April 2007 site of the month: A good handbagging from Leoshe

OK The good folk of Leo Burnett have been busy running a study on what women keep in their handbags. If you're a bloke like me and you've never dared to ask then here's a good chance to find out. If you're a girl and if you live in Romania - this may not be new information but if you don't you might be interested making the comparison. The real issue is whether marketers can make use of it. Can brands survive the journey into the handbag and how do they do it? Why do they wind up there? And how long can they expect to stay there? A number of commentators were asked their opinion about the results of the study. Chris Forrest of the Nursery was asked for his. I (oddly enough) was sent some of the findings and asked for mine. If you want to know what I said then you can check my ramblings there. An interesting study because unlike most research studies it doesn't necessarily lead to a quick win for a brand. But useful because this is how to you learn things you didn't know you didn't know.

March 2007 site of the month: Cati Vaucelle

I happened upon Cati via a recent interview which should get you started. She seems to be something of a polymath - artist, designer, technologist and it has to be said self publicist. Which has to be a rare combination. But her range is astounding and the projects she is involved in are really interesting - right on the cusp between art and interactive design. The site of the month is her blog architradure. I only had a brief chance to browse but there you will find she was involved in designing the tap tap the affectionate scarf' which stores hugs from loved ones so you can get the scarf to hug you back when you hug it . A portrait of Cati which interacts with you and a second which behaves differently depending on whether you are a woman or a man. Jabberstamp, a children's drawing application where the children can store the sounds of their characters on the drawing and play it back via a special trumpet. The dance film which cuts and selects the pace of the dance to the bpm of the music playing. She seems to be in Boston now. Here's her MIT summary and profile. And here's her flickr. Clearly she got my attention!

Well I was going to feature the brand new museum of advertising which just opened but sadly the website is nothing to look at unless you need directions to find it. So it being the season of good will and buying silly presents I thought I'd revert to type and introduce you to a couple of gadget sites. Gadgets collects some of the wildest and wierdest - the darts featured here (and on sale in M&S) plug into your USB socket and you can fire them round the ofice using the mouse. Why? Asks the missus. Because Answers gadget boy. And another favourite site: full of crazy stuff http://www.IWOOT.com/  

Here's the link http://www.gadgets.com/

November 2005 site of the month: Quick MBA

Doesn't everybody in business who doesn't have an MBA wish they had the time and the money to go and get one? Well here's your chance to access the learnings of an MBA programme. For nothing. Always useful to have in your favourites folder. They're not giving awat that much though - but it should help you get started and I expect it does land the instutution that placed it a few students every year.

Here's the link http://www.quickmba.com/

October 2005 site of the month: ME manifesto

Adbusters sent me this a couple of weeks ago. Is access to the media fair? Probably not. Even if this initiative looks as if it is doomed to failure, environmentalism is going from strenth to strength. What is going to happen if people not only accept the idea that they are being polluted for commercial gain (which they already do) but that this is too high a price to pay for cheap media and they start switching off (which they are) and what if they demand that that polluter should pay for the clean up. What would that involve? Are you worried about facing a lawsuit in your old age for all the crap you've left out there?

Here's the link http://adbusters.org/metas/psycho/mediacarta/

September 2005 site of the month: Ideafinder

site obviously written by enthusiast which will inspire you to think new thoughts. Just remember that ideas are cheap and implementations is everything

Here's the link http://www.ideafinder.com

August 2005 site of the month: Fink tank

One of the UK's best creatives who has just taken the creative director's chair at M&C Saatchi has a website where he offers a free training school. Very well put together and fun to browse around. I have a second link for you since it is holiday time. Google earth has been my favourite software this month. It is a free download and lets you wander where you want around the planet looking at satellite maps. Those cunning marketers at Google are now busy overlaying data including advertisers so you can find services by going to particular locations. It's intuitive and addictive and will keep you mightily amused through August.   http://earth.google.com/  

