these4wallsgroup

HATS OFF ... NAOMI CAMPBELL STUNT

Using the walk into community service as a catwalk was an audacious move. But Campbell pulled it off with aplomb - and pocketed £25,000 a day while she was at it.

As much as it may have middle Britain (and America, for that matter),  up in arms, you have to take your hat off to Naomi Campbell and W Magazine, who pulled of a stunt in which the supermodel wore a different outfit for each of her five days of punishment, only to be photographed for a 20 page spread in the fashion bible (as reported by the Daily Telegraph).

The whole thing will have done nothing for the girl's reputation amongst the general public, but you have to say that it goes down as a serious contender for stunt of the year ... It would certainly get our vote.

A&F LAUNCH: STUNTS MAKE THE BROADSHEETS

You might not get it first time out. Why would Abercrombie & Fitch, the US menswear retailer that has just opened its first UK store off Savile Row, stuck a load of semi-naked men in its windows?

They have a male clientele, what is semi-naked men going to do to for them? Shouldn't it be a load of semi-naked women?

What is interesting is that the story was picked up most clearly and in largest scale by the broadsheets - the very titles that the fashion-literate, better-off male is more likely to be reading. The naked men story was picked up in the Independent and The Times amongst others.

For brands that want stunt-based stories that will break out of the tabs and mid-markets, maybe naked men is the answer ...?

DOES H&M'S MADONNA FLOP SIGNAL THE END OF CELEB TIE-UPS?

If you are willing to believe the wave of anti-hype,  you would have to say that the media's love affair with celeb/fashion-label partnerships may well have come to an end.

Following the Madonna at H&M launch, the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and The  Sun all weighed-in with negative pieces. Ouch.

THE FUTURE IS VIDEO ...

News from the much-blogged Changing Media Summit ... words from Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger that signal his belief that the world will go increasingly digital and that user generated content will become more important than ever ...

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger told this afternoon's Changing Media Summit that it is "impossible to predict on what technology platform journalism will be delivered in five year's time or even a year."

But he predicted that more and more of that content will be provided by the readers themselves – as opposed to journalists.

He said: "We are grappling with this balance of what goes on to the website and what goes in the paper. A great part of that web [content] will be generated by users in time."

Rusbridger, a man who is clearly making the safe bet in this world of change - more digital, more user-involvement? Staggering predictions to be making ... and so unexpected. Hmm ...

More interesting was the Guardian's deputy commercial director Adam Freeman, who announced that the paper's future was more-than likely in video, asserting that the business is first-and-foremost a news organisation and that ...

"today that means giving them 2,000 words on a piece of paper but in the future it will probably be in video. It's about changing our outlook to meet our consumers‚ needs.”

Now that is slightly more interesting - particularly when you look at the Daily Telegraph's dabbling with online business TV, C4 and the BBC's clear commitment to delivering TV on the internet.

The future, it would appear, could well be in internet TV. And if that is the case, watch this space ... given the combatants, the fight in that market is likely to be fierce.

BRILLIANT BUSINESS-BUILDING BRAND IDEAS

The Anya Hindmarch "I am not a plastic bag". Part design brilliance, part simple rules of supply (limited) and demand (healthily stoked by celebrities and great PR), it is a cracking example of a brand-marketing idea that has built a great business proposition. Read more in the Guardian's analysis.

JAMES: MY PERSONAL DNA

Cute thing that I was just playing with, as mentioned on John Grant's blog - always a good read. Have a go, let us know how you turned out ...

THE WORLD IN CHARTS

Thanks to lots of people who all linked to this clip. And then told us about it ...

Download legrandweb.mov