A Thing of Beauty

To the National Geographical Society last week for a National Trust Debate on 'Britain has become indifferent to Beauty' of which more below. Firstly I should confess to being chastised by my companion as we enjoyed a pre-debate glass of wine and I was moaning about how much my hands were hurting, having carted heavy work bags around London all day. Did I not realise that I was standing below the portrait not only of the legendary "Scott of the Antarctic" but also that of the missionary Dr. Livingstone and how dare I winge about a little bag carrying in the presence of such brave adventurers who really knew about suffering !? Anyway, back to the Debate with Roger Scruton and David Starkey speaking for the motion and claiming that beauty is central to life and politics and something to be contemplated and not 'sold' as in Britain where beauty has become priced but not valued. These opinions countered by Germaine Greer and Stephen Bayley, arguing that the British today are visually very sophisticated and that it is folly to patronise with yearnings for the past but rather to look to the new and equally beautiful as Britain excels in music, architecture, art and fashion. I disagreed with the motion at the start of the debate and with the majority of the audience, still disagreed by the end and thoroughly enjoyed the witty and intelligent performances. But what about inner beauty - that which can't be seen nor measured but which when encountered is so rare and special ? If only the National Trust could protect that too, the world would be a lovelier place.

That Movie Magic

I read this week that new research commissioned by Travelsupermarket.com "revealed" that 34% of British travellers had been inspired to visit a destination after seeing a film. That's hardly new, is it? English Heritage and the National Trust have been benefiting for years from the impact on visitor numbers of films and TV costume dramas filmed on location at many of their sumptuous properties.The latest historic house to push the 'brand extension' is Chatsworth which I see will this summer host an exhibition of costumes from The Duchess, filmed on location both there and incidentally, in the lovely Courtyard of my previous client, Somerset House. And apparently it works long as well as short haul - the US Department of Commerce claimed an amazing 18% conversion rate for a tourism campaign which originally ran in the UK in 2005 called "You've Seen the Film, Now Visit the Set", amongst folks who saw the campaign and who visited the US in the following year and claiming their visit was as a direct result of seeing the ads. So with a survey sample of one, yours truly, I can certainly endorse the 'film effect', at least as regards intention to travel. A recent visit to the fabulous Byzantium exhibition at the Royal Academy (the first sultans of bling, apparently) for sure made me want to rush back to Istanbul. And having seen Woody Allen's delightful Vicky, Christina, Barcelona the other day, I also now want to get back to Barcelona this summer. Maybe it would be wise for me to take time out this Wednesday and fix to watch Channel 4's broadcast of Kind Hearts and Coronets, one of Ealing Studio's most famous 1940's hits - surely brilliant enough to make me want to stay right here at home in lovely West London!

The Royal Mail Saga

No doubt like many of you, despite endless emails, I also get masses of post most days, all delivered by my trusty Postman. So I was keenly interested in his recent request to sign the CWU petition 'against the privatisation of the Royal Mail' - reading the CWU Response to the Hooper Review, one might almost believe that Mandleson was recommending the wholesale sell-off of the Royal Mail and the Post Office to some dastardly European operator who would close down half of the network and fire half the staff - probably including my Postman! Trying to understand other views in the debate has been more difficult. The issue is fast becoming a political football with the Royal Mail being kicked about between what The Guardian describes as 'New Labour zealots versus the Luddite Union' , Harriet Harman apparently using it as a 'party leadership contest tool', Mandleson being unhelpfully vague on detail when questioned on both TV and radio, the Tories supposedly proposing full privatisation and the Lib Dems opting for a 'third way' , a sort of ' John Lewis Trust style model'. In fact the Royal Mail does make a profit -£255m in the first nine months of this financial year but weighed down by a pension fund deficit of £9bn. So, yes, it's insolvent but no more so than the banks. Meanwhile the cover article of February's Marketer magazine profiles the Media Director of the Royal Mail, waxing lyrical about the brand strength of the Royal Mail and the fact that according to 2007 Neilsen research, only 30% of e-mail is actually opened and read, compared to 80% for direct mail. And that the Royal Mail is presently investing £1.2bn on modernising its mail sorting processes and apparently is going from strength to strength. So I intend to muddle along and try to monitor the progress of the Royal Mail footie match - for me too much a part of my daily life to be ignored.

The Scrivener Blog

With a name like 'Scrivener' I thought it only appropriate that I had my own Blog. The Dictionary definition of my name is 'a person who writes out deeds; a notary'. And I certainly do like writing and regularly use cards, postcards and letters to keep in touch with both personal and business contacts. But these days any marketing campaign worth its salt uses a combination of traditional and digital media so as a Marketing Consultant, I decided it was high time that I joined the Web 3.0 community. So this Blog will be my regular take on incidents and events that interest or affect me and my business and of course, any feedback is welcome.