The Santa World Championships

The Underground Restaurant

If you are interested in doing something a little different then I throughly recommend that you venture to one of the many underground restaurants popping up around town. The idea is simple, it's a little like Come Dine With Me, except that you are not on TV and you pay for the food. So we went along to Miss Marmite Lover's home in Kilburn and met a interesting bunch of people, ate some great food and generally had a lovely time.

	The lounge brings you a round-up of some of the most interesting and informative articles and blogs about youth culture and marketing. Adage document the debate surrounding the drop off of 18-24 year-olds on Facebook. We say: don’t believe the hype, Facebook is here to stay. ...Bearing that in mind here are a few tips for engaging teens on Facebook This is The Next Generation, a marketing blog written by Millennials, looks to explain their demographic to older marketers, educators, and researchers. Sparxoo debunks a few myths about generation Y.

Buzzword Alert – ‘Engagement’ Engagement has become a bit of a buzzword recently. This came as a surprise to us as we’ve always put engagement at the heart of everything we do. And our experience has taught us a thing or two – here’s a taster: • Build a dialogue by providing an opportunity and a reason to respond. Take the time to understand your audience and then use this knowledge to add something relevant/interesting/useful/new/cool to their lives and they will want to engage. Then give them the tools to communicate this to their friends.

Miller Genuine Draught - ‘This is My Glasgow’ photographic mural • Understand their passions and how your brand could help them in the pursuit of these in a relevant and credible way. For EA we created ‘Big in the Game’ workshops in all aspects of hip hop, inspired by EA’s titles. For Miller Genuine Draught we captured 18-24 year old Glaswegians passion for their city through ‘This is my Glasgow’, a consumer-generated photographic celebration of Glasgow. • Be long-termist in your engagement strategy. You will be considered more genuine, and credible and thus build a far deeper connection. • Create real authenticity online by building relationships with, and getting endorsements from online influencers - bloggers and influential social networkers in the relevant sector.

How to use Insights to Effectively Engage Text-Savvy Youth through Award-Winning Marketing Campaigns Last month our MD, James, spoke at the Haymarket Digi-Savvy Youth Conference. He wowed delegates with Insights into our Insight - a look at how we tap into our unique resource, our Peer Network - 8,000 under 35s - to deliver real results, showcasing this with our award-winning ‘Inspired Choice’ campaign for Alliance & Leicester, a campaign built using our immersive insight methodology.		Lounge immersive insight study
Lounge Vox Pops We believe that to truly understand under 35s you need to go beyond traditional surveys & focus groups. Our Peer Network becomes our eyes and ears on the ground with brands’ target audiences documenting their everyday reality. Using this methodology we have helped; Lynx to uncover the passions of the ‘Lynx man’ and how to connect with them, Canon to understand the influences on student photographers and how and when to build a relationship with them, and most recently The Anthony Nolan Trust to understand young people and how to motivate them to join the bone marrow register. If you would like to hear how The Lounge Insight could help your brand then drop us a line at Lounge HQ.

foursquare

foursquare Here at The Lounge we like to think of ourselves as the sort of Mystic Meg of marketing - we identify trends before they happen (apologies for the paradox) and new social networking app foursquare is set to become your new obsession! The concept is based around letting your friends know where you are at all times – stalker’s heaven! It’s also about competing with your mates. The user goes about their life, clocking into every venue they visit, posting reviews through a mobile app. The most frequent visitors become mayor of that venue, encouraging friendly rivalry and offering opportunities for retailers to reward repeat custom. Although relatively new to the UK (London is the only registered city so far) businesses are already taking note. Hummus Bros have spotted the benefit of this localised, super-targeted marketing channel, rewarding the Mayor (clearly a loyal customer) with 2-for-1 on meals. So, a social networking game that’s fun, allowing brands to reward consumer loyalty and showing you what’s hot in your city. Soon it’ll be a case of be on foursquare... or be square!

New Recruit!

We like to nuture young talent here at The Lounge... introducing Sara's son JOSH...

