The web has had a massive positive impact on our capacity to collaborate and produce. The web allows us to communicate quickly and efficiently with others – ideas can be crowd sourced across communities and then brought to market quickly and efficiently with the aid of cloud computing.

We have quick access to almost any information we may (or may not) want and the keys to the door of a virtual library, chock full of fabulous already invented ideas. All this is available with the press of a computer key, or a quick ‘copy and paste’. Read More »

This week the infographic platform and search engine Visual.ly opened up beta access to create.visual.ly which lets people create infographics for free and automatically.

Create a few infographics on the platform and you will discover that not every infographic is equal; not even if it uses the same template. Some infographics work better than others. Some are certainly easy to outreach with or engage audiences with.

Read More »

Don’t you just love mad scientists? They used to be people you only saw on the telly. You know, blokes with lots of wispy, backcombed hair and eyes that looked like they were propped open with matchsticks. They had a perpetual look of wonderment and terror as if they had accidentally attached electric wires not to a Van de Graaf generator, but to their own genitalia instead.

But now every good agency has a mad inventor. Except they’re more clever than mad. And they’re not called mad scientists any more, either, but Creative Technologists (although they’re mad scientists at heart.) Read More »

Working in public relations, I encounter a lot of event producers, or get involved promoting everything from conferences to company parties, and a term that comes up a lot is “pop-up events” to describe one-off productions. I love the term, which evokes fun and spontaneity, and I’ve seen some really interesting uses of pop-up events over the years.

Whether it is a big budget affair, or no funding at all, pop-up events can cater to any type and size of audience. Julia Shalet has found that pop-up events are a good way to keep people coming along to check out a venue she manages called Brixton Village, where she stages these happenings every Saturday. She’s created everything from temporary restaurants to cabaret to 1950s theme shops. She tells me that “Open sourcing pop-up events for Brixton Village themed Saturdays has been a great way to develop a space that works for the local community. It gives the opportunity for people and groups to bring in activities and try out ideas that help the market feel surprising, sociable, entertaining, dynamic and vibrant – just how the traditional marketplace used to be. It has helped to drive new audiences to support all the fabulous businesses that are running in the retail units. For us, it is the magic of DIY culture on a shoestring budget.”

Event producer Kate Risker describes pop-up events as being a spontaneous way for a brand to build excitement in a temporary location, allowing production to be creative and entertaining in a way that showcases the best qualities of the brand.

Perhaps among event producers I know who are using the pop-up event strategy, the top diva is Sara Blonstein, who heads Blonstein and Associates and has been creating spectacular events since the 1990s. Sara kicked off the trend in the UK by creating a temporary winter-themed restaurant called The Reindeer in 2006. The Reindeer was a grotto for grown-ups staged in the East End of London, and produced by the same people who created the Bistrotheque venue. From the start of December, until the day before Christmas Eve, the pop-up restaurant and theatre took over a massive space at the Old Truman Brewery. Among pipne trees and fake snow, diners enjoyed camp and kitsch cabaret from the likes of Pam Ann and Kiki & Herb, or they could book a log cabin to host their own private Alpine party.

This spring, Blonstein was again hired by Pernod Ricard to put together the ultimate pop-up experience, an annual event they do each year for the company’s worldwide marketing conference which sees all the heads of marketing fly to a private island, off the coast of France. Blonstein’s team created Cabaret Les Embiez and Hotel de Deux on the Ricard family private island called Les Embiez. Guests arrived in Marseille, and were taken to Brusc where they boarded a boat to reach the island. Once at the island, guests were transported to attend an enormous pop-up cabaret and dinner, Cabaret Les Embiez. Built from scratch, the structure provided a dining area for 750 people where each of the Pernod Ricard brands showcase their new brands as well as demonstrating the ultimate brand experience of how the drinks are to be served. The cabaret performances included MC Johnny Woo and the 20′s dancers The Bee’s Knees throughout, as well as a flying piano for Ricard, Malibu’s Maliboom Boom Boys for Malibu, a flying gymnast and aerial artist for Chivas.

