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

The morning after I laboriously posted a very edited selection of holiday pics on facebook, I’m interested to see that Kodak have just spent a lot of money on justifying their existence.

Apparently in these times of economic challenge, people have a desire to reconnect with loved ones, in part by (surprise) sharing photos.

They commissioned a report, The Future of Reconnectivity which gives more weight to their argument. I thought I’d continue their good work here by sharing some highlights.

93% of people believe that sharing photos brings people closer together

89% of people believe a photo can say a lot about a person

98% believe they remind people of past moments they’ve shared (for surely it would be kind of hard to argue with this..?)

87% of people are comforted by photos of loved ones when they’re having a bad day

So what a great good work I’ve done by posting my photos to facebook. I naively thought I was foisting my sunshine on a hundred odd people that weren’t really that interested. Whereas in fact I was bringing myself closer to them all - and perhaps also comforting them in their hours of need - by so doing. I’m practically a charity worker…

Those who read this with any degree of regularity will know of my grafitti obsession (though I still have to spellcheck it every time). So can imagine my pleasure when confronted with the back streets (laneways for those in the know) of Melbourne on my recent trip to Oz. I even saw a real life Banksy. Though it looked far too measley to warrant a photo. Here are edited highlights.

In New York apparently. Check this out.

There’s a rather fine tribute here to the IRN-BRU Homecoming Heritage Can.

The can, should you not have seen it in the shops and studied the copy on its behind, features the original 1947 can design.

Hats off to Christine Berrie, Glasgow-based illustrator, for her lovingly crafted illustration. And hats off to BRU for a great idea. I’ve been quizzed by all sorts of people from research respondents, their parents, shopkeepers and hairdressers about the thinking behind the can. A sign of success I think.

A few months ago, over what Julie Allan describes as, a “casual cup of coffee” with one Karen Andre (but I wonder if this is a code name for “bottles of wine at the local” - no offence intended) chat arose about the need for the company to do a bit more for charity. The outcome of this, was a small team getting together and discussing ways in which we could raise money for the lovely people at Erskine, who are not only a great client, but a great charity. They have recently opened a brilliant care home/hospital to help in the rehabilitation of returned service men (http://www.erskine.org.uk/) and the money that we would raise could go towards the purchasing of much needed equipment for the hospital.

Our goal was to hold a few events (something for everyone), and try and raise £3,000 across these events.

Well that’s the background info…

October 2nd saw us hosting an fun filled and eventful Race Night!! The stakes were low, but the banter was high, and the amount raised even higher!

Last night was our ladies night on the trusty Leith barge. We had the boys from Mix Sensations (http://www.erskine.org.uk/) making some superb cocktails, and some delish canapes supplied by Stan Andre (and assembled by his wife our very own Karen).

But is wasn’t all about the drinking & eating, we also had Laura Nolan (http://www.lauranolanbeauty.co.uk/) giving beauty therapy advice and hand massages. Carrie and Lousie giving us all some great tips on choosing the right red lippy and how to perfect the smoky eye. There was also Patzel Jewellery (http://www.patzeljewellery.co.uk/) and some hilarious comedic talents from Ailsa.

Both nights were a huge success, and so far we have raised nearly £2,000.

I look forward to hearing how the golf day, rations lunch and afternoon tea go.

A huge thanks for all those who have supported us and made donations.

I’ve had a veritable abundance of ads on TV recently. Nice when it works out like that. Of course, I cavalierly say “I” when in fact, I’ve had some small tenuous association with their initial creation of the scripts but little more involvement than that. Nonetheless, I still feel that delightful flutter when I see them on air.

So the most recent addition to the airwaves was for the Scottish Government and is designed to raise awareness of new legislation intended to protect adults at risk of harm. An incredibly thorny issue as you can imagine but a couple of rounds of creative testing research later, we found ourselves with rather an elegant solution courtesy of gentleman of the agency, Andy Archer. David Eustace directed and did a very fine job. Judge for yourselves here.

This poor poster site in Waverley station seems to be cursed. First it housed some random monkeys now it seems to have been invaded by a simpleton. Somehow it’s funnier if read in a German accent.