Virtual Role Playing - Real Life Rewards?

The online gaming industry dramatically exploded in the mid noughties with the introduction of MMORPGs (Massively multi player online role-playing games) such as World of Warcraft (WoW). The success of such game experiences correlates with the player's ability to be fully immersed in the content creation and control of the game thus turning a fantasy into virtual reality.
Role playing games have traditionally followed the same gaming formula or theme whereby players create their own avatar character and compete or fight against other online players in order to progress through the different levels. Some game elements also give players the option to build and create their own levels, which consequently means a prolonged game shelf life.

However the development of role playing games has seen them migrate to the domain of social media. For example social network Habbo recently discovered that their members were re-creating favourite TV programmes including ITV's dating game show 'Take Me Out'. More surprisingly teens were also actively running virtual stores including Tesco, McDonalds and Starbucks without any endorsement from the chains themselves.

I was intrigued by the popularity of social role playing amongst teens and wanted to find out why this gaming movement had become a trend amongst teens. Habbo stated the following reason behind the gaming behaviour:

"Social platforms like Habbo provide young people with an outlet to not only play but also to enact ambitions such as running your own Tesco’s store or McDonalds restaurant, where they take it in turns to play the roles of shop-assistant, customer, security guard and even shop-lifter"
You can read the full article here.

Social media has been criticised for being intrusive to people's private lives and is seen as an unsafe environment for teens who spend a huge proportion of their spare time on them. However one thing has to be said - social networks such as Habbo act as a life-simulator where teens can learn and practice a number of key developmental skills such as socialising, negotiating and communicating. In addition it allows teens to practice these interpersonal skills in an environment where they perceive the risk to be lower. For example the fear of embarrassment and lack of self confidence that many teens have may deter them from using the skills in real life situations.

In most real life situations, people are generally rewarded when the result of using negotiation and other interpersonal skills lead to success. Having mulled over this idea I began to question how brands could use this social role-playing trend to their advantage and came up with the following thought:
I wonder how long it will be before stores such as McDonalds/Starbucks etc start introducing points and prizes which can be redeemed in real-life stores for teens who generate the most virtual business in games such as Habbo. Rather than the number of friends you can get to like your page or asking people to check-in to places why not actually get them to generate virtual business in exchange for real-life rewards...now there's an interesting thought!


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Do it, Be it, MEC:it

MEC:it 2011

360 people +
36 charities/community projects +
Over 2500 hours worth of work +
Gala dinner, awards ceremony and one massive rave @ The Roundhouse
= 1 amazing MEC company awayday aka MEC:it 2011


After months of preparation and planning, the MEC away day (16th June) out-weighed all my expectations. Being on the planning team along with 19 others meant I knew all the ins and outs and organised a lot of what we were going to be doing on the day.

MEC:it Dream Team

The whole UK company including the London and Manchester office were split in to 36 teams of 10 and were allocated a charity or community project from decorating to digging. At the start of the day teams were sent to their project location dressed in a bespoke MEC:it tshirt and armed with gardening gloves and a packed lunch bag. Part of being on the MEC:it planning team meant we had to come up with an engaging and entertaining element for the course of the day. So in order to continue our expertise in digital acceleration as a company we decided to incorporate a social mobile challenge including the use of Facebook, Twitter and a fantastic mobile gaming app called SCVNGR. Each team had to complete a series of mini tasks throughout the day such as uploading tweets to twitter, capturing and uploading photos and flash-mob videos to Facebook and using SCVNGR to complete location-based challenges. The idea was to encourage competitiveness through the open platform of social media, allowing teams to see what their competitors were uploading and how well they had done in completing the social and mobile tasks. Everyone became actively engaged and made a great deal of effort to complete the challenges. The sheer volume and standard of content created made all the hard work and planning worthwhile. From creating our very own Loveshack remake to holding a yoga session in the London underground, the flash-mob videos were by far the most comical with teams using whatever they had at their disposal to make them funny and entertaining. Click on the below to watch the oscar nominated performances:

Despite the typical British downpour everyone's spirits were high and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their projects- although I'm sure it was the thought of an alcohol-fueled evening event which helped keep them going!

