The debate about UKIP has gone on so long that the probability has reached 1. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will be the end of the debate.
Godwin’s Law
Back in the day
The UK’s economy might be coming back to life but people are still feeling the pinch. Wages aren’t keeping up with prices, times are tough and people are hankering after ‘the good old days’.
We see it everywhere. In politics, UKIP are making the most of people’s yearning for a bold, ‘call a spade a spade’ Britain. Both Labour and the Conservatives are pushing policies that preach to the faithful. We’re back to the days of left and right. The third way has gone away.
Meanwhile in literature, we’re witnessing the continued rise of historical fiction with authors like Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory winning awards and having their books turned into hit TV dramas.
In terms of brands, we’re seeing some great old names return. The Truman brewery, originator of the IPA, is back in London pubs. Last week, it was announced that Royal Enfield motorcycles are coming back home to the UK, having sat out the past 30 years in India.
Other brands are drawing upon the past in their advertising. Notably, Coca-Cola’s ‘Grandpa’ healthy living advert seeks to push an old fashioned lifestyle as the solution to the very modern issue of obesity. We’ve also seen the return of the Tetley Tea Folk and NatWest piggy banks.
Even brands with little history, like cycling apparel maker, Rapha, and clothing firm, Jack Wills, are basing their growth on heritage values.
Like the tight economy, this trend isn’t likely to go away any time soon. So there’s no harm in digging into the archives and finding the warm, familiar signifiers of better days. People are grasping after comfort blankets, smart marketers will provide them.
Guggenheim Bilbao, Iberdrola and ‘Tall Tree and the Eye’
Anish Kapoor’s ‘Tall Tree and the Eye’ sculpture sits strikingly outside Bilbao’s iconic Guggenheim museum. While gazing at its many orbs, I thought I could get a nice shot of Guggenheim reflected in the balls that make up the sculpture. While composing the shot, I noticed that I could also capture Iberdrola’s (huge Spanish energy company) headquarters.
When visiting the museum, it’s immediately notable that the two striking and dominant buildings in the area are Iberdrola’s HQ (a tall tree) and the Guggenheim (very much for the eyes).
The connection between the sculpture and its surroundings struck me as interesting, so I took the snap and here it is.
A little less awareness, a little more call-to-action please
A couple of days ago, I tweeted the title of this blog as a thought for the day. It’s a thought that’s been circling in back of my mind for quite a while.
From the off, let me say that I think awareness is really important. People need to know your product or issue exists and what it’s for. But campaigns should be more than a public service announcement. They should make things happen.
I can see why communicators are drawn to awareness. It’s measured in surveys and clicks, RTs and likes. These are metrics that can be measured in different ways, aggregated, weighted and, dare I say, manipulated?
Increased sales. Legislative change. Altered business practices. These are all outcomes that are reasonably objective. You either achieve them or you don’t. Campaigns that make these things happen aren’t centred on awareness.
From staging post to destination
At some point awareness moved from being a necessary condition for achieving a campaign’s goals, to a goal in itself. It became an end point.
Anecdotally, I think a lot of it is down to the rise of engagement and conversations. There are countless papers and articles about the need to engage with consumers, to have conversations and build deeper relationships. Again, all of this is true. I have no quarrel with it. Yet, somehow the purpose of all this engagement and all these conversations has been lost.
What good are strong relationships and positive experiences if they are fostered and then left to passively convert themselves into sales? Campaigns should build on that positivity and then inspire people to a specific action. Those that do will always be more successful than those that stop at a good conversation.
All of this is blindingly obvious. It’s communications 101. Yet for some reason it needs restating. So let’s build awareness and have the conversations, and then let’s cap it all off by creatively inspiring specific, positive actions.
It’s all a blur
One year on from the wonderful 2012 Olympics, London is hosting its anniversary games. In a bid to build a lasting legacy, events are being re-run and, as hoped for by organisers and sponsors, capturing the public’s imagination.
Last year, I posted some snaps of the men’s road race. I was reasonably happy with the outcome but one thought lingered: clear, fully-focused images of cyclists speeding by might capture what happened, but they don’t capture the moment. The camera captures events with a level of detail that people do not. For us, everything whizzes by in a blur.
So this year, I was determined to try and capture the moment and not the facts. I staked out a place on a simple, straight stretch of road conveniently located right by The Angel.
Having found a comfortable spot, I decided the best way to capture the sheer speed of the cyclists was to use blur. The technique is simple in theory and hard in practice. Essentially, all you need to do is move your camera at the same speed as your subject. Obviously, panning a camera lens at the same speed as a cyclist is tricky and you only get one shot.
Fortunately, the amateurs went first – they’re not that fast and there are loads of them so plenty of opportunities to get my eye in before the pros arrived.
This image of a competitor, who’s not going super-fast, was an early attempt to get the effect I was after.
Trying to use the same effect with multiple cyclists was a bit more tricky – they’re travelling at different speeds so only one can really be in focus. Also, the panning appears to warp straight lines a touch (see the road markings).
A while later, having crossed the road (and after a drink or two), the pros came. Preceded by police outriders and heralded by a helicopter, they flew past in the blink of an eye. This is one of the early riders who was ahead of the pack but not leading. It is my most technically accomplished image of the day (make of that what you will).
Then it got a lot more tricky. When the main group hove into view, I’d set myself the task of picking out one rider and getting them in focus. I opted to capture a Team Sky rider. All technique went out of the window. Nothing was straight, everything was blurred, including most of the Team Sky cyclist. This shot has been cropped and had some dust spots cloned out but is otherwise unedited. For me it really does capture the moment, and the amazing speed and the determination of the riders.
