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Monthly Archives: August 2011
Watch the trailer for a new linotype film…
There's something about type that fascinates me, so I was a sucker for this appeal and am now a backer of the project…
A Google smartphone on its way?
I was interested to read in Marketing Week that Google's acquisition of Motorola's mobile division could see the launch of a "pure Google" smartphone. At the moment, Motorola has only 0.6% share of the UK smartphone market (as opposed to market leader Apple with 26.3%).
Personally I'm looking forward to the day when all phones are smartphones and Apple has some decent competition. But a Google smartphone? I'm fairly neutral when it comes to Google but I'm also aware of the creeping Google-isation of the world.
Signs of the (media) times
Just back from hols and skimming through the accumulated copies of various trade mags, I came across a double page spread in Marketing Week entitled 'Making new connections with newspaper ads'. It's pretty clear that it's an advertising feature, created by the Newspaper Marketing Agency.
I'm not sure how long this body has been around (its website suggests 2003) but this is the biggest advertorial I've yet seen for the promotion of newspaper advertising.
I know that local and regional newspapers in particular are having a tough time of it these days, and my own local paper finds plenty of room each week for quarter- or half-page ads promoting either its own (sadly abysmal) web portal or rather unsubtle messages that 'advertising works!'
Ten years ago I don't think newspapers needed to do this kind of selling of themselves as vehicles for advertisers.
Update to the ‘From behind the Iron Curtain’ story
I'm coming to the end of my summer holiday and thought I'd post an update to the strange story I wrote about last year- the letter from 'behind the Iron Curtain'.
We're staying in Leipzig (at the Penta Hotel – highly recommended!) and I suddenly thought again about the letter from 'Anjelika' which had been sent to my place of work back in 1985. It had been sent from Leipzig – why on earth hadn't I brought it with me? It would have been fun to track down the address.
