Welcome to the Pleasuredome - Frankie goes to Hollywood
Art and design has always been an interest of mine too so the sleeve art always fascinated me. Former music journalist Paul Morley was catalyst for many of the ideas for the ‘look’ of the label and the brainchild of its groundbreaking marketing. Paul worked with David Smart to create some iconic designs which still look great to this day.
The cover story this time is on Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and his keynote address at the 6UK launch event back in November. IPv6 is understandably a big talking point in the industry right now with IPv4 exhaustion just around the corner.
Other stories featured in this edition include the Google Internet Economy Report, the Cisco Visual Networking Index and data centre news from Greg McCulloch at Interxion. There’s also a bumper member news section with Cablenet, ATMAN, Hurricane Electric and associate LINX member, Netnod.
There also the regular features from the Internet Society (ISOC) and the RIPE NCC plus a round up of recent Public Affairs news stories. Added to this is a review of the recent Internet industry events such as the 5th Polish Network Operators’ Group meeting (PLNOG5) in Krakow.
Readers may be interested to know that there is now a specific HotLINX Facebook page which includes exclusive content such as unpublished event photos and articles.
In the UK there is a TV series called the Secret Millionaire where a wealthy person goes undercover into underprivileged areas and then after a period of time comes clean and hands over money for what he considers a deserving cause, person or project. It seems that £30K is the usual amount that is given overall and it could be split several ways for repairs to a local facility, or help with a care centre or for a person or family who are doing good in the community or becuase they deserve a break. It’s quite emotional stuff on many levels.
First of all you have the successful person. Being one of those ‘in the middle’ of society that have a decent job and are doing OK, how should I react to him or her? Some will be jealous of their success saying it is down to luck or a prosperous family whether they’ve earnt it or not. Others will applaud them because they had the drive and commitment to be a success especially if they started with nothing. Then there will be cynical people who think they are doing good to boost their ego or to make some personal gain and not doing it for the right reasons.
We also have those people who need care, or are out of work, living in poor conditions or being brought up in violent areas. People who feel trapped in their circumstances and can’t see a way out. Despite any range of problems including one or all of the above there are the persons who still seem to love life and will do anything for anyone for nothing or a pittance because it is the right thing to do.
The London Internet Exchange (LINX) has announced the launch of the latest edition of its quarterly magazine, HotLINX, which includes a special three page feature on Cloud Computing as its lead story.
Internet intelligence and cybersecurity experts Renesys, LINX member BSO Network Solutions and network hardware provider Brocade, have all contributed with each approaching the Cloud concept from a different angle. The topic has polarised many in the industry so these articles are sure spark further debate in the LINX community.
LINX is a mutual, not-for-profit organisation whose 370-plus members include the majority of the world’s leading network operators. Membership of LINX provides a cost effective way of improving traffic latency and quality by direct peering with other member networks.
Traditionally, one of the first places new businesses advertise themseleves has been in classified sections in newspapers and in trade directories such as Yellow Pages. It makes sense, right? Truth is commerce is changing, and where once potential customers would look in printed media for service providers, people now generally are looking online for this information first. The company website is the obvious place to start plus social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook where you can often find up to the minute offers.
Yellow Pages have adapted and do have an online presence in yell.com and I’m sure that will continue perform well. However, the days of the printed directory look to be numbered especially after the results of a recent survey from Vistaprint.
Small Biz Marketing: More Bad News for Yellow Pages
By Matt McGee
It’s not quite “breaking news” anymore is it? No, but here are more troubling statistics for the yellow pages and, specifically, their status as a marketing venue for small businesses: According to a recent survey of “micro-businesses” conducted by Vistaprint, two-thirds of respondents have “no interest” in marketing via the yellow pages, and only 11% say they plan to use it in the future.
I was interested to hear this week that clothes retailer Gap had ditched their new logo just six days after its launch. After falling sales in recent times the company had to do something to revive its fortunes but the new design was so poor I simply cannot believe that they felt that this was the image that was going to achieve the success they craved. It was as if it was deliberately terrible just to provoke a reaction.
