Other Stories Archive

John West Tuna Ad – No Drain?

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Spotted this ad for John West Tuna near my flat at the weekend. I’m not sure what the bloke with the fiddle is all about but my eye was drawn to the USP – “No Drain Tuna”

Now they’ve obviously done some market research and found that some consumers are reluctant to buy their product because it’s too “fiddly”.

(I think I’ve just got the fiddle reference while writing that last sentence…………groan!)

But is our time so precious that we’re now looking to save a few seconds while opening a can of fish?

Maybe it’s because we’re too busy blogging and tweeting?

I’ll be “trawling” your comments for an answer soon I expect!

Bedford & Strand – London Restaurant Review

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Having spent so much time over the last few years in the US where food and service tend to be very good, I’ve been getting more and more frustrated with restaurants in the UK which tend to either be too expensive, serve awful food or sufferer from shoddy and indifferent service.

When asked to go out for dinner or trying to arrange a date in London I’ve found it a bit of a lottery. Do we spend a load of cash to have a decent night out? Do we shrug and laugh at the less than attentive waiter or waitress? Do we just accept the food isn’t that fab because, well, that’s just the way it is?

Last night things changed as I was introduced to an oasis in this culinary desert we call our capital.

The Bedford & Strand bar and bistro near Charing Cross is simply delightful.

I turned up there with four mates from school. We get together every 3 months or so to catch up, chew the cud and find out what’s going on in each other’s lives.

We used to just hit a pub and sink several pints but now in our late thirties (did I just admit that?) we prefer a more refined evening of food and wine!

A small door way on Bedford Street hides some pristine stairs which take you down to a bar and restaurant buzzing with media types and folks drinking in the fantastic atmosphere and wine.

A mixture of French and British food, the menu is reasonably priced averaging around £14 for dishes like pork belly, fish cakes, steak tartar and sausage and mash.

The service was excellent, the manager – Kate – was chipper, funny and informative, not batting an eyelid when I simply said I didn’t like the cassoulet I’d ordered.

She just changed it!

The wine was very good and the extensive selection was nicely laid out on the menu by price bracket.

They also have a deli counter which is open all day serving excellent cheeses and meats.

Really it was excellent! It felt like we should have been in a rustic gaff somewhere in the French country side or a faux Euro-bistro somewhere in Manhattan, but we weren’t.

We were in central London, just shy of Covent Garden getting value for money!

As we left, actors from the theatre musical Joseph piled in for a post show beer and included a taller than you’d think Gareth Gates!

With all the wine we’d drunk it was a “long and winding road” home I can tell you!

Susan Boyle Proves Britain’s Got Talent

 

I’d heard about this over the weekend via Twitter while I was in the US.

Only got around to watching it at 4.30 this morning through a jet-lagged haze!

Has to be one of the most amazing performances ever on one of these “talent” shows.

I must have heard that song sung a 1000 times while at auditions in my acting days.

None of them came anywhere near to topping that!

I’m betting she’ll be Number 1 this Christmas!

Why Do Mobile Phones Beep?

image If there’s one thing that’s going to make my blood boil on a Wednesday morning, on the train, when I’ve had 3 hours sleep thanks to jet lag, it’s some berk texting away on a mobile phone that is making a high pitched beeping sound with every key stroke!

Why do phone beep like that and why is it the default setting? Is it a usability thing or is it a disabled access requirement?

Anyone in the mobile industry know?

It does raise the question of self-awareness though. How people think that beeping away like that on a train journey with hundreds of fellow passengers within earshot is ok.

It’s like the guy who gets on my train at Mortlake with – I KID YOU NOT – a ceramic bowl of cereal and a flask of milk and eats it while reading is emails!!

And then there are those thoughtless bar stewards who don’t move down the train/tube carriage because they’re newspaper reading might be impeded or they’re too feeble to use their natural sense of balance to stop them falling over and have to hold on to something!!

