By Popular Request - The New Carling Ad

Nice ad. Very nice. The conceit of transposing the 'nightclub knockback' into outer space is box-fresh, and there's some funny writing to enjoy here too.

Director Fredrik Bond doesn't need any praise from me because he's already rich, successful and good-looking so let's forget about him and praise the production team - all the 'production bits' like casting, wardrobe and set design are absolutely spot-on.

My one quibble is the endline. The thought is great - a desire to be 'one of the lads' is undeniably a highly motivating truth for young men. But putting it as overtly as this - 'Belong' - is saying the unsayable, isn't it? After all, Porsche's endline isn't 'Get Laid', and Rolex don't say 'Look Rich.'

The Ad Blog Charts For November 2007

Here are the world's most popular ad blogs, as measured by traffic rankings from Alexa.

Top 25 Ad Blogs		(world
		ranking)
1     (1)	AdRants	31,092
2     (2)	Advertising/Design Goodness	52,635
3     (3)	Duncan's TV Ad Land	53,843
4     (4)	Adverblog	65,784
5     (5)	AdFreak	73,782
6     (6)	Adverbox	80,122
7     (8)	Adland	121,661
8     (7)	Copyranter	125,789
9     (9)	Logic + Emotion	134,236
10   (11)	Coloribus	152,257
11   (12)	AdPulp	174,419
12   (10)	Ad Punch	184,340	↓
13   (13)	Experience Curve	229,807
14   (14)	Jaffe Juice	255,709
15   (15)	Twenty Four	274,722
16   (16)	Agency Spy	314,086
17   (17)	AdScam	397,186
18   (18)	Behind The Buzz	430,133
19   (24)	Adliterate	438,290	↑
20   (19)	BrandFlakes for Breakfast	485,944
21   (22)	How Advertising Spoiled Me	540,900
22   (25)	Welcome To Optimism	551,604
23   (re-)	American Copywriter	562,615
24   (21)	Hee-Haw Marketing	562,850
25   (re-)	Make The Logo Bigger	575,893

Somewhat moribund this month. Like the American pop charts always seem to be.

An ↑ means a blog's traffic has gone up by 15% or more in the past month, and a ↓ means it's gone down 15%.

Top 10 UK Ad Blogs		(world
		ranking)
1   (1)	Adliterate	438,290	↑
2   (2)	Welcome To Optimism	551,604
3   (3)	Crackunit	579,105
4   (4)	Scamp	692,621
5   (5)	Faris	772,867	↑
6   (6)	Northern Planner	1.2m
7   (7)	Only Dead Fish	1.3m	↑
8   (re-)	Fish N Chimps	1.4m
9   (9)	TV's Worst Adverts	1.5m
10 (10)	Life Moves Pretty Fast	1.6m

And an almost implausibly static UK chart. Were it not for the mysterious re-entry of Fish N Chimps, it would be completely unchanged.

UK means UK-based. Ad blog means ad blogs not marketing blogs, so that excludes Gapingvoid. Although Paul Colman is now a planner at W&K, and even smiling apparently, he doesn't class Life In The Middle as an ad blog and Russell Davies no longer blogs about advertising. He does write about it in Campaign though. Great column. Also, I'm only counting English language blogs.

If I've missed anyone out, please tell me and I'll put them in next month.

Tuesday Tip No.32 - How To Do Digital

by special guest writer James Cooper, creative director, Dare.

I feel a little bit like jumping into the bear pit here, but since Scamp asked me to write this and I’m leaving London soon to do something different you can take it or leave it. If this advice helps just one creative then that’s a good thing.

I think I should let you know my stance. I don’t think digital is the answer to all advertising’s prayers, far from it. In some cases it makes sense for a digital idea to lead, in other cases TV or press (or PR – Run London for example) to lead. I’m not sure I can think of any reason why you shouldn’t use digital at all in a campaign but I’m sure someone will find an amusing response to that.

Much of what the press reports about digital taking over from TV is also more apt for the US than here, where, in fact, it still makes sense to hit a load of people during Coronation Street. Time zones and scale make it more cost effective to do things differently across the pond. So don’t worry, you’ll still be able to make your ‘films’.

Here goes for a few things that might help you get your head around digital work.

