Monthly Archives: May 2008

Apologies for the inconvenience…

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showcase cinema Apologies for the inconvenience...

Showcase Cinema, Reading

Even the local cinema is computer dependent now.

I couldn’t book online and apparently no one could. This was the big box office sales Sunday for the latest Indiana Jones movie. That wasn’t the film I was off to see with my son Charlie but it did explain the large numbers of people there.

To compound matters advance sales could not be collected from the ticket collection points.

The ensuing chaos had people queuing out of the doors at the Showcase Cinema at Winnersh, near Reading.

Never mind, they kept all the staff on the high margin hot dogs and sweets and didn’t waste anytime apologising to the patiently waiting customers.

Excessively noisy or strident

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uhf vhf television Excessively noisy or stridentExcessively noisy or strident. What a great line.

Apparently over 100 people complained about TV channels that have advert volumes higher than the programmes. In reality it annoys thousands of people…but just 100 or so complained.

My solution was/is simple: mute the adverts. It works superbly well. In fact I have now developed the habit on all stations and I’m always muting the ads.

If my behaviour mirrors any measurable chunk of the audience it should have been the advertisers that complained.

Anyway, the story: Television ads must not be “excessively noisy or strident” under the regulations published by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP).

The rules come into force on 7 July 2008 following consumer concerns that TV ads sometimes seemed louder than programming.

The regulations say the “maximum subjective loudness” of advertisements must be consistent with the maximum loudness of programmes.

>>> the ASA technical blurb

Definition of great marketing

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seth godin Definition of great marketingSeth Godin, on his blog, challenges us all to define great marketing in fewer than four words.

His four words are: “Make big promises; overdeliver.”He goes on to say, “If you can define great marketing in fewer words than that, you win.”

I really like this definition. In fact it is so good I’ll forgive him for creating the word overdeliver and thereby getting from five words to four.

Read Seth’s article for his rationale as well.

Photos make you feel good

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caroline gratrix Photos make you feel good

Caroline Gratrix...behind the camera

It’s a funny old experience being photographed. This photo is largely what you see between flashes.

The girl behind the camera here is professional photographer, Caroline Gratrix www.vivaphotography.co.uk

A studio session with Caroline is great therapy and I felt two inches taller when I left. It is rather good having someone focus on your good points, with minimal commentary, for an hour! That of course may say more about me than the experience.

But there was dialogue. And that is really the reason for this post…

We were comparing Caroline’s work to that of public speaking. Which is the better art form? Can you compare them? There was no real conclusion, but it became clear that the commonality is that the photographer and the public speaker both try and capture ideas, moods, thoughts and ideas and their art form requires them to deliver all of this in an abbreviated form.

I think I ended up feeling that photography was the more challenging and Caroline the opposite.

Logo design – business model reversal

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logomarket logo Logo design business model reversalI quite like the look of this business, Logomarket

On Logomarket.com, 120 designers present more than 5,000 logo designs to potential customers. The showcases contain logo designs for sale at fixed prices. The fixed price includes delivery in the file format of your choice, as well as unrestricted usufruct rights for all possible uses. All logo designs on offer are exclusive, i. e. once purchased they are no longer available for sale.

Usually we brief an agency or designer, wait three weeks, have an idea sold to us and then we get an invoice for thousands. Can you sense a little cynicism here?

Logomarket turns it on the head. You can choose a logo, from a vast choice, for prices starting at about £100. For a lot of start-ups this could represent an excellent service.