... and after a pretty hectic morning of artworking and spinning on his chair it all became too much for young Josh, and he is now making the most of his lunch break with a bit of a kip!

McFly A&L Masterclass rocks our world

Have a look at our heat link. The team did an amazing job delivering our finally masterclass of the season on Saturday.
We've had over 100,000 views in the first 24 hours :)

Lynx Fever!

Ingenious use of Facebook

The SKYN Revolution is here!

Our video for Mates new SKYN condom went live on YouTube last night... it already has over 12,000 views!! Join the revolution on Facebook...

THE LOUNGE GROUP HELP MATES NEW CONDOM ‘SKYN’ REVOLUTIONISE SEX

We are delighted to announce that The Lounge Group, has been appointed to conduct a fully integrated European marketing campaign for Mates’ new premium condom, Skyn.

We will launch a campaign across the UK, France, Italy, Poland and Hungary beginning in November which will seek to revolutionise the way people view condoms and inspire consumers to join the Skyn revolution.

We are all very excited and have been working hard to come up with some great ideas so watch this space.

We also got a mention in this week's Marketing magazine!

Hard workers get a wee treat, if you can call it that

The team have being doing the most amazing job. As a bit of a thank you we took them off to have their heads cut off, be hung and generally have the fear of wax work rippers and flickering light fires put into them.

Rocking the house

Yesterday saw us presenting at the Haymarket Youth Conference with our lovely client Marian from A&L. It was so much better than the frankly rubbish Haymarket Student Conference.

We chatted about our A&L campaign and give some top tips on how to really get under the skin of young people.

James and the giant Andrew

Oh and Denise Van Outen

It was all happening at The Lounge yesterday, with actors and models lining up to audition for an exciting new campaign we're working on. Watch this space – all will be revealed soon...

Volkswagen Piano Staircase.

Ever wondered how to make more people choose the stairs over the escalator? Well a Swedish ad agency have come up with the answer - make the steps into working piano keys.

This is what DDB Stockholm did for VW, encouraging 66% of people to take the stairs that day. Brilliant.

wagamama launch their 'positive design' competition!

Last Friday, we launched wagamama's 'positive design' competition which looks to find an aspiring artist to design their new staff t-shirt. To kick start the competition the wagamama restaurant in Spitalfields played host to some live art (on a 7ft t-shirt!), music and free noodles. Artists Adam Hayes, Billie Jean and ContainerPLUS drew their interpretations of how they would design the new t-shirt inspiring those who came down to take part.

For those of you who couldn't make it down to Spitalfields last week, the installation will be up for the rest of this week.

Lynx @ Mo*vida

The Lynx Effect is all about getting you in there – so we created the Lynx Lounge, a members-only area at London's Mo*vida. We invited 300 guests to an exclusive gig at the venue, featuring some of the hottest acts on the scene: Sugababes, The Maccabees, VV Brown and Frankmusik...



Take a peek. But don't get too jealous...

Dave Berry interviewing Sugababes...

VV Brown...

Frankmusik...

and a couple of Maccabees...

Dixons.co.uk

A lot of people seem to be talking about these new ads for Dixons.co.uk. It's rare these days to see a pure copy ad to make such an impact.

The ads are based on some fantastic insight about the way consumers shop & spend - the need to experience the product first hand, but then buy it as cheap as possible.

And I love the way they take a couple of subtle shots at their ex-high street rivals for good measure...

Selfridges

John Lewis

Harrods

Business Cards

A great blog about business cards from one of the UK's most read marketing / media bloggers. Make sure you watch the great scene from American Psycho at the bottom...

Obama = Consistency

Popular Student Sites

Recent research from Reach Students has uncovered some of the most popular websites for students... something to keep in mind when targeting this studious lot online.

Teenage Kicks

You may not have heard of Tavi Gevinson yet, but you can be assured that any teenager worth their fashion-salt has. She is the 13 year-old blogger who, to quote The Guardian, has "the fashion world at her feet," with a hugely popular blog read by high street fashionista's and industry insiders alike. And, while she is a tad more self deprecating, describing herself as a "tiny 13 year old dork that sits inside all day wearing awkward jackets and pretty hats," there is no doubt that she is the embodiment of a 21st Century teenage influencer, and a testament to the power of the internet.

