General posts

Our Digital Director Mark Hope wrote a blog post last year after the Cookie Law was first announced by the ICO, giving background information to what it actually meant for our client websites. Since then, things have changed. The new EU Cookie Law comes into play in the UK on May 26th after a ‘year of grace’ for UK websites. This will mean that users will have to give their consent if you wish to continue gathering data about their visits.

What is a Cookie?

A cookie is a file that is stored on the user’s device to identify them each time they arrive on your site. When the user loads a web page their browser will send back any cookies generated by the site so that the site can see if certain settings need to be loaded if the user has visited before.

On 30^th June, around a hundred people including Suzi and myself celebrated the one year anniversary of Social Media Day with an event hosted by Mashable, in Castlefield, Manchester. There were speakers from Greater Manchester Police, BBC North West Tonight, Manchester City Football Club and Miss Cay.

My favourite idea that the Greater Manchester Police talked about was an idea they created to raise awareness about alcohol induced violence. They created a page where you could upload a photograph and put yourself in a prison cell. The concept was you will end up behind bars if you become drunk and disorderly. This idea worked great with social media and became a big success. I thought the idea was simple but fun and effective.

In the past few weeks we’ve had numerous calls from clients looking for advice on what to do about the new ‘EU cookie directive’ (which is actually an amendment to the EU’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive).

The concern of our clients has been largely driven by emails from law firms, the content of which is bordering on ’scaremongering’. Tut tut. They’re doing the right thing in drawing attention to this new directive but from what we’ve seen they aren’t offering any reasonable and practical advice (at least not for free).

Our simple advice to clients is ‘Don’t Panic!’

As a West Ham fan (of sorts) for the best part of 35 years I was unfortunate to have been at Wigan yesterday to see the polish being applied to the final nail in the coffin of a team that has failed to deliver for the past three seasons, when my day was saved by an inspired group of Millwall fans who had perfected the art of communication.

To effect the perfect message to your target audience (however niche the audience is – in this case 7,000 travelling West Ham fans), with precision timing and relevance is the holy grail of marketing, normally only achieved by digital means these days – and to do it in a quirky, funny and a non-digital way, is even better. So to this this flying above the ground immediately after Wigan had scored their equalizer  – thus relegating West Ham was a marketeers dream.

Quality! I’m gutted – not ‘cos West Ham were relegated – but because i didn’t think of it.

Read more about the stunt on the Daily Mail’s website

Access got in the spirit on Friday by wearing red to work, in an attempt to support Comic Relief. We had red everything from red lips to red legs. Our in house chef? Mia made a beautiful apple, raspberry and banana cake for the occasion, with a dash of hot custard to finish. As no one can resist a spot of cake in the office it was finished within minutes! We raised £42 for Comic Relief and we had some fun doing so.

It’s a great example of how outdoor advertising should be created.

You have 5 to 10 seconds to grab attention and leave an impression – and this simple execution does that. OK I know it’s for a brand we all know extremely well, but it’s enhanced by the ‘I spy my little eye…’ headline which reminds us all of those long car journeys as a child – linking exquisitely with their TV proposition.

And does it work? – Too right it does. I had to fight back the craving for a McBurger of some description all afternoon.

If I wanted to be picky i would just question why you need the McDonalds logo on the poster at all? The Golden Arches sign says it all…

Do think Azko Nobel should give Clear Channel some white Sandtex paint though – the poster frame is looking a bit weathered! Perhaps we’ll get our new head of marketing to look at that one?

After my usual trip to the supermarket at the weekend I looked at the pile on my kitchen table and thought, “How boring am I?” Kellogg’s, Twinnings, Fairy, Sunday Times: all the same brands that had been in my cupboards for years. Why didn’t I buy something else? Is it the fear of change? Will it not be up to scratch? Am I a snob that won’t try a cheaper unknown brand over a tried and tested one?

There are many reasons why we buy some things over others but for most consumers on day-to-day items it is down to time. People switch into what is called unconscious behaviour and is the greatest challenge to anyone launching a new brand in a supermarket today. The minute you are through the doors you go into automatic pilot and throw the brands you are familiar with in the trolley. If you don’t spend time thinking about what you are buying you can get through a shopping experience twice as fast. It needs to be a big yellow special offer sign to wake you up and even make you consider varying from the norm.

Talk about the glamorous life of advertising… me and the boss man Landi have just returned from a very successful trip to the Midwest.

Our friends Hydratight invited Access to join their Marketing Summit, held in the beautiful town of Red Wing, Minnesota. The meeting brought together the entire marketing team from around the world for a full-on three day meeting, discussing the hot topics on the Hydratight horizon, and it was a fantastic honour to be included as part of their M7 (Marketing 7) team!

And what a week it was, the Americans sure know how to work hard and play hard (at least us Europeans won the bowling!!). And that coupled with the jet lag that being six hours behind brings, gave the whole trip a very surreal edge to it.

But I can safely say being able to spend so much time with the team, both on and off the pitch, has given me a much deeper understanding of them – how they work, how they think and the challenges we collectively face. And this understanding, coupled with the opportunity to be privy to, and to help shape Hydratight’s future plans, has left me feeling very focused and very excited about the future… keep an eye out for some exciting stuff coming out of Access towers in the new year!!!

www.haydock-park.co.uk

Haydock Park is one of the UK’s premier horse racing venues located between Manchester and Liverpool in the North West of England. Steeped in history and prestige it attracts large crowds all year round. Much more than just a horse racing venue it plays host to a wealth of conferences, events & music concerts.

Having worked with Haydock Park delivering its offline marketing materials for a number of years, Access was selected to develop its new website. A website that would reflect its position as one of the regions premier venues, increase visitor participation and repeat visits, and ultimately increase conversion and drive ticket sales.

Is A for…Alphabet? Or Access? Or Accomplished? Or even Adorable?

A is in fact just one of the giant orange letters that we have scattered around our office.

The GARGANTUAN letters became surplus to requirements after we had successfully completed a shoot for one of our clients.  The photo shoot was to promote a new scheme funded by the Welsh Assembly Government for their “Enhanced Leadership and Management Skills Programme” which helps improve the skills of managers and their workforce in businesses throughout Wales.

The shoot featured 3 workers intertwined in the GIANT letters which spelled out the words “Enhance” and “Gwella” (for all you non welsh speakers Gwella is welsh for Enhance).

After the shoot was over, we were left with 13 lovingly crafted GIGANTIC letters that needed a home.

So, what were we supposed to do with them?

Use them as part of the office decor of course!!

Simon poses with the letter E, Little Mark isn't so little anymore and Helen perches on the letter H!