Superbowl Coca Cola ad a favourite in this weeks ignition 5

Monday morning ignition for you,

From Clodagh and Vanessa

Enjoy!

 

Mc Donalds ad in Egypt a highlight of this weeks ignition 5

From Vanessa, Martina and Dillon

Enjoy your Monday morning ignition,

V

Grub’s up: Cooking’s Gone Viral

 

Even though we’re well into 2011 now, I can’t help but think about what trends this year will bring. Something I keep on noticing is the rising commercial importance of cooking . The phenomenally successful ‘Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals’ has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time. The bestselling app this week is Oliver’s ‘Jamie’s Recipes’.

It’s not just Jamie, though, who is turning cooking into big business. There are now a host of cooking apps available to download, and many other celebrity chefs have achieved success in the marketplace by publishing their culinary secrets.

YouTube demonstrations of how to knock up some decent grub, meanwhile, have only made it easier to get creative in the kitchen. You certainly can’t get away from the rising influence of cooking in the OMD office. Four budding exponents of the culinary arts  have set up what’s known as the Lunch Club, where a different member of the quartet cooks each day for the remaining three.

Those of us beyond that small group are understandably jealous when the scents of their homely delights waft across the office. And it’s had an affect: homecooking has gone viral. Recipes have replaced X-Factor contestants as the topic du jour, here at least.

So why, all of a sudden, is cooking so popular? Is it because we now access recipes and demonstrations easily online? Is it because dining out is no longer as popular? Maybe, but something else springs to mind.

We have already seen, in a previous post discussing the Ikea Effect , how people appreciate something more when they’ve been involved in its production. This could be a DIY wardrobe, but it also holds true for Moroccan-style lamb or Feta cheese salad.

With increasing numbers move from haute  to home cuisine, cooking means business

Bon Appetit!

Carly

Will You Love Me Tomorrow? – Advertising to remember

I was reading an article the other day about fame in general and in particular the article posed the question as to who might people still be talking about in 500 years time. After all a fair proportion of the world know a bit about Da Vinci, Machiavelli and Socrates a long long time after they decided to move on to a better place. Who will be the Da Vinci of today that the world talks about in the future? The Beatles possibly, Lady Gaga possibly not.

It got me thinking about great brands and great adverts that last the test of time.  Brands that earned the right to call themselves household names. Some brands have been household names for quite a while: Coke, Guinness, Ford; others not quite so long, but they’ve made a major impact in their so far relatively short life spans: Nike, Google, Facebook. People talk fondly of Persil, Guinness and Bisto ads of old – will they still do so in 50 years time, let alone 500.

In most cases the brands that have achieved this longevity, have done so through a body of consistently great communications over decades rather than years. Persil celebrated 100 years recently and has a portfolio of advertising that would be the envy of most brands.

Google, modern wonder of the world that it is, breaks all the rules. It manages near ubiquity yet I’m not conscious of seeing a paid for media placement by Google in any media. This fact in itself may ensure we still talk about Google in 500 years. Indeed we’ll probably require Google to find out about those brands and famous people from way back in 2011 – Jedward anyone?

Tim

Valentines Day, Superbowl ads, all part of Ig5 Monday

Happy Valentines Day,

From Sophie and Vanessa

 

 

Aoife Joyce is…. at work!

Where else would I be on a Monday- Friday from 9.00-5.30pm?  The launch of Facebook places in Ireland is really starting to get under my skin. Do we really need to inform our online friends of our every move? On my regular near 4 hour train journey West at the weekend, I was inundated with updates from friends of their whereabouts. Joe Bloggs is at The Porterhouse with 7 other tagged people, oh now he’s at Dakota, and finally he’s hitting the dance floor in Lillies. By the time I made it home, I was exhausted trying to keep up with his trail of destruction around Dublin on a Friday night!  

There is a certain air of desperation about the whole thing, feeling that you have to let people know how much of a social bee you are, flitting from place to place! I also feel weirdly stalkerish knowing peoples every move, and there’s a Big Brother vibe around it.  There are privacy issues too, and with a lot of facebook users still keeping their profiles public, they are open to all sorts of danger. A lot of people think they’re only sharing info with their friends, but they have to assume that they’re sharing their whereabouts with anyone who can access their friends’ computers or Facebook accounts.” Mary Jones is at the travel agents booking a holiday… now she’s at the dog kennels dropping off her favourite pet…. And finally she’s at the airport… great so now everyone knows you’re out of town and there’s no-one at home.  People need to consider the consequences of some location information getting out past their immediate circle of friends.

However, the deals aspect of Facebook places makes sense, you can avail of deals and promotions from a variety of businesses by checking in, and you are rewarded through what are essentially loyalty schemes. It allows you to see what offers are nearest to you at any time and share them with friends. The concept of using your friends to find the best deals or experiences is not a new one, but now it’s technologically enabled on your phone, and everyone knows word of mouth is the strongest form of advertising. Great news for business owners, who can get their premises on the facebook map, verifying they are an official representative and claiming it as their own. Once someone checks in, they can spread the word that their business is the place to be!

Overall however, I’m not a fan. My opinion may change, when all my friends are getting great freebies, and discounts that I’m missing out on, but for now I’ll stick to Citydeal for those. I’ll update my status update on facebook from time to time if I’ve something interesting to say, and I’ll text or ring my friends if I want them to know where I am. And in short, for the rest of the week, I’ll be in work for most of the day, I might go to the gym/pool in the evening, and come the weekend I may even go to the cinema/pub if I’m feeling adventurous! Now, there’s no need to check in anywhere is there?

Aoife

This weeks Ignition 5 from Joanne and Vanessa

Monday = Ignition 5 time,

Enjoy,

Vanessa