1. Keep it simple. Life is not so different down here in the basement. If you can’t explain your idea in 6 words don’t bother. Start again. With all this software around (and clients) there are people that will always want to make things more complicated. If you start off with something complex the chances are it will turn out a mess. A site that has been hijacked by girls, a site that crushes desks, a girl you can tickle. All simple. All good. All winners. NB. The flip side of this is that if you want to win a craft award for sound design or motion graphics or something like that then complex RULES! You absolutely must be more cutting edge and geeky than those freaks in Northern Sweden who never leave their macs and only eat reindeer meat and dried white foodstuffs.

2. Be original. Same rules apply to when all you lot who moan about whether Bravia or Guinness or John Lewis was original or not. Poke’s nice unlimited site looks a little like a Motorola site, our nice Bravia site looks a little like a Pioneer site. The point is it’s not such a leap to imagine that creative brains come up with the same things. An amount of copying goes on, but these things right themselves in the end. No one is going to make a serious career out of being unoriginal – apart from The Chemical Brothers. There are trends in digital in the same way there are in TV. If you really want to stick out then you have to do something different and we all know how hard that is these days.

3. Doing digital is harder than TV. What? Yes, sorry folks, it’s true. The delivery of TV (and Press) has not changed since it started. In digital there are constant innovations that you need to keep up with. As a creative you will be expected to know how to come up with an idea for a site, what it looks like, how it should be delivered and how people will interact with it. No one is going to do this for you. Then you need to multiply this for all the other ways an idea can be expressed in digital other than a standard site; a facebook app, mobile, digital outdoor, banners, interactive TV, Second Life, YouTube and basically whatever some dude in California comes up with next. If you’re not interested in technical innovation then, again, don’t bother.

4. Great digital work usually comes from teamwork. Usually two creatives – a writer and an art director, a designer and a techy. Having said above that you need to know how all the geeky things work you won’t actually be expected to get your hands dirty with code or anything like that. This is both good news and bad news. The good news being that you don’t have to have spent years buried in software manuals. The bad news being that the person who has done that now earns more money than you do and can f**k up your project at the flick of a switch. Also this person will actually work at your agency rather than be a hired supergeek like a lighting cameraman for example. You will have to learn to deal with seeing someone everyday who is more important than you and has better trainers than you.

5. The digital equivalent to ‘Balls’ is Nike +. This is the piece of work that everyone wishes they had done and arsey creative directors use to dismiss other pieces of work, ‘Well, it’s OK, but it’s not Nike + is it?’ If you don’t know what Nike + is you may as well pack up and go home. The thing that makes this work interesting and a cultural shift is that it is useful. Consumers actually want to use this piece of advertising, they seek it out. Anomaly have coined a phrase, ‘branded utility’ - expect much more of this sort of stuff.

6. It’s actually easy to win an award if that’s all you want to do. In the same way that if you can somehow manage to do a 48 sheet with no words and a visual metaphor then it stands a good chance of winning something at Cannes the same is true of digital, especially banners. Do a neat visual trick, have a little bit of user interaction, lose the words, change your name to something Brazilian sounding and Bob est ton uncle.

7. If you are going to use celebs do it in an interesting way rather than just plonking them on a site. We are just about getting the budgets to do things with proper actors and artists rather than the girl from accounts. And of course it’s well worth it. We did a site with Martin Parr a few years back that was very successful and I am just finishing a project for Sony Vaio with John Malkovich where he has written the first scene to a movie and will judge the next scenes posted on the site. This, to me anyway, feels right contextually rather than just giving him a laptop and asking him to smile and say ‘cheese’.

8. People talk a lot about community and social networking. Sometimes this is the right way to go, often it’s not. Doing something on MySpace will not guarantee you a hit. It’s horses for courses I’m afraid and that’s part of your job to work it out – interrogate your brief and media agency and don’t settle for buzzwords.

9. Don’t take yourself too seriously. No one likes a smart arse. A lot of people started up digital agencies or came from ATL agencies to get away from cocky little shits. I know, I know, you’re just passionate about your work. But life is too short to have to deal with assholes. Work should be fun and when it is, it tends to be more successful. The best ideas come when you are happy and relaxed. As Mr Wenger once said, ‘to win you have to enjoy what you do first’. And, as I say, ‘if you weren’t enjoying yourself while you were winning then, frankly, what was the point?’

