For those not up-to-date with the situation, there is a legal bill to be voted on currently in the American House of Representatives and another to be deliberated by the American Senate, the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ (often abbreviated to SOPA) and ‘Protect IP’, which seek to clamp-down on online copyright infringement.

However, there are questions being raised over the amount of power that the legislation would give both the government and corporate world in America, with critics calling it unconstitutional. This has ignited debate throughout the world, with a great deal of it having ironically taken place on internet forums, social networking sites and message boards.

With lobbyists from Silicon Valley on one side and Wikipedia, with their break from their normal ‘passive’ stance, on the other, the debatable issues of the morality and ethics of piracy and also of the potential threat to the ‘freedom of speech’ ethos (which the internet was founded on) remain at the centre of the debate.

It seems to me that legislation of this nature could potentially hinder on the organic and innovative internet ‘culture’ that we have seen developing so quickly over the last decade.

It also occurs to me that legislation of this nature, while fair in a basic moral sense, may give rise to a potential ‘dark age’ in the development of the internet, should steps not be taken to preserve the freedom internet users currently have.

Definitely an issue to watch and I’m sure its one that will not slip far from the public’s thoughts for some time…

When I come across a decent agency I usually bookmark them for future reference, but I recently thought maybe it would be a good idea to share those bookmarks. Putting what I consider to be the best agencies from around the world all in one place.

The Creative Shelf is a simple click through site where you can link to some great agencies that you probably wouldn’t otherwise come across. And it’s not about who’s got the biggest budgets, won the most awards or has the most celebrated ego. In fact the only self imposed criteria I have is that they have to have one piece of work or idea that I’d love to have done. If there is I put them on the shelf.

So if you’re a curious design geek or a student wanting to know who you should be looking at, then when not check out http://thecreativeshelf.com or follow it on twitter @creative_shelf

But from M&S’s point of view is aligning their brand to a group of people that are clearly not their ‘target customer’ a clever tactic or a case of just jumping on the bandwagon?

I must admit, from a brand perspective I’m struggling to see the logic, the two clearly don’t go hand in hand despite the soft focus filming and scenes of happy children and families. But the X Factor has become a promotional tactic that many businesses are using almost as an ‘off the shelf’ concept. It’s easy, current, in the public eye and everyone knows about it.

But I do wonder what damage and expense this could cause people like M&S. The X Factor is notorious for being steeped in controversy. Some may say this is part of the appeal but to a brand like M&S who have traditional values and traditional customers I think this is a risky card to play.

I’m an M&S shopper myself (maybe one of the younger ones) and the Ad really left me with a conflicting view of what the brand was trying to say.

Then I had a chat with my Nan (one of their older shoppers) who told me quite plainly that she didn’t like it.

“ I can’t stand that Girl Group, why didn’t they do something with Shirley Bassey again?”. Fair point, they have gone from one extreme to the other.

I’d love to know what was in the M&S Ad brief, because if they asked for something controversial, that didn’t appeal to their core market and pushed the boundries of their brand then they got it spot on!

Lets just hoped none of the other contestants get the boot otherwise it’s going to become a pretty short and expensive TV commercial.

We’re looking for an up and coming Junior Designer to join our team on a 3 month internship. You’ll probably have graduated in the last year or so and be desperate to take the design world by storm.

We’ll take it for granted that you’re creative, hard working and reliable, so no need to tell us about that. We’d rather hear about which websites you look at, whose Tweets you follow and what makes you the next big thing.

If you really want to impress us you could also give us your thoughts on the new University of Salford branding

Email your details along with three pieces of work to thenextbigthing@studionorth.co.uk

Any attachments set in Microsoft Word will lead to instant disqualification.

Closing date – 21.10.11

But I think this is really clever. There is something slightly indulgent about taking a bit of time out to have a cuppa and browse a catalogue, it’s more relaxing and enjoyable than clicking through pages and pages of a website, trying to zoom in on images and waiting for pages to load. Let’s face it, most of us spend all day at a computer so actually picking up something tangible to read when we get home is actually quite nice.

This got me thinking back to when I was about 10 years old. Receiving the seasonal ‘Marshall Ward’ catalogue was an absolute highlight. My sister and I used to fight over it, folding back the pages that featured all the toys and clothes we wanted. This was especially exciting at Christmas.

So, are we seeing a resurgence in more traditional, printed direct mail communications? Are online retailers recognising the need to build brand awareness away from the computer screen?

