On New Year's Day in 1994 there were an estimated 623 websites. In the entire world. That was practically yesterday.

I read that stat in The Week last week, along with this quote:-

"There has not been, in the history of mankind, anything that has changed so dramatically as computer communications, in terms of the rate of change". This comes from Steve Crocker, part of the team that made one computer connect remotely with another in October 1969 at the University of California. (As an aside, Tim Berners-Lee came much later. His contribution to the internet can be likened to UCal inventing flight, and him inventing the jet engine.)

So, a passing thought. We wrestle with the New Digital World and suffer the paranoia that maybe someone else knows something we don't, or is doing something we could be. But perhaps we should remember that when we're dealing with an entity that's expanding faster than the universe, it's not about staying ahead of it but about getting behind it, using it for our needs rather than being a slave to it, and taking advantage of it as it suits us. There, feel better now...

A decent PR coup for Artemis today. At Cowes last week Artemis had their two boats in the Artemis Open 60 Challenge race. The Artemis Ocean Racing sponsorship is not a cheap exercise, but it engages potential investors and influencers at a different level to conventional advertising. (Or even the rather unconventional advertising that Libertine does for them). Certainly it can create coverage in places beyond the norm.

So last week we have rock boy Bryan Adams on one boat (keen sailor and raised decent cash for his charity), and Zara Phillips with big boyfriend Mike Tindall on the other, Artemis The Profit Hunter. This led to a five-page well branded spread in Hello! magazine. It's easy to knock sponsorship, and it can be slow burn. However coverage like this (to a readership of around 1.9 million women and 22 men) provides strong support for the Artemis brand. It's not better or worse than advertising, it adds value in a different way, and the two together contribute powerfully to the media multiplier effect.

Following Howard's piece on the world's largest colour display, someone has also developed the world's largest Etch-a-Sketch using an old 52" TV screen, motors out of a couple of power drills, and a golf tee as the drawing thingy. They're planning to hook it up to the web so we can all have a go. A problem that hasn't been solved yet though - who's going to shake it to clear the screen?            

This morning I was squeezed on to the Bakerloo line re-reading The Tipping Point. A central premise to creating tipping points is the power of word of mouth. I'm in the middle of this bit as we approach Oxford Circus. Over the tannoy a remarkably cheery female Irish voice informs us of our next destination. She then went on to say "Now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. There's a shop up there somewhere called Selfridges. And if you get there quickly they're handing out free chocolate for Valentine's. I gather it's being handed out by scantily clad young ladies so there's something there for the fellas. Anyway, it's just our secret, don't tell anyone, 'cos I'm there myself straight after work".

There are two possibilities here. 1, Selfridges has incentivised Underground workers to promote the store. 2, She'd heard about the promotion somewhere and was enjoying her ability to broadcast it on.

The 'professional' side of me hopes that it's a great piece of media freethinking, a commercial message planted by a commercial organisation in an inventive and positively disruptive way. However, personally I hope that this charismatic tube guard was merely trying to brighten our day, and in so doing enhancing footfall at Selfridges by using the most powerful medium known to man - the transmission of an idea by word of mouth.