Ofcom for over-inflated speed claims - up to 20 meg my arse! - Hyperoptic have blown them away with 1 gig. And the first building has just come on stream.

Read on for the full scoop. By the way one of the tasks we had was to give the brand and the service a name. The Times has a view on that!

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/telecoms/article3199601.ece

Anybody who has been caught in the traffic on the South Circular heading through Wandsworth will not associate the London suburb with speed. Yet Wandsworth may go down in history for the country’s first commercial launch of a 1 gigabit a second broadband service, which is roughly ten times faster than the top service elsewhere on the market. By today’s standards, this is nosebleed-fast broadband.

Hyperoptic – an obscure name for a telecoms operator that sounds more like a Thomas Dolby hit than an emerging challenger to BT – has wired up the Prices Court riverside development in Wandsworth with its fibre optic cables.

The service, which goes live today, will be available to just 133 flats, so it’s very small beer in terms of network rollout. Yet Hyperoptic has plans to expand across London over the coming year to cover tens of thousands of premises and has already tapped into buildings located in the Docklands in the east to Shepherd’s Bush in the west of the capital.

Its building-by-building approach may smack of Ballardian images of privileged communities living in isolated high rises, but it also provides a glimpse into the future when 1 gigabit will be the standard for a fully networked society.

It will be easy for BT and Virgin Media to shrug off the start-up operator but Hyperoptic is noteworthy for two reasons. Firstly it is one of the few providers to openly shun the debate around the so-called digital divide.

The business is only interested in urban areas with high population density, which is both pragmatic in terms of its business model but also highlights the fact that many suburban dwellers are not yet benefiting from superfast broadband with the Government’s attention largely focused on rural areas.

The other reason to sit up and pay attention to Hyperoptic rests on its track record. The company’s founders are the team that launched Be Broadband back in 2005 before it was sold to O2 less than a year later at a very tidy profit.

Be was the first operator to launch a 24 megabits per second service at a time when the big players were arguing that 2 megabits was enough for most people’s needs. Hyperoptic is bracing itself for the jump to fibre optic networks to be more dramatic than the upgrade from dial-up to broadband over the past decade and is determined to once again be the market pace-setter.

BT and Virgin Media have engaged in a headline-grabbing race for the top billing in the broadband speeds but demand for the superfast services has lagged the hype. Most people are prepared to stay in the slow lane in terms of broadband speeds based on their current usage. However the lesson learnt from the smartphone revolution is that bandwidth demand can rocket overnight if consumer behaviour changes.

HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL APPOINTS MY AGENCY TO KRUŠOVICE TASK

2011-10-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

My Agency has been appointed by Heineken to help develop their premium Czech beer brand, Krušovice. The business was secured following a competitive pitch against unnamed agencies in a process coordinated by Creativebrief.

Dating back to 1517, the brewery gained a contract to provide beer to Emperor Rudolf II in 1581. The company was acquired by Heineken in July 2007.

The campaign rolls out through print, outdoor, POS and experiential projects. The first markets to receive the campaign will be Sweden and the UK.

Nick Wright, Managing Partner of My Agency said, “We are gaining a great track record in building fan bases for great products. Krušovice is undoubtedly a great product with a terrific reputation amongst the beer cognoscenti. We are thrilled to be working with our friends at Heineken to help connect the brand to a wider community of drinkers.”

Audrey Schillings, Senior Brand Manager for Heineken International, said, “Krušovice is one of Heineken’s best kept secrets, despite winning some prestigious awards. My Agency presented some excellent creative that will really help us unlock the potential of the brand by bringing it to life in a premium and contemporary manner that celebrates and respects the brand story.”

Russian Standard Vodka Sets New Standards

2011-09-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice piece from the influential wine and spirits blog The Purveyor.

Life is About Timing

One thing I love about this industry is that for drink brands to welcome dramatic growth they need the right people working on them at the right time. With this in mind I had a wry smile to myself when I recently heard two bits of news.

The first news was that Whyte and Mackay had been appointed the new distributor of Russian Standard Vodka in the UK. The second news was that Guy Lawrence had been appointed Managing Director of Russian Standard, and the third part of the jigsaw is that Luke White’s ad agency, My Agency does the advertising. Now why is this relevant, I can hear you say?

John Beard the CEO of Whyte and Mackay, Guy Lawrence and Luke White were all schooled at the Spirits University of Bacardi Martini, and as well as being hugely talented, they are hugely entrepreneurial. So Smirnoff, Absolut and Stolichnaya, you are on for the fight of your lives as these boys will only play by one rule, and that’s Portman.

I can’t wait to see what Russian Standard does next. It won’t be boring.

Daddy, what do you do all day?

2011-09-28T10:21:00.001-07:00

Well son....

People often ask us what makes us different to other agencies and what this Fans For Brands thing is all about.

So we tried to get it down on one page.

Does it makes sense? Let us know.

We're moving on

2011-09-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

On Monday 26th September My Agency is moving to 48 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 2NS.

Our telephone number and contact details remain the same, but please note that our server is being moved on the
afternoon of Friday 23rd and will interrupt our ability to receive and send emails for the rest of that day.

We look forward to welcoming you to our new home in the near future.

Twitter innovates with BlueVia-powered MMS feature

2011-09-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Twitter has announced that it has integrated one of the BlueVia APIs to give its users a new way of updating their social media profile.

Users can now send a picture from any phone that supports the well-established MMS standard and it will be posted to their personal profile complete with the photo stored on Twitter's built-in photo sharing service. The service is now active for O2 customers in the UK.

Blott now on Amazon

2011-09-16T08:33:00.001-07:00

Blott has two shops in Tunbridge Wells and Guildford and we have two web shops - Blottshop.com and now amazon.co.uk. Now you have no excuse not to surround yourself with lovely stationery.

Hyperoptic launches

2011-09-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

The entrepreneurs Boris Ivanovich and Dana Tobak approached us with their new business proposition. To create an ISP that offers residential customers 1GBps connectivity. The fastest available speed currently is Virgin Media's up-to-100Mbps cable service. Their challenge to My Agency was to find a name for the company and product to describe the product.

Our solution Hyperoptic a new level of speed in the category.

The launch is getting good press and we are we are now helping Boris and Dana achieve Hyperoptic growth by developing the marketing communications.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/networking/2011/09/14/hyperoptic-offers-londoners-1gbps-fibre-broadband-40093928/?tag=mncol;txt

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20105966-94/london-isp-offers-1gbps-fiber-broadband/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&tag=nl.e703

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/14/hyperoptic_launch/

Can anyone help us find the BIG WHITE DOG?

2011-09-08T01:55:00.000-07:00

It seems Cash, one of our blott characters, is starting to become something of an viral star. It all began when he started strutting his stuff to a band called Virgin Soldiers who were busking in Tunbridge Wells in aid of Cancer research. A friend of the band recorded it and posted it on youtube. Now someone else has started a facebook page showing unlikely sightings of cash. To see Cash's adventures go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX5juyoLfNo or to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=165755020170795

Our second baby...

