Daybreak Dreaming

One of my dreams when I was younger was to be a TV presenter and thanks to ITV I came a step closer to living the dream during an ITV studio tour.

Although an early start (7.30am) this easily topped the list for being one of the best experiences on the MEC grad scheme. Having watched Daybreak (or GMTV as it was previously known) from a young age, it felt so surreal to physically walk around the studio and sit in the green room where all the celebrity guests usually wait before going on air.

I have always been a fan of the lovely Lorraine Kelly (as she is one of the original GMTV presenters) and I was chuffed when we got the chance to watch her whilst she was being filmed live. At the end of her show we got to meet Lorraine and posed for a cheeky photo to remember the occasion. The photo opportunities didn't end there and we got slightly camera-happy when we went into the Daybreak studio (which by the way is so much smaller than it appears on TV.)

We parked ourselves on the Daybreak sofas, stood in front of the weather screen to present the weather and posed on the very stage that all the bands and artists perform on when they come onto the show! 

However no studio tour would be complete without actually meeting the most important people of the show – the presenters themselves. My Daybreak dream reached its peak when we brushed shoulders with Christine Bleakley and Dan Lobb from Daybreak! We stood in the green room chatting to them and they were both really welcoming and genuinely nice people. Christine was even more stunning in person and she had a killer pair of Kurt Geiger heels on!

The morning couldn't have been any better and it ended with a champagne breakfast with all the indulgent food imaginable. I think I speak on behalf of all the grads when I say that it was one of the best mornings we have had, and who knows, maybe one day I will pursue my old dream and become the next big TV presenter!

Any tips Lorraine/Christine?


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Typical Is Relative

Did you know that the World's most typical person is a 28 year old Chinese male and that there are 9,000,000 of them! This fascinating fact was posted in an infographic video produced by the National Geographic who investigated the typical statistics that characterize our human population.

The video triggored my thoughts about the most typical UK media agency as I have recently moved into the New Business team at MEC. Part of my role whilst rotating in this department is to look at our agency both internally and externally, including how MEC is publicised through PR, our social media presence and what people are saying about us, how our website is performing and what our company credentials say to potential clients.
When sending out prospective letters or pitching for new client business, credentials are used as an introduction to the agency so the client can distinguish between all the competitors. Credentials are pretty standard but because there is so much competition I am trying to re-invigorate MEC's credentials in the hope that we stand a better chance of impressing and remaining at the forefront of the client's mind. The pace of change and digital advancement in the media industry has forced agencies to change their business model to reflect full integration. Consequently this has enforced an industry standard where agencies have become typical. They increasingly integrate all communication and creative services, have all the best research resources, own all the tools in the box, and have the best people in the industry. I started to think about how typical MEC is and whether there is such thing as a USP anymore?

I think the key to creating standout is not to prescribe standard credentials as I'm sure most clients would prefer to look through company info in their own time. Instead we should facilitate the 'New Rules of Marketing' -  nudging clients to actively seek and engage in our conversation via our blogs, social media, to create and post our own video thought-pieces in order to enhance our profile. All these elements together will naturally communicate the agency's credentials without the need for stating them in a typical list and thus creating standout and demonstrating our USP.

Just a thought:
Typical is stating your USP. Atypical is encouraging your USP to be found and witnessed by the client.


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The Best Way To Predict The Future Is To Invent It!

After spending the best part of 5 hours at the Microsoft London offices I am now officially a guru for all things digital in the world of Windows Live, Bing, MSN and Xbox Live. 
I think by now we are all conscious that our digital habits are changing and evolving at a faster rate than ever before:

• 78% of the UK population now go online after work and in the evening
• 28% of internet users own a smartphone, which is 43% of the UK population
• By 2012 it is predicted that mobile devices will outsell PC's and laptops and there will be more internet used through mobile than on computers.

Ok. So enough facts. The question on everyone's mind is what the future will see!

Many people within the media industry have stated that 2011 is the year of the mobile but what can we expect from this platform? For Microsoft, mobile will be the 'Swiss Army Knife of media' which their range of Windows 7 phones are already resembling. The Windows mobile system embodies all of Microsoft's consumer platforms, offering complete content and technology integration.