Here's the link http://www.thefinktank.com

July 2005 site of the month: Newspapers

This month in line with my article Unplugged about all the people who are moving out of reach of advertising - I offer 2 competing visions of the future. The first was sent me by Hans Henrik of Denmark allows you to access newspapers all over the world - never again need you be dependent on your locally printed paper. The second link forwarded to me by Mark Hancock of Proximity is a future history which charts the disapearance of newspapers by 2014. I commend both to you but you will think about them won't you? Don't assume that the future will be a repetition of the past - that's why the advertising industry looks like a rabbit in the headlights. Action is what is requred - our clients deserve nothing less.   http://www.idorosen.com/mirrors/robinsloan.com/epic/ols-master.html//  

Here's the link http://www.newspaperindex.com

June 2005 site of the month: It's manifesto time

This month is manifesto month the month I add some manifestos of my own. I'm going to put in a link to the much publicised Marketing Manifesto produced by the Marketing Society from the Nov 2004 conference. But I have to lead with the Open Source Marketing Manifesto which I discovered thanks to PSFK - some real provocation about how us marketing and communication types go about our work. Are we creating wealth or plotting ways to spend a promotional budget. Have a look. Here's the Marketing Society link: http://www.marketing-society.org.uk/main.asp?page=home

Here's the link http://www.changethis.com/14.OpenSourceMktg#

May 2005 site of the month: For all the adguys out there

I've been so late posting this month that I've decided to do a bonanza of advertising spoofs and send ups. Thanks to Margaret O'Keeffe for the shardsoglass and adguy contribution. What all of these show in spades is that advertising is a hideboung series of conventions which are easy to spoof and to remix. The Alicia piece sees a stalker obsess over a model who appears in different ads - the point of the ads is totally ignored as he constructs a narrative around Alicia instead. We can't pretend this isn't happening. What we can do is play up to it and to make content with which people want to interact. Here are the other links: the alicia stalk: http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/spam/alicia/alicia.html ; an esure commercial remixed into a classic: http://www.luckykazoo.com/media/2005/03/e-sure-remix.html and tobacco spoof: http://www.shardsoglass.com/

Here's the link http://www.adguystarterkit.com/

April 2005 site of the month: Open Ad

Here's a site that has been going for a while - what do you make of it? Open Ad is run by a team dominated by Slovenians. It is Swiss owned and operated out of the YUK. Their proposition is a very simple one. Why not have a site for people to post advertising ideas which clients and agencies can come and buy. There's lots of multiple choice menus - do you want to buy the idea in how many media channels for which regions? Hmm worth a think. Well I've got my doubts personally though the news pages suggest that there are clients cueing up to buy ideas or issue pitches without the tiresome bother of an agency. There are 2 catches. Firstly while the Internet is a delivery channel that knocks costs through the floor so is theoretically neutral - the screen is not the best place to review creative seeds. That's why agencies don't drop scripts on the fax machine but go and present them personally - sounds like selling eh? Yes but scripts and rough visuals are ways of storing ideas but not necessarily communicating them - ideas need people to sell them. The other catch is this. The reason why clients order work from an agency which doesn't work for competitors is that the work is supposed to be bespoke. Ads which anybody can plonk their logo in the bottom right hand corner of somehow fall short. Again doesn't this sound like a plea for a reptilian account man to persuade the client that the generic hogwash produced by a lazy creative is onbrand. Yes there's a danger - but putting ideas up for auction is lowest common denominator - it's mass production. Anyway try out the site, tell your mates and your rivals - particularly before a pitch when you can accuse them of buying in their work. And have a heated debate!

Here's the link http://www.openad.net/

March 2005 site of the month: UN Mineaction

Last month I noticed that more than half the page accesses for this site were US based. I have selected the landmind ban as the website for this month because of a viral email I received that the UN had made this commercial and couldn't get any network in the USA to air it. I don't mean to be pointed but visitors from the US to this site should be aware that it is an increasing perception in Europe that the USA does not have a free press. I feature the link to the site and the ad in an effort to promote freedom of speech everywhere. I wouldn't want this spot aired while my kids are watching TV but I think it should be aired somewhere on the networks. And the UK has already committed to end the production of landmines. The USA hasn't. So please forward the link to the site to your friends and colleagues and pass on the story.

