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RETURN OF THE COBBLER’S CHILDREN

January 16, 2009

So we’re in a recession (really? – Ed) a time when advertising agencies traditionally advise their clients not to cut their budgets but continue spending like there’s no tomorrow.

Actually, this is not just good for our business, it really is sound advice and backed up by articles and case studies galore (read what the FT have to say on the subject, for example, by following this link).

But to be honest, we felt a little hypocritical. After all, if an agency doesn’t believe advertising works, why should its clients? So we set about putting a not inconsiderable amount of money in the general vicinity of our corporate cakehole.

The first ad (below) ran today. A full page (gasp) in the Scotsman.

And here’s a sneak preview of the next in the series, which will appear in this Sunday’s SoS.

In fact, we’ve made a commitment to spend 50% more on our own advertising than last year, so we’ll be in both papers every week until Spring. Buy the Scotsman and SoS (well, they are a client) or if you’re too cheap, we’ll post the ads here every week.

We’d also be interested in hearing your comments. What do you think of the ads? What do you think of the whole initiative?

You can call us brave or stupid or anything you like, but please don’t say we don’t practise what we preach.

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admin

Comment by admin | 01/16/2009 at 18:06:56

Bravo. It’s about time an ad agency said it like it is. Great work
Doug Cook

Comment by Doug Cook | 01/16/2009 at 19:17:22

I saw the full page ad “Cut” in the Scotsman, and thought it was bold, simple and confident – I do hope that clients take notice. “Fortes fortuna adiuvat” as they said in Rome.
Well done.
Tony Purcell

Comment by Tony Purcell | 01/16/2009 at 20:03:03

Nice one. I will look out for the ads.

Tony.
Gordon Brown

Comment by Gordon Brown | 01/16/2009 at 20:27:29

But we all know this.

Great idea from Pete et al. Nice use of the old ‘keep spending in a recession’ maxim to good effect. However here is my tuppence worth to think about concerning the idea of keeping up the spend on advertising in a down turn.

1) The client’s market is changing – the client’s customer’s world is changing – ads may no longer be the answer.
If you are a client – have you taken the time to step back and review all your communication? If you are an agency have you encouraged a review with the client?
If you have was it a brutal review – one that really, really drags out the dirt. This is not the time to be soft.
For all those who have lived through a recession you know that putting your head down and doing MORE of the same doesn’t work.
You may, after a brutal review, come back to advertising as an answer (or one of the answers) but at least it is advertising based on the current world (the 60 Watt ads are a prime example of this).

But we all know this.

2) It is not always the client’s personnel with the word ‘marketing’ in their title that control or even influence the budgets. Telling them to keep spending won’t work. If it comes to paying the wages or keeping the lights on – or if it comes to supporting the share price or paying the dividend – in the short term, companies that don’t really buy into marketing will cut the marketing budget – some may have no choice.
Why? Well too many clients (and even some agencies) still see marketing as an expenditure and not an investment. This is because the marketing community hasn’t done enough to prove the case and the recession could help change this.

But we all know this.

Now is the time to prove that marketing works – budgets are tight, the market is poor, customers are pulling up the drawbridge.
If you are an agency and you can show your clients that the money they spend with you can really work then great. Give them what they need – good solid (even brutal) advice from people who know what they are doing.
If you are a client who wants to succeed where others are failing put pressure on your agency to go the extra mile – you may be surprised.

But, off course, we all know this and I may just have sounded like I am teaching my gran to suck hard on unborn baby chick shells but I thought I would use the 60 Watt ads as an excuse to get it off my chest.
Jeremy

Comment by Jeremy | 01/16/2009 at 22:20:43

Ah – so that’s what they mean by ‘green shoots’
Tim Maguire

Comment by Tim Maguire | 01/17/2009 at 16:09:08

Well done, boys – cogent, rational and compelling. Don’t forget that when you get those clients coming in, you’ll need an equally creative and parsimonious approach to TV production…

Good luck with the campaign and let us know what response you get.

Slainte,

Tim
David Reid

Comment by David Reid | 01/18/2009 at 15:29:56

Not bad at all.
Nick

Comment by Nick | 01/19/2009 at 10:13:27

Gordon,

I didn’t know that.
David Goldie

Comment by David Goldie | 01/19/2009 at 10:30:59

Bold move guys.

Saw the cut ad in the Scotsman before reading this and thought it was excellent. I’m saying the same things to prospects and clients daily. Some are listening others aren’t. With online being so quantifiable it’s hard to argue, however with things they way they are getting new budget is like getting blood from a stone!

Good luck with the campaign. I’m sure it will be a winner!
simon scott

Comment by simon scott | 01/19/2009 at 12:55:30

Gentlemen

Well done. Cocks on the block.

In 1982 the hot shop of the day in Scotland was CDP/Marr. They ran a full page series of ads in The Scotsman . The ads were beautifully art directed by Colin Marr and written with great verve by Tony Cox. The premise of their advertisements was remarkably similar to your own but also carried a money back guarantee.

As strong as the ads were,(they can be found in the 1984 D&AD Annual), the response was not good. And here’s the bugger.

Two of the respondents to the campaign rapidly went into liquidation nearly bankrupting the agency.

So well done- keep fishing – but keep your lines tight and make sure your credit checks are even tighter.

Bon chance.
Gerry Farrell

Comment by Gerry Farrell | 01/19/2009 at 22:55:46

Nothing to debate. Great ad in The Scotsman on Friday. I`ve been showing it around in the office. If it had had `BBH` or `Fallon` in the logo I wouldn`t have been surprised. Money where mouth is. (Really nice ads FOR The Scotsman too, also 60 Watt, I believe, so hopefully they didn`t have to fork out for an entire full page, but got some kind of contradeal to soften the blow to their bottom line.) Clear thinking, great copywriting, nice art direction. Ten out of ten for Mr Hawke and Mr Mill. Like I said, what`s to debate? Let`s hear it for the 50plus creative. Talent and wisdom combined in one lean, mean, gnarled, wizened, slightly short-sighted fighting machine. Best house ad this year. And a lot to be said for quietly getting on with it rather than running around in short trousers spouting Nathan Barleyisms.
Alan Munro

Comment by Alan Munro | 01/20/2009 at 10:21:20

While it may seem a little unfair to take a pop at someone who is trying to do something about the knee jerk budget cutting that always seems to come around in difficult times like these, taking ads in the Scotsman (circulation of around 50,000 on a good day) seems an incredibly old fashioned way of going about your business.

The most interesting thing in this campaign is Mark Gorman trying to stimulate online comment on this blog by emailing his various industry contacts. At least in that tactic, there is some recognition that there’s more to modern marketing than sticking ads in the paper which just feels so out of step with the modern world. Everyone knows that newspaper circulation is plummeting worldwide and it’s getting increasingly difficult to extract any kind of value from press advertising – or any medium that doesn’t properly engage the target audience, for that matter.

All of the people who are of interest to 60 watt can be reached in much more direct ways than hoping that they pick up on ads placed in the local paper. And while the ideas and the execution of these particular ads are both challenging and thought-provoking on the general subject of marketing during a recession, there’s no point unless you can actually engage the prospects you’re trying to reach.

What is unforgivable with these ads, however, is that there’s no offer and no call to action. Even if you are an interested prospect, it isn’t clear who to contact – and even if you key in the web address, there’s no named contact to call in the contact section of the website. Worse still, the website doesn’t reflect the campaign on the homepage, you have to come into the news section to find any reference to the campaign, which presumably (seeing as they’re spending their own cash) is a very big deal for 60watt.

While all of this may have been OK in the the Post Industrial TV Complex (yes, thanks to Seth Godin for that little descriptor) is it really what today’s clients need – especially in a recession? If we’re all going to provide ‘more bang for their bucks’, then we’re going to have to have much smarter tactics than those that were served up by the agencies of the past.

Perhaps I’m being unkind. Maybe there’s much more to this campaign than a couple of awareness ads, a weak looking media strategy and a blog on the company website. There are some talented folks at 60watt, and God knows the Scottish marketing industry needs talented folks, but surely our job is to invent the marketing of the future not cling to the stuff that used to work in the past. When the Scotsman’s gone, ITV’s bust and everyone has unlimited access to whatever digital content lights their candle, there won’t be much of a market for awareness advertising.

Sorry, I’ve ranted on a bit so I’ll conclude. Advertising doesn’t work very often these days. Marketing, on the other hand, and in its widest sense, is an essential part of any company. Those companies that understand this and know how to leverage it, will thrive even in difficult times. It is unlikely, however, that they’ll throw cash at ‘advertising’. Those days are gone.
Peter Mill

Comment by Peter Mill | 01/20/2009 at 13:39:33

Thanks, Alan, by all means pop away.

