For me the sense of anticipation for the Christmas period sets in with the whispers of the advertising campaigns for the big high streets names. Upon confirmation of their prime time advertising spot (which I conveniently missed) I headed straight onto YouTube… and it was definitely an interesting comparison from the big two. From M and S’s use of The X Factor finalists, which they may now be regretting thanks to the controversy surrounding certain contestants and declining viewing figures, through to the tear jerking John Lewis ad, which beautifully depicts what Christmas should be all about… the Christmas season is well underway.

However there was one final advert which finally kicked me into Christmas touch and judging by a number of my friends status updates on Facebook they would agree….. It can be none other than Coca Cola’s infamous ‘Holidays are coming’ advert. I must admit the sight of the big red trucks, and the little wink from Santa brings out the inner child in me and the excitement sets in, followed quite swiftly by sheer panic.

However, this year it would be a little different.  I, Jamie Richards would be taking part amongst the other 21,000 runners on what was a cold drizzly Sunday morning.  With next to no training under my belt, I was wondering why I was taking part?  Everyone looked so prepared and “Ready” for the run.  I sadly wasn’t.  However, by the end of the run, the race had changed my perception of running and the training involved.  First, Let me take you back a year or so ago.

In my teens I was a club competitive swimmer, swimming on average 4KM a training session. So swimming was not an issue.  Then, aged 15 I was annoyed with the gears on my mountain bike and I decided with my first payslip to purchase a road bike, (which I still use for training).   It was only when I was drinking wine with my future father-in-law over Sunday lunch, that it was suggested that I start to enter triathlons.

For those that don’t know, a triathlon race is made up of 3 parts.  It’s one event with a Swim, Cycle and Run in that order.  The standard distance event triathlon is called an Olympic. This takes the format of 1500M swim (usually in a lake), 40KM cycle then a 10KM Run.

So, for my first I entered a sprint triathlon (750M/20KM/5KM) knowing that I can swim, and that I had the bike, so all that was left to do was run.   “Shouldn’t be an issue” I thought.  And to my surprise it wasn’t.  But the run was only 5KM.   After introducing my mate James to the world of triathlons, he calmly suggested after completing his first that we plan to enter an Ironman Triathlon in a few years time.

The distances in an Ironman Triathlon are silly. If a 3 Mile swim and 120 Mile bike ride wasn’t enough, it finishes with a marathon. Now, James is a runner that has built up his swimming to a reasonable standard.  So it was time for me to start building up my running in preparation for the Ironman.  It was suggested by many that I enter the Great South Run.  This should bring us up to date.

The Great South Run was an unknown for me.  The furthest I had ever run in one go was 6 Miles.  I had only ever done that twice, about 2 months before moving from Liverpool and starting work at in Eastleigh at White Communications Group.  So you can see why I was feeling a little lost amongst the other runners.  However, after walking slowly behind the rope towards the start line, the adrenaline kicked in.  This was a race.  And I am competitive.  So running with my father (and what’s left of his right knee) and doing it for Rowans hospice, we set off.

Knowing the extent of my training, my Dad instantly told me to slow down.  So we cruised round the first few miles and just took in the atmosphere. Live bands, people cheering and marines running with bergen’s asking the crowds for sponsorship.  All Amazing.  Like nothing I have experienced on a triathlon, where you can be cycling & running with no crowd support.

However, once we passed the 5KM marker and then the 10KM marker I knew that this wasn’t going to be easy.  It all happened for me just before the 9 Mile marker.  The combination of the rain, wind and the previous 8 or so miles hit me like a tonne of bricks.  Jamie was not in a good place.  My Dad couldn’t believe me when I was saying “slow down a sec!”   It was like nothing I had ever experienced in any other sporting event; swimming, cycling or triathlons.  I just wanted to stop.  I would finish, but thought 1 min rest would be enough.  However, my Dad quietly shouted “ If I stop with you, my knee will seize up!”  Joining up the dots I realised quickly that he wouldn’t be able to finish if I stopped.  So I “Manned-Up” and carried on.

Taking a handful of Jelly babies from a top up station at 1 miles to go we went for the finish.  All memories of me enjoying atmosphere, looking at the marketing behind the free drinks given to us from Powerade etc had long gone.  Just getting over the line with my failing legs was all I needed to do.  Usually I have enough for a sprint finish.  Not today.  With the line getting ever closer I raised my arms for an illustrious finish.  Job Done.

