Red Bull Mini Drome

On 15th January 2011 I checked out the Red Bull Mini Drome event at York Hall in Bethnal Green, East London. This was the world's smallest velodrome ramp and the first event of its kind to be held!

I grew up riding a bmx on wooden skate parks in Derby so it felt cool to be at this vibrant and unique ramp event surrounded by fixed gear riders from across the capital!

Male and female cyclists were invited to test their nerve and compete in day of gnarly high-speed action to be crowned king of the ring! Over 100 competitors applied which was crazy to see! A hip hop DJ provided beats for the night whilst a live MC kept the crowd entertained!

After several hours of pedal power, sore legs and bruised egos the event was won by Mongoose pro Chris Akrigg who set a new world track record over 10 laps, recording a time of 35.473 seconds!

Helmets off to Chris and hopefully this could be the start of many more Mini Drome events held across the UK. Check out the link below for pictures of a great days riding!

http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Gallery/red-bull-mini-drome-in-pictures/Red-Bull-Mini-Drome-comes-to-London--021242948380815?GImageId=1242948365551&imgcount=1#/image-1

Image care of Red Bull.

The latest innovation in street furniture

OK, I have just been wowed by the most unlikely of sources...a crossing light!

As a busier Londoner I have almost been run over many times trying to cross the road before the green man disappears! Not sensible, I know.

But this latest invention my help save my life more than once. In Balham high street they have installed new lights that help people know how long they have left before the red man appears with a large digital countdown.

This may not be anything new? You may have it in your high street already. But either way, I'm impressed.

Click the video and see for yourself.

Happy crossing :)

Top brands - what you said...

Welcome back to one and all! A happy new year to you and may we wish you all the best for 2011.

It seems that the overwhelming response to the last blog has show several clear winners who you all thought were the top brands for 2010. Here is what you all said:

Number 3: Red Bull

The brand that started off as just an energy drink back when Lucozade was sitting comfortably all on its own, has triumphed it the world of extreme, fast, action sports. And 2010 was the cherry on the ever-expanding cake, double champion F1 winners! As Roger Williams from Rail Gourmet put it 'beating the F1 giants at their own game' has been a huge success for the brand and rightfully given them a place in the top 3.

A great example of a brand thinking differently. Want the best selling drink in our market place - lets get involved in all the 'cool' sports and spend our budget there instead of TV ads. And not just get involved but radically change the face of that sport. By sponsoring Travis Rice's new snowboard movie That's it, That's all, they were able to change the way we view the sport forever by shooting in HD for the first time. Now every rider wants a bit of Red Bull and they are everywhere in the world of snowboarding.


Number 2: Waitrose

The supermarket everyone wants to shop at but for most it's simply too expensive and the lack of branded goods makes it inconvenient. But this has been part of the brand make-up for a long time and is part of what makes it different. However, along comes a recession, one of the worst ever. So what do Waitrose do now? People have much less to spend and competition is fierce. Of course their most loyal of customers are still in the stores but the brand needs more customers.

It's a very brave thing to change the DNA of a brand but sometimes it's the right thing to do. In come the independent brands and along comes their very own value range - 'essentials'. In our mind, the right step forward and clearly the right thing for the business. LFL sales are up 5.9% in a time when many others are finding it tough.

As if that wasn't enough, they even created a new format and entered the ring by opening high street stores. Something tells me we'll be seeing more of these in 2011.

A great example of looking ahead and facing the reality of a changing market and doing something about it before it happens. Well deserved second place!



Number 1: Comparethemarket.com

What an advertising campaign. Can you imagine being the board who had to sign off a meerkat copycat site to spearhead the business and take them forward to great and wonderful things?!!! Hats off then to those people who had the belief in VCCP to create such an amazing campaign. As Ian Hetherington from SSP puts it 'The way they have taken something as boring as insurance and made it fun is truly brilliant! Its incredible how many people talk about it in the pub'.

With pop up meerkat doing book signings and topping the Amazon book chart some would say it's 'Simples' others would simply say remarkable.

So congratulations to the meerkats for winning the 2010 Top Brand. But who will shine in 2011? Who will take that next leap of faith the show the world that you can do things differently?

Perhaps your brand...

Top Brands of 2010

Although 2010 has been a tough economic year, we have seen some great brands doing outstanding things over the past 12 months.But who comes out top for you in 2010?

Supergroup? With its now established high-street-cool brand Superdry, it has gone from strength to strength, seeing 60% increase in sales in their 3rd quarter and stores popping up everywhere!

JD Sports? They saw an amazing 64% increase in profit and continue to expand their empire of sports/fashion brands whilst keeping their boutique brands such as Size uniquely defined from JD Sports in a time where many retailers are co-branding stores to save on rent and operational costs.

Aurora Fashions? They have continued their brave drive in the fashion sector and posted EBITDA up 36% establishing itself as a true player in the fashion market. An amazing result considering its rocky past.

