During the London 2012 Olympics, my brother got a job working for caterers.
The catering company were contracted to supply food to employees of G4. Now if
you remember, G4 got quite a bit of stick in the press and from the government,
because they failed to employ enough people. The result of this failure by G4
caused the catering company my brother worked for, to buy too much food. They
were expecting to have to feed many more people than they actually did. This
left them with surplus food. This included several sacks of cornflakes that were
given to my brother at the end of the contract.
My brother gave me five sacks of cornflakes. I have pretty much eaten
cornflakes every day since the end of the Olympics, and I have still got two
sacks left. So the Olympic legacy for me is cornflakes. What's your Olympic
legacy?
0 Comments
First there was vinyl, then tapes, CDs, a brief interlude where minidisc never really took off and now digital downloads. The latest shift has perhaps been the most seminal change the music industry has faced. Marketing a star is now no longer confined to Top of the Pops, television and print advertising; the battle lines are drawn on the World Wide Web. There is no greater example of modern media’s online consumption of musical talent than one Justin Bieber, a little know teenybopper hailing from humble Canadian beginnings thrust into the celebrity stratosphere having been found on YouTube. A meager 3.75 billion YouTube views, the equivalent of one view for 52% of the entire globe indicates the sheer scale of demand. Does that translate to sales? Indeed it does if 12.8 million albums are anything to go by. Social media and in particular Twitter has brought stars closer to their fans and provided them with a glimpse behind the shrouded curtain; Justin Timberlake and Rihanna boast a combined Twitter following in excess of the UK population. What does this mean in terms of marketing? The creation of a fully captive audience so vast in its nature other channels struggle to compete. It has formed the most powerful and cost effective tool a music marketer has ever had at their fingertips; lest we forget that Facebook and Twitter accounts are free. This is not to say that other channels are not important. Integration with offline marketing remains key to the success of any promotion, whether it’s musical in its nature or otherwise. We do however now live in a world in which sales are driven online and decision-making is influenced by what we see on a screen. Having recently been at a music concert at which the band repeatedly promoted their own Twitter account there is no clearer sign that the lines are blurring and there is no better time to get your digital house in order, or risk being left behind. By Mark Worden
Mark Worden is a digital marketing specialist and director at MiHi Digital. For more information please visit www.mihidigital.co.uk Mark Worden Director Many thanks to Paul for the invitation to guest blog. I’m Ruth and I live in Ilfracombe, which is why it’s been an expensive week so far. I had to go to a meeting in London yesterday. The meeting lasted less than an hour but it took nine hours, twenty miles of driving and a stonking train fare to get there and home again. Not to mention the cost of the mysterious transformation that yet again took place somewhere between Barnstaple and Paddington. How is it that I get on the train in Devon looking respectable, and when I get off it in London I look like a bag lady? I’m sure I’m not the only person this happens to. Maybe that’s why there’s a branch of Monsoon in Paddington Station. None of the people at the meeting knew where Ilfracombe was. That was interesting, because they’re in the book business, and while most of the trade is mourning the fact that bookshops are closing down all around us, what do we have right here in our own High Street? I suppose its relative remoteness is one reason that Ilfracombe has managed to hang onto all sorts of businesses which, for friends who live in bigger towns with easier communications, are only a fond memory. A proper greengrocer. Two real butchers. Bakeries and a post office that aren’t just add-ins to supermarkets. A fish shop. A local printer. Pedlar’s. Shops that deliver. Shops that don’t charge silly prices. Shops where the staff know what they’re talking about - usually because they’re the owners. That’s not to mention the proper pubs, the farmers who sell locally-raised meat and the places to buy free-range eggs at the front gate. As the daughter and grand-daughter of former Ilfracombe shopkeepers, I listened to the Londoners saying, "Ilfracombe? Where’s that?" and I smiled, and I thought, it’s in a very good place. By Ruth Downie
Website http://www.ruthdownie.com/ Twitter @ruthsdownie Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruso-and-Tilla/108745675816262 I recently went to eat in a pub near Bude, Cornwall. It was a place I often went to eat, but on this occasion I was forced to complain because they insisted on a minimum charge on my Visa card. Read my review on Trip Adviser. http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g1749693-d4366603-r174194696-The_Stables_Inn-Kilkhampton_Cornwall_England.html#readReview Partly due to the rude treatment from the management I emailed Visa to report the fact the establishment was trying it on with their customers by trying to charge a minimum payment. This is what I said. Dear sir, I wish to complain about the Stables http://www.stablesbar.co.uk/ On Monday, they refused to accept my Visa card unless I purchases a minimum of £20. I understand my contract with you is my card will be accepted without minimum charge. How are you able to help me with this matter. It lead to an embarrassing situation, ending in me being told to leave in front of the other customers.
