Last FM on iPhone

I’ve invented a fun new game that you can play with your friends called Last FM Charades. I tried it out on some chums this New Years Eve after a few ales and it went down well. It’s best played with an iPhone 3G loaded up with the free Last FM app. It helps if you’re already familiar with the rules of Charades (although not knowing can add to the hilarity).

To start, simply create a new station on Last FM. We went for an 80’s theme. This worked well for us because although we grew up in the era of big hair, our collective musical memory had enough gaps to keep it fresh, and the cheesy nostalgia added to the entertainment.

Then take it in turns to take the stage with the iPhone, play the next track (without letting anyone else see the track details), and proceed to act out the title of the song. If you successfully mime it before the title is sung, you can pass to the next person. If the title is sung on the iPhone before the others guess, or they just guess it straight away from the first few notes, you have to stay on and do the next track until you’re successful.

You can play this with an ordinary iPod and dock set to shuffle, although the owner will always have a slightly unfair advantage and you’re limited to the music on that iPod.

I’ll never forget Lucy’s impression of Paris for ‘The Paris Match’ by The Style Council…so next time you have friends round to your place, treat them to Last FM Charades and let me now how you get on!

Promises, promises...

When Dr Pepper promised to give ‘everyone in America’ a free can of Dr Pepper if Guns N’ Roses released ‘Chinese Democracy’ in 2008, they probably thought (like the rest of us) that it was rather unlikely to occur. Of course, these things have a habit of coming back to haunt you. The album was finally released (after 15 years in production) on 23th November 2008.

To add to the soft drinks company’s woes - their online free drink redemption system failed last weekend, leaving many fans and customers feeling angry and let down. Dr Pepper are trying to make good on their offer, but I can’t help thinking that it’s the band who’ll come out of this better off.

The Dr Pepper brand may be getting lots of exposure, but unless they turn things around and deliver on their promise, the negative press will be damaging to the brand and its sales. Afterall, who’s going to buy a Dr Pepper when they feel entitled to a free one?

It seems that attitudes towards discount brands are changing rapidly here in Britain. Shoppers are swallowing their pride and embracing the likes of Lidl and Aldi in their droves. The other mid-market and luxury brands are fighting back of course, but it’s going to be tough. M&S, one of the worst hit, recently held an out-of-character 20% Discount Day and continue to run the popular ‘Dinner for 2 for £10’, which is great for a weekend dining treat, but less so for your weekly shop.

The discount brand invasion knows no bounds

Tesco have decided to take the discounters on at their own game with Tesco Discount Brands. Tesco knows that middle-income shoppers are turned off by the Tesco Value brand and have made up new brands such as ‘Oak Lane’, ‘Daisy’ and ‘Trattoria Verdi’ to sell cheaper Tesco own brand products. It’s too early to tell whether this will pay off, but one worry is it could damage the Tesco brand. And a return to the old days of stack it high and sell it cheap would be shame for a brand that has transformed itself in recent years. Perhaps just a good old drop in prices would have been easier?

Sainsbury’s, who only a couple of years ago were struggling to keep up with Tesco, has been one of the other surprise winners. Seen by many as a better value Waitrose, it has seen its customer base stay loyal whilst acquiring those who wouldn’t be seen dead in the rest of them. And with Morrison’s new fresher brand look in place just in time, it too is in prime position to benefit from the downturn.

Anyone for a Aldi Snackrite Crisp?

Photoshop appears to have gone back to basics after someone created a real life version of Photoshop. Click on the link for a larger photo and zoom into all the tool bars. It’s genius!

View Image

I was introduced to a slightly disturbing and very interesting game last week. PAIN for the PS3 has been out a while now but I had never seen it.

The basic concept of the game is to pick one of the many selectable characters, stick them in a catapult and fire them into a large city environment attempting to cause them as much “pain” as possible.

Characters can get hit by buses, trains, take out other people, go through windows or just trigger various explosions. All you have to do is keep their momentum going hoping they get hit by something else!

