Entertainment - Thor

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24668206

Thor the god of thunder is back and with a bang! T new film Thor: the Dark World was released today, Wednesday the 30^th of October. The new film has been called a “juggernaut” to work on by the cast and the films scale has also been likened to the work of William Shakespeare. This story of how people feel the Marvel superheroes stories have developed in depth. I think this itself has come from the trend for these superhero movies over the last few years. This demand has not just been to Marvel, but to DC Comics as well. The audience are demanding more than just blockbuster effects in their films, but well thought out stories with multiple layers of plot depth.  This has been evident over the years as films have become more than just there effects, they try to be “comparable to Shakespeare”.

Aside from the demand for the story depth, there has been a demand for just more films, with there being a flourish of superhero movies over recent years, with many films earning there sequel and in the case of Iron Man a third film.

The demand for these films, bring the opportunity for new and creative ways to advertise them. Films creator’s need to make their film stand out and look the best blockbuster yet, but now with a twist, with a deep storyline to go along with it.

I went to see the new Thor myself, it is fantastic! Then again I am huge Marvel film fan, well film fan in general... but it is an 8/10 rating from me. 

Image Source - http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2013/10/Thor-The-Dark-World-Wide-Image.jpg

Advert - #SHGTS

Video Source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KZeO5oc428

This post is about an advert for Specsavers, an advert that is part of the “should have gone to Specsavers” tagline campaign. The advert features a bingo hall filled with OAP’s, when a fitness instructor comes into the room believing that she is in the room for her fitness class. She the proceeds to start and the bingo players then join in for a comical effect.

I think the advert itself works very well; it’s very funny and something people may be able to relate to. It’s a funny antidote that people wouldn’t really want to have it to them, so they begin to question their own eyes and possibly consider going to get their eyes checked out at Specsavers.

The part that stands out for me is the use of the hash tag, something that I personally haven’t seen before on a Specsavers advert. They use the #shgts, which is just an abbreviation of “should have gone to Specsavers”. It’s not the actual hash tag itself, it’s the fact that they now have and use one. They have adopted the hash tag because it can get them connected online, promote their brand through trends and word and mouth, completely free. This will then gain them followers and Specsavers will then be able to post to these followers and advertise to them. 

Drink Advert - Carling

Video Source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1OKFQYzitM

This post is about a recent Carling advert. In the advert there are two guys, over watching a pub cricket game, when one returns with two pints of Carling. The ball is then hit towards a group of nuns, one of the guys runs to catch the ball, which he does, he then proceeds to throw the ball very wrong breaking a window, to which his friend replies “it’s good but it’s not quite Carling”.

There is always on going rivalry between beers brand on who is best, who creates the best tasting beer. There is Carlsberg who claim that if anything was going to be made as if it was world’s best the in would be made by Carlsberg and John Smiths with it nonsense beers. Carlings have decided they will join the race to be the best, or at least thought of as the best.

“It’s good but it’s not quite Carling”. What a great tag line this is, with it putting Carling on a pedestal above other beers, it has worked exactly how Carling wanted.  They have given the brand a more prestigious symbol, something to be desired and worked for. A treat that one would want after a hard days work.

Transport - Land Rover

Source - http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/may/rkcryr-defender

I came across this advert recently for Land Rover; the advert itself is not new it is from May 2011. The reason I have added this to my blog is because I think that it is a great piece of advertising, the way that RKCR/Y&R have captured exactly what the Land Rover brand is about, adventure in their vehicles. What better way to represent this than thought the imagery of passport and passport stamps (which you receive when entering into a country). They way they have built up an image using passport stamps to visually create the Land Rover defender, visual communicating the idea of exploring the world in the Defender vehicle. I think this a great example to how to visually communicate what a brand stands for in a very simple but effective way. 

Image Source - http://www.creativereview.co.uk/images/uploads/2011/05/detail2defender_for_dps_passport_0.jpg

Technology - eBay Fraudster

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24662263

The FBI are looking for a man called Nicolae Popescu, who is being accused of running a cyber-crime gang, who sell non-existent cars on the internet. These ‘cars’ have been sold on the website eBay; the criminal is thought to have made around £1.8 million from the fraudulent sales. The gang was also known to have used other websites such as Cars.com and AutoTrader.com. Customers were lead to believe that what they were purchasing was legitimate and then money was handed over to the criminals using methods such as PayPal.