Following the cabaret, guests were invited to one of the several pop-up bars on the island from Absolut, Chivas, Perrier-Jouet and Mumm and the Blonstein pop-up for Jameson and Havana club. Hotel de Deux was a purpose built structure which was originally outside.

“The feel was heritage traditional meets Hollywood faded glamour, meets Twin Peaks meets Ian Schrager’s best,” said Blonstein.

Blonstein demonstrates through her pop-up events how brands can play up
the most exciting features of their products and services in a memorable
one-off affair that gets media attention and gets people talking. 

Examples of pop-up events that others have produced over the years include:

-A pop-up version of the famous Central Perk Cafe from the TV show Friends was temporarily built to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the programme on Broadwick Street in London.

-The Double Club opened on 21 November 2008 and closed on 12 July 2009 in an old Victorian warehouse next to Angel tube station. The pop-up venue was made up of a bar, restaurant and disco area each consisting of an equally sized Western and Congolese spaces in order to connect the two cultures in terms of music, lifestyle, art and design.

-From 10 August 2009 to 18 October 2009, a pop-up bar at Somerset House called Bombay Sapphire Dusk, held a series of masterclasses entitled Bombay Sapphire Gintelligentsia. The gin’s ambassador, Sam Carter, shared his knowledge of gin and taught aspects of the art of cocktail mixing at the event. The pop-up bar was designed by industrial designer Tom Dixon and funded by Design Research Studio. on the menu was delicious Bombay Sapphire Dusk cocktails, inspired by Dusk in the eight different countries from which Bombay Sapphire’s ten botanical ingredients are sourced.

In 2010, Blonstein has pop-up events in works that will see brands using unusual spaces and venues to engage people in performance, entertainment and glamourous affairs. While her events generally require large production budgets, she works creative magic at each happening to make funds really stretch in creating lavish environments. 

Looking forward to seeing some interesting pop-up events this summer,

-Lisa

*Photo of The Reindeer pop-up theme restaurant

When Morrissey sang “some girls are bigger than others” was he singing about their size or their generosity?

Talking of size, there’s been a lot of talk about the death of the network agency recently. Amusing though Sir Martin Sorrell’s denouncement of his own agencies’ leadership at AdTech was (for the record – he reminded us that too many of his agency top management knew too little about digital) it can only be part of the picture. Digital isn’t the only thing many of them don’t get. Now I’ve always talked about the creative product, and how to encourage a better version of getting it. This is a common principle that unites many across the industry. Sadly there aren’t many large agencies that think it that important in practice, and would rather run and hide than get an honest debate about agency added value out on the table.

I’ve been lucky enough to have created a very successful digital agency, run a very large network agency, and now operate as a consultant to both clients and agencies in how to improve the way in which they go to market and how to get the best out of each other. I’ve also spent time over the last year reviewing a wide range of creative product for an award or two. Oh and have an experimental creative business model on the go as well. My evidence is broad and deep. And we shall see in the published results of quite a few agencies in the coming months just how poor performance has got.

It’s all too easy to lay into the paranoid nature of agency leadership and the too often disconnected nature of network agencies in particular as they are forced to sign up to targets they can’t reach and client commitments they can’t meet. Many of them are good people caught in a trap. Right now, clients are holding back budgets left right and centre and finding it harder to take risks. The business model encourages internecine warfare, which is, apart from anything else, a shame and waste of energy for sometimes very clever and talented people, and clients’ money. There are of course notable exceptions to this, and I tip my hat to all of them.

I don’t think the agency is dead, by the way. But I do think it has become stale, and forgotten that, as Alan Moore puts it, “the best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Wouldn’t it be rather more fun if we all spent more time thinking about that? How to inspire others. How to create. How to imagine. How to invent. How to argue for quality, and how to improve. And did it. That’s what I’d like for Christmas. I’d like to be reminded that there others in the industry that want it to get better, by being a better, cleverer, more agile industry.