After everyone had 'MEC'd it' at their charity/community project the men got suited and booted (or kilted in some instances) and the women got all glammed up for the evening gala event. Although at MEC our preferred choice of transport is an Addisson Lee-mosine, coaches chauffeured us to the Roundhouse in Camden where we strutted our stuff on the red carpet and posed for what felt like the paparazzi. Technically we did have a pap snapping shots for OK! magazine so look out in next week's issue and you may see the photo below stealing a half page in the back!

The champagne reception, the three course gala dinner, the awards ceremony and the party made the whole event a smash hit. The drinks were flowing (or being flown over my dress), the music was pumping and there were some rather creative shapes being cut on the dancefloor. Everyone was pretty merry to say the least and the ghostly faces the next morning summarised just how much we all took advantage of the free bar! Thank god we were given a late 11am start! However despite the raging hangover, I always enjoy the morning after work events because that's when all the stories begin to blossom and the gossip spreads like wildfire around the office. Although I don't intend on turning this into a gossip column I will say this: MEC:it's gossip certainly didn't disappoint. A week later and I'm still hearing people nattering about the evening's scandalous rumours!

I have no experienced my first MEC Awayday and if I had to sum it up in one word it would be EPIC!

Bring on the next one...

Best quotes the next day:

• "finally feeling human- think this was officially a two day hangover... Mec Awaydaywas well worth it though!"
• "what a fantastic Mec Awayday , definitely know it was a hardcore one after having 16 hours sleep to recover and still feeling tired! Right lets start planning the next one..."
• "Me and Dan turner walking around London bridge at 4am with a stolen rubber arm was quite funny!...Oh and i missed the train back to Manchester this morning which wasn't funny at all! I blame Danny"

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The longest jagerbomb line up in grad history...

As you will see I haven't written a post in a couple of weeks. I also haven't slept, eaten or exercised in a couple of weeks either! Why I hear you ask, well I have had my life taken over by what is known  as the MEC Grad Pitch. A final project to mark the end of the graduate rotation programme at MEC. After being given a brief for teen road safety two weeks ago, I have experienced a rollercoaster of feelings and emotions from over excitement to over-tiredness, rushes of adrenaline and mental exhaustion.

All the rotational grads were split up and led a pitch team of 5 other new starters or graduate level colleagues. Reflecting a real pitch situation we had two weeks to brainstorm and plan a communications campaign detailing our insight and idea for tackling teen road safety in London. Because of the tricky target audience and stigma attached to government advertising, this made the pitch one of the most stressful tasks I have done in my career so far. However it was by far one of the most beneficial and rewarding. The early starts, late nights and working over the weekend was all worth it, and I know that everyone involved felt a great sense of achievement and satisfaction. The highlight and I guess most daunting apsect of the pitch was presenting infront of senior management including Steve Hatch the CEO of MEC. Although it was daunting it was also an amazing opportunity. Arguably however another amazing opportunity was witnessing all the MEC grads let loose in our local bar, setting up the longest Jagerbomb line in bar history and racking up over £1000 worth of bar tab in our celebratory drinks session after the pitch! Animals!

It only seems like yesterday since I started at MEC fresh out of Newcastle University but I have now officially finished the MEC graduate rotation programme. It feels like I have graduated for the second time and that the last 9 months have been an extension of Uni. All I can say is I have had the best experience. After reading back over all my blog posts since starting at MEC I can't quite believe all the great things I have done as a result of the grad scheme. I really couldn't have asked for a better start in my career and it's all thanks to the fantastic culture and great people who work at MEC. On behalf of the other rotational grads Rosie Duncan, Rachel Deed, Jono Rayner and Lizzie Harris, a special mention must go to our grad rotation dads Ben Gordon, Simon Keep and Carl Nawagamuwa.

