I can’t help but feel sorry for all the people who think that Carlsberg’s latest football related advert is one of their best adverts yet. Perhaps I’m being a bit quick to judge, but all the people who say they like it aren’t what I’d call ‘real’ football fans.

Carlsberg’s ad campaign tries desperately to recreate the epic pre-match team talk – those team talks that in reality rarely exist, but that everyone wants to hear about. And let’s not beat around the bush…it starts very well.

During the first viewing I nearly forgave Carlsberg all sins based on their inclusion of Jackie Charlton on the ad. But then Clive Woodward, Ian Botham and Phil ‘the Power’ Taylor turn up, and suddenly the once fashionable Danish beer brand has gone from credible football sponsor to bandwagon-sleaze-artist in one fell swoop. “Let’s throw as many celebrities into a 3 minute commerical as possible and cross our fingers for multi-national $$$ sales”, says their “I’m a listener marketing manager”. Fuck you, non-listener.

The trouble is, that Carlsberg actually have a great heritage  of *good* football ads. Their ‘pub team’ success of 2006 is amongst one of the best football ads ever aired – even if that is largely reliant on the inclusion of Bobby Robson and a good script.

Unfortunately Carlsberg’s recent ads are nothing short of alienating for the real fan. If their business/marketing objectives are met, then fair enough. But I for one, want more from Carlsberg given their advertising heritage.

Bar the Carlsberg ‘Old Lions’ ads only Nike have come close to engaging with football fans on a one to one basis, and each time that is through real footballing passion rather than fake Nationalistic bandwagon-ism. Between Parklife, Airport and Battleship, Nike have made ads that not only appeal to the British psyche but will remained engrained for generations.

The new lump-in-your-throat John Lewis advert has captured the imagination of the nation, sending Fyfe Dangerfield’s easily likeable cover of an old Billy Joel record almost to the top of the UK popular music charts and causing the more sentimental amongst us to rush to the phone to touch base with our loved ones.

Beautiful as the ad is it serves only to cast a melancholy shadow on my day. As it comes to its conclusion the dominating thoughts in my head are not that John Lewis is a quality retailer and a friend throughout my life who’ll always be there catering for my every materialistic whim and need, but of my inevitable slide into old age and eventual demise. That is, if I’m lucky to get through enough of life to get that far (and if I do God-knows what I’ll do with all the useless things I purchased over the years after watching persuasive heart-strong tugging adverts).

The advert is beautiful art for the masses; without requiring any thought it taps into emotions that we hold dearest. The combination of Mr Dangerfield’s soothing voice, the attractive young student celebrating the best years of her live and the loving mother doting on her families every need creates a perfect picture of middle England bliss that everyone should aspire too.

A fantastic collection of moving images and sound? An interesting piece of brand communication? A great and true reflection of live in Britain? Not if certain newspapers are to be believed, do you not read the Daily Mail folks?!

My favourite comment on this advert comes from a post on John Lewis’s YouTube channel from sanjuro4, who casts a fantastic social viewpoint on proceedings:
“Poundland should make their own version where the woman spends most her life alone living in a rathole of? [sic] a bedsit, eating potnoodles and watching daytime TV”
And there’s also much discussion in the national press, where it’s pointed out that the ad has more than a few similarities to other adverts and films.

So, you’ve launched your brand with a mammoth (largely daytime) TV investment featuring a catchy swing jingle that gets people clicking their fingers and humming along, plus a good looking girl (and guy) who make friends with a chirpy plasticine character that personifies your brand. Your URL is plastered on as much of the screen as possible and the youthful voice-over repeats that brand name at every opportunity.

Within a short space of time you’re already one of the major players in a swelling marketplace, but you can’t sit back because there’s a new competitor every week and it’s only a matter of time before the supermarkets jump on the bandwagon.

So how do you cement yourself as one of the experts, ensure your brand stays fresh and keep your name on top of people’s minds.

You call Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee, ply them with some cheesy lines and a magical piece of brand name word play, and hey presto, the marketplace is now your monopoly.

Or something like that.

What’s the music in the Mazuma television advert – if you’re wondering what that jolly little tune is in the background of the background of these ads it’s Easy Bean Swing by Paul Mottram

I’m going to make a sweeping statement and guess that many people involved in advertising don’t hold the We Buy Any Car television adverts in much esteem. It’s manufactured jingle and post-’Crazy Frog’ soundtrack make for in yer face marketing that might have the more artistic of creative directors rolling in their graves and eating their snakeskin shoes.