2011-08-31T06:39:00.000-07:00

Following the launch of our retail brand Blott in Tunbridge Wells, we are sharing the love with the good folk of Guildford.

The new shop opened on Bank Holiday Saturday and once again we have been delighted with the response.

If you are around and about check us out at 156 High Street, Guildford.

Scarey to think we are now a High Street chain...

Brands driving people into the shops.

2011-08-14T02:07:00.000-07:00

You can always trust the brits to laugh in the face of adversity. This week a site Photoshoplooter sprang up taking the mickey out of our civil unrest. Check it out at http://photoshoplooter.tumblr.com or buy the book all profits (that's £4 per copy sold) go to Shelter and Kids’ Company, two charities that are helping those affected by the riots.

Creating fans with IP

2011-07-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

IP - Intellectual Property - is something we create. Along with fans. When we work with clients we look at the world from a fans perspective. We examine what fans are looking for from brands. We look at what brands offer fans. We connect the two via creative communications. (Simple eh?) Sometimes we identify that fans are looking for something that is not available on the market. Our entrepreneurial fans for brands approach gives us the freedom to go out to create and offer it. (Something also known as innovation of course!) This is still far from mainstream within the creative agency community. Last week Campaign our trade magazine ran a feature on this small (but illustrious) band of agencies.

Grant's becomes the world's 3rd largest whisky

2011-07-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

Grant’s Scotch whisky has turned a new chapter in its 124-year success story as it takes to the podium of standard Scotch whiskies, becoming the world’s number three in retail value.

The move onto podium, confirmed by IWSR results released last week, reaffirms Grant’s’ credentials as a key player on the world whisky stage. Over the last five years, Grant’s has consistently grown ahead of the category, achieving in 2010 worldwide sales of 4.8 million cases and retail value of over $1bn.

A £35m Grant’s global investment package was announced in 2008 by independent, family-owned distillers William Grant & Sons, comprising new packaging, a global marketing campaign created by My Agency and investment in the company’s production facilities in Girvan, Scotland. The brand, which includes Ale and Sherry Cask Editions as well as aged 12, 18 and ultra premium 25 year old variants, has continued to enjoy rapid growth, outperforming competitors in both emerging whisky markets such as Russia and amongst established drinkers in markets such as France and the UK.

Kate Athanasi, Grant’s Global Brand Director comments: “This is a very exciting time for Grant’s. Just over a hundred 100 years ago William Grant’s son-in-law first took his family’s blended Scotch to the world. Today we’re the top selling family blend thanks to our multi award-winning whisky and our rich family heritage, which resonates with whisky drinkers across the globe.”

The Grant’s story started when founder William Grant’s distillery produced its first golden drop of spirit in 1887. Today, crafted by Master Blender Brian Kinsman, Grant’s is the oldest family owned blend in Scotland, built on five generations of heritage, expertise and passion for whisky-making.

To see more of the campaign that's helped Grant's dramatic growth go to http://www.myagency.co.uk/case-studies/grants-whisky

Global Ambitions

2011-06-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

An interesting article in the latest edition of International Wines and Spirits Research Magazine about Russian Standard's owner Roustam Tariko and his plans for the company.

David Reviews reviews Russian Standard

2011-06-08T05:16:00.000-07:00

Matty Ivey struts his stuff at The Royal College of Fashion Show

2011-06-08T02:53:00.000-07:00

Another year, another set of hopeful designers ready to launch into the industry. Last night the 2011 Royal College of Art Graduate Fashion Show saw thirty-six postgraduate students parade their collections down the catwalk in hope of ascertaining a place in the much desired fashion world. My Agency designer Matty Ivey donned a pith helmet and assumed his alter ego as a catwalk model to show off some of the colourful collections. Even though Matty spent the night giving it loads of 'Blue Steel' he was back at his Mac first thing this morning. For more pics and the full story of the show go to http://www.fashion156.com/collections/41/

Russian Standard Vodka and Two Doyenes

2011-06-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

From thepurveyor.com a site dedicated to the world's finest spirits, an article about our new campaign for Russian Standard Vodka and some of the folks behind it.

Russian Roots

A new ad campaign broke this week for Russian Standard Vodka and the campaign has reunited two of the doyenes of the Spirits advertising world. The campaign returns Vodka to its true Russian roots, placing Vodka where it should be. The multiplatform idea helps solidify the brands authenticity and will only enhance its already dramatic UK growth, second only to Smirnoff. Russian Standard has performed very strongly since launch a few years ago, quickly overtaking Stoli. So why is this campaign so interesting to The Purveyor?

Two Spirits Kings

To answer that, I have to take you back to the years of 1998 to 2002 when Bacardi Breezer was on fire. At that time Luke White was the Creative Director on the brand, and Howard Greenhalgh directed the TV ads. These two lads took the brand to a value of £500m in five years via clever and creative advertising. These three have reunited once again to create the latest Russian Standard campaign.

History does repeat itself

History does repeat itself ,especially in the Spirits industry, and it would be great to see these three successfully taking on Smirnoff again, as they did with Bacardi Breezer and Smirnoff Ice. If Russian Standard and Smirnoff do look horns in a Russian standoff, perhaps Grey Goose can slip quietly by.

To see the original article go to http://www.thepurveyor.com/blog/russian-standard-vodka-and-two-doyenes/

'UX' what's it all about?

2011-06-03T05:25:00.000-07:00

UX is an acronym for "user experience." It's a term used to describe the overall experience and satisfaction a user has when using a product or system. As Herman Rodrigues, My Agency's Head of UX will tell you, "Good UX makes people happy and makes businesses more successful. But if UX is ignored, the results can be very bad indeed, particularly online."

The ease of usability of a site is the difference between someone getting straight to the thing they came for and leaving that site unsatisfied, perhaps never to return. No one goes to a site saying, "I will hate this site." Most people want to like it; they are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt if you make minor mistakes.

But each time something goes wrong, some of their goodwill is lost. Do enough things wrong and your visitors will run out of goodwill and go somewhere else. Worse still, they don't just leave, they leave disliking your site. And by extension, that means they don't like you, your products, and your services.

Unfortunately studies show that people who have a negative experience are likely to tell 17 other people. If they have a good experience, they will tell 3 - which means a good experience must be as good as it possibly can be!

To understand a little more about the benefits of UX click on this link to see a video on the ‪ROI of User Experience by Dr. Susan Weinschenk,‬ Chief of UX at Human Factors International

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqvTc

New Russian Standard Ad breaks in European 'Super Bowl'.