Yours faithfully Paul Clews This was the reply from Visa. Thank you for contacting Visa Europe.
Visa has certain regulations that all merchants accepting Visa cards must follow. One of those rules is that Visa merchants are not permitted to establish minimum transaction amounts, even on sale items.
If you run into a problem like this with a merchant, please notify your Visa card-issuing financial institution. Visa Member financial institutions have access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations. They also have access to the Notification of Customer Complaint forms that should be used by the financial institution to document and file this type of complaint.
Thank you for writing, Consumer Support │Visa Europe I'm now waiting for Nationwide to send me the relevant form to take my complaint further. Watch this space. I had an enjoyable day at Tamar Otter Park The video of the day. Look out for the moment the deer steal the food from me. A real 'You've Been Framed' moment. http://youtu.be/OqChibUlY30?a The Otter Park website http://www.tamarotters.co.uk/ Win a free half hour guitar or ukulele lesson by Skype, FaceTime or google hangouts. During #DevonHour on twitter, this week only (21/82013), 10 questions about me will appear under the hash tag #SoYouThinkYouKnowMe. Simply tweet the answers back to me. All the answers are in my twitter time line and blogs. The winner will be announced shortly after Saturday 6 pm (24/8/2013) when the competition closes, here and on Twitter. In the event of a tie, I will draw a winner from the most correct answers. Anyone is eligible to play, except me. Good luck! You must be able to get your hands on a guitar or ukulele. No cash alternatives. My decision is final. Two orange kayaks like in the picture above were stolen sometime between 5pm 16th August & yesterday evening (17th August 2013) About 5 pm, from Tamar Lake near Bude Cornwall. They have a flatish back, and are about 6 ft long. If you suspect you have seen them please contact the Police. The rain yesterday at Filleigh Fete kept many visitors away. For those That made the effort, there was plenty to do & see. As its the Summer holidays we have been finding it harder and harder to provide entertainment for my five year old daughter without spending an astronomical amount. To be honest she is more than happy to spend time in our back garden. or at the local park. It is us that would rather go further afield. About two weeks ago on a Saturday my wife decided that it would be a good idea to visit The Blue Pool near to Wareham. I have lived in Weymouth my whole life I am 38 now and can vaguely remember visiting this magical attraction as a young child a few times. What I remembered of it was that it wasn't really blue and it was more of a lake than a pool. So we set off not really knowing what to expect. When we arrived we went down quite a narrow track to find ample parking at the end in a clearing surrounded by lots of forest. We walked over to the entrance and prices were as follows: Prices Adults £5.50 Children 5 - 14 years £4.00 (under fives free) Seniors & Concessions £4.80 Family Ticket - 2 adults and up to 4 children £15.00 Season Tickets Are Available Not too bad we thought. We then walked through past the Teddy Bear Museum and The Tea Rooms and onto what was just an unbelievable sight to be sat in Dorset you can see it looks more like an tiny slice of an American National Park . You literally feel that you have walked into another country. It helped that it was very much like an Autumn day and everything was filtered golden brown except the trees which were still a lovely green. We then walked through the forest stopping at various view points along the way all better than the first. We finally got round to area where we could get down on to the Shore of the Pool itself. Even a young child can enjoy herself here. It is said that the Pool was manmade from a clay bowl and this is why the colour itself changes from Blue to Green to Brown at times. We carried on round and just before we made our way back to the refreshments my eagle eyed daughter spotted a well stocked Play Area with 3 different parts to it. There was also an area to view Corfe Castle from here but the trees were so tall we could not make it out.
After we dragged my little girl away from the park kicking and screaming as usual. We had a look round the Wareham Bears shop which was a cute little shop with Teddy Bears set up in glass cases in various scenarios. Such as builders or Fireman etc. http://www.bluepooltearooms.co.uk/the-wareham-bears Quite fun really.
Next we headed to the Tea Rooms that had ample seating inside and out Good fun for the kids is a Teddy Bear hunt which is based in the Tea Room and the Museum. This keeps the kids busy for around 15mins if you're lucky. The museum from what I could gather in between looking for bears shows the history of Clay Mining in the area. We had the obligatory Cream Teas but hot meals were available the price was pretty average .
We were at the attraction for around 3hrs in total but never felt bored and like we wanted to leave at all. You could easily spend the day there and have a picnic. It is truly one of the most beautiful spots in Dorset, If not the UK. |
Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|