Another Award for Forex.com

Making its second appearance in the FT/Investors Chronicle Investment Awards in as many years, Forex.com this year walks away with the accolade for best Forex Provider.

The company was rated highly for its tightness of spreads, advanced trading tools and platforms and customer support. Regarded as a leader in forex and contracts for difference trading, FOREX.com offers investors access to the global foreign exchange market with a secure online proposition featuring transparent pricing and quality trade execution.

FOREX.com offers clients access to professional charting, expert market research and daily foreign-exchange commentary by market professionals.

ARRESTING CREATIVE

Saw this ad in the Evening Standard last night and it really made me stop and look.

Initial thought – Why would the Metropolitan Police run an ad like that?

What a waste of a whole page – Met Police logo and strap line across the bottom and then very subtle light grey flock wallpaper effect across the rest of the page?

A quizzical look and a slight turn of the page and all was revealed – with a message appearing on the page through the wallpaper effect – as per ad printed on the reverse side



Clever in so many ways.... One of the best press ads I've seen in years.

FIGURE SKATING SPECTACULAR IN SHEFFIELD

Working together with Chime Group sports marketing agency Fast track and their client NISA (The National Ice Skating Association UK) we are currently running a campaign to promote the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2012.


The Championship is being held at the the 9,000 seater Motorpoint Arena stadium in Sheffield between 23rd & 29th January next year.

An integrated multi media campaign is active across local print, geo-targeted online, outdoor formats including bus streetliners and 48 sheet posters as well as a radio promotion running with Real Radio.

This is the world's 3rd largest figure skating competition - with nearly 200 of Europe's best skaters from 40 countries, including many stars of the Winter Olympics competing in the men's ladies, pairs and dance couples disciplines.

For tickets and further information about the event click on the link - www.europeans2012.co.uk

Another Win for Forex.com

We are very pleased to be able to congratulate our client Forex.com on winning yet another award - the Shares Award for 'Best Educational Provider'.

The Awards ceremony was held at the glittering Grosvenor House Hotel - where a lovely evening was had by all. The celebrations meant that there were a few sore heads on Friday morning, but it was all worthwhile!

Suicide Watch

Aside from the front page story being about a suicide couple in the Metro today, there was also a piece in paper (pg 45) about the increase in tube suicides ... with a particularly inappropriate line reading "King's Cross was hardest HIT by the rise with 18 suicides in the past 10 years".

On the way to a meeting in Victoria today, I had to change at King's Cross for the Victoria Line - and much to my amazement, spotted this 16 sheet crosstrack poster for French Connection with the line - I Am The Jumper.

I'd have thought it was a bit obvious to be edgy, and certainly a bit more than obvious to be a mistake.

Go Anywhere in the World...or Warwick anyway!

We went along to Warwick University yesterday to see the ICAEW student recruitment team in action on campus.

23 Red developed an experiential campaign to run alongside the current worldwide brand campaign, promoting Accountancy and the various careers it can lead to.

The 'Go Anywhere in the World' marquee's have been set up at key universities across the UK (Leeds, Newcastle, Exeter, Bath, Manchester & Birmingham), across the last few weeks to promote ICAEW's ACA professional qualification to university students. We've used Facebook to generate local student interest ahead of the events and interest & engagement have been high levels across the board.

Students are able to find out more about the qualification, the career paths it can lead to, enter competitions, get helpful advice on the next stage of their careers, all while eating some tasty food from around the world!

Part of a bet or genuine mistake?

We have all come to to know what a Tesco ad looks like, however - this week I stumbled across the a slightly different ad...


It might not be too easy to see in this picture - but this is an ad at Mottingham station that has been posted this week. The ad has been posted back to front with the image clearly the wrong way round.

Will Tesco ever know this is the wrong way round? Unlikely...

Will the media owner inform them of the mistake (or joke/bet) and offer compensation?

ICAEW Launch Business Advice Service

Our client ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales) launch their new Business Advice Service (BAS) across the UK today. Since the abolition of the government led Business Links service, ICAEW have stepped in, to show it’s support for SME’s with the introduction of the Business Advice Service.