Gap has nearly 300 stores in Europe and Asia, is valued at nearly $4 billion, and is reportedly the 84th most-valuable brand in the world according to an Interbrand study. Because of this the more I look at the rejected logo, the more convinced I am that this was simply a publicity stunt, a veiled attempt to generate media exposure. The original identity is still strong though it is quite obviously of its day, ie the early 90s. Maybe it is time for a revamp but their choice had nothing that would identify it as a major brand whatsoever. As one commentator had it, it look more like a logo for an IT firm.
The X Factor is the biggest show on British TV right now and anyone advertising their product during the ad breaks are going to have pay a huge premium for the privilege. If you can secure a spot in the first break of the live shows you will have to pay even more.
Yeo Valley Organic have just done that with a full two minute ad promoting their milk with an innovative commercial which sees trendy young farmers rapping. It’s certainly not the traditional way we expect to see the countryside portrayed.
A couple of weeks ago I created a Facebook fan page for HotLINX magazine, a publication I design and edit for the London Internet Exchange. While part of reason for doing this was vanity I also recognised that there was potentially a lot to be gained by adding this facility to LINX social networking activity.
Now, HotLINX is quite a specialised magazine which is aimed primarily at its ISP members peering Internet traffic at the LINX exchange but it does also try to reflect some of the broader Internet industry issues such as government regulation. As a quarterly publication it is inevitable that not every article feature up to the minute news so I wanted to introduce a way of publishing related material that kept the HotLINX name in the consciousness of its stakeholders.
Facebook has two networking types: The Facebook group and the Facebook fan page. As I’ve already stated I went for the fan page which I felt better suited my needs though that will not necessarily apply to you. Rather than go into the differences in-depth I’d like to refer you to the Search Engine Journal site which actually carried out some detailed research into the two services. You can read about the findings on their Facebook Group vs Facebook Fan Page: What’s Better? page.
There will be a few people who will know I’m interested in psychology, the Law of Attraction, Intention Manifestation and the like. I thought I’d recount a couple of stories from the last couple of weeks that could be described as proof there’s ‘something in it’or simply wild coincidences.
A while back I had the sum of £40,000 come into my head. I don’t know why it just seemed to present itself to me and it hung around long enough to make think about how I should use that particular thought. In the evening I spotted a lottery scratch card where the top prize was £40,000 a year for life which felt like a sign worth following up on.
Now, I don’t normally do gambling of any sort but I did wonder whether the figure was significant so I bought a card and won!
Many companies in these troubled economic times are finding it increasingly difficult to advertise their products and services effectively due to rising operating costs. The temptation is to try and save money by doing it yourself but this can be a false economy as any marketing strategy needs to be carefully considered to ensure it achieves the maximum impact. In an offer designed to give your business the best chance of success I am offering my services in a special ‘try before you buy’ way.
Here’s the marketing spiel…
Do you have a job or task which you want taking off your hands? Has it been sat there for weeks or months just gathering dust? What would you give to just to get it out of the way so you can move forward again.
Do you need a logo creating or a leaflet designed? What about some advertising or brochure copy? Maybe you need assistance with social networking strategy or someone to review your website who will see it with fresh eyes?
Basically I will undertake any project for you and will do it for whatever you think it is worth. If you don’t feel what I have done is right for you or your business then you can decide to pay nothing. It’s that simple.
HotLINX issue 22 - Download available now
You can see an example of my work by downloading a copy of the company magazine I design and write for.
Two decades of design and marketing experience is at your disposal. You – or any of your friends and associates for that matter – could be about to net yourself a bargain! Just use the contact me facility at the top of the page to put in your request.
I was interested to hear this week that clothes retailer Gap had ditched their new logo just six days after its launch. After falling sales in recent times the company had to do something to revive its fortunes but the new design was so poor I simply cannot believe that they felt that this was the image that was going to achieve the success they craved. It was as if it was deliberately terrible just to provoke a reaction.
Orbell Communications 