Sunday, April 30, 2006

The LGMC's First Fifteen

A look behind the scenes at the excitement in the wings during our final rehearsal:

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And the minutes of anticipation (and panic?) before we go on stage.

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Friday, April 28, 2006

Phil L stars in Pirates of the Salon

A work colleague recently had corrective eye-surgery that went amiss. As a result he has to wear an eye-patch for at least three months. He seems to be taking it in good humour though, especially when it was suggested that, with the addition of a painted-on moustache, he could do a reasonable impression of Jonny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean...

Phil's Patch

Mind you, Phil has never been one to take himself too seriously. Not long after I joined the company he and another colleague appeared in a feature in Cosmopolitan Magazine in which the men revealed the techniques they most enjoy when receiving a blow-job. The company noticeboard was quite entertaining for a while after that...

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

When Marketing Goes Wrong

Progress in Store

I always chuckle when I see expensive Marketing gone wrong. Above is a photograph of the Wimbledon branch of the HSBC. You can just about make out the red strip running along the bottom of their windows. The slogan reads ‘Progress in Store’ and is followed by two triangles which I think are designed to look like a ‘Fast Forward’ symbol and imply the corporate logo.

However, the first time I saw this slogan, I immediately thought they were arrows pointing me towards the shop next door (Coffee Republic) where, presumably, progress had taken place.

Around the corner (out of shot) the advertising is pointing you towards the door of the branch and so, from that side, it works fine, but walking along the pavement in the photo (as I do regularly to get to the station) I am constantly reminded that there is progress in store at Coffee Republic.

As I said, the HSBC marketeers probably intend the double-triangle to imply ‘Fast Forward’ progress and so turning them around to point to the door from both sides would mean ‘Rewind’ or going backwards from this angle but I think probably better that (or no strip at all on this side of the branch!) than to point people away from your business.

Modern advertising is a subtle and fickle thing. Now that I’ve thought about it, I know what they wanted to evoke in my head, but by the time I’d thought about it, it was too late; my initial thought stuck and lodged somewhere, deep in my subconscious, is the impression that the coffee shop has improved somehow and HSBC is no better or worse than it ever was.

I wonder how much it cost HSBC to advertise Coffee Republic (and the host of other stores located to the right of HSBC branches) to me…?

Hotblack Desiato - Estate Agent??

I grew up reading Douglas Adams' HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. In the series there is a character called HotBlack Desiato, a kind of futuristic MeatLoaf-esque rock star who, we discover, "is spending the year dead for tax reasons."

Imagine my surprise then to see this on my way to a Chorus rehearsal recently:
HotblackDesiato
An Estate Agent?? Surely not!

My first thought was, "How cool is that! Some HitchHikers fan has set up an Estate Agency and paid homage." However further investigation on Wikipedia reveals that the character in the books is actually named after the Estate Agents and not vice versa as I'd assumed.

It's a funny old world.