Campaign

BLOGGERS BREAKFAST PHOTOS!

We had a fabulous bloggers breakfast. About 20 people turned up. It was fun. Here's what bloggers look like in the real world...

The Basildon Blogger and Colin Marrs - editor of Campaign Live.

Garry, Lol, Nat and Mark Treefrog.

Rupert and Manu.

A selection of bloggers.

Laura (the Basildon Blogerette) and Sarah.

And a  banana left by Banana Man who, sadly, could not make it.

Thank you all of you for coming. It was great to meet you. Keep on blogging!

ITS BREAKFAST TIME!

Enough of using this blog to terrorise huge corporations.

And thanks to both Darren from BT and Matt from Vodafone for being so on the case and doing their best to sort out our telecommunications problems. 

Today is a great day in the history of Campbell Lace Beta. For today is the first - and hopefully not the last - Beta Blog Breakfast.

There will be bacon butties, croissants, RED BULL and sparkling conversation. And a chance for us to meet and thank  the folks who have helped our blog become one of the most influential blogs on the planet. (A little overclaim there maybe, but what do you expect? It's our job.)

p.s.  A big thank you to RED BULL, for sending us, unsolicited, enough RED BULL to awaken the dead. By way of thanks we would like to make RED BULL the official sponsors of the Beta Blog Breakfast - Sponsored by RED BULL. Any one else who would like to send us excellent free stuff will be similarly deified.

Deliveries to Campbell Lace Red Bull (Beta) 36 - 38 Carnaby Street, London, W1F 7DR.

Vodafone. The power of NO!

Robert's Blackberry died when he was in NY. So today - Sunday - he's spent a joyless couple of hours at Vodafone in Whiteley's trying to get it fixed.

Its going to take two weeks, and Vodafone's fixers are going to wipe all the data off it as a matter of course. Brilliant! Just what you need when you're starting a new company.

Meanwhile, instead of lending Robert another Blackberry, Vodafone will only supply him with a 'courtesy' (discourtesy?) phone which has all the funtionality of a banana.

Now anyone knows that taking a Blackberry away from a Blackberry addict is not a good idea. But to replace it with a banana!

Come on Vodafone and Blackberry. Don't treat your customers - as David Cameron would say - like twats.

 P.S. If there's anyone out there who's had  problems with their Blackberry 'Storm' we'd love to hear. 

OUR NEW YORK OFFICE....

Robert's in New York. Not setting up our New York office as some have speculated. No. He is working with a bunch of entrepreneurs, politicians and environmentalists on setting up a new venture that will focus on creating entrepreneurial solutions to the environmental catastrophe we all face. UNLESS WE ACT NOW!!!

The flight from Heathrow got Robert all nostalgic for the days he worked on Virgin Atlantic. It's still a great airline. And a testament to the power of an entrepreneurial approach to business rather than a corporate one.

We've been busy, which is why we haven't been blogging. Building the machine is just as important as winning business. In many senses more so. 

Weekly we're adding to our number at Carnaby Street. This Monday we're lucky enough to have an ace information architect, journalist and web designer join us called Toby Kay.

In certain senses building a great agency is pretty simple. All we need are brilliant people who share our vision.

Next Thursday is the Campbell Lace Beta blog breakfast. Everyone who has contributed to our blog is invited, plus a few other special guests. We can't wait to meet our blogging buddies.

Its a kind of beta blog bacon butty flash mob.

. 

The power of blog...BT sorted.

So there we are giggling about our latest blog entry (the one complaining about BT) when Jane's mobile rings.

"We've just read your blog, we're sorry, and we'd like to sort out your BT line as soon as possible."

Turns out the guy is from BT's SAS. They're based in Mayfair. We're impressed!

So now we've got a BT telephone line.

There's the power of blog for you. 

As for all those rumours suggesting we've won at least one fabulous client...

Dear British Telecom....

We're a small start up advertisng agency with big ambitions.

Just a handful of hard working, hopeful people.

We're pitching for clients. We're down to the last two agencies on two really big pitches. Against two of London's biggest ad agencies. It's really exciting stuff.

We've got a fab building on Carnaby Street. We've got desks.  We've got chairs. We've got computers. We've got layout pads. A Printer. A kettle. Toilet rolls even. Oh, and a blog.

We're ready to go. Big time. Well almost. Just one small problem.

The one thing we haven't got that we really really need is a BT phone line.

We spend all day - when we're not pitching - pleading with people in your call centres to let us have a BT phone line soon.

We have been asking for quite some time now.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CAN WE HAVE A BT PHONE LINE?

Before Robert does something he might regret.

Martin Cole

Sometimes we use this blog to cause a stir. Sometimes we use it to invite people to breakfast. But today we are using it to say goodbye to a brilliant bloke and an outstanding planner. Goodbye because Martin died on Friday and we feel very, very sad.

Garry and Jane worked with Martin at Grey. In fact,he was one of Garry's first hirings, and in many ways, he was probably his best. Martin was clever, fantastic company and had a brilliant creative mind. In his time at Grey, he opened people's eyes up to the reality that, at its best, planning could generate as much creative energy as any copywriter or art director.

