Big Cat Events are now back from sunny Spain after having built and opened the fantastic Star Trek: The Exploration exhibit.  The exhibition is now running until Feb ‘11 in the science museuem in Valencia’s stunning Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias.

The build of the exhibition took 2 weeks during which Big Cat worked along side the venue’s in-house crew (muchas gracias) and Victory Hill Entertainment who designed the show.  Long hours and hard work paid off as the finished show looks amazing.

You can check out photos of the build and completed show as well as a daily video diary here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigcatevents/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixyBIHHoc-s

http://www.cac.es/prensa/noticia/?contentId=115554

After recently completing a degree in Theatre, performance and Event Design at Birmingham City University, I began scouting around online for event companies that could offer me an internship. With my aspirations in mind, I contacted The Custard Factory Events team enquiring about possible work placement opportunities. I have always loved The Custard Factory and it has been an ambition of mine to work at events there. Within a week, I had an interview at Big Cat, quit my part time job, worked at my first event and began my 3 month internship as an Event Executive. Fortunately, my course prepared me for the fast pace of the events industry so this was all second nature to me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week in the company of all the lovely staff at Big Cat and am quickly learning the roles and responsibilities of a member of the events team. I look forward to my first wedding next week at The Old Library and to many more exciting events in the future.

Birmingham based full service agency Big Cat Group has been recruited by government regeneration agency Urban Living in partnership with Arts Council England to help promote their Beyond Bricks community arts campaign.

Beyond Bricks focuses on engaging creatively with local people and restoring community pride in neighbourhoods within the Urban Living catchment area.* as part of an ambitious regeneration programme which aims to improve housing and living conditions for thousands of people. The scheme is one of a number of projects which Urban Living has established in order to increase community cohesion within the area.

Big Cat will support the campaign by handling the PR for a number of artistic projects and workshops taking place over the next four month which are being managed by community arts organisation Multistory. Activities range from creating a local magazine to erecting community statues, allowing residents to work together and celebrate their community.

Anthony Tattum, Managing Director, says: “We are thrilled to be working on such an important project for the communities of Birmingham. The Beyond Bricks campaign has a community spirited message with the aim to bring people together. We are excited about being involved in such a worthwhile venture.”

Tess Randles, Urban Living’s PR and Communications Manager, adds:”We wanted to ensure that the Beyond Bricks campaign would really get noticed and engender the kind of pride and involvement that makes a tangible difference. This is why we brought Big Cat in and the signs are that the campaign is already getting noticed.” 

Those of you who watched I-Robot in 2004 will agree that viewers are subjected to a considerable amount of product placement.  When Will Smith wasn’t parading around in his ‘converse vintage 2004’ footwear he was racing around in a custom-made Audi.  That is, of course, when he wasn’t at home listening to music on his Sony CD player.  Despite these exploits, branded entertainment in the UK was prohibited by Ofcom.  This prohibition was based on EU legislation; however amendments to these laws have paved the way for product references and trademarks to be used on British television in exchange for money.

I-Robot 2004

The new rules, which are due to be incorporated into UK law at the end of 2010,will allow product placement in TV series, films, entertainment and sports programmes, but not in children’s and news programmes. So to reassure those of you who are concerned – Bob the Builder will not be fixing things with a Black & Decker multi-purpose saw. What we might expect to see however, is a Carlsberg tap at the Rovers Return or even Clear Blue pregnancy tests on Jeremy Kyle.  This will provide a new channel for advertising so maybe now it’s time to think inside of the box (for a change).

Our graphic designer Jason Hannon has created an ad that’s both innovative and tasty. Using the literal imagery of pick ‘n’ mix sweets in the shape of a car, Jason has juxtaposed driver training with the concept of flexibility and choice within a tailored course. The ad, for RoSPA’s Driver Theory Workshop, uses a wide range of calorific treats to create a car with a surprising likeness, from the liquorice wheels to the jelly baby passengers. The ad was a complete success despite several attempts to sabotage the concept through the eating of vital ingredients.

Needless to say, both Big Cat and RoSPA were very impressed with the outcome. Check it out:

Final Advert

Robbie Earle finds himself in troubled water after his performance at the World Cup would certainly have scored low on the Capello Index.

Earle, who was sacked early last week for passing on tickets that he, had obtained through ITV for family and close friends only. The tickets somehow managed to find their way into the hands of 36 female Holland supporters who just so happened to be pulling an advertising stunt for Bavaria Beer.

This landed Earle in big trouble with FIFA, the FA and England supporters. FIFA have launched into legal action with the Dutch beer company, whilst 2 of the 36 females have found themselves in South African Court, possibly facing jail for illegal advertising.

England fans have been complaining that pundits shouldn’t even be able to get their hands on anywhere near the number of tickets Earle had managed to buy from ITV at a discounted rate.

Somehow, I don’t think Earle will be able to pass off the troop of young females as his close family and friends, and the ex Wimbledon and Jamaica international has even been dropped as an ambassador for the 2018 World Cup bid.

This is the second issue ITV have blundered into since the World Cup began, after their HD coverage missed Steven Gerrard’s early opener against USA. With all the bad press around at the moment, they’ll have certainly been hoping for a Gary Lineker love rat story to break at any moment for them. However in true fashion bad things do tend to come in 3’s, and although we can’t firmly put the blame on ITV for England’s lacklustre performance and 4-1 capitulation to Germany so it would seem they are now through the worst of it.

They missed one of England’s 3 world cup goals, one of there pundits sold on tickets and made them and himself look like rather stupid, and before they could redeem themselves England managed to knock themselves out of the competition. Never mind, 4 more years!

The Old Library came alive with energy on the 6^th March when hundreds of fashionista’s flocked to get their hands on the most unique vintage items they could find. The vintage fair was founded by Louise Whitehead, who after running her own chic vintage store in Sheffield decided to open her horizons into the world of fairs.

Situated within Birmingham’s creative community The Custard Factory, The Old Library was the perfect venue for such an event. It’s souring vaulted ceilings and stunning stain glass windows streamed an almost holy glow of light onto busy shoppers, creating an electric energy which only facilitated in the ferocious exchange of money for goods.

Queues streamed down Digbeth High street with people of all ages, willing for the chance to enter The Old Library and be part of the whirlwind of sales within. Inside there was a fantastic old-school unity between stall holders creating an essence of community, which nowadays is a novelty when comparing it to the modern experience of shopping that most have to endure in more corporate large chain stores or shopping centres. This unique Buzz continued solidly from open to close, leaving stall holders exhausted and elated at their empty stalls, and shoppers with endless bags of quality exclusive bargains. To top it all off the organisers had hand-made 200 of the most imaginative cup-cakes in flavours that were truly delicious and so popular they could have sold out 3 times over.   

Not only was this a day of shopping, but a day of fun, excitement and mystery, allowing each to discover the most perfect one-off vintage item they could find. The old library has such a historic and magical essence to it, you couldn’t ask for a better venue. Is this not the sort of shopping we should get to experience all the time? The Vintage Fair returns on June 12^th for its next mini adventure.