You’re right, of course, to say that in this day and age, it is not enough to “stick an ad in the paper” and hope for the best. In fact, you acknowledge in the very next paragraph that this is not what we have done.

But let’s not underestimate the power of a full page ad in the Scotsman. In spite of our digital age (maybe even because of it) it can still create a lot of noise. The trick is to capitalise on that, and you’ll forgive me if I don’t outline our entire strategy in this very public forum.

You paint a bleak future of a country with no national newspaper or commercial televison channels and if your prophecies come true, we’ll deal with it. In the meantime, these are still powerful communication channels and we’ll use them as long as they prove effective, in conjunction, of course, with all the digital (and every other kind of) media.

One thing I am convinced I am right about, though, is that people will remember these print ads far longer than any web, banner or email campaign. You can’t beat the press for awareness and awareness is what we need right now.

Re. the offer and call to action, a) these are the first two ads in a long series and, apart from the “offer” of more effective marketing and a leaner, meaner, keener agency, more specific offers will be forthcoming. (See this Friday’s Scotsman, for example) b) what’s wrong with a web address as a response mechanism? Are you saying the Scottish client base is too unsophisticated to type ’60 Watt’ into a search box or enter our (very short) url into a browser bar? Apart from keeping the ads clean and focussed, using only our web address means we can track the response to the ads more accurately. You are right about your comments on our homepage which should be addressed by tonight.

I’ll leave our Scotsman client to defend your comments re. circulation and saliency. But take it from us, we have enough experience and enough client case studies and certified effectiveness awards to be able to say that in the right hands, advertising still works. But of course, it’s only one facet of what these days is an increasingly complex marketing mix.
Mark Gorman

Comment by Mark Gorman | 01/20/2009 at 13:41:00

We debated long and hard about how to use this space. Sure, one can comment about the media mix in a derogatory way, but we had our reasons. Anyhow, we’re using the ads virally, online, in PR, in Press and as DM so there’s much more bang than a single buck.
Rodge

Comment by Rodge | 01/20/2009 at 19:44:54

I can’t think of a better or more elegant way of practicing what you preach.

Good luck, but of course luck, as we know, favours the brave.
Tom Holmes

Comment by Tom Holmes | 01/21/2009 at 02:49:06

The 60 watt commitment to spend 50% more this year on their own advertising is admirable.

Agencies should be marketing themselves in a recession, not cutting back.

The marketing landscape is constantly changing. It’s now a buyer’s market, so why are agencies so reluctant to invest in their own marketing?

It is my observation that many agencies are simply hiding their heads in sand, hoping the credit crunch will go away. But they do so at their own peril. The agency marketplace is saturated and clients are a lot choosier about the services they are looking for. It is important for agencies to raise their profile and demonstrate their value by investing in their own marketing.

A lot of agencies don’t recognise the irony. They spend the whole time trying to convince their clients not to cut their marketing spend during recession, and quote everything under the sun to say that those who continue to spend during recession will come out on top the other side – yet, in our experience, a lot of agencies don’t practice what they preach, as they themselves immediately want to cut their own marketing spend when confronted with economic slowdown.

Agencies seem incapable of taking the long term view. They rarely ever admit to their clients that a piece of their communication has been a failure if it doesn’t convince the consumer to buy the brand/product/service on the spot. They would argue that it has gone into the consumer’s consciousness and will play a future role in their decision making process. However, if this is what agencies tell their clients, why do agencies find it so hard to invest in their own marketing that raises awareness and clearly defines their positioning?

A lot of agencies are poor at presenting their brand, showcasing their work and using case studies to demonstrate their effectiveness. They wonder why clients don’t pick up the phone or appoint them on new business. They want immediate results and expect clients to call up and ‘buy’ their agency there and then. It’s amazing that in this day and age, agencies can be so hap-hazard and unprofessional about how they promote themselves and delusional about the results they expect to achieve.
John Appleton

Comment by John Appleton | 01/21/2009 at 10:47:21

Picking up on Toms point about agencies marketing themselves – it’s great to see an agency investing in awareness building, positioning, and hopefully response generation for itself – rather than expecting clients to find them when a piece of business is up for review.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the series – and I’m hoping one or two prospective clients note the ads and either put a call in straightaway or make a note for the right time in the next few weeks or months.
Jim Fraser

Comment by Jim Fraser | 01/21/2009 at 11:12:38

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that not all agencies are created equal…”

The ones who can do the simple but smart thing (that also demonstrates the things that they value), will build their legend with clients.