In relation to media, if planners haven't already started they will soon be moving into real-time campaign planning as a direct response to consumers' real-time interaction with brand touch-points such as Twitter and Facebook.

Video on Demand (VOD) will continue to grow and Microsoft are trying to push MSN video into the broadcast-led market. Although YouTube dominates this space, this is partly fuelled by the increasing number of videos posted and watched via Facebook, ultimately highlighting YouTube's power of being where the conversation is.
In the last week Warner Brothers signed up to become the first film distributor to enable Facebook fans to rent and buy films via their brand page using virtual Facebook credits. Maybe the future will see us watching live TV, our favourite programmes, and live streamed events such as festivals through Facebook brand pages?

In relation to technology, Microsoft stated that every physical surface has the potential to become a digital interface and content platform through touch technology. In addition with Xbox Kinect technology, all content on TV can potentially be gesture controlled. Ultimately the digital will transcend the physical and the mobile will transcend the device.

The success of these ideas are reliant on a number of things. The technology we need to implement them already exists however we need to work out how we can use it and more importantly how open is it.

Inventing the future rather than predicting it will make the impossible inevitable! 



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The Face Of The Voice Over

Have you ever sat in front of your TV watching an advert and wondered who the voice over belonged to, imagining what he or she looked like in person, and that your voice could have done a better job?
This morning I met the voice over artist for one of our TV sponsorship campaigns and sat in the recording studio while she perfected her one simple line repeatedly until the client was satisfied.

The woman who had been hired to be the voice over sat in the room opposite us behind a glass window while we observed and listened in the editing suite. As she began to read her line she was given prompts and directions for altering the pitch and tone and pronunciation of her voice in order to sound a particular way. I must have listened to the same line being read about 30 times with different voice styles and emphasis on certain words. It's intriguing how one person can produce so many varieties to their voice, but the strangest thing was speaking to her in person as her actual voice sounded completely different to the voice over she produced and actually her voice sounded younger than she looked.

I think the best way to example this is when you speak to someone on the phone and then later meet them in person and they look nothing like how you imagined.

On the way back to the office I found myself thinking about different TV voice overs and one always catches my attention. It belongs to Peter Dickson the voice of E4, because it is so distinct and entertaining.


What's your favourite TV voice over?


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Access All Areas...

To most people this common phrase refers to being a VIP ticket holder and getting full admission to the secrets that hide backstage whether at a concert or film set. At MEC or at least for me anyway 'Acees all areas' refers to working in the MEC Access department aka 'Sponsorship'.

Sponsorship is an integrated partnership or event management however at MEC it is much more than this, it is also content creation, an area which I find inspirational and exciting. 'Content creation' umbrellas a number of areas from ad copy or product launches to branded materials or viral videos. This week I assisted a film director in creating my first piece of content for MEC.
Although situated behind the camera, my role was to act as an interviewer asking questions to, and prompting actions from the interviewee, to create some great and interesting footage which would then be edited to produce a mini documentary. The experience was both educational and enjoyable and I now think that if I fancy a change in career I will try my hand at presenting. After filming for 4 hours I was ready to hit the sack. I didn't realise that the same scene or question needed at least 4 re-takes each time, but I guess all will be revealed when the final piece is produced. Check back next week when I have uploaded the film to this blog.

Taking part in things like this sums up what Access is all about. Production. Creativity. Diversity.

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Stairs or escalators, what would you choose?

I wanted to share this video on my blog as it is a great example of 'Choice Architecture'. The basic concept focuses around helping people make better choices without taking away their right to choose. I love the idea that simple behavioural changes can be made when the element of choice is subconsciously made for us.

This concept can be stretched across a multitude of platforms and social environments.

For example: What if supermarket trolleys had built in compartments for different groceries, the largest being for fruit and veg - would consumers consequently buy more fruit and veg because there is more space in that compartment? 