Hi, I’m Louise; I’m here at Big Cat to get some work experience in copywriting. I’ve just finished my second year studying English and Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. Having only been here for a day or so, I haven’t had a chance to get really stuck in yet. Still, I’ve been flicking through the Creative Review and a particular article caught my attention: Penguin’s upcoming release of the entire backlist of Vladimir Nabokov complete with classical looking covers redesigned by several different illustrators. The use of frames on the covers is interesting; particularly on Despair, where Karlovich’s hands hold the framed title box to partially obscure the protagonist’s supposed Doppelganger. The first print of Despair was also accidentally produced without a border pattern making it somewhat of a collector’s item.

Having read and enjoyed Lolita, I’ve often considered reading some of Nabokov’s lesser-known novels but have usually been deterred by endless University reading lists and deadlines. However, with a long exam-free summer ahead and the release of Penguin’s stunning new covers, an Invitation to a Beheading could be on the cards.

When opening the post last week we came across the latest edition of Midlands Business Insider featuring this years ’42 under 42’ supplement, identifying the regions cream of the crop in entrepreneurial talent. You can imagine the surprise on our faces when we reached page 28 to find Big Cat CEO, Nick Morgan within the supplement. Ok it wasn’t that much of a surprise as we put him forward for it but its fantastic news that he made the cut.

Well Done Nick from the entire Big Cat team!?!

Sunday 2^nd May saw the first big music festival of the summer in Birmingham and unsurprisingly it was bitterly cold as revellers enjoyed music from Fatboy Slim, Calvin Harris, Chase and Status and Annie Mac. Located slap bang in the middle of Digbeth in the heart of Birmingham’s Independent Quarter, the Electric Carnival entrance was on Heath Mill Lane off Digbeth High Street, Heath Mill Lane was shut off from the general public as well as the adjoining Lower Trinity St, Gibb St, Adderley Street and Bromley St to make way for an inner city myriad of music and hedonistic partying. The site infrastructure had a main stage in AIR car park, 4 marquee structures and 3 warehouses scattered over the site.

Big Cat managed the advancing of the show and all Health and Safety content which included security, police fire and first aid provision, road closures, TEN applications, SAG management, build and break safety advancing, site risk management and sign off with all elements culminating in the event manual document. Big Cat had overall site responsibility pre, during and post the event.

We are happy to report another successful safe event for Birmingham under the Big Cat team.

It seemed to have crossed the line but the FA has evidently seen fit to intervene in the latest scandal to have hit football. Whilst not quite on the national scale of Ashley Cole’s numerous affairs or John Terry’s infidelities, it does pose the most significant threat to the harmony of the England team and strikes at the heart of the credibility of the one time untouchable England Manager, Fabio Capello.

The subject of the controversy is Capello’s new business venture unveiled on 10^th May, which would have seen him publish his post match reports from the World Cup in order to collate a performance table/ranking system. The goal of the service termed the Capello Index, would have been to create an accurate scoring system that would be implemented into Capello’s soon to be released video game Capello XI. The move was immediately branded as a ‘PR own Goal’ from the usually suave Capello.

Imagine if you will having submitted a tender or proposal, that the first thing your bosses did was to immediately Tweet about your performance even going so far as to give you a score out of ten. The embarrassment alone would impair your judgement on your next case and cause you to question yourself, making decisions that normally you would not. That in effect, is the system that Capello was hoping to deploy.

Amidst the growing debate Capello’s employer (the FA) have stepped in and put the kibosh on the deal suggesting that the move is insensitive and could affect the mood of the players. This comes as a massive blow for both Capello and Pitch who were brought in to handle PR for the account. In the wake of all the bad press and with an indefinite postponement and distancing from Capello, it will be interesting in the coming weeks to see how Pitch can disencumber the rubble of their campaign.

In the wake of the sex scandals that have left Woods a virtual recluse for months, last weeks Masters was supposed to be the beginning of the way back for the fallen hero. Behind the return were a dedicated PR team that have guided him through his recent turmoil to deliver him to the Masters. But the reality of the ending is far from the fairy tale Woods’ remaining sponsors would have hoped for.

In basic terms for a man that has not played competitive golf for some six months, to be able to contend on such a brutal course as Augusta is a feat in itself. Alas, his final day with its ups and downs, moments of pure genius and foolery saw him finish the tournament in a commendable fourth. But what was the perception of the new Tiger and did he at times revert back to the man people associate with the scandal?

Prior to the Masters Nike ploughed millions of dollars into adverts that showed a humble Tiger listening to words of wisdom from his departed father. Earl Woods was widely regarded as the only person Tiger was willing to answer to and the campaign was at first heralded as a stroke of genius for its utilisation of a voice over from Woods’ father. Whilst the advert may have swayed fans, it seems to have further enraged his long suffering wife and could potentially be the last nail in the coffin that is their marriage.

This was seemingly the height of the PR effort that frankly has been less than stellar, topping off a catalogue of errors that, in my humble opinion, have made this situation ten times worse. In the first instance Woods’ ridiculous commendation of the efforts of his wife in freeing him from his crashed vehicle reeked of cover up and opened the floodgates for the press to dig deeper and the gold diggers to line up. Subsequent denials then confirmations and stories of huge payouts to tell tale women, have all piled on the agony for the Woods family. This culminated with his presentation to the world where he admitted his guilt. But even this was wooden and did little to assuage the anguish felt by fans who had been let down by their hero.

Finally, Masters week was upon us and what we all expected was a triumphant return. It was not to be however and the polished veneer of a new humble Tiger fell away at times and he allowed the arrogance associated with the old Woods to seep back into his performance. With a week that started with Woods fist punching crowd members, smiling and acknowledging the crowd more than ever before, it ended with him sloping off like a petulant child highlighted by his three putt on the 14th. It seems his PR efforts stop when he is not winning.

Let me clarify my position. I am one of those long standing fans who quite honestly could not care less about what he gets up to off the course. For me it’s all about his talent. I respect and understand his sullen nature at times as he is a consummate professional performing under difficult circumstances. His lack of attending celebrity venues is a representation of his sportsman discipline. Granted, had that same discipline been applied to his love life then none of the last six months would have happened but they have.

With Woods on hiatus for the near future, his PR team will no doubt be dreaming up new ways of presenting brand Woods to the public once more. I just hope that they do a better job in the aftermath of the storm than they did in its eye.   

In 2008 Big Cat were responsible for the PR account for the inaugural Hello Digital festival designed to bring together non-techies and techies alike to explore the new developments in the digital world.

 The efforts of Big Cat generated a PR campaign worth an estimated £180,000 and was spear headed by a publicity stunt involving a 8 foot robot named Titan. He took over the Bullring shopping centre squirting patrons and generally wreaking havoc all in the name of Hello Digital resulting in features on ITV News and multiple articles in regional press. 

It seems the menacing robot has reappeared and was spotted at The Gadget Show Live which took place at the NEC from 8^th – 11^th April, showing that when it comes to forward thinking you just can’t beat a Big Cat.

Nick Clegg and David Cameron need not flex their creative muscles when it comes to smearing the current PM as it seems that Gordon Brown, shovel in hand, is more than happy to dig his own gave.