Apple? With its record quarterly results of $20bn in revenue, its no wonder they can open a second London store to become once again the mecca of all things electro-cool.

All of these brands have achieved amazing results and growth over the past 12 months in what has been an extremely tough market. But for me, there is a quiet winner that creeps on to the top podium for top brand 2010.

Nespresso.

Now I'm not a coffee drinker, but wow! In the words of Seth Godin, what a truly remarkable achievement.

Every major city I travel to around the world now seems to have the upper slices of social society quivering at the very mention of the word, Nespresso. The Limited edition blends helped raise sales by more than 20% and UK sales growth are steaming ahead at 35.5%.  And I can see why.

Check list:
1. Celebrity endorsement by one of the coolest men in show biz. Ooooh factor, check!

2. Coffee packaged in metallic capsules merchandised like precious jewels, with something to suit every taste. Mmmm factor, check!

3. Super cool and extensive range of Nespresso machines to choose from. Wow factor, check!

4. Sexy packaging that you just have to have. Addictive, must have, must have factor, check!

5. Stores (or boutiques as they like to call them) that crave your attention and make you want to buy everything. Destination factor, check!

Lets be honest, Nescafe was not a cool brand. Its market place has seen the biggest activity in retail terms in the past 2 decades and is now flooded with orange-mocha-frappacinno brands and is a market that is hard to survive in. Hats off then to Nescafe for fighting back and coming up with something amazing that has captured the imagination of coffee lovers worldwide! 'What else' could you want from a brand?!

Email us and tell us which brand was Top of 2010 for you and we'll put them up in the next blog to see who comes out top!

steve@theyardcreative.com

My placement year at The Yard Creative

My time at the yard the time has come to the end and I have to go back to University and finish my degree, but first I would like to thank The Yard for their time effort and support in starting my career as an interior designer. 

I think the experience I gained this year could not have been replicated in a University setting and will be invaluable to me and my future in the design world. The level of support and guidance by colleagues who have been nothing but inspiring was second to none.

The Yard has given me opportunity to observe the full entirety of the business and work in a strong team of experienced interior and graphic designers. I've learnt so many things that I couldn't have learnt at university, like how to talk to clients, the struggles with deadlines and so much more,  I'm sure there are things I've learnt that I'm not even aware of and probably won't realise until next year.

I thoroughly enjoyed the different projects I got to work on in my time at The Yard, they were all quite different and each of them challenged my skills a in different way but nether-the  less they were all interesting and in the process gave me new skills, skills that I thought I would never be able to achieve.

Desserts Sir?

So this may not be anything new but it certainly is a lost art!

The dessert trolley is reserved for the most exclusive of restaurants and ones that are steeped in tradition and history. Imagine our surprise yesterday when, after enjoying a simple meal at Aubaine and all pretty full up, this arrives instead of a dessert menu.....

Having already decided that it was a big-fat-no to desserts, seeing the real thing was to much to resist. The easiest £15 that the restaurant has ever made......time and time again. It happened over and over again to everyone around us.

It just proves we buy with our eyes and it's a good learning for all retailers and F&B operators!

Now, where's that treadmill?!

Wish you were here

After a short break the blogs are back with something a little different but topical - holidays!

We all love them. Long for them even. But how many of us are really prepared to take the risk on something different when you only get 4 weeks a year?

As we send out this blog to receive 200 auto-out-of-office-replies, we've found what must be the craziest hotels in the world that will certainly challenge the norm!

Fancy a staying in a 2 storey high dog in the middle of idaho? Well now you can by staying at the Dog Bark Park Inn. Think how much the kids would love it!

No, not your thing, well what about the largest treehouse complex in the Amazon Rainforest? The Ariau Amazon Towers Hotel is located 35 miles from Manuas, Brazil at the confluence of the Rio Negro and Ariau Creek. Built entirely at the level of the Rainforest Canopy, Ariau's towers are linked together by 4 miles of sturdy wooden catwalks.

What about something for people with a head for height? The Euromast tower is a feature of the skyline of Rotterdam, and has been a regular tourist attraction since it was built in the 60's - 100m's above the city, it houses 2 luxury suites ready for you to gaze across the architecturally wonderful city of Rotterdam.

And lastly, my particular favourite, ever felt like your holiday doesn't start until you get off that plane?! Well how about turning that on its head and staying in a converted plane with the ultimate in luxury? Once the transport for top bosses of the German Democratic Republic government, this 1960 Ilyushin 18 has been converted to a single luxury suite for 2. 40 metres long equipped with a Jacuzzi, shower, infrared sauna, mini bar, 3 plasma screens, full entertainment suite and more, it truly beats queazy-jet!

So next time you're looking for a memorable holiday that your companions will truly love, check out Unusual hotels of the world.

Send us some pics of the craziest places you've stayed and we'll add it to our Flickr site.

Have fun!