2011-06-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Our new TV ad campaign for Russian Standard Vodka had it's first airing over the weekend in the half time break in the UEFA Champions League Final amongst new ads for some of the biggest brands in the world. The ad launches the 'Vodka as it should be' platform in the UK and the TV is backed by outdoor, cinema and ongoing social media activity. Russian Standard has grown massively in the last few years in the UK and is now the number 2 best selling vodka behind Smirnoff. The TV ad was created by Luke White and directed by Howard Greenhalgh.
For more on the campaign go to http://www.myagency.co.uk/case-studies/russian-standard-vodka

Blottshop.com is now live

2011-05-20T06:16:00.000-07:00

Our new website for blott is live and doing the business. To check out some of the thousands of items designed by the boys and girls at My Agency go to blottshop.com

Fit enough to be a Squirrel?

2011-04-21T01:14:00.000-07:00

We have also just completed a viral ad for The Royal Parks Foundation who are responsible for the up-keep, preservation and conservation of the eight Royal Parks. The video, which was shot and edited in-house by My Agency, aims to recruit runners to join Team Squirrel and run in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon to raise sponsorship for the foundation. The sponsorship raised this year will help in building a new children's education centre in the heart of Hyde Park.

Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon from Luke White on Vimeo.

Meet the new baby

2011-03-22T06:51:00.000-07:00

The world's first Blott shop opened last weekend.

(Tunbridge Wells will never be the same again.)

It was an amazing experience seeing the general public finally having the chance to engage with - and buy - the brand. We have had tremendous feedback and sales have been really strong. (Which is nice.)

New website live

2011-03-22T06:44:00.000-07:00

We've redesigned our web site.

Same address (myagency.co.uk), great new content.

No longer Flash based so it works on iphones and the like. And it should be an especially lovely experience for all you ipaders out there.

Would love to hear what you think.

Blott Shop opens this Friday

2011-03-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

Our first Blott Shop open in Tunbridge Wells this Friday (next to M@S if you know the area).

There will be over 1,000 lines of exciting new stationery items, most designed by us. The remaining items have passed our "can't buy anywhere else" policy.

The idea of Blott is to celebrate the joy of writing and self-expression.

Here is the launch advertisement we've placed in local media, one of the display panels inside the store and a sneak preview of some products.

Meet our New Head of Account Management

2011-02-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

With James Easterbrook moving on to new things, we are delighted to announce Sarah Shubrook as our new Head Of Account Management. Sarah joined us last Autumn from Euro Luxe where she worked as part of the team on Jaguar.

As well as holding a watching brief across our portfolio of clients, Sarah will be helping us with business development and our CPD (continuous professional development) programme that we are setting up with the IPA.

Blott update

2011-02-15T03:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday some My Agencyers went off to see the progress being made on our new Blott Shop in Tunbridge Wells. It is still literally a building site. But fast progress is being made and everything is on track for our mid March opening.

Exciting....

Blott shop lives

2011-02-05T13:23:00.001-08:00

Our first Blott stationery shop is now undergoing fit out. The hoarding was applied on Thursday. The shop opens in Royal Tunbridge Wells right next to M&S in approximately 6 weeks.

Exciting...

Billionaires - As they should be.

2011-02-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

Roustam Tariko the founder and owner of our client Russian Standard Vodka was interviewed by the BBC yesterday. It is a really interesting insight into his story and the growth of Russian Standard Vodka.

He also name checks our campaign - Vodka As It Should Be.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12324765

My Agency creates first TV commercial for The Girl With the Dragon's Tattoo novel

2011-01-28T03:54:00.000-08:00

The publisher of the most successful book in the United Kingdom over the last two years has appointed My Agency to recruit even more fans.

In a first for Quercus the publisher, My Agency has created a TV commercial for The Girl With the Dragon’s Tattoo, the first of book in the best selling Stieg Larsson trilogy. The spot will run in selected TV regions with plans in place to take it national later in the year.

Nick Wright, Managing Partner of My Agency said, “The Larsson trilogy deserves its success and is one of the very few books that has become a brand in its own right. It is always rewarding to be entrusted with a hugely successful property and be invited to spread the word. Thanks to our friends and Great Guns and Calum Macdairmid the Director we were able to create a terrific commercial in double quick time that will do just that.”

Iain Millar, Marketing Manager for Quercus said, “This trilogy has been a publishing phenomenon and My Agency have done a fabulous job at creating a commercial that will create an even wider fan base.”

Appsolutely Brilliant

2011-01-21T09:57:00.001-08:00

So we've created our very own app.

Now you can run the obligatory wedding speech sweepstakes on your iPhone smoothly and seamlessly and thus avoid any ugly disputes...

Whatever gave the recently married James Easterbrook the inspiration?

Yours for only 59p

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wedding-speechstakes/id414436882?mt=8

Own label

2011-01-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

Advertising Agencies are supposed to hate own label. And why not as after all they do their best to kill brands. But we love own label so much we've created our own.

Blott is a new retail brand that designs and sells exciting and exclusive ranges of everyday stationery and related items. Blott is an interactive celebration of wonderfully designed product for the young and not so young who want to make their market on the world through creative imagination, personalisation and self-expression. The products are the perfect marriage of function and form.

My Agency has developed the brand name, brand identity, product range designs, designs of individual products, the presentation of the brand in store as well as creating all marketing programmes. My Agency is a major shareholder working with a success retail entrepreneur and shop design company.

Blott will open three shops in 2011.

Today, we have signed the lease on the first of those for a site in Royal Tunbridge Wells. It opens towards the end of March. A transactional website will go live at this time as well.

Now that our big secret is out, we'll be keeping you update on progress!

New Global Campaign for Russian Standard Vodka

2011-01-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

Our new campaign for Russian Standard Vodka has gone live. Breaking initially in Australia, Belgium and Germany amongst other places before taking on the world. The print campaign in Germany appeared in national press and magazines. The advertising launches a new global theme - Vodka As It Should Be. Unusually for vodka, this campaign highlights the exceptional and authentic quality of the liquid and the adherence to traditional Russian vodka standards.

Telefonica launches BlueVia and actually shows that operators can innovate

2011-01-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Not our words but the words of the influential Into Mobile industry blog.

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/12/22/telefonica-bluevia/

OK, might as well let them tell the whole story.

"Telefonica, the world’s 3rd largest operator behind China Mobile and Vodafone and who is also more commonly known as O2 in the UK, recently launched a developer platform called BlueVia that’s just about the most innovative thing I’ve seen come out of the backwards telecommunications market since ringback tones. What BlueVia enables is for developers to write either applications or mobile websites and let them tie into APIs ranging from billing to user profiling and even customer usage patterns. They’re charging nothing for developers to use said APIs and the revenue breakdown for what you end up taking home is 70% if your application is hosted in their own App Store, 70% of subscription fees if your app uses recurring billing, 20% of incoming SMS fees, and 10% of outgoing SMS fees."

