I love The Apprentice, me. Every Wednesday I feverishly sit down to watch a bunch of ego maniacs humiliate themselves on national television, with a few good eggs occasionally thrown in by the programme makers to at least attempt some sort of yin and yang balance to the show.

One of my favourite things about The Apprentice is that it’s on the BBC, so it’s uninterrupted by adverts every 15 minutes or so. I know – I really should love watching ads given the industry I work in, but some shows are just too good to interrupt (which is why I get so much use out of my Sky Plus box, as you’ll see from one of my previous blogs).

This year though, it seems that the BBC has broken the rules on product placement; firstly I didn’t see a “P” at the start and end of the show and secondly product placement is still banned on the BBC.

Yes… I’m talking about Tom Pellereau’s curved nail file.

Aside from the £250K investment reward for winning the show, Tom (and by extension Lord Sugar) have probably got in excess of 10 times that amount worth of free publicity, not to mention a pretty easy route to market with buyers.

I guarantee that as a result of this show (funded by license payers, I hasten to add), Tom will pick up an incredible number of new customers for his nail file – probably more than he could ever dream of.

Well done Tom – and what a way to win new business!

I always read any article by Bob Willott with interest as he brings a financial understanding to the commercial dealings within the marketing services sector. He also has a somewhat cynically amusing style of writing, which in my opinion is often bang on the money.

One such article that caught my eye recently was on the Brand Republic site where he writes about recent acquisitions, how they are reported and how considered press statements are far more effective than the hyperbole used by some.

I won’t directly comment on his article but I will add my own take on this with reference to how we sell our clients over the phone.

 Although passion is an important element in selling effectively (particularly when you have a limited time to make an impact on the phone), hyperbole can have the opposite effect of putting prospects off, particularly if these outlandish statements cannot be backed up by results driven case studies.

 A considered phrase which has resonance with the prospect will be far more compelling and we spend a lot of time at Alchemis developing these soundbites which we know from our 23 years experience will have a maximum impact within minimum timescales.

My next blog will have a few examples of these, so keep reading…

My daily commute on the central line was brightened up immensely this morning as I read an article in Metro that Minority Report-style advertising will be here in a just a few years time – by 2015, in fact.

The technology available for “gladvertising” (for that is the term being used) would take the definition of “interactive advertising” to a whole new level.

The gist of the article is that talking digital billboards containing cameras backed by advanced emotion recognition software will detect your mood and target you with an advert. Going one step further these billboards will link with your smart phone to access personal details such as body shape, anniversaries and favourite foods.

I can already imagine the scenario – I’m strolling down Charing Cross Road on a warm summer’s afternoon, when a talking 3D hologram poster says to me “Hey Rob, why not pop into the Royal George just across the street for a nice cool pint of Heineken? You deserve it after your hard day at the office and the mini-break you booked to Berlin is still over a month away. Go on, treat yourself!”

There would be no limit to the new business opportunities open to marketers of all disciplines with this sort of technology available. On top of this affiliate marketing could become more intelligent than ever and become totally personalised to truly suit the individual.

Then I pictured the flipside to this sort of marketing. Similar scenario, but this time the poster shouts “Hey Rob, you seem to have an itchy bottom – maybe it’s piles? Why not pop into Superdrug just across the road and treat yourself to some nice soothing Preparation H?”

It would be like walking the streets with the constant fear of bumping into a really embarrassing drunken mad friend who never knows when to shut up.