LBB – ESSENTIAL TRAVEL GUIDES FOR GLOBE TROTTING AD FOLK – LAUNCHES LBB NYC

Little Black Books (LBB Ltd) is a collection of travel guides tailored specifically for people in advertising who have to travel abroad for business. Today sees the launch of their latest release: LBB NYC – a guide to New York’s most slick, sassy and downright quirky places to sleep, eat and drink.

LBB is the business travel guide of choice for BBH, Saatchis and BBDO. It is ideal for people who travel to unfamiliar cities but are expected to entertain local clients, host company events or accommodate visitors.

LBB launched in 2006 with guides to Soho (London’s advertising epicentre) and Cannes (where advertising’s figureheads congregate each summer for the Cannes Lion Festival). These editions were so well received by the commercials industry that the LBB family is now expanding, hence its latest NYC instalment.

Editions scheduled for publication in 2008 will include updates for Cannes and London (including a brand new Shoreditch section), plus debut guides to LA, Toronto, Chicago and Shanghai. As the industry becomes ever more global, lots of destinations will be added, such as increasingly popular overseas shoot locations like Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town.

“The idea for LBB came from countless trips back and forth across the Atlantic. Each destination meant guide books and internet searches to find out where to stay, where to eat and where to take clients out for a drink,” says LBB founder, Matt Cooper.

“The guide books never got it quite right and the web offered too much information to sift through. The best recommendations came from friends who lived in or knew the destination.  But advertising isn’t like other businesses and bland won’t do. A restaurant that works for the financial sector might not impress a worldwide creative director. Ad people are creative, social, savvy and have a sense of humour; their tastes run from top of the line to bottom of the barrel but a suitable establishment must have that certain intangible ‘something’. Put simply, it takes an ad person to know an ad person.”

LBB’s founders – Matt and Sarah Cooper – firmly believe that only a person with extensive industry experience is qualified to recommend industry-friendly hotels, restaurants and bars. Husband and wife team, Matt and Sarah, have been working in advertising for nearly two decades.

Matt Cooper is MD of The Gunn Report – the most credible and authoritative independent report on the advertising world’s creativity. Previously, he pioneered the idea BEAM.TV – a company that went on to set the benchmark for digital asset management in the commercials industry. Sarah Cooper brings publishing expertise to the LBB family thanks to her previous experience as publisher for internationally respected trade magazine, Boards.

In addition to hotel, restaurant and bar reviews, LBB contains a directory of local advertising contacts and a handy 52-week diary which lists events, award shows and local holidays. All this information is packaged in a handbag (even manbag) friendly A5 booklet. One run of books is delivered free of charge to advertising agencies thanks to LBB’s sponsors and advertisers. Additional copies are available to buy online at www.LBBltd.com, charged at £10 per copy. LBB Ltd also has an exclusive travel concierge arm, Club LBB, to offer suggestions and manage bookings.

To order any of the books, go to: LITTLE BLACK BOOKS

For more information, please contact Helen Down or Matt Cooper(matt@lbbltd.com).