My Agency has been slaving over this platform for the last 18 months and we're thrilled that it is now living in the real world, if only in closed Beta for the moment. We have been at the heart of the development of the business proposition, brand, design and user experience working in lock step with the Telefonica team. The product will go open in the Spring.

New Year. New commercial

2011-01-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

Welch's Purple Grape Juice has been outperforming virtually every brand in the hyper competitive juice category throughout 2010. To build on this, Welch's is launching a chilled variant - Purple Grape and Raspberry Blend. To support the launch, My Agency has created a 'sting' for our highly successful master commercial. See it on a TV screen near you.

Welch's Raspberry Blend from Luke White on Vimeo.

Happy Christmas to all our readers

2010-12-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from My Agency. from Luke White on Vimeo.

My Agency elected members of IPA

2010-12-14T03:27:00.000-08:00

We are delighted to announce that we have just been elected members of the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising www.ipa.co.uk). This is our industry trade body and the guide. develop, represent and promote the industry both at home and abroad. They work very closely with the equivalent client trade body ISBA and also with Government trade bodies. We join a list of prestigious agencies who are also members.

http://www.ipa.co.uk/content/IPA-elects-new-members-%E2%80%93-9th-December-2010

Our campaign in Campaign

2010-12-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

This week's issue of Campaign magazine includes a think piece by our very own James Easterbrook, It is part of a special supplement looking at 'What's next in integration'. As you might expect it contains a good primer on our view of the work. (James would probably call it 'thought leadership'.)

James' article follows. Let us know what you think.

We’re having the wrong debate. Too often when we talk about integration we use it to describe better ways to organise and manage media. We should reclaim this overused word to describe something altogether more powerful.

It’s something that forward-thinking businesspeople are already doing and all will do eventually. It’s the integration of creative thinking across all parts of a business. It’s about moving marketing out of a department and into the fabric of an organisation.
It means thinking about customers, not as the subject of a campaign, but as part of the business itself, determining the products and services they want and how they are delivered. It also means opening up to work with third parties who may know the capabilities and customers of a business better than it does.

On the face of it this seems like a terrifying prospect for marketers. After all, if we don’t own the connection between brand and customer, what’s our purpose? In my opinion however, once we understand that what’s needed are the things we’ve always been great at, like making the complex simple and figuring out what makes customers happy, then it’s clear that we’re essential. We may not be delivering the same kind of output but I think the wider integration of creative thinking represents a compelling opportunity for us all, whichever side of an agency invoice we sit.

So let’s consider what this approach can actually do for a business. I’m going to focus on two key benefits: Revenue and brand development.

Revenue
Arguably, the turmoil of the last few years isn’t about a cyclical economic dip and we shouldn’t be expecting everything to bounce back. Tough times and broken business models are the new normal. That makes identifying new ways to drive revenue imperative and working with third parties to find them is one option.

The Guardian’s Open Platform project is a great example of this. At a basic level, it’s piece of technical functionality that delivers high quality, mashable content to third party websites and communities to mutual benefit. At a more sophisticated level it’s a way for anyone to create new ways of interacting with Guardian content, developing their own means of delivery and presentation and then sharing with the wider audience.

A second example is an open innovation project we’re delivering for Telefonica. The global telco and parent of O2 is opening up its network capabilities to application developers and providing them with a direct path to market. By involving people who are closer to the customer, it’s able to share the responsibility for ‘picking winners’ and can deliver the sort of new products and services customers are happy to pay for.

By integrating third party thinking, both businesses are able to draw revenue from niche areas that are difficult to find and uneconomic to prospect. They are also empowering a much broader team to help create and deliver new sources of revenue for the future.

Brand
If the only way people interact with a brand is transactional, it’s hard to develop an emotional attachment. By creating a programme that customers admire or feel connected to, we can bring them closer and build the sort of brand value that helps avoid the death spiral of becoming a commodity.

The Puma Creative initiative is a great example. It’s a series of challenges and grants for filmmakers, focusing attention on a range of human issues. This isn’t just about charity or logo slapping, it’s an authentic representation of the real values and behaviours of the business and how it produces its output. It gives Puma brand kudos among the socially aware urban audience it wants to target and has given it distinction in the fiercely competitive sports lifestyle market.

So what does this mean for us as marketers?
These examples show that for a business to integrate creative thinking more thoroughly, it must have strong vision, structural flexibility and the ability to accept that customer relationships can be curated but not controlled.

As an agency we see it as a huge opportunity. Applying our talent to creating products and services, projects and programmes for our clients rather than just campaigns gives us a bigger canvas to work with and helps us build richer, deeper relationships. Most importantly it gives us a platform to create things that customers love.

To deliver this value successfully means agencies and clients changing the way we work together, our attitude to reward and the type of people we hire. That’s really where things move from theory into practice. Leaning on the model of IDEO’s Tim Brown, we need to employ T-shaped people. They balance a strong and specific vertical skill with the ability to branch out more widely and they have the desire to explore insights from many different perspectives.

I suggested at the start of this piece that if we’re limiting our debate on integration to the management of media channels, then we’re doing the word a disservice and missing out on a huge opportunity. Businesses that integrate creative thinking more widely have a better chance of driving the innovation and customer connection that have become essential. Doing it raises significant new challenges and often puts us all in uncertain territory but if engaged customers who tell us what they want and value their involvement are the prize on offer, I for one wouldn’t want to change a thing.

Russian Standard Originals Goes Live

2010-11-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

After a successful trial in the Spring the Russian Standard Original programme we helped developed for Russian Standard Vodka has gone live. On stage at the Playhouse in Edinburgh is Plan B. Further Russian Standard Originals are taking place this month at the Forum in London and feature Kellis, The Hosiers and Paloma Faith. The shows will be broadcast soon on Channel 4.

London Long Copy Challenge

2010-11-17T07:28:00.000-08:00

Last night saw the culmination of the London Long Copy challenge organised by CBS Outdoor. The competition encourages agencies and clients to experiment with the long copy format and dangles £125k of free media space on the underground as a carrot.

We entered on behalf of Royal Parks Foundation, a client we’ve been working with throughout 2010. Earlier this week the team from CBS told us that our ad was going up at Oxford Circus tube as part of a showcase for the event. (Bakerloo Line - platform 3 in case you’re interested!)

This was great news for the RPF, as they don’t have a big budget for media and even this two week showcase was an important piece of exposure. Sadly we didn’t quite pick up the win but being one of eight shortlisted ads from nearly 500 entries was something we’re very proud of.

So take a bow Jason, Will and James who put the ad together and congrats to Claire and Sara from the Royal Parks Foundation.

ShellsuitZombie

2010-10-29T02:00:00.000-07:00

Here at My Agency we fully encourage out of hours ventures (broadening cultural awareness and all that). So we love what Ellie Offord, a member of our design team is up to. She is the co-founder of ShellsuitZombie. Here’s some info on what it’s all about in her own words.

