Glastonbury.

Reading and Leeds.

Kettlewell Scarecrow
Festival.

Now another name can be
added to this illustrious list of UK gatherings, the IPA’s Eff Fest. A day of
inspiration and celebration of effectiveness in commercial creativity, it was a
chance to learn from some incredibly interesting people as well as getting out
of the office on a sunny Tuesday.

The event was hosted at
the top of the Millbank Tower, with stunning views all across the capital. Here
was a collection of planners from a vast variety of agencies, lots of coffee
and a fortune telling booth not too dissimilar from that in the Tom Hanks film
‘Big’, however this featured a bearded planner who instead imparted knowledge to
help you in your quest for an insight. Mega lolz.

The day was split into
four parts:

The Value of Learning
in other Industries

Highlights included a
fascinating talk from Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre,
about how she went about creating a place that people desired as well as the
power of unlocking creativity within everyone and anyone. Unfortunately, her
speech was shorter than it should have been as Mary Portas had been on first
and had run over while talking about herself for too long. That’s perhaps a tad
harsh; her thought that  'Nothing
is dead if there's a possibility of reimagining it' was positively optimistic.

How to structure your
organisation for effectiveness

Special mention here goes
out to ex W+Ker Russell Davies who is now doing wonderful things with the
government’s digital services, Gov.uk. He did manage to squeeze in several
videos of dramatic chipmunks, so it appears a little of 16 Hanbury St. is still
lurking around somewhere inside of him.

How understanding
modern consumers could increase effectiveness

This was the sciency bit,
where Mark Earls chaired a discussion on how science and our knowledge of human
behaviour can impact creativity. I won’t attempt to go into too much detail, as
I probably wouldn’t do it justice, however I would recommend reading either
Phil Barden’s ‘Decoded’ or Marks Earls’ ‘Herd’ if you want to swot up.

Launch of the
#IPASocialWorks

Now, this was the bit that
I was really interested in. As an interactive strategist, I spend a lot of time
working to try and explore how we can more effectively measure our digital
creativity. The IPA, as well as several agency folk and some of the bigger
social networks, are looking into how we, as an industry, can prove worth in
social media activity. This is of unparalleled importance when it comes to
social as without it, marketing directors will surely become tired of investing
money in something that it is impossible to prove reward from. It’s something
that we at W+K are completely vested in and are constantly working with clients
to show the worth in exceptional creativity.

All in all it was an
insightful day. Well done all of the speakers and thank you to the IPA for
hosting. High fives all round.

The people of Grimsby seem to be generally pleased with our new ad for the Tesco Finest range, featuring a tradtional Grimsby smokehouse which supplies Tesco Finest smoked haddock.

Here's an article from the Grimsby Telegraph.

They say:

SMOKED haddock, the Dock Tower and the Pontoon Stand are among the icons of Grimsby starring in a new national TV advert.
Supermarket giant Tesco has chosen the town for its latest advert which promotes its Tesco Finest range.

The 30-second film features footage of haddock being cured in one of the town's smokehouses, Grimsby Town fans cheering their side on at Blundell Park and a view across Grimsby Docks at dusk – set to the sound of chanting from the Pontoon.
It also shows customers in a cafe tucking into the fish, which is prepared for Tesco at Seachill's smokehouse, Russells, in Riby Street.

The new advert has been praised by both the town's MP and mayor and has delighted those connected with Grimsby's seafood industry and its football club.
Great Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell said: "I think it's brilliant. It tells the world what we already know – that Grimsby is best for fish. It makes me feel so hungry I want to have some smoked haddock right now!"
Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, Councillor Peggy Elliott, said: "I think it's great. It shows the traditions of smoking fish being passed down the generations and the crowd yelling at the football. My husband Steve thought he could hear himself in the crowd. It is very atmospheric and it shows Grimsby in a positive light."

Steve Norton, chief executive of the Grimsby Fish Merchant's Association, which is spearheading the Traditionally Smoked Fish project, said: "To have someone like Tesco behind it clearly demonstrates that it's a good product, and it's something that the public are interested in. Hopefully it will heighten the awareness of traditional smoked fish, which is what we have been trying to do with this project. The advert talks about the tradition and the technique. It's only a brief clip, but it does capture the essence of the natural method of curing. Anything that's going to be a positive message for our industry or a niche part of it has got to be good news."
John Fenty, Grimsby Town FC director and former owner of Five Star Fish, said: "Having been lucky enough to earn my living from the fish industry it's great to see Grimsby and the club again on national adverts like this. The last I recall was Young's on national TV when they really flew the flag for Grimsby.
"In this case, the club is well and truly embedded in the video, which highlights Harry the Haddock, the Pontoon and in the background the singing faithful in full voice, all topped off by pictures of the iconic Dock Tower.
"The advertisement represents the best fish in the world in my opinion – haddock bearing the infamous finger and thumb prints where Jesus plucked one from the sea to feed the many, and Grimsby is still doing the same today."
The advert has particular resonance for Mariners' fan Robert Smith, as it features the "Fish!" chant he is credited with initiating at an away game at Rotherham almost 14 years ago.
He said: "I thought it was quite inspiring. It has all the Grimsby icons. It's nice they are focusing on some of the positive aspects. People from outside the area don't realise what a pleasant place Grimsby is.
"I won't be retiring from the day job. I do shop in Tesco so some extra club card points would have been nice!"

I didn't realise that Jesus had been involved in the Grimsby haddock trade, or that Robert Smith was responsible for the Grimsby 'fish' chant as well as such pop-goth standards as 'A Forest' and 'The Lovecats' but it's nice to get a positive reponse from the local community. Here's the TV spot again: