Digital Nativity. Very App.t

NEIL'S CAMPAIGN ESSAY

'If you want to achieve something incredible, getting staff on board with a real sense of pride in what they are doing can achieve real integration'.

Read Neil's full essay on integration in Campaign.

ST LUKE'S OX

Avid readers of our blog will know that one of our very first posts explains the reasoning behind our ox logo:

'The winged ox is the icon of St. Luke - the apostle we named our company after. We wanted a name that brought the ideas of creativity and curing together and St. Luke is patron saint of both artists and doctors. A bit grandiose - but there are very few problems out there that human creativity can't remedy.'

The big man himself

This approach runs through the veins of the agency and is something we wanted to extend across our blog, with this in mind, we have renamed it Oxblood (celebration, applause, fanfare etc etc).

As ever, the same rules apply...

1) All posts should encourage conversation
2) All comments should be constructive
3) Be sensible - don't reveal anything confidential
4) Respect the poster - don't edit or delete unless it contravenes the laws above
5) Post your name!
6) Mind your language

We hope you like it, do come and visit and let us know what you think.

Christmas Costumes

Readers may remember seeing a picture of my new puppy Stanley on Wimbledon Common with his friend Carlos, the Great Dane.

For those of you who didn’t, here he is modeling his new winter coat.



As the festive period gets underway, invitations to Christmas parties are in abundance with fancy dress being a mandatory requirement for guests.

This has resulted in me looking for a suitable costume for Stanley so he can join in the merriment. My search uncovered some of the most hilarious outfits and I thought it might be fun to share them here.

First up the more conventional choice: Father Christmas.



Next up some more seasonal favourites…






And for those dogs hankering to be Rudolf…



Or Blitzen...



And for all the angelic pups out there…



For those who claim to have superpowers…



For those in search of a temporary species change…




And for those with owners who want to go the whole hog there’s always this approach…



I think I might just stick with a bit of tinsel round Stanley's neck...

How colour affects our purchasing habits

Even though this research has come from the US I think it's an interesting insight in to how colours affect our habits.

Jo

CLOTHES PEG

Installation in Belguim.

via The Debonaire

Strongbow Bankers wins GOLD!!

We are absolutely THRILLED to announce that our Strongbow Bankers Final Push Ad has won the Gold in the Alcoholic Drinks category at the EPICA 2010 Awards!

We shall receive the award in January once Julian Vizard has collected it on behalf of all of us from Zagreb. Our new award will take pride of place on our mantlepiece.

Amie :-)

Congratulations to the Royals!

sweet idea turning digital back into physical

click here to see the film of how they did this

In two days they received 15.000 fans and the limited edition of 1.000 books were gone in only an hour!

Jamil

For those of you who like a good chart

I'm definitely in the middle

Jamil

Proof that no idea is original

There we are thinking that using people as pixels to make ads and pop promos is so now, and here they are doing in around 1915!! Click here to see

Jamil

Great paper art film

Brilliant way of bringing books to life.
Neil

iPad Art by Hockney

Hockney is exhibiting his "paintings" of flowers on iPads. The exhibition is called fresh flowers because he draws at 6am and by 7am the finished art is sent to the iPads on the exhibition wall in Paris.
Fresh art on digital poster spaces?
Neil

Museum of Everything

A must see! The Museum (a typical non-gallery, warehouse extension in a cosy corner of Primrose Hill), houses art that is outside the norm. Eccentric and fun, strange but fascinating, if you like the weird and wonderful this is ideal...

Jo

Ps Go before it closes at Christmas!

STANLEY MEETS CARLOS

Dani our AD brought her brand new puppy Stanley home on Sunday. Here he is on his first visit to Wimbledon Common with Carlos the Great Dane.

St Luke's Day 2010!

We are 15 years old this year! We celebrated our company day at the Underground Cookery School where we cooked ourselves a gourmet 3 course lunch, under the supervision of some very talented chefs.