For more information on Choice Architecture read the book Nudge by R.H.Thaler & C.R.Sunstein


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I'm Impressed

Press - A medium which has received a lot of well Press in the last few years as the media industry coos over the birth of digital and possibly the retirement of Press.
In the short time I have spent in the Press department at MEC my opinion has changed. My initial view was that Press was on its last legs but in all honesty I believe it still has a lot of credibility. More importantly I believe the way we think about press needs to change and be promoted in a way which glorifies it rather than dismisses it.
In thinking of how to change people’s perceptions of Press I questioned the status and authenticity of news which circulates around the web. Content and stories posted online can spread virally within minutes but unless these make headlines in the national press, how important and newsworthy are they?

Take this example of a Tweet which was re-tweeted by Stephen Fry: "Pls join me in supporting Rebecca (a long-time pal of Stella's dad, John) and school friends walking 50 miles to give this little girl a fighting chance."

As a result, Stella received over £2000 through Twitter, but more significantly her story made national headlines and featured in The Sun!

Ask yourself this: If the story didn’t appear in the pages of the press, how important would you have considered it and what is the likelihood of you even knowing about it?

During my morning commute I religiously read the Metro newspaper and as a result came across a number of crucial articles relating to our competitor brands. Interestingly both articles commented on the brands' online ad campaigns; demonstrating press' role in enhancing the story's significance. More importantly, without reading these in the Metro first it is unlikely that I would have come across them or even deemed them as important or relevant.

I think people should see Press as giving the ultimate stamp of approval and authority rather than as a dying medium. Press isn't dead, because without it how can we distinguish what is newsworthy?

FYI Facebook Rocks!

82,557 is the number of status updates being posted every 60 seconds on the most successful global social platform. With an incredible 500 million worldwide users Facebook has outshone its competitors and in my opinion is a culture in its own right. If Facebook was a country, it would be the 3rd most populous in the world after China and India. Facebook has changed the way the web has been built. In the 90’s the web was built around browsing, in 00’s this changed to search and now in the 10’s it is structured around discovering. It is continually being re-built around ‘people’ to help users to ‘discover’.

Now that I have wowed you with stats it's probably worth noting that I'm not a huge Facebook supergeek but have actually just spent the morning at Facebook's London offices as part of my grad scheme at MEC. The 2 hour induction included a Facebook overview and case studies exampling how brands have used Facebook to target consumers. A great example is Cadbury's campaign to bring back the Wispa bar which began on Facebook and prompted a huge press campaign. Despite being interrupted by a fire alarm drill the morning was extremely insightful and I managed to bag myself my very own Facebook t-shirt!...hmm potential eBay listing?

I am fascinated by the social media giant as it provoked real people to create Facebook profiles giving them for the first time a real online identity. This profile creates and connects you to your social graph, mapping your friends, interests, hobbies, relationship status, where you live and work and so on. This has enabled businesses to use Facebook as a global communication tool and offers one of the greatest and most trusted online platforms for brands to target consumers. News, shopping and gaming are key industries which have re-organised their marketing and communication models around ‘people’. For example with the use of Social Plugins, 43% of news sharing occurs through social media - dramatically increasing the immediacy of news around the world.

For the future: Although this has already rolled out in America look out for Facebook Check-in deals using Facebook Places!
If i could share anything with you about the greatness of Facebook it would be this video: What happens every 60 seconds on Facebook: http://vodpod.com/watch/5268426-60-seconds-on-facebook# Enjoy!


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Red Carpet Glory

The anticipation I felt for my first film premier definitely lived up to it's expectations. As I approached the red carpet for the premier of 'Morning Glory' I could hear fans screaming names of the celebs that had turned up to be snapped by the paps. Although I was no celeb I walked down the carpet feeling a million dollars, brushing shoulders with the likes of Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford...Ok well not quite, although they did make an appearance at the London premier. The closest I got to to any kind of celeb was Peter Andre and Stacey Solomon! All the cameras were flashing and the paps were directing the celebs to get their picture for the next morning's paper. For a split second I felt like I was one of the stars of the film as I faced a wall of camera men and photographers before entering the cinema. Once inside I had my celeb radar turned on full in the hope of spotting any guestlist worthy celebs. I had kind of hoped that Beckham would have made an appearance since he was actually on London soil but instead I only really spotted a handful of Z listers including Gillian McKeith and Kerry Katona who are both clearly trying to enhance their public profiles.

