Why am I doing this?

Can you remember the last time you thought to yourself, "What the hell am I doing? This is stupid. How did I end up here?"

No?

I can.

It was on Sunday 7th October, at approximately 10:17am. Let me explain.

Over the last year we've been fortunate enough to work with an amazing little charity called Tommy's. The wonderful charity offers help and support during pregnancy and funds research that attempts to understand and prevent birth complications. We've helped them understand more about their donor base and how their previous fundraising strategies have defined their existing base. We've also created two highly emotive and impactful creative concepts for them to roll out.

But this isn't about all that.

This is about the Royal Parks Half Marathon that the team at Tommy's so kindly introduced TBCH to. As a 'thank you' for the work we'd done with them, Tommy's gave us the opportunity to assemble a crack team of Claydon Heeley 'athletes' (in the flimsiest sense of the word) to run this iconic race.

13.1 miles through some of the most scenic parks in London. Lovely. Joyous. Idyllic.

Painful.

So it was that at 10:17am last Sunday I found myself seven miles into the half marathon, along with 11 other members of Claydon's Heels - 11 other people who are as easily persuaded to do daft things as I am. For the more mathematically astute of you, you'll have already noted that at 7.5 miles I was just over half way - another 6.1 miles lay in front of me. And it was here that I thought, "What the hell am I doing? This is stupid. How did I end up here?"

But despite the pain and the seemingly endless, weaving circuit, we managed to fight the urge to give up. 12 Claydon's Heels were at the start line, 12 Claydon's Heels crossed the finish line. What more could you ask for?

So well done our team. And from all of us, a big thank you to all those who supported us with donations; to Nicola for her excellent Race Night and scrummy Tommy's Tuck Shop; to Kate 'The Bake' for her marathon cake-fest.

We've raised nearly £4,000 for a fantastic cause. It was worth it.

But never again.

(Until the next one).

Top: Jerry, Bec, Richie, Ali, Alex, Steve

Bottom: Muz, Lauren, Eve, Rebecca

Ali Morgan

What's Going On?

1.       Brands on Facebook infographic – a bit of research into what consumers really think of brands being on Facebook. For example, 50% of respondents felt that they preferred the brand's FB page to their websites – maybe not that surprising considering consumers are already experts at FB navigation.  Click here

2.       Twitter feed in a press insert –  The CW Network put a tiny screen into one of their press inserts - the screen plays a promo video and when that finishes, it streams live tweets straight from their Twitter account. The technology isn't quite there - but the idea certainly is. Click here

3.       Painting real life pictures with your smartphone – Crowd sourcing is nothing new, but painting with your smartphone and a paintball gun certainly is. Below is a cool group project where the participant uses an app to move the paintball gun around and clicks to fire their paintball onto canvas. The finished work is then displayed as an example of internet based collaboration. Expect to see more of this sort of thing over the next few months. Click here

4.       The Like-a-Hug Vest – A designer has invented a jacket that inflates every time the user’s social media activity is ‘liked’. The effect is like a hug as the inflated jacket squeezes the user. It's a bit silly but interesting to see people trying to take popular online elements offline. I reckon we might see more of this as people try to live more of their lives offline. Let’s hope the jackets get a bit more fashionable though... Click here

5.       A vending machine that makes you play for your food – simple but sweet idea. New York Bakery Co. set up a vending machine that allowed hungry folk to grab a bagel with an old fashioned claw machine type game. Not widely original but quite a nice little stunt. Did I mention it was placed in the heartland of the trendy Londoners too? Click here

6.       Pay with a tweet – great new way of generating some positive WOM. Instead of paying for products with money, customers can pay with tweets by sending a message to all their followers about the product. It has recently been used by Kellogg’s for the launch of their Cracker Crisps and is a great way to create a buzz. Click here

7.       Facebook release their first advert – According to W&K USA, chairs are like Facebook - I'm not sure I agree.  My problem is that I just don’t think the ad is truthful enough - everyone knows Facebook is predominantly out to make money, so maybe they shouldn't claim otherwise. Love it or hate it? Click here

8.       Using '404 not found' pages for good – Often the simplest ideas are the best. The Not Found project have come up with a great thought that could potentially help people find missing kids. They take over error pages on the internet with a missing child descriptor and a hotline to call if the user has any information. Simple but possibly very effective – move over milk cartons, the worlds gone digital. Click here

9.       Converse CCTV – this is the second time I have seen marketers use CCTV for the greater good (the first being McDonalds). Converse set up cameras in trendy spots across the UK and invited people to perform in front of them. The things that people do range from BMX tricks to football stunts to acrobatics to rapping. It's a really nice idea and an engaging campaign – sort of like an urban Britain’s Got Talent. Love it. Click here

10.   Angry Birds are back – but this time they're the enemy and the pigs are the heroes – shocking, I know. It'll be interesting to keep an eye on the sales of the game. Maybe mobile OS game makers will find it hard to have repeat success with every launch. Popular games seem to rise and fall pretty quickly these days. Anyone still play Draw Something? Hmmm, if only I knew the magic formula for a hit game... Click here

Dom Roe

Customer Comms Round Up

Pret a Portabello: Name your price.

What’s the best thing about going to a market? Haggling for a bargain. In this email from Pret a Portabello, customers are given the opportunity to haggle down prices with a market trader. I had a go, going in for a pair of £65 trousers at £40, then pushing my luck until ‘we’ settled on £54. It felt pretty good. I doubt anyone believes there really is a little trader person sat haggling with you, but who cares?
Regardless of whether or not you’re up against a person or a piece of code, the fact that you’ve bargained down the price of something makes it that little bit sweeter. You’ve worked to get to that price, and now you’ve got there, you’re jolly well going to buy the goods, thank you very much. I think this is a really clever, confident move for this brand, and I hope to see it elsewhere. Click here

Subject Lines that make us :)

Now for another trend I’ve noticed recently - pictures in subject lines. It started out with an ‘ickle aeroplane from STA, then daily deals site Wahanda started sneaking the odd loveheart into their headline. Then there were stars from Tastecard. And you know what? They stick out like a sore thumb.  Like many people, my email inbox has fast becoming a filing system for daily deal sites and various random brands. It’s nice to see something different, and this really cuts through. Here are a few screen grabs to illustrate..

I wonder how long it'll take before these icons become commonplace, and stop having so much stand out? How creative will headline art go? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Think of the possibilities!  

easyJet: As one Summer ends, another begins.

The heating’s on, X-Factor is in full swing, and the air-con's finally started working in the office. It can all only mean one thing – Summer is officially over. But according to easyJet, Summer 2013 starts today!  The reason ‘Summer Starts Now’ works so well is that initially, for a split second, the reader feels uncomfortable. ‘What? Summer doesn’t start now. It’s October. Summer is, like, SO over.’ This initial discomfort makes the realisation of the benefit even more appealing. ‘Oh! It might feel like Summer’s over, but I can get next Summer started today by booking a holiday!’. 
Following this with the ‘release’ of their Summer schedule makes it all feel very exciting, as though the easyJet summer schedule is on par with an eagerly anticipated festival line-up, or a batch of exclusive tickets. ‘We just wanted to let you know..’ isn’t pushy, it feels polite. It’s as though they’re saying, ‘We’ve come up with a bloody good idea for a way for you to save money on your holiday. Take it or leave it.’ This makes the customer feel as though they’re making the decision off their own back. They’re not being given the ‘hard sell’-  just being made aware. Click here

Lauren Took