My friend Bill Gates

Bill Gates is sometimes reviled for creating a monster brand, but now he's stepped down, is the passion still there? I think it is given by his presence at the IOD's lunch.  It finally has happened. I have been in the presence of Mr G. The Big Man Bill. And it’s amazing how normal he actually seems. Yes, I know, he’s a normal bloke who had a great idea for a business, but he’s now worth tens of billions but he still makes me laugh. And in a humorous way.

Gates was in London to talk to the Institute of Directors in one of its ‘An Audience With’ series. He was articulate and charismatic and made the 1000-strong audience laugh several times.

I was disappointed with the quality of questioning from what was supposed to be a selection of Britain’s top industry leaders. The first – a cynic – accused Gates of donating billions to his eponymous Foundation ‘to get something back’, something Gates refuted.

Another asked why he [the questioner] had no choice but to use Microsoft, Gates wittily replied he’d be happy to match IBM’s terms and conditions. Yet another – embarrassingly from my point of view, a Scot – asked what Gates would recommend, being healthy and living in a politically repressed state, or being ill and living in a free state. Gates replied ‘alive’.

He made a joke of being sued by the US Government, and even mentioned Google Earth, which I was astonished by. But his passion and enthusiasm for the ‘computer in a desk’ was infectious even though I’ve heard it a dozen times over the last five years.

At the end of the hour listening to him, I learned:

•    Bill Gates is funny and not in that awkward, geeky way.

•    He has strong views on how to help the world’s poor which don’t just involve throwing money at the problem, merely enabling them to be healthy enough to look after themselves.

•    He’s not going to run for president or senator, and that’s a definite no.

•    He believes China should chip in with helping Africa, considering China got a fair whack of money when it was struggling.

•    Good people are what make companies work.

•    Successful companies are run by people who are passionate about what they do.

•    And the most important one, if he was a college kid dropping out of college thinking of starting a business, he’d still do software, because he is passionate about how software can help change the world.

I’ve always wondered if I’d be cynical about his intentions, should I ever meet him, but he’s convinced this cynical old digital hack that maybe, just maybe, Microsoft isn’t the monster everyone seems to think it is.

Grow up, social networkers!

Have we finally grown sick of status updates, drunken weekend photos, and shameless self-promotion?

In other words, is the fascination with Facebook finally coming to an end?

While news that London is now the site’s fastest growing network (with 2m members) would suggest otherwise, it seems there may be a tide change a-brewing.

Does the boss actually need to know that Dominic is…dreaming of pissing off to the Bahamas for six months?

Does any online socialiser really wish to make that weekend snap of their sozzled alter ego snogging the post boy - cheeks drunkenly smeared with mascara - viewable to colleagues and valuable work contacts?

Not I.

Meeting with LinkedIn’s new European MD, Kevin Eyres, convinced me further of the need for further distinction between the private and public domains (or should that be the sacred and the profane?)

Indeed, membership to the site has begun to surge after a dip, with 1m UK professionals now on board.

Of course, Eyres was bound to push the idea, being chief of expansion at a professional network.

I’m not predicting the death of social networking - more an evolution.

The concept of distinct online dallyings for work and pleasure purposes makes sense.

When it comes to online contact, discretion and appropriateness may be our finest virtues.

That goes for users and advertisers alike.

Tail between my legs and a bag of sugar

Ok. Ok. I take it back, Argos. All is forgiven. Please read on.

Of course, I am referring to my last post where I frowned upon a certain spokeman's PR folly - he told me that 'Argos weren't all that interested in online'.

And I took it badly. Because it's nonsense - the retailer is one of the most digitally innovative in the UK.

But no matter. All is forgiven. Come back, Argos. I love you.

This is a somewhat tangential story - but it's worth it. I promise.

PART ONE: I am moving abroad next week. So this means I have some packages to be shipped overseas. I call up DHL.

Me: I have three boxes. How do I get them to Dubai please?

Strategically challenged person: Well, can you put them all in one box?

Me: Um, no, I don't think so, because no-one would be able to pick it up.

SCP: Oh I see that is a problem.

ME: Right...

SCP: Do you know how much the boxes weigh?

ME: I don't know. Do I go to the post office to weigh them then?

SCP: Go to our website. We can help.

Click here to see SCP's very helpful page

PART TWO: As you will see, in the absence of bathroom scales (which I don't have - 'ignorance is bliss' and all that), DHL suggests that you use either:

1) A mobile phone (200 grams)

2) A bag of sugar (5 kgs - my, that's one big bag of  DHL sugar)

This left me in a quandry: I have three boxes which I can barely pick up. I'm going to need to buy a lot of bags of sugar.

Will DHL recompense me for all the sugar? Or better still, will they arrange for me to ship the sugar for free? 40 bags! That's a lot of sugar.

