The first was in the toilets at Xscape in Milton Keynes (and yes I was the only person in there when I took this photo!). The poster is positioned just above the urinal.

A pretty risque advert and not one that you’d expect from a firm of solicitors. And that’s why people would talk about it.

Meantime, in London, it looks like a new bank is launching.

And with all the financial woes we have had over the last year, this is a good way to get people talking. We all want a good relationship with our bank, right?

This is a sign at what will presumably become a branch of the new bank. They’re setting expectations pretty high with this… will be interesting to see what actually happens.

Then along came Google which invented its own box (the Google Search Appliance) for businesses to use in their buildings, to search their intranets, internal company documents, that sort of thing.

Google couldn’t make their box a different shape, because it had to fit in racks with all the other boxes. So it made it bright yellow. And whacked a massive logo on the side.

Then it ran a competition to see how “findable” the box is in the server room. That helped to promote the concept, because the box is there to help businesses find things more easily.

I know Google has a million clever people working for it, but that’s really smart.

One was from a new supplier of PR tools we have just signed with; another from our friendly accountants.

But the other two had no company name on them, and just scribbled first names at the bottom.

Er… who sent them? The first names were both common ones, which could be one of a number of clients, suppliers and contacts.

Pity to go to all the effort of sending Christmas cards to get none of the benefit!

If you’re doing cards on the cheap and not having your business name professional printed inside, why not get a stamp made up and stamp each one?

Or don’t bother sending cards. This year we have made another donation to charity.

When it launched Gmail, you could only get it if invited by someone who already had it. And users only had 100 invites each.

Restricting the availability of Gmail in this way made it a “must-have” product with some people clamouring to get it. It also made those who already had it proud to be part of the club.

Two days ago Google “accidentally” launched the marketing early for its new browser Chrome, which it hopes people will move to from Internet Explorer and FireFox.

Ignoring the technical improvements Chrome has, they’ve done a pretty smart thing. There are thousands of people across the world waiting to see what Google will do next, and by supposedly letting the cat out of the bag early, they may have succeeded in generating more publicity than with a ‘normal’ product launch.

A smart way to generate word of mouth publicity.

This new advert of some model writhing in bed has been banned, and now it’s all over the media, getting a load more free exposure than it would have done as an approved advert.

The Fat Duck in Berkshire is an amazing restaurant with a limited number of covers meaning it is constantly booked up three months in advance. The phones go mad every morning as another date is released.

What can you do with your business to restrict something and create a demand?

Great viral, because after I realised it was a gag, I emailed it to 50 people.

Yesterday I picked up my new car, a second hand Maxda MX-5. To my horror, this morning I spotted a chip in the windscreen, in the driver’s line of vision (which means a new windscreen…pah).

Google ‘chipped windscreen’ and you get to Autoglass. They have perfected the process of ensuring you pick them to fix your problem.

Their website explains your options, what happens at every step and is packed with information to reassure you that they are the people to choose. When you book a visit, it works out the likely fix (i.e. repair or replace), lets you pick when and where you want it done – anywhere, at any time (yes even 2am) – and promises someone will call to confirm your appointment within 60 minutes.

They did, within 20 minutes (and on a bank holiday Sunday afternoon too). Mine needs replacing, and Autoglass have already got authorisation from my insurer to pay for it, without me even having to get my insurance details out.

I’m impressed with how easy and genuinely hassle free it was. Lets hope the technician who does the work leaves me feeling the same.

If your product or service is about fixing a problem, you will attract word of mouth publicity just like this if you can amaze people who come to you for help.

BRILLIANT!

This is going to get so much word of mouth publicity for Gmail. It’s so simple, I love it.

There’s a story on The Wise Marketer (free registration required) which sasya a study has found magazine readers are more likely to be advocates of products they read about in a magazine.

The study focused on Stuff magazine. Some highlights:

• Stuff readers surveyed were 72% more likely to have made a recommendation regarding technology in the last 12 months
• 83% of Stuff readers encouraged at least one person to act on their recommendation compared to only 45% of non-readers
• For the technology category, 81% of Stuff readers are influencers

Don’t worry, nothing dodgy – it’s a website for a drilling firm. Saw it on the back of a van in Huntingdon today.