Leith is who we are.
Leith is where we are.
The Leith Agency's weblog.

We’re loving having David “I was ready to kill this morning” Watson sat up amongst us in planning today.

Have I finally met my cynical match??

Working as I do with both IRN-BRU and the Government, I pounced on David Bainbridge’s latest offering, Teenagers. Here, I was sure, would lie all the secrets about how best we could communicate with this often hard to understand audience. Many of my colleagues proclaim deep understanding of the audience as they have teenaged children of their own but here at last was my chance to offer some new breakthrough insight that would revolutionise how we spoke to them.

Of course, this book did not give me that. However,  it’s a cracking read. Regular readers will know that I love to jump on these weighty tomes and tear them to unfair shreds. So I’m not exactly an undiscerning audience. But this book is biology at its plebian best. Not too complicated, not too painstakingly detailed but just thorough enough to make you feel that you’re a bit of an intellectual for having read it, long enough to make you feel that he has something to say for himself but not so long that you weary of it. A practically perfect science book in fact.

Therein lay the problem from my professional point of view. It’s all very interesting finding out about how the teenage brain only matures during the teenage years so this very time is vital to the growth and development of the adult to be. And he rattles through the usual teenage symptoms: sleep late, smell, spotty,  grumpy, adventurous (drink, drugs, sex). So he answers all the obvious questions beautifully. From my point of view, you kind of know the symptoms and that affects how you talk to them and the why they’re like that isn’t really an issue. But for all of that, I wouldn’t say don’t read it.

Having said that, if you can’t be bothered with the 312 pages, there’s a column from him in The Times here. That would do you nicely. Enjoy.

My only real excuse for cyber silence has been a lot of research groups and the frenzy of the Marketing Society Awards deadline which led to many late nights and long-suffering patience on Brie’s part as she absorbed the 931st set of changes.

But I’m back. And I caught the Adidas house party ad a couple of nights ago for the first time. It is super cool advertising. The kind of ad that Pepsi Max with their celebrities dressed as gladiators could really learn a lot from. Harsh (but fair) I think.

I bumped into Phil Adams last night as he returned from a twitter evening that Blonde had sponsored and we had a rambling shambling debate on the pavement about it’s relative merits.

To my mind its a Sinclair C5 - much heralded but totally irrelevent. All those self indulgent narcissists on twitter island pretending it has other benefits will soon be sticking it back into their room 101 of shame along with the embarrasing trousers that they’ve never actually worn and the keys to their C5.

As promised Phil….

And with chips, my love affair with Urban Splash rumbles on.

I am possibly more in love with Twitter by the day. But this latest story from Brand Republic suggesting that brands may be charged to twitter rather dents my faith in what I thought previously was a beautifully executed growth strategy. But maybe there’s more to it than the story suggests. I hope.

Oh, and while I’m here, does anybody actually like the new Cadbury ad??

This is my favourite kind of statement-making. Taking over a whole ad break maybe smacks a little too much of  self-indulgence - and who outside the advertising community will really care that much? - but being as it’s the co-operative, let’s be kind and look forward to it with eager anticipation. 16th Feb is the date to await.