After a few pints and something to eat, I had time to reflect on what I had learnt.

1. 10 Miles is longer than I thought.
2. I now know that 10KM isn’t that far and that I need to do much more training in preparation for this Ironman Triathlon.

This was a first step of many that I need to take, however I am determined to get to the Ironman race, finish and get that logo tattooed onto my left ankle.

The next step in my training journey; a few triathlons for charity in the New Year, a long distance cycle race for Asthma suffers and hopefully a half marathon. I look to post regular updates with regards to the events I take part in and any crazy training I do. For now, bring on dark evenings of bike turbo training and running in the cold.

The video is for Health Care Professionals (HCP’s) to educate them on the Jext Simulator. The simulator contains no adrenaline or needle and can be used to teach all relevant persons how to correctly administer intra-muscular adrenaline.

By hosting the video online, HCP’s can watch the video repeatedly so that they can confidently demonstrate how to use Jext to their patients and colleagues.

HCP’s can print out a certificate once they have watched the video to demonstrate that they have completed the training session on ‘How to use Jext’.

By offering a resource such as this HCP’s can focus on providing sufficient training and education to prepare their patients for any possible emergency event related to anaphylaxis.

Watch the video here: http://www.jext.co.uk/healthcare/simulator-pen.aspx

Find out more about Focus here: http://www.focusbiz.co.uk/

The ideal candidate will have a passion for design, good Mac skills, have creative flair and be fully conversant with Adobe Creative Suite.

Interested, please contact nickb@whitecg.co.uk or call 02380 620088.

This week Marc and I were invited to attend the Brendoncare Annual Event.   The event is a chance for staff, volunteers and invited guests to come together and celebrate the great work the charity does for older people.

The atmosphere was great and everyone had nothing but praise for the staff and volunteers at Brendoncare. There were Homes and Clubs showcases highlighting the importance of the charity to older people in the community and an engaging talk from guest speaker Peter Mead, Chairman of Omnicom Europe.

The food was freshly prepared by the Brendoncare care centre kitchen staff and proved to be very popular amongst guests…..including Marc and I!

The highlight of the day for me was hearing Winton Friendship Club member, Jean Gell recite a poem she had written about her club membership. The words were so moving and highlighted the importance of the Brendoncare clubs in tackling the huge problem of loneliness and social isolation amongst older people.

I came away from the event feeling proud to be working with such a valued charity and proud of the work we do for Brendoncare in their quest for improving the quality of life for older people.

For information on Brendoncare and how you can get involved visit: brendoncare.org.uk

The driver for this product is of course the general decline of Flash based animation due to the rise of low powered mobile devices. And while Edge doesn’t actually produce anything that you couldn’t do manually, it’s easy timeline-based interface is a real time saver when producing javascript animation.

The preview release has somewhat limited functionality but it’s stable and easy to work with.

You can view a number of examples produced using Edge on the Adobe website.

Of course, animations produced using Edge can only be viewed in browsers that support the latest HTML5/CSS3 technologies and that (as ever) means that Internet Explorer will be an anchor that holds this product back somewhat (IE9 is the minimum requirement).

I think this product has great potential though and is one to watch for the future.

We designed instore point of sale for independent pharmacies and retailers (Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Boots etc) that brought together the complete Calpol range and linked in with the proposed TV ads that JWT would produce. Our design showed a group of children wearing Calpol brand coloured T-shirts, lying together smiling and looking up to the camera framed within a bright paint coloured rainbow (signifying the full Calpol product range).

The image for the campaign was to be taken on the same day that a lucky 24 children of ages between 1 and 14 travelled to London from near and as far as Scotland, to audition for the TV ad at the Calpol casting day. More details on the competition can be found here. (http://www.facebook.com/CalpolUK?sk=app_221030941253745)

Our task was to art direct all 24 children for their individual photo (which they took home with them as a memento of their day in the big smoke) in a professional studio environment. I personally had a lot of fun welcoming the children into the studio area and trying to get them to relax in front of the camera (excellently taken by Jasper the photographer and his team).

Getting the kids to the studio was a task in itself, as they were to be found in one of the 5 or 6 rooms that catered for all their needs. A cinema room with a popcorn machine and fancy dress photobooth was particularly popular. Other rooms included a games room with a ballpit, a chill out area for the parents, a diner with endless amounts of food and drink (mini hamburgers being my particular favourite), a casting room for the advert and a makeup room!