One final point, although it is the end of my grad rotation, fear not, my blog posts will live on! After having my blog mentioned a few times by candidates interviewing for the next grad scheme intake I feel proud of it's success and recognition. Long live the blog!


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The Great Outdoors of Advertising

Special Build 48 Sheet

I spent the last official week of the MEC grad rotation learning everything there is to know about the world of out of home advertising (OOH). The other grads and I visited a number of key outdoor advertising players including JCDecaux, Clear Channel, CBS Outdoor and Ubiquitous Taxis. The week saw us playing drums on a special outdoor build for GU Puddings (see left), interacting with digital bus shelter posters, wrapping taxis and answering an OOH advertising brief for Bacardi Breezer. The week was extremely beneficial especially as my new official role as a Communications Planner will see me incorporating outdoor advertising into my media plans.
OOH enables brands to connect with people's lifestyles, offering media while people are on the move and the learning I will take away from the week is that OOH is so much more than a billboard or poster. The list of outdoor possibilities are endless from touch screens and interactive surfaces to 3D chalk art and water projections. The integration of mobile and social media (whether this be tweeting to screen or bluetooth technology) adds another dimension to OOH making it more accountable so my advice is watch this outdoor space!


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Below are a few images of the things we saw during our week of outdoor advertising:

Bus Shelter Takeover

Digital Interactive Bus Shelter 6 Sheet

Digital Interactive 6 Sheet

Liveries - Whole body taxi wrap

Wrapping our own super side taxi wrap

Grads of the Round Table

It's been nearly 9 months since I first started at MEC on the Graduate Rotation scheme. At the end of last week the 'Grad Dads' as we like to call them, took us out on a graduation type lunch to celebrate the success of the rotation scheme and mark the end of our time on it. We definitely celebrated in style, eating dim sum at Ping Pong and drinking cocktails like they were going out of fashion...well why not, we deserved it after all and it's not like we had to pay for anything; apart from the deathly hangover each of us suffered the next day!

We were also celebrating the fact that we had found out our permanent roles for after the grad scheme. Thankfully this meant that we had all passed the rotation and were officially being let loose around MEC. Most of us are either moving into MEC's digital department MEC Interaction or the Communications Planning department. I myself will be working in Communications Planning in the Paramount Theatrical (films) team which is a dream come true, especially since if you read my Red Carpet Glory post you will know I am a natural when it comes to film premiere's and red carpets! All jokes aside I am thrilled to be working on such a great entertainment client as the nature of it's business means there are always new campaigns and challenges for each film release.
Although we know our permanent roles we are not quite ready to start singing Boys II Men's End of the Road just yet! This week is our final week on rotation and we'll be spending it at Kinetic - our Out of Home (OOH) advertising agency which specialises in how brands connect with people's lifestyles while out of home and on the move. Check my blog later this week to find out how good we were with getting our hands dirty during a Taxi wrapping session!


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Watch n Tweet - How Twitter Encourages Viewer Engagement

I have increasingly found myself obsessed with the new trend of tweeting about a TV programme while watching it. There is a definite sense of enjoyment when you interact with fellow tweeters, some of whom you may only share a #tag in common with and the show in which you are tweeting about e.g. #essex.

TV and Twitter have a great connection which provokes greater social interaction. The micro blogging application has had a positive effect on broadcasters as it encourages viewer engagement.
For example I decided not to watch a particular programme and then suddenly it started trending on Twitter. There was a surge of tweets about that particular show which made me eager to watch it. Firstly I was intrigued as to what all the fuss was about and secondly I wanted to be part of the real-time conversation. I find the combination of tweeting whilst watching TV an extremely entertaining activity. The humour of some people's tweets alone keep me fixated upon engaging in both tasks simultaneously. Because of Twitter's rapid and real-time nature it is able to captures people's instant reactions and raw emotions without the filters that you would normally consider when using other types of communication. This therefore provides extremely honest and useful content and feedback for the broadcaster/advertiser.