Having been advised recently to engage more with the public as it was felt he was previously seen as being too aloof, the PM has gone on the offensive meeting the public left right and centre. It seems though that his advisers forgot who their candidate was; the George Bush of British Politics.

The PM was in Rochdale when he came across life-long Labour voter Gillian Duffy. Towering over the pensioner, Brown began confidently defending policies on pensions and accepting praise for the state of the school system in Rochdale. When presses on the issue of migration the PM (seeming somewhat flustered at this point) tried to deflect the question stating “a million people come into here…but a million British people have gone into Europe”. Deflecting the question he returned to policies where Labour has had some success in an attempt to end the matter on a high.

However Brown was unaware as he extradited himself from the situation that his microphone was still. He began engaging in a personal conversation with one of his assistants in which he blames ‘Sue’ for making him speak with the woman and called the woman in question a ‘bigot’, assumedly relating to her pressing on the immigration issue.

This is not the first gaffe the Prime Minister has made but it may prove to be the final one. In Dec 2008 he was ridiculed in the House of Commons when giving a speech regarding the banking system. Meaning to say he saved the banks he instead professed to having ‘saved the world’. Needless to say, the Tories pounced on this momentary slip and the session descended into a debacle. Then in 2009 at the 65^th anniversary of D-Day the Prime Minister, seemingly gushing over his new friend President Obama, repeatedly referred to Omaha Beach as ‘Obama Beach’.

So whilst Brown tries to extricate his foot from his mouth (in the process blaming the news company who owned the microphone for taping a private conversation), Nick Clegg and David Cameron are certainly not going to be hiding their smiles in the wake of the latest Brown gaffe.

Celebrity Cruises have put an indefinite hold on the launch program of their latest super vessel the Eclipse. It was scheduled to begin a week’s worth of events to celebrate the launch including onboard parties with some very special guests. But in the wake of the chaos reaped by the Icelandic volcano the cruise company made the dramatic decision to abandon party plans and head for Spain to mount a daring rescue mission of Brits that have been stranded their amidst the air chaos. Dan Hanrahan, President of Celebrity Cruises stated: “A party at this time didn’t seem right – we had to help out.” And help they have.

Arriving at the Spanish docks in the early hours of the morning the ship was a sight for sore eyes for the 2000 plus Brits unsure of how they would ever make it back home. The cruise company have made plans to pick up customers on all inclusive breaks from Thompson, the Co-Operative group and Thomas Cook. On board the relieved travellers will have the run of the ship and be able to take advantage of the luxury facilities including multiple pools and a 24hr Casino, all free of charge in a deal with their travel providers. But after all the families have been through recently I’m sure they are just happy for a warm bed and the prospect of home.

But lets not be naive about the situation, as certainly this is an act of humanitarianism but it is not without its merits for the cruise company. The media and press attention that this ‘rescue mission’ is receiving is worth considerably more than the attention the launch would have gained originally. A stroke of PR genius, the Eclipse has been thrust into the spotlight and has become the figure head of the British rescue efforts. It’s not quite Moses parting the Red Sea, but it’s as close as we are going to get in these cynical times.

The ability of the internet to be accurate and factual has long been in question and now as social networking sites spiral out of control the question has been asked-when does news become noise?

A new survey of senior journalists featured in PR Week, has revealed the implications that the sudden and exponential rise of social networking sites has had on the traditional media sector, and is being blamed for cost cutting measures that are currently plaguing the Media sector. In Europe as cuts are being attributed to the economic crisis, Journalists have communicated a severe decline in their numbers and the quality of work available. With sites like Twitter and Facebook seemingly becoming a vehicle for breaking news this worrying trend has led some to believe it has become almost impossible to discern ‘news from noise’ as falsities run rampant in the digital realm.

In a survey led by Burson-Marsteller which interviewed some 115 journalists from 27 countries, the majority felt that PR industries played an increasingly crucial role in the traditional media sectors. Most confirmed that they worked more now with PR agencies than in previous years as agencies are being heralded as the deliverers of accurate information and providers of substantial leads for stories. It makes sense as PR companies have their fingers on the pulse of society and are adept in recognising even the most subtle changes and are at forefront of client representation.

I myself, fell prey to this web of social network inaccuracies recently regarding Martin O’Neill quitting Aston Villa. The story spread like wildfire amongst my friends and on different sites and it was difficult to discern if this was fact or fiction. I contacted one of my sources at Villa who told me the rumours were totally unfounded. I conveyed this to my friends and fellow Villa supporters but despite my efforts they chose to follow the rumours. Perhaps this is more a reflexion on the gullibility of my friends but I think it represents how social media is able to breed and fuel wild fire rumours on a world wide scale.

Social media sites are certainly the future of communication but beware of the information they impart on you as it may be fact and it may be fiction. For clarification seek out a PR expert for they shall show you the way!

Recently Big Cat Idea had the great opportunity to work on the CSI: The Experience advertising campaign. CSI: The Experience is an interactive exhibition in which you become the Special Agent. We were given the task of creating a new campaign to promote the event. We obviously had the normal print based advertising (i.e. flyer and press ads) however in this case we had the chance to express our ideas further in different locations, we even had a piece written about our lift graphics! Below are some photos of our work. We hope you like them!

For more information about CSI: The experience please visit http://www.csibirmingham.co.uk/

CSI Escalators

CSI Lift Graphics outside

CSI Lift Graphics inside

CSI Crime scene stunt 1

CSI Crime scene stunt 2

Recently our client RoSPA briefed the design team on creating a new campaign for their advertising. Within the brief they added that they would like the new ad campaign to clearly ‘follow on’ from the last style of ads. They wanted their adverts to have a fresh new look and feel.
We then spent some time coming up with a few ideas of what we could do. We felt there needed to be a link with the new look 2010 RoSPA catalogues. The final idea was to use a minimal style. Stripping back the adverts, simplifying, and making the attention purely on the object you see before you.
With the new minimal white background, the object could then become alive in it’s own right. We decided to be slightly abstract, looking at the text supplied and relating the image to this. Instead of using the ‘norm’ in the style of a usual health and safety advert, we wanted the viewer to look at the advert then look again and think, ‘What has this got to do with health and safety?’ which would then make them read on and find the link between the text and the image.
Below are the first few examples of the new campaign we have produced. What do you think?

Heading up the event division of a leading communications agency I fully embrace and push for the integration of digital communication and live events to enhance the quality of content and delivery of a specific project, but during my daily commute I read an article entitled ‘Twitter dating for tech-savvy singles’ which I had to comment on.

The following article explained a new style of event in Canada where essentially hundreds of singles attend an event and ‘flitter’; a mix between Twitter and flirting.

Each singleton is given a number on a sticker (e.g. #129) and during a drink if you like the look of a potential ‘love of your life’ you twitter their number and start a flirtatious conversation on your phone whilst at a distance. One guest twitted “#129, you’re so fine, but #152 you’re hot too.”

Call me an old romantic but is this a little wrong, what’s happened to asking a women out on a date face to face? Aren’t the nerves, sweaty palms and crackling voice all part of the excitement of finding a potential soul mate?

I’m glad to be out of the dating game.

Birmingham based 360 agency, the Big Cat Group have been awarded the PR contract to support Birmingham City Council’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund promoting the success of the SMEs that have benefited from the funding.

