Today we’re proud to announce the launch of our new blog site dedicated to our Future of Britain project – a year-long research initiative from OMD UK. Britain is changing, probably at a faster rate than any time in history. Crunched consumers are weathering the storm of over five years of economic uncertainty. Social media has transformed our relationships with brands. New global economies are rapidly altering the role of Britain. The way we live our lives has been turned upside down and technology continues to dramatically shift the way we shop, play, work and live. But why is this happening and, importantly, what does it mean for brands?

We intend to find out. Over the course of the year we will be running a range of innovative research projects; talking to consumers in their own homes, living with consumers (virtually of course) through a detailed ethnographic study and surveying large swathes of the population. All with the intention of understanding and interpreting the change we are witnessing. We have also teamed up with Reportage by Getty Images to work with the award-winning photographer Peter Dench, who will be visually documenting modern life in Britain.

www.futureofbritain.com will be the home of all of this work, and more. Here we will share our research findings, showcase Peter’s photography and provide opinions, evidence and inspiration aimed at helping brands navigate the Future of Britain.

We hope you find its contents as interesting and inspiring as we do.

After three hugely successful Fork Off events, the moment of truth had arrived – who would be crowned OMD UK Master Cook in the final? The theme was Signature Dishes so we were treated to a sample of each of the finalist’s culinary favourite.  The round-up of OMD UK semi-professionals and their dishes looked a little like this:

• Gokce Altintig  -  Stuffed Chicken with bacon, rice and chilli
• Chira Tochia – Prawn Curry with chili, ginger, lemon and coconut
• Oli Hill – Chicken, leek and bacon pie with mashed potato
• Alison Hawkins & Lucy Smith –  Homemade ravioli with pork sausage, chili and tomato pesto
• Lotte Uttley – Pork and minced beef meatballs stuffed with mozzarella

The judge for the final was Reza Mahammad, owner of the award winning restaurant The Star Of India, where our chosen winner would receive a £250 dinner voucher to enjoy Reza’s food. As excited to be here as we were to host him, Reza provided ample amounts of entertainment for the crowd and – all importantly – a genuine (constructive) critique of the dishes in front of him. He advised how to heighten the flavours of a dish, where seasoning was crucial, and when certain foods had been over (or under) cooked.

His passion for food was infectious and this came through in the running commentary that accompanied each mouthful; “dances in the palette”, “really packs a punch”, “affinity of flavours.” The rich descriptions only served to highlight what a fantastic effort people had made when it came to producing each dish. Every single portion disappeared in half an hour.

The finalist crowned OMD UK Master Cook 2013 was our winner from the very first round, Gokce Altintig, with her stuffed chicken. Reza complimented its moist texture and combination of excellent flavours for receiving crown glory. In second place was Oli Hill with his chicken, leek and bacon pie and in third was Chira Tochia with her prawn curry.

What an excellent way to round off this food feasting month! The results have done us proud, with OMD UK raising £1500 for Kids Company Colour A Child’s Life project. Big thanks go out to the Food Network, whose input was invaluable, and of course the very kind judges who offered their expertise and time. All importantly, huge thanks go to the individuals of OMD UK who took part and dedicated time, money and resource to create the dishes and feed the hungry mouths of their agency.  The competition would not have existed without you! We leave with our belly’s full and happy faces – here’s to OMD UK Master Cook 2014

What’s happened this week:

• Facebook announced their latest results with a big jump in mobile ad income.
• Google Now launched on iOS, bringing a new kind of intelligent assistant to the platform.
• The ‘Digital New Fronts’, an Internet version of TV’s Up fronts in the US, saw 100 premium content formats announced for the year ahead.

 What we have learned:

• Google Plus has 359m global users and is challenging Twitter as the world’s second social network according to new analysis from Global Web Index.
• YouTube audience of 1bn generates 6bn hours of viewing worldwide up from 4bn last August.
• Online video ads are generating significant impact and reaching light TV viewers at scale.

 Cool stuff:

• * Tokyo City Symphony blends 3d projection mapping and music creation to create something amazing.
• Point of view sports coverage is likely to be a significant early use of wearable devices such as Google Glass.
• Routehappy is a new kind of comparison service in travel that makes recommendations based on how happy the purchase will make you feel.

Where to find more:

• How on-demand will define the next age of Internet Marketing, a series of interlinked techniques optimised in real time.
• The Internet of things is set to revolutionize search,
• How data is enabling innovation in the automotive sector, especially to drive the adoption of electric vehicles.

What’s happened this week:

• AT&T released a connected home security product, illustrating how Digital technologies are allowing brands to extend into previously unrelated sectors.
• New TV formats were announced that cross traditional media boundaries;
  • @SummerBreak is a new reality show that will air entirely across Social platforms.
  • The Million Second Quiz from NBC will run 24/7 online and in primetime TV.
• Facebook bought Parse, a cloud based mobile backend, whilst Google bought Wavii a natural language engine to turn content into data.