Before the film started the two main stars of the film came on stage to give the usual thank you speech.
The actual film proved to be lighthearted and enjoyable to watch and although not much depth, it's comical undertones scored it a few extra brownie points. Ford had seen better movie days and McAdams' role was quirky and cute. Overall the film was a hit but it is definitely a film that could be rented rather than seen on the big screen.
See the trailer below:

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This Industry Is Big Enough For The Both Of Them

As I come to the end of my placement in MEC's digital department I feel the time spent has been extremely beneficial and I have got to grips with one of the newest and most unpredictable media platforms. Although the knowledge I have gained has barely reached the tip of the iceberg, I have left feeling excited about my future work in media agencies.

One thing I am certain and have been consistently reminded during my time in digital is that it is the future and it is an exciting department to work in. However I can't help but question the strength of digital as a sole media platform. I don't doubt online's extensive potential however a new advert for retailer Tesco came to my attention.
This was a TV ad for Tesco's grocery shopping app (please watch the below):

Tesco is the first high street supermarket with a full digital strategy however it is interesting how much it relies on traditional media such as TV to advertise and promote it. There have been countless predictions and statements that the digital space is soon to overtake traditional media.

Although more and more consumers are buying into digital technology and spending increasingly more of their time online, one thing remains constant - TV is still trusted in penetrating a mass audience especially since it is at a time when people are relaxed in their home environment. In comparison consumers face digital advertising every time they carry out daily tasks such as online banking, email, online shopping, gambling sites, social networking, gaming, researching and much more. Thus my point is that most people are online for a certain reason other than to relax and so are maybe less likely to take notice of ads. It is all very well for a brand to have digital services but in order for these services to be used and appreciated, traditional means of creating awareness play a key role in their success. This is why I believe digital advertising will never be superior to TV, maybe not for another 10 years at least.


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Online's Big Brother

With the Christmas break fast approaching and the adverse weather causing havoc, the last few days at work have been really busy as my team and I are trying to implement all the digital campaigns in time for their January 'Live' date. Like most things in life there is more to a display ad than meets the eye and a lot of behind the scene work is carried out in order for it to exist.

An example of this is creating and layering the advert with tags which track how well an ad is performing. This is one of the reasons online has become so popular - it offers increased measurability. Being able to track a campaign's performance is extremely desirable for all parties (the client, the media agency and the media owner). Every display ad you see on a site whether a standard banner, a video or expandable ad has a tracker to measure how many people view and interact with it. Therefore ads which are not reaching a great enough audience can be optimised so that the client achieves the results it desires.

You may not think it but most, if not all the ads you see online are targeted to you directly in some way depending upon your online behaviour. Targeted display or 'behavioural advertising' is exploding and is getting more personal than ever before particularly now that audiences are even more fragmented. Another way to think of behavioural targeting is when you use online shopping at Tesco.com. It tracks and remembers what you have previously purchased and offers you a list of your most popular items so you don't have to trail through the pages and pages of groceries to find what you're looking for. It is applications like these which make using online so appealing. The implementation of such services make using the internet a breeze.

Ultimately this is what display advertising aims to achieve. Rather than be seen as obtrusive, it aims to be identified and used as a useful tool to minimise the stress and lengthy process of surfing the world wide web.

Shimmy Right, Arm Sway, Shimmy Left

This week Microsoft came to our office to demonstrate the new Xbox Kinect technology. For those of you who, like me were skeptical about it's technological competence, fear not. I tried it out for myself and although losing a Kinect boxing match to one of my colleagues, I left feeling excited about the thought of actually buying one. The motion sensor is extremely accurate and picks up your every move. I particularly enjoyed cutting some shapes to Rihanna when playing Dance Central and you can even watch yourself back - not the best showreel if your moves fail to match the dancing talent of pro group Diversity!

On the business side of things, the kinect has officially set the record for selling the greatest number of units in the shortest space of time. Since it's launch just under a month ago Microsoft has seen sales reach over 2.5million, over taking the benchmark that Nintendo set in 2007 with the release of the Wii.