Here's the link http://www.stoplandmines.org/slm/index.html

February 2005 site of the month: Google vs MSN

With Microsoft limbering up to take on Google with its new search engine (which still has beta in the URL so no change there from Microsoft)I thought it would be useful to give you a couple of new tricks to try with both MSN and Google to see whether the new engine can cut it. Two little tasks for you to experiment with. Firstly try searching on either ofthese:Liveapplet or 'inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode=" it will list webcams all over the planet which you can control. Right that's just for starters. Now here's the interesting one. Now type the name of the company you are interested in followed by space and one of the following *.doc *.ppt *.xls *.pdf You may be exceedingly gratified by the results. Companies are always forgetting about documents left outside of their firewalls. Search engines pitilessly catalogue them and away you go. It is a random process but intriguing to find stock planning, pricing. tracking study results and so on. And don't forget if you're looking for something specific such as advertising tracking or pricing then you can put that in the search term as well. So if you have 5 spare minutes on a pitch - you never know what you might turn up. Happy searching!

Here's the link http://www.msn.co.uk

January 2005 site of the month: Billy Harvey

Well this isn't on the face of it about advertising. Though it's a fantastic piece of communications I couldn't leave alone when I discovered it. Your browser will need to be Flash enabled to use the site. Billy Harvey has a new record out. He comes on an burbles about it. Click on the masking tape and move from location to location. He'll follow you and carry on talking. Find your way to the music room and click on an instrument. And he'll even sing to you from the new album. With lip synch and everything. I love this site. Because it is intuitive. It makes you want to play with it. And it doesn't look like a website. This year let's do some communicatin' which is as easy to use, is just as addictive and doesn't look like the genre from which it comes. Nice one Billy.

Here's the link http://www.billyharveymusic.com/

December 2004 site of the month: Japander

Some end of year light relief for you. When you've worked on Japanese business as I have you become aware that some very big stars in Europe and the US get paid piles of money to do celebrity endorsements in frankly atrocious ads in Japan on condition that their work never appears in their home markets. In the era of the internet distance is no barrier. We are all in japander's debt. Here in ad after ad you can see professionals prostituting themselves. Particular favourites of mine are Arnold Schwarzeneger, David Bowie and Rick Astley but the crown belongs to Posh and Becks - dressed in kimonos and being dubbed in Japanese. Priceless.

Here's the link http://www.japander.com/

November 2004 site of the month: My War

It's election time in the US. And next year it'll be the UK's turn. Right or wrong there's people fighting a war on our behalf. Whether or not you agree with the war I believe you owe it to those who are in Iraq on our behalf to hear their story. In the links section of the website you can find links to blogs - online diaries from people in the advertising business. On this site you can read what US and UK service personnel on the ground in Iraq have to say. A nightmare for intelligence officer trying to control what news is permitted - this site has more than once got into trouble because someone told the truth. Show them some respect. Pay them a visit. And if you have the privilege of voting. Then please use it.

Here's the link http://cbftw.blogspot.com/

October 2004 site of the month: ESP

Now then. This site is by way of homework for those of you who have read the neuroscience piece I posted this month. This site was brought to my attention when someone mailed me the URL and asked me if I thought they were for real. Well what do you think? They have a couple of software analysis packages Linguistic Analysis Software and Visual Analysis software. One will check your copy for the structural linguistic effectiveness of any communication. The other measures your images against visual archetypes. These are in effect pretesting packages. You don't need to do split area tests if you are a direct marketer and you don't need to research the ad concept is you are an advertiser. The software does it all for you. Is this where Neuroscience is taking us? Smoke and Mirrors or Holy Grail. Mail me and tell me what you think.

Here's the link http://www.espconsultancy.co.uk/communications.html

September 2004 site of the month: Dance Voldo Dance

This gem is a month old but who cares - I never claimed to post the latest and the trendies weblinks - it answers the question What do you need to make your own dance video? Answer: a copy of the combat game Soul Caliber only the characters dance together instead of slicing each other to ribbons. What a cool idea and how far from the intention of the game designers - and anyone can do it. It is a perfect example of my contention that consumerism is in increasingly unhelpful way of classifying people's commercial behavaiour and that creativity has at least a right to be considered as an alternative - check out the series of articles on this site on the theme of Creating more than you consume. I found Voldo's dance on the excellent www. milkandcookies,.com site but you can also visit   http://www.bainst.com//   to find out from the artist how it was done. For those with stronger stomachs another example would be BW's Sim Orgies (also on milkandcookies) using the Sims game where autonomous characters interact with one another - BW has experimented to see how much shenanigans he can set up in a single evening.. it takes all sorts!