We made pasta from scratch,



filleted lots of fish



and topped it off with a yummy chocolate torte.



We rewarded our hard graft with some Strongbow...our bowtime was definitely earned!

We dare you not to donate to RNIB’s worthy cause after listening to this ad we produced for them last month...

BANKERS - AD OF THE YEAR NOMINATION

We're thrilled to hear our Strongbow Bankers cinema ad has been shortlisted for YouTube and Campaign's Ad of the Year.


You can vote for us here

TALES FROM THE WORLD OF FLORISTRY

Avid readers of our blog will know that our planner Rebecca is currently attending a floristry course with her 'make yourself more interesting' fund. We thought you might be interested to see how she's progressing.

Week 3

Seasonally themed

Week 4

The Burg tower of floristry

What will next week bring?

RNIB campaign launch

Great to see our recent RNIB work mentioned in today's Marketing week. The campaign officially breaks on 18th October with press and radio nationwide. Watch and listen out for it!

Jo

Out-of-home digital life revealed

The IPA hosted an exciting seminar today on the future of the digital outdoor world and the creative possibilities it offers to brands / advertisers today.
One of my favourite outdoor campaigns mentioned was the digital campaign by engine oil producer Castrol. They positioned cameras in specific locations to capture cars' registrations, the make and model of the car was then matched with the DVLA database and the passing drivers were then able to see their correct oil recommendation on a digital billboard further down the road. A personalised digital ad offering car advice - great stuff!

Jo

The adventures of a Canadian beaver and an Italian dog

A couple of little friends of St Luke's have gone on an adventure - you can follow them here...They started in Italy and are heading across towards Nepal going through Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkistan and lots of other stans! Cioppo has just realized he has feelings for Stephanie!
http://stephanieandcioppolino.blogspot.com/

Neil

THE YES MASH MAN

We love this profile we've just found on Facebook for 'The Yes Mash Man' from our Toby ad.

I'm sure Cedric, who played TYMM will be most flattered.

Altogether now... 'Yeees Mash'.

Watch the full ad.

HAPPY FRIDAY

via sub-studio

Bulmers Summer HQ - shortlisted for Thinkboxes Award!

We are thrilled that our first ad for Bulmers is one of five ads that have been shortlisted for July/ August 2010 Thinkboxes Awards.
The shortlist was announced in today's Campaign Magazine.

Fingers crossed that we win, we shall keep you informed.

Amie :-)

MORE GOING ONS AT ST LUKE'S

At St Luke's, we're lucky enough to be given an allowance to do a course of our choosing. It can be absolutely anything as long as it isn't related to work (secretly we love this stipulation).

Last week, Rebecca our planner started a floristry course and we thought you may be interested to see her fabulous works of art. Miles, her teacher, says she has a natural flair for it you know.


Elsewhere in the agency, our account manager Jo has been beavering away on an art commission for a large chain of national restaurants. The paintings went up last week:



Very well done chaps!

Carl Sagan

I stumbled this video a week or two again and it prompted me to find out more about its strange and passionate presenter.

In 1980 Nasa Scientist Sagan made a 13 hour TV series documenting the history of the Cosmos and man's fascination with it. He did so in the shadow of cold-war nuclear annihalation and to remind us we are the product of 450 billion years of evolution and our energies would be best spent on exploring our universe rather than on destroying ourselves.

I've watched 10 hours of Cosmos so far and wish there was more.

Al

Inspirational art tutorial

My stumble preferences mean I come across excellent techniques to hone executional skills. This is the best by miles so far and well worth a look.

Al

PEGGY TAKE A BOW

What better way to reward the nations favourite landlady than with a nod of recognition from Strongbow. For all her hard working graft behind the bar at The Queen Vic and pulling through in countless family trials and tribulations, we think she has definitely earned her bowtime! We will all be tuned in tonight for her final departure...

