Not had time to blog for a while, but am going to make up for it with a concerted effort next week!

I have, however, managed to find some time for a little social media experimentation.  Inspired by my lovely new iPhone 4 and its Foursquare app, last week I started what I like to term the Foursquare challenge.

“What’s a Foursquare when it’s at home?” was the reaction I got from my Mum when she heard this - quite understandably given that that she lives in a beautiful yet slightly off the beaten track area of Wales.

The most common reaction I’ve had from those who know what Foursquare is (check here if you don’t) is “I don’t see the point of it”.  Which is exactly why I set myself the challenge.

I love social media.  I tweet, I blog (less often than I like), I use Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and mobile location based services like my GPS is glued to my hand, but I don’t get quite why I would bother with Foursquare.

But in fairness, I didn’t actually ‘get’ Twitter until I started using it regularly.

So for the next month I am going to use Foursquare religiously.  My ambition is to unlock the ‘Super User’ badge (that’s 30 check-ins in a month), but also to get to the bottom of what Foursquare is really about and why people might use it.

So far, one week in, I’m mayor of PHD North (which given I’m the only one here actually using Foursquare isn’t really that challenging), but am only a small step closer to ‘getting it’.

I’ll tweet about how I’m getting on (@PHDNorth) and write updates here later in the month with any pearls of wisdom I’ve gained along the way.

Suggestions and thoughts on the value of Foursquare much appreciated either through comments here or on Twitter!

So last week saw another football match, another howling blunder.  Not so much from poor Robert Green (got to feel sorry for him – everyone makes mistakes occasionally, just most are not so high profile), but another howling blunder from ITV.

The HD service failing minutes into the first England game of the World Cup was bad enough, but to cut to an ad break before switching to standard definition was, as they themselves admit, inexcusable, and admittedly also incredibly unlucky that it coincided with England’s goal.  You have to wonder why these things only seem to happen at crucial moments, such as their similar blunder in the Liverpool v Everton FA Cup game last year, and in 2005 during the closing laps of the Grand Prix in San Marino.  Not to mention the closing seconds of the new Nike World Cup ad.

ITV have apologised for the error and is awaiting the outcome of a technical enquiry into why it happened, but it clearly leaves a black mark on ITV in the eyes of fans, who have notched up more than 750 complaints to Ofcom so far, and more than 5000 to ITV themselves.  Perhaps less clearly, but still importantly, it also tarnishes the reputation of advertisers. 

As an industry we’ve talked for what seems like years about the move from interruption to permission or engagement marketing, but it’s not usually meant in quite such a literal sense. 

Consumer sentiment is still all too often broadly anti-advertising, and as an industry we have to work hard to ensure that advertising is seen as a positive force, or at least certainly not a negative factor in their media experience.  These incidents of course do nothing to help us!

Interestingly perhaps, Hyundai appear to have remained relatively quiet about the whole episode, unlike the previous ‘victim’, Tic Tacs, who swiftly released an entertaining though not overtly helpful video recreating the missed Everton winning goal.  At least Hyundai have the benefit of clearly adding to fans’ World Cup experiences through their Hyundai Fan Parks set up with screens to view the matches across the country.  As a result perhaps they felt they didn’t need to get involved.

At least fans have no basis to hold Hyundai to fault, something which will stand their brand in good stead and something which perhaps Dutch brewery Bavaria NV should have borne in mind before apparently becoming a central figure in ITV’s latest World Cup scandal.

This morning I did something I haven’t done in a very long time.

I bought a newspaper.

I’ve never been much of a newspaper reader.  Well actually that’s a bit of a lie, given that in my teenage years I did a paper round 6 days a week, and thanks to the long driveways of the pretty affluent area I was delivering in I inevitably spent half the round reading the front pages of the Telegraph, Times, Financial Times and the occasional tabloid on weekends.

These days I indulge my appetite for news online, particularly on my mobile.  But thanks to a train without wi-fi and a depleted battery, I decided to buy something self-improving instead. 

The lucky newspaper?  The Guardian, a title that even my rare forays to the newsstand has probably been unfairly overlooked since my vaguely lefty student days.

And I have to say I got a lot from it.

In less than 40 minutes I learnt about the background to the Thailand protests, that enabled me to think up witty comments to the girl sat opposite me wearing an ‘I heart Bangkok’ t-shirt.  I didn’t actually say them out loud of course, but the thought was there.

I was able to send a vaguely useful piece of information to a client relating to a campaign we’re currently planning.

I thought of a fun and topical idea for another client based on a politics story.

I learnt that the sailors on the Trident subs have a letter from the Prime Minister to be opened in the case of nuclear war, and wondered idly how quickly (or otherwise) Cameron would get round to writing his greeting, and what it might say.

I ignored the sports section.  Well, I am a girl after all, and have to stick with clichés occasionally.

Whilst I’m sure my mobile will continue to be my main source of news, I read it for facts and breaking stories, and I don’t linger over it.  So this morning reminded me of the value of the traditional media in offering and cultivating new perspectives. 

The negatives?  If the train had been busier it would have been too big to read, and I got ink all over my hands meaning I spent half the journey wondering if I’d left black splodges on my face. 

