Clever clogs marketing award of the week

I received this clever little mail today, which made a refreshing change from the usual bucket-load of poorly designed, devised and executed e-marketing messages that flood my Inbox.

Not only is it cunningly personalised with my name throughout, but they have also drawn a character who resembles me very closely...apart from the brown suit.

'Sore Nipple' ad escapes ban

A print ad by Boots has escaped a ban from the ASA, despite complaints that it was misleading and offensive.

You can read the full story behind it here.

Whatever your opinion on the content, you have to admit that it is a well-written and cleverly designed ad...who says 'print is dead'?

Video reviews on UKBike.com

Boyd has recently launched a 'Reviews with videos' section on UKBike.com.

So far there are two video road tests, one for the Kawasaki ZZR1400 and one for the Harley Davidson XL1200 Nightster.

As well as the video, users can read Boyd's review, check out the manufacturer's specs, see what other reviewers have said and find links to other related parts of the site.

The videos have also been uploaded to YouTube, with the Kawasaki one having had over 1100 views to date.

Blatant plug: Do you like Rock Music?

Possibly an abuse of power, but I see it as just an experiment in web marketing...

My friend's little brother plays the drums in indie legends British Sea Power, who released their third album 'Do You Like Rock Music?' last week.

Great news is that not only has it been well received by the critics (see below), but also made it to number 10 in the UK Album Chart on Sunday, knocking Leona Lewis out of that slot!

If you 'like rock music' then buy it now on Rough Trade or iTunes and keep them in the top 10!

Their tour kicked off last Thursday in Dublin and they're playing two dates in Brighton (29/01 and 02/02) before heading off to Europe and the States.

Album of the Month, Observer Music Monthly *****

“A masterpiece of epic proportions” The Word

“Ambitious, impressive and genuinely moving… chock full of epic music and seductive melodies” Q ****

“Brilliant songs… stirring anthemics… the glorious sound of a band going for broke” The Guardian ****

Who is the Stig?

This just in from Stephen Sumner, who had a visit to the Boats and Outboards stand from none other than Top Gear's 'The Stig'.

Although for all we know it could be Nicky in her latest maternity wear!

Two in and one out for IRT

We have two new Account Managers who have joined IRT today - Justin Hall, who will be working on InAutomotive.com and Lidia De Luca, who will be working on AviationJobSearch.com.

And this is the last week for Dan Muraszko, who is leaving us to travel about 10 feet to work for Gillie's Online Sales Team as a Graphic Designer.

Dan, may the force be with you.

Quick-thinking viral scores for Friday-Ad.co.uk

Quick thinking from Rob Anderson over the recent 'sacking/resignation/leaving with mutual consent' situation between Sam Allardyce and Newcastle United FC, resulted in a viral campaign with results.

After hearing the news on Thursday night, Rob created a quick advert on Friday morning and stuck it on friday-ad.co.uk.

By emailing a few people and sending out a brief press release to a few sources, an interest was created and the ad has appeared on the BBC's 606 forum, OnRec.com, Google News and a few newspaper sites.

As of today the ad has been viewed over 2000 times, which as Rob admits isn't massive in Internet viral terms, but 12% of people who visited the site actually stayed and browsed elsewhere.

Although the time has passed slightly, it's worth you still forwarding the link onto as many people as you can from your address book.

Also please visit Lycos (from your home PC) and vote for it to get into their 'Viral Top 10'.

Job vacancy: Editorial Co-ordinator

I am currently looking to recruit an Editorial Co-ordinator to manage the editorial content for many of our websites and publications.

The ideal candidate will need to possess excellent written skills (including grammar, spelling and punctuation) and also be able to work independently without direct supervision.

If you know of anybody who may be interested then please contact me for a full job description.

Based at Sayers Common. Full time position. Red pen provided.

Hat trick for nominations!

We've been awarded our third nomination for the Onrec.com Awards now, this time for Rob Paterson who is also up for 'Personality of the Year'.

Expect some trash talking between him and Ian over the next few weeks. Rob may have the upper hand however as he is delivering a presentation to the Onrec conference on the day of the awards, not that he would ever consider using that as an opportunity to win over the judges!

And another nomination...

I've just been told that we have got another award nomination for the Onrec.com Awards, this time Ian Partington has been shortlisted for the 'Personality of the Year' award.

Despite being a Man U fan, he has been shortlisted and is up against five other industry 'personalities', including Dan McGuire of Broadbean (who has more awards already than the Oscars!).

Marketing award nomination for SimplySalesJobs.co.uk

We have received a nomination for the second year running for the forthcoming Onrec.com Awards, this time the category is 'Innovative Online Marketing' for niche job boards.

These awards are some of the biggest and most prestigious within the online recruitment industry, and will be presented at the annual awards dinner at the Cafe Royal in London, on March 5th.

Our nomination has been in recognition of the groundbreaking work we have done for SimplySalesJobs.co.uk on the Ecademy business network.

The ‘Simply Sales Jobs club’ provides both an additional advertising platform for employers and recruiters – and a vehicle to provide sales tips, interview tips, CV help, sales resources, sales tips, sales books, motivational quotes to job seekers.

Having been beaten last year we are hoping that this year will see us victorious, in fact I'm writing my speech already..."I'd like to thank my mum..."

Fancy dressers

Pictured here is the 'Pembroke 2' team that won the Pod Dressing Competition held before Christmas.

Tim Gould informs me that their theme and inspiration was, wait for it, 'Elf and Safety'!

Karen's video farewell to Friday-Ad

Karen Lewis, from Pembroke's Pre-Press department, is leaving the company next week after six and a half years.

She's going to be the publicity officer for the newly re-developed Torch Theatre in Milford Haven.

As a tribute to her time at Friday-Ad, Karen has made a video and posted it on YouTube. You can view it here if the video below doesn't load.



Good luck Karen and hope you continue with your Victoria Beckham obsession!