Here's the link http://www.milkandcookies.com/links/17611/

August 2004 site of the month: Epson family and Women hunters

Silly season this month and I've opted for two wildly different target audiences for you to reflect on as you lounge on the beach. Firstly the Epson family - typical printer users - Joe and Jane average 'the Wants' - apparently Epson thought if they could show us how these people use their products it might encourage us to do the same. When is a target audience not a target audience? When its a 'unique social experiment'. Mm a government health warning that average target audiences can lead to severe loss of inspiration. The Epson family are due to be deaveraged before the end of August so you'd better be quick.. Then a group of ladeez who are anything but average - they perm, stand by their men and kill large mammals in the name of God, conservation and family values. Now in case you think I'm mocking (which I am) I chose this site because they aren't normal they represent an extreme opposition of values - at least where I'm coming from. Which makes them an interesting group to consider. How do you motivate people like this? Does anybody else aspire to be like them - their kids for example? What can we learn from extreme targeting? Exit John G to a witness protection programme - have a good summer y'all!

  http://www.theepsonfamily.co.uk//

Here's the link http://womenhunters.com/meet-the-ladies.html

July 2004 site of the month: Overture inventory page

This is a bit techy but bear with me. Once you get the idea you will keep coming back for more. You can use this to find out which terms people have searched for in the last month. Which makes it essential for planners working in new media. But hold on the rest of you. It is still very useful. Even though it covers global searching (wouldn't it be great to have a UK only one) it enables you to quickly check how popular a topic is. Here's the rule. If the number of searches in a month is less than 30,00 then the idea is too niche - it's too specialised - search for account planning and you can see for yourself! If the number of searches is greater than 100,000 then the search term is too general you need something more specific. It is remarkable how difficult it is to hit the 30-100K figure. But when you do you can be confident that the topic you have found is interesting to a lot of people which includes a lot of Americans and only covers English - but what a useful tool.

Here's the link http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

June 2004 site of the month: Wackyuses.com/

More trivia? Well more of a revenge site really. If you have even been victim of the - interogate the product until it confesses school of brief writing (also known as the Abu Ghraib gambit) then here's some ammunition for getting your own back. This approach famously deployed at WCRS on BMW works on the principle that if you look hard enough and far enough you will find a product truth however obscure and tangential which tells the punter something they didn't already know. Which will create interest and involvement (and may even save a mediocre creative idea). Now the advertising community has been interogating the product for decades the words flog dead and horse come to mind. It mostly HAS all being done before. That's why we have to make up new stuff. So if you are currently being tormented by a suit or a creative saying they've seen the proposition before and they want a new nugget then try this lot. Although a lot of the examples are US based they serve to show that nuggets aren't the answer - originality and relevance are. My current favourite is using Vaseline (careful! Ed) to lure trout and to stop shampoo running in children's eyes at bathtime. Exquisite.

Here's the link http://www.wackyuses.com/

May 2004 site of the month: Subservientchicken.com/

Well this is a fallback. What was going to be my site of the month was the Bates Dorland London website still working mid April 6 months after the agencies closure. But my research enquiries must have tipped them off - the site is now offline. So here's another - the Subservient Chicken. My family got a great kick out of this one. It's part of a campaign promoting Burger King who will cook you chicken any way you like. Here with more than a hint of S&M is someone dressed in a chicken suit who will do ALMOST anything you ask.I don't know what's more fun - finding things for the chicken to do or testing the boundaries of good taste. You decide.

