KETTLE

15th November 2011..

 

Today marked a truly historic occasion here at good ol’ 9 Little Portland Street. Sadly we had to say goodbye to a trusty old friend. But fear not, a new dawn has arrived as we celebrate the arrival of our brand spanking new colleague, Ken ‘The kettle’ Wood. He’s a 1.7 litre number, easy to use and has a 360 degree cordless base! And he’s here to stay people.

 

Jingle sells…

15th November 2011..

 

With Christmas just five weeks away, TV ad breaks are bursting with the major retailers’ Christmas ads. As always, there’s some absolute gold and the odd turkey.

We love John Lewis’ impatient little boy (who doesn’t?!?) and Jamie Oliver’s final spot as brand ambassador for Sainsbury’s. We’re divided on Marks & Spencer’s X Factor production, and the boys in the office don’t seem to get Boots’ Mission: Impossible-style ad (funny that).

What do you think? Over them already or your favourite part of the festive season?

 

‘Tis the season…

7th November 2011..

 

Christmas is just around the corner, and you can start getting into the festive spirit now at Duke of York Square, just off Sloane Square in Chelsea.

The square hosted a spectacular event on Friday for their big Christmas light switch on, featuring carol singers, traditional Victorian popcorn, candy floss snacks, a toy workshop, fake snow and even two real live reindeer! Santa himself even turned up to help Ronni Ancona (from BBC’s Big Impression) turn on the lights with a lucky member of the audience.

It was also the grand opening of Santa’s Grotto in the square, which will be open every weekend up until Christmas.

We’ve been busy little elves here at underscore, designing the grotto and all supporting collateral, including window vinyls, large format canvases, directional decals and signage, flyers, posters, data capture and dedicated web and Facebook pages. We think it looks great, and the kids seem to agree!

With Santa in residence right up til Christmas Eve, we suggest you head down, check out the grotto and see if you can grab some knee-time with the big guy!

 

A milestone for television

3rd November 2011..

 

This weekend Alexandra Palace are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the the world’s very first television program – broadcast from the BBC studios at Ally Pally on November 2, 1936.

As the guardians of the Alexandra Palace brand underscore have been very active ahead of the event with new approach and onsite signage installed throughout and our website www.alexandrapalace.com was overhauled to commemorate the occasion.

There’ll be celebrations all weekend at the iconic North London venue, with tours, interactive displays and even the chance to get made up in 1930s TV face make up. We’ve been lucky enough to source some we’ve taken over the background of the Ally Pally site with a beautiful old image of a BBC film crew shooting onsite., and it’s a fascinating insight into the beginnings of a medium we can’t imagine life without.

 

The end of terrible tweets?

31st October 2011..

 

Plenty of businesses avoid, minimise or micromanage their use of Twitter for fear of posting something that should never have seen the light of day. We’ve all heard horror stories of misfired tweets, ranging from the comical to the downright disturbing.

But an Australian start-up may be putting those days behind us. Bleeply collects any tweets before they are posted and sends the tweet to team members for approval. If no one vetoes it or places it on hold, it’s posted automatically. Anything inappropriate can be pulled before it goes public.

Still in private beta testing, the application maintains the immediacy and conversational nature of Twitter, but greatly reduces the risk of tweeting something you’ll live to regret.

One of those ‘why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?’ ideas, we’re very much looking forward to seeing it widely available.