What we have learned:

• Netflix now has more US subscribers than HBO and is accounting for up to one third of US bandwidth.
• The average UK consumer has 11.4 types of media device according to the Deloitte Media Consumer Survey 2013.
• Tablets overtook smartphones as a proportion of BBC iPlayer viewing in the UK.

Cool stuff:

• LeapMotion, the Minority Report style touch-less interface, ships soon and Google Earth is ready for it.
  • Heineken has created an interactive beer bottle that responds to its surroundings and other drinkers.
  • Photo app Aviary and Gap have partnered to create new branded filters and frames to express the look a new collection for kids.

 Where to find more:

• The Database of Affinity is a new concept for marketing from Forrester that describes the various interests and permissions of consumers defining the rules of their marketing game.
• Netflix have published their vision for the future of TV in which ‘linear TV is popular and ripe for replacement’.
• *Data Science of the Facebook world, Wolfram Alpha has created a deep statistical analysis a large Facebook dataset; the average 20 yr old has 400 friends, the average 60 year old around 50.

Another spoon jousting spectacular at the OMD Fork Off. Only this time it was like a well oiled suckling pig. The judges at their table and the nervous feeders at another. Jonathan Phang had stepped up to the plate this week. And brought his showbiz professionalism with him. Each dish was sampled and critiqued in turn. And it was great to really hear what Jonathan had to say about each dish as well as handy tips for each budding chef. Our very own Neil Duncan thoroughly enjoying each plate like a hungry and agreeable bear. The two of them could have their own show!

Round 2 was ‘Taste of The Far East’ and the line up looked a little like this:

Oliver Hill made ‘Maison Hackney Masara’
Ashwin Khanchandani created a Chicken Katsu Curry
Zoe Blake rustled up a cracking Kedgeree
Hannah Morris handmade Chicken Vietnamese Rolls with a peanut dipping sauce
Chira Tochia cooked for us a meatball curry.

After all of Goldilock’s dishes had been tasted it was time to deliberate. So the hungry crowd, some already carrying plates, chatted and chomped amongst themselves until the moment of taste truth.

Silence descended, brows were mopped and breaths were bated… and Queen of round 2 was bestowed to Chira Tochia and her massive spicy meatballs. Well done missy…

What’s happened this week:

• The first explorer edition Google Glass units were made available to external developers, but don’t expect to see any advertising in the immediate future.
• Amazon Prime/LoveFilm premiered 14 original production pilots for worldwide consumers to preview and vote into full production.
• Twitter announced ad targeting based on specific keywords driving further precision of targeting messages to the Interest Graph.

What we have learned:

• Most Online Europeans own 2+ connected devices, with the UK leading in device adoption.
• The Internet economy will reach USD 4.2 Trn in G20 economies by 2016 according to BCG.
• British web users spend around 10% of their online time shopping, whilst 27% of US time is in Social channels according to Experian’s analysis of a typical Internet hour in the US, UK and Australia.

 Cool stuff:

• MySugrmanages the very serious experience of diabetes with gamification mechanics. We can expect to see many more disruptive mobile based health applications such as …
  • A high tech pill that texts when it reaches the patients stomach.
  • How to make a display ad out of clever SEO.

Where to find more:

• *Why Google are focusing on ‘cards’, a far more sophisticated multimedia version of the ‘post’.
• How Big Data is creating an intelligence that no human can understand.
• Why innovation must be always on and not a project.

OMD Fork Off

Thursday 18^th April. That was the day we’d all been waiting for – the very first OMD UK Fork Off! The lovely Food Network team and some very busy members of the Minerva House Club Committee helped host the first in a series of events designed to raise as much money as possible for Kids Company’s Colour A Child’s Life project.

Fork Off aims to encourage as many people in the agency to compete alongside one another and test their culinary prowess, producing dishes that will feed hungry colleagues and culminate in one lucky winner being crowned OMD UK Master Cook 2013. The kudos of this title is the stuff of dreams for our competitive lot – particularly as the judging panel comprises professional celebrity chefs who know more than a thing or two about good food!

Jun Tanaka, owner of Pearl restaurant in London, was the first celebrity judge to sample everyone’s cuisine and the theme for the day was ‘Mediterranean Feast’. A real buzz started to fill our reception area as entrants began to heat their dishes and make the final touches to the presentation. There were six dishes introduced that day:

Tiana Carniel – ‘Piatta Della Nonna’ (Grandma’s dish)

Gareth Orr – Mediterranean Lamb Meatballs

Gokce Altintig- Beef-stuffed peppers, aubergines and tomatoes

Luke McGann – Barbary Coast Chicken salad

Emma Hawkins – a Mediterranean twist on a British classic ‘Spanish Casa Pie’

Maia Weil-Obadia – Moroccan Tagine

Luke McGann made a dramatic last minute entrance, dazzling the crowd with a foliage-garnished platter that demanded everybody’s attention. Then, after pausing for a round of photographs with the entrants, judging panel and Food Network team, the taste test began.