The Big Cat PR team have been brought in to help the Birmingham City Councils communications teams to raise awareness of projects being delivered after help from the fund.

The Working Neighbourhoods Fund has secured a total of £31million to help new and struggling businesses with the aim of stimulating vital enterprise and business activity in the Birmingham region.

Carol Alderson from Birmingham City Council said: “Having worked with Big Cat on previous campaigns such as the Creative City Awards, we were already aware of their capabilities and felt they would be able to deliver this campaign successfully.

“The Working Neighbourhoods Fund can make a real difference to so many SME’s in the region so it’s vital that we get the message out there to as many businesses as possible. After hearing their ideas and plans for the contract we decided that Big Cat would be the best agency to help us deliver the results.

Anthony Tattum, Managing Director of Big Cat said: “As we too consider ourselves to be an SME, we understand how vital this sort of funding can be in getting a business up off the ground. We were delighted to pitch for the campaign and that we have been given the opportunity to deliver it as well. We look forward to working with Birmingham City Council on this campaign and many in the future”.

Since kick starting the campaign back in January, the Big Cat PR team have secured a number of fantastic pieces of coverage for the Working Neighbourhoods Fund. Kirsty Davies, a jewellery designer based in the Jewellery Quarter received particular interest having been invited onto BBC WM’s “Mornings with Joanne Malin” to discuss her designs and the fund. She has also appeared on the Creative Boom website and will soon be featured in the Birmingham Mail.

According to a recent study, Marketing Directors feel that PR agencies are better equipped at delivering social media strategies than advertising agencies.
90 per cent of the participants thought that PR agencies were better placed to work with in social media then their advertising counterparts.

Obviously this is music to our ears here at Big Cat, having run a number of successful social media campaigns including Bodies Revealed, Funworld and the current CSI: The Experience. However I’m not sure it’s entirely true.

Yes PR agencies can write the copy, upload the links, images and statuses as well interact with other users, but I think sometimes it’s good to have a second set of eyes to look at the campaign, finding new ways to target demographics whether it be through Google Ad Words, Facebook banners or even images and links on Marketing material.

In all honesty I think that’s why our campaigns work so well, although one person in the team might take lead in the realm of social media, he/she always gauges the opinions of the other departments, seeing what they can bring to the table. For a social media campaign to be truly successful a fully integrated campaign with input from across departments can work a lot better than one person sitting at his desk all day on Twitter and Facebook.

How many places are you Mayor of? Have you got the Superuser badge or maybe you’re a Superstar?

For many people this might look like some playground game, but in fact it’s the latest application to hit the social media world by storm.

Foursqaure, a new geotagging application available on iPhone, Blackberry and Web Browser, allows you and your friends to “Check in” at destinations across the globe in order to earn points and badges.
I have to admit, I was and still am pretty addicted to this, checking in every place I visit. Some of my friends have said it would be incredibly easy to stalk me, but I just thought “Who would want to stalk me?”

However the creators of Foursquare have come under criticism recently as apparently this fun application aids robbers in finding empty houses.

Obviously the owners replied straight away stating that there are a lot easier ways to see if anyone is home, the big one is if the lights are switched off.

So what do we think then? Are all these applications and games putting our security at risk or are they just a bit a fun?

I’m a big kid at heart so I think I’ll still be checking in on a regular basis.

Hello all.

My name is Joe, and I am the brand new Marketing Intern in the Big Cat office. I sit next to Dan, opposite to Jenny, and diagonally from Ben. My view out of the office window is of a canal and a few buildings. I regularly bring a sandwich and a bottle of water into work, along with an energy drink, depending how alert I am in the morning. I have lived in a small village for the entirety of my life, and despite enjoying being away from home and travelling, have never ventured far away for a lengthy spell.

I would describe myself as a thinker, not in the conventional philosophical sense, but one who lets his mind run in a million different directions, which would explain the completely random observations and questions that will come your way when around me for more than an hour.

The obvious question that any interviewer, or anyone in general to whom I am chatting about my job, would ask is ‘Why Marketing?’ I would respond with another question; ‘Why wouldn’t I want to be involved in marketing?’ Having only been at Big Cat for just over a week, I have made contacts from various companies, I am involved in a potentially very successful campaign, and have not had one moment of boredom in the office.

I’ll finish with a few words on life so far at the Big Cat Group. Despite being here just one week, I have felt it very easy to fit in to the office structure. For now it is more of a learning curve than anything, but I can only expect to gain the best of experience during my time here.

If you hadn’t guessed by the title, I thought I’d do a blog about one of the latest social media platforms to hit our computers; Google Buzz.

It’s almost every week that we are introduced to a new way to communicate with friends, upload pictures and note down our thoughts on the web, however its only a small handful of these which become a world phenomenon, many just get lost in the either. And although some may be seen as a success right now, give it a few months and there will be another platform banging on its door, ready to jump in its grave before the lid has even closed.

The latest “attempt” at social networking is Google Buzz, which in a nutshell is a cut down version of Facebook which runs directly from your Gmail account.
Obviously Google feel that their platform is the best as it links in with all of their other gadgets; Gmail, Wave, iGoogle the lot. Now I’m all for integration (starting to sound like Tracey Turnblad now) but is Buzz just another hair brained scheme from Google in an attempt to mononpolise another market?
They’re not content with their email, maps, and Android, instead they decide to invest in a £multi-billion market with a success rate of just 1%.

Their key plug for Buzz is that unlike Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, it needs no setting up, as long as you have contacts saved in your address book. If you’re anything like me though you won’t. I’ve used Gmail for a good 8 years now and I think I have about 3 contacts in there if that. All my personal contacts I save on my iPhone or on Outlook, both of which I feel are easier to access.

Personally I think rather than inventing new platforms, Google should be concentrating on bettering their current portfolio, especially things like Google Wave. As sad as it sounds I was really looking forward to Google Wave. I waited ages for an invite and when I finally received one I found I had no use for it.
It wasn’t until this week when I actually used Google Wave for what it was built for; online conferencing, and I have to say it worked rather well (for me anyway, other members of the call kept dropping out).

So what do we think? Will Google Buzz just be another fad; here today gone tomorrow, or has it gone far greater potential? I think give it 2 weeks and people won’t even know what it is.

I came across a blog last week entitled “10 reasons why you should get rid of your PR firm”. Personally I feel all the reasons are rubbish, well for Big Cat at least.

In response to the blog I thought I’d do my own “10 reasons why you should hire a PR company”

Now I’m not one of those types that thinks every company in the world needs a PR firm, it all depends on circumstance, resources, what you actually want to accomplish and whether or not you can achieve it yourself.

Most PR companies deserve your time because……

1) We know our market

There are a vast range of resources out there which allow PR companies to analyse their market, whether it be software such as Media Disk which allows us to find the right journalist for the right story, or online websites such as Mintel which contain a whole wealth of stats and figures on any topic you could imagine. If you want to know your market you’ve got to put the time and research in.