And mobile phones? I think of what I have got that equates roughly to the weight of a mobile phone. Like most people, I only own one phone. But, clearly, I'm going to need a lot more than my Sony Ericsson on its lonesome to complete this monstrous exercise.

Ah. A remote control. Roughly the same size a mobile, you might surmise. So I have three remote controls, and one mobile phone.

What if I had 90 remote controls? Do you think it would equate to 90 mobiles?

After much theorising, I decided I was definitely onto a loser.

I logged on to Argos to buy some inexpensive scales. At £5, they were considerably less expensive than infinite amounts of special DHL sugar.

PART THREE: I scour for the scales online, click to reserve them and ... poof!... at 6pm at my local Wimbledon store they are waiting for me, much as if they have been waiting for me all my life. Argos boasts a seamless and thoroughly impressive internet operation.

Now that's, ahem, a weight off my chest.

Get with the programme, Argos

How sad that an Argos spokesman told me this morning:"We don't think the web is that important - we are, after all, a multi-channel retailer".

Particularly when the UK retailer is a runaway success online, and came 7th in Revolution's definitive 'top 40 digital brands' survey in October last year.

In an age when half of shoppers decided to buy their Christmas presents online, this is surely folly at its most dangerous.

Don't get me wrong, I used to relish flicking through the glossy Argos catalogue to choose my present from Santa.

But that was in 1987.

Message in a viral

I’ve found a new source of web-related inspiration, in the form of savvy Frenchman, Bertie Bosredon.

Bosredon is head of new media at Breast Cancer Care.

The charity is truly embracing the concept of developing two-way online services, rather than acting as a mere information point.

Witness the overhaul of Breast Cancer Care online – from pitch win to site launch – in upcoming issues of Revolution.

Intelligent, creative e-campaigning could replace standard e-petitioning as the future for forward-thinking charities and NGOs.

See Greenpeace’s latest viral video, The End of The World, for a glimpse of inspiration. Hard-hitting messaging, striking visuals…maximum viral potential.

Safe, not sorry?

Yesterday afternoon, the City's FTSE 100 index experienced its biggest points drop in history. A bigger drop than after 9/11.

Something drastic is happening in the world markets... Japan, Germany, France and the developing world also felt the sharp pinch of the looming US recession yesterday afternoon.

It remains to be seen whether a full blown recession will strike out, but one things for sure - the fear is here, and people are spending less.

Recessions historically spell bad news for the marketing and advertising industries - but this time, digital marketing, with expert application, could thrive.

For years pundits have waxed lyrical on the low cost, big ROI perks of internet marketing. Its untouchable resilience.

Of course, all hopes are pinned on a miraculous turnaround of the economy, but, should the worst happen, it really will be judgement day for digital marketing.

Was it all a load of hot air? We shall see.

To judge or not to judge

Why doesn't anyone teach how to write awards entries while they're teaching account management? Awards judging is a responsibility that can be daunting. While you are aware that agencies – and clients, sometimes – have invested a lot of effort in their entries, you’re also aware that winning an award is tremendously important to agencies. Which is why Revolution prides itself in getting the brightest and most expert minds in digital marketing to judge our awards.

The 2008 Revolution Awards’ judging took place last week and the quality of the 350+ entries was, as usual, outstanding. But one thing always troubles me and that’s the continuing trend for some agencies to enter sparkling work, but apparently leave the writing of the entry document to the agency work experience.

Don’t get me wrong, I can handle bad spelling but it’s the lack of clarity and inability to follow the guidelines on the awards entry form that grates on my nerves.

Juries are complex. This year, we had 22 judges made up of agencies and senior clients. These are highly experienced digital marketers, and are adept at deciphering even the most obscure observations, but it was surprising just how many entries assumed that the reader knew everything about the campaign that had been entered. Some did, but most hadn’t even seen it. Some entries didn’t even supply creative executions, so judges weren’t even able to see what they were supposed to be judging.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Links didn’t work on a few entries, a basic requirement, you’d think. Most entries provided results, but some felt that ‘the client being happy’, was a result. I suppose it is, but I’d prefer if his happiness was represented in a solid figure, i.e. ‘sales rose by £3m’ or ‘45000 more bottles were sold’.

There was a lot of stretching the truth too. It was amazing how many campaigns, costing £2000, claimed to have reached 100m people or achieved 500 per cent rise in traffic. The rise may be impressive, but the shine starts to fade if the starting point was 10 visitors a day.

When you’re trying to present a successful sales story, it’s better to err on the side of caution and treat the judge like an idiot. Spell out the obvious. You may know the campaign was so successful that 4000 people changed their name to Cillit Bang, but if you don’t tell the jury, they won’t know.

And whatever you do; don’t waffle on.

The high street is dead…long live the internet?