With consoles increasingly appealing to a wider audience, more and more people of all ages are kitting out their homes with the latest gaming technology. You only have to watch Saturday night TV to see Dame Helen Mirren boasting about how she's improved her balance using the Wii Fit. As a result I predict that in-game advertising will actually be a more important part of a brand's advertising strategy. Although in-game advertising is not new, it is rarely considered a crucial part of a brand's overall campaign. I believe this will soon change.

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Taking Over the Home of Online

I am now half-way through my rotation in the digital department and I can now talk the language of cyberspace.

A lot of my time has been filled doing reports and PCA's (post campaign analyses). Although reporting is not the most thrilling of tasks, it has taught me a great deal about how to measure the success of a digital campaign and especially what works well for particular clients. The higher the CTR (click through rate) the more efficient the campaign has been and the cheaper the CPC (cost per click) the more cost effective the campaign has performed. Put this together and you can work out the overall best site placement. This could be an expandable MPU on MSN's homepage or a leaderboard on the guardian.co.uk. However it's not just choosing the format of the display because the placement of the display ad is actually most important. Targeting consumers at the right time in a contextual environment is key. This brings up an age old debate about creative agencies and media agencies and who has the most important role.
Personally collaboration is what constitutes great advertising and working together to maximise the ad creative so that the right consumers are exposed to it is where an idea turns into results and ROI.

In relation to online advertising I had to put together a powerpoint deck for all the different Home Page Take Overs (HPTO's) available on the digital marketplace. Who would have thought there was so much scope to be creative with display advertising on websites. From my research and speaking to different media owners I found a HPTO for the film Avatar which is to be particularly engaging.
Click on link to see:
http://ads1.msn.com/ads/demos/Avatar/12.18.09_Fox_AVATAR_Homepage.htm

Once on the page the user is instantly greeted by a rich media MPU (multi-purpose unit) which when clicked on, glides the whole homepage down to reveal an interactive trailer page.
(Note: on the MPU there is a text button to enable the Avatar skin on/off)

Before being exposed to the variety of display possibilities I was unsure about the future of display advertising. However I do believe that as an industry we have only scratched the surface of display ads and it won't be long before we see video display ads that change their copy (message) to speak to the user directly as soon as they land on the webpage.

Watch the online space!

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Goodbye Traditional...Hello Digital

It's been a few weeks since my last blog and the reason for this is because I have recently moved departments as part of my rotation. I completed my first 8 weeks in Communications Planning and am now working in MEC Interaction our 'Digital' department.

Within digital there are a number of sub-departments including Social Media, Search (SEO - Search Engine Optimisation and PPC - Paid for Search), Brand, and Acquisition (digital direct response). So far I have found digital to be a real eye opener and a completely different experience to Comms Planning. Having not had any experience working in digital before there is so much to learn and understand, let alone getting to grips with the digital jargon.

Everyone I speak to about working in digital says the same thing: It's the most exciting place to be and the most rewarding in the long term future. If you specialise in digital media you will be highly sought after. I haven't yet got my teeth stuck into any really interesting digital campaigns but I think this will come the longer I spend in this department. I think until I fully understand and appreciate the extent of what brands can do with digital media I will be naive to it's capabilities. However I am both intrigued and excited about my future weeks in MEC Interaction and look forward to blogging about what is to come.

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Never doing a Jagerbomb again...

The end of another busy week in the life of a media graduate and the early mornings, daily commute on London's unreliable underground and my lack of sleep is beginning to catch up with me. However, I have to admit it's been another interesting week from visits to the Yahoo offices, after work training sessions at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and coping with my first work hangover!

I could go into detail about my new found knowledge of the digital industry and the new services that Yahoo provide but in all honesty it would probably bore you. All I will say is that I found out you can do a lot more than just display ads embedded on web pages. Something that you may find of use is my after work series I attend every Wednesday for 6 weeks at the IPA. It is a workshop set up for those people who are new to the world of marketing and communications and an excellent opportunity to network. You will almost certainly hear it is not what you know but who you know and how important the role of networking is in getting your foot in the door. Don't underestimate the power of this. Each week the session is themed and we hear from a panel of professionals in the advertising industry. Topics include: The Future of Advertising, Client Services,  Strategic Planning, Creative and Digital. Although it is an effort to attend these after a day's work, they have been extremely interesting and beneficial and to make it even more appealing there is free drink and buffet food!