The campaign objectives are to introduce the BAS service to smaller businesses within the SME market, & to raise awareness of the capabilities of ICAEW Chartered Accountants to provide professional financial advice to help SMEs run their business.

The new website encourages SMEs to make contact with their local ICAEW Chartered Accountant to book in for a free initial consultation to see how they could add value to their growing business.

Pure Media has adopted a regional & national approach to roll out a campaign across radio, press and online. Planned to run over the next two months, the campaign aims to establish the BAS brand as a trusted source of business information and to drive SMEs to utilise the expertise of their local Chartered Accountant. Creative was developed and provided by 23 Red, for more information please take a look at www.businessadviceservice.com.

ITV Upfronts

We went to the annual ITV Upfronts presentation on Wednesday afternoon, where the ITV commercial team and the programme commissioners get together to present their plans for the coming year to clients and media agency folk involved with TV strategy, planning and buying.

Last year it was presented by a couple of Geordie lads (Ant & Dec), introducing and interviewing various stars of programmes running across the ITV channels ... so it was interesting to see how they would approach the theatre and delivery this year.

On arrival to the studio, the Jonathan Ross set was a bit of a giveaway, but a great idea non the less ...utilising one of the more recently signed ITV talents to ask all the right questions of a plethora of ITV actors, presenters, reality TV stars and programme directors alike.


Well edited films showcased the latest programmes and new commissions to look forward to, from Downton Abbey, The Chase, The Jury, TOWIE, the X Factor, long standing soaps Coro and Emmerdale as well as 'one off' productions such as : Titanic... They really did prove ITV is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to offering advertisers access to quality, mainstream, multi interest programming and mass audiences.

Live performances from last years X-Factor runner up Rebecca Ferguson and Pixie Lott topped the whole thing off.

The post presentation drinks were frequented by many of the people who had been interviewed throughout the presentation, but sadly Gary Barlow was only there in the form of a cushion.

Thank You - Royal Parks Half Marathon

I just wanted to extend a massive 'THANK YOU!' to all of Pure Media's Client's and Friends who helped raise a fantastic amount of money for The Great Ormond Street Hospital by sponsoring me to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon last Sunday. The support from everyone made it all really worthwhile.
Luckily the weather on the day had cooled down somewhat from the previous (tropical) weekend, and I was able to complete the 13.1 mile run in 2 hrs and 1 minute - which obviously gives me something to beat next time!

I know the rest of the team here are just chomping at the bit to run a 1/2 marathon of their own, so keep your eyes open for the next Pure Media athletic challenge coming soon!

Caroline.

It's all in the name..

At first I thought this was a SWEET SHOP - and that the shop owner was blissfully unaware the signage company had made an error with the character spacing and the spelling.

Then, I noticed the window display featuring brands such as Nike and Adidas ....No way, surely it wasn't a Sports shop called SWEATSHOP?

A good play on words maybe, but a poor association given the negativity associated with the so called 'Sweat shops' used to mass produce many of these high ticket price items for the Western world.

The added irony being, it is situated next to 'Quids In' a money transfer / cash for gold store.

Online: Transition from Information to Entertainment

The IAB has reported a double-digit year-on-year growth in online ad spend during the first half of 2011. This continued upwards trend is most likely thanks to the rapidly evolving world of Video advertising, as the internet continues its transition from an 'Information' to an 'Entertainment' channel

Online now accounts for 27% of all ad spend, with UK brands already having invested £2.26bn in the first half of 2011 alone. The increased popularity of smartphones, and advent of tablets has created an audience who use the internet as a 'social and entertainment hub' - Making online an entertainment media channel undoubtedly poised to rival traditional broadcast TV

High Quality Heathrow Express Sites!

Further pics from the new ICAEW campaign, these high quality DAP panels at Heathrow Express arrivals look great and are a really good introduction for our international commuter to the busy Heathrow environment.