10. What’s with this conformity? Who says 10 is the right number?

So as you can see it’s not that much different to TV and Press. You need an idea, you need to keep things simple and use your common sense. There are shortcuts to awardsville but if you seek something bigger, something that people will talk about down the pub for years to come then it’s back to the grindstone I’m afraid (and take a techy with you).

thanks James

Tip No.31 - How To Do Posters
Tip No.30 - Look At Weird Shit
Tip No.29 - Presenting To The Client
Tip No.28 - Presenting To The Team
Tip No.27 - Presenting To The Creative Director
Tip No.26 - How To Deal With Rejection
Tip No.25 - Look Creative
Tip No.24 - Don't Be Afraid To Ask
Tip No.23 - Your Idea Has To Be 120%
Tip No.22 - Read Iain's Tips
Tip No.21 - Don't Behave
Tip No.20 - How To Discuss Ideas
Tip No.19 - Read Hugh's Tips
Tip No.18 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part IV - How To Turn A Placement Into A Job
Tip No.17 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part III - How To Approach Agencies (re-print of Tip No. 7)
Tip No.16 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part II - How To Put A Book Together
Tip No. 15 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part I - FAQ
Tip No. 14 - Make Friends With Traffic
Tip No. 13 - Get Reference
Tip No. 12 - Don't Stop Too Soon
Tip No.11 - Be Very
Tip No.10 - Breaking Up
Tip No.9 - Working Well With Your Partner
Tip No.8 - Finding The Right Partner
Tip No.7 - How To Approach Agencies
Tip No.6 - Never-Seen-Before Footage
Tip No.5 - Dicketts' Finger
Tip No.4 - Two Blokes In The Pub
Tip No.3 - Play Family Fortunes
Tip No.2 - Should You Take A Bad Job?
Tip No.1 - Don't Overpolish

'The Art Of...' Endlines Really Suck

Her spaceship had an incredibly stylish kitchen, which she also used as a gallery

It's my least favourite endline in the world.

What's yours?

Apparently This Is Why

A while ago I decided that, since I slag off loads of other people's ads on Scamp, it was only fair to put my own up.

I haven't done it for a while because, well, I haven't done an ad for a while.

But now I have. And I'm very excited about it.

I'm On A Course

And you know what? The training is bloody good fun, and feels like it could be really useful.

Sadly, this is the first course I've had since a 1-day 'Writing for Radio' workshop in 1995. That's TWELVE YEARS ago.

Why do creatives get so little training? Is it because creativity is felt to be innate and therefore unteachable? Or do people worry we'll just throw bread rolls and not listen to what we're being told?

I suspect it's part of an ongoing conspiracy to not treat creatives like proper businesspeople. Maybe more on that another time.

What's happened to British advertising's great tradition of Christmas turkeys?

OK, the Morrisons ad is not good.

But I really like the John Lewis campaign.

A few people have written in to point out it's "inspired" by the work of artists Tim Noble & Sue Webster.

(See more of Tim & Sue's work here. Did Lowes use them to make the John Lewis ads? I do hope so)

But you know what?

I don't care.

The ads feel classy like John Lewis should. The "whoever you're looking for this Christmas" line is a really nice spin on the hackneyed whatever you're looking for. Plus, they get to have their cake and scoff it also - the ad showcases their wares too.

And best of all, no Santa or tinsel in sight.

Even the Argos christmas ad isn't too bad this year. (Not on YouTube as yet, sorry).

What's going on? Is it just me, or is the standard of Christmas advertising actually on the rise?

Gold Is In The Detail

Really nice film featuring Dave Droga as an animated dog, talking about the type of advertising he likes, and how to win a pencil.

It's part of D&AD's 2008 call for entries.

via Living Brands

JCrgn Is Not Jeremy Craigen

The real Jeremy Craigen
A "Jcrgn" commented on my thread here about the new Guinness ad. Campaign printed it too. So I guess everyone assumed this was a comment from Jeremy Craigen, creative director at DDB.

It wasn't.

It was someone pretending to be him.

So, I'm happy to put the record straight. And am now worried that the bloke claiming to be Tony Kaye isn't who he says he is either...

And How Come There's Only One Monopolies & Mergers Commission?

My friends at Lunar BBDO have a funny find on their blog today -

What is the 'Word Of Mouth Marketing Forum' doing to get the word out about their event?

Hypocrisy-alert, Batman... they've made an advert.

Tuesday Tip No. 31 - How To Do Posters

Someone once said: "A poster should have no more than seven words on it."

That person made a schoolboy error.

You see, a poster should have NO words on it. None at all.

I really mean it.

Why?

Because a poster is not like TV, where the consumer is sitting on the sofa in his underpants, eating cheese & onion crisps, looking directly at your adverts.

No one is looking at a poster unless you make them.

