A few days ago, a famous retired adman decided to stage his comeback by launching a new agency start-up. The announcement came, of course, accompanied by the customary press release.

Coincidentally, that same morning, a friend of mine, himself a copywriter, decided to announce the installation of a brand new shiny bench top in his home kitchen. This announcement came, of course, accompanied by the customary Facebook update. And Facebook status updates are followed by the customary comments.

These comments started to take an interesting turn, when, as a way of having fun, people started to borrow some of the phrases coined for the original agency start-up press release, but this time with a twist, replacing the words ‘advertising agency’ with the words ‘kitchen bench’.

It went a little like this:

Chris’ original Facebook status update: Happiness is an integrated stainless steel bench top.

Gus: You have created a one stop shop bench!

David: Excellent! The bundling up of all the skills and disciplines in one place under one bench – with new disciplines to be added across – runs counter to recent trends to create specialist divisions within a kitchen.

Chris: We have – literally – bought in to the simple ideal that all aspects of the kitchen function should be in the one place. No fiefdoms, no silos, no divisions.

David: Of course people may say, it’s back to the future as a model. And in essence it is… that model worked. And kitchens have been the poorer for the split up of these disciplines. And now, traditional kitchens are scrambling to find ways to bring their various benches back together. You can do it from day one.

Gus: I had a few fireside chats with senior respected marketers about this idea and the overwhelming response was “thank god… a real one stop shop kitchen bench,”

David: Indeed. We started talking about what we have called the ‘New Kitchen’. It’s about a new era in kitchen benches that is more personal, more relevant, more global, operates in real time – that means faster and cheaper – and is powered by constantly evolving technology.

Chris: Totally agree fellas. KItchens may face the Roman Empire or Mayan Dynasty complex becoming so used to their way of life and their structure, that when they try to change, downsize or adapt, the people panic and the bench collapses.

And the point is? Ok, here’s what I think. If you can replace a word or two on a press release and it still makes sense in a completely different context, then it is a template. Which means that whatever you are trying to describe, already exists, somehow, somewhere, as a pattern, as a mold, or the like. The complete opposite of original.

Which brings me to this conclusion: If agency start-ups spent less time defining their point of difference, (specially as PR to the media and industry circles) and more time demonstrating it to the people that actually matters, (our existing and potential clients, the business community) then maybe, as a collective, we will start to create the ‘New Kitchen’. Ooops, ‘Advertising’. Or was it?

The Global MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) Awards recognize companies and their campaigns for spearheading the adoption of the mobile channel for marketing purposes, receiving hundreds of entries from all over the globe. This year Coca-Cola took the ‘Best Use of mobile marketing in a promotion Europe, Middle East and Africa’ award with their ‘Gimme Credit – Every Pack Gets 50p Mobile Credit’ campaign.

The ‘Every Pack Gets 50p Mobile Credit’ campaign was the first of its kind, bringing all major GB network operators together, providing a compelling offer for teens in Great Britain whilst understanding the commercial contexts for operators.

Aimed at the core 16 plus teen market in Great Britain, the campaign ran for three months in 2009 in which time consumers received 50p credit on every 330ml can and 500ml bottle of Fanta, Sprite and Dr Pepper. Each can and bottle had a unique code which could be redeemed online at gimmecredit.co.uk. All subsequent codes could be redeemed by returning to the website or via SMS to 85888, with credit being added to the consumers account with 48 hours. The offer could be redeemed against all major GB network providers on PAYG and contract phones, with each consumer eligible for a maximum of eight credits.

To create standout, disruptive graphics were used on-pack and on nationwide POS in on-the-go retail channels. To achieve maximum reach, the campaign was supported through the line with a peer to peer word-of-mouth campaign, promotional activity taking place within cinemas and ATL in teen-centric environments.

This promotion achieved and exceeded all objectives set, receiving the highest redemption rate of all on-pack promotions run by Coca-Cola in 2009. Additionally, the innovative nature of the reward and mobile technology generated significant interest from Coca-Cola Global and as such the activity was rolled out again in 2010 within Great Britain and several European markets ran promotions offering mobile rewards.

Earlier this year, BD Network opened in Melbourne and last week walked away with two awards in the Australian Direct Marketing Association 2010 awards (ADMA) for their Mars Petcare ‘Whiskas Pledge’ campaign. BD Network won Gold in the ‘Effectiveness: Retail & Packaged Goods’ category and then scooped the Lester Wunderman Effectiveness Pinnacle Award for ‘Best in Show for Effectiveness.’

The ‘Whiskas Pledge’ campaign centred around a core message affirming ‘Given the Choice cat’s Prefer Whiskas’ which was executed by cat owners pledging their love for Whiskas on their cats behalf on a dedicated website www.whiskas.com.au. Cat owners were rewarded for their pledge with two ‘Oh So….’ pouches and could create a profile for their cat to share why their cat loved Whiskas for a chance of Cat Fame and a lifetime supply of Whiskas. BD Network created and delivered all aspects of this integrated campaign including: TV, radio, press, outdoor, sampling, CRM, DM communications, digital, design, advertising and retail activation. This campaign has received over 330,000 pledges, 50,000 cat profiles have been created and the average site visit time is 5 minutes 35s. To date, this campaign has recorded the highest level of traffic to any Mars website.