‘Retail suffers worst Christmas in history’, ‘High street shares plummet after massive sales drop’ scream the headlines this week.

Walking down Oxford Street just after Christmas, it was undeniably busy, but only as much as any normal Saturday.

Now, I would generally choose a prolonged session of excruciating water-droplet torture over Oxford Street the week after Christmas, but this year I even managed to glimpse chinks of light through the crowds.

Irritation levels were high, naturally (a vicious elbowing incident occurred when somebody tried to beat me to Zara’s last knocked-down red cape), but both parties left the experience relatively unscathed).

Well, it’s no bloody surprise that most people would rather shop from the comfort of their own homes. Tapping at a keyboard, mug of earl grey in hand, is far preferable to shoving one’s way through gangs of squawking teenagers.

While many pureplay e-tailers sit back and watch the cash flow in, high street retailers are struggling based on offline sales. Marks and Spencer has seen shares plummet today despite sales from the site rising by 71.8 per cent over Christmas.

That given, it’s more inexcusable and damaging than ever for retailers to have poor web sites.

Webcredible’s new findings – that many high street retailers are still failing on accessibility – come as a shock. It’s even more surprising to hear that huge players such as Curry’s are failing many of their users.

So, a heartfelt plea to retail giants – sort out your sites – make them accessible and usable. I don’t want to be responsible for any more fashion-induced, high-street rage incidents next Christmas.

Merry Christmas – now give me your money

Fraud only happens to careless people, doesn't it? 

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and New Year. I certainly did, until the 2nd January. 

I was lucky enough to spend New Year in Italy, skiing, and the holiday was great until I tried to use my cash card to withdraw money. After several failed attempts, I gave up and called my bank, the Bank of Scotland. They informed me the bank had blocked my card, as they didn’t know I was in Italy, and the country is on a ‘blacklist’ for fraud, so unless you tell them of your travel plans, you can’t use your card. Annoying, yes, but secure. Twelve hours later, the card was good to use.

My only inkling that something was awry was this Monday when I tried to use said cash card to pay for a train ticket. It was refused.

A quick call to my bank and the situation became a bit more  serious. 

I used the card once in Italy in an ATM, and then again on 2nd January at Milan Bergamo airport to buy an air ticket from Ryanair.

That particular transaction sticks in my mind, as I wasn’t asked to sign anything, nor was I asked to put my PIN number in, which I remarked at the time was odd. I didn’t use the card again until my attempt on Monday.

It turns out someone had a pretty good time with my card details. Although the card was in my possession, someone on the 3rd January had – bizarrely – used my card details (and my money) to pay over £2000 to their Barclaycard. THEIR Barclaycard, not mine. The transaction, which would have been done online or over the phone negating the need for a PIN according to the bank, forced me into my overdraft limit, explaining why the card was declined at the train station. And all this happened without the card leaving my hands. My bank, knowing I hadn’t reported the card as lost or stolen, assumed it was a bona fide transaction.

Apart from the clueless fraudster, who doesn’t seem to realise that he can be traced through the Barclaycard payments, the whole experience is particularly alarming. I’m a great advocate of online transactions, and I’ve always had the greatest confidence in them. For the last, I don't know, six years, I’ve shopped for my groceries online, booked flights online, all without a hitch.

I religiously file bills. I shred all my receipts and ATM receipts. I never let my cards out of my sight. But now I'm worried. 

If this dedicated online consumer is now wary, what chance is there convincing the average Luddite to shop on the web? 

The internet ain't evil, it's a medium

"User generated comment is shit," remarked Barnaby Hobbs, charismatic GM of internet TV company, dubz.tv, at lunch.

And he's got a point. Some of it is.

Gone are the days of news editors wielding complete authority, shaping the world's current affairs diet, based on years of respected training and experience.

Gone are the days of publishers holding the key to launching world literary greats. And the same goes for the A & R industry.

But does this mean the days of 'quality' are over? Not necessarily.

Today, the consumer is offered a plethora of perspectives - and not all of them them skilled or well-versed. But that doesn't matter - because the goal posts have moved.

It simply means there's more out there - what's important is how we use it and digest it. We need to be ever more aware of its source (or non-source) and contextualise it accordingly.

Fear not, the old media bastions, such as the Wall St Journal, will still churn out quality content, because that's its USP - whether its online or offline.

As research firm Beyond Analysis points out: "Official news will be increasingly contextualised by consumer opinion and it will become harder to discern the difference between real news and opinion.

"We’ll see more people commenting on official news, such that the comments will become increasingly influential and a real candid – and broader - view of public perception.

"The boundaries between fact, commentary and opinion will become increasingly blurred. People are already reading blogs to get their news fix - this will increase."

It's a richer world - there's more colours in it. But one in which we must be careful.

"The internet is a medium, not the evil," Hobbs sensibly added.