Switching from traditional to digital advertising - A suits view

First up, this is not a rant at digital, no matter how it sounds. I’m not against advertising in any sort of digital format, nor am saying it's the wrong thing to be doing. There’s sooooo many benefits that i’m not going to sit here and bore you with. Because you’ve all been in as many presentations as I have from people telling you about it being ‘the future’ of advertising and I don’t necessarily disagree. I’m not here to preach, i’m here to try and give some simple advice from someone that’s made the switch, and yes there is a little bit of me that misses the power a great piece of TV or Print used to have without having to integrate digital into the mix. Click here, go there, sign up for this, download this app, share this, like that for a chance to WIN this amazing prize, for this product I haven’t told you anything about yet because I was too busy wanking you off with my digital toys. All of which are great, used in the right way, with the right mix of other toys, for the right product. I’m a huge believer that if a traditional ad has the right creative idea, backed up by the right media, you don’t always need these bells and whistles to sell more product.

Before making the switch to digital, think long and hard about it. What aspects of the digital are you working on? Because there’s so many. Are you a website based, a social campaign manager, a display campaign manager? Are you all of the above? 

Yes, digital is the way forward. So, if you do decide to make the jump, DO NOT forget your roots. There’s so many transferrable skills, a few different technical terms and practices to pick up along the way, but fundamentally you can pretty much match up digital and traditional methods fairly easily. Everyone will try and over-wankify everything, that’s the nature of digital. My advice, keep it as simple as you possibly can, otherwise you end up confusing yourself and in turn the client. A confused client is probably one of the worst things to have to deal with, even worse than angry. At least you know what you need to do with any angry client.

Go forth and conquer, you’ll be great. 

Couples, who first?

I was writing a card to two friends getting married today. I’d written them a lovely heart-felt message and was feeling pretty pleased with myself. They’ll like this card, I thought to myself as I closed it up and managed to muster up some spit to lick the glue on the back of the envelope, god I love the taste of that. Do they flavour it especially for it? I’d love to get my hands on a pot of that there glue. Maybe I could become a Glue licker instead of a Glue sniffer, I know i’d be having more fun.

Anyway, after all the excitement of the envelope licking had died down, I came to the all important names on front of card. How else will anyone in world know who this card is for if I don’t put some names on the front? As I came to put my pen to the envelope I paused, I was stuck, who should I put first? Chris or Hannah? Hannah or Chris? Chis and Hannah or Hannah and Chris?

I stopped, as this now had me thinking, who had a I put first in the past? What do I say when i’m talking about them? I was literally blank. It really shouldn’t matter, they’re both my friends and the fact that i’m giving them a card with both of their names on is fine, why are you even thinking about this? I then started to think about my other couple friends, damn those smug lucky people. I think I found the formula. The person with the most syllables goes first? Same amount means it’s luck of the draw who comes out first. What a lottery.

Does anyone really care I thought to myself. I myself have not given one solitary shit about whether or not my ex girlfriends came before or after mine when we were referred to as a couple. BUT! I have met couples that do, which is weird. Maybe weirder than me writing way too many words about the subject, probably not.

Anyway. I went for Hannah & Chris / Chris & Hannah. These two definitely would’t care. Have I unearthed one of the worlds great unknown formulas? I could be the next Einstein of social taboos. Maybe not, but I look forward to putting my new-found theory to the test.

Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, USA......home

I've been meaning to finish this for AGES. Even if nobody reads this I want it to read back. To bring everyone up to speed, i've been living in Melbourne for the past 2 years 5 months, here's what's happened in between.

I left you about to enter Australia for the 1st time. After an 8 hour flight from Singapore including a stop over in Darwin I arrived in Cairns to start my tour of the East Coast. I checked in at Gilligan's which was a far cry from any of the hostels in Asia, this place is a purpose built backpacker haven. Pool, nightlclub, bar, free-ish meals, a friendly atmosphere, the perfect place to start. It got a little more perfect when I walked into my 8 bed dorm that I had to share with 7 Swedish girls! BIG SHIT! HA.