ShellsuitZombie is a small organisation with one simple aim: to kindle the love between graduates and the creative industry.

We at SSZ graduated with degrees in design, big hopes of getting into design/advertising and little in the way of experience or clue. Two years on and we've collectively (deep breath) been hired eleven times, lost two jobs, worked in London and Paris, freelanced for some great and awful clients for some and no money, lived in 18 different houses, bought seven bicycles, made a ton of mistakes and learnt a hell of a lot along the way.

Whilst living this experience we set up ShellsuitZombie. Why? We wanted to share our stories (both ugly and pretty) to demonstrate how and why we persevered along the rollercoaster in the search of our dream jobs.

What does ShellsuitZombie do?

Events
We hold events putting grads and industry under the same (informal) roof. Previous events have involved live bands, competitions for placements, interviews on a rickshaw, live speed briefs and usually a fair few beers.

Blog
We feature work from small student projects to million dollar famous art director types on our blog, putting everyone on a level playing field. This often proves that the key is a good idea and you don't have to throw £££ at a project to make damn good work.

Magazine
We have our very own magazine featuring a mixture of light-hearted fun and deep and meaningful discussions and interviews. Currently working on issue two at SSZ towers.

See what we're up to at: shellsuitzombie.co.uk

Today's the Day.

2010-10-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today is being seen as day of destiny for the UK. The Spending Review announced by the UK Government will bring very practical pain to almost everyone. However, the real destiny is actually the profound philosophical implications of the rebalancing of the binary systems of free market and the government.

So I was particularly taken by this perspective from Matt Mason author of The Pirate's Dilemma. He talks about an alternative to this oppressive either / or construct. He calls this "the network", "an entirely new way of organising' He goes on to suggest that "in 10 or 20 years, the idea of the network will be as powerful as the ideas of the free market versus the government. It will constitute the third component in economic models."

And the network is, of course, nothing other than the fan base. The community / constituency who will sustain, direct, nurture protect brands over time. Bound together by its own rules of exchange and therefore thriving in a largely discrete and self sustaining social and economic model.

By developing a fan base for your brand you are taking control of your own destiny. Today's the day then.

Frans for Brands

2010-10-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Future Laboratory is recognised internationally for its innovative approach to trend forecasting, consumer insight and brand strategy. In their report on Consumer Attitudes in 2010 they identify a key marketing driver is something they call "frans". Apparently they are a mix of friends and fans.

There is no picture this time as I've been told that me in my Oxford United kit is not a classy sight.

Grant's Whisky - gaining new fans

2010-10-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

We have just completed creating new idents for Grant's Family Reserve. Grant's is returning to television screens after a an absence of a decade and a half. The William Grant & Sons blend is back with a new sponsorship deal for ITV's Saturday night show Piers Morgan's Life Stories. James Stocker, the marketing director for dark spirits at William Grant's distributor First Drinks, said the whisky was a natural fit for the show as it was owned by a "fifth-generation Scottish family with lots of life stories of their own to tell". The sponsorship deal started with Saturday's series debut, which attracted 6.2 million viewers. Stocker claimed the tie-up would "add momentum" to the 74% growth in sales Grant's has recorded in the past year [Nielsen]. It now has annual revenues of £77m.

The full suite of 'bumpers' can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/grantswhisky

CBS Long Copy Challenge

2010-10-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

The CBS Long Copy Challenge is an annual competition for the advertising industry to submit a long copy advert of 50 to 200 words, to be displayed on a 48 sheet poster in the London Underground. There are two categories, commercial or a non-profit so some of our creatives, James Crosby, Will Cottam and Jason Scott set themselves the challenge of creating a poster for our client the Royal Parks Foundation.

The Royal Parks Foundation work on the up-keep, preservation and conservation of the 8 Royal parks, so the team came up with several concepts to create awareness for the Foundation and the sterling work they do keeping the parks so beautiful and enjoyable for Londoners.

Out of the thousands of entries one of the My Agency entries has made it through to the list of final nominees and will be featured at Oxford Circus station. The striking poster compares the life of a commuter with that of a Squirrel and asks who is really better off. Fingers crossed for Jason, Will and James.

Mickey Mouse?

2010-10-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Japanese fashion brand, Uniqlo, recently ran a competition in collaboration with Disney - design a Mickey Mouse inspired T-shirt for London's fashion hungry hipsters:
http://www.uniqlo.com/uk/news/2010/08/uniqlo_2011_ut_grand_prix_mick.html.

Disney Princesses, Kate Simons (model) and Emma Forsyth (make-up artist), were on hand to help bring the project to life. Photography and retouching were undertaken by Andy&Aaron, the creative team behind the concept.

In true 'Fans for Brands' style it wasn't Kate's flawless photo-genetics that landed her the job, rather her life long passion for all things Mickey:

So what do you think of the design? Mickey Mouse?

Our number one fan

2010-10-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

Here is our press release to announce the appointment of James as Managing Director. We're really excited about the step up James is making as it signals the start of a new phase in our journey as an agency (as they like to say on X Factor). James is not only leading a number of really innovative programmes for our clients but is also driving a number of agency initiatives that we'll be speaking more about soon.

MY AGENCY APPOINTS JAMES EASTERBROOK AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

My Agency has appointed James Easterbrook as its first Managing Director. James joined the London based creative agency in July 2006 as an Account Director, progressing to Client Services Director before taking on this new role. Earlier in his career, James worked for Haymarket Network and Story Worldwide.

Nick Wright who founded My Agency with Luke White and Matt Turner said:
“We’ve grown and evolved significantly since we launched in 2005. If anything, this growth has accelerated during the economic climate of the last couple of years. We’ve taken on global assignments for Telefonica O2, Russian Standard Vodka, Grant’s Whisky and, most recently, AMD PC Processors. James has played a key role in the progress we’ve made. His appointment recognises this contribution and helps us to build the sort of management team we need to deliver for our increasingly diverse client base and creative output.”

James Easterbrook said:
“Today’s marketing challenges demand modern, flexible creative agencies that embrace new ways of delivering value for clients and their customers. I’m thrilled to have the task of keeping My Agency at the vanguard of forward thinking, and doing agencies.”

My Agency is an independent, modern creative agency with current assignments that range from integrated advertising, brand creation and product design to user experience planning, proposition development and innovation. Our clients are national and global and operate across a breadth of industry sectors.

- end -

Unfans

2010-09-27T08:04:00.001-07:00

It pretty much goes without saying that a brand is nothing without fans. They are the economic engine powering the business. However, a brand is worse than nothing if it manages to cultivate the opposite of fans.

Yesterday a disgruntled customer bricked up the front of a bank in Dorset in protest at the lack of credit available to small firms.