Well, it looks like ASOS aren’t the only ones…

Sports Direct set for largest mail order investment with new catalogue roll out

Online retailer Ocado launches customer magazine

Even some of the UK’s largest online retailers such as Sports Direct and Ocando are turning to print….why? Because it’s the only ‘tangible’ way of getting into peoples homes. When you only exist online you only exist in peoples minds. This makes the generation of brand loyalty and recognition even more crucial to how you market your business. But when you’re not a huge brand with a huge marketing budget this can be pretty difficult!

I’m not suggesting that all online brands need to go out and invest in a costly direct mail campaign but I do think businesses need to consider how they can use print effectively. There is still clearly a customer appetite for offline communications that are relevant and planned.

This is something we’re looking at quite closely at Studio North, exploring new ways in which our clients can create a more tangible brand without a huge investment. You’re more than welcome to give me a call if you’d like to find out more.

But then I saw something yesterday that made me think, businesses shouldn’t underestimate the power of community spirit, no matter how big or small they may be.

This weekend it was Stockton Heath festival. Hundreds of people living in the local area descended on the village to take part and support the local community. The place was alive with stalls, competitions, games for the kids (and parents), exhibitions and of course the beer tent, which is where we spent most of the day!

Young families, teenagers, professionals, OAP’s, they all came out in the droves to support the event and I don’t just mean by buying stuff! The mere presence of people showed that people really do buy into their local community and are proud to be part of it.

These kind of events build loyalty. Ok so they may be a fun day out but people will talk about and remember the experience.

One of the smaller businesses that took part was Riverford www.riverford.co.uk selling homegrown organic produce. These guys are really struggling with the convenience and price of the supermarket brands but they do have a way to differentiate and compete. Their brand proposition is all about making organic, fresh produce ‘accessible and affordable’. Events such as these give them the chance to get that message out there and it works. I stood and watched over 10 people sign up to their service in the space of 30 minutes.

And the big brands recognise this too. The likes of Audi had a stall there with several cars on display. I’m not sure they will have sold many of the £105,000 Audi R8 but the mere presence of them shows that even though they have massive global advertising budgets, they still recognise the value in taking their brand into the community.

Other businesses were taking a more ‘partner led’ approach. We have a lovely wine shop in the village who teamed up with an arts and craft business. Together they offered a combined experience, come in and paint your own piece of pottery and have a glass of wine while you do it. Fantastic idea.

Local schools were taking part in football matches sponsored and prizes were being donated by local businesses, all aimed at a captive audience.

Community marketing can be very cost effective but does require a bigger investment of personal time to make it work. But in difficult times it’s clear to see that people really do pull together and this is a marketing channel that shouldn’t be underestimated. Brands of all shapes and sizes need to harness the power of the community and integrate it into how they operate and how they communicate their message.

If you want to hear some of my ideas on this then drop me a line kerry@studionorth.co.uk

Creative brief as follows:

The client:
The wife.

The idea:
Create a photo book containing the re-edited photos from our wedding in Greece 7 years ago.

The goal:
Make the client weepy eyed with nostalgia. Hopefully she’ll sign a retainer.

The deadline:
Wedding anniversary, 14th June.

The solution:
Smash some plates, greek style. Make a distinctive, mosaic number 7 for the cover as well as some authentic looking backgrounds for the inside.

The team:
Myself and two kids who regularly break things.

Step 1 – Choose your weapons

Step 2 – Do what you do best

Step 3 – Count to seven

Step 4 – Something old made something new!

Step 5 – And theres the cover. Smashing.

They are:

Jim Symonds – ‘Gilling me softly with his sans’

Luke Scheybeler – ‘I’m so x-height-ed by The 12 Point-er Sisters’

Jake Smith – ‘Gils verdana have fun’ and ‘Bodoni way is up’

Congratulations guys, a copy of ‘Just My Type’ is on it’s way over to you!

Up to £5 for a piece of printed card folded in half! One of the best swindles of all time. Anyway, over the next two weeks it happens to be my birthday, anniversary and father’s day so I’ve invented this prototype, recyclable card that will do for all three, thus saving Mrs Buckley her hard earned cash, or as we share accounts, my hard earned cash.

Basically, one piece of card and several reusable stickers – it’s environmentally friendly and what it lacks in emotion it makes up for in value!