The BBC has announced that it is holding "discussions" with Bob Geldof with regards to a sequel to Live Aid, aka Live Aid II, aka ‘Live 8′, which is strongly rumoured to be in the offing for early July.

The news was delivered by none other than the BBC News entertainment channel, which led with some substantial supporting evidence.

It reported that The Prince’s Trust has cancelled its annual Party, to potentially make way for Live Aid II.

Smoke (usually) = Fire, buddy.

So, ‘Live 8′ huh? Think about this branding business for a minute. If there is any truth in that brand name, then we can safely assume there is more going on than is being revealed by the tightlipped Geldof.

Although his lips are sealed, FunBoyThree stylee, his spokespeople have confirmed that they are in discussions about putting on events to raise awareness about Africa’s plight, according to the Beeb.

Here’s a little marketing equation for you organiser think tankers: Big show + BBC support X global audience of billions = Muchos Brand Awareness (unless the forthcoming TV strike disrupts proceedings, though surely nobody is that ridiculous?)

One extra nugget: a July show would handily coincide with the G8 summit set for Scotland in summer, with world debt high on the agenda.

If you’ve read The Art Of War, you’ll know that this represents quite an opportunity to attack happy bureaucratic environments.

Frank Zappa once said that he made music just to annoy people by a irritating them, thus changing their environment to a point where they take action.

So, on that basis, let’s wheel out Phil Collins and Sting one more time. Just the once, ok? Because that will surely send the hordes screaming towards their premium SMS pledge-a-monkeyathon numbers.

The BBC revealed that acts linked to the mooted event include Macca, The Rolling Stones and Joss ‘not rolling anywhere fast, sadly’ Stone. We reserve the right to offer a comment on the line up once it is (hopefully) announced.

We’d like to see it happen, for charidee and all that, and hopefully compared by the saintly Mark E Smith.

Fancy handing over the MC reigns Bob?