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.

Apps are the buzzword of the moment. Whether on your iPhone, desktop or bolted on to your browser, ‘add-ons’, ‘applications’ and ‘clients’ are the tools that help us get what we want from technology.

I’ve compiled a list of a few apps that have significantly changed the way I do things online, whether at work, blogging or browsing. Whether I’m searching for information, referencing media or managing my workload these little applications have completely changed the way I go about a particular task or project:

Screenjelly

Screenjelly revolutionised the way I could share online ads

So I see an online ad that inspires me to write on this blog or show to a colleague or client. But of course you can’t save a flash ad from the page easily in a format that shows you it’s full capability. Screenjelly lets you record what’s happening on your screen quickly and easily, allowing me to record ads (particularly useful for showcasing expandable and video formats) but crucially also record a click, the landing page and the journey beyond.

+ simple to use, you can log in with your twitter account

- quality not great for recording fast moving video or flash, java app can be slow

Twhirl

Twhirl makes running multiple Twitter accounts a doddle - as long as you type into the right window!

Probably nothing new to many but Twhirl is the best Twitter client I’ve found for me. Most of that is down to it catering expertly for multiple accounts, vital as I have my personal twitter account plus I manage most of the tweeting for the blog me and 2 mates run, Real-Ale-Reviews.com.

The ability to keep tweets separate in two windows and the easy to use buttons for the various sections of Twitter: @replies, DMs, search, followers etc make Twhirl great to use. It lacks the ability to sort your incoming tweets by custom filters as TweetDeck does, but that’s no great loss for me personally.

+ multiple accounts easy; small, attractive interface; not just Twitter either

- no complaints from me; no list compatibility…yet

Charles

I’ve no experience of another debugging tool, but Charles is a beauty. Officially it’s a web debugging or HTTP proxy – it allows you to view what’s happening in the background when you view and interact with a web page, helping developers find errors and get them sorted.

Charles HTTP proxy lets you see behind the rendering of a website page

It has other practical uses though. We recently saw some of our clients’ ads on a site we didn’t expect to see them. With Charles installed we clicked on the ads, recorded all the page interactions and browser requests and identified firstly, our ad sever, then the publishers ad server and the ad servers of our network partners. Some quick deduction and the culprit was spotted and the ads swiftly removed (with a ticking off!). Charles saved hours of wrangling with media partners over who had served it (they were all run of network blind buys so if no-one had owned up we had trouble).

It’s hugely useful for understanding how the internet actually works each time you load a page. It regularly amazes me how many people who work in online media roles fundamentally don’t understand what the internet is and how it renders information.

+ easy to save sessions and turn recording on and off

- licensed, not free

Readefine

Readefine makes browsing regular blogs easy - but doesn't detract from actually going there to comment

Whilst I can’t say I prefer using Readefine to reading posts on the actual blogs, Readefine does help me not miss new blog posts. It’s billed as an Adobe AIR application which makes it easier to read blogs. This isn’t it’s strongpoint for me though, I revel in the ability to login via Google Reader and easily check out the latest posts from blogs I love to read. I follow quite a few, which makes trawling them all a ridiculous task.

Using Readefine I can scan the latest articles and select the ones that I want to visit and perhaps comment on. Readefine doesn’t stop me visiting blogs that I would have visited, it enhances my ability to see more blogs and actually increase the amount of blogs that I comment on as I find posts I would have otherwise missed.

Whilst Google Reader and RSS may be being overtaken somewhat by social media as a source of news, Readefine has given me a reason to use RSS and I’m looking forward to a long relationship with it by my side.

+ free, saves lots of time trawling blogs

- slightly odd navigation, lack of filtering options

Four apps, not all new, but ones that make a genuine difference whilst at work and play.  Some honourable mentions should go to DropBox for file storage (which I’ve been recommend so many times and started using this week), Minitask (simple as hell ‘To Do’ list app for your desktop, but rightly so) and MoTweets, the only twitter client worth bothering with if you have a Windows Mobile phone (the only negative of my HTC HD2 being the scantily populated Windows Marketplace app store).

If you have other suggestions please comment and let me know about them!

This post was 100% inspired by James Poulters “5 Web Apps I would never be without in 2010“, well worth a read (I’ve been trying Focus Booster today!)

Todays definitely a snow day. If I take twitter as a reputable source then there’s been anywhere between 4 and 8 inches across Leeds this morning. And it’s still going strong.

Most of the UK will be making snowballs instead of working today, or just maybe hiting the world wide web for some shopping

What does this mean for the economy?

Buses can’t get anywhere, the post will be delayed, schools are shut, people won’t get to work and productivity will be as bad as on Tyneside when an ex-Real Madrid and England striker signs for Newcastle.