I spent 4 days in Cairns, partied a lot, spent a lot of time at the lagoon, which was a common feature down the Aus coast and is basically a really nice FREE public swimming pool. Nothing like this would ever work in England as it would get trashed by some scumbags but they really were a godsend! I booked all my travel and activities down to Sydney in Cairns which cost me just over $1000, big shock to the system! But this included my 'hop on, hop off'  bus all the way down to Sydney. A day boat out to the great barrier reef, a 3 day, 3 night Whitsundays boat cruise and a 3 day 2 night fraser island tour. With a fairly careful itinerary planned I got going, first stop was Airlie Beach.

After an overnight bus which I slept surprisingly well on I arrived at Nomads. The annoying thing about hostels in Aus is they never let you check in early, they always make you check out at 10am or something stupid like that and they charge you for everything! So, I started to get used to hanging around receptions with my bag, not using the internet because it was too expensive, anyway rant over. I learnt pretty fast it was good to buddy up with someone so you could cook together and save money. Gone were the days of eating out every night Asia stylee. Luckily the buses were really good places to meet people, I always seemed to find someone and a lot of people were going the same way as me.

First night in Airlie was all about stocking up on sleep and booze before the boat trip the next day. The next morning we set sail on The Clipper on the Whitsundays boat cruise. Little did I know, this was renowned for being 'the party boat'. Even so, we still did a lot, snorkelling, slides off the side of the boat, a trip to Whitehaven beach -  The best beach I have ever been to. Drinking games hosted by the crew at night and a few other random adventures. The food was amazing and the staff were pretty good too. Thoroughly recommended.

I stayed on in Airlie a couple of days after the boat to catch up with some friends from Asia and watch Man United lose the title...wahhhhhhhh!

Next stop was a trip to Agnes Water, the town of 1770 for a one night stop and a spot of chopper riding, well mopeds in the style of choppers, but still I felt like I was in Sons of Anarchy and donned the tattoos and leathers to ensure I looked the part for the Scooteroos bike ride. Really good fun, glad I stopped off for this one not only to do this but to break the journey up!

Next was the short ish ride down to Rainbow Beach, base camp for the Fraser Island, another sleepy little town with not a great deal going on apart from the backpacker activity and a beautiful beach. By now i'd met a few people going the same way as me and kept bumping into the same old faces which was nice! For my Fraser Island tour I was in a 4x4 with 6 Germans and 1 Canadian. Luckily all the Germans spoke goood English and were all good fun, the Canadian was better fun.

Fraser Island was definitely one of the highlights of the East Coast for me. The off road driving, which I thought was going to be super tame was actually pretty hardcore and the best fun! It shit down as soon as we pitched up camp and I soon discovered the tent i'd been given was not even close to being waterproof, yeah, so I spent 2 nights on the back seat of the 4x4, which actually turned out to be better than sleeping in tents by the sounds of it. The living was basic, we cooked on camp stoves for our groups and drank a fair bit in the evenings to stay warm....sure. I definitely came back pretty mucky. The days were filled with visiting different areas around the amazing Island. Creeks, rockpools, ship wrecks, lagoons. All sorts of beautiful natural wonders. I saw my first wild snake, a Brown, which would also be a pretty good description of the colour of my pants following that encounter. Dingoes are funny little fuckers. One thought about trying to attack me whilst I was busy doing 'something' in a hole. A poo. (Naughty people with dirty minds). So I had to give it a bit tap with a spade shall we say. Bye Dingoes.

Next stop was Brisbane, finally some almost proper civilisation. I was picked up by Leigh and Portia at the bus station and whisked back to their apartment over looking the city where I was welcomed so warmly! I had my own room and a double mattress, which doesn't sound like much but I have to say it was absolute heaven. I stayed with them for 4 nights, wish it could've been longer but my tight schedule was calling. I didn't do a whole lot in Brisbane apart from soak in some awesome hospitality, eat and drink a fair bit and watch my first state of origin game. Maroons all the way for me, to this day still. Big up to Leigh, Portia and Hannah for giving me a place to stay and looking after me so well!

