Totally.Enormous.Extinct.Dinosaurs

Or T.E.E.D…. Yeah I know, it is a little tedious the whole acronym thing, but it will pass and then there will be something else to moan about.

Like the poppy campness of this band and the remix of Lady Gaga he has done has actually made me like something about Gaga rather than wonder if it really does have both a willy and a cookie.

They were on Jo Whiley’s new show and played this track and I thought it sounded good there and that in a club with a better sound system than my home television could be dead good.

Anyhoot… T.E.E.D are playing at XOYO on Thursday….. might just take myself on down there

East London pub humour

There is no place like an East London boozer for a bit of humerous toilet tagging….

Palm Tree - Mile End

Sickboy – Heaven & Earth

Launch last night at the Truman Brewery… this reviewer is not going to cover himself in glory to be honest. I was in there for 7 minutes and there were some hot men in there to ogle but my friend was dying for a pee and we had to leave

Who we saving again?

Anyways quick review… Looked alright, was not blown away in all honesty, caravan serving drinks but unfortunately I do not go in for all this cider malarky, so was not interested. Sickboy had created a a confessional booth complete with a pastor to confess to. Now your writer has far far too much to confess so decided to walk away rather than create a bottle-neck up in that place

Time to confess

Educating Essex…

I have only watched it sporadically but from what I have seen I have a new found respect and admiration for teachers. Lots of people in media, marketing and general London based jobs get in to teaching when they leave their first profession and sometimes it is seen as an easy option or a step off of the accelerator, i think quite the opposite and that it is step into something really exciting and invigorating… surely beats coming up with a ingenious way to make bored journos feature your brand of nondescript chocolate biscuits or how to create yet another music based event….

fyi – slightly drunk thirsty Thursday post

The trainer that made me a trainer freak – Remixed for 2012

Nike Air Huarache 2012 - Swoon

I was about 9, when I spied for the first time a shoe which was better looking than the offspring of Brangelina could ever threaten to be. It was unlike any other trainer I had ever seen and I had to have them, despite my mum saying she would never spend so much money on a trainer I would ruin. It is amazing what a 9 year old can do when he puts his mind to it. I believe it took 3 weeks of badgering, offering to mow the lawn, sulking, begging and making cups of tea before it was mission accomplished.

Nike Air Huarache circa 1990 - Swoon

I think I must have re-laced them about 100 times and wore them as house shoes for weeks, such was my love for them

Now for 2012 we have the new version, subtle changes in colours and finish ensure it is as beautiful as the first time I saw it. For me it has to be the shoe version but all three on display on Hypebeast work for me.

(Fashion + Art) x Charity = Sales + Feel Good Factor

How do brands communicate with their target consumer in a cool and relevant way? Well it has to be music, preferably new music. Or it has to be art, preferably Street or Graf. How about fashion, maybe through sport. All of these are tried and tested or some might say a little staid

To get cut through in an ever more suspicious and marketing savvy world, adding a touch of ‘Charidy’ is the perfect way to gain cut through with media sick and tired of PR jobs and consumers who want to have something cool whilst feeling all warm and fuzzy inside

Arty shoes

US based shoemakers Bucketfeet have created a fashionable product in a simple plimsoll with the art work of global artists then added a dash of feel good by donating 5% from each sale to partner charities, kid’s charities, kid’s charities that enable art, music and sport. Ta-daaaa Bucketfeet you are smashing it, all bases pretty much covered.

Consumers are also attracted to the idea of having a piece of artwork rather than a mass produced piece of design, getting artists involved who’s primary concern is all about the art, adds an additional level of attractiveness for me

I’ll challenge anyone to manage to make Crocs look anything like shoes for twats though….

Football clubs finally embrace Twitter

Since Twitter became popular we have seen players around the world jumping on the SM bandwagon, with differing levels of success, failure, catastrophe, grammar, boredom, humour and sheer stupidity.

