Advertising – Kernel

The upside of a downturn

A couple of recessions ago I was at art college studying my graphic design and advertising course and as I prepared myself for the big wide world my tutor assured me that despite the economic situation of the past couple of years the future was bright. His argument was that companies don’t stop spending they simply postpone spending. Clients are a little more prudent, projects are put on hold but ultimately the work still needs to be done. Steve Harrison, Read More...

3 Sep 2010

The Intangible Value of Place

The projected draconian cutbacks in UK Public Sector spending will have a dramatic impact on how the State and its operating partners will address the ongoing need for the regeneration of towns and cities throughout the land. Nowhere will the effects be more felt than the less well-off areas of the UK. And yet places in the North East and North West, Wales and Scotland are still trying to find a new identity born out of the deindustrialisation of the Read More...

5 Jun 2010

Trains, Taxis and Opportunists

Anyone who is familiar with the main railway line between Birmingham and Manchester will also be familiar with the black metals horse shapes that are positioned at various places along the track between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton. They were erected in 1987 at twelve locations by sculptor Kevin Atherton, and were titled ‘Iron Horse’ (a pun on the early title given to steam locomotives in the 19th century). They were commissioned by a joint group comprising of West Midlands Read More...

4 Jun 2010

Social media and the General Election UK 2010

There is so much I could talk about on the topic of social media use in this years General Election campaigns, but as there has been so much coverage on this topic online and offline I am keeping this entry short and sweet. 2010 is the first year that social media has been used in a General Election in the UK, we all saw how effective it was in 2008/2009 for Obama’s campaign in the States, but will it be Read More...

29 Apr 2010

Augmented Reality

I first came across augmented reality last year at digitalks in Cheltenham, it is a really fun tool to use and adds another dimension to a campaign. After doing a bit of research I found that Alex Smith from Funkadelic advertising on blogspot.com had already created a top 10 list of Augmented Reality Advertising Campaigns and I thought I would share this with you: http://funkadelicadvertising.blogspot.com/2009/06/top-10-augmented-reality-adveritising.html I also really enjoyed watching Florence and the Machine on Grazia magazine latest 3D issue, Read More...

23 Apr 2010

Social learning

What comes to your mind when you think about social learning? Chatting with friends, colleagues and peers? It seems that social media technologies are the new tools being used for informal e learning. Now that social media and social networking has become so popular and easily accessible, it seems that ‘social learning’ is the natural progression of informal e learning and both the e learning industry and advertising and marketing industry are recognizing this and are utilizing social media. There Read More...

23 Apr 2010

New to Manchester

Hi, I am Caroline, Kernel’s new digital manager, I am just coming to the end of my 1st month living and working in Manchester and it has been great. There is a really good atmosphere in town and in the office, there are so many places to go to, not to mention all the shops… roll on pay day! Kernel asked my boyfriend and I to move to Manchester along with the move of our UK office. At first we Read More...

31 Mar 2010

The importance of a single minded proposition

Single minded proposition It’s not a buzzword account handlers claim and creative’s demand. It is at the heart of what makes advertising great. As you will read in countless amounts of marketing books; The single minded proposition sums up the most important thing you can say about the brand that influences the consumer in such a way that it addresses your problem In short - It is the backbone to any ads great idea - It is the first and Read More...

29 Mar 2010

Hello Kitty of course

On the run up to my daughter’s 6th birthday recently, I followed rule No.9 of the father’s manual and asked her what she would like. Imagination left once again at the front door. “Hello Kitty” she responded. I enquired as to what exactly she was referring to. A DVD? A t-shirt? Or a Generation Game style cuddly toy? “Yes”. I gathered from this that specifics were not important. After delving into Hello Kitty’s world for some manly comfort and guidance, Read More...

11 Mar 2010