Twitter turns watchers into instant commentators and participants. Research from Twitter found that when TV shows bring Twitter elements into the broadcast, there’s a direct and immediate increase in engagement on Twitter: Anywhere from two to ten times more Tweets are created while the shows are on air. Broadcast elements could include live tweeting and on-screen hashtags (#) to real-time visualizations of audience attention and the new 360-degree live events.

If I was to predict the future I would say that we will start to see live events/tv shows broadcast in real-time on social network sites so that the viewer can tweet and watch the programme from one platform and device. #predictingthefuture

Follow me on Twitter for more interesting insights and links @LaurRobbo88


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Broadcast Banter - TV Is Alive & Kicking!

Having recently moved into the MEC Broadcast department I am familiarising myself with the art of TV planning and buying, turning on my charm and becoming pally with the channel saleshouse reps and getting to grips with all the TV jargon.

It's no secret that I have been eagerly anticipating my time in Broadcast as the other grads have given it rave reviews (the broadcast team players being a key element behind the positive feedback). The broadcast team at MEC have a reputation for being the loudest, most welcoming, most entertaining and most sociable department with the best banter going. So far I haven't been disappointed. Everyday starts with a hand tingling high five from one of my managers follwed by an early round of tea. In my first week I competed in a strength challenge. Each member of the broadcast team (men and women) had to lift at arms length a case of boules (metal balls) and see how long they could hold them up for. No real reason other than a bit of fun and healthy competition between the team! I am proud to say that I lasted 59 seconds beating all the girls and even some of the men! This surely calls for some kind of award?

All fun and games aside the TV department work extremely hard to make sure all our campaigns are due to deliver what air time has been bought on each channel.  Buying and managing TV ad spots is not as simple as maybe an online campaign because TV ratings or viewing figures fluctuate daily which means you have to keep track of how the campaign is progressing.

Because television is a high impact medium it delivers immediacy, mass coverage, flexibility, movement, colour and crucially, spot-by-spot accountability. The fragmentation of audiences is met by a multitude of digital channels from E4 to Eden ensuring that an advertiser's message reaches a chosen target audience in an effective but cost-efficient way. I'm not denying the fact that the advertising industry has seen dramatic change (increases in social media and online spend), but global cross-media studies (by Milward Brown) have confirmed the following key facts:

• Multimedia campaigns deliver more than any single media channel can on their own, but TV often delivers the bulk of impressions and brand response.
• TV advertising is still an extraordinarily important channel for changing awareness, attitudes and sales.
• It still delivers vital mass audience reach and can prime other media to make them more effective.
• TV also surpasses other media in terms of communication power.

The fact is no matter what area of advertising I end up working in, my knowledge in Broadcast will always be useful as so much of  a client's budget is spent on TV. It is a medium suited to every target audience and I personally can't imagine an advertising industry without the presence of TV.
Long live TV!

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The birth of the Idea

At MEC we pride ourselves on our bespoke strategy planning tool 'Navigtor' and last week I spent two days familiarising myself with the process which guides you from initial client brief to our final communication strategy.
Each team on the course was given a client brief with an end aim of generating a comms strategy. One aspect of the planning process which proved to be challenging was identifying the consumer insight from the background research rather than just making observations.
An insight is a creative and in-depth understanding of the "Why" behind the "What" of people's behaviour, it is something that is blindingly obvious to your consumer but comes as a revelation to the marketing department.

It is from insights that great communication ideas are born which the below examples demonstrate:

IKEA Facebook Tagging

KitKat Mail

One of MEC's award-winning campaigns 'Morrisons Lets Grow' was born out of a basic consumer insight. This being that for children to really appreciate fresh food they have to get their hands dirty. Consequently the idea of 'Lets Grow' was born. The campaign centred around a voucher collecting scheme whereby Morrisons would provide schools with gardening equipment enabling the children to actively learn how to grow their own vegetables by getting their hands dirty.