I think the idea is brilliant and it’s extremely addictive but as you play it, it just seems a little bit wrong and sadistic!

check it out on youtube: PAIN video

Time for a break!

I found this example of mobile marketing from Starbucks that doesn’t leave a bitter taste!

It works by keeping things direct and the offer is strong, Starbucks do coffee! Let’s give it away for free to drive footfall! Simple.

Imagine your delight to receive a text on a cold March morning informing you that you can claim a free coffee at Starbucks!  And how convenient because you’re always close to a Starbucks store!

Can you guess what it is yet?

Unbelievably this is a fully functioning bus stop situated in Ventura, California. An interesting concept from designer Dennis Oppenheim who has been producing conceptual land art, body art, video, and sculpture since the 1960s.

It certainly achieves stand out! But, does having such a landmark bus stop guarantee that the number 52 will turn up on time!

See more of his interesting creations at http://www.dennis-oppenheim.com/

Now I love Lego as much as the next big kid, but does the world really need a Lego version of Amy Winehouse?

To mark their 30th anniversary a host of celebs have been imortalised in Lego. Other celebrities to join Amy are Madonna, Posh and Becks, Good old Sir Cliff and the whole cast of X factor!

Now they look pretty good and you can now create you own version of Celebrity Big Brother, but they’ll never be a cool as a Lego Millennium Falcon!

Make sure your CV avoids this fate

Today I received a designer’s CV in the post. They wished to be considered for any relevant full-time creative posts in the future. I gladly receive many such CVs, which understandably vary in quality. This one, however, really annoyed me for the following reasons:

1. Because they’d miscalculated the postage by 6p, I had to pay this PLUS a £1 handling charge. In all my time as a Creative Director, I’ve never had to pay to see a designers work!
2. In the letter, they claimed admiration for a piece of work on our website, but attributed it to the wrong client
3. Instead of including examples of work in the envelope (which would have been nice considering the hassle I had receiving it) the CV featured clip art of flowers – not very inspiring.
4. The CV was littered with typos and over the top rhetoric.

The CV did include a URL to an online portfolio (a long and complex URL which could have been shortened at tinyurl.com). Why the designer didn’t just email it too me I don’t know. The thing is, the work (although nice enough) wasn’t relevant to our business. It’s a shame because the CV did allude to experience in some of our core areas, but failed to include any examples.

Then, to add further insult, another web-link was supplied to the designer’s Flickr account. ‘Perhaps this person has some skill with a camera that I should know about’, I thought. No, just a bunch of holiday photos – very nice, but not really relevant.

This designer obviously has some talent, but their lack of attention to detail, ambition and common sense has, on this occasion, really let them down. As a Creative Director, I always take time to look carefully at a designer’s CV. I’m using it to build up a picture of the person’s skills, personality and attitude. It forms my first impression, so it must impress me. Here are my list of dos and don’ts to consider:

PLEASE DO:

• Plenty of research and preparation
• Present yourself professionally, sensibly and with style
• Make sure you’ve paid the correct postage
• Mention agency work you admire (but please get the details right!)
• Big yourself up, but with some humility
• If the role involves print, include examples of relevant work (even if you have an online portfolio)
• Don’t forget the wow factor.

PLEASE DON’T

• Tart up your CV with clip art
• Leave lazy typos and spelling mistakes
• Put in irrelevant work unless you feel it enriches your CV
• Tell me about the cleaning job you had as a student (only relevant education please)
• Include sob stories
• Include overlong URLs on printed CVs (use tinyurl.com)

With shrinking budgets, increased competition and an abundance of high quality freelancers, things are going to get much tougher for designers searching for full-time positions. It’s vitally important they plan and execute every CV submission with love, care and originality. There’s a place Creative Directors file shoddy CVs…

Now you can have that public transport look at home

Have you ever sat on a bus a thought, “Wow I love that seat fabric, I wish I could have a sofa made from that”? Well now you can! The London Transport Museum is now selling furniture based on famous public transport seating fabrics. Check out the website to buy your very own orange and brown sofa, stool or bed: www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/LTM/Furniture-collection.html