Reading Rio's mind.... if you want

Rio Ferdinand was one of the first and is one of the most prolific, although often rather boring, Wayne Rooney joined in April 2011, picking up 170,000 followers in a day and showed that he has a reading age of 5, but interestingly did choose to use it to confirm his £30k hair transplant, getting in there before the English press. The ever controversial Joey Barton is my new fave as he comments on everything from his team mates clothes, to politics, to haters, to X Factor and every time as if he has swallowed the beginners guide to philosophy, I have gone from thinking he is a thug to finding him strangely endearing. Twitter has given fans a chance to get a little closer to their heros, although most managers are not fans and some have banned the social network believing it is more trouble than it is worth.

So it is interesting to see clubs finding that Twitter can be to their advantage, from the start of the Primera Liga in Spain, Valencia has been using its twitter address on their shirt instead of a sponsor, driving awareness on a World stage everytime they take to the field.

Follow @valenciacf if you like

In Mexico Jaguares have taken to having players Twitter names on their shirts instead of their usual surname, alongside the Twitter address of their sponsor Sol beer.

Start following your favourite player now

Football clubs have been a little slow on the Twitter uptake so far but this could be a great way to speak directly with their fans and attract new fans. I would be interested to see if the club has set out Twitter guidelines on what the player can and can not say. In contracts will their be a minimum number of tweets the player must send per day? Guidelines on areas to avoid? Will they be asked to use them as sales tools to drive ticket or shirt sales? Any PR agency managing the Twitter account of a brand will set out clear guidelines on what can be said and the tone of voice but a footballer is a far more difficult animal to control though.

Berghain…..

This weekend I was away in Berlin for the umpteenth time this year. Bloody love that place, from the amazing art, the open minded people, the bars, the random food stores, the amazing (if a little confusing at times) transport system and Berghain. I am in recovery mode from Berghain even though this time I only spent a total of 10 hours in the massive building which features The Lab, Panorama Bar and the main Berghain area… my pb is a mere 22 hours.

Berghain queue.... be prepared to wait, but it is worth it

For those who have never been, it is Berlin’s worst kept secret, a huge sprawling former power station in Friedrichstain which has been open since 2004 in the wake of Ostgut closing in 2003. It is a gay club that the breeders love too, it hosts parties that go on for days rather than hours and inside it is a den of iniquity including a darkroom and a fetish club as well. To get in is an achievement, where you either need to be off your box, fancied by the fussy door queer or just damn lucky, I have had plenty of friends who have made the journey to Berlin just for Berghain and then been turned away.

What I like the most is that there is virtually no guest list, absolutely no tosser like VIP room and that what happens in there is never photographed as all cameras are banned. So any of my weekend’s activities will remain between myself and those who witnessed them or were appalled by them.

My German friend who is a regular at all three rooms of Berghain has informed me that there is talk that it may have to close soon due to the development of local superstores nearby…. With that in mind I am booking in another trip for December and another in March

Azari & iii

This isn’t exactly hot off the press but they are still on my playlist right now. They featured at Rough Trade doing a live PA and were good enough for me to then go to their full show at XOYO the following night…

Any music that seems to be channelling Prince directly is on top for me.

Fanchester FC – How far could it work for a brand?

So we are playing a 2 3 5 formation

A football team in Mexico have taken crowd involvement to a whole new level by basically putting the entire future success or failure in the hands of the fans. Now the lunatics really are running the asylum. They have done away with the usual manager, coaches and trainers and given the job to fans who will make decisions live through text message or an online vote. I suspect that the fans are given a list potential decisions and then they vote, otherwise this could be a disaster of a stunt, still it has given a lowly Division 2 team in Mexico access to a whole world of new fans, not to mention sponsors in Coke and Joma on the website

Springwise pose an interesting question though, how could brands benefit from such activities, in the past brands have listened to consumers about the name of products (see Coco-Pops) and recently Kellogg’s have launched a campaign which allows consumers to choose which of their new flavours of Krave cereals will stay, either caramel or chocolate. I wonder how far this could be taken….

Could it decide the cost of a dress sold on Asos?

Could the local community vote on products to be sold at their local Sainsburys?

Could Ford create three concept cars and ask which one to build and what to add to it?

Could BA offer their customers the chance to choose their next head honcho?

Maybe a bit far fetched but one thing is for certain, by giving consumers a role in the decision making and shaping of products and experiences, they have more of a vested interest. They will create conversations within their peer groups which could lead to recommendations and more custom, an ambassador campaign which can be sourced and managed could be a really powerful tool.