Again, my schedule meant an overnighter to Sydney. Had to miss out on some beautiful east coast beach time but the i'd be back for them! I arrived early morning into Sydney and found my way to Base hostel. It was fine, not the best or worst I've stayed in but I had a couple of mates there so met up with them. My five days in Sydney ere spent pretty much sightseeing. I don't really think I got under the skin of the city, which is something I like to try and do. All my time was focussed on seeing 'stuff you have to see'. Which by all means, you should do. But I do love a fair bit of wandering time to get lost. So without reeling them all off. I saw all those things you're supposed to see in Sydney and was pretty lucky to arrive when I did as the festival of light was on at the same time.

Next stop was Adelaide to visit Bennet and Maddy. Two other Aussies from Asia who'd offered to put me up. Again I had my own room with a double bed....heaven! First night in and I experienced my first Parma, a true Aussie tradition which I still love to this day! We had a pretty wild first night out in Radlelaide. Next evening I witnessed my first game of Aussie rules footy. Absolutely NO idea what was going on but strangely enjoyed it. Next was another game of Aussie rules watching Bennet play. Park footy mate! Sunday was BIG. We did a wine tour in the Barossa, it was amazing and boozy. Not only were we drinking in wineries, we were drinking on the bus between the wineries, all the way back to the city, at a party after the tour, at a club after the party....you get the idea. None of which helped me get up for my early bus....many thanks to Bennet's Mum for pulling me out of bed and driving me to the bus station so I just about made it. Cue 12 hours of the worst hangover of my life on a bus. But, on my way to Melbourne to see the amazing Tayla for 2 weeks! I was soooo excited about this part of my trip and it didn't disappoint.

I arrived in Melbourne Late at night and was greeted by a massive hug from Tayla, it was so nice to see more familiar faces and know that I would be staying in a family home again. My first two weeks in Melbourne were a bit of blur, no not because I drunk to much, I mean....we did drank, but I was more drunk on Melbourne. I fell in love with the place. It just seemed to click with me, I loved the people, the culture, the sport, the music and it has this sense of a hidden underbelly that needs exploring. I ended up (as I knew I would) extending my stay and vowing to myself to come back at some point. Little did I know how soon.

Needless to say I was pretty depressed when I had to leave Tayla, her family and Melbourne for New Zealand, I have to say, when I arrived in Christchurch, I wasn't in a very good place and it took a couple of days to find my travelling feet again. Christchurch is a pretty odd place, clearly still very affected by the terrible earthquake, wandering around the streets was pretty eerie and in the end I was quite glad to get out. I'd booked a Kiwi Experience bus tour, after um'ing and ah'ing about it i'd decided it was the best way to meet new people and settled on the Kiwi purely based on price. As luck would have it, it was a great decision. I jumped on the bus in Christchurch and was immediately welcomed into the group. I knew i'd be saying goodbye to the group in Auckland and getting a new bunch on but got well involved none the less.

First stop was Kaikoura, which was a pretty sleepy little fishing village where you could do Whale/ Dolphin/ Seal spotting if you stayed on. I'd decided on my way up to Auckland i'd not do any activities and get there as quick as I could. We did however, get a free activity! Going to see some baby seals, which were fattening themselves up before heading out into the big wide world by hanging out in a river pretty close to the sea. They were majorly cute and definitely NOT camera shy. The evening was spent with some pretty chilled out beers and good Fush N Chups.

Next stop was Wellington for one night only, we pretty much smashed it and I left the next morning for Taupo pretty hung over. Again, I knew I'd be back here pretty soon so, it was a quick one nighter then off to Auckland the next day via hobbit town. I was't too interested in any of the lord of the rings stuff but I did discover NZ pies that day. From that day on I had one pretty much every day, they are the best!

Once in Auckland I knew I had a couple of days before I jumped on the new bus. I had some mates by then. A couple who were doing the same thing as me and some others who were departing. We spent a couple of lazy days in Auckland, going to the cinema, eating, drinking...generally checking the place out. Can't say I was in love with it and I was looking forward to jumping on the bus.

Now, when people say you can be on a 'good' or 'bad' bus I never quite got it. But it would appear that I had managed to get myself on a good bus! Everyone as awesome, sure some people matched better than others, but on the whole people got on well. We had a good group of around 15 or more of varying ages that bonded immediately and would go on to tour NZ for the next month, doing some of the coolest things I will ever do, drinking, laughing and getting sick along the way! Plus I wasn't the oldest!

