It’s amazing how time runs away with you and I haven’t posted an update for a while. It was the news this morning that one of our PR clients, Travalo, had won Best Beauty Gadget in the Cosmopolitan Magazine Beauty Awards that prompted me. So congratulations Travalo (a great little product) and glad we could help!

It has been an interesting year so far with new business spread across most areas of the company. In May we launched Viking’s in-flight magazine “View”, which has gone down well with passengers and has already had a positive impact on the in-flight sales. The travel sector has seen a tough couple of years now but there are some positive elements and success stories like Travalo which is best seller with most airlines it is listed on.

Really Good are one of the leading greeting card and gift companies and we have just completed their new websites for trade and consumers. On the digital theme we have just completed post production on a short film for Tandberg/Cisco demonstrating the effectiveness of video conferencing in schools.

All in all things are looking OK but we appreciate just how tough it is currently, especially in specific market sectors.

Breo has appointed TAP to handle consumer PR activities as well as media planning and buying. Breo has demonstrated quick success with its best selling Roam watch and has extended its distinctive watch range as well as apparel and electronics.

Travalo were awarded Best Beauty Gadget 2010 at the annual Cosmopolitan Beauty Awards. The ceremony was held at London's Kensington Roof Gardens in June. The unique fragrance atomizer has enjoyed wild success since its launch and we at The Ad Plain are proud to organise PR for this award winning beauty essential.

The Ad Plain continues its long successful relationship with MARS by supplying a brand new advertisement range. The new campaign will feature in a variety of publications, including in easyJet's Boutique & Bistro. The new ads will be seen this summer and take on a somewhat heavenly feel. They also outline MARS' commitment to certifying its entire cocoa supply by 2010, making a real difference to farmers and the environment.

Crop Production Magazine is a controlled circulation magazine for UK arable farmers, farm managers, arable contractors, agronomists, machinery dealers and other arable supply industry professionals. The magazine is published nine times a year. To help with its continued growth and success, CPM appointed TAP to design and build their new website.

Viking Airlines has just appointed TAP to create an in-flight magazine to go onboard from 1st May. TAP has also been contracted for all ambient sales and ancillary revenue opportunities. www.vikingairlines.com

In the new year, School ICT specialists Soft Egg, launched their ServiceDesk campaign. TAP were responsible for designing, printing and fulfilling the new mailers, brochures and emailers to raise awareness in 4,000 UK schools. We also carried the campaign through to exhibition stands, powerpoint files and agreement packs. www.softegg.co.uk/servicedesk

It's that time of year again and to keep up with tradition, The Ad Plain has made a brand new Christmas game!

This year, take control of tyrant boss Duncan Murray-Clarke, as he battles to prevent his staff from leaving early for Christmas. Score above 800 points, and you could win our TAP Christmas gift bundle! We will be picking one lucky winner after Christmas, who will win ALL of the following prizes:

• MP3 Player
• Joop Go eau de toilette
• Kenzoair eau de toilette
• Underwater digital camera
• Jill Sport sunglasses
• Electronic Sudoku game
• Portable CD player
• Breo watch
• Who Wants to be a Millionaire DVD game
• 2 in 1 waterproof camera
• M&M's aeroplane chocolate dispenser
• Galaxy chocolate mix pouch

So get playing for your chance to win, and get into the festive spirit!

The high profile outdoor campaign for The Mexico Tourism Board has just broken in London. All sites are premium backlit 96 sheets and promote a number of different destinations including Jalisco, Cancun and Mexico City. This tactical package delivered an extremely high profile campaign by combining regional budgets.

Medea International has appointed TAP to handle all PR activity for the Travalo. The unique fragrance atomizer is already showing great potential in the travel retail sector. www.travalo.com

TAP has just completed an online support logging system for Soft Egg. The school IT specialists maintain over 100 schools and needed TAP to create a support microsite. Teachers are now able to login and report maintennce issues which are emailed direct to their engineer's Blackberry device. Various upsell items were placed on the login page to encourage upgrade sales.

Thanks to everyone who played our christmas game. As promised we have 11 lucky winners. They are as follows...



Seed Of Change Box: Nabeel Shariff
M&M's Big Bag: Lauren Kerr, Paul Shepard, Tom Haskell, Ed Hyde, Sarah Bird, Claire Garner, Lorraine Hampstead, Mark Wesley, Pat Soden, Chris Wills,

If you see your name listed above. Please email rob@theadplain.com with your delivery address.

TAP organized yet another highly contested penalty shoot out for Mars at this year's ISPY week. The competition has become something of a folk tradition at the annual industry event. With giant-sized M&M's® keeping goal, the football competition was bravely contested between over 70 participants, with the aim to score as many goals from three attempts in as quick a time as possible.

The winner was Joe Harvey, Cabin Crew Manager, Sales & Service for Aer Lingus. Joe from Dublin scored three clean strikes in an impressive 2.54 seconds. It seems Robbie Keane can keep his day job however, since Joe was later heard commenting “The keeper was rubbish!”. Joe wins 2 tickets to hit musical Mamma Mia and overnight accommodation at a 4 star London hotel.

Proving that the girls have as much footballing prowess as the boys, second place went to Alicia Long, Cabin Crew Executive for Singapore Airlines, who scored 3 goals in 6.32secs Martyn Westbury, International travel retail manager for Mars, was impressed by the high standard of play at this year's event and had to donate £20 towards charity in recognition of his own less than impressive goal attempts.

Footage from the iSPY penalty shoot-out can be seen here.

TAP has planned a prime backlit campaign to support the global World Travel Mart event in London. The combination of these sights with Underground activity will tie in with national press and quality magazine activity.

Director of the Mexican Tourist Board commented, “We have a very rigorous selection process in choosing our partner agency and we are delighted to be working with TAP. They have already demonstrated great knowledge of the UK marketplace and adapted to our working infrastructure. The Mexican Tourist Board is a brand that has certain values and TAP has quickly understood these values and already shows significant savings when negotiating and buying media space.”
Manuel Diaz Cebrian, Director Mexican Tourist Board UK & Ireland.

The Mexican Tourist Board has appointed TAP as their UK partner advertising agency. The brief incorporates media planning and buying, creative and production services for the UK market.