Here's the link http://www.subservientchicken.com/

April 2004 site of the month: www.stkea.co.uk

The site of the month follows the ecclesiastical theme also to be found in Recent Reads as I've tried to figure out what the church should be communicating. I was fascinated to discover the St Kea site last month - beautifully laid out and designed by the creative director of Interbrand, soo- cool but can it relly be a website for a parish church in Cornwall? It could be from anywhere and be about no church in particular. Does this matter? I include a church website put together by a mate which is a lot less cool and a lot more useful. So what is a website for? Inspiration? Reference? And then just for the fun of it I include the Jesus Beany site. Surely they cannot be serious? And we seem to have got by without mentioning Mel Gibson. Almost. Here's the URLs for you to click through.

  http://www.3churches.net/
   http://www.jesusbeanies.com

Here's the link http://www.stkea.co.uk

March 2004 site of the month: Idea a day.com

Well here's another eclectic choice with a dash of self interest. Idea-a-day.com was started by among others Chas Bayfield the creative. Its a very simple concept - every day a brilliant idea is given away for free. Subscribe and be inspired. Submit and you might be lucky enough to get published. The site has been going for 3 years. So they've published a selection of the best 500. Check the index and you'll discover that yours truly got a couple of suggestions through in 2000 when I was supposed to be at my desk working for CDP of blessed memory. Check out the site and buy thge book. But above all be inspired!

Here's the link http://www.idea-a-day.com

February 2004 site of the month: RussellDavies.com

Websites by planners are few and far between. Which is why it is a real pleasure to come across a website by not only a planning director of a top 30 agency but a highly decorated planner at that. Its beautifully laid out. He even keeps a blog - go to www.blogger.com if you don't know what this is. How does he find the time? What I really like is the detailed observations.. of London cafes, airline graphics and most recently brands in his bathroom. Anybody could do it. The difference is noticing in the first place. Capturing it. And pondering on it. Consider it a master class.

Here's the link http://www.russelldavies.com

January 2004 site of the month: Instant bureaucracy

Well I suppose I should kick off 2004 with a site with some gravitas but I can't help thinking of all you poor people fighting office culture to try and get some good work out the door. So here's some ammunition to throw the gauntlet down. Make a New Year Resolution not to be defeated by the forces of inertia, cowardice and downright stupidity and start mailing these splendid documents to people.

Here's the link http://www.chickenhead.com/features/instant/index.asp

December 2003 site of the month: The UK Gov Home Office research area

Thanks to Gill Ereaut for this reference. I've never done social research so was totally unaware of this site where you can help yourself to reams and reams of free research. I was there because of binge drinking: a 100 page report. Worth keeping an eye on.

Here's the link http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/horspubs1.html

November 2003 site of the month: The hero's journey

This site I found using the hero link on Joanna Chrzanowska's pyscho link list. Go there in weblinks and there's a whole truckload more

Here's the link http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/

October 2003 site of the month: Myth and story

This site is part of Joanna Chrzanowska's list of pyschology and qualitative research theory links. But I've chosen it as site of the month because it ties in neatly with the archetype theme. Lots of inspiration for you brand developers out there.

Here's the link http://www.folkstory.com/index.html

September 2003 site of the month: Theory.org.uk

Now this isn't silly season still though bits of this site are pretty light hearted. Described as social theory for fans of popular culture and popular culture for fans of social theory - this is an accessible introduction to cultural studies you can drop in and out of. Even if you only get as far as name dropping Foucault,Derrida and Anthony Giddens at dinner parties you can get a glimmering of what they're on about and probably more so than by reading them (!). A little of this site may give you an original twist on your next pitch - who knows. There's stuff here on gay and feminist ideology which if you hadn't tumbled yet has moved into the mainstream. Worth a look and a chuckle

Here's the link http://www.theory.org.uk/

August 2003 site of the month: Silly season 3 for the price of one

The Nilewide offer is still on until the end of August - so read the July info to take advantage of the offer for the last 4 weeks. But it IS silly season, so here are 3 diverting websites which you might want to use for some refreshment, reflection and a little hilarity. First up the unbelievable cool-2B-Real - where an orgy of pastel awaits. Yup its a site for girlies sponsored most improbably by the National Cattlemen's association - to persuade them to give up all that silly dieting and dive into a burger and become redblooded American females - this is not a joke - its a genuine piece of lifestyle marketing. Yes really The second site is a perfect antidote. The third is the refreshing nicecupofteaandasitdown providing matchless reviews of tea, cake and biscuits. I commend in particular the mission statement. Wish I'd thought of it.. Here's the URLs for you to click through.

