BJK&E

…. OK so we know things are tough at the moment… Alistair Darling had just announced a £50bn rescue package for the UK banking sector, Iceland is melting, the DOW Jones saw it’s greatest fall in a day since 1987. The crisis in the world economy is being mirrored in the UK media market with TV, press, outdoor and radio all recording significant revenue declines in ‘08 but cinema appears to be bucking the trend.

Cinema revenue’s were up almost 10% across the period Jan-June with admissions driven with the release of big screen blockbusters including Indiana Jones, Sex in the City, the Dark Knight and er… Mamma Mia (the latter is currently the third highest grossing movie in UK box office history…aaagh).

I’m firmly of the opinion that the time couldn’t be better then to immerse yourself in a good movie and afford yourself a little escapism from the economic doom and gloom. My personal favourites from this year are the Dark Knight (yes, Heath Ledger’s performance really is that good), Iron Man (explosions, tongue in cheek humour and flying super-heroes; what’s not to like?) and Gone Baby Gone (a dark and harrowing film but stand out performances by both Casey Affleck and Morgan Freeman). So come on then, what would your movie of choice be to generate a little light and laughter  (Mamma Mia? I’ve seen it. Don’t. Please. End of story)?

As a committed Mozilla Firefox user, I was dubious about whether Google would be able to convert me to their beta-version of their open-source Browser, Chrome.

Launched on the 2nd September 2008, Google claims that Chrome “Gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go” with improved speed, security and responsiveness.
Personally, I’m also quite a Google fan (They keep Ben and Jerries in almost every room, a policy I thoroughly endorse) but there are a lot more people who are equally as interested.
According to Information Week, Chrome reached nearly 2 million downloads in the US in its first week alone.

However, are people likely to stick with Chrome or revert back to one of the other popular browsers such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which dominates with more than two-thirds market share?
The 50MB size of Chrome means on my laptop over 100MB is now taken up with browsers (And my prefered use of memory is for the ridiculous amount of music I have stored on my ITunes)

I’m sticking with Firefox for the moment, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be a convert soon…

We three (Gemma, Charlotte and I ) have been discussing the prospect of internal agency awards.  We think it’d be a great Idea!

Here are a few suggested categories, feel free to suggest more or more importantly to nominate……………..
1. Agency Mentalist
2. Agency flirt
3. The most clumsy
4. Agency entertainer
5. Most likely to end up in jail (if nominating please suggest a crime)
6. Agency booze hound
7. Most likely to be sick first in Dublin
8. Desk asbo
9. Most likely to cross dress
10. and of course ..The agency hottie!

When we think of classic movies such as James Bond, Kill Bill, Rocky III, Star Wars, and Breakfast Club the movie and their theme song seem to go hand-in-hand.  Some we can sing and some we just think we can sing or hum.  Maybe it is a qualification for a movie to become such a classic.  Think of how many great movies that you can you think of that have a horrible theme song…not too many.

Is it an 80s thing?

 Or maybe it is just that the 80s were such a great time for both movies and music.  Being a child from the 80s and early 90s I am quite biased as to which era is the greatest.  As much as I love Ace of Base, I think Guns ‘N Roses have a slight advantage.

What do you think are the best theme songs (and their movies) of all time?

My #1 Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone AND Berlin - Take My Breath Away from Top Gun…..did you hear the rumors there might be a Top Gun 2???

Did anyone see the new TV ad for Heinz? It features two men kissing! HOW SHOCKING!!! That’s not me speaking, but the 200 people who complained the over the next few days. It seems most complaints (according to the Daily Mail, naturally) were from parents who were subsequently forced to explain same-sex relationship to their children. A tricky job, but then isn’t it a case of sooner rather than later? You can only shield children to an extent from the world around them, and wouldn’t this have to be explained at some point anyway?

Despite deliberately creating this potentially controversial advert, in response to these complaints Heinz quickly buckled and removed the ad. But you can’t please everyone. By removing this ad they have aroused the wrath of the gay community, with gay rights group Stonewall, and Gaydar condemning the brand as “gutless” and “homophobic”. The two groups are now calling for a gay-boycott (never has the phrase felt so appropriate), amongst the 3.6million strong UK community.

The ASA is now in the tricky process of deciding whether the ad is offensive or unsuitable for children enough to be banned.

But hang on, I think we need to get our priorities straight here! There’s something in this debate no one has mentioned… BEANS MAKE YOU FART!! Isn’t that just so much more offensive?!

To quote Jean-Paul ‘off-of’ Hollyoaks last night: “Gay is the new black”

Isn’t it strange how we seem to spend most of our lives attempting to classify the various things, people, places around us.  Its almost as if we require this process in order to fully understand, to put things into perspective as it were.  Racket sports as opposed to motor sports, dairy products, horror movies…

However as media planners and buyers will agree, there are certain classifications that are imperative to our work.  Geographic segments, income brackets and of course demographics generally.  And its the latter of these three that I think deserves some inspection.

