livingbrands

All about Thunderbirds

The story behind Thunderbirds and the other glorious creations of Gerry Anderson made the jump from Beeb 4 to Beeb 2 today (and it's also available on iPlayer). Brilliant fun, with one really important lesson - if you have shortcomings, turn them into virtues. Case in point: it's hard to make puppets walk, so don't - which is where you get stuff that is still cool and iconic today, like the slides into the various Thunderbirds (where would Wallace & Gromit be without these!).

What makes an epidemic

Headline on the BBC: "flu heading for nine-year high". Gets you worrying that it will be you soon. But this is apparently based on flu-related GP visits of 69 in 100,000 this week. Which, if it hits 200 per 100k, is an epidemic. But surely an epidemic means 'everyone' (particularly if you're watching Survivors - last episode tonight). 2%, let alone less than 1%, seems pretty un-epidemic-like...and just leaves you asking, why did I get it then!

Scoring life

Iain's talk from Playful 08 on how scoring, and high scores in particular, have migrated from video games to life in general is well worth watching...

Iain Tait - High Scores Talk at Playful London 31.10.08 from Iain Tait on Vimeo.

Makes you realise why all those blog readers, Facebook friends and Twitter followers are so important :-)

Car crash

Toyota has just forecast its first annual loss in 71 years. This is being reported as yet more evidence of the global economic downturn. But part of me wonders whether we just had too many cars (and too much of most things). Maybe shedding some of this unnecessary 'stuff', and finding a new equilibrium at a point of greater simplicity, is no bad thing for our own well being (physical, mental and spiritual). And the well being of the planet our rampant consumerist-fueled economic growth was ripping apart. Who knows.

10 things we didn't know before the 51st week of 2008

1. Sugar does not cause hyperactive behaviour.
2. Oliver Twist was not hungry when he asked for more.
3. Leonard Cohen's original Hallelujah has more than 80 verses.
4. Sneezing can be a sign of sexual arousal.
5. It's legal to serve legal papers by Facebook, in Australia.
6. It's a bad idea to put out a chip pan fire with a wet tea towel.
7. The world's oldest singer and actor is 105.
8. Some villages in Wales still don't have mains electricity.
9. Japan has its own version of the foot-measurement - called the kanejaku.
10. The average global temperature is about 0.7C above pre-industrial times.

(Borrowed from the BBC)

Wolverine trailer (oh yes)

Maybe not quite up there with Watchmen as the 2009 movie I'm looking forward to, but terribly exciting nonetheless...

Cut price Christmas

According to research carried out by UK supermarket chain Somerfield, us Brits are cutting our Christmas spending back by up to £200 as the recession starts to bite, costing the economy some £2.8bn.

"When it comes to making sacrifices, workplace Secret Santa gifts are the first to go with close to one in five (18 per cent) taking colleagues off the Christmas gift list. More than one in 10 (13 per cent) will be cutting out Christmas sweets and 12 per cent are even considering taking wine and beer off the list. However, some traditions are safe even from the recession – only three per cent would consider getting rid of the tree or the Christmas pud, and just two per cent would deprive the kids of presents...Taking on the mantra of the ‘make-do and mend generation’ two in five (40 per cent) have said they will make their own Christmas goodies this year, with 32 per cent baking their own cakes and puddings and 12 per cent making their own cards. A brave four per cent will even try their hand at making their own presents".

(From here via here)

It's Christmas...

...so I'm off. May not blog for a while. Will have to see how I feel. Otherwise, have a great one...and here's to 2009.

Quiet Storm are officially the 6th best agency in Britain (UPDATED)

(As my pedantic and anonymous commenter points out below, we may be be ranked 6th, but there's 7 agencies above us. But, hey, I'll still take 8th!!)

Some may disagree, obviously. But the people have spoken, and they have said 6th it is. At least according to the 2008 league table for UTalkMarketing's 'People's Choice'.

Which for an agency our size is something of an achievement we think, putting us ahead of many big name, TV heavy agencies. We even managed to beat BBH on the basis of some quirky inverse alphabetical ordering, which is a nice added bonus.

Maybe if we looked at points per employee we'd be No1 ;-)

So for producing work which people don't seem to like as much as ours, we thank you BMB, Leagas Delaney, MCBD, Publicis, CHI, Lowe, Saatchi, AMV, Fallon, M&C, Grey, VCCP, W&K, Leo Burnetts, Ogilivy, WCRS, St Lukes and many more. Ah, that sounds good.

And next time you're on the look out for an agency which combines a smaller, personal touch with effective work that engages real people, you know who to contact.

Anyway, here's the list in full...

 

Twitter, Robert Llewellyn and hydrogen cars

Though I try to avoid putting myself in the 'the answers digital, now what's the question' camp, I did have first hand experience this week of social media's potency, and how a casual comment can leave you feeling you've had impact on (popular) culture...even if maybe you haven't really.

On Sunday's Top Gear, two 'eco cars' were reviewed - the battery powered Tesla and hydrogen powered Honda Clarity.

For a show that revels in its anti-green credentials, positive reviews were not on the cards. Yet Jeremy Clarkson wasn't completely negative about the Tesla, and James May was positively glowing about the Honda - the future of motoring, he said.

And there I would have left it, as someone with green ideals but limited technical knowledge - hydrogen wins out over batteries.

That is if I hadn't spotted series of Tweet from Robert Llewellyn, he of Red Dwarf, Scrapheap Challenge, a very good Youtube channel, and renowned eco-warrior.

He was livid over Top Gear's treatment of the Tesla and said hydrogen didn't work and was a petro-chemical industry con. I fired off an "I'm confused, tell me more" reply, expecting to hear nothing more. But Robert said he would do a Youtube film when he had the time.

Which appeared yesterday, 2 days after my initial contact. And what a joyous, expletive filled rant it is (very much NOT office safe)...

Now, I am under no illusion that I was the only catalyst to this endeavor. But it does show what an impact you can at least feel you are having in this digital world. Albeit one that is entirely random I'd suggest, rather than something you can properly plan for.