There’s a scene in Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner (1982) in which a photograph is constantly enlarged until the subject is clearly visible - pure science fiction. Well no, take a look at this photograph of Barrack Obama’s 2009 Inauguration in which you can zoom in on the image to see the smallest detail. It’s made up of 220 images and the final image size is 59,783 X 24,658 pixels or 1,474 megapixels, 295 times the standard 5 megapixel camera. An architectural photographer friend of mine said a number of years ago that we wouldn’t shoot digitally because the detail wasn’t there yet!

How refreshing to receive the new Heineken commercial as a viral yesterday. It lifted my spirits during these bleak days, thanks tbwa neboko in the Netherlands, great work. 

Heineken walk-in fridge

On September 29th, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index plunged and all of its constituents’ stocks fell, all bar one: the Campbell Soup Company. Investors flocked to the iconic brand, which makes some of America’s favourite soups and its shares went up by 0.3 percent. That’s a very good clue to the type of brands that will prosper in 2009 - those that represent good quality and excellent value for money.

According to Interbrand, as value for money rises up the consumers’ agenda, two early beneficiaries of consumers’ changing mood have been German hard-discount supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl (read Mark’s blog on brand names, coming soon), which have been gaining market share across Europe from established giants. It used to be shameful for the middle-class to shop at discounter stores but now their brands suggest intelligent buying.

For consumer, read business. I believe now is the time for agencies to respond as partners to their clients in these challenging times with solutions that deliver good quality and excellent value for money. The flight to value is for all of us to embrace. As a marketing agency, Beechwood have always liked to think we offer our clients value. And with the current weakness of sterling against the dollar we now offer our US clients more value than ever.

The land of Route 66 and the gas station diner, the good old US of A is well known for its love of the automobile. So the following may come as something of a surprise. Especially when you consider that this all happened, way back when, in a twenty-year period between 1897 and 1916.

1897 - The first electric taxis hit the streets of New York City early in the year.

1910 - The Pope Manufacturing Company of Connecticut becomes the first large-scale American electric automobile manufacturer. The electric automobile is in its heyday. Of the 4,192 cars produced in the United States, 28 percent are powered by electricity, with others powered by steam. Electric autos represent about one-third of all cars found on the roads of New York City, Boston and Chicago.

1916 - A man by the name of Woods invents the first hybrid car, combining an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. This predates the Toyota Prius by an amazing 81 years.

Over dinner the other evening, I got into discussions with a colleague’s husband, a data centre architect about the halting of data centre construction in central London. He says the culprit is the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The City of London has a power demand of 1,000MK which is expected to increase by 80 per cent over the next 5-7 years, while Docklands, home of several data centres has a power demand of 250MK, which is predicted to rise to 90 percent over the same period. It’s claimed that political prioritisation has occurred to ensure the games’ success so risking the UK’s financial sector. Chris Crosby, VP of Digital Reality, the largest provider of data centres in the world, says “There’s the potential now for London to go technology-dry because of the lack of power”.

The broader question, has the government dithered over what is probably one of the most critical issues for business, a clear strategic policy to provide energy security for the next ten years and be compliant with its own CO2 emission targets? Review the BBC’s survey findings, it’s very insightful.

Please let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to our 21st birthday party at the Museum of Brands in London. I hope you enjoyed the evening. Also thanks to those of you who couldn’t make it for your kind words of congratulation.

Emma’s choice of location for the party was truly inspired, not only because it’s the world we inhabit (all things brand) but also because it provided a common and fascinating topic of conversation.

Our industry, like so many others has undergone an amazing change over the past two decades. In 1987, the Apple Mac was still in its infancy, the DTP revolution was in the basement being planned and Flash was a floor cleaner not a software. To airbrush was to airbrush, ink and compressed air - not a pixel in sight. Magic markers, layout pads and Letraset, a great British invention, were ubiquitous. And how we were dependent on those “stuck in traffic” motorbike couriers. The fax was the height of technology.

A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same! A great creative idea is still a great idea. All that’s really different is the landscape in which the idea appears. This was driven home to me at the museum as I watched those classic commercials from the 70s and 80s. Heineken, refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach, and happiness is a cigar called Hamlet - a golden period for British advertising.

Thanks once again and especially to Andrew Gulland (07885 721 917) for taking all the wonderful pictures. A closing thought, “The only good ideas are the ones I can take credit for.” R. Stevens, Diesel Sweeties, 11-13-06

The complexities of understanding what truly are ‘green technologies‘ were illustrated beautifully by the award to Toyota’s Prius, or as I prefer, Pious, as Greenest Technology of the Year award at the inaugural British Technology Awards. By what conceivable metric could the Pious be called green? Toyota refuses to disclose the amount of embedded energy (CO2) in the sourcing, building and recycling of the vehicle. This is a car with two electric motors and one internal combustion engine and a resource-intense nickel-metal hydride battery. Toyota admits that building (not disposing of) the Prius expends more energy, but then says that’s compensated by its better fuel consumption. Come on Toyota, publish the figures and let’s decide the car’s green credentials.

Technology will provide some of the solutions but in the meantime let’s consume less and preserve more.