ICAEW Launch New Brand Campaign

Our client ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales) have launched their new brand campaign in the UK. New creative work developed by 23 Red concentrating on advocating Chartered Accountancy, and in particular, those registered with ICAEW is due to run across the UK, Middle East, South East Asia and Eastern Europe over the Autumn months.

This exciting new direction for the ICAEW is featured in press & on high impact digital sites on the LU and at international airports, targeting Business Decision makers. We are also targeting universities across the land with integrated outdoor & experiential activity promoting the benefits of a career in accounting.

Watch this space over the coming months to see the campaign unfold.

HomeSun Free Solar

Further to the success of the previous campaigns we have run since the launch last September, another broadcast campaign went live this week for HomeSun..... with 30" and 10" TV ads running across key regions in the South on ITV and Channel five, as well as 2 x 30" radio ads (some running top and tail in break)that will be transmitted across various Southern radio stations such as Heart and Wave FM.

Click here to view TV ad

May the Force be with you

Fantastic stunt to promote the launch of the Star Wars saga on blue-ray @ the BT Tower last week ..... when the tower was transformed in to the World's largest lightsaber.

Simple idea, great visual effect.

Another BIG waste of space

We were having a discussion in the office yesterday re. how many un-posted poster sites we've been seeing recently - mainly underground 6 sheets - and what a shame it is that these don't run pro bono activity in between paid for campaigns.
Then last night, I saw this blank landmark Clearchannel site pictured above on the corner of Blackfriars Bridge and Stamford Street....what another waste of space.

Holy Smoke!

Saw this poster the other day and thought I had time travelled back to the 80's with this crude Silk Cut style ad for some kind of smoking cessasion cigarettes.

Not sure what I think about it really - does it encourage smokers to stop, or will it encourage smokers to light up?

Compelling Men's Fashion

I'm a regular shopper at ASOS and was pleased to see the A/W 2011 Menswear Urban Tour activity come into my inbox today. 

A really involving & genuinely compelling piece of work showcasing their mens range across several cities (of course I think London is the best!).  Take a look.http://www.asos.com/urban-tour/#!/london

Safety vs. Profit

Everyday on the way to work I see hundreds of people wobbling along on their bikes, dodging cars and people while they head to work.

One thought comes to mind each time “Why are they not wearing a helmet?” It is then I remember that there is no law stating that you have to wear a helmet while cycling.

The helmet is to a bike what the seatbelt is to a car (it is illegal to drive without a seatbelt); and on a bike there is no protective exterior, there is no ‘crush zone’ – just you and the object you are hitting.

Although there is no law for it, an ad was recently banned from TV as it had large crowds cycling without helmets. The ad was said to “encourage young children to not wear a helmet”. The ad itself had no children appearing and was not aimed at a young audience.

So why are we not seeing this changed? Could it be due to the Boris bikes that are now all over Central London?

If the law was changed and we had to wear helmets to ride a bike, would people still use Boris Bikes? I personally am doubtful.

Perhaps this is why the law won’t change anytime soon as the bikes are still paying back the debt they cost to set up…

Relative Irony?

Saw this in a Newsagent shop window recently...newish ad format from streetad.tv. Given the size of the window space, it doesn't really make sense to have a small LCD sceen in the middle with 2 other small static formats either side. But that aside, the irony of this being, the fact that the screen reads - CAN YOU SEE THIS? but as per the picture above - the answer is - NO, NOT REALLY.

Blank threats or reality?

Over the past few weeks the media world has been watching the story unfold of the relationship breakdown of what is said to be the worlds biggest ad sales contract. The £1bn ad sales contract between CBS and Transport for London (London Underground to be more specific).

"Sauer, executive vice president and general counsel, CBS Outdoor, dismissed the suggestion that the current proceedings had anything to do with the fall in ad revenue in 2008/9. Sauer said: "This is not about revenue, it is about construction costs and construction delays. We began talking in 2007 before the recession. This is about cost increases. It's not about general revenue consequences." - MediaWeek.