Talking about free drink slightly turns my stomach as I suffered with my first work hangover on Friday morning. Not a good look or one I intend on taking to work very often, although working in media is an extremely social industry so maybe I need to just figure out the best way of disguising my suffering. Or maybe I just need to turn down the Jagerbombs which seem to be a popular death trap. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

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"I want to play a game"

The title of this post relates to two separate work instances. The first reflects a series of chilling, gruesome and downright disturbing films. First clue is there have been 6 released so far and the 7th is about to be released in 3D? Any guesses?
I'm talking about SAW!

Saw 3D is due to be screening in our cinemas in a couple of weeks before Halloween and I have been (un)lucky enough to be working on Lionsgate Films which is one of our film distributor clients. Part of the perks of working on a film client is that you get to go to previews and premieres of the film releases you are planning and buying the media for for the advertising campaign, although in this case I was having nightmares of the film before I had even seen it. I went to a special preview screening of Saw 3D and I have to say it wasn't as gruesome as I had built it up to be, although I did spend most of the time watching the film through squinted vision.

The second instance that my post title reflects is that I actually did play a game...a cinema/film quiz game as part of our cinema immersion day at MEC. Two cinema media owners DCM and Pearl & Dean came to our offices to give our agency a series of presentations on how to best target audiences through the cinema medium including families and 15-34's and to introduce a range of new cinema innovations for engaging with audiences pre and post screening. The day finished with a film related quiz night. I had high hopes for my team coming first until we had one too many glasses of vino however the night was a great bonding session and I got to know people in my office who I hadn't previously met or been introduced to and not forgetting the added bonus of free wine and nibbles!

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ABSOLUTEly Fabulous

"Good morning, this is DJ Robbo and you're listening to Absolute Radio"... If you're wondering what all this is about then read on!

As part of our training on the grad rotation scheme we embarked on a radio tour of Absolute Radio (formerly under the virgin radio name) where I discovered my talent for radio presenting.
Upon arrival I sat in reception with my fellow grads staring at the wall mounted electric guitars signed by various artists. We were then greeted by our Absolute Radio rep who took us on a tour around the building and showed us the studios where the DJ's and presenters record their live shows. It felt quite surreal to be walking the same hallways that famous music artists had walked. After playing a mini game of table football in their live lounge we were given a presentation overview of Absolute Radio and where it sits within the radio industry. If I'm honest I had never really listened to Absolute radio before but since finding out that they have two different stations dedicated to pure 80's and 90's music I was won over and immediately downloaded their iphone app.

The best part of the tour was getting the chance to record our own radio show in one of Absolute's recording studios. I took the role as lead DJ presenter and the other grads took on newsreader, co-host and weather reader. We had some real radio banter introducing each other with comical names such as DJ Robbo (myself) and Rozzy D (newsreader) and had such a laugh just making up random chat. The mini show was recorded and will be sent to our office for us to listen to. Major cringe as I hate the sound of my own voice especially when we used ultimate cheesey lines such as 'In da house' and 'a big shoutout to..'

However the whole experience was priceless and I think if all else fails I will try my luck at being the next big radio presenter, so watch this space!
You have just been reading the blog of DJ Robbo, hope you enjoyed the script.

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Immerse Yourself

The only way to learn is to become immersed in the subject you are studying and this doesn't just apply to the educational environment. As part of my training programme at MEC a number of events and training days have been organised. I'm now half way through my time in the communications planning department and everyday I have learnt something new. On Wednesday CBS Outdoor advertising took myself and the other rotational grads out for a tour around some of their key outdoor advertising sites.

