After taking the trouble of going to court to sue Michael O’Leary for saying that he lied about easyJet’s punctuality rates, Stelios Haji-Ioannou has only gone and published a letter on the easyGroup website threatening to terminate easyJet’s brand license – unless they improve their punctuality rate within 90 days. Perhaps Michael O’Leary can go to the court of appeal with a view to downgrading his “unreserved apology” to maybe “just being a little bit sorry”.

In my last blog, I complained about suffering at the hands of easyJet (and Ryanair) on many occasions over the years. If they haven’t managed to improve punctuality (or customer service) over 10 years, doing it within 90 days could be a tall order.

Therefore I can see an opportunity for a few branding agencies to come up with something punchy and effective to reflect “the brand soon to be formerly known as easyJet’s” ethos.

My initial suggestion would be AreWeThereYetJet. (unfortunately not) but I’m sure that the talented copywriters who enter The Drum magazine’s Chip Shop Awards could come up with a few crackers.

Anyone else got any suggestions?

Since watching my mum as a photographer when I was a nipper I have grown up filled to bursting with the desire to become a wildlife photographer, or even an amateur filmmaker (I’ll take either) but sadly, all the skipping around with my vintage cameras and super 8 cine cams has yet to earn me world recognition.

While I wait for the call from National Geographic insisting I hop on the next plane to the Monteverde Cloud Forests of Costa Rica to document the life of the Isthmohyla rivularis tree frog, I work diligently as a business development manager, which has given me a direct connection to the marketing services sector and some of the most inspiring creativity in the UK.

Being a visual person I love viral marketing videos, and have a great appreciation for creativity that leaves you feeling inspired, moved, or simply giggling like a 10 year old girl.

As viral marketing has evolved over the years any video that keeps people engaged and evokes these feelings can be harnessed to market a product or brand, and will spread like wildfire. An effective and budget friendly alternative to TV advertising.

How viral marketing is changing becomes apparent when you look at Mashable’s 10 Most Innovative Viral Video Ads of 2009 from ‘piano stairs’, to ‘catching laptops with your butt’ they all keep you watching and deliver an end brand message.

If you only have the time to look at one of these videos, I suggest number 10. JK Wedding Entrance.

This brilliant video was never intended to be a marketing promotion of any kind, but as the couple’s wedding entourage dances down the aisle to Chris Brown’s song “Forever,” Sony Music decided to use the video’s popularity to sell more Chris Brown albums instead of stripping the video of its music — something copyright owners are permitted to do on YouTube. A classic example of the evolution of viral marketing.

Top 10 of 2009 aside, a favourite viral of mine so far for 2010 has to be the Specsavers parody of the iconic Lynx ads. Thankfully, I did go to Specsavers!

Now I have always been a great believer in harnessing new platforms like mobile marketing and social media sites to promote your brand or company. Hence setting Alchemis up on Twitter.

In my view it’s more than a wise step to get out there, even if a Twitter account doesn’t result in immediate new business, your brand and company name is out there in the “Twittersphere” for all to see, which can only be a good thing.

The common perception with social media sites is that people go there to socialise and not to buy. True, but brand visibility is the key, and with Twitter having over 18 million users, and Facebook a staggering 400 million active users, it’s hard to see why some companies still stick to their guns and use more traditional methods of marketing.

On the same note, with the introduction of more and more mobile devices, surely the place to be is in the mobile web? Well you would be shocked at the lack of brands I speak to on a daily basis that are yet to fully appreciate the benefit of mobile marketing.

That’s why when one of my clients that I call on invited me to a seminar based on their predictions for paid search in 2010, it was refreshing to listen to someone promoting the idea of harnessing the mammoth power of social media, and the importance of the growing number of consumers available to be targeted through mobile devices today.

Now I am not about to give away my client’s top tips for mobile or social media search (sorry), but what I will say is that the seminar really drove home the constant developments in social media and mobile technologies that companies just aren’t making full use of.

I read an obvious but probably not widely registered fact in an article some time ago that text messages are usually read by a user within 20 seconds, which means brands can start seeing results almost instantaneously, versus hours or days for a similar email marketing campaign. Now if brands can harness this to generate new business and get results that fast, then they should be getting onto it before these spaces are flooded, and their brand becomes a needle in a haystack.

The moral of the story is if you’re not using the power of social media, do it. And if you’re not mobile marketing, do it.

I can’t recall the last time I had a clever, well-targeted marketing text message sent to me, in fact I’m not even sure I’ve even had one! Aside from my mate John texting “Dan, get down to the Royal George, they are giving out free Tequilas!” Now that was well targeted.