To see what all the fuss is about, check out her blog, Style Rookie.

Facts facts and more facts

Some mind-boggling stats in the form of a video. If your head doesn't hurt trying to get your head around these there may be something wrong with you... or you might just be really really clever...

Youth Round-Up!

Is the first ever drop off in 15-24 year-old social networking users a sign that young people are deserting this media? Not in our opinion, we believe social networking is here to stay - an opinion shared by Social Fuel.




Some (slightly scary!) research results from Nielsen Mobile - the average age a child starts using a mobile phone is 8.6, and they typically get their own at 10.1!




Young People Resist Psychological Recession - Take advantage of young people’s positivity towards the recession.




Young people are ‘flocking’ to twitter - According to new research, they are now the site’s fastest growing audience segment.

Measuring blogfluence

Whoever said that the reach of bloggers was immeasurable? Come on, you know who you are… well get yourself a fork and a slice of humble pie. The Lounge now has access to a tool which allows you to contact, and harness the power of, the most influential bloggers in any given sector. Not only this, but we can connect you with the leading social networkers, podcasters and online forum gurus to help maximize the volume and reach of your online activity.

Having prominent bloggers in your brand’s ‘corner’ can be invaluable, with the most powerful blogs impacting on everything, from consumer attitudes and purchase decisions, to business practices and government policy. Bear in mind, however, that a strong focus on your niche is vital: focus = credibility = influence, and trying to appeal to everyone is as much of a waste of time online as it is in the real world, so identifying your online target audience first is a must.

To find out who the credible bloggers are in your sector are give us a call…

Mirrors/Lasers/Action

McFly announced as third celebrity mentors!

Yesterday we announced McFly as the third celebrity mentors for the Santander Celebrity Master Class progamme. We spent all morning in a whirlwind of interviews with radio, print and online and we were lucky enough to meet Alan Carr who came down to interview the guys and yes, he is just as funny in real life.

We've had a little visit from a Bullet Babe

Cassette Boy's finest hour... to date

Recession? What recession?!

Are young consumers spending their way through the recession?

They have been called ‘the lost generation’, consumer casualties of the recession. But is this sort of doom-mongering justified? Or are young people’s spending habits impervious to the state of the economy?

Last week we got out on the high street to talk spending habits with a cross section of young people. What we found was that if anything their spending has increased this year and does so with each passing birthday, recession or not. Their need to keep up with the latest trends (not to mention added peer pressure) combined with a healthy allowance from mum & dad to stave off ‘moody-teenager syndrome’ makes keeping an up-to-date wardrobe a priority. Indeed, a recent study uncovered that British teenagers rank buying clothes as a higher priority of spending than any other nation.

Big brands are attempting to cash in on this trend with O2 recently launching a Visa card for young people. However, it’s not just borrowed credit and parental allowances subsidizing the splurging - if you have a product that young people want they will do whatever it takes to raise the funds to get it. Living in an age when business is king and entrepreneurs are celebrities has seemingly inspired young people to get creative to raise funds in order to feed their addiction to spending. Sources of income range from ‘chores for cash’ and babysitting, to eBay sales. Add to this their blissful ignorance of financial meltdown coupled with an apathy towards the news and what you get is a demographic with considerable spending clout.

Socialnomics

Hey, did you know that Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres have more followers on Twitter than the entire population of Ireland, Norway and Panama? Just one of the stats on the use of social media in this short film from the Socialnomics.

Socialnomics is a blog designed to cover the latest trends in social media. It focuses on covering the latest news on social media and what it means for users and businesses.

YouTube-tastic!

New videos worth checking out on The Lounge Group's YouTube channel, including; Danny Cipriani and Denise Van Outen on Alliance & Leicester's 'Premier 21' Account, Sway's campus tour with Need For Speed, the Lynx Bullet consumer launch party, and the Impulse Romance Revolution. Get watching!