Standing opposite Waterloo Roundabout we were given all we needed to know about outdoor poster/billboard sizes and bus panel advertising. I never knew there were so many different ways to advertise on buses whether its a t-side a superside or a rear panel or an all over bus wrap. Whatever or wherever you want to advertise, more often than not there is always a possibility however bespoke or crazy the idea may be. The idea of outdoor advertising is to completely immerse the consumer with the brand campaign and one of the most visually impressive methods is to do an underground station takeover.

After looking at 48 Sheets, digital escalator panels and cross track projections (those projector screens you see while you're waiting for a train) we were taken to Westfield shopping centre. We were given a guided tour around the whole centre and briefed on all the possible advertising opportunities and platforms available. As our tour came to an end, we finished the day with a free lunch! Amazing!

The following day was another full days training but this time it was conducted by all of the departments within MEC who each had a an hour to talk us through their roles and the kind of work we could expect to be doing if we joined their team permanently at the end of  the rotation. This was a really insightful day, one which may have been better placed during the first week of our rotation in order to fully understand the company set-up. However listening to talks and viewing presentations on each of the departments really helped me to identify the areas I was most interested in pursuing at the end of my rotation and a number of my preconceptions about certain departments were in fact challenged.

To end a great day we were able to get our hands on invitations for a private party hosted by Spotify (free online music) and partied the night away at one of Camden's great clubs Koko.

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Hop, Skip and a Massage

In the last few days I have been involved in a whirlwind of tasks and activities working on a number of different client campaigns. I am being given more responsibility and am becoming more confident in leading my own projects. I am currently putting together two powerpoint presentations, one related to my previous blog on X box's Halo:Reach and another on the history and future of 3D TV and film.

3D TV in the home is fast becoming a reality as TV manufacturers begin to advertise and sell 3D TV's and Sky prepares to launch its first 3D TV channel this autumn. After reading 'Life in 3D' in The Guardian I thought it would be beneficial to collate the information to show to our film distributor clients. The film industry has witnessed a surge in 3D film releases in the last year excelled by Box Office smash hit Avatar.
In addition over half of theTop 10 UK Film Releases in 2010 were 3D. Providing clients with interesting and relevant industry developments is part of MEC's core value 'Active Engagement'.

Now on to the best part of the day - receiving a hand massage while sitting in a presentation by CBS Outdoor Advertising. Yes, I did just say massage, and I know it's slightly odd but it was a great added extra for a Tuesday morning. However behind all the gimmicks and smiles the ultimate goal of any media owner presentation is to sell advertising space. On average I can attend around 3 media owner meetings a week ranging from TV houses, radio stations, outdoor and digital companies all trying to promote their services and sell their ad space. Being a new starter any interaction with media owners is beneficial as I have found the meetings to provide a great insight into the various forms of advertising platforms and how they can be utilised for each client campaign.

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Scene 4 Take 8: On Shoot with Olly Murs

What better way to spend a working day's afternoon than on a film shoot for our new ad campaign. Yes that's right, I managed to bag myself a place on a shoot for Nintendo and if you think that's exciting, imagine how I felt when I was told that Alexandra Burke and Olly Murs (from the X Factor) were going to be featured! I couldn't believe my luck. Celebrity sightings asside, it wasn't all fun and games and I did sit on a really hard wooden chair for 3 hours watching take after take after take of the same scene. During the break I was able to mingle with the stars and actually spoke to Olly who is a genuinely nice guy. I was dying to get a photo with him but considering I was in a professional environment and representing MEC, I thought it would be best not to. Damn that would have been a great photo!  

On a more serious note I felt privileged to be at the shoot and I also learnt so much about the production side of advertising and how ideas on a piece of paper translate to an actual filmed TV ad. There were so many people at the studio all looking more important than the next, not to mention the 5 people who were there just to cater for Miss Burke's needs, making sure her hair and make-up was styled and applied to perfection. I now appreciate the sheer amount of hard work that goes on behind the scenes of a 30 second ad shoot. After every scene take the shoot director would speak to the client to ask whether the brief had been covered and all mandatory points about the product had been raised. This was an ongoing communication to ensure that the brief was being met and the tone of voice and actions were appropriate for representing the product.

Overall attending a shoot for my Client's advert was an overwhelming experience and one which I really enjoyed. Fingers crossed it will not be my last!

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