First stop was Hot Water Beach via Cathedral Cove, where we played frisby on a super cool beach which had a natural cove cut out of a head in the land, pretty cool. Didn't swim, too cold. I saved myself for Hot Water Beach where we spent our first night. Why hot water beach you ask? Because it's a beach that has hot water I say? How you ask? Well, you basically dig a pool in certain parts of the sand and hot water rises up so you're left with a pool of hot water (sometimes too hot) to lay back and look at the amazing stars in the pitch black, on a beach with your new mates. Pretty good bonding and an amazing experience at the same time. That was followed by dinner and drinks. I was already cooking with a group to save on cash, love spag bol!

Onto Waitomo where we arrived in the morning for Black Water Caving that afternoon. Which I have to say I was slightly apprehensive of. I shouldn't have been, it was great, but bloody cold! 5 hours under ground in the water, some in a tube (slightly different to the last form of tubing I did). The rest manoevering through tight gaps in rocks with water gushing in your face. And glow warms, lots of glow worms which are very very cool. I don't think I ever really warmed up from this for the whole trip and probably to this day. However the 10 beer challenge (10 pints of different NZ beers) in the evening certainly helped. If unsure if you want to do Black Water Caving, make sure you do...It was one of my faves!

Next stop was Rotorua. We had a couple of nights here...The first was spent chilling out watching films. We also did luging, which was one the cheapest and best activities I did! $40 for 2 hours of mayhem and fun. You basically get a go cart type thing and a massive track down a hill to go down. You can pretty much do what you want and race your mates, could be fairly dangerous. I turned out to be pretty decent and really didn't want to stop. Next night we went to a traditional Maurae event where you learnt about the history of the people and got to take part in some activities. Have to say the best part of this though was the food, which was one of the best feeds I had all trip. Incredible!

On the way to Taupo we stopped off at a geothermal area to see some bubbling mud pools, geezers and have some eggs cooked in some boiling pools. It was ok!

Everyone was pretty excited to get to Taupo as that's where we'd get to skydive. I did the 15k ft jump, the highest you could, obvs...LAD. We had beautiful weather so you could see for miles. It was the best! The only time I really got scared was when the dude came to open the parachute, cos lets face it, that's pretty much when you know if you're going to die or not. Luckily I didn't. So high I was on this new found love of life, we all proceeded to go on a bit of a two day bender following this. From the afternoon of the jump to the morning after the next day. Apparently we didn't miss much so I guess that's ok?

It's probably a good job we left after two days or there would be no beer left in Taupo...ever. We moved onto river valley, where we had a night in a beautiful lodge, literally in the middle of nowhere. There were log fires, red wine and great food, Very romantic. Certainly not for our crew, whose reputation was growing by the day for being a bunch that 'liked a drink'. Lucklily we also did stuff so we weren't seen as complete wasters. I opted out of the white water rafting the next day, still warming up from the caving and starting to feel a bit sick, this would last all the way to Fiji.

Next stop was Wellington again, for one night only. There was NZ vs Ireland on that night, half the bus was Irish. You know what happens next. A big big night in Wellington. Somehow managed to get the Ferry next day, slept most of it. We then drove on to Kaiteriteri. Again, just a bit of a stop off here, not a lot going on. So a 'rest' evening, sure. It kind of turned into a bit of dinner party, with lots of wine. By the next day I was feeling rough rough rough. But was trying to suppress it with Nurofen.

The next stop was Westport, where the most exciting thing I did was the pub quiz and some mini golf, really wasn't feeling up to the mountain biking and kayaking some of the others took on and I wanted to save myself for the Poo pub next day.

You literally pull off the road to what looks like a shack on the side of the road, which turns out to be a pub. A pub that is clearly built for backpackers to party in, but it's class. You get fancy dress earlier in the day.....the theme being bold and bright. I went as Mr Mexicano, solid effort. You visit Lake Mahanipua early in the evening, which is totally beautiful, mirror perfect reflection in the water make for some pretty spectacular photos. You then head down the beach for sunset. Again we were lucky and it was totally amazing. Then all hell breaks loose, you get a good amount of food cooked for you by the pub landlord who is very old, very cool and very about to die. But good on him. You then get into your fancy dress and party the night away. Needless to say we gave it a very good crack.