Genuine silence descended on the room and there was what can only be described as a sense of trepidation in the air. Most eyes were fixed on Jun Tanaka as he sampled each dish. Neil Duncan, board member judge for round one, continued to go back for second and third helpings in his bid to ‘clarify’ which he preferred.  However there could be no sitting on the fence and after a moment’s conferral, the judging panel decided on the winner. Jun made his announcement to the room that Gokce Altintig would be going through to the final in three weeks’ time thanks to her flavour-rich, supremely delicious stuffed vegetables.

The day was a fantastic success. It was great to see the personality behind everyone’s collective dish and give colleagues the chance to enjoy real, home-cooked food at lunchtime. In the space of an hour, virtually all the food had gone and several more volunteers had signed up to compete in the following weeks’ Fork Off.  There was a great atmosphere and real sense of warmth with people tasting delicious food and donating to such a worthy cause. It marked a really positive start to the event, with high hopes for how far it could take us in reaching our target for Kids Compnay.

This week’s theme is Taste Of The Far East. You really don’t want to miss this, so OMDers, get involved!

What’s happened this week:

• LinkedIn bought news aggregator Pulse in a strategic move to publishing news content.
• Facebook launched ‘Partner Categories’ a potentially disruptive innovation that uses third party data sets to target ad messages.
• Twitter Music has quietly launched with a select few celebrity testing partners. It aims to generate real time music recommendation based on Twitter’s interest graph.

What we have learned:

• UK Digital Advertising revenue in 2012 was GBP 5.5bn, a rise of 12.5% over 2011.
• 28% of UK Internet users regularly use Twitter, twice the number of 2011.
  • More people now chose to tweet on a mobile device than a PC.
  • 90% of worldwide Internet users watch video online. They want to watch even more, primarily from trusted TV brands according to the latest Accenture Video over the Internet Survey.

Cool stuff:

• A wonderful piece of retro-digital work; recalling 1993 uses 5,000 New York city payphones to give a sense of what the city was like 20 years ago.
• SyFy have created some amazing social and second screen amplification for their new shows throughout 2013.
• Brands are utilizing some very clever techniques in facial recognition for creative marketing.

 Where to find more:

• How brands are able to target and create messages based on real time weather data.
• Where we are going next with Smartphones? We may soon think of them as just a collection of (very clever) sensors.
  • Our technology has been able to see and hear for some time, now it is beginning to gain a sense of smell.

What’s happened this week:

• Samsung released the Galaxy S4 their flagship smartphone including touch-less gestures, eye tracking and real time health monitoring.
• Dropbox bought hot email service ‘mailbox’ for USD 100m possibly heralding a move into cloud based mail services.
• Google have re-launched their ‘Think Insights’ portal, with lots of new content such as the fact that only 17% of mobile searches happen ‘on the go’.

What we have learned:

• The average UK home now has 1.83 TV sets (down from 2.3 in 2003) but we watch more than ever across multiple platforms, according to the latest Telescope 2013 from TV licensing.
• Mobile hardware and services are now a USD 1.5trn sector.
  • 31% of Kenyan GDP occurs through payments on mobile phones.
  • Average broadband speed in the UK is now 12mbps up from 7.6mbps a year ago.

Cool stuff:

• ‘Automatic’ gamifies the driving experience on any car sold after 1997, enabling safer and more efficient driving.
• *The ‘If I had glass’ marketing initiative for Google Glass has produced some fantastic ideas from chasing your ghost runner to real time emergency advice.
• Macy’s in the US are cleverly connecting their partnership with NBC Fashion Star to mobile content, promotions and offers.

 Where to find more:

• We are rapidly moving from the Quantified Self to a Quantified Society in which reputation is a KPI for everyone.
• How the goal of the autonomous car is driving a wide range of disruptive data services from mapping to traffic management and computer vision.
• The best of SXSW 2013 from The Verge, including the Empathetic Internet and a Zen robot gardener as well as all the keynotes as sketches.

In a climate of high unemployment, employers are exposed to a pool of highly skilled and qualified talent to fill their recruitment needs.  The competition for vacant roles poses great difficulties for young adults who are trying to get a foot on the career ladder. Higher education qualifications are expected, so for candidate differentiation, employers now look to hire young adults with experience. But school leavers can sometimes struggle to gain this experience, as they often lack the opportunity to prove their capabilities against candidates who have been through higher education.

OMD UK is proud to provide employment opportunities to both school leavers and university graduates. We have joined The Creative Pioneers Challenge; a scheme driven by the IPA, which offers apprenticeships for both school leavers (16+) and graduates.  There are plenty of bright sparks out there, eager to get ‘hands on’ in the working world and have the chance to prove their capabilities and develop new skills for the future.

OMD UK is one of over 30 UK advertising, creative and digital media businesses, all searching for smart minds to work with. The apprenticeship placements will run for 12 months starting in September 2013, and yes, they are paid!

To see current apprenticeship vacancies at OMD UK, visit here:

Communications Planning Assistant – http://www.creativepioneers.co.uk/Job-Board-Apprenticeship/omd-uk-london2

Creative Assistant – http://www.creativepioneers.co.uk/Job-Board-Apprenticeship/omd-uk-london1