As we rocked up at the Melbourne Recital Centre (a fantastic honeycombed  building like a giant Crunchie with elevators), the motto for the evening was ‘Prepare for Bronze’. A great motto.

As the night built, seating positions were chosen at the edges in the hope of collecting a silver or even a gold. Bronze winners were told that there would be no walk of fame to the stage and trophies would be collected from ‘The Bronze Room’. Visions of a massive queue and a random coat-checker sifting through millions of bronze trophies filled our heads, as we imagined the cream of Direct Marketing floating by on a cloud of silver and gold.

With one nomination in one category, we picked up a Gold and the added surprise of a Pinnacle (Lester Wunderman for Effectiveness). Crystal Carrington this time.

Thank you ADMA. We’ll be there next year preparing for bronze.

With many of our consumers growing up in the ‘digital age’ and running most of their everyday lives online, the term ‘digital’ had to start to mean something different to the world of marketing… and it certainly has!

Perhaps the best indication that the marketing business has finally embraced the spirit of the digital age is that it’s doing a lot of work that’s not so… “Digital.” Now I know that this sounds like a bizarre statement, but I will explain.

Agencies and brands are now harnessing the digital mind-set. They’ve taken the shareable, ongoing, interactive, participatory nature of digital and created brand experiences that matter to people in their real, everyday lives.

This is not to suggest that digital doesn’t matter anymore, quite the opposite. Understanding digital strategy, design and technology are not steps that can ever be skipped. The point is that digital underlies everything we do now.

Just look at some of the most compelling brand ideas of the last decade. These have had a digital heart but have manifested themselves in meaningful ways in people’s lives—see Nike+

and Fiat Eco Drive.

Those seeking further reassurance we are in the post-digital era need look no further than arguably two of the best digital campaigns (check the awards) of late: Nike Chalkbot,

and VW Fun Theory.

Both shining examples of digital thinking brought to life in the real world.

Whichever way you look at it, it seems the idea that digital has transcended something experienced from beginning to end via a keyboard and on a screen has finally gripped the mainstream brand world. And I for one am extremely excited about the possibilities this brings to the table.

As part of its ongoing growth and investment programme, independent integrated agency BD Network today announces the acquisition of the UK’s leading creative mobile agency, We Love Mobile.

The move reflects a growing demand for mobile marketing and services, prompted by the dramatic global rise in smart-phone sales and consumer appetite for mobile internet and applications.

The acquisition is a natural continuation and strengthening of BD Network’s already pioneering work in mobile, which includes “Orange Wednesdays” and Fanta’s Free Credit campaign.

We Love Mobile brings with it a nine-strong team of mobile specialists and will continue to manage its own clients. This year projects have included work for John Lewis, BBC and EMI.

Cementing the agency’s long-standing relationship with We Love Mobile, the deal will further enhance BD Network’s ability to deliver fully integrated, creative solutions. The new company will offer mobile strategy, design and marketing services as a separate business unit under the BD Network umbrella, with We Love Mobile founders Simon Liss, Si Crowhurst and Ben Scott-Robinson remaining as Managing Director, Business Development Director and Creative Director respectively.

The team has already secured significant projects for existing BD Network customers, including Peugeot and Molson Coors – details of which will be announced later in the year.

Allan McLaughlin, Group Managing Director of BD Network commented:

“With growing demand for mobile marketing and services, there is significant potential in offering specialist mobile expertise across our client base and the acquisition is a natural continuation of our ground-breaking work in mobile.”

Simon Liss, Managing Director of We Love Mobile said:

“Coming at mobile from a creative and consumer-centric perspective has been what sets We Love Mobile apart, and this fits perfectly with BD Network’s own approach. They are independent, creative and insightful, and are the perfect partners for supporting our continued growth.”

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Unilever has appointed integrated agency BD Network as the Pan-European promotional marketing agency for its ice cream brand Cornetto.

Carrying out a range of integrated activity, BD Network will lead  below the line work across Europe. They will work closely with the existing creative agency Lola, rolling out their concepts across a range of integrated communications channels.

The appointment comes following a two way competitive pitch earlier this year and is the first major retained brief that the agency has worked on for the FMCG giant.

Sam Smith, a Director at BD Network, said “We have some exciting ideas for the Cornetto brand and are proud that we’ve been selected to roll these out on a European scale.”

Annabelle Fraser, European Brand Development Manager Cornetto at Unilever, commented “BD Network impressed us with their ability to deliver Pan-European campaigns and to work directly with creative agencies. We were looking for an integrated approach which will extend our above the line work across a number of consumer touchpoints all over Europe.”