Jericho Branding Weblog

Get less junk mail

Owning a print company gives me more reason than most to promote direct mail, as it produces a large amount of our business, but I think it needs cleaning up to gain more credibility. If everyone thinks direct mail doesnt work, perhaps they should ask themselves why most of the largest companies in the UK still use it to reach the masses?

The Royal Mail recently struck a deal with the Communication Workers Union to give post workers a 3.9% pay increase, in exchange for revising limits on the amount on unaddressed mail they carry. Sneaky heh? ne postman was so outraged, he made a leaflet telling everyone how to receive less junk mail. Everything he wrote is listed if you click on this link - Mail Preference Service.

While other types of mail delivery fell last year, unaddressed door-to-door mail deliveries grew by more than 12% to about 3.3bn items. More than 2.8m people are currently signed up to the mail preference service.

SMS enters a new growth phase

With more than 100m text messages sent in the UK each day, it is hard to see the SMS phenomenon dying down. Among 15 to 24 year olds, 48% prefer SMS to any other form of written communication, compared to 28% who prefer email, and 20% who opt for online instant messaging, according to the IPA Touchpoints survey 2006.

It's not just about teens. SMS accounts for 36% of total written communication for women, compared with 23% for men. It is a way of life. We chat, argue, flirt and ditch one another via text. It is the easy and ultimate 'me' medium. The next growtrh phase for SMS will be very delicate.

Today, an estimated 95% of text messages are opened, compared with 25% of emails, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau.Whether you want a text to remind you that your meeting is cancelled so you can stay in bed, or to receive flight information - mobiles are weaving their way into just about every area of our lives. SMS now also receives a much bigger proportion of marketing budgets, but it must remain a private 'opt-in' medium to be truely effective, where communication is permission based and respects everyones privacy.

If you're not Fast - You're Last!

How essential it is to be first, if you want to benefit from continued strong growth and a position as a market leader?

In Jan 2004, IPC launched Nuts magazine in a dramatric race which lead to them launching the first men's weekly magazine 1 week before their rival, Zoo (launched by Emap). Ever since it's first issue sold about 50,000 copies more than Zoo's 150,000, Nuts has extended it's lead to more than 76,000 copies.

Zoo had a launch budget of £10m which Emap spent over a couple of months, while Nuts' launch was backed by £8m of marketing activity concentrated in one big hit. There is a lot to be said for being first, but even more to said for staying first - especially in the most competitive sector of UK media.

China - global superpower

Just a thought that maybe we should all learn some more stuff about Chinese trade...?
In 10 years, most of the world's (WORLD'S) cars will all be manufacturered in China.

Best best use of copy ..... Ever!!

This great piece of text was the very worthy winner of a Yellow Pencil D&AD Award for the best use of copy.

Full Page. Yo, baby! Stand waaay back. I am a full page ad. The printers are scared of me  they call me the 'great white'. There ain't no ad like me. You want hard sell? I'll give you hard sell. I'll sell your whole shop. I'll carry ten washing machines, ten tumble driers, fifty cameras and then ask, “Hey, what about those widescreen TV's you wanna shift?” But I'm more than all that. You launching a product - I'll launch it into space. You got a picture? Blow it up, I ain't afraid. You got words? Bring 'em on. Big or small when they're on me, they look important. Because I announce. I got the dimensions. I am the undisputed heavyweight king of press advertising and I will make your product my king. Hear me roar! The Power of Press.

Chocolate Business Cards Anyone?

I've been doing some work recently with metal, plastic, fabric or wooden business cards - but chocolate has to be the best yet. I'm not entirely sure of their practicality or useful ness but a great idea all the same. Plenty of jokes in there somewhere aswell I suspect.

Read more...

Entrepreneur or Pirate?

Main Entry:	adventurer
Part of Speech:	noun
Definition:	risker
Synonyms:	charlatan, daredevil, entrepreneur, explorer, fortune-hunter, gambler, globetrotter, hero, heroine, knight, madcap, mercenary, opportunist, pioneer, pirate, rogue, romantic, soldier, speculator, stunt man, swashbuckler, traveler, venturer, voyager, wanderer

I was looking up some things for a project on Roget's Thesaurus and was pleasantly suprised to notice that entrepreneurs are put into the same bag as pirates and adventurers. Appropriate perhaps...?!