As an outsider looking in at the situation, I ask myself "Would we really be reading about a termination of contract if revenue was up YoY?" - My thought is no...

Deadline on negotiations are 1st October - are we about to see the biggest ad sales contract end? Who will take it from CBS? Only 3 weeks left until deadline....

Hanging around on the Wobbly Bridge

On a trip to Calabria last year, I noticed a load of padlocks that had been attached to some railings at a popular sightseeing spot, overlooking the coast from the town of Tropea....the modern day version of etching 'we were here' in to the railings I assumed - adding a sign of unity relating to who you were there with at the time.

I hadn't seen this before, or indeed since, until I embarked on my daily walk to London Bridge last night .... where there were dozens of them hanging from various parts of Millenium Bridge.

This morning the number had escalated to 100's - different colours, shapes and sizes.

Interested to see how many there will be tonight ... and in turn, how long they will continue to be placed there before someone decides to put a stop to it all.

Watch this space

Long Exposure Photography....

I am always on the look out for innovative pieces of creative work and today I think I found one of the best (at least in my opinion!).

Very simple Long Exposure Photography. High impact, great results. Not seen many ads use this yet...time for someone to break the trend?

Click here to view 35 amazing images.

Going Up (side down) ?

Spotted this digi ad in the lift at Heathrow airport the other day advertising holidays in Taiwan.
Clever if it had been for Australia or NZ ... but surely a techinical glitch given it was displayed upside down.
The lift dwellers don't look too bothered ....aside from the lady standing next to it looking inquisitively up at it out of the corner of her left eye!

Healthy Looters.... continued...

As you heard earlier in the week; we have a fruit looter somewhere in the building. A trap was set up in the fruit bowl and the bait was taken.

Above is an example of how the looters bag may look like...

The story continues...

Clear & simple - Do & die!

Standing on the platform at a station in the leafy Surrey suburbs the other day I noticed this poster .... pretty simple message really....Trespassing on the railway....Maximum Penalty DEATH

A Twist on Graffiti...

At lunch today I stumbled across the new craze of graffiti hitting the streets. "Yarnbombing" is the idea of covering public objects with knitting, and then running before you are caught. Seeing as the web you see above took 3 days to attach, I am not sure the artist was able to apply it so subtly before running!

Healthy Looters....

A healthy workforce is a happy workforce :) Well, that's what we like to think... so we stock up with fruit on Monday mornings for Pure Media folk to eat throughout the week.

Unfortunately, it appears we have some healthy looters in our offices .... as the fruit supplies have regularly started to diminish overnight.

Inspired by the story of the guy who used a tracking device and remote webcam to locate his lap top that was stolen from his flat in the midst of last weeks riots.... Operation fruit trap in now underway.

Watch this space!!

Yet another waste of space...

Meeting at VCCP first this morning required the use of the underground from Victoria back to the offices in Farringdon.
Once again, a journey where wasted ad space was encountered...RANT!
Kings Cross interchange - there were 2 x 6 sheet posters in each connecting passage ....8 in total....All of which were blank.
Surely these sites could be used to run Charity ads in between posting cycles, or missing person messages. Or on a more topical note, pictures of the rioters and looters from last week's mayhem.

Railworks opportunities?

Whilst waiting for my train at Denmark Hill station yesterday, (having missed my train due to station refurbishment) I couldn't help thinking that there could be an opportunity to turn the 12 month long project into a more commercial opportunity.

The wooden boards pictured, of which there are plenty around the station could easily be turned into low cost, pop up outdoor sites, reaching plenty of commutors on a daily basis, might make the place look a bit more bright and colourful too. They may not be fantastic quality but could certainly serve to advertise local services and shops. Perhaps the revenue earned could go towards making sure the project finishes on time, or shock of shockers even early!

Signing off, Disgruntled of Denmark Hill!

A Touch of creative humour

Recent events have marred our society of late and presented us with vilainous monsters.

Social media has hit the headlines both negatively and positively, for possibly exacerbating events due to orchestration via twitter and BBM, as well as aiding remedial community efforts to repair damages.