A good insight comes from a reality or deep truth which is why they produce great ideas and nothing summarises this better than Bill Bernbach's famous words: "At the heart of an effective communication philosophy is the belief that nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature; what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action, even though his language so often camouflages what really motivates him. For if you now these things about man you can touch him at the core of his being."

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How Entrepreneurial is your agency?

Ad agencies are rethinking what it means to be entrepreneurial and according to an article in the Evening Standard,  are considering two interesting ideas for increasing revenue and winning new business:1. Taking share options in a client's business in lieu of fees
2. Retaining some of the intellectual property (IP) rights of an ad campaign, rather than letting the client take everything.
Although these two ideas are not extreme, they are unconventional for an industry which typically generates revenue from a client remuneration system. This system is reliant upon fixed fees or man hours and very little on campaign results.
The two new trending ideas show great new business potential and are inextricably linked. An advertising campaign (based on IP) ultimately contributes to the success of your client's business (sales and profit) which naturally suggests that agencies should retain IP rights and pocket some of the business share.

However the article didn't really reference the value based model pioneered by Coca Cola which is founded upon performance related pay. Such models would incentivise agencies meaning the best agencies will earn the most.  The flaw with performance-related pay is the complex nature of determining the actual value of a campaign so I think there is room for a model which is based on both performance and fixed fees.

Another factor which has encouraged this wave of new business models is increased competition from smaller specialised digital agencies. Consequently the Evening Standard reported that traditional agencies will need to develop more commercial models which point towards new service offerings or venturing down a non-advertising route such as brand start-ups. Part of me thinks agencies should be stepping outside of the traditional service offerings as it encourages entrepreneurial spirit, but conversely I don't think they should try to offer and claim to be experts in everything. Demonstrating expertise in one or a few services is far superior than being mediocre at everything.

All-rounder vs one expert talent - What do you think?

New Business: Charmingly Persuasive Bulldog

If I was asked 2 days ago to outline the role of new business within a media or advertising agency I probably would have blagged my way through a very brief description which would have said “it's just about trying to win new clients for the agency”.

However having spent the last two days on an IPA New Business course I am confident and more knowledgeable about what hides under the umbrella that is ‘New Business’.

One thing that has been embedded in my mind is the attention to detail and its significance. Whether this be in the initial prospect email, the chemistry meeting or the actual pitch; if you miss something or make the smallest of mistakes it will be the first thing the client notices and the one thing that will deter them from considering your agency!

The line-up of speakers on the course represented a breadth of notable talent and represented key new business figures including: 4 Marketing Directors of various advertising agencies, the Director of Client Account Team at the COI, CEO of the AAR (Client-Agency Relationship Consultancy) and our very own Business Development Director, Cormac Loughran from MEC.

When thinking about trying to win New Business we were asked to consider the process we would follow if we were spending £56 million on building our dream house. Where would we begin our research? What do we want to know? How do we want to be treated? What factors are going to sway your decision? etc.
A pitch could be won within the first two minutes but equally it could be lost. First impressions are crucial as the ultimate deciding factor for a client is the people and team they are going to be working with. The success of New Business is reliant upon relationships whether with the trade press who write about your agency, the intermediaries between you and the client, the chemistry between members of the client account team, and finally the relationship between your client team and the client themselves.
The pitch process is like dating, no date is ever the same so you can't apply the same formula, however before giving the client any piece of work or information be sure that it is relevant and ask yourself is it useful, interesting and entertaining?

Our learning on the course was assessed by a chemistry meeting with the actual MD of Heineken so it was challenging and daunting to say the least. In teams we worked into the night to generate the content and strategy for our meeting and put together a 15 minute presentation only being allowed to use the medium of voice and a flip chart! The following morning we held our chemistry meeting in front of all the course attendees and presented our initial view of the prospective business and how we were going to create initial standout in a cluttered market. Our idea was to completely defy the trend of the market and create standout by creating silence and we proposed a strategy based around long-term gain vs short-term presence. To top off the last two days I was over the moon when our team got crowned as the winner!


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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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