The developer, Cameron Hope, said that trying to get credit from banks was like "talking to a brick wall". So he built one.

Actually, Hope had originally targeted NatWest but his plans were thwarted as there were too many police around. So he want for PlanB, Barclays.

A Barclays spokesmen came over all defensive saying that Hope was not a customer in the process missing the big point. Unlike company spokesmen, people consider all banks to be the same.

The BBC report that the wall was taken down quickly. Although I suspect that the metaphorical brick wall remains.

IKEAfans

2010-09-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ikeafans.com is an independent website for fans of IKEA launched in 2005 by Susan and James Martin.

Their mission is revealing in itself – “the largest online community of IKEA customers and fans provides what IKEA itself cannot – personalised service”. As it happens I am not a fan of IKEA precisely because of their service. Or rather their complete lack of it, personalised or otherwise. Anyway, this community are fans of the brand, the aesthetic, the product. To such an extent that they are prepared to try to make good a widely accepted weakness.

The community is now more than 150,000 strong globally. (Some might suggest that this is indicative of the service issue at IKEA.)

It is beautiful. IKEA access a fix for what is generally perceived to be a pretty big flaw. For free. From people who focus on the one thing that the brand can’t or won’t get its head round. In return, the IKEAfans obviously get some sense of reward – if only psychological - for making a genuine and obviously very needed contribution to the community.

It is an entirely symbiotic relationship between the brand and the fans. There is no sense of IKEAfans criticising IKEA for their (lack of) service. There is just a general acceptance of IKEA warts and all.

In mid July this year, the relationship went to another level when IKEA invited IKEAfans to an exclusive event in New York City, which, demoed room sets and gave them exclusive access to the 2011 catalogue two weeks in advance of the national launch. Two weeks for the fans to garner valuable IKEA kudos by buzzing like crazy.

The event they attended was not that exclusive as it appears to have also been the press launch. However there’s nothing wrong with that. Not least as it felt exclusive to the fans. Companies spend fortunes on snazzy launches to often cynical, bored and disinterested journos. Why not leverage the set up costs of the event by re-running it for folk who are, grateful, excited and engaged. In other words, fans. Folk who will be more active and vocal publicists for the brand. Folk who will actually spend real money with the brand.

Now if they could only come round and help me put that wardrobe together…

Graphology

2010-09-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

In the old days before employers found out about the 'real you' by checking you out on Facebook some resorted to graphology. That is, they would analyse your handwriting. Now when peeps join My Agency they get to personalise their My. Observing this is a revealing exercise in itself. For some crafting the perfect my can take weeks. Others are reduced to tears by it. Still others tell us it is harder than our interview process. (Not sure what that says about our interview process.) So now, for the first time are the collected mys or our beloved My Agencyers. Not being a graphologist is, on refelction, probably a good thing.

Here come the girls

2010-09-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

My Agency are delighted to announce the we have signed up two great new recruits Emma Forsyth and Sarah Shubrook.

Sarah Shubrook – Account Director. Sarah joined us from Euro RSCG Luxe – Euro’s premium brands’ division - where she developed integrated creative and strategic campaigns for
Jaguar Cars, the legendary British luxury brand. Prior to Euros Sarah developed campaigns for other premium and beauty brands including Peroni and Avon.

Emma Forsyth – Account Executive. Emma came to My Agency with a background in brand creation and events. Her experience includes experiential brand building for LOOK Magazine, fashion event management at LFW 2008 & 2009 for fashion house Fashion East and brand consultancy for luxury property portfolio, The Hideaways Club.

Friday afternoon ad-chat

2010-07-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

OK, if you've ever met me (or passed me on the street) you'll notice by my big silly glasses and endomorphic body structure that i'm not big on team sports.

Or any sports for that matter. I am, however, big on adverts.

And when this one arrived in my inbox this morning it made me instantly want to pick up a leather egg and run.

As with most things with the prefix 'Australian' (Australian girls being the prime example), Australian Rules Football is both baffling and scary.

But this ad manages to turn it completely on its head. It turns it's disjointed nature into a fresh and exciting asset. Enjoy.

And so to another great sports ad, Nike's Hurt. Johnny Cash plus sport. It's odd but it works. A lot.

(turn up the sound)

Moody Copywriter also piped up with this.

In adland we hark on about "it's just the same ad again" in print. This is just the same ad again in motion.

Personally I don't think this is a bad thing. At all. Like Ramones songs or The Corrs sisters, if you like one, sit back and enjoy the rest.

Andy

We're on tele

2010-07-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

At the witching hour tonight, Channel 4 is broadcasting the first ever Russian Standard Originals gig. This featured The Noisettes at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town. The 30 min show will also be graced by Russian Standard Originals break bumper sponsorship idents.

A Friday afternoon ad-off

2010-07-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Right, so it's Friday afternoon and almost pub o'clock when new boy Greg rocks in giving it the big "I am" with his maiden all-agency email attaching some inspiring images and his favorite ad. The nerve of the boy.

Ok, good, stork. I'm listening. So I give it one of these

Moose. Bosh.

So Matt C sees what's going down and pipes up with

Three dogs and some old bats. Nice.

Then Paul's like, 'I'm avin some of this', so from the left (as always) pulls out a blinder

Plastic lion?? Have it!

Then, as it's all dying down, Matt C gets a second wind

Mad as a box of frogs. Winner.

More things we like coming soon.

Andy

Predicting connectivity

2010-07-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

I’ve been having a think about internet connectivity and what’s likely to happen over the next few years. It’s a massive topic that occupies plenty of dedicated analysts, thinkers and researchers so I’m not going to try and beat them at their own game but I’ve got three predictions that I think will have come true by 2015.

One

A basic level of connectivity will come to be seen as a standard service in all developed nations. A bit like roads and electricity, we’ll expect some level of universal connectivity to be in place pretty much everywhere. We may pay for it directly through a service provider contract or I think more likely indirectly through local or national taxes. This low level connection will allow the provision of basic internet services for all and will also provide the platform for the fabled ‘internet of things’. Intelligent street lighting, your fridge and washing machine, traffic lights, they’ll all tap into this network for low impact, low data services. Much of this will come from better coordination of existing coverage rather than new infrastructure. You’ll be rewarded for opening up your home WiFi for example.

Two

The next tier up will be the sort of standard business and leisure internet usage that most urbanites enjoy today. The difference being that usage levels will have reached those of today’s top end users. A basic connected TV service today needs about 3meg to run. When we’re all using full IPTV with on demand streaming this will need to be significantly higher. Providers will need to encourage and reward people for managing their traffic load. Think variable pricing for content if it’s downloaded at night for example.