So as a self confessed technology geek, and a thinly veiled coveter of the Apple iPad, I ended up dreaming of my perfect newspaper app, and hoping desperately that the traditional press will embrace these new platforms as a way of enhancing these things that they are best at.  Then I might have an excuse to buy myself an iPad.

And in the meantime?  I think I’ll be buying a newspaper again soon, and maybe booking myself another wi-fi free, four hour train journey too. 

It’s such a cliché to say that time away from the (quite literal) buzz of technology gives you a chance to really think, but sod it.  After all, don’t clichés mostly exist when there’s some level of truth in them?

No fewer than four PHD Northers tackled the Great Manchester Run this weekend, running 10km round the city centre in aid of The Christie.  Mark Worth, Sam Hall, Laura Hands and myself were all really pleased with our times, which ranged from 49 minutes (by Mark) and 1 hour 6 minutes (by me), wth Laura and Sam also making an appearance on the BBC coverage of the event. 

This was the first time I’d ever taken part in a running event, so it was all new to me. 

The high points?  Definitely the camaraderie at the start line, the boost by the various music  points around the route, and realising that for the last 500m I still had enough energy to put in a ’sprint’ (or at least a slightly faster run) to the finish line. 

The low points?  Probably realising I was overtaken in quick succession by a gorilla, a banana and a pregnant woman.  Fair play to all of them, there was some seriously impressive effort going into the outfits, fundraising and the running yesterday!

Having not really paid much attention to such events in the past I was impressed by the thought and effort that the various sponsors had put into their partnerships, from the Powerade warm-up zone, to the supporter materials handed out by the various charities involved, and the BUPA boost zone situated 1.5km from the finish line.

What was really great to see was that the BUPA boost zone was clearly built on real consumer insight – runners, starting to feel the strain of 8.5km of running, needing a real boost to get them going for the finish line.  

And the branding, both visually and over the loudspeakers, was clear, confident and more importantly, done in such a way that you couldn’t help but feel positively towards BUPA.  Without it, if I’m completely honest, I would probably have forgotten who the headline sponsor of the event was.

There’s a few sore muscles in the office today, but all in all we’re feeling pretty proud of ourselves.  Congratulations to everyone who ran and raised money for charity yesterday – I think I’ve got the bug now, so will see you there next year!

An interesting night last night, where I was reminded of the influence and impact of politics on business.

Whilst Cameron and Clegg were still battling out their differences in Westminster, I headed to Manchester Business School for the latest in their series of Vital Topics lectures.  The night featured Julie Meyer of Ariadne Capital talking about how to create an entrepreneurial country, and proved to be a very thought provoking evening.

Julie Meyer, CEO of Ariadne Capital

Clearly passionate about entrepreneurialism, Julie opened her talk by stating “Individual Capitalism has come of age” and highlighting the rise of entrepreneur culture amongst the under 30s, as well as the growth of older “Corporate Refugees”, who have become entrepreneurs by accident or design during the recession.

From ‘Mum and Dad’ enterprises in the spare room to game changing developments in technology, Julie believes entrepreneurs have the power to do good to the economy, society and individuals.

“Small becomes big, and start-ups do change the world”, she said, and went on to talk about the role of social enterprise, highlighting the Fredericks Foundation as an example of how entrepreneurialism can help individuals become a benefit, not a burden, to society.

She referred frequently to the land that is “Entrepreneur Country”, and gave an insight into the mind of the entrepreneur and the issues that keep them awake at night – with PAYE and NI contributions quoted as the most debilitating factors in running a private company.

She went on to set out 8 things that we, as a nation and as individuals, can do to create an entrepreneur culture.  Three of these stood out for me, and I will briefly outline them now as I’m sure I’ll return to them in later posts:

1. Be alive to Ecosystem Economics – business is driven by networks, and the businesses that succeed are those who make it work for all the people in their network.  To demonstrate this she contrasted the likes of Spotify and Last FM with the traditional music industry set up.
2. Educate the young to expect success – encouraging people to become everything they can be and to think outside the box is key, but she warned that there is a difference between an expectation of success and a belief in entitlement to success – “ You can’t build an ecosystem without humility”.
3. Reduce the size of government to reduce the burden on SMEs – Julie is a strong believer that streamlining government and reducing the fixed costs that need to be covered by taxation will help SME’s to grow and flourish.

As I left the talk and turned on the radio in the car, it was reported that Gordon Brown had tendered his resignation as Prime Minister and David Cameron was en route to Downing Street having reached an agreement with the Liberal Democrats – the UK’s first formal coalition government in 70 years.

What impact will that have on Entrepreneur Country?  I have a feeling some bedtime reading of the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition document may be in order…

I’m Lorraine Jones, and I’m Planning Director at PHD North, a creative media agency based in Manchester, UK.

I have the privilege of working with what I consider to be some of the brightest and most creative people in the industry, and in our day to day work we come across all manner of interesting things in the world of advertising, media and communications.

However we sometimes get bored of sharing these just amongst ourselves, and so this blog is intended to provide inspiration, insight and information both to colleagues and to the wider world.

Whilst you will hear most from me on this blog, I will treat you to guest contributions from some of the people who I think you might be interested in, but please remember that all the opinions in this blog are personal opinions of myself and the named contributors, and are not those of PHD.