Not to mention the high streets who will have to endure wet umbrellas and slushy entrances all for a handful of bedraggled punters who braved the conditions or are stuck in the town centre.

All round, snow days are probably slow days, economically.

But I wonder whether the same applies to online retailers? Surely a day when many people are usually cooped up at work shouts opportunity to those flexible enough to move on their feet. There’s potentially a lot of people at home today with a little more time to turn the PC on whilst the kids are watching the box and have a browse for the replacements for those unwanted presents or a holiday to get away from all this weather?

If you’ve got some spare budget and are willing to take a punt, I’d be tempted to take a gamble and capitalise on this theory, ensuring PPC visibility, a burst of display and maybe even a well-worded, quick-thinking email, and maybe just turn a slow snow day into a blizzard of online enquiries or sales.

I for one won’t be found online shopping on Christmas Day. I’ll have plunged deep into the Real Ale Reviews beer cupboard to sample some of my finest beer treats, enjoying seeing my family and tucking into a smorgasbord of Christmas treats and luxuries: peanuts, cheeses and those fancy See’s candies that my granddad gets sent from San Francisco every year.

But according to the Telegraph, 4 million of us will be letting the Christmas washing-up pile high whilst they rush to their shiny new laptops and go crazy in the January…no New Year’s….no Boxing Day…sorry, Christmas Day sales.

Telegraphy report on Boxing Day (Christmas Eve!) sales

In fact the sale will start on Christmas Eve as, according to the paper, Halfords, Comet, B&Q and John Lewis amongst others will be opening up their sites to hoards of price savvy bargain hunters 36 hours before the bricks and mortar stores unlock their doors.

Last year I saw some interesting trends with retailers at this time of year, but didn’t see the huge Christmas Day rush. But methinks their may be something to this news as increasingly online connected population have the ability to look up ‘what they could have won’ within seconds of being disappointed by their pressies. That may be a cynical outlook but take some electrical items like sat navs, where its easy to select a slightly wrong model. And Halford’s third busiest traffic day last year was Christmas Day.

There’s also simply the people who know that there will be great savings to be had but know that if they wait until the 27th or 28th to hhit the shops (online or offline) that stock will be long gone. Once the turkey’s prepared on Christmas Eve these people may well be sitting down with a shopping comparison site rather than a rerun of Only Fools And Horses.

Implications for marketers and retailers? Do you ensure a perfect PPC presence or comprehensive shopping comparison listings? A two day takeover of a large portal? Or simply invest in servers to cope with the rush?

I’d say this shopping on Christmas Day malarkey is all very sad, but I know for a fact I have a Christmas Day blog post planned. I think I’ll set it to auto publish…!

The Philco PC is possibly the quirkiest PC design I've ever seen

Wow was about all I could say when I saw this little number today (via Retrotogo). I bought a Dell Studio Hybrid earlier this year and I love it for the space it saves, but this blows it away in terms of style and elegance.

It’s just a concept at the moment but if this design becomes a physical reality then I’d certainly like to see one in my studio. I love the screen based on a 1950s television design and the compact CPU unit with chunky dial and angled legs.

From the typewriter inspired buttons to the bevelled mouse and spirally telephone wire its takes vintage design and adds some modern oomph. I wonder if like the Dell Studio Hybrid this PC will require notebook parts in order to fit inside the slimline case though, which could be to the detriment of graphics card and upgradeability.

I’ve no idea on price or spec but I reckon I’ll have a good chunk of next year to save up!

Philco PC from Dave Schultze on Vimeo.

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.

Bob Dylan Must Be Santa Christmas Song

I rang my Dad after a hectic day at York Christmas Market on Saturday and we hadn’t got far into the conversation before he excitedly quizzed me on whether or not I’d seen Bob Dylan on YouTube.

Well, yes of course I have, but I definitely hadn’t seen Dylan’s new Christmas song and hurriedly typed away into my netbook as quick as I could.

When my Dad said ‘it’s absolutely…’ I naturally cut him of in my brain with the word ‘awful’, as Dylan is much maligned for most of his new material, I guess expectedly so given the great depth of quality work behind him (at this point if the usual Neil Young/Leonard Cohen acolytes want to come out of the woodwork and start a ‘who’s better’ debate I’m not interested as I like all three and I’m more than aware that Dylan’s written as much shite as he has infinitely brilliant songs).

Anyway, I was suddenly very interested and surprised when my Dad uttered the word ‘brilliant’ in place of ‘awful’ and tapped the side of my machine as YouTube took a full geological epoch to load.

But the wait was worth it and Dylan’s Christmas song – Must Be Santa – must be one of the best modern Christmas songs for many years.