The reason to be wary of these types of crimes on the internet, as a huge trend for internet shopping has come about over the last few years, it will become increasingly easier to commit these crimes sorts of crimes. With more of the population getting online everyday and many of these then moving on to buy/sell products online, who can safely say that who they are buying from are a legitimate source. Obviously this case is rare and the extent to which it has gone is very different to most online fraud cases. Aside from this case, sometimes it is not just that the products do not exist; it is that the products are different to the one advertised, or that the products are fake.

Do we need an easier way for internet sales to be monitored to make sure what we are buying is exactly what we think?

Image Source - http://tn.clashot.com/thumbs/1007969/20945833/thumb_w800.jpg

Food & Drink - Scotchy Scotch Scotch!

Source - http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/10/23/anchorman-2-gets-its-own-ben-jerrys-ice-cream/

Just as the release of Anchorman 2 gets ever closer, the film has teamed up with Ben & Jerry’s to create a new “Scotchy Scotch Scotch” flavoured ice cream. The two teams have come together to co-brand this product packaging. The idea to bring these two different products to create one hybrid product is great. They will be able to advertise for the upcoming film while selling product for Ben & Jerry’s, ultimately then creating future revenue for the film. Very smart advertising, using a smart co-branding team to make benefits for both partners. This showing a development in the trend for links between new entertainment products and food & drink products joining forces to promote both the product and the upcoming entertainment product. I think I may just have to try out the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and I look forward to watching Anchorman 2!

Below is the latest trailer for the new Anchorman 2 film coming the 20^th December 2013. 

Image Source - http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./ronburgandyicecream.jpg

Trailer Source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VdGI5-z_hg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUOoPU5PxlxZ2CfkQUBPdp_g

Technology - Is Apple about to take off?

Source - http://news.sky.com/story/1155428/apple-campus-approved-by-cupertino-council

Apple have just received the go ahead to build this new Apple Campus in northern California. The building has been likened to a “spaceship” and why not, it looks out of this world. It looks amazing.

The HQ itself was known to be the “brainchild” of the one and only Steve Jobs, who had presented the council back in June 2011. He said him self that it looked like a spaceship and as always he believed that it could be that best thing ever.

The building itself is coming in a “green energy” era, and Apple have taken this into consideration and have a “net-zero energy” because that have incorporated 700,000 square feet of solar panels of the roof of the building.

The building is set to cost Apple approximately $5bn, which seems to just small change compared of Apple’s piggy bank of $147bn (information from a report by Bloomberg).

I think the building is great, aesthetically looking outstanding. They have taken green energy into consideration when designing as well, and it still just looks fantastic. I cannot wait to see this built, and possibly I’ll even go see it with my own eyes one day.

Image Source - http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/10/16/265184/default/v2/a-1-620x-1-762x428.png

Technology - BBM on Apple App Store

Source - http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/21/after-numerous-delays-blackberry-messenger-for-ios-to-launch-today/

Blackberry comes to apple waving a white flag? Finally after many delays BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) has been launched on IOS.  With this launch BlackBerry are expecting a huge demand for new ID’s on their messaging system, which I am sure they will.

Is this a smart move by BB? I believe that it is, if they want there free messaging service to stay competitive with cross platform messaging systems such as; WhatsApp and WeChat, this is exactly the move BB needed to make.  With the mobile market already competitive as it is, this a bold move by BlackBerry and it will pay off. With people who by apple products using BB messaging service, they can open up their client base from to blackberry phone buyers to the apple market too.

I myself think that it is a great move, and will make BBM more successful than ever before, allowing an new way for Blackberry/iPhone users to communicate for free, and when a lot of the users are the technology generation this is for sure going to be a great hit.

I don’t think this will happen the other way round though, I could be wrong, but I can not see for one second that Apple will decide to release their iMessinging system up to BlackBerry phones users or the Android market. Why is this? This is because Apple regard their product as something prestige’s, something you can only have if you buy the best product(s), the iPhone.