 cool -2B-real. 
http://www.cool-2b-real.com/
 The second Plaid Itsu - growth at any cost?  
http://mapage.noos.fr/pleix/PlaidItsu.html
  And treat yourselves to a nice cup of tea and a sitdown
http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/

Here's the link http://www.nilewide.com

July 2003 site of the month: Nilewide

OK I'm going to give it you straight. This site is going to cost you money. Eventually. But its worth a look. On a number of counts. I used to work on the Economist - whose subscribers adore it because it summarises, opines and gives them what they need to know. Which is the way Nilewide works. Do you have time to keep up with business journals? How many do you read? Exactly. So the Nilewide network of reviewers read over 100 worldwide and precis the issues in a weekly newsletter. Even if you could afford all the subs - you'd still save time and money subscribing to Nilewide. Well no surprises there's an introductory offer - try it absolutely free until the end of August - that's 2 months worth. This offer is exclusive to Planning and Beyond so make sure you use the linke from here. But we're not done. They have a pitch service called On Demand which gives you a 1000 word summary on a topic of your choosing summarising what has been published in the last year. Go figure. That will cost you £900 or US$1500. And again that's exclusive to Planning Above and Beyond - it'll cost you £1200 if you go direct. Work it out: its half a group or a couple of days of a freelances time. Don't say we never give you anything on this site! Here's the URLs for you to click through.



 The first let's you take up the 2 month trial to the end of August 2003. 
http://www.nilewide.com/nilewide/PABTrialForm.htm
 The second is the On demand page which will explain how On Demand works.
http://www.nilewide.com/nilewide/PABondemand.htm
 The third is the form for when you want to order On Demand for yourself at the PAAB discounted rate.
http://www.nilewide.com/nilewide/PABOnDemandForm.htm

Here's the link http://www.nilewide.com

June 2003 site of the month: Exactitudes

Following the tribal theme on the site this month here's Exactitudes the photographic project by Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek. Is it art is it anthropology? Am I an individual or an instance. I don't think there's anything else to add other than that I think you'll keep coming back to this site to zoom in on one tribe or another.

Here's the link http://www.exactitudes.com

May 2003 site of the month: HATS History of Advertising Trust

And now for something completely different. This is a UK based advertising archive that showcases some of the collections of press advertising which have run in the UK in the last 100 years. It includes photos of agency life going back to the early years of the 20th century. What's the point? Well I suggest you look at the ideas and images produced by previous generations of ad people, and at the places in which they created them. Then you might want to reflect that the work you are producing and the environment in which you are producing it is just as esoteric and bizarre from other people's eyes. It's imperative to reframe from time to time. What we do isn't normal at all - but we can be lured into thinking that the world of advertising is almost mundane and all the ads start to look alike....

Here's the link http://www.hatads.org.uk

April 2003 site of the month: WARC

And now for something rather special. Planning Above and Beyond has teamed up with WARC (World Advertising Research Centre) to give you an exclusive and limited offer. WARC is a database of publications, articles, statistics and news about advertising and communications. There's a limited amount of free material on the site. And the standard introductory offer is a 7 day intro. But then access costs £1500 a year. As a taster for PAAB users WARC have agreed to provide the full text of 25 free articles. I have selected 'a case of' 10 articles reflecting some of the goodies you can find here. And by providing some registration details you can help yourself to another 15 articles gratis - NB this offer is separate from the 7 day trial and doesn't replace it. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to have a good look around at WARC and decide if it's for you!And just to make it even sweeter if you sign up via PAAB you get another 10% off.

