BALLS!

James Dyson is an inspired inventor! The Dyson Ball vacuum cleaner goes round corners more easily.

He's identified a problem. Identified a solution. And markets it with himself as 'frontman'.

For personality-led businesses, this can be an effective approach.

It works for Dyson. It works for me. Maybe it would work for you too?

What's the last thing you bought

as the result of an ad?

I had to answer that question as part of a copy test when I applied to go to copywriting college years ago. Many, many years ago. So many years ago that the acceptance letter from Watford College was written on a typewriter.

I think I argued that no ad had ever changed my buying behaviour – oh, the foolishness of youth!

So, what would your answer be?

Meet Sergei, IT genius!

Aleksandr Orlov has just tweeted a sneak preview of the brand new TV advertisement for Compare the Meerkat dot com.

Watch it here.

If you're not on Twitter, you're missing out!

Follow me @jackiebarrie

"Does my bum look big in this?"

After three complaints (3!), the ASA has banned this ad for suggesting that Courage beer can boost confidence.

But who's laughing now? As with all controversy, the story has received acres of coverage.

Read the BBC report.

Colin the Fish

I thought it was April 1st when I heard about this, but no, the story broke on April 6th, so it must be true.

Sainsbury's has re-named unpopular pollack as Colin, in order to encourage sales (Colin being the French name for hake).

Read the story on the BBC News website.

Names can make all the difference. And it is important for us to conserve rarer fish stocks.

But will you be ordering Colin and chips next Friday?

Baby talk

Babies are one of the images that most people find appealing. As are kittens and puppies. So Cow & Gate have laughing babies in their ads. No problem there.

But the captions read, for example: 'Do I look like I need more vitamins and iron?'

Wrong wrong wrong.

It should be: 'Do I look as though I need more vitamins and iron?'

< rant >

The media has a responsibility to use language properly!

< / rant >

AAAA

I think it was columnist Keith Waterhouse who instigated the Association of the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe.

They are needed in Beckenham, where an awning has appeared:



Oh people, signwriters and awning-makers, PLEASE get it right!!!

The Beefcake is Back!

According to Tanya Gold in the Daily Mail. She says:

"In fashion, twigman has gone, to be replaced by David Gandy, the male model of now. I find it hard to pay attention to male models – I always forget a pretty face – but even I can see that Gandy, the Dolce & Gabbana model from Essex with the tiny white pants, looks like a Mexican bandit on steroids. He looks as if he'd cut your throat for 10p and a packet of crisps and then give the entire female readership of the Daily Mail a fireman's lift into work.

...

But why has the beefcake returned? Why has Bruce Banner become Hulk again? What has brought him back?
It's simple. It's so simple even David Gandy could understand it. The 'rise of the drip' was clearly an expression of our collective affluence. In the last boom, we had computers, call centres and automation – and money, so much money, to do everything for us. We lived in a highly sophisticated, fantastical, touch-screen culture where beefcake man was surplus to requirements.

...

But things have changed. Our economy is splintering, our seas are rising and house prices are falling. Look away from the page and look back. Yes, your house just lost another £50 in value. We are afraid, and we should be. So what do we do? We should choose beefcake. Fashion has decreed it. In times of hardship and uncertainty, what sane woman wants to cuddle up to a man she knows she could beat in a fight? Who needs a sensitive accountant when all the money is going? Who needs a man to talk shoes when all the shoes have gone?

It is better to have a man who can mend things for you. And butcher sheep. And build houses and grow vegetables and make things out of bits of wood. Won't you feel safer? Won't you feel better, knowing that there is a serious lump of muscle between you and the cold, cruel world outside?"

All of which is just an excuse to include this picture.

Defining your USP

I drove through a town called Blackheath recently. Not the one in London. This one is the highest point in the Blue Mountains, Sydney. Outside the town is a sign, proudly declaiming it 'Rhododendron Town'.

When in New Zealand, I passed through Auckland: 'The City of Sails', Christchurch: 'Garden City', Tirau: 'The Corrugated Iron Capital', Taihape: 'Gumboot Capital of the World', and Bulls: www.unforgetabull.co.nz.

All these places are aiming to differentiate themselves by picking one characteristic to attract visitors.

If every little town and big city can do it, so can we business owners!