After more than a year of repairs, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) finally collided some atoms this week. In the experiment the LHC created similar conditions to those that occurred after the Big Bang. The project had been plagued by problems, from it over heating, to a bird dropping a baguette into the machinery. But now we are one step closer to discovering the ‘god particle’ and the existence of further dimensions.

Although I am not 100% sure about what happens in the 27km collider, I think this is an interesting advance in science.  It may prove that there are more dimensions than we currently know about and why gravity is a relatively weak force compared to others in the universe, which is pretty cool!

Now for the Competition:

First person to properly answer the question: below will win a chocolate bar and soft drink of their choice.
 
“Who postulated the existence of the elusive ‘God’ particle that the LHC looking for “

It’s been quite a year for media, and one topic that’s never been out of the limelight is the ongoing debate on whether content (especially print) is moving to a free model or whether the majority is always destined to be paid-for.  Three years ago, the free-era came into its own with the launch of thelondonpaper, London Lite, Sport magazine and then subsequently Shortlist the following year.  The Evening Standard suffered because of it and everyone was heralding the freesheet era. 

However, three years on and a lot has changed; both thelondonpaper and London Lite have closed while the Evening Standard remains the lone evening freesheet, but who’s to know how long that can survive?  Meanwhile Shortlist has been the success story, going from strength-to-strength culminating in the launch of Stylist last month. 

From my view, the afternoon freesheet market does not work but with the likes of Sport, Shortlist and Stylist, if you have strong content that is more tailored to a reader so that it focuses on his/her interests that is where the real potential lies and enables freesheets to exist and become successful business models.  So what next?  I don’t think there are many other verticals that have the scale and durability to work in the market, but with the proliferation of technology and gadgets I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a fortnightly tech freesheet on the horizon.

At the same time as this all happening in the print landscape there is talk of online doing the complete opposite and going from an established free content ad-funded model to a paid-for medium.  Spearheaded by Rupert Murdoch, where online is concerned, this year has been about the potential of micro-charging, with a particular focus on newspaper websites.  It takes a brave man, in my opinion, to think that people who have been accustomed to receive something for free for a number of years now will be happy to pay for the same level of content as before.  Unless everyone agrees and follows suit users will surely just move on to their next favourite site that is still free?  I think it is a really interesting concept and model but from my point of view I think content would have to be exceptional and unique to the site for there to be any chance of users moving to a subscription or micro-payment model from the current free one. 

Are there any sites out there that are currently free that you would pay for? I’m not so sure…..

I am on the bench with Christmas as a whole. I like it as a holiday away from work and as an excuse for the general public to just be a bit nicer but we all know Christmas is the best when you view it through the eyes of children.

Seeing kids get excited could not fail to bring a smile to even the most scrooge – like of human beings and the creatives behind the newest Christmas advert for John Lewis  obviously knew this because this year, they have (in my opinion) delivered a belter.  

The concept is simple but effective: children opening presents that are gifts that you would give to a grown up and being ecstatic about it. The tag line is: “Remember how Christmas Used to Feel? Give someone that feeling” and believe me, by the end of the ad you remember how good Christmas felt.

The final selling point for me was the beautifully sung version of ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ by Taken By Trees.

Watch it and let me know if it made you feel as happy as it made me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8_-5RWjxZo

I was out at dinner last night and I was thinking how lucky we are within our industry that we get the opportunity to go to some of the best restaurants in London.  But which is the best?  There are over 5,500 restaurants in London according to the Yellow Pages, but let’s face it, none of us have time to find the golden nugget within that vast list and our exercise regime would be seriously compromised if we did!  So, I want to create a Maxus and Friends Top Table, if you will.  Where have you been, what restaurants do you like, and why?  I will list my Top 5 London restaurants and also my most over-rated restaurant as well and I want you to do the same.  Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!

