Bang in the middle...of the community that is!

Greenpeace UK have just launched a new campaign called 'Airplot!'. The campaign has been designed by Airside, a small studio (by UK standards) which is growing big (by our standards) and which fits very well in the whole campaign (name-wise). The Airplot! campaign protests against the extension of Heathrow Airport's third runway. The Greenpeace is much more than a virtual community, such as the many we get to see on Avaaz.org. Greenpeace have actually bought a piece of land bang in the middle of the zone, supporting the village of Sipson, including 700 homes and some businesses. Without getting into the whole debate, the above is a case of:

a) Green: Greenpeace have also been about the environment, but 2009 is expected to be the year of 'Green' thinking

b) Community: The community is joining forces against the government's institution! The community is at the centre of this whole issue

c) Online = Offline: On the latter, I may be taking it to far, but the Airplot! campaign is as present online as physically offline.

It's ROI, not creativity!

I recently had a chat with a friend of mine about creativity in marketing campaigns locally. The argument revolved around the lack of new and creative ideas which agencies and brands put forward. I was about to jump in the boat and add in other restrictions in the local market, mainly tiny budgets and just tiny per se.

But my statistical background makes me want to research almost everything. Even creatives need to sell their work and this does not necessarily mean being less creative or more mainstream, but doing a full job:

Step 1: Recieve campaign brief
Step 2 Brainstorm
Step 3: Draft proposal
Step 4: Sell it!
(but no it doesn't stop here)
Step 5: Execute
(and there's more)
Step 6: Measure, Measure, Measure
Step 7: Go back to step 2 quickly enough for step 2 not to happen.

Pretty straight forward, isn't it?!

ogilvyonrecession.com

Everyone should have a look! No need to say more!

BLAB's brief (for those who are still not convinced)

I stumbled upon this resource through the Ogilvy website, which I was reminded about whilst reading trendwatching's newsletter. Many are speculating about the recession but some simply attempt to extract the positive things about it. Past editions of Advertising Age hinted at a number of products which were conceived during a recession period (for the record, Google is one of them). The Ogilvy dedicated website provides a number of documents which are worth of a BLAB and a close look. Needless to say, Ogilvy also promotes its services through these freebies...but it's only fair & it complements well.

BLAB's New Year's resolutions

I am currently away from tiny Malta having a 1-week long break. There is so much more to revisit before the end of the year, but it'll be done in 2009. Before closing off the 2008 BLAB chapter I'd like to recommend the 'Top 50 Have-Yous' as a good start to some reasonable and useful new year's resolutions. I stumbled upon the free download on the Tom Peters website. The document is only 5 pages long and contains 50 questions in my opinion any team player, at the top or very bottom should question. Tom defines them as “practical stuff,” which is more important to the short- and long-term health of the enterprise, tiny or enormous.

My favorite of them all is the following:
44. Have you in the last … two hours … stopped by someone’s (two-levels “down”)
office-workspace for 5 minutes to ask “What do you think?” about an issue that
arose at a more or less just completed meeting? (And then stuck around for 10 or
so minutes to listen—and visibly taken notes.)

Locally, we could be more open to sharing ideas, whether or not they fall within or outside our primary area of responsibility. Sharing may end up in having your idea 'stolen' by some other guy in the office, but more often, discussion leads to a clearer picture of where we want to get to. To some extent, it is worth risking giving away your idea because the benefits out weigh the risks.

I hope, this BLAB, and others which should follow in 09, provide a discussion starter for many other ideas which we have stocked safely in our brain.

Best wishes for 2009.

Christ.mas

With all the new dots (.coms, .nets, .mts, etc.) we've seen in 2008 it's worthy to wish you all a happy Christ.mas. The dot makes the name even more meaningful!

Some more blogs should follow before the big 09 starts reading BLAB!

Vodafone showcases myIdeas initiative at University

Over the past year Vodafone has been working on an initiative which allows the man in the street, be it student or not, a Vodafone employee (like me) or not, to propose any ideas which they want. Vodafone will in return assist the idea originators to implement their ideas if the Innovation Committee deems the ideas successful. more info: http://www.vodafone.com.mt/page/whoarewe_myideas.html

20 Million for Industry...A blessing in a downturn?

Malta Enterprise has been entrusted by the Managing Authority for Structural Funds as an Intermediate Body responsible for administering six European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Grant Schemes. The Schemes focus on: tapping new international markets, encouraging start-up initiatives which have been around for less than 3 years, providing incentives for the introduction of innovations in SMEs, improvement in Environmental Performance, investment in e-Business solutions and grants for R&D initiatives.

Sounds like a big blessing in a lot of economic negativity, crisis and downturn. All this also goes in line with what Vodafone is doing about innovation (more about this in my next post)

Read more at 20millionforindustry.com