The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

This is the sign outside of the bank today.  Have they done this to …

1. Prove they are nice guys really.

2. Fool kids into thinking Santa banks with them so they will come in and open a savings account.

3. Demonstrate they truly have ‘lost it’ – as best exemplified by the stupid keyring security they introduced, which I still hate and you can read about here. 

If any other organisation did this, you’d think it was cute – however because a bank has done it, you think they’re being manipulative, corporate sharks.

Why don’t they understand that in the main, people don’t like banks … don’t trust banks … don’t respect banks …

A few of them are starting to get it – with the latest being WESTPAC in Australia who have done a wonderful campaign [with a real, differentiated idea] thanks to the brilliance of the nicest, smartest and greatest planner ever – Mark Sareff of the Campaign Palace … but in the main, they are as blinkered to the needs and wants of consumers as they’ve ever been – probably because everyday consumers don’t make them as much money as the needs and wants of the Investment Bankers.

Banking needs a reality check … and they would do well to start by reading ‘Banks Behaving Badly by Maria Preudergast – afterall, it helped us win Egg in America [that and the involvement of the greatest business cynic of them all, Geoff Burch]

… you can be in the loo having a pee and not go into an instant panic when the cleaning lady bursts in and goes about her business [as in ‘work’] 2 feet away from you. 

And no Andy … she’s not young, she’s not hot and she’s not offering any other ‘cleaning services’!

Infact, when I leave Asia I’m going to have to undergo a massive readjustment because it’s very easy to get used to thinking everywhere is as safe as Singapore, that 2 hour Taxi rides will always cost around 2 quid and fantastic meals will set you back about a quid at a hawker stall.  Then there’s the price of technology …

Which begs the question … why in the hell would I want to leave???

I think this is bloody brilliant – a store that sells products that are formulated to benefit specific blood types. Talk about personalisation …

I suppose it is an obvious extension of the World’s approach to ‘getting fit’.  Whereas once it meant getting out and doing something like sport with friends, now it’s all about focused on specific activities like going to the gym, eating specialist foods and now, enhancing our blood.

At this rate, brands like Adidas and NIKE will only make money on their shoes if they focus on fashion and/or gym activities – because we’re entering a World where sport, other than professional, is becoming more and more redundant in our daily lives.

Just Do It?  Just Did It!

So Britney and her redneck hubbie have finally fallen apart. 

Not the biggest surprise … and yet, despite all the ‘scandals’ involving Brit [driving with her child on her knee / driving without her child being locked into the baby seat etc] she was definitely seen as the more ‘responsible’ of the parents.

Infact, as the marriage got closer and closer to disintegration, you saw more and more stories about K-Fed being out partying while Brit was being the good Mum and stayed at home.

Now it’s all over … isn’t it funny that this kind, caring, responsible Mum is no longer staying at home with her kids, but going out partying with Ms Home-Porn herself, Paris Hilton!

Hmmmmn, does anyone else think this smacks of a well orchestrated PR smear campaign?

OK, so K-Fed is hardly a ‘victim’ given he ended up with a Ferrari, money in the bank and a few years ‘living the dream’ but it does show that interms of massaging people’s perceptions – good PR [if you can call it that] is far more effective than the majority of advertising out there.

Well my beloved became Gareth from ‘The Office’ again which you can read on Jillyism and of course the ‘Give Rob A Job’ petition is still looking for signatures while ‘Advertising Relate’ continues to hand out interdepartmental advice [though in reality, it is still a one-joke blog] … however I also have a couple of new sites for your viewing boredom … I mean pleasure … and these include ‘BSI’ [thanks for the pictures I’ve been sent, I’ll be putting them up shortly and keep them coming] and ‘Mental Moments In Adland’ … so what that means is that all my time is spent keeping the bloody things up to date [which of course I am failing to do] rather than do the work my clients are paying me for.

Some might call that irresponsible … I call it capitalist rebellion. Well, I do till I’m either told off or sacked, then I’ll call it bloody stupid!