Three

There will also be an increasing number of premium connection services available. These services will be priced to make them available to enterprise or wealthy top end consumers. There’s no way this will happen by laying new cable, much of this will need to happen through smarter resource management and dual provision – using a fixed line in combination with a scaled up wireless service like WiMax for example. If the providers get it right, they should also be offering this level of connection to consumers as a premium ‘taster’ or treat. Special charges for instant downloads or protected lines to ensure no drop out or quality reduction during big sporting events for example.

So broadly speaking I see three levels that aren’t massively different from what we have now – crappy rural dial up, normal broadband and premium, everything is just shifted up a notch.

A key difference will be much more intelligent management of the connection resource at the higher end that enables everything to keep pace with our increasing expectations.

More important than that however will be the guaranteed bed at the lowest level that allows people and businesses to plan with an assumption of connection. It is after all when the technology becomes mundane that the most interesting things happen.

My Agency - Big in Dubai

2010-06-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be in Dubai International Airport (?!) you can check out our new work for Russian Standard. Our friends are the world leader in authentic Russian vodka and we've just helped them launch Russian Standard Gold into the global travel retail channel. As you might imagine in Russia there is a great tradition of giving high quality vodka as a gift and Gold plays out that tradition. If you're not an international traveller, you will see in the UK. Selfridges (of course). And other selected off trade retailers. By the way, the liquid itself is really rather yummy and does make for an unusual but excellent gift.

Sitting on the other side of the table

2010-06-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

Posted by James Easterbrook
The other day one of our clients asked us to host a pitch. They were looking for an events agency to bring some really different and engaging events to life. Given the nature of the client and the digital footprint we’re looking to develop, they asked My Agency and their digital PR partner to be involved.

I spend a healthy amount of time pitching ideas and the agency to existing and potential clients so sitting on the other side of the table for once was an enlightening experience.

I’ve boiled down a few key things that I’ll definitely be taking as learning:

• It’s really, really obvious when someone is bullshitting or filling. I’ve always thought that nodding meant I’d got away with it but as I nodded my way through a waffly non-answer, I realised that was clearly not the case.
• Get to the meat quickly – If you’ve made it to a face-to-face meeting it’s pretty clear that you are capable and have at least some experience. Get to the idea as soon as possible.
• Even with a really good, tightly defined brief and requirements, what people cover is very different. Asking for feedback about the areas that other people may have covered in more depth is a good idea
• With the best will in the world your attention wanes once you’ve been in a room hearing people talk for hours on end. Presentations should be tailored for where in the order you sit
• Human nature makes people nice. Even when it was patently obvious that someone was no good we all smiled and asked intelligent questions, probably giving them the impression they were doing OK.

I’d like to think we don’t make too many of these errors when we pitch but I’ll definitely be considering our approach on the back of it.

My Agency awarded Royal Parks Foundation project

2010-06-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

We’re very excited to be starting work for a new charity client, The Royal Parks Foundation. The Royal Parks are actually run by the department for culture, media and sport. The Foundation is a connected but independent charity that focuses on promoting the use of the parks and encouraging health and wellbeing among Londoners.

RPF already does some fantastic stuff. They organise an annual half marathon, the route of which takes 16,000 runners through three parks and past some of London’s most famous landmarks. They also run the critically acclaimed Deckchair Dreams project. A number of top artists were commissioned to produce a deckchair design and work from the likes of Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst has been gracing the parks ever since. In a superbly creative move, once the chairs reached their sell-by date the fabric was stripped off and turned into totes!

We’re going to be helping them to make the most of these kind of activities, building out a sustainable social media footprint and then working together to develop new programmes moving forward.

Sitting in an office 400 yards from Regent’s Park we’re very lucky (especially Nelly, My Agency's dog in residence) to have this fantastic public space at our disposal. We’re going to make sure many more Londoners realise what they’ve got on the doorstep.

Future star in our midsts

2010-06-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

At My Agency we like to think everyone is a star, but over the last few weeks our designers have been entertained by a star of the future and genuine good bloke, David (Davo) Kerrigan. Dave is a true blue, Aussie bloke who hails from Melbourne. He's in London to further his music career and whilst waiting to be discovered as the next big thing is also expanding his design experience. His first album entitled 'Journeyism' has just been released and has fast become a favorite of the My Agency i-tunes Tsar. Dave is playing gigs around London so look out for him in the listings. Meanwhile you can find out more about him or buy his album on his website http://davidkerrigan.com/

The King of Rules

2010-06-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

In the June edition of Wired Magazine there is a double page article about an experiment undertaken by James Easterbrook, My Agency's client service director. Basically James had to try and obey every published government rule and guideline for a whole month. Everything from looking after his feet, being a model pedestrian, reducing his carbon footprint (there's a theme developing here!) to eating his five a day. The article hi-lights some of the more amusing moments as James lived totally by the book even regularly unblocking his sink as instructed. Those who know James well will tell you that being told what to do was never going to be easy for him. You can read James' full blog about his experience by clicking this link. http://jameswe333.wordpress.com/

Star(???) Stories

2010-05-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

This month our creative partner Luke White is featured on the AdGrads blog with a post about how he got into advertising. AdGrads is the lovechild of Sam Ismail and Will Humphrey and is a community dedicated to promoting careers in communications. This Summer My Agency will be continuing its ongoing intern and placement programme and will welcome six young people all hoping to get into the industry. To read the AdGrads blog in full click on this link http://adgrads.blogspot.com/2010/05/star-stories-luke-white.html

Russian Standard Originals

2010-05-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Russian Standard Originals is a new programme created by My Agency, the Mama Group and B Street for Russian Standard Vodka. Russian Standard Originals creates exclusive music and film experiences for loyal fans of Russia's No.1 premium vodka, giving lucky winners the chance to experience great nights out without spending a penny.
On May 20th, we experienced the first ever Russian Standard Vodka's Originals gig, at the Kentish Town Forum. The 2,500 capacity venue was heaving as the crowd - who'd all won tickets through rsvoriginals.co.uk- were treated to a show stopping performance from the Noistettes. Dressed in a futuristic silver prom-style dress, singer Shingai Shoniwa performed album favourites such as 'Wild Young Hearts' and 'Don't Upset The Rhythm'. The band closed with a crowd-pleasing rendition of single, 'Never Forget You'- the entire audience singing along as the three piece rocked out on stage.
As well as being looked after by our special Russian Standard hosts- the men decked out in furry Shapka hats and women in custom-made chain mail dresses- and lots of Russian Standard Vodka, the crowd were also treated to a thrilling support slot from hotly tipped electro sensations, Chew Lips.

After the evening's entertainment, guests kept the party going through the night at the after show party, which saw members of both bands mixing with the crowd and dancing to a selection of top class DJs - including rock starlet Coco Sumner - to round off a truly memorable event.
Later in the year Russian Standard Vodka Originals will play host to even more world class acts and a national film festival which will create a bespoke and luxury free cinema experience for people as well as the opportunity to view some of the best films of all time.
To find out more or to get your Russian Standard Originals card click on this link: http://www.rsvoriginals.co.uk/home.php

Making Waves

2010-04-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

About 3 years ago when we were creating Manchester235 and the Casino at the Empire with London Clubs International, Adam Robert's the brains behind the development of the new model casinos asked us to help him with a personal project of his own. The project was to design an identity for a totally new board game called Drabbles that Adam had invented.