The others won’t.

Well done, 60 Watt.
Steven thomas

Comment by Steven thomas | 01/21/2009 at 13:12:58

Before the sky falls in and a plague of locusts decend upon TSPL Towers I thought it best to add a few facts to the debate.

60watt are using The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday as part of an integrated campaign – they’re not just merely throwing an ad in the paper.

The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday continue to be a highly trusted source of News and information, which positively reflects on our advertisers by association. Yes, newspaper circulation is in terminal decline and has been for many years but our audience still remains of great interest. By using both titles they will reach a combined average readership of 353,000. Not to be sniffed at. Add into the mix that 57% of that audience fall into the AB demographic and that 85% are ABC1 and you can see that you’re reaching a pretty affluent group of people.

The team at 60watt are aiming at business decision makers, hence the campaign within our business section. In these troubled times for the economy you would do well to find a more worthwhile commentary than that of our Executive Editor, Bill Jamieson. Let’s not forget that this commentary is available both digitally and in the old fashioned way and is consumed worldwide. Perhaps that’s why Scotsman readers are 87% more likely to read business / company news than the Scottish average.

The creative itself is thought provoking and is a brilliant use of space. I for one can’t wait to see the rest of the campaign.

Hoorah for 60watt – I’ll look forward to adding the success of your campaign to our many client case studies.
Giles Moffatt

Comment by Giles Moffatt | 01/22/2009 at 17:15:36

Guys

Totally agree with the sentiment. There is a whole body of evidence for marketing in a downturn, all of it highly convincing.

No argument with the media selection. What I would caution about is the current editorial backdrop.

I saw one of the ads in the SOS recently where the business pages were so relentlessly bleak, that the ad just shouldn’t have been there.

The French have a saying: ‘you can’t fart against thunder’.
Mark Gorman

Comment by Mark Gorman | 01/22/2009 at 22:36:23

And Giles, the Scots, well one, has a saying that claims we’re overwhelmed by the Black Abbot.

Ahh but, (Abbot, get it) you cannae dae that.

We are overwhelmed by people saying you can’t do this and you shouldn’t do that. You know what? Sometimes you should just say ‘Bugger it’ and do it.

That’s what we did.

And you know what else?

We’ve a very interesting new business meeting tomorrow as a direct result of the campaign.

From an ABC1 Scotsman business reader. One of many.
Mark Gorman

Comment by Mark Gorman | 01/22/2009 at 22:41:02

There are several cynics contributing to this stream.

Cynical about whether this sort of advertising will;

a) Be seen

b) generate a response.

Eh! Why are you responding to what you saw?
Alan Munro

Comment by Alan Munro | 01/23/2009 at 16:56:03

Excellent debate emerging here with some very interesting points that I just can’t resist adding to …

I’ll pick them off in chronological order.

Pete, I’m not sure that ‘noise’ is what you need in a business-to-business campaign but, as you say, the trick is capitalising on any interest you generate. I know you will do that. I’m also sure that there are a lot of strands to this campaign that will never be aired in the public domain and that’s exactly as it should be too.

With regards to the offer and call to action, let’s not confuse benefits (leaner, meaner, keaner) with offers (discounts, guarantees, buy one, get one free) and a response mechanism (phone, email address, URL) with a call to action (’do this really easy thing right NOW!’). I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping art direction too clean if that cleanliness compromises effectiveness either. I’m also not sure how you’ll be able to track press response from a generic URL.

All that said, the use of these press ads is really a pretty clever stunt that is driving a much bigger exposure in other (largely free) media and the combination of all of these things will hopefully, in turn, bring prospects to the 60 Watt front door. As you say, Mark, you had your reasons and, you’re right, sometimes you just have to go with what you instinctively feel is right.