Personally, if I was Marketing Director at We Buy Any Car, I’d be smugly ecstatic, sitting with feet up on the desk and a self-satisfied grin on my face. The ad is brilliant in it’s own way. If you’ve seen it, I challenge you to a brand recall survey: “Name a company that will buy your car?”

See?!

I’ve seen a few tweets scoffing at Thomas Cook’s latest TV advert which sees Jamie and Louise Redknapp parading and gyrating around one of their luxury resorts (I won’t scoff too much myself as I quite admire the Redknapps but that’s a digression for another day).

Thomas Cook’s tv ad does more to alienate me than attract me though. I somehow can’t see me and Sarah (my girlfriend) affording to stay in the same swish pad and private beach as Jamie and Louise (before the final frame I was convinced it would be a coveted luxury holiday brand rather than a high street one). I’m sure it will work to inspire some people but that sort of aspirational marketing leaves me a little cold (as well as guffawing at some of the slow-mo pics, particularly Jamie’s golf drive and Louise’s equestrian friend).

Anyway, this article isn’t about that tv ad or Thomas Cook. It’s about one of their rivals, and the data driven approach of their fiercest competitor Thomson, whose integrated approach really appeals to me.

My last holiday was booked via Thomson Holidays, nothing too fancy, a 7 day break on the western most peninsula of Halkidiki in Greece. At that point Thomson gathered my email address and I presume an opt in for their newsletters.

After the holiday we received some nice email communication and the option to provide feedback. After a couple of months I was a bit sick of holiday suggestions via email especially so soon after the last one, modest though it was.

I clicked to unsubscribe and was met with some of the best email marketing I’d seen, a really nice Thomson web page asking me did I want to simply postpone emails until I was in a better position to book a holiday.

Thomson's intuitive unsubscribe page

Why not I thought, impressed with the option to select the three airports I’m most likely to travel from and a date when I’d be more inclined to look.

Thomson's personalised direct mail cover

I also selected a few options for the type of holiday I’d be interested in, options including city, villa, long haul, winter sun etc.

Just recently I started to receive the emails again (I wish I could remember the date I actually selected for re-contact!) and then a few days ago a nice piece of direct mail.

Addressed to me, the title read “Holidays built with Mr Fletcher in mind”. Tucked slightly conspicuously in the corner was an offer too, up to £200 of your next holiday.

On opening the booklet, the first facing page says ‘Last time we took you to Halkidiki’.

“Yes you did” and on I read, intrigued as to what further personalised treats awaited. The next double spread was on Turkey, one of the destinations we had considered last time around. Now I’m hooked.

Yes, I did go to Halkidiki last year!

Unfortunately the rest of  the booklet was a bit of a let down, the last double page dedicated to all-inclusive deals to Benidorm and Ibiza. I’ll admit I’m a snob – I would have happily unticked the ‘all-inclusive box’ on the unsubcribe page had they the foresight to add that as an option (for me all inclusive defies the whole point of a holiday).

Still, between email and snail mail direct marketing Thomson are top of my mind and despite their mixed holiday suggestions I’ll not forget to remind them when I’m interested in a holiday, hopeful for a decent offer or late deal.

Whether this marketing piece results in a holiday booking, time will tell. But in terms of impact and awareness, this is integrated marketing that has put them a step ahead of a competitor.

Thomas Cook? Your tagline seems very cheesy and irrelevant to me at the moment.

Google Real Time Search Results (SERPs): fad or flipping useful?

Are Google’s real time search results a PR stunt to win back traffic lost to Bing or a truly great new product development?

My girlfriend rushed up to me last night as I was typing up my Bob Dylan post and burst into our spare room (which doubles as my writing/beer/photography studio and her teaching homework room) and starting ranting about a brilliant advert for the Sun.

Deep in concentration (and laughing at Dylan’s fake hair in the video to his new Christmas song ‘Must be Santa’) I nipped onto Google and typed in something I expected to find no results for: ’sun advert’.

Right I was, nada.

Except then I noticed Google real time search ads and realised that these new fangled search results that were being used for nothing more than vanity exercises by egotistical tweeters or updates on Tiger Woods gossip, actually had a genuine use.

I was waiting seconds rather than minutes before through the fast incoming tweets praising the ad, a selfless tweeter posted a YouTube link straight to a copy of the advert (which you can see at the bottom of the page).

Google’s real time results are a great PR exercise and prove to a certain extent that Google are the search engine pushing boundaries and making searching online more personal. I ‘ll bet they’ve bumped their market share of searches up hugely recently but the test of time will be if small incidents like mine become the type of useful experience that the online population begin to demand and use on a regular basis.