Howies' pragmatic take on life

Wenlock & Mandeville, mascots for the 2012 Olympic Games have been revealed. Needless to say, the debate has only just started….

Loved this tweet from Big Arnie, ringing Camo on the basis of the exit poll result (before a single seat had been announced). Bless him, with the big Austrian on his side, Camo can simply storm the doors of Westminster if he doesn’t get his majority.

After the excruciating fiasco with dear Mrs Duffy yesterday, but fearful that Clegg & Cameron wouldn’t ‘go negative’ on Gordo,  I kept a close eye on Twitter during tonight’s election debate. Lot’s of tweets, but my favourite and wonderfully juvenile was not about Brown, but Cleggy dobbing someone in at school for smoking.

Tonight we won the MCCA Best Newcomer Agency award.

It’s late and we’re all a little emotional.

Only 12 of us were here tonight, but this is recognition for the hard work and passion of 39 exceptional individuals. To our clients… thanks for the belief. There’s no braver client than those that take a leap of faith and put their trust in a two man start-up. To our team a million thank you’s.

This is just the start.

Really?

For anyone who flies frequently, it’s pretty much accepted that the US airlines don’t come close to the Cathays, Singapores & Virgins of this world. They seem stuck in some 70’s vortex of poor product design and stultifyingly scripted service speak. If you fly Business or First with United (heaven forbid) the steward comes round and shakes everybody’s hand just before landing, saying how much they “personally appreciate your airline carrier choice”. Who talks like that?

Anyway, sitting on an internal flight in the States last weekend, another thing struck me… the tone and over claim of certain brand promises. Again, the statement on the napkin just doesn’t ring true (either side of the pond). Certainly, as I sat grimly looking at that foam cup of tepid tea with a LOWEST FARE ad on the side and a sachet of milk powder to add to my misery, it didn’t feel like a “lifetime memory” I’d like to dwell on.

365 Days. 206 Countries. 1 Mission

If you haven’t seen Expedition 206 yet you should take a look.

Coke consumers selected 3 Happiness ambassadors through an on-line vote… and their reward? To visit every one of the 206 countries where Coca Cola is sold. Specifically their role is to seek out what makes people happy and share that happiness with the rest of the world.

And the world seems to be listening, with the trios’ uploaded content generating 400 million impressions in China in January alone. Kelly, Tony & Tono have now visited 29 countries in 42 days and are heading to the Vancouver Winter Olympics as we speak (lucky buggers). I believe they’ll be in South Africa when the FIFA World Cup hits town too. Nice.

We are delighted that we’ve been short-listed as Newcomer Agency of the Year in the 2010 MCCA Best Awards. As always with these things, there’s a mixture of excitement and trepidation. We want to win it. We’d hate to lose.

You can check out the complete shortlist here. The big night is the 4th March. Wish us luck or even vote for us!

Well the cold ’snap’ (why do we call it that?) continues & the snow keeps on falling. This was the view from my front door last night. Eerie, but strangely beautiful.