My Top 5 Restaurants in London

Le Gavroche   10   
The Greenhouse  9.5
Corrigan’s Mayfair  9
L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon 9 
Pied a Terre   8.5

most over-rated restaurant

Cipriani’s   0 (Never go there, it’s terrible, although I did see Mathieu Flamini, who I proceeded to call Michel for 10 minutes……not cool……)

Well, I am surely not the first person this morning to put hand to keyboard and write about this weekend’s X Factor results. Twitter, facebook and numerous blogs are filled with ecstatic / outraged X Factor fans feeling happy / sad of last nights outcome.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I see a certain (tiny) amount of appeal for the big haired, high-top wearing duo that is Jedward and I think the onslaught of abuse they received at the beginning of the show was over dramatic and uncalled for but musically, Lucy Jones was better. Everyone that has two (or even one) working ear drum knows that Lucy is in a different league to the twins but her getting voted off by the public was not the shocker, it was Mr Simon Cowell choosing to take it to the public vote.

Like most people I know, I have a weird ‘thing’ for Simon Cowell. He is nasty and pompous but that has always been counter-acted by the knowledge that he could pick talent. Whatever he said or did I knew that he appreciated music and could pick the talent from the talentless.

What a hypocrite. 

‘I will leave the country if John and Edward win’ was just one of the comments Cowell exclaimed after one of the performances by the twins. Words like mockery, ridiculous and talentless were constantly uttered when asking for his opinions of the two and then, stop the press! Britain like them? They bring in the ratings? You could almost see his brain thinking – Simon Cowell + Jedward = another £10milllion house? And that’s what I feel was in the forefront of his brain last night. No longer was he a talent scout, he was a sell out.

Lucy Jones will no doubt fade into oblivion now, like most reality TV stars do, but to have her 5 minutes of fame cut short because of money making opportunities and to always be remembered that Simon Cowell sent her home in favour of Jedward must be a bitter pill to swallow. Simon has lost my vote but what about you?

[cue slow music and sensuous female voice] These are not just any baked beans…. these are M&S baked beans. … err .. No wait, sorry, they’re Heinz.

The sensuous-voiced food narrator is not mistaken. Following a successful 16 month trial, M&S are to roll out 400 branded products across 600 stores. These will include many of the top household names such as Coca Cola, Heinz, Kellogg and Marmite.

Despite their high standard when it comes to culinary delights (and those famously mouth watering ‘food-porn’ style ads), M&S have admitted that there were categories where “we could simply never compete”. Their chairman, Sir Stuart Rose, uses Tabasco as an example when talking to BBC Breakfast News: “You either have genuine Tabasco or fake Tabasco – which tastes awful….Our customers deserve the best and that’s what they shall get; without having to shop elsewhere.” Quite a turnaround for a company which until now has followed a strict own-label-only policy.

Finally! Now you can get a real can of Coca Cola with your M&S lunch and grab that impulse KitKat while standing in the queue! Even their chairman found the lack of such brands frustrating. It seems to be an obvious move and I wonder why it hasn’t been done sooner. Pricing will also be competitive. M&S plans to combat the perception of their high pricing with an advertising campaign comparing prices to Waitrose.

However, I have to say that I’ve grown to respect M&S’s stance on own-brands. I think it served to enhance the impression of exclusivity and quality communicated in their food ads, and you knew where you were with them. Also, is 400 brands enough? Waitrose have already hit back saying that M&S “does not have 1,200 comparable lines”.

Only time will tell. Anyway, what does it matter if there are brand gaps when only M&S have Percy Pigs!

With video now being readily available online the use of searching for information on sites such as You Tube has inevitably gone up.  Only the other day I searched You Tube for instructions to some DIY job where instead of just reading a 10 step how to guide, I was able to watch a 3 minute video clip showing the whole process start to finish. 

You Tube has now begun the presence of promoted videos giving you the control of when your ads can appear on the site.  Much in the same way of managing your keywords and ad text for activity in the search engines it is now possible to manage your ads on You Tube.  The natural listings and sponsored listings on You Tube appear in the same order as you would expect to see on a classic search engine layout with the added thumbnail image next to your ad text.  The positioning of the ad also works in much the same way using an equation of quality score and your bid level.  With online video becoming readily available I feel this will hold some great potential for some clients, using the powers of sight, sound and motion to educate and engage with the users driving brand awareness and increasing conversions.