Rioters and looters blotted the copy book of the hooded yooof of today, many of whom were caught on camera, be it mobile phones or CCTV.

The link below shows them in a new light - these are fantastic examples of creative people using photoshop at its best.

http://photoshoplooter.tumblr.com/

Aviva Series Grand Prix @ Crystal Palace

We've had a great few months planning and buying activity for our client UKA (UK Athletics)- promoting the Aviva series outdoor events in Birmingham and London.....topped off by a fanatastic evening out at the Crystal Palace National stadium last Friday to experience a Diamond League event first hand.

Great seats near the finish line, we witnessed World Class athletes compete in various track and field events, achieving some season bests and some PB's too.

Hat's off to the athletes, as well as to the team at Fast track, who worked phenomenally hard to deliver sell out events across the season.

Fabulous Gossard Offer

Fantastic offer for our lovely client Gossard running today on Groupon.

£16 for £40 of beautiful lingerie

Click on the link below ....

Gossard Groupon Deal - click here

Trust

We spend our lives trying to deliver best value for our clients.... and evaluate spend, delivery and achievements to ensure campaign optimisation.

By it's very nature being a statistical model, online is a truly accountable medium ....and enables analysis based upon granular detail of achievements on an ongoing basis in order to access the efficacy and optimise accordingly.

In order to do this however, it is imperative to run campaigns through a 3rd party adserver, as no amount of trust can guarantee true campaign reporting.

With millions of impressions being bought and various areas being analysed to assess campaign achievements, data must run through an independent system/s to qualify campaign delivery and results.

The stats speak for themselves, and without direct access to the reporting, campaign delivery can be questionable at best.

No amount of trust can prove the real numbers - the real numbers need to speak for themselves.

Hit or Miss?

We have recently added a QR code to our email signatures and our business cards, linking through to the Pure Media website http://www.puremedia.co.uk/ ..... The problem is they appear to need a certain light to work, and therefore don't work every time.

So it's a bit hit & miss, but effective when it works.

Yet Another Win for Forex.com!

Just wanted to say a big Congratulations! to our fabulous Clients Forex.com for their recent win at the Money AM Awards. It's been a great 12 months for Forex.com, who have already picked up several accolades for best forex provider at the IC and Shares awards, amongst others. Now they have the Money AM 'Best online FX provider' to add to the trophy cabinet! Cheers to that!

Come See Me....

Link below for film created by our sister agency Fast Track for UKA, showing the power and might of some of the UK's finest athletes training for the Aviva Series.

Click here for the impressive video!

Only 2 of the summer events left to go now ... Birmingham Aviva UK Trials & Championships - 29-31 July and Aviva London Grand Prix - 5-6 August.

For tickets: Click here

Negotiate or loose out

On Brick Lane last night my American friends were astounded when I began negotiating with the doormen as to what special offers they were willing to offer in order to entice us into their Indian food establishment. 5 minutes work rewarded us with free drinks and a 30% discount off food – a saving of around £50 from the final bill.

Of course the restaurant owners were happy – they secured our business and presumably made a tidy profit on the meal / service which we did pay for. Having spent some time living in India, negotiating for products and services became second nature, and the practice is something which I would be keen to see made far more a part of UK culture (especially in lean economic times such as these). The lee-way to strike a bargain allows both parties a far greater opportunity to achieve a satisfactory result than our staid British ‘set- price’ system – where potential customers often come away empty-handed rather than risk offend a vendor (who is more often than not desperate to sell) by offering a lower price based on perceived value.

Within the media business, strong negotiation skills are an inherently essential tool in obtaining best value for our clients. Media buyers constantly face challenges from media owners who often refuse to offer discounts based on anything other than volume bookings, when there could quite likely be a deal to strike if they would only be open to taking a lesson from Indian culture where the emphasis lies far more on affordability than saving face, or other bureaucratic considerations.

Anyone for an ‘educational’ work trip to Mumbai?