Here's the link http://www.warc.com/Open/Offers/Planners_Articles.asp

March 2003 site of the month: British Pathe Film Archive

Now this one's a bit of fun. Remember Harry Enfield's Cholmondeley Warner? Well here's an archive of acres of the original classic UK newsreelfootage 3,500 hours of footage going back 75 years. And you can download any of it onto your computer. Free. Within minutes. Now its a bit fiddly in that you have to register. But you can get free downloads of original film to use in your presentations. It took me a 3 minute wait before I was viewing a 2.5 minute clip about El Alamein They are rightly paranoid about material getting nicked to watch out for copyright. But for briefing creatives, and for powerpoint presentations this is ideal. If you want higher than preview quality then you'll have to pay and you can have pretty much any resolution or format you want. A great resource.

Here's the link http://www.britishpathe.com

February 2003 site of the month: Everyday Lives

If ethnography is what floats your boat then this is a wet dream! Everyday lives are a team of ethnographers working worldwide but based in the UK. Rather generously there are some pages outlining how they do what they do. http://www.edlglobal.net/news.html Most instructive! But better still if you register they let you download clips of what they already have and invite debate and contributions to interpretation. There's a lot of material here. If you have any interest at all in ethnography or in consumer behaviour then I strongly advise you to register. My personal favourite is the father who comes into the living room to break up a fight while the WWF is showing and gets completely distracted by a Volvo commercial! This is one of your best opportunities to start to think about communications in the real world..

Here's the link http://www.edlglobal.net

January 2003 site of the month: Rebranding - Sermons and speeches The Archbishop of Canterbury

Well I've really gone off the deep end this time. The new year message from the new archbishop of Canterbury which surprise surprise is all about re-branding. In the short time this bearded leftie (sorry archbishop) has been in office he has questioned the morality of starting a war in the Gulf, criticised the government for operating as a market state more driven by public opinion than implementing policies. And in this short new year message he starts to unpick the neurosis that keeps wanting to relaunch and rebrand. Can it be that faith and our public mores are on a collision course? About bloody time! So in short a site worth keeping an eye on for the future - I predict a lot more ruffling of the feathers.

Here's the link http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/sermons_speeches/021231.html

December 2002 site of the month: All about branding - Chris Macrae

All about branding is a site I happened upon when I set out to track down Chris Macrae. Macrae is a copious publisher and instigator of brand thinking using the web - you find his stuff cropping up all over the place and he has the knack of getting interesting and high profile marketing people to write articles. The site itself is run for DNA design a NZ Design agency. There's more here than anyone can absorb in a brief visit. So bookmark it and check it out from time to time.

Here's the link http://www.allaboutbranding.com/index.lasso

November 2002 site of the month: Adbusters Buy Nothing Day

The Adbusters site has been on the links page since the site started but what with Buy Nothing Day imminent on Nov 29th you might want to pause and wonder whether like the fishing industry we are capable of self regulation and whether we are plotting our own demise. Adbusters is predominantly a North American movement but they're either a bunch of nuts or the leading edge of a much wider disaffection with the culture of marketing and consumerism. Pause for thought at least on Nov 29th.

Here's the link http://adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd/

October 2002 site of the month: Brand Channel

This is Interbrand's contribution to the world of branding and what a beautiful site it is. There are features, some very useful links including to the Fortune 500, a bookshop but of course you have one of those here anyway. Worth a look.

Here's the link http://www.brandchannel.com

September 2002site of the month: Human Clock

This is a whimsical little site where some nutter has wandered round the West Coast of the US and half of Australia photographing different people holding up a digital clock showing the time. Surprisingly watchable and gives a human element to clock watching.

Here's the link http://www.humanclock.com

August 2002 site of the month: British Library

Found this rather useful routemap courtesy of the British Library to planet advertising. There's also various business stats sites you can get to from here including the one which allows you to search for data about the Untied kingdom. A party political broadcast from Conservative Central Office surely?

Here's the link http://www.bl.uk/services/information/advertin.html

April 2002 site of the month: Future Foundation NVision

I came across this while doing a trends project. Click on the button marlet site map then on examples. There are some quite useful charts there

Here's the link http://www.nvisiononline.co.uk/

March 2002 site of the month: Jubilee 1952:2002 Then and now

This little gem from the official government stats site does a comparison with the UK 50 years ago. Worth a look, and while you're there have a browse round the rest of the site. Look at the latest social trends. Don't buy it! Download it for nowt!