When the prospects come chapping at the door though will they be looking for ‘advertising’ or will they be looking for a much more holistic solution? More to the point, who’ll be put off because they think ‘60 Watt say they’re good at ‘advertising’ but, these days, I really need a lot more than that’? This isn’t just semantics, it’s about defining the proposition. Advertising and marketing aren’t the same thing and being brilliant at advertising isn’t the compelling proposition that it once was – although being brilliant at coming up with great ideas and knowing how that brilliance can be applied in a commercial context will always be in demand.

Steven makes an interesting point about the Scotsman/SoS’s readership figures. The problem here though is that 353,000 people is probably around 352,000 more people than 60 Watt need to talk to – and there’s no guarantee that any of them are the dozen or so that they want as clients. Steven, I’m surprised that you admit here that newspaper circulation is in ‘terminal decline’. I suppose that while we’re in complete agreement on the overall prognosis for the industry we’re just debating how long it will actually take to die and at what point along the way will it cease to become an effective medium for advertising.

Bearing in mind that the newspaper industry’s business model is almost entirely dependent on advertising revenue, there has to come a point in the terminal decline when readership figures will be so low that nobody thinks it’s worthwhile anymore. In a week when the London Evening Standard (currently losing up to £25 million a year) sold 75.1% of its stock for £1, we should all be concerned.

I’ll conclude. 60 Watt has taken a brave stance that I do admire. It’s being done with passion, commitment and considerable flair and I admire that too. But let’s not kid ourselves that future success will be found in the comfort zones of the past and let’s not assume that we know what the client needs (’better advertising’) before we’ve even seen the brief. Agencies need to be leaner, meaner and keaner, no doubt about that but they also have to be flexible, adaptable and innovative and, perhaps above all, willing to take risks. 60 Watt has proven it is already many of these things and I am sure it will prove to be them all on its road to success. Good luck.
tony harding

Comment by tony harding | 01/25/2009 at 11:11:54

Interesting stuff, as a “business consultant” in the environment we are in I would always adopt a very simple rule “Die trying” – you have to take initiative and at least try to stimulate your market and the market you are in. You also “reap what you sew ” (apologies Mark we never did decide whether it was sew or sow!!!) and there are many agencies who will keel over and wonder why. Fair play guys, water pistol instead of real gun, get Steve to sort out your positioning, get a contact on the ads and keep putting more “feature” and “benefit” selling into the process.
One point to Alan – I would rather be positive than negative, “whole” campaigns are when you can judge success – Pete/Iain what will you class as success ?
admin

Comment by admin | 01/25/2009 at 19:26:07

Thanks, Tony, appreciate the comment. Disagree about the water pistol, you old sew and sew, but otherwise, sound advice.

To answer your closing question, we already judge the campaign a success in terms of the positive feedback, increased awareness and, importantly, actual business generated.

And still another couple of months to go.

Pete
Rob Wilson

Comment by Rob Wilson | 01/26/2009 at 12:18:54

I liked the Ads – thought it was a good move when Mark initially sent round a mail.
More importantly my old Grandfather (apparently) used to say “You are nothing if you’re not talked about, good or bad.”

Judging by the amount and the range of comments you guys are something – it can only do you good.

Rob

(creative services………)
Guy Robertson

Comment by Guy Robertson | 01/26/2009 at 12:58:41

I approve. Brave and commendable move in the current climate and I hope it works. I suspect that the value and potential return will not come as a direct result of the Ads in the rather narrow press selection but from the spin-off generated by the spin-meister Mr Gorman!!

Oh…and great minds think alike…watch this space!

Guy
Mark Gorman

Comment by Mark Gorman | 01/26/2009 at 23:48:50

Guy. You could read your last comment two ways you know.
Reg Starkey

Comment by Reg Starkey | 01/27/2009 at 17:21:40

The Scotsman? Good on you.
The advertising and marketing trade press generally displays a very poor standard – yet paradoxically all its readers claim to be intertested in ads and experts in advertising.
Robin Wight, the iconic founder of WCRS wrote some splendid house ads in an earlier incarnation. I still remember the headlines: “You’ve just interrupted his Western. Now sell him your toothpaste.” “NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR AD. ”
“Do you make these common mistakes in advertising?”
Each ad was well written and therefore compulsive reading…
I hope it pays off for you. That’s what I call Poetic Justice!
James McLughlin

Comment by James McLughlin | 01/28/2009 at 16:28:12

Finally got round to reading all about this yesterday.
Worth the wait though; excellent media/marketing savvy on display, (in my humble opinion).