Jo

Mad Men! (& Ladies!)

From time time to time I stick up articles of an interesting, quirky or just downright cool nature in the kitchen.
I will from now on get with the modern world and blog about them!

If you don't already watch Mad Men I do suggest that you snag yourself season 1 and start from the very beginning you will not be disappointed! If you missed the artcle in The Times about Jerry Della Femina and original Mad Man and advisor to the show, never fear I still have the hardcopy! It's a fabulous interview and you can tell that Mr Femina has relished every moment his adventures in adland! I have my edirol recorder In my desk draw if you want to regale me with tales from the past please don't hesitate to pop round to my desk! :)

Delphina x

Cool Hunting In Bloomsbury!

I am so glad that I spotted an article in The Evening Standard a little while ago which spoke on the emerging ‘New Bloomsbury Set”. The trend it seems is of a creative not literary nature with a rather fabulous network of stores of a quirky, cool and even worthy nature. Take the “Peoples Supermarket” a lovely community idea by which locals pay a membership fee and then sign up to stack shelves for 4 hours a week in return for price reduction on goods they purchase.

On a quirky note there is Cosmo China who specialize in hand painted china that isn’t in any shape or form chi-chi! Concept store Darkroom who sell African influenced accessories and make hats for the likes of Hussein Chalayan. Bea’s of Bloomsbury is a fabulous patisserie described as “like your hip great-aunt’s favourite tearoom”. Couple this with open-air film screenings where locals bring out their sofas and you can see why this is a cool hunters paradise! All in all there is an amazing array of independent book and fashion stores as well as essential services such as pharmacy, florist, funeral home which makes this snug corner a real community and not just a stomping ground for trendies & hipsters! I think I’m right in thinking that St Luke’s communications fits right into this New Bloomsbury Set ethos of independence, community and coolness!

I fancy doing a little bit of shopping who’s with me?!

Delphina x

Charlotte Church & Josie BB11 Winner love their Strongbow!

Charlotte Church was seen with a can or three of Strongbow at the Green Man Festival in Crickhowel, Wales in August!

Big Brother 11 winner Josie, whilst posing for an OK magazine photo shoot, said she would much prefer a Strongbow than the champagne that she had been presented with.

Enjoy your Bow Time ladies!!

Amie
:-)

STRONGBOW BANKERS

In our follow up to last year's Final Push campaign for Strongbow, bankers are again given their marching orders by Britain's hardworking grafters.

Even better, the ad will air at cinemas alongside the new release of Wall Street. Satisfaction indeed.

That Mitchell and Webb Laboratoire Garnier sketch

OMG, LOL, PMSL!

Neil

if advertising doesn't work...

brilliant bit of comedy from Iannucci
Neil

SKANDIA NEW WORK

This is our new Skandia work which includes a brand film showing Skandia Team GBR sailing team at their very best. We filmed this on location in Weymouth which involved the St Luke's team on very small dinghies for 4 days braving the wet and cold! Think you'd agree it was worth it.

We are thrilled to see that the Skandia Youtube page has already had over 93,000 views since its launch! Help us reach 100,000!

Amie :-)

Jeremy Paxman turns up at Bulmers shoot!

There we were, a very busy weekend of creating our first Bulmers ad in Henley-on-Thames when Jeremy Paxman randomly stumbles upon the shoot with questions galore!
"What the hell is going on?" he said in confusion! To be fair, actors in various war time themed costumes and frisbees flying everywhere would be a bit strange to come across on your Saturday ramble with the kids and dog!
When St Luke's answered his University Challenge style questions he was very happy and he and his family went on their merry way!

Amie
:-)

THIS WEEK AT ST LUKE'S

We oo-ed and ah-ed at the acrobats and dancers at Circus in Covent Garden...

...welcomed our new drinks fridge...

...and couldn't resist trying on the outfits from our new Bulmers ad.

Enjoy your weekend!