Thanks for the comments so far, especially on the eye.
Bit of a mental block at the moment I'm afraid, but getting there slowly. In the mean time, an idea of how the countdown ads will work (don't get too excited!). Well, I say ads - they're simply, emphasis on the word simply, incorporated into the eye flashes:
The text basically slowly separates and then disappears - all in a 2-3 second break flash.
Advertising campaign
I'm not clever enough to actually create the main ad campaign but I'll describe it. It's called
"The Mark of Big Brother".
The idea is to emphasise that housemates are taken from all walks of life. For example, we have a classroom where a teacher has disappeared - with the only evidence being a chalking of the BB eye on the blackboard (not that schools have blackboards nowadays LOL).
Similarly we could have a lumberjack (example), disappearing off into the trees - with the BB eye left behind etched into the tree. Or a farmer, nowhere to be seen - with just a BB eye crop-circle left behind. There would be 4-6 variations.
You get the idea - it's a rip off of the mark of Zorro. But I think it would be quite effective - and also a campaign which creates the hype without actually revealing too much.
Series length
I'll reveal a bit more about my series plan though. I'm cutting it to 90 days, to begin on Sunday 1st June. Firstly, I believe by just making it four days shorter I can have 25% less housemates than the last couple of years (dependent on quitters), and secondly I think a Sunday launch gives the show the opportunity to build audience throughout the first week before the inevitable weekend dip.
The premise of the series too is more about "re-establishing" Big Brother, rather than "reinventing" it. I believe they screwed it up so much last year it really needs to find it's feet again first before attempting any major change. Of course they'll be a few twists and format changes throughout, but the focus is more on concentrating on doing what they do, well.
NEXT UP: The titles or the floorplan, whichever comes first. Oh, and we're going two storey BTW. if Elstree can't build out, they're building up - and it's amazing how different the house would be with a second storey.