He was fantastic in pitches because he was engaging and honest. People loved Martin because he was one of a kind and lead by example. His greatest strength at work was to look at a problem and solve it in a way that was not only brilliant but also simple. Martin loved life and it showed in everything he did.

One of the first texts that Garry received when Campbell Lace (Beta) launched was from Martin. It simply read,"Good luck mate, I'm rooting for you. Avoid vaulting ambition." Brilliant advice, simply put and typical of the man who was the most interesting and inspiring planner that Garry ever worked with.

 You are a huge loss my friend and we'll miss you. Rest in Peace.

The Beta Blog Breakfast Club....

As much as we are enjoying the comment and counter comment on our blog this week, it is time to move on.

So this is the result of our breakfast competition.

We've decided to hold a breakfast for all our blog commentators. A sort of bloggers breakfast flash mob. We will hold the breakfast at Carnaby Street. There will be bacon butties, ketchup, and stimulating conversation for all.

So if you are a Beta blog commentator, expect an invitation soon.  Incidentally, the offer is not yet closed, so future commentators will be invited too. There will also be special guests, tba. Hopefully everyone will be able to make it. Especially the lovely Richard Huntingdon who is a top bloke, a top blogger, adliterate.com and who we hope we have not offended.

(Also we should mention that your comments about the difficulty that some of you find leaving comments on blogs have been noted at Campaign and they are working on it.)

So keep those comments coming. Thanks for getting involved.

Today is the biggest day in Campbell Lace (Beta)'s history so far. We've got a massively important pitch. It's us versus one other. We've got a fabulous, game changing idea. (Or at least we think so.) We really, really hope the client likes it.

As we left the studio last night past midnight, Garry and Robert agreed this is what we'd set up Beta to do. Work directly with clients who we like and respect. And use our skills to make a significant difference to their businesses.

To be honest, its much harder work than the jobs we used to do. Running big old, old fashioned agencies. 

But its much more rewarding. Keep you fingers crossed.  We'll let you know how it goes.

The weird thing about this blog....

Everyone who's anyone seems to read this blog...well you are.

Lots of people seem to talk about it.

But very few people leave comments on it.

We don't take it personally, because it seems that even fewer people leave comments on the other Campaign blogs. (Except, of course, the very erudite Rory's.)

Blogs lifeblood are comments. Without comments, blogs are a bit like a man talking to himself. Sad.

So why don't advertising people leave comments on Campaign's blogs? Brand Republic's blogs get loads of comments.

Maybe it because Campaign readers are essentially 'broadcast' not 'interactive' kind of guys?

They like shouting at millions of Coronation Street viewers from the safety of a tv commercial, but have little appetite for conversation one on one.

Or maybe its because, although widely read, this blog, and the other Campaign blogs, are not worthy of comment.

We'd  be fascinated to hear your comments.

Meanwhile, if you are a client, and you want to find out if the senior management of your ad agency care about 'digital' try this simple test.

Go onto facebook and look them up. What? They haven't even bothered to sign up? Aren't they remotely interested? Well, what about twitter? Or maybe linkedin? No? Don't they give a damn about 'digital'? Aren't they even curious?

Actions speak louder than agency credentials.

Meanwhile Garry and I have decided to take the best commentator on our blog over the next two weeks out for a slap up breakfast.

And the worst commentator on our blog we will take out for a slap up breakfast twice.

OK? 

hello@campbelllacebeta.com

Old media vs new media...

A lot of people seem bothered by the difference between old media and new media. And which kind of agency does what.

We like to look at it this way.

The first cave paintings were painted by cavemen around 32,000 years ago. The first newspaper, The Relation, was published in Germany about 400 years ago. The first big poster campaigns appeared in France in the late1800s.

TV was invented in 1922. Twitter in 1935. Don't believe us? Check this link. http://thenextweb.com/2008/08/12/twitter-invented-in-1935/ The internet was invented by the American military in the 1960s. (They must have been taking acid.) Mobile phones in the 1970s. Etc.

So we figure, when you look at it comparatively, everything is new media except cave paintings. So let's just call it all media, shall we, and get on with it.

Meanwhile, if anyone out there wants a campaign that only uses cave paintings, we'll have a crack at that too.

THIS WON A GOLD AT CANNES 32,000 YEARS AGO.

Carnaby Street....

Finally. We get into our offices. Or at least the back room of our offices. The front room (which is huge and white and flooded with light) has been temporarily rented to a bunch of art students for their degree show. It's brilliant space, with five big windows overhanging Carnaby Street. Now, who wants to be our lucky charter client?

Learning to keep schtum...

Sorry it's gone a bit quiet. We've been busy. Two big beauty parades.One is  for another online gambling company. (Oh, oh. Maybe we're getting addicted.) Garry won over five hundred quid the other night playing poker online. It occurs to us this might be a better way of making money than crashing pitch lists.

And at the same time we've been pitching for another really big client. Can't say who. We think we have a truly transformational idea for them. So if there is a god we'll get the business.  But after the disappointment of the Tombola pitch we've learned to temper our optimism.