According to NRS the Social Grading classifications were born from a survey dating back over 50 years.  They also claim “it remains a highly effective way of classifying readers of different publications”.  Certainly the natural hierarchy of Doctors and Lawyers still holds true, but surely there must be instances of social migration; leading to a shift in the traditional running order?   For example, teachers (according to NRS) are classified as B, whilst Junior Managers come in at C1.   Subtleties aside I think it’s fair to assume that teachers are generally considered underpaid for their efforts and that it’s certainly not the desirable austere profession it was some 50 years ago.

More obvious discrepancies include skilled tradesmen (sparkies, plumbers etc) that can demand a very high premium for their services now that they’re seemingly in short supply.  Then there’s musicians, celebrities, and sports personalities… where do they fit into this antiquated rank?   

In my opinion it no longer ‘remains a highly effective way of classifying readers of different publications’ but rather an old fashioned way of doing business that’s no longer relevant to today’s consumer.

I was watching the match last night and found it rather amusing.  The French coach, Raymond Domenech, has a very unusual approach to team selection….he likes to take a players star sign into consideration before making his decision.  He apparently doesn’t trust players who are
Scorpios and thinks that defenders who are Leo’s are show-offs and has been quoted saying “When I have a Leo in defence I’ve always
got my gun ready as I know he’s going to want to show off at one moment or another and cost us”.

Can this theory be applied to the media industry?  What star sign do you have to be in order to go far in media?  I’ve conducted a quick review
of all 31 BJK&E employees and noted the following:

We have a fairly even spread across the 12 star signs although interestingly 26% of us are Geminis.  Now, the purpose of Gemini is to be
one who gathers and conveys information - a good trait within our industry, one could say!  It also states that Gemini is an air sign, and as such
puts great value on the mind and its thinking function, to the extent that emotional experiences may be regarded as complications that are
best avoided. Psychologically, air is attracted to water, but air finds the emotions difficult to deal with as they don’t fit in with its concept of an
ideal world.  Hmm, they may need some more emotionally-led team members in order to create the rounded media strategy?? 

In an industry that is based on numbers and spreadsheets, is it any wonder that there are no Pisces at BJK&E.  Pisces have vivid
imaginations and will often think they are being followed. They have some influence over their friends and people resent them for flaunting
their power.   Underneath it all they lack confidence and are generally thought to be cowardly. 

Fortunately, only 2 people in BJK&E are Scorpio.  This is the star sign that is said to be shrewd in business but cannot be trusted. They
will reach the pinnacle of success because of their total lack of ethics. Tut tut…..you Scorpios know who you are!

I, myself, am a Capricorn and am one of three in the company.  We have a need to conserve…the survival of the clan.  Our sign
denotes time, age, strength through patience. Ah yes, clearly the best!!!

Congratulations to Tim and Helen Irwin on the birth of their new baby girl.  Born on Thursday 12th June, Miss Betsy Irwin weighed in at 8pounds 10 ounces.   I’m sure a head-wetting drink will be had over the next day or so……..

I note with a heavy heart that Big Brother 9 starts tonight.  Apparently the house is the biggest ever (oooh!), Big Brother more wiley than ever.  No doubt the contestants will be more mind-numbingly stupid than ever and Davina McCall more irritating than ever. 

After last year’s Celebrity BB racism row and lower ratings for the main series some predicted the programme’s demise.  But Channel 4 are adamant that there is still great demand for the show and that ratings are not their main concern anyway.

When Big Brother started, it was (like Davina) fresh, quirky and fun.  It was, without doubt, a good concept.  But it’s become little more than a freak show, churning out transient tabloid fodder at the expense of decent programming every night of the week.  No amount of cosmetic changes and hackneyed twists can disguise the fact that the format is tired.

Not all reality TV is bad.  The genre still has legs, the success of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ is testament to that.  As everyone knows, I’m a sucker for ‘The Apprentice’!  But please, please, no Big Brother 10.

Today the press has been full of talk about the new Honda ad airing tonight on C4 during Come Dine with Me. Following on from their headline grabbing ads, Cog and Grrr, Honda have gone one step further and are now throwing people out of planes in the name of promoting the brand!

Based on the widsom of Honda’s founder who is purported to have stated ‘difficult is worth doing’ (now the tagline used in the ads), the new ad features 19 skydivers attempting to form the word Honda in the air. The stunt will be shown ‘live’ and in ‘real time.’ Unless it rains. In which case a rehearsal jump filmed yesterday will be shown.

Of course this is all very innovative, publicity grabbing - and no doubt award winning- but do the car buying public really care that much? Do they appreciate the fact that the stunt is live? And is the reported £500k cost really worth it? I suppose the question should be - is difficult really worth doing?