Here's the link http://www.statistics.gov.uk/

February 2002 site of the month: Mad Co UK

This is a subscription based site for agency people in the UK. You can get a 30 day pass to some bits of it. Useful though for picking up the news headlines without needing a copy of Marketing or Marketing week. And if you're desperate enough you can give em a pile of money and look at the jobs section. Odd business model that. Why would corporate subscribers be looking for jobs then?

Here's the link http://www.mad.co.uk/

December 2001 site of the month: Greg Rowland Ltd

This month's selection is care of Greg Rowland one of the few trained semioticians working in the ad business. Now this is a basic site. However any planner should know a bit about semiotics and if you click on About Semiotics you'll find an accessible intro plus a link to a whole book on Semiotics written by Daniel Chandler.

Here's the link http://www.semiotic.co.uk/

November 2001 site of the month: Oblique Strategies

This month's selection is weird and wonderful. It is a grab bag of strategic unblockers. It was created by Brian Eno legendary musician/producer and Peter Schmidt. The strategies used to be sold as a deck of cards. There were 3 editions all subtly different. Then Peter Schmidt died. The cards were never printed afterwards. You can either buy these decks secondhand at astronomical prices. Or you can rediscover them on the web.   I have provided 3 URLs for you to try.



 The first gives a summary of the most recent strategies in the deck. 
http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/Ed4.html
 The second is a javascript site which will give you just one strategy at random as an ideas starter each time you try it.
http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/oblique/oblique.html
 The third is a reference URL if you are curious and would like to find out more.
http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/obliques.html

October 2001 site of the month: Adslogans Unlimited

Adslogans unlimited is a site that will allow you to track down (apparently) any "slogan" you want. Very useful if you are working on a pitch and want to check that the slogan so painfully thought of hasn't been in use on the Isle of Man for the last 3 years.  There is a catch though. It will cost you to use it. You can check lines, do analyses of categories even order mission statements by the truckload. Honourable mention should be given to the Sloganalysis scoring tool which allows you to score endlines against 25 different criteria- perfect for setting up the incumbent endline again when you are in a pitch situation. Click here to go to Adslogans.co.uk

September 2001 site of the month

Vizimarks is a way of bookmarking a site by grabbing any element in a site that you fancy. It is stored in an online repository that only you can look at. To find your favourite sites just visit your online scrap book and click on the graphics to be taken straight to the appropriate site. If browser based text bookmarks leave you cold then maybe Vizimarks is for you. Click here to go to the Vizimarks site.

August 2001 site of the month

For silly season we gave you the sublime and the ridiculous. The Guggenheim Cyberatlas project and the rather scurrilous slash site for the Bill, just to make a rather specious point about brands and how audiences can get so involved they start doing all the work.....
Click here to go to the Guggenheim cyberatlas or the following URL to see all the Guggenheim virtual projects. You'll need Flash or Java by the way. http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/virtual/index.html
And here to go to the dark side of the Bill......
http://www.wcs.net.au/~bessie/sunhill/

July 2001 site of the month: Free stats snippets from an authoritative source.

This is the fourth site of the month. And it is good 'ole MORI polls who provide snippets of findings from surveys they have run from all and sundry. Very useful if you are looking for that elusive statistic. You never know MORI may be giving it away! And you can sign up for a regular email full of these snippets. Go to the Poll Digest area to get the back issues. There's a lot more than political stuff there if you dig deep enough.

Here's the link http://www.mori.com

June 2001 site of the month

was Multimap, a map site focussed on the UK which allows you to show someone how to get to your house or agency. as long as you have the whole postcode you can get the map. You may even be able to get an aerial photo as well. You can email these to your mates or recruiters (or interviewees).

Here's the link http://uk8.multimap.com/

May 2001 site of the month

was Vox Pops international - lots of free video clips on brands and markets to download and buy in toto if the urge gripped you.

Here's the link http://www.voxpops.co.uk/v-search2.html

April 2001 site of the month

was Free2look giving you access to virtually every press ad in the UK on same day as publication. You can even email the ads to friends, colleagues and admirers

Here's the link http://www.free2look.com/