I know I’m a bit tired and crabby, but what is wrong with people?

Right – I’m off to Boots for some Pro Plus!

While I’m gone, let me know what gets your goat about your fellow human beings!!!

Microsoft Challenger Charity Party in London – NSPCC

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The Date & Time is Friday 8th May, 2009 at 7.30pm.

The place is HMS President.

The cost is £30, including buffet and welcome drink.

All proceeds go to the NSPCC.

How’s that for an offer you can’t refuse?

Join us for our 1920’s Gangster party all in aid of the NSPCC. There will be eating, there will be drinking, there will be gambling, there will be dancing. And there’ll probably be more than a few people talking like Robert De Niro.

HMS President is moored on the Thames opposite the Oxo Tower. The nearest tube station is Temple, and buses will be provided from Reading to HMS President and back for less than a tenner.

To purchase tickets please email challpar@microsoft.com

For more information please visit www.challengerparty09.spaces.live.com

“Where Haven’t I Been?”

5 flights, 4 countries, 3 hotels, 2 hangovers and only 1 life!

The last couple of weeks have been madder than Mad Jack McMad!

1st there was Iceland and www.rimc.com – check out mine and Rand Fishkin’s post and my Facebook Photos for some insight into that incredible few days!

Then there was SES New York – check out our wild and whacky videos here, here & here!

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After a pit stop in Boston to visit my mate Dom Doyle who teaches Theology at Harvard, it was onto Toronto where I spent time with the Canada team and participated in a round table with some of Canada’s finest press folk and managed an amusing dinner out with Vanessa, Danny and Andrew & Mona from www.PageZero.com

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Now I’m in Seattle meeting with my team, planning the next year’s worth of excitement and doing lots of work during downtime on the wedding!

After two weeks it’s a bit odd being away from Englandshire, but travelling sure makes sure you’re busy.

It amuses me how some people seem to think it’s all glitz and glam, but believe me you yearn for your own bed and a daily dose of Radio 5 Live!

The key is to make long trips comfortable and I have some tips on how to get the most from your mileage…….but I’ll save them for another day!

BTW – If anyone can name the BBC comedy and character who says the words in the title of this post, I’ll send them a surprise!

Escaping To The Country (of Iceland!)

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This week is going to be awesome for all of us!

Awesome for me because on Thursday I fly with Ashley and some of the finest minds in online marketing to Reykjavik in Iceland for the Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference.

Awesome for you, because you’re going to have the laugh of your life on Friday 20th at 5.15pm if you watch BBC 2 and catch us touring the wilds of East Sussex looking for a house to escape to with Alastair Appleton of “Cash in the Attic” fame!

You can see some of the photos of the four day shoot here and the funny thing is, because we’re at the conference, folks over here in the UK will be the first to see the show so please let us know what you think/laughed at.

To be honest it’s a little nerve-wracking as there was so much footage there could be many angles they could take – I just hope me quoting Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump by accident has made it to the cutting room floor!

As for the conference, well Kristjan Mar Hauksson has done a great job assembling the likes of Rand Fishkin, Shari Thurow, Anne Kennedy, Dixon Jones, Andy Atkins-Kruger and Adam Lasnik to inject some internet marketing know-how into the Icelandic marketing community.

I’ll be speaking on online youth marketing with Sion Portman from Nike which I’m looking forward to enormously!

Have to say, Kristjan continues to be one of the best loved, jolliest and most generous people in the industry.

He’ll be in New York for SES so say hi and buy him a beer or 5!

 

Microsoft Advertising Video – Navigating Digital

 

 

When I’m out and about and people ask me what I do, I say I talk about Microsoft Advertising.

Having people understand we’re so much more than just “software & computers” and that we’re well placed at the cutting edge of digital marketing has been a challenge, but recent announcements like the Microsoft Media Network have shown people that, when it comes to advertising, we’re not just about MSN.

This new video says tells the brand story very nicely indeed!

Let me know what you think…..

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