Image Source - http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2013/10/bbm_ios.jpg

Business - The Beckham Brand

Source - http://news.sky.com/story/1153150/beckham-brand-turns-over-100000-a-day

A new release of financial document has revealed the ‘The Beckham Brand’ now turns over £100,000 a day. With the profits coming from the three separate businesses: Beckham Ventures Ltd, Footwork Productions and Brand Beckham.

Over the summer I read a book called ‘Brand it Like Beckham’ by Andy Milligan, the book talked about why the ‘Beckham Brand was so successful at what it was and what it stood for. But as this book was several years old, it highlighted that it was unsure what would happen to the brand when David stopped playing football and Victoria wasn’t a pop star anymore. However after this recent financial reveal there was no need to worry, they are making just as much as ever.

I think their ability to keep the money rolling in after they have both stopped they careers they originally became ‘famous’ for…

‘The Beckham Brand’ itself is just such a great example of a 360 degree brand, how diverse it is, but how it makes the right choices for the brand as a whole, not just what will make the most money. They carefully select whom they will co-brand with, who gives them the best look as a brand and make sure that it will benefit them in the long run. I really do think this brand is a great example for others to follow; they have a great set of principles. I think this is reflected by how successful they have been and continue to be.

Image Source - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXYdAS2ZQeuMbPeiO-rnGVc_ZG5LlJbJyNSulCpAYNXACRxbb-w9paQUm2BKKwoWRvVvphj4u0F6Hz9U0z-ltxg5ycHdoeiTJC38fjD2KlJUSlOhRyIVMpvA-a8DegBQZ0t_XM-l7LhLR/s1600/david+beckham+for+hm2.jpg

Technology - Surfing the web!

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24550015

A team from the University of Buffalo, New York, has attempted to try and set up an underwater Wi-Fi system. They have found that this does work with limitations; they were able to transfer data successfully to themselves from a laptop device. The idea behind this research is that with these systems in place they will hopefully be able to detect tsunamis at an early point and save many more lives. So this would have a great impact on the societies that live in areas of the world that could be more prone to tsunami disasters.

I think the main thing to take away from this is the fact that the ability to connect to Wi-Fi is becoming so easy, with it being almost everywhere. Allowing people to be online all of the time. This means that the need for online advertising is at its biggest time ever and will only continue to grow, as the generations of the population become 100% online users. Even in LEDC countries the ability to connect to the online world will become simple, and cheap. When it becomes that easy to go online, that the connection is everywhere, the cost will reduce and maybe one day be free. Allowing everyone the ability to join others on the World Wide Web.

Image Source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70513000/jpg/_70513085_70513080.jpg

Society - Madeleine McCann

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24530186

A big story has been back in the media for a little over a week now, the story of Madeleine McCann, major advancements in the story and events of her disappearance have been discovered by Scotland Yard detectives in the recent weeks, years after she went missing. In the latest appeal for information there was a special reconstruction of the up to date events broadcast on the BBC Crimewatch on Monday 14^th October.  If you haven’t seen this then I do suggest you take a watch, it is very interesting and more importantly you may have information that can useful. Link below. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jqssz

The developments that have been made seem very promising in the case, with the development of e-fits for an unknown suspect that they are now trying to tract down, it seems the case may be making progress. With the need for these images to be everywhere and seen by everyone, the internet comes into it own. With the images been shared all over the major networking sites, if this face is known then surely somebody with the right information will come forward.  Besides this the image has been shared on the front on newspapers and broadcast media TV, news and crimewatch.

I think that this stories ability to get all over the internet and so fast just reinforces the trend for social activity in the world right now. It also show how strong it can be at ‘spreading the word’ and getting the information in question out to the masses. This is a great modern way of sharing information with the majority of the population of earth.

The extent of this media sharing was present in the days to follow as the case detectives received an overwhelming response of information regarding the e-fits, by the public.

Finally, take a long look at the e-fits, if you know anything contact the correct authorities, your information could be vital!

Image source - http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70456000/jpg/_70456623_madeleine_efits.jpg