Once we had shot each child (with a camera of course!) we had to choose our favourite five, which was extremely difficult as they all had unique characteristics. Our final choices reflected the age range of Calpol and were an equal split of boys and girls.

With time flying by and the mini burgers all gone it was straight down to the business of getting the best picture for our FSDU. The task of getting five children of all different ages to look up at a camera and smile whilst lying on the floor in a studio whilst surrounded by parents, strangers and large flashing lights may sound like a piece of cake (which JWT supplied in the diner room as well, yummy!), but you would be very, very wrong!!
Luckily Jasper and his team had obviously worked with children before and had plenty of props to draw the smaller children’s attention to the right area. I was jumping around with a glittery butterfly attached to a long bamboo stick for over an hour before we were all happy that we had at least one good image which we could use.

The children were free to leave after their exhausting but enjoyable day, but nobody wanted to. The environment in the building was unbelievably upbeat and nobody wanted to go, desperate to take in every moment. Slowly but surely though they did begin to disperse with a goody bag in one hand and their own portrait picture in another. Rachel and I made our way back to White Communications Group satisfied with our day’s work.

There is a well used phrase that says you should never work with children or animals, but I disagree. I really enjoyed the unpredictable nature of the day and the wonderful moments that would melt the hardest persons heart. So anytime you need somebody to art direct a childrens photoshoot or a pet commercial give me a call!

The new website, jext.co.uk, has information for both patients and healthcare professionals (HCP).

For patients there is information about living with anaphylaxis, video demonstrations on how to use Jext, interactive knowledge tests and a free Jext expiry alert service.

For healthcare professionals there is training and information, case studies, video demonstrations, patient support materials and a resource library for ordering materials.

The new website design features personalisation tools that enable the site visitor to customise the look of the website and account management tools that enable the user to manage their Jext expiry alerts.

Rolled out as part of a wider European launch of Jext, White Communications Group have also delivered a variety of printed materials as part of this product launch.

By working closely with our client we have been able to produce informative and practical literature for patients and HCP’s with regard to anaphylaxis and using Jext. Materials include: detail aids, leave pieces, treatment room posters, patient information booklets and  ZCard’s.  Where possible we have tried to encourage patients to engage with the website to take advantage of the free expiry alert service and resources available.

A fresh design, combined with new booking functionality and content management system brings this site bang up-to-date.

If your website is looking a bit tired and need of a boost then get in touch. Why not see what our team can do for you?

Why? Two reasons:

Google has had a profound impact on sales. In just a few short years Google has taken control away from the sales professionals and given it to the customers. With a quick bash on a keyboard, a customer can identify all of their buying options. They can read product reviews, compare competitive pricing, find suppliers and choose the best option without ever speaking to a sales person.

Firstly ‘Google’ has replaced much of the front-end work sales people do. Customers aren’t waiting for a sales person to contact them. If you were to buy a car these days, you research it yourself on the internet and draw up a shortlist, narrow it down to the one you want. Then you research car dealerships to compare their offerings and see which one offers the best value. You will know exactly which car you want to buy and who to buy from, long before you even speak to a sales person.

The second major influence for the possible extinction of sales reps is unsurprisingly the rising price of fuel. In less than two years petrol prices have soared by more than 30%. Indeed despite the Chancellor’s 1p cut in duty in the latest budget, the average price of a litre of petrol has risen 15.8p a litre since the beginning of the year. The annual cost of a sales person who drives an average of 500 miles per week has therefore increased by £4,108 per year. This may not seem like much, but imagine as a company, you had 100 sales reps on the road. That is a £411K increase in the sales force’s cost of sales! Should you instead re direct that investment to more productive marketing efforts? Imagine you put that money into Internet marketing programs? Would you be better off? Most likely!

So if customers are circumventing the sales process by getting information on their own and the cost to travel is forcing sales people to think twice about trekking across the country, sales forces must become much more strategic about how they engage, support and sell to their customers. They also must think about how they are differentiating themselves from the competition. Ask yourself; what are you doing to add value? This is how to secure the business and increase your conversion rate and therefore offset the cost of servicing that customer. Going forward the increasing costs of an outside sales force means companies have to focus these expensive resources to where they will have the most impact such as negotiations and strategic account management. Otherwise, conducting business as usual could be fiscal suicide.