I'm rushing out to the shops to buy the last minute stocking fillers for Mrs J.  She doesn't really want anything or need anything but regardless I will go and spend too much money on pretty meaningless stuff.  However, with my little bit of spend I feel that I'll be doing my bit to help retail in these bizarre and troubled times.  As we approach the end of a year that has seen some unbelievable changes in the world and our lives I hope and pray for us all that 2009 will be a healthy and peaceful year, whatever turmoil is thrown at us. 

Would sales of the Sony PS3 console have been better if the design had been as inspired as a 70s Sony clock radio? There's only one way to find out!  Fablon! Take one dull official looking Playstation 3, then add some wood veneer look Fablon (other sticky backed plastics are available and get an adult to help you) and a old Sony name plaque you had in a drawer. Here's one I made earlier. It's better living by design! Comment on your favourite now.

The talk chaired by Dominic Mills, editorial director of Haymarket Business included four leading professionals from the marketing and advertising industry who gave short talks on where they saw the future of outdoor advertising heading.

John Slatkin from Titan Outdoor presented stats and figures about the growth of digital outdoor advertising and how people where spending more time than ever outdoors, and the opportunities that this presented.

Mark Greenstreet, MD of evolve spoke about the growing awareness and the effectiveness of  digital media and how it could add to a campaign. His talk was backed with facts about increased dwell and the general positive response digital media has had with a wide age range of the general public.

David Bedwood of award winning agency 'Lean Mean Fighting Machine' gave the most amusing talk, sharing his experience with clients and showing some inspiring ideas and uses of digital media from exploding billboards to kicking Big Macs into someone's face.

Lastly, Greg Grimmer, founder of HMDG rounded up the talk with some examples of how flexible digital media can be. Using examples of Tag Heuer’s recent campaign with Lewis Hamilton, which used time sensitive messages. In a matter of minutes of Hamilton winning the championship, a "Congratulations Lewis" message was displayed.

Overall the main impression I took from the event was that digital out door advertising doesn't have to completely replace traditional advertising, but it can add to a campaign. It also has the advantage of being flexible and easily updated. But the impression in the industry is that its expensive and there's not enough research to justify the spend, which is a bit of shame.

A few links to some of the examples used and some of the talks, as well as some other stuff I've found,

Greg Grimmer's talk
http://www.ipa.co.uk/Content/Greg-Grimmer-Presentation-from-Digital-Life-Out-of-Home-Seminar

Jon Slatkin's
http://www.ipa.co.uk/Content/Jon-Slatkins-Presentation-from-Digital-Life-Out-of-Home-Seminar

Frog game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ZMMe9rlkI&feature=related

Exploding billboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb4yEa6l6I4

Tags time sensitive messages
http://www.jcdecaux.co.uk/news/?id=249