Just looking for something from a past life on my old laptop, and found this - my design for this blog.
I made the stupid decision to use Movable Type (far too complicated for me), and since I've been too scared to tinker with the template myself, and I'm not owed a favour by anyone clever enough to do it for me. Which is a pity, as I'd quite like it to look like this.
It looks like someone's finally going to do 'a TV channel for adverts'. But it's wrapped up in language that is the bastard offpring of 90's marketing bullshit and Web 2.0.
Check out their introduction video on YouTube.
(Sorry, for some reason I can't seem to embed YouTube videos on this blog anymore. I need somebody technical to help me. Pleeaassee!)
My favourite bit is at 01.57. 'All this is a multi-platform service targetted to GenY - the new millenials. It's QVC for the MySpace generation'.
More here.
Pete Lien used to be a planner, working in a variety of agencies including Albion (which finsihed him off!). He’s now left that all behind to become a chef. He’s documenting his journey on his blog This Edible Life, which I’m really enjoying reading – he’s got a way with words, his food looks delicious, and his affectionate bitterness about the marketing industry makes me feel suitably shallow. Add it to your feed reader today.
I love what Silverjet are doing. They are stealing British Airways’ natural brand positioning, with a well thought out experience , and a large slice of cheek. Let me explain how I think they can do this.
British Airways’ heritage means that their natural brand proposition is ‘civilised flying’. But they can’t use it because their business model won’t let them.
While their experience is defined by longhaul travel, most of their routes are shorthaul. While they don’t make any money from shorthaul routes, they can’t just stop flying them because there’d be a political uproar, and because they’re essential to feed their longhaul business. But since the low cost carriers changed the rules of the game, BA haven’t worked out how to deliver their brand experience in shorthaul – today shorthaul travel is all about modern efficiency, not civilised service.
In addition to that, BA have the dual blessing and curse of Heathrow slots. These are still regarded as valuable as, for some reason, Heathrow still clings on to its position as Europe’s gateway to the world. But anyone who has flown from there in the last 10 years knows that it’s an awful experience – getting there, the facilities, the poor punctuality. In fact, no matter how good the flight is, passing through Heathrow is the most defining part of the experience. And it defines the experience as terrible. So poor BA can hardly claim to be ‘civilised’ there either.
So this leaves them floundering, trapped in the middle of the market, being squeezed by the extremes. Ryanair are so cheap they make their staff pay to charge their mobiles! Singapore have double beds (with petals and champagne) on their new A380!
So they end up making an ad about… the fact they serve drinks on board…? (And an un-funny 'viral'.)
Meanwhile Silverjet are a startup. They’ve learnt lessons about simplicity, focus and efficiency from the low cost carriers. But they’ve applied them to longhaul travel. So you get:
Basically, they’ve created the experience BA would love to be able to offer, but can’t. (* I haven’t actually flown Silverjet yet, so I don’t know if their product and service design lives up to the promise.)
But then Silverjet have got cheeky. They’ve hired M&C Saatchi, the ad agency BA dumped a couple of years ago, ending a long-standing relationship. And together, they’ve remade BA’s classic ‘global’ ad (more commonly known as the ‘face’ ad). But with a twist.
Whereas the original featured lots of people - to demonstrate BA’s globality - the remake has just a few - to demonstrate Silverjet’s exclusivity. At a stroke they nick the best of BA’s past, and de-position them as old fashioned. It says ‘this is the way things are done these days’. For me, it says ‘we are the spiritual heirs to that legacy’. It says ‘we’re the new British airline’.
Only one thing is wrong:
Silvilised? Come one, that’s a really bad pun, and surely underestimates their audience?
I’m the only person I know who uses the BBC iPlayer (but then I'm the only person I know who commutes from Manchester to London every week). It’s an absolute pain to use, but it is useful to catch up on programmes I miss when I’m on the train.
Anyway, so I was just watching last week’s episode of the Culture Show, which featured Sigur Ros. And it struck me that the way they work is quite similar to some of the working practices we’ve evolved at Albion. Here are some nice quotes:
Doing:
Collaboration:
Can’t wait to see their film Heime. It looks and sounds absolutely beautiful. I hope Albion can make something so thoughtful and perfect one day. Not a bad ambition...