My Dad might just be right as well, brilliant as it is, it probably needs someone else to cover it before it could ever be commercially successful, but as with some of Dylan’s best writing, it just takes a slightly different take on it to make it an instant sensation.

The last few weeks have been a bit bonkers and hugely exciting for me, with some great successes personally and for people I know.

Just over a week ago I attended the British Guild of Beer Writers dinner in London and put faces to the names of many bloggers and beery folk I’ve met through the internet over the last 6 months, spending a day rambling around London with some great people and seeing some new friends pick up well deserved awards.

At work we scooped a DMA award for the Best Online Display Advertising for our campaign for Republic, fighting off competition from some really fantastic campaigns, brands and agencies (you can see the best online display ads here on the link above)

Rick Harrison who works with me at AWA also scooped the top prize in the National Trust and Sunday Times photo competition for his shot of a walker descending a steep path in the Lake District. I’m deeply jealous of his new Nikon D90 but my claim to fame is that the winning shot was actually taken on my camera (albeit by Rick before he sold it to me!)

Golden Twit Award commendations for Real Ale Reviews: I'm a commended social media practitioner now I guess!

And to top it all off, I recently found out that my beer reviews blog, Real Ale Reviews, had won two commendations from the inaugural Golden Twit Awards organised by The Drum magazine.

The award makes the Real Ale Reviews team particularly proud because of the categories it is in: ‘Writing’ and ‘Information Service’. These nicely describe two of the pillars that the blog was built on – to help add to the great beer blogging and writing that is out there, but to also make beer reviews accessible to a wide audience and to provide useful information.

I’m hoping that the next few weeks and months will be just as exciting, although there’s a lot to live up to now!

Spotted an interesting online display ad from Auto Trader yesterday, the basic premise being that you could draw your own car in the ad (as you can see I was going for a kinda Ford Fiesta Mark I meets Delorian model, as opposed to the 2004 style sitting on my drive!).

The ad leads you to then sell your car, which is a nice way to get people interested in the banner ad but also ties in nicely with Auto Traders desired outcome. I quite like the way the robot man jumps up and turns just before the landing page appears – nice touch!

In fact since I took the video the landing page has changed to this, which improves the string of relevance a little with stronger calls to action on selling your car:

Landing page for Auto Trader's 'Draw Your Car' display ads

This is a nice little idea, but I’m going to have to be very biased in favour of my employers and point out that we’ve done something similar before. (I’ll let you be the judge of which you prefer!). These ads promoted Republic’s mix ‘n’ match promotional offers for men and women and showcased some clever use of the drawing API in ActionScript and external serving of product images into the banner.

With both ads I’d love to actually see the drawings that are input by online users. No doubt there’s been a few more salubrious designs and potentially some very nice artwork, but the cost of tracking this would probably undermine what arte both ultimately direct response campaigns.

Both these ads show just a little more of what we can do with the internet, and also highlight how much online advertising just doesn’t make use of a medium that offers not just an advertising platform, but the opportunity to revolutionise supply chains, business processes, customer interaction. These ads are only a tiny step that show break the mould of banner ads simply being ‘online wallpaper’ or outdoor ads on computer monitors. Whilst I’m sure there’s a role for that, it isn’t on my computer screen thanks, I’m ready for the next generation of ads that actually amke use of the technology we use every day.

By the way if you like the Republic ads you can see the whole portfolio on the AWA website. I think they’re bloomin’ brilliant, and the IDM thought so too!

AWA is the agency that I work for and they specialise in web development and digital marketing.

I stumbled across two great finds today, firstly a great ad for Land Rover, and secondly a great little tool which will allow me to show you this ad!

From what I can see Land Rover took over the MSN (UK) homepage today with an expandable format in the typical leaderboard position and a central above-the-fold MPU to complement it.

Rather than use a load of screengrabs or try to describe the ad, I’ll just show you it and you should see what I mean (this being the great little tool I found (courtesy of www.screenjelly.com).

So this ad has ‘wow’ factor, and rightly so. How many brands can take over MSN with such bold and exciting creative?

But beyond the spinning landscapes and fancy rich media, there is a strong emphasis on response, particularly to ‘book a test drive’.

There’s no doubt this media placement and the ad development were pricey (not to mention the rich media ad serving costs) but when Land Rover’s products costs what they do, and in times of not only economic recession but increased ‘green’ awareness and a backlash against ‘gas guzzlers’, there’s surely a need to wow and fascinate your audience. And, whilst doing so, also leading them towards conversion via the immediacy of the interweb.

It’s certainly one of the more interesting ads I’ve seen recently and one that’ll be having my brain whirring on overtime as I’m considering media options for upcoming campaigns.