2) We speak English

Many PR firms have a number of B2B clients which specalise in technical goods that Joe-Public aren’t interested in. Due to the type of market, much of the material has to be technical as well, however you have to be careful not to overload it. If you’re writing for the trade press, the reader will know much of the technical info already so you can get straight to the point. There’s no need to skirt around the topic, most times its better to dive in straight to the point.

There’s also an opposite to this. As PR’s we’re often asked to “flower-up” a release, make it more interesting and appealing to the reader. Again, this is another trap that a good PR knows to avoid. It’s ok adding the extra multi-syllable word here and there, but you have to be careful not to overdo it, otherwise your release ends up looking like an 18th century novel rather than an article for a newspaper.

A good PR can write a release to fit any subject area, whether it be B2B or for the general public. Through research, practice and meticulous proof reading you can ensure that any release is ready for its target audience and is easily understandable.

3) We’re not journalists

Journalists are 100% essential for any PR. Building rapport with journalists makes life a hell of a lot easier, and I’m not on about sending them gifts (which I’m sure they love), just treat them normally. A couple of my closest friends are journalists and the one thing they hate is people who brown nose. Just show a general interest, they’re not aliens (which surprisingly many people still believe). It seems (despite how much both sides disagree) journalists and PR folk are more a like than either of them realise.

4) We care

I’m relatively new to the industry however I still get a buzz when I get a piece of coverage, it doesn’t matter how big it is or whether its national or in a small local paper, to me coverage is coverage. Hopefully I’ll always feel like that.

One thing I can’t stand is blanketing out a press release to a million journalists. If you’re a good PR you have your contacts and know who to target. If you’re venturing into a new arena, do your research and pick up the phone. However its better to find out when journalists aren’t on a deadline though and time your calls for then.

Sending out a release to 14 titles isn’t a result to me, it’s not until I see the story in the appropriate publication that I know the job is done. I’m pretty sure this is how the client feels as well as telling them the release has been sent out isn’t what their paying for.

5) We manage our resources

I’m going to use the old cliché here and say that all businesses are under pressure to generate the same if not greater results on far fewer resources. However its upto the good PR to keep tabs on the resources and manage client expectations accordingly. Over-servicing has become essential over recent months, however the majority of the time its the only way to get the results. Quality should always overcome quantity.

6) We’re good at publicity

This is sort of self-explanatory. How else would you know about a good PR company unless their good at publicity? There are so many platforms to promote a company whether it be via newspapers, trade titles or social media. However word of mouth and recommendations still seems to be the best way to get new clients.

7) We don’t like ruts

Any good PR loves a challenge and something new to dig their teeth into. That doesn’t necessarily mean a new client though. It’s a PR’s job to make their own work interesting, that’s the challenge. Injecting life and new ideas into a campaign not only keeps the client happy but also the agency team.

8 ) We choose good clients

We’re not all money grabbing Fat Cats, many of us like to pick who we work with and for very carefully. There are a number of PR firms in Birmingham, including Big Cat who are proud of who they work for and the results they achieve. A lot of the time people think its the client that chooses the PR firm, but the PR firm has to have some say in it as well otherwise the campaign will never succeed.

9) We make the industry look good

All in all the majority of PR agencies do a dam good job. Every single one is different, each with their own methodology, quirks and perks. I’m not saying that all agencies are fantastic, far from it, however they don’t deserve the bad reputation which they seem to have developed over recent years.

Some of the countries greatest product awareness stunts were designed and implemented by PR firms, so next time think before you come out with a comment such as “Oh, you’re one of those.”

10) We love what we do

Simple as that. We, the team at Big Cat love what we do. We love our clients, we love our work and we love each other (well  most of the time). Becuase of this we do a damn good job, and this is why we continue to work with some of the best clients in the country

The Big Cat event team is becoming busier and busier with loads of exciting events coming up over the next few months. With a new exhibition launching  in the next few months the events team are in need of a new work experience person to help the team.

If you are looking to break into the event industry and are finding it a tricky task in such hard times this could be the opportunity you are looking for. The lucky person will gain tons of great experience working within a busy events team. This is an unpaid, full time placement that could lead to a paid position within the company, or at the very least some valuable experience and a great reference. Which is an absolute must when breaking into the events industry. The applicant needs to be driven, hard working and outgoing with a passion for events.

Please email L.campbell@bcguk.com if you think you could become a part of the Big Cat family!!

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Since joining the Big Cat events team this summer I have been a part of organising many wedding receptions. However, last week was the first ceremony that I have done at the Old Library, and what a lovely event it was. Though I was slightly gutted to be on guarding the door duty and didn’t actually witness the “I do” bit, that didn’t take away from the excitement of the day.

Seeing the bride arrive looking super cool in a 40s inspired dress and bright red lipstick, to the transformation of the space that had to occur from simple and elegant for the ceremony to a retro cool ambiance for the evening do, made the whole day a interesting challenge for me. The sun shined for the barbecue and drinks on the bandstand, everyone drank lots of wine and danced the night away. What I have noticed working on the various weddings this summer is how young the couples are.

Everyone talks about how society is waiting longer to settle down and is putting off marriage, but from the weddings I have witnessed that isn’t the case. Maybe it is due to the Custard’s factory’s arty, bohemian feel that the people attracted to the venue are younger. Whatever the case, I love the young Weddings that tend to be far more inventive with their themes, giving us organisers lots of fun ideas to work with.

Is Health and Safety in danger of suppressing all human inhibitions? I recently spent a weekend in Torquay (not the best destination, but still enjoyable) and on arriving went to enjoy the outdoor swimming facilities which overlooked Torquay Bay, however I found the view obscured by no less than eight warning signs. No diving, No running, No swimming (nearly).

I then took a walk along the cliffs and found that a section of the footpath had been closed due to insufficient railings being in situ. The footpath was over 3m wide and I found this level of precaution completely ridiculous. Surely everyone on this planet has to take a degree of responsibility over their own actions and constantly assess the risk of situations they face.

If I was with a young child I would then assess a situation on their behalf and them observing your actions is one of life’s learning experiences.

We all think that our director is pretty brilliant but now we see that the industry agrees. Event Magazine has published the Event 100 Club this month and after a crazy year in the events industry with the level of innovative event solutions being higher than ever before, the readers had plenty of choice for their top 100 most influential people. More than 2000 people voted nominating more than 300 key figures and Nick Morgan was voted number 71!

Now before I get down to business I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year from all the events team. This is an exciting New Year for events and some changes have been made within the company that needs to be celebrated. The main change for the events team is that former Senior Events Manager, Nick Ruffles has been appointed as Events Director.

Having studied Product Design and Marketing at Southampton Institute, Nick joined the Big Cat team in 2008 and made quite an impact. Within a year Nick has already worked on some of the regions most prestigious events including Hello Digital; Birmingham’s first digital media and film event and the Creative City Awards.

Nick said: “Big Cat has given me many unique and fantastic opportunities in such a small space of time. Events I’ve worked on range from the URA Star concert which was for 6,000 people at the NIA, to the more corporate Innovation Advisory Service workshops which are run in conjunction with Business Link.

“2010 is set to be another outstanding year for us with a number of high-profile events both in the private and public sector. The past year has been a struggle for the events industry across the country as many clients are severely cutting budgets and expecting a lot for nothing, however it’s our job to make the most of the resources we have and ensure our suppliers are competitive which will in turn ensure the events we put on are something to be proud of.”