Now if you want to catch a fish, you need a hook. And if you want to catch an eye, you need an image.

Crucially, an image of something people have never seen before.

So far so good. But the problem is - a logo is going to go on this poster, maybe a packshot, maybe an endline, maybe a web address or a phone number (who ever wrote down a phone number while they were travelling in a moving vehicle?)

In a way, there is already too much distracting shit on your poster before you even sit down to write it.

So make life easy on yourself, and accept that you cannot have a headline.

You just can't.


There's one exception. You can have just a headline, and strip away everything else. However, these nearly always end up being compromised when the client says it looks boring and wants you to add a background. So use carefully.

Tip No.30 - Look At Weird Shit
Tip No.29 - Presenting To The Client
Tip No.28 - Presenting To The Team
Tip No.27 - Presenting To The Creative Director
Tip No.26 - How To Deal With Rejection
Tip No.25 - Look Creative
Tip No.24 - Don't Be Afraid To Ask
Tip No.23 - Your Idea Has To Be 120%
Tip No.22 - Read Iain's Tips
Tip No.21 - Don't Behave
Tip No.20 - How To Discuss Ideas
Tip No.19 - Read Hugh's Tips
Tip No.18 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part IV - How To Turn A Placement Into A Job
Tip No.17 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part III - How To Approach Agencies (re-print of Tip No. 7)
Tip No.16 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part II - How To Put A Book Together
Tip No. 15 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part I - FAQ
Tip No. 14 - Make Friends With Traffic
Tip No. 13 - Get Reference
Tip No. 12 - Don't Stop Too Soon
Tip No.11 - Be Very
Tip No.10 - Breaking Up
Tip No.9 - Working Well With Your Partner
Tip No.8 - Finding The Right Partner
Tip No.7 - How To Approach Agencies
Tip No.6 - Never-Seen-Before Footage
Tip No.5 - Dicketts' Finger
Tip No.4 - Two Blokes In The Pub
Tip No.3 - Play Family Fortunes
Tip No.2 - Should You Take A Bad Job?
Tip No.1 - Don't Overpolish

The New Stella Ad. Would You Pass It On?

The first time I saw it, my reaction was (Scooby Doo voice): "Huh?"

I then did get it, second time around, and actually quite liked it. The casting is of the usual top standard ("Hello, is that the Freaky Continentals Agency? Lowe London here again"), and the music is particularly good.

But I suspect most interest will focus on the new strategy. Replacing a thought as enormous as 'Reassuringly Expensive' is no small task, and only time will tell whether this new direction will appeal as much, and last as long. But I think 'pass it on' does have a shot. It does communicate quality quite effectively, and it has a nice communitarian feel to it, that may improve Stella's faintly 'aggressive' image.

Of course, the beer itself still tastes absolutely disgusting... but there's not much Lowes can do about that.

Hooray For The Awkward Squad

The result of my latest poll shows a majority of voters believe there is no correlation between niceness and talent.

Well you know what? I disagree.

Nice means easy to get along with. But to make work that is different you need people who are different - dreamers, weirdos, obsessives, folks who are 'wrongly wired' - and of course this type of person is not as easy to get along with as your average Joe.

Advertising agency creative departments are becoming too boring. You hear stories of people getting fired because they like a drink or two, or wear funny trousers. That's very sad. If there's one thing that a good ad agency should be good at, it is getting the best out of difficult people.

Previous poll results:

Friday Poll No.15 - Who Is Responsible For Ineffectiveness?
Friday Poll No.14 - Your Personal Success Record
Friday Poll No.13 - Which Department Is The Most Insane?
Friday Poll No.12 - What Music Do You Listen To While Working?
Friday Poll No.11 - What Time Do You Get In?
Friday Poll No.10 - Who Drinks The Most?
Friday Poll No.9 - Press v Online
Friday Poll No.8 - Success Or Glory?
Friday Poll No.7 - Is Reading Blogs A Waste Of Time?
Friday Poll No.6 - Job Satisfaction
Friday Poll No.5 - Festive Greetings
Friday Poll No.4 - Ad Of The Year 2006
Friday Poll No.3 - What's Your Favourite Medium To Work In?
Friday Poll No.2 - Agency Of The Year
Friday Poll No.1 - Which Department Is The Most Overpaid?

Oh dear oh dear oh dear

The new Guinness ad is terrible, in my opinion.

Just way too Coggy.

And Scowling A.D. had an interesting comment - he found it insulting the idea that these clearly very poor people would have so much time to waste setting up a pointless stunt.