Could you design the new wagamama T-Shirt?

The wagamama competition has also made it on to the pages of this weeks Design Week.

Oodles of Noodles!!!

Check out today's news piece on Brand Republic about our upcoming uniform design competition for Wagamama.

The power of You Tube

Load's of video posts on YouTube for our recent Lynx Fever activity, I wonder why.... I just found this one on You Tube.

Moon - simply go and see it

Go to see it at Curzon Soho

Fresh Fruit Revitalises Team

I've just had the most marvelous plate of fresh fruit. It's transformed my afternoon!

James

If Carlsberg did weddings...

mysterious hands....

Have you seen these????

What are they for, who is behind them? What can we they mean?

Get yourself down to SE1 and see for yourself.

James

A-hum

By God after Ashley's recent post regarding the i-Tunes festival I felt compelled to attend one for myself. So Ashley and I ventured out to A-ha. Now whilst not quite as new to the music scene as Mumford & Sons you'd hope that old faithfuls A-ha would titillate the audience of 30-35 year olds with solid hits.

Sadly this was not the case. A-ha had the stage presence of a corpse and the rapport of arch enemies. As a result even the now 30 year old women blinded by teen infatuation with lead singer Morton could not "get into" these i-Tunes.

My conclusion, A-ha are shit live. Fact.

Mash Up!

Denise Van Outen announced as A&L's second celebrity mentor!

We recently announced Denise Van Outen as Alliance & Leicester's second celebrity mentor for A&L's 'Inspired Choice' campaign.

We are really excited to have Denise working with us and she joins Danny Cipriani's quest to inspire young adults.

The master class will be taking place on 25th September so check out the Premier 21 website to find out more info http://www.prem21.co.uk/

We will also be announcing our very exciting third and final celebrity mentor later in the year.

The iTunes Festival

OK, so before I get “blogging”, allow me to introduce myself. My name’s Ashley James, female, aged 22. I’m one of the new additions to the team.

Interests: Boris Johnson (!)
Skills: Having the remarkable ability to refer to Boris in any topic of conversation
Dislikes: Abbreviations, bad manners, P.D.A (public displays of affection)

If I’m honest, I’m a blog virgin - yup that's right, this is my first time! I’m slightly more traditional when it comes to writing, so don’t expect too much of me (or any cyber chat!).

Anyway, let’s get down to business. I thought I’d write about the iTunes Festival I went to at the Roundhouse in Camden last night. I applied a while back because one of my favourite bands, Mumford & Sons (check them out), were due to play. What an amazing bonus that The Temper Trap and the one and only Stephen Fry were added to the evening’s line up! I invited one of my best friends, Amelia, as it was her birthday a few days before – and being a recent graduate, my bank is still suffering (or is it the credit crunch...) so I couldn’t splash out on anything for her.

So, in chronological order ... Stephen Fry! Taking us right back beyond even his years (no offense Sir) to the time of the caveman, Stephen talked us through the history of music. Here’s a great fact (it interested me anyway) – tape cassettes were invented by the Nazis during World War 2! He also, somewhat controversially, defended illegal downloading – if you’re a student and you love music but can’t afford to pay for it, then you cannot be labelled a criminal (according to Mr Fry – I’m staying out of it!). Next, the Temper Trap – what an amazing front man, his voice is incredible. I love the song Sweet Disposition, which I knew before, but I found their other stuff a little heavy, although I definitely can’t knock their passionate performance. And now the main act – Mumford & Sons. They were aaaaah-mazing. The lead singer, Marcus, is a born performer. They all play so many different instruments (all at once) – I really hope they go far.
Something else that really can’t go unmentioned is the couple that were stood in front of us – other than their uncomfortable displays of P.D.A - when the guy went to the loo, the girl was slightly edgy about being parted from him for so long and continued to call him non-stop (he was in her phone as fiancé)... !

All in all an amazing evening – you can’t knock anything that is free. I recommend applying for one of their other evenings.

Anyway, in the words of Bugs Bunny... That’s all folks!
Ash xx