Drabbles is based on an odd game that Adam had played with his friends when he was a child and that he had played with his own kids using a drain and some marbles. For Adam it has been a long labour of love, but finally on the 24th of April his dream saw the light of Day when Drabbles was launched at the Surf Show in Bristol.

Drabbles is a totally addictive beach game that has been designed specifically for surfers and beach lovers. It is a game of skill, luck and about having fun while you wait for the perfect wave. The game is for 2 players, but is also perfect for knock-out tournaments within a group. The idea of the game is to take your opponents marbles – and like the traditional games such as draughts and backgammon it takes some skill and strategy to win and as the skills improve, the harder it becomes.

Drabbles is ideal for beach life; the board is made in a hard-wearing, waterproof body board type of material and comes with 14 handmade marbles in 4 colours that indicate the different levels of play. A rucksack style bag has been designed for the game with a separate pocket for the marbles and is perfect to use to head down to the beach.

You can find out more about Drabbles at http://www.drabbles.com/
or on facebook.

Giant Killing

2010-04-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

For the last month we have been locked in a battle against seven of the biggest Agency networks in the USA. We've all been pitching to win a chunk of the AMD business to launch their new generation of Micro processors and also potentially to revitalise the AMD brand. AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) was our first ever client and we were flattered to be asked to pitch for such an important assignment as we haven't worked with them for over two years. After two rounds of pitching, the last at AMD's headquarters in Austin Texas against JWT New York, we are delighted to have been awarded the business. This is a significant win for us not just because it's such a great project, but because of the competition we beat to get it. Nearly everyone at My Agency was involved and spent long days and nights putting together the stunning presentations. The win strengthens our credentials in the IT sector alongside our existing Telefonica and O2 clients. It's great to be working with the nice folk at AMD once again and we look forward to doing a bit more giant killing against Intel in the next few months.

New Faces

2010-02-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy year, which is no excuse for having been so tardry in updating the blog, but time to put that right and bring My Agency news up to date. First off we have some exciting new faces. In January we were lucky to pinch the lovely Kate Simons from the Orange business @ Fallon. Kate is a senior account manager working with James on Telefonica and O2, with Nick on Grant's and Russian Standard. Kate has a keen interest in all things fashion and is the best baker of cakes we've ever had.

We also have gained the talents of Jamie Gandee as a senior designer working alongside Paul and John. Jamie comes from Breath-e the digital agency and as well as an impressive portfolio of online and offline design work has an equally impressive set of tattoos. In true My Agency fashion Jamie is working across the board on just about everything we are doing.

Finally (for now) we have a new head of user experience, Herman Rodrigues. Herman has a distiguished background in digital product development and user centered design and leads our digital delivery team working alongside James and Paul. Herman has more screens and computers on his desk than anyone I've ever seen, in fact he has so many he actually need two desks.

Limited Edition Fan T-shirts

2010-01-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

The first of a range of My Agency brand merchandise has finally arrived. The T-shirts designed by My Agency's Paul McDermid, features a haphazard array of badges all on the theme of 'Fans for Brands'. The T-shirts come with a collection of actual badges for personalization.

Beefing up the Management Team

2010-01-07T03:39:00.000-08:00

We've made a New Year's resolution. It is quite simple. It is to keep striving to make My Agency better and better.

To help us do this we have invited James Easterbrook our Client Service Director and Alistair Knight our Digital Creative Director to beef up the top level Management Board which currently is made up of the three partners. This team will be charged with putting in place plans, programmes and propositions that will help us take the agency to the next level. And removing any obstacles that might be preventing us getting there.

This intention is not create some sort of clique but to provide a sharper sense of focus and direction. We remain faithful to the mantra that good ideas can come from anywhere, so we will continue to welcome and embrace contributions from right across the agency.

Goodbye 2009. Hello 2010.

2010-01-04T03:18:00.000-08:00

We have just published published our review of 2009. You can check out a digital copy on the following link.

http://www.yudu.com/item/details/120476/My-Agency---A-Year-in-Review

You can see what we got up to last year and get a preview of what we're working on right now.

Home Sweet Home

2009-10-16T03:22:00.000-07:00

Well we've been in our new home in Great Titchfield Street for about a month now. It's already feeling like home. So we thought we would show you around.

We're off

2009-09-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

After 5 years in Clerkenwell,  My Agency is moving to a bigger and better home in NoHo.  

From 14th September 2009  our new address will be 131-151 Great Titchfield Street,  London, W1W 5BB.

O2 Litmus App Showdown

2009-07-23T04:21:00.000-07:00

Yeehah!

We're very excited to announce the launch of O2 App Showdown – an iPhone app development contest staged exclusively on O2 Litmus.

O2 App Showdown challenges developers to come up with the best app for O2 iPhone customers. The winner will be chosen by a handpicked panel from the O2 iPhone base. The winning app gets marketed to one million iPhone users and, if that isn't enough, the winning developer nets £10k cash too.

We’ve worked with the various teams at O2 and 33 Digital (our favourite digital PR agency) to pull the competition together in record time. Specific propositions have been created for developers and iPhone customers, and over the next two months we’re likely to see a selection of exciting and innovative apps. In fact, some cool ideas have already been pushed out of the woodwork by iPhone users including an app that alerts you when you need to get off a bus, and one that records anything you may happen to say... while you're asleep!

Some shocking revelations from SunnyD

2009-07-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

Our new radio campaign for SunnyD goes live out in the regions this week. it features Caroline Quentin and Peter Dixon. There's two further spots in the series in which Mum puts the scandal sniffing journo right on a few matter matters of fact relating to the new absolutely nothing artificial SunnyD. With hilarious results as they say...

My Agency try a different angle with Grant's Whisky

2009-07-17T03:30:00.000-07:00

Luke and Matt have had it tough. They've just got back from a week in Scotland and a week in Lisbon shooting a brand film for Grant's Whisky.

They came back with over seven hours of footage which will be crafted into the final 3 minute piece.

My Agency adopted an innovative approach to the project with Director Keith Rogerson. The movie was actually shot on a digital stills camera. The newly available Canon 5D. The march of technology has been such that (top end) stills cameras are now capable of capturing (and storing) broadcast quality high definition video. This meant that we were able to deliver a finished product that beats the quality of cameras 10 times the cost and without the need for the expensive ancillary equipment that traditional cameras require.

The chaps are currently "in post". We'll share the final film in the coming weeks.

Enjoy some exclusive behind the scene shots by clicking here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1173730@N21/