We've made some hirings which we can't wait to tell you about. But here's an interesting question. Should we announce major news on our blog? Or wait till Wednesday so we can announce it in Campaign in the time honoured way?

We've nearly got our offices sorted. Finally a place to sit. No, they're not in Charlotte Street as we previously said. They're somewhere else, much groovier. Again, we're not uttering a word till we have ink on paper and keys to the door.

So what else? Apart from the two big pitches, there are some interesting projects emerging. All of them way outside the remit of a conventional ad agency, which is good.

We're doing global web strategy for a vast financial services organisation. We're involved in building an e commerce business for some very famous people. We're doing some pro bono consultancy for a bunch of high profile entrepreneurs who want to save the world. Involved in an entertainment against aids project in Africa. Working as  a 'creative management consultancy' in another instance. And there's an interesting sex toy business...

Enough to keep us rushed off our feet. Sorry we cant be more specific. One of our desires as a company is to be open and transparent. But right now it seems that, more often than not, we are obliged to operate in the shadows. We are learning to keep schtum.

It's Thursday. We're sitting in the Soho house preparing for a pitch. Garry, Robert, Andrew (from Goodstuff) and our new mystery super suit.  We're reading Campaign. On the letters page there is a rather spiteful letter about (Beta) written by some guy who proudly announces he is a 'SVP' for Publicis New York.

Garry recognises the name. He wonders if the 'SVP' is an account man he had to 'let go' from TBWA several years ago. Perhaps that is the reason for the attack.

We spend an amusing few minutes brainstorming what the letters 'SVP' could stand for. Silly Venal Plonker. Sour Vengeful Person. Stinky Vitriolic Punk or, worst of all, Senior Vice President, Publicis.

 

Bingo, but not for us...

In case you who were wondering why we have been driving 
up and down the A1 it was because we were doing a pitch. Our first big 
one. For an on line bingo company called Tombola.

Don't smirk. We discovered on line bingo is not only big business, 
it's a fascinating business.

And Tombola is one of the very best companies doing it. Great people. 
Great product. Great fun.

Anyway, to cut  a long story short, we didn't win.

We crashed the list. Did the work in two weeks. Saw off two  
major agencies. Got down to the last two. And came second.

Which of course is a total bummer. We had a great idea. And we really 
wanted to work with these guys.

So if you see us around town, give us a hug.

hello@campbelllacebeta.com

The journey from hell...

We don't have a fixed view on what kind of company this is going to be. What's so exciting about starting an agency in 2009 is that the future is so 'up for grabs.' A willingness to embrace, and roll with that uncertainty is essential. Whether you're an agency or a client.

Nor do we have an 'exit strategy.' You'd be surprised how many start ups launch complete with a plan to sell to a holding company in a five years time. That's not our ambition.

For us, this is about the journey, not the destination. Yesterday we had the journey from hell....

We set off in Garry's Audi at 6am to visit a potential client who's office is nearly in Scotland. Andrew Stephens from Goodstuff  came with us. We decided it would be cheaper, more productive, and maybe more fun to drive, rather than go by train.

Everything went well for the first hour or so. Garry and Andrew chatting in the front. Robert day dreaming in the back. But then disaster number one struck. We got a puncture on the fast lane of the motorway.

We couldn't drive all the way to Scotland on a temporary spare. So we diverted to Kwik Fit in Rugby. We waited for Kwik Fit to open at 8.30am. We got a new tyre. Now horribly behind schedule we set off again.

Somewhere in Yorkshire we stopped for water, chewing gum, and, in Robert's case, a pee.

Disaster number two struck. Garry and Andrew were so focussed on getting to the meeting that they failed to notice that Robert had not yet got back into the car.

It took them five miles on the A1 before they realised Robert was not on board. Robert was still at the petrol station. Sitting by the side of the road. Without his phone, wallet or jacket. Fighting off lonely truck drivers. Practicing his anger management skills.

Garry and Andrew returned to pick up Robert. Anger successfully managed, we laughed until we cried, and set off again.

Disaster number three? Somewhere near Scotch Corner, Kwik Fit in Rugby phoned to tell Garry he had left his wallet on top of a pile of tyres. (You can't get more honest than a Kwik Fit Fitter.)

We arrived at our destination. Late but with some excellent excuses. 

Fortunately, the meeting went better than the journey.

hello@campbelllacebeta.com

A month is a long time in advertising...

So. It's been almost one month since Garry and Robert officially opened the doors of Garry's Audi for business.

What have we achieved? (Apart from dancing around a maypole like a couple of Beltane Geezers)

1) We've found an office. Or at least we think we have. It's right next to the Charlotte Street Hotel. Handy for breakfast.

2) We've hired one or two really good people. Can't tell you who yet. Sorry to be so boring.

3) We've made a lot of friends. And received a lot of e mails about our strange Ubuntu practices. But that's cool.

4) We're working like stink to win a couple of pitches. Can't tell you what. Sorry to be boring, again.

5) We're quietly confident that starting Campbell Lace (Beta) wasn't the silliest idea we've ever had.

6) By and large we're having fun.

7) Oh. And we discovered this remarkable piece on the secret of acquiring wealth. We haven't used it yet but we figure it might come in handy soon.