Forgive me my tangents.

I was thinking about posting some TSPL-related stuff before I read Steven Thomas’s post defending us. I too was gonna drop the combined readership of 350-odd thousand in there but never mind that – How can 50,000 KNOWN PAID-FOR copies in this day and age of fragmenting and hard-to-track media advertising not be a guaranteed, stone-wall-know-what-you’re-getting investment? It is still a very powerful tool. Online banner ads do not have that kind of impact – no danger.

Steven nailed it with his post, although the decline he and Pete Mill were forced to address due to an earlier post (and another was quick to pick up on in a subsequent post) is irrelevant in the context of 60watt’s move. Relevence is the 50,000 still buying – add to that the increase in sale which the Friday Scotsman enjoys in January coupled with the SOS’s traditional January boost in sale and you have a very sound investment.

Just to touch on the 50,000 figure one more time…. Like many media commentators (in newspapers mainly!) have done with the financial crisis, steaming in with irresponsible coverage like the tabloids doing a Brutus on Jonathan Ross, so the Scottish (online mainly) media continue to sound the death knell for the quality Scottish newspaper industry; the negativity rises from epidemic to pandemic. This is similar to what I read about Obama as his inauguration approached and all the carping from the sidelines it brought concerning his ability – he hadn’t even sat behind the big oak desk yet!
So, without wanting to sound like a therapist spouting psychobabble about being a positive or negative person in life, (bear with me), I’ll finish with this: The Scotsman circulation figure has halved from a (disproportionately) high of 100,000 nine years ago to 50,000 now. So, what’s it gonna be? Is the circulation glass half-full or is the circulation glass half-empty? That depends on your point of view I guess. You either carp from the sidelines or you get positive. 60watt got positive. The Scotsman remain positive.

I reckon these adverts deserve all the response they get – it is merited.

The most pertinent part of them is the development of the design in each advert.

The designs of the ads were just excellent. The full-page left almost blank with details cut to one-side is quite simply brilliant. Well done. Likewise the use of the handgun. You cannae ignore ‘em, that’s for sure.

Your strategy reminds me of a post on the London designer Ben Terret’s blog before Christmas. He’s a great commentator on graphic communication.

He had some guest posts on where industry gurus like yourself came on and posted ideas for strategy in the coming downturn in a short-running series of advice for designers. One post in particular (from Richard Williams of WMH) reflects your bold move – http://noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com/design/2008/11/recession-simple-advice-for-designers-3-running-a-design-firm.html

– specifically some of this part:

“Marketing. This is the one activity you shouldn’t cut. I have a personal aversion to cold calling. It’s a numbers game and delivers the wrong sort of meeting. One day, you’ll find yourself on an industrial estate in Burnley on a dark, rainy Friday afternoon having just met a halitosis ridden yoghurt pot manufacturer with a comb over, who the calling agency managed to lure into having a meeting with you. This is to be avoided.

Spend time defining the right clients for you. Filter out people you couldn’t help or would hate to work with. This will probably leave a reasonably small cluster of people to write to or network with.

Write intelligent letters that are not about you, but about what you think might be keeping the client awake at night. Follow them up, but take the hint if the client refuses to speak to you.

Think of witty stunts that will engage them (we once had a student walk up and down outside United Biscuits offices dressed up in a sandwichboard saying ‘Jaffa Cakes needs WMH’ and won the job).

Go to conferences and network like hell.

Get your website working for you, track those who come onto it and follow them up.

Keep your profile in the news. Journalists need good stories – feed them interesting thoughts and news and you’ll be in all.”

Witty stunts, defining your clients, intelligent copy addressing the probable state-of-mind of potential business client, website working for you (right here), tracking those who make contact, profile in the news along with your interesting thoughts generating comment.

For swimming against the tide, farting against the wind, and Abbot Yes We Can, I salute you.

Que cojones, senores – you’ll need ‘em.
Mark Gorman

Comment by Mark Gorman | 01/31/2009 at 11:49:09

Yes, very brief James. But nevertheless cogent, witty and reverential. Just what we like in a blogpost.
Alan Munro

Comment by Alan Munro | 03/11/2009 at 14:47:37

If anyone is still following this thread, this could be the start of the plague of locusts that Stephen referred to earlier …

http://tinyurl.com/bcrh2d

RETURN OF THE COBBLER’S CHILDREN

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