Congratulations Nick you deserve it.

Well it’s been a busy old few weeks here at the Big Cat office. Usually during the run up to Christmas people start winding down, brew the mulled wine and pop open the mince pies…no such luck here, it’s been hands on deck.

Last Friday saw the launch of NEC Funworld, Europe’s most exciting funfair, which Big Cat PR and Marketing had a helping hand in promoting. Featuring over 60 adrenaline fuelled rides including The Superstar, Frisbee and Frog, it’s enough to turn your stomach (which Chris Brown can testify too).

As with any launch though, you have to have a high-profile celebrity, and boy did we have an act. X-Factor legends John and Edward performed a number hits on the night which included their very own interpretation of “Ghostbusters”. The hall was buzzing with atmosphere, with a crowd of screaming girls (and a few boys) chanting “JEDWARD! JEDWARD!”. Some of the girls had been queuing up since 1:00pm in the afternoon and during the time had practiced a little routine to wow the twins with.

The launch event was a great success though with the Big Cat team even having some time on the rides themselves….well we had to make sure all the rides worked ok.

But, no rest for the wicked though. 3 days left till we break up for Christmas and we still have a pile of work to get through. Some great projects coming up in the New Year though which we’re really excited about, however it’s all a bit hush hush at the moment so you’ll have to wait and see what they are.

Are we as designers now depending on using a computer to do the work for us?

As a team in the studio we often have discussions on how we can give a greater service to our clients, how we can make life ‘easier’ and more productive between the clients and us. One of the issues we seem to come across quite often is portraying our ideas over to the client using scamps.

In previous jobs we have only supplied simple line drawings accompanied with a blurb about what our ideas are. Yes, this sometimes gets agreed first time, with the client getting the ‘idea’ straight away, but often the process takes longer than it really should. Once the idea is approved the client will often not see what the advert or campaign will really look like until the final piece, thus meaning the client could feel unsatisfied and the process may have to start again.

Our idea was to take a step back from the computer, and to create a personal hand drawn, finished scamp (as seen in the image below) using colour and detail, so that the client would get a real image of what the final piece would look like.

Scamping in progress

Using this technique is helping the process from getting the initial idea to the client, to the final piece, easier. The client is happy as they can see we are putting the effort in straight away from the initial ideas, and for our benefit we now have finished scamps that we can take to show potential new clients how hard we work for our current ones.

Final piece

Hi I’m Chris, 22, originally from Wolverhampton, now living in Birmingham. My favourite film is “A tale of 2 sisters”, favourite food is Cornish pasty and favourite band is Epica.

Right, that’s the introductions out the way. If you’d hadn’t guessed from all the tweeting I’m the new Senior Account Executive here at Big Cat, working alongside Natalie in the PR team.

This is the start of my third week here at Big Cat, and in all honesty the first chance I’ve had to blog. It’s been an incredibly busy two weeks in the office, filled with client meetings, tenders and the occasional rubbing of shoulders with celebrities…what a life eh.

My role here at Big Cat will be to support Natalie on all fronts as well as look after clients’ needs/wants in regards to social media. So if you have any questions about what’s trending in the world of social media or just want some advice, don’t be afraid to drop me a line.

Stay tuned to the Big Cat Comms blog as we’ll be keeping you up to date with the goings on in the office and what’s happening in the world of PR.

The NEC call on full service agency to promote Europe’s most exciting funfair.

BigCat will be responsible for a full scale publicity campaign including PR, media buying and social media as well as designing and distributing the Funworld event’s branding and promotional material.

Funworld will run for 22 days from 18 December in Hall 5 at Birmingham’s NEC complex and it will be the largest event of its kind in the UK. It is expected to be attended by around 100,000 people over the Christmas period.

Funworld, the value for money family attraction, will house around 50 exciting rides and attractions over 25,000 square metres, equivalent to 3 football pitches.

Anthony Tattum, Marketing Director of BigCat says: ‘We have worked with The NEC on several projects over the years and it is always pleasure to be involved with them. Funworld promises to be a huge event and it is our goal to lay strong foundations in order to ensure it becomes an annual event.’

Louise Sambrook, Show Manager of The NEC Group says: ‘We were looking for an agency with strong local contacts and knowledge of the entertainment industry and we feel BigCat excel in both of those areas.’

In the interests of Social Media and idea sharing, I would like to do a small post on our work with Bournville College.

Bournville College is a sixth form and adult education establishment just outside Birmingham city centre. They’re an extremely innovative college that were looking to use social media as a tool for connecting with current and prospective students. They contacted us on the matter and off we went.

As with all things, the campaign evolved and adapted throughout its duration. We had a water tight strategy but it is impossible to foresee trends and patterns in student viewing habits. Our campaign was based around the existing Bournville Blog that had been left dormant for sometime and we set up a bouquet of social media applications that were to satellite the blog acting as a referral tool and a real time conversational app.

As it is impossible to forecast the best social media apps for reaching students, we started with a blanket campaign over all the apps including Twitter, Bebo, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon and Delicious. Each was given equal weight and attention until it became clear which ones were effective and which ones were not.

We applied the same ’survival of the fittest’ mentality to the blog which was the ‘meat on the bone’ of the campaign. We initially wrote a new blog post every day with each post covering a different school subject everyday. We tried to make all posts appeal to inquisitive teens so we did posts on things such as the science behind a bacon sandwich and discussing what ‘Only fools and horses’ taught us about finance as well as live social reporting from Bournville’s open days and fayres.

Conversation was the foundation of our campaign and our main goal from start to finish was to create content that would provoke comments. Dialogue is the most important part of social media. Our initial posts, although well visited, were not gaining the frequency of comments we were hoping for. A more question based blogging style was to be used. We wanted to talk about relevant topics and ask the audience for their feedback. It was a great deal more successful and our blog and Facebook pages soon became forums for people to comment on.

With regards to applications and portals, there is no cast iron one that works for everyone. With our young audience we had anticipated a lot more from our Bebo page but it was Facebook, Stumble and Digg that were our big hitters, so we pulled out of the other applications and put our energies into making them a success. Twitter was a slight disappointment which I think may have been a result of Twitter being a more adult toy, certainly for our other accounts, particularly Bodies Revealed, Twitter has been an excellent conversational tool and information portal.

The question asking and dialogue through Facebook kept interest up during the summer holidays where we were expecting a down turn. Our social reporting was gaining a lot of hits and a small community was growing. As the campaign drew to its climax and prospectus downloads became the paramount target, our posts across all apps became a lot more sales driven.

In the end, Bournville received a record high enrollment and they will now be using social media as a regular tool for communication within the college.

We don’t profess to be social media geniuses but there were some valuable lessons we learnt on the way.

1. Always adapt – new trends and apps pop up all the time and devices you thought may be successful often may not be

2. Know you end and goal and stick at it – if you want comments, write posts that provoke comments

3. Reply to everything - it’s obvious but people don’t do it. Social media is two way and that is its sole purpose.

Without wanting to sound a bit shameless, Alma Aganovic of Bournville College had this to say about it all:

Social media is a very innovative marketing approach for the FE sector, with Bournville taking the lead, with Big Cat’s help. Using several social networking websites, as well as our own website blog, we have opened dialogues with potential students and the local community. This has in turn led to increased traffic on our website and an increase in downloaded brochures, both of which have been great news.

