WHAT DOES REAL DANGER AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS TELL US ABOUT BLOGGING AND PR?
When you start getting press releases from PR agencies to your blog does that mean that you have "arrived", or does it just mean that clients and agencies are (finally) understanding that bloggers can get a message out quite fast and quite wide at relatively low cost. Ensuring that the story or angle being pushed can get coverage and also make sure then that it gets picked up in search more?In recent weeks, I have noticed that I am starting to get more releases and stories from PR agencies. This may also (of course) just mean that someone has created a list of blogs by topic and is selling the lists and so does not mean very much at all!Or (as in the cas

USA ADS GETTING SCARIER. OR JUST ME GETTING MORE PARANOID?
Being on holiday in the USA a month or so ago, meant watching more TV than I usually do when there on business. Something really struck me about the nature of US advertising that felt to me like it has got more pronounced, and has made the difference with UK advertising more pronounced than ever.In the UK, advertising (especially on TV) tends to be optimistic, positive, light-hearted and upbeat. There is a high emphasis on entertaining to sell. Ads tend to be funny, show slices of life and even tend towards story telling.USA ads seemed to be getting much more scary that I remember them. They seemed more problem / solution orientated. The alternative brands to those being advertised being po

Topical advertising, taking advantage of the clock change to sell your product
One way to stand out and connect is by being topical and taking advantage of events. One event that happens twice a year and so can be planned for is the clock change. Here are how a number of manufacturers try and use events like the clock change to sell.Radox viral ad about taking time to yourself. Using a Eastenders man in a suggestive ad to attract and target women. This viral video was re-posted many times by people on YouTube, Twitter and other social media sites.Watch ad on YouTube: click here or on the blog posting:

Brand Integration: easy to say and hard to do. But key to commercial success in advertising and spon
I am constantly reminded that if you want to create communication that people remember is for your brand then you need to make sure that it is fully integrated into the story of the communication.So much so that you cannot tell the story of the ad (for example) without having the product or se

IS IT JUST ME, OR ARE THERE MORE NEAR NAKED MALE FOOTBALLERS IN ADS THESE DAYS?
The most read article on my blog online (rather than read by people who get email alerts with the articles in) by far is the one titled: Is it just me, or are there more naked men in ads these days?This probably tells us a few things like:(1) The terms “men” and “naked” are popular search terms online (and I think sex related terms are the top search topics overall consistently). Sex interests people, and so that gets traffic to the site.(2) People are interested in naked men and like looking at them and so that probably explains while more naked and shirtless me