At least the tortoise-racing Cubans had a bit of money riding on their event.

And I hate the way that, in the end, it all amounts to nothing more than an elaborate packshot. And how the villagers cheer that packshot!

Has Digital Finally Come Of Age?

I think maybe it has.

This thing for Orange, which I first saw on Faris's blog and which was created by Iain Tait's crew over at Poke, is simply awesome.

I know I hosted a piece by DDB creative Rob Messeter saying that most interactive work is "pony" and "puerile", and of course a lot of it is. But then most TV ads and posters are rubbish too.

I suspect it may take just one incredible piece of digital work to change the perception that above-the-line creatives have about on-line (after all, perception always lags behind reality). This site may be it.

Even the loading screen is cool - bees deliver globs of honey to fill up a pot until it reaches 100%.

And the site itself...

Well, I'm not going to say anything about it. I urge you to check it out.

But something that gets you engaging with a brand's promise and its tone for half an hour - an hour even - that's got to be more effective than a 30 second TV ad, doesn't it?

Tuesday Tip No.30 - Look At Weird Shit

Yesterday's post about "weird shit" - in which I suggested that creatives should spend time looking at random stuff as well as the latest movies and magazines - prompted a great recommend by Flo Heiss - VVORK (see images above).

John Webster used to regularly visit a local greetings card shop, and just spend five minutes going round looking at every card in there. Why? I guess he just liked the quick hit of jokes, images and surreal little nothings. Sites like VVORK are the modern equivalent.

I'm not talking about finding ideas to rip off.

I'm talking about keeping your mind open, alive and unconventional.

Tip No.29 - Presenting To The Client
Tip No.28 - Presenting To The Team
Tip No.27 - Presenting To The Creative Director
Tip No.26 - How To Deal With Rejection
Tip No.25 - Look Creative
Tip No.24 - Don't Be Afraid To Ask
Tip No.23 - Your Idea Has To Be 120%
Tip No.22 - Read Iain's Tips
Tip No.21 - Don't Behave
Tip No.20 - How To Discuss Ideas
Tip No.19 - Read Hugh's Tips
Tip No.18 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part IV - How To Turn A Placement Into A Job
Tip No.17 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part III - How To Approach Agencies (re-print of Tip No. 7)
Tip No.16 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part II - How To Put A Book Together
Tip No. 15 - How To Get A Job In Advertising Part I - FAQ
Tip No. 14 - Make Friends With Traffic
Tip No. 13 - Get Reference
Tip No. 12 - Don't Stop Too Soon
Tip No.11 - Be Very
Tip No.10 - Breaking Up
Tip No.9 - Working Well With Your Partner
Tip No.8 - Finding The Right Partner
Tip No.7 - How To Approach Agencies
Tip No.6 - Never-Seen-Before Footage
Tip No.5 - Dicketts' Finger
Tip No.4 - Two Blokes In The Pub
Tip No.3 - Play Family Fortunes
Tip No.2 - Should You Take A Bad Job?
Tip No.1 - Don't Overpolish

Weird Shit

As well as keeping abreast of other ads, movies, magazines etc I think it's important that creatives look at a healthy dose of weird shit. By that I mean stuff which you don't know what it's for, or maybe even what it is... but it's just generally good to have in there.

That's what I like about a new (to me) blog called Bad Banana.

The writer classes his content as: "Ideas, inspiration, ephemera."

Here's an example.




This is an installation for the Deutsche Guggenheim done by New York artist Cai Guo-Qiang in 2006. The piece, entitled Head On, involved 99 life-sized wolves entering a doorway and flying across the room before hitting a glass wall.

Weird but good, in my view.

The Creative Merry-Go-Round

John West 'Bear', John Smith's 'Peter Kay'... best creative in the UK? The comment section is at the bottom, Juan Cabral fans
Paul Silburn is to join Saatchis as co-CD with Kate Stanners. My opinion? He can't lose. Saatchis is an agency with a great creative heritage that hasn't been doing that well recently (with the notable exception of the Carlsberg work, e.g. the Old Lions ad by Dave Henderson and Richard Denney). It's like Juande Ramos taking over at Spurs. The only way is up.


Tim Brooke-Taylor is his uncle
Danny Brooke-Taylor is the new CD at Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy. Did a nice Eon ad the other day. I've never met him, but he's said to be so charming that clients eat out of his hand even when plates are provided.