Working with Big Cat has been productive and enjoyable. We have monitored the campaign very closely, adapting activities to meet our targets. Big Cat have been very responsive and creative in terms of coming up with suggestions for adjusting campaign objectives, making the most of activities taking place at the College (e.g. Live blogging from Open Days etc). Following the success of the summer campaign, we are continuing to work with Big Cat this year to promote our Open Days. I have no hesitation in recommending this agency as a social media partner.

Yesterday was the press day for Bodies Revealed that was very well received from all and sundry. A lot of press photographers had a field day with a lot of the exhibits. Two friends of the company and superlative artists in their field, Karen Strunks and Alex Hughes applied their skills to the exceptional specimens on display. Please enjoy and visit Karen’s and Alex’s websites, they’re two really talented artists.

If you can’t see the slideshows, click for Karen Strunks and Alex Hughes’ images.

The question here is…do you need to fancy up a logo to have a lasting impression on the audience that it is aimed at?

My personal opinion is no…simplicity is the key.

Take for example a recent logo, uploaded by the Big Idea team. Now on Logo of the Day.

This logo is a ‘logo of the day award winner’ and just shows how a simple logo with a slight hidden message can still be appreciated by the public in today’s modern society.

Some time ago I wrote a blog post about what might be the future of the Custard Factory, claiming that its capacity as a music venue had somewhat reached its terminal velocity. Every big night is full but you can’t expand financially until you expand physically.

The answer to the conundrum may be answered by the forthcoming Bodies Revealed exhibition and similar events. Bodies Revealed is open all day, six days a week and is expected to bring 6,500 people through the doors of Custard Factory’s Space 2. That is a consistent number that doing big club nights simply can’t compete with. In addition to that, every visitor will no doubt drop into ‘Yumm’ for their lunch, The Old Crown for a pint and do some shopping in the flea market or COW. The knock on effects for the local economy could be profound.

It also provides invaluable PR for the Custard Factory. A new breed of customer will be taken into the creative beehive and see what everyone gets so excited about. It could inspire bigger exhibitions or events to use the Custard Factory, in turn perpetuating more business to the complex and its neighboring amenities.

The Gallery, Old Library, Theatre and Factory Club could all benefit from the extra exposure and visitor footfall. The potential of the Custard Factory has been the talk of creative Birmingham for some time, maybe now it is the chance to fulfil it.

Having completed an English degree at Aberdeen University in June, I was fully aware that I had one more chance to revel in the spoils of what would be my last summer as a student, before I embarked upon what was to be, if not a career, at least something that would fill my pockets in the absence of the all too heavily relied upon student loan. In order to offset the trepidation and prevailing angst, my friends and I avoided the subject of the ‘real world’ at all times and carried on our lackadaisical student lifestyle with vigour, sitting back and watching the last few students slowly dwindle out of Aberdeen. All of a sudden it was my turn to leave!

 Having returned home to live with my parents, the next few months weren’t much fun. Sending off about 50 job applications a day and only getting the response of; ‘Dear Benjamin, thank you for your application, however we feel that you do not have the necessary experience for this position’. Now answer me this, how was I supposed to gain the experience I needed if no one would employ me? Slowly it began to dawn on me that I may have to settle for a job in telesales or knocking on doors. I went for knocking on doors (at least this way I’d be outside and keeping fit!)

 At 15 I never thought I would be sat where I am right now; at a computer in an office in Birmingham city centre writing about myself. In fact, apart from that I am wearing my own choice of casual clothing, I am pretty much the epitome of everything I swore never to become. I was going to be a rock star and/or writer and although these dreams are not yet entirely out of my grasp, they are not yet providing an income. At the uncertain yet still youthful age of 25, I have just been granted an internship at Big Cat Group, a PR, marketing and events company, that luckily for me offers a place where I can gain the experience that was so desperately sought after. It was the opportunity I had been waiting for and after an interview, a blog post and a trial shift here I am. It’s only my second week on the job but I am thoroughly enjoying the work I am doing. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first applied for the position, I envisaged three months of photocopying, making tea and fetching biscuits from the shops. So far it has exceeded my expectations and not a photocopier in sight! Its allowing me to think, create and use some of the ‘skills’ that I learned at university and although I am not getting paid I feel that it is at last giving me some direction and control in my life. Maybe I am ready for the ‘real world’, just maybe…

Visit www.bodiesbirmingham.co.uk

After traveling the world and receiving spectacular reviews from New York to Athens, with the help of Big Cat group, Bodies Revealed is here!

The extraordinary anatomical exhibition is coming to the heart of England and can be seen from the 30th October at the Custard Factory, Birmingham. Without a doubt this is one of the most fascinating and bizarre exhibitions ever to grace the venue, but in conjunction with Dr Roy Glover, the Chief Medical Director and his expert team, we look to educate and inform the public in a truly amazing manner.

This exclusive exhibition gives people of all ages a chance to explore the complex inner workings of our own bodies in an exciting and educational way.

Bodies Revealed is an exciting and pioneering exhibition that revolutionises the way in which we look at our bodies. Using polymer preservation techniques Dr Roy Glover, presents a fantastic opportunity to view the complex systems that we all rely on to live.

‘Opening yourself to a greater knowledge of your own body will enable you to make more informed decisions about its care and keeping. If you are successful at doing this, then the countless hours of work that have gone into developing and preparing the exhibition for you to enjoy will have been richly rewarded.’ Dr. Roy Glover, Chief Medical director.

The intimate workings of our bodies has fascinated humans since the dawn of the species, from the first recorded medical dissection by the ancient Greeks in 500 B.C, to the beginnings of the Human Genome project in 2003. Bodies Revealed offers a unique opportunity for the public to see what is really happening inside the human body. Using real human specimens and the pioneering technique of polymer preservation, the effects of a bad diet, excessive drinking and smoking, can bee seen in amazing detail.

It really is an opportunity not to be missed. The incredible instrument that is the human body is stripped bare and all of its deepest and previously hidden wonders are on display for all to see.

Visit www.bodiesbirmingham.co.uk for more information. Bodies Revealed Social Media can be found on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Digg and FriendFeed.

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This weekend Artsfest 2009 is upon us bringing its usual mix of eclectic musical tastes and drip feed of theatre.

Free for all public events is what makes a city in my opinion; it gives you a reason to live or visit somewhere and, credit where its due, Birmingham City Council do make proactive strides to ensure Birmingham is regularly updated with municipal events.

Frankfurt German Market, Taste of Birmingham, International Food Market, the list goes on. Every month or so an event worth attending rears its head, not only that, a (usually) free event. Music (or perhaps arts) and food seem to be the common themes and, although not particularly varied, they are themes worth persuing.

Art representation grows year on year in Birmingham with Digbeth as its cradle and champion, while food has unexpectedly put Birmingham on the map, with its newly awarded Michelin star restaurants as its flagship. Perhaps food shouldn’t be such a surprise, Birmingham is after all the birth place of Cadbury’s.