The bus rolled on next morning, headed for Franz Josef we had two nights here and would get to hike on a real life Glacier. The place we stayed at was pretty awesome, had a hot tub...seemed as good of a place as any to spend a few hours, as well as the pub. The Glacier hike itself was ok. The helicopter ride up and down was the best part. If you're tossing up between this and other activities....do the others.

Wanaka was next on the tour and you could tell by this point everyone just wanted to get to Queenstown. I was feeling majorly ill by this point, i'd been fighting it and trying to battle through for a bit but I had to admit defeat and spend some time in a warm bed, where I sweated and shivered for most of my stay here. I wanted to be some form of ok for Queenstown.

Queenstown was SIIIIIIIIIICK. I wish I was fully well for the whole time here, I seemed to think I was ok. Then i'd go out and make myself sick again. Anyway, I spent 5 maybe 6 nights here and I could see in my head I was starting to reach the home straight of my travels so I gave it everything!

Across the days, I did the Canyon Swing twice, going off backwards and blindfolded. The Nevis Bungee. Frisby golf and mini golf. I ate a lot of fergburgers, nearly got a tattoo and drank a lot. I mean a lot a lot. It was a blast! The best activity was def the canyon swing, if you can only do one thing here, it has to be that.

After 6 days of craziness, goodbyes with good friends and an assault on the body and senses. it was time to start the long journey back up to Auckland. Luckily I only had to get up to Christchurch and had a flight from there. So one long drive to there and another uneventful night in 'Jail' (the name of the hostel there, literally because that's what it used to be) and I was off to Auckland again for another couple of uneventful days.

What did I learn from NZ? It's awesome, definitely spend as much money as you can here. I can't drink like i'm 21 anymore, I love pies and if you're sick...have a rest! Oh and i'm concerned about how fearless I am when it comes to throwing myself out of planes, off cliffs or generally anything that you could die doing. Maybe I should be a stunt man. Yes, I definitely should do that.

I loved New Zealand, up there with one of the favourite parts of my trip.

By now I knew I'd be home in two weeks after a stop off in Fiji for some 'me' time. I spent a week here,  don't worry I wasn't by myself the whole time! I spent a couple of nights in Nadi and then headed off down the coast to spend a few nights with a local family of a hostel owner I made friends with. The people are lovely, and those 4 peaceful days by the beach...catching my lunch and dinner with family and getting to know their way of life was a really good time for reflection and helped me plan out what I wanted to do when I eventually got back home. I ate fresh fish everyday, read some books and basically, got better from New Zealand!

Next was a quick 3 nights in LA. Bit of a culture shock as I hadn't been anywhere near a big bad city in a month or so. I spent a fair bit of time on Venice Beach and in Malibu. Talked to all the freaks on the beach, kinda liked it. Spent a couple of nights out with some people from the hostel. One of who ended up wanting to kill me. She took something I said totally the wrong way, luckily I had to leave the next day for MIA!

My last week was spent in Miami. This was not on my list when I set off but I couldn't have had a better spot to end the journey. I was in Sarah and Ian's swanky high-rise pad overlooking south beach. I had food coming out my ears, English TV on demand and two awesome people to spend time with. It was great! Just what I needed before I went home and it was so great to catch up with Sarah and properly meet Ian who became a pretty good drinking buddy, Sarah loved that!

After just over 8 months away it was time to head back to dear old blighty to start my next adventure. Basically....get back to Melbourne by any means possible. I stayed at home for 3 weeks, got myself a new passport. Got myself an Aus working hol visa and a 3k loan off ma (cheers mum, i've paid her back!), got myself a one way ticket to Melbourne and that's where you find me now, writing this 2 and half years later. Lots has happened in the last couple of years, which i'll save for another entry. This is long! To anyone that has read, I hope it has been somewhat entertaining/ informative. I'm guessing it sounds like a bit of ramble. Oh well.

Lots of love.

Nicholas x