Quality Newspapers Fail to Capitalise on the World Cup

The daily quality press all saw a slip in circulation in June despite large investment in World Cup supplements and sports coverage.

The World Cup kicked off on 9 June but no quality newspaper was able to capitalise on the tournament to actually increase circulation. Observers believe that the public turned to online sites to provide quicker analysis and match news.

The Independent saw its average net circulation drop 6.05 per cent from May to 241,660 while The Daily Telegraph fell 0.01 per cent to 900,158. The Times slipped 1.01 per cent to 656,862 and The Guardian dropped 0.26 per cent to 380,211.

Read more.

What Do You Want To Do With Your Life

If you had to make a list of 43 things that you wanted to do in your life what would you do?

Typepad have make bloggingg better still with the addition of Mac style widgets, so that you can 'bling your blog'! The best one is 43 things which is a live feed from a personal profile that you can update. What 43 things do I want to put on my list? No idea yet, but it certainly makes you question what you want to do with your life. It's almost like, once you look at that list, if you've achieved everything you said, would you die a happy person? Not a bad exercise I think - after all, how many people do you meet who wished they did some stuff when they were younger or had the opportunity...

Check out 43 things here.

Was Bono Chosen by God?

Q: Money. Irishness. God. Which one couldn't you live without?

Bono: Wow.  Well it's an easy question to ask but... here's a thing.  When I was 16, my head was exploding. I just felt my life was going nowhere. I didn't fit in. I couldn't get a job. I didn't know how I could do my exams and I wasn't even sure I could concentrate at college. In those days, I remember, a prayer came up inside me.  I said "I don't know what I'm going to do with my life but if there's a God out there, and I believe there is, and You want me to do something, then I'm ready. I don't have any plans for myself and I'm available for work."  Pretty much within a few months of that epiphany I had joined U2 and started going out with Ali. A pretty good two months! Now had my destiny been -- if the God in heaven had said I want you to become a fireman and run up very dangerous buildings and save people's pets, I'd like to hope I'd have gone at it with the same gusto. So -- I couldn't let go of my faith.  But what's more interesting is that I don't think God will let go of me. I love it when people on bar stools rub their chins and say do you believe in God?  That's so presumptuous. A much more important question is does God believe in us?

Q: That sounds like you believe you were chosen.

Bono: No, no, no, I don't believe that. I do think God gets a laugh out of using some very poor materials. I volunteered is what I'm telling you."

YOUNG people are quite happy with a life without God or spirituality, according to new research for the Church of England.

Authors of the Making Sense of Generation Y were shocked to find not only did under 25's think the church "corrupt", "traditionalist" and all "socks and sandal" but also had no desire to find a transcendent alternative in their favoured pursuits.

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Does the Bible matter anymore?

NO LONGER IS THE BIBLE SHAPING OUR NATION OR ENRICHING ITS LIFE

This comes under the category of printed material which makes a difference. Following on from Bono's Independent, I'm spending some time looking at print and how it changes lives.

Bible poverty is truly a global phenomenon – because it exists right on our own doorstep. In a few short years we've gone from Christmas to Winterval, to trying to remove Bibles from hospital wards and banning wearing a cross in school.

Once it was the Bible that shaped our nation. But that influence is waning fast – with less and less people knowing its story, valuing its message or living by its wisdom. The Bible is no longer seen as a point of reference for everyday life.

As a result a culture of secularism is governing the way our children are taught, how we are entertained and the laws that govern our land. We are fast becoming a truly Bible poor nation. With the trend growing a pace.

Many who work in areas that influence and shape our society – the media, education, politics and the arts – see the Bible as irrelevant. And, intentionally or not, their view permeates the wider community. We must work to change the perception and use of the Bible among those who have the greatest influence if we want to see our generation truely make a difference.

Visit www.its832.org