So get down to Artsfest, enjoy free, high quality music, because few other places offer it and few others do it at such quality.

And for once let’s doff our caps to the people at BCC who are helping to bring a new identity to the city’s public areas.

Written by Anthony Tattum on 26 Aug 09 at 10:20am

I am no expert on film making. There, I have said it, so my following comments are based on observations and research. Film making is changing. More specifically: how to make a living from it as a small indie.

Nora playing the piano

I was participating in a conference, Hello Digital, a screen and digital media conference and festival which we [Big Cat] helped organise last year. Film makers were asking a guy from Channel 4 how to make money from film making any more when people download them for free?

The internet has forced a lot of traditional industries to rethink their business models. The media, high street retail and insurance to name but a few have seen revenues decimated by online competition.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Rupert Neate reported in the Telegraph today that the Google owned website YouTube has extended a scheme to share advertising revenues with prolific creators to include one-off video which “goes viral” and proves very popular. The notion of employing global social platforms to distribute content and gain infamy or money is nothing new.

Lauren Luke, a 27-year old from Newcastle-upon-Tyne has dropped out of school and become Britain’s most successful YouTube video creator offering beauty how-to tips.

At present only US-based users will be able to participate, but YouTube has said it intends to extend the scheme internationally. But does this mean that to make a living our highly creative film makers will have to “sell out” and produce piano-playing kitten videos or film their friends doing death defying stunts?

Last Week it was announced that Entertainment Weekly, the US’s weekly entertainment guide (obviously), would be the first printed publication to include a video ad in it’s pages.

Pepsi will be the first company to be advertised on the small mobile phone screen sized display advertisement, along with CBS network previews. The technology used is similar to that which is used in the (utterly hilarious) singing greeting cards. The chips can hold roughly 40 minutes of footage and have rechargable batteries.

Watch it here

So when we watch films like Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Total Recall, Minority Report, even Harry Potter (see the Daily Prophet) and we laugh at the idea of a hoverboard or interactive and holographic ads, is the advertising industry laughing with us, or is it busy taking notes?

So, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s both impressive and exciting (and maybe a touch novel). At the moment, it is only brands with MASSIVE advertising budgets like Pepsi that can even consider splashing out/experimenting with this kind of marketing.

But what does this mean for the wider advertising industry?

Well if this takes off, a market which is even more competitive than it currently is. This technology isn’t going to be cheap (until they can be mass produced for a few pence), and along with the increase in printing costs, the publications are going to hold all the cards surely. To use a football analogy (if in doubt…): With their new wealth and ambition, Manchester City have single-handedly increased the market value of any player by 50% . Everton can now name a price for Joleon Lescott, now a £24m player, according to the word of Manchester City. How much would he cost to another club without if City’s financial influence wasn’t practically monopolising the market (the Real Madrid-less market that is)?

Anyway what I’m trying to say is that these ad spaces will be priced out of smaller brands budgets. Although the Video.Chip.Print ads will not be abundant for some time, therefore competition for places is going to be fierce, especially if this is successful. And the more money thats being pumped in, the bigger it will get.

It will certainly go a long way in helping create a good impression, maintaining that when the competition hits will be the next test.

On a final note, I’m waiting for the day this happens as I walk past Cineworld:

Birmingham YMCA has recruited 360^o agency Big Cat Group to support them in an ambitious fundraising project. The target £1.5 million to be raised will enable the YMCA to build community facilities that will feature as part of the £13.5 million re-development of the current site on Reservoir Road, Erdington.

BigCat will be project managing aspects of the fundraising activity including implementing a sponsorship strategy and promoting the 18-month fundraising project through an extensive PR campaign.  BigCat were selected to assist the YMCA after the delivery of a successful PR campaign in 2008, where BigCat helped to promote the objectives of the re-development, helping the YMCA to secure the existing £12 million.

The youth and community centre, part of the scheme called The Orchard, will house facilities including a multi-use sports hall, training and meeting rooms and a ‘chill-out’ space for young people.  These facilities have been designed to create a platform for YMCA residents to integrate themselves productively into society, through voluntary activity and paid work at the project.

(Left) Anthony Tattum, Marketing & Communications Director, BigCat. (Right) Alan Fraser, CEO, Birmingham YMCA.

Costs for the Erdington development are estimated to be approximately £13.5 million, of which £12 million has already been secured.  The scheme has been included in Birmingham City Council’s ‘Places of Change’ programme – a national initiative to create places of change for formerly homeless people, and help integrate them back into the community.

The real world, but not as we know it. The film industry has a great influx of new digitally mastered films, with the likes of Transformers being a massive hit. There are more masterpieces in production, so I thought I would examine a few, that I think look amazing.

Tron: Legacy

Tron Legacy is a contemporary version of the ’80 cult classic’. The Big wigs in Hollywood have now made a more slick and finished version and it looks awesome. I’m not too sure of the plot, but as you can see from the trailer, the graphics will definitely impress.

TRON LEGACY

THE ORIGINAL TRON

Alice in Wonderland

The genius that is Tim Burton has re-made this Disney classic. It follows the familiar, weird, and wonderfull style of other Tim Burton films i.e. Beatlejuice? If you’re looking for an all round ‘realistic but surreal’ graphic set-up then this is one to see.

JOHNNY DEPP AS THE MAD HATTER

There is news of a new Toy Story film coming out early next year, so let’s hope it gets here sooner rather than later.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Twitter recently changed it’s own branding…
However when I searched for new the Twitter branding, I found that everyone seems to have there own various of the Twitter bird? Why is this? Is this good for the brand? Below are a few examples I thought you could look at……

As a creative, one of my key roles within the industry is Art Direction. Mostly this involves steering the way projects end up, both strategically and aesthetically, through the use of substract, type, image, shape and colour and on the odd occasion with the use of light and/or moving image.

My most recent AD assignment took me down a quite unusual path as the requirements were very specific but at the same time awkward.

In short, a new client had asked for a photoshoot to help promote the launch of a new range of products. Established for over 140 years, but needed to develop and modernise the brand, re-invent themselves, new markets, new opportunities,  etc etc. Only problem was, the photoshoot that they wanted was full of high expectation… “ Can we have a 30-35 year old with an Audrey Hepburn feel/Claudia Schiffer age/Girls Aloud attitude, finally can we get it done and printed for Tuesday last week!!!

Of course we delivered, because that’s what we do! Right? Where was I going to find a FREE model of that age, hair that could be styled and with plenty of slap on could be transformed and commercially acceptable.

They say “never work with animals and children”. I’ve got one more to add to that…. THE WIFE!!!!!

Check out the before and after shots for yourself!!

Before

After 1

After 2

Quick blog…I recently came across this great piece of footage of a Mac that transforms…don’t believe me? Check the video out at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=adf_1245828170

What’s amazing about this video is that it seems so ‘real’, the camera never really changes focus, there is still camera shake, as though this is ‘really’ happening, and the commentary finishes it off, as you can tell that the person who is watching the transformation, can’t believe whats happening.

Great piece of video manipulation.

Mac's can now transform