Interesting hair, but what about the work?
Dave Alberts is to be replaced as CD of Grey. Well, Grey has only done one good campaign in the last five years. And that was the AOL "The internet - good thing or bad thing?" work that Paul & Nigel did when they were freelancing there.


Damon Collins
Damon Collins is taking over as CD of RKCR/Y&R. This is a quality hire, no doubt about it. Damon was my group head at Saatchi's a few years ago so I can report first-hand that he's clever, very personable, full of good ideas, and has excellent creative judgement. The complete package, basically. He did an incredible job as CD on Boots at Mother. Their advertising has been just unbelievably good in the last two or three years. The only question is how does he stay looking so young?


The McTearminator
Tony McTear has joined Fallon as a new CD. Tony trained to be a priest and has the reputation of being - how can I put it - a tad hardcore. If that's true, then he has found his perfect home at the Beak Street shop. I've met him a couple of times and he seemed like a pretty regular guy to me. Not sure you'd want to go up against him on a brief though. The man did Levi's 'Twisted', and PlayStation 'Mountain'. You might as well go down the pub for 2 weeks.


Crikey, what a hunk. Fake tan, mind
Al Moseley is the new CD at Hurrell & Dawson, which I sincerely hope will now be renamed Hurrell, Dawson and Moseley. It doesn't say much for a start-up if they don't think they need a Creative. I met Al once, when Scowling A.D. and I went for a job interview at W&K Amsterdam, and he was super-impressive, despite his inexplicable decision not to hire us. Smart. Charismatic. And his creative pedigree is impeccable (anyone else remember the Drum cider ad? Christ that was good). Al will be a success at H&D, no question.


Al again. Who says I don't look after the lady readers?

Well, that's what I think of these cats.

What does anyone else think? Which is the best hire? Who would you have gone for if you were an Ad Agency MD with 200-400K to spend?

The Ad Blog Charts For October 2007

Here are the world's most popular ad blogs, as measured by traffic rankings from Alexa.

Top 25 Ad Blogs		(world
		ranking)
1     (1)	AdRants	31,731
2     (2)	Advertising/Design Goodness	51,722
3     (3)	Duncan's TV Ad Land	53,939
4     (4)	Adverblog	67,333
5     (5)	AdFreak	72,916
6     (6)	Adverbox	86,894
7     (7)	Copyranter	119,140
8     (9)	Adland	128,739
9     (10)	Logic + Emotion	136,481
10   (8)	Ad Punch	155,971	↓
11   (12)	Coloribus	160,709
12   (11)	AdPulp	166,522
13   (13)	Experience Curve	219,393
14   (14)	Jaffe Juice	254,775
15   (15)	Twenty Four	258,343
16   (16)	Agency Spy	326,818
17   (17)	AdScam	400,586
18   (new)	Behind The Buzz	463,859
19   (18)	BrandFlakes for Breakfast	469,493
20   (22)	AdArena	474,318
21   (21)	Hee-Haw Marketing	514,823
22   (24)	How Advertising Spoiled Me	516,949
23   (20)	Advertising For Peanuts	518,096
24   (new)	Adliterate	527,844	↑
25   (re-)	Welcome To Optimism	529,139	↑

I initially thought there were still no UK blogs in the Top 25, but I must correct that mistake, because two have in fact snuck in, at 24 and 25. Welcome to Optimism is back, and the excellent Adliterate this month makes its debut in the World chart. Just try keeping Richard Huntington out of that edit suite now.

An ↑ means a blog's traffic has gone up by 15% or more in the past month, and a ↓ means it's gone down 15%.

Top 10 UK Ad Blogs		(world
		ranking)
1   (2)	Adliterate	527,844	↑
2   (3)	Welcome To Optimism	529,139	↑
3   (1)	Crackunit	620,326
4   (4)	Scamp	782,348
5   (5)	Faris	932,855
6   (6)	Northern Planner	1.1m
7   (new)	Only Dead Fish	1.7m
8   (9)	Living Brands	1.7m
9   (8)	TV's Worst Adverts	1.7m	↓
10 (new)	Life Moves Pretty Fast	1.9m

UK means UK-based. Ad blog means ad blogs not marketing blogs, so that excludes Gapingvoid. Although Paul Colman is now a planner at W&K, he doesn't class the wildly popular Life In The Middle as an ad blog and Russell Davies no longer blogs about advertising. He does write about it in Campaign though, so I hope he still likes it. Also, I'm only counting English language blogs.

If I've missed anyone out, please tell me and I'll put them in next month.