And by thinking of ideas, not excuses.

Normal
0

While the recession is keeping a fierce grip on the nation, and
with many people feeling fearful, or unable, to spend money on High Street goods this
holiday season, this economic situation could bring opportunity to transform
how we think about our role as consumers, and see some of us turn into
creators. 

Remember the punk rock DIY culture that emerged out of the 80s recession? Many people looked toward that time of
economic hardship, as also being a time of great art with the likes of Vivienne
Westwood showing how good fashion design could come from surprising places. What if
people struggling in these economic hard times could harness that punk rock
type of creative spirit and make something from what they have already, in the
form of skills, clothes, film, books, music or just in day-to-day business
life? This recession-led holiday season may be about the deconstruction of old
consumer ways and the rebirth of a new creator class.

Coming up 28 November is an opportunity to find out how to
tap into the power of creativity, and apply it to the consumer world, the
workplace and life. The Live to Create workshops, a series of one-day sessions to help people unleash creativity, are hosted by
Lucy Wills, who wears many professional hats as a successful vintage jewellery
designer, performer, creativity consultant, teacher and climate activist. She’s
teamed up with Erica Grigg, of Carbon Outreach,
to teach others how to apply creativity, and help people flip from being
consumers to creators.

Both women are fellows of the RSA and have hosted workshops
at business conferences in the UK and USA. Both are also active in the climate
change movement, with Wills performing as a mermaid at many rallies, and being
a visual symbol of the activist events. The Live to Create workshops are
geared toward professionals in all areas of business, who are seeking new
approaches to applying creativity in the workplace and in personal life.

My consultancy Hai Media Group is supporting the Live to
Create workshop series, because we feel passionately that people need help to
thrive creatively in the business world and in their personal lives.

Creating more, consuming less,

-Lisa

I’d like to say the night started off with a bang! Fortunately it was just another night with The Bristol Creative Directors Network. A round table with 10 Bristol creatives enjoying a fabulous meal at Goldbrick House in the company of Chris Arnold.

For those not so familiar with Chris, he was Integrated Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi before setting up FEEL, which merged with Ron Leagas’ agency to form BLAC. In 2009 Chris started the world’s first independent creative department, a social enterprise and talent incubator all in one – Creative Orchestra. Chris is author of the newly published book, Ethical Marketing – http://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Marketing-Consumer-Chris-Arnold/dp/0470743026

Chris gave us real insight regarding his not for profit agency model and how a democratic voting system gives staff a sense of ownership. From choosing the type of business to go for, all the way through to which creative routes to present.

Interestingly, the business model includes exchanging fee for a percentage of the revenue. There was a lot of discussion around this model, with Matt Golding from Rubberductions introducing a concept of fees based on a promise of specific results. In the event the campaign doesn’t achieve at least these, they offer a refund – now that’s putting your money where your mouth is! (I’m seeing Matt later this week and hope to find out more, watch this space).

I think we all found the new model agency insight a real breath of fresh air and Chris’s views on ethical marketing, and in particular Co-Op V’s Tesco a real eye opener.

Much of the evening was also spent talking about how our industry still has a need for ‘big ideas’ but that much of what we do digitally is finding innovative solutions to business problems. This posed the question for some, where does that leave the ‘Craft model’ of the more traditional agencies?

Before he left, Chris introduced his furry backed business card. Everyone oooh’d and ahhh’d – it would seem that in this digital/screen based world of ours, there’s a sense of a certain loss of traditional things even among the most technologically-biased of us!

Many thanks to Chris Arnold, whose easy company and no holes barred industry insight made the evening slip by far too quickly and to David Sloly, (CD at MZL.com), for encouraging Chris to make the trip down the M4!

jon@3sixty.co.uk

Bristol has always been passionate about its creative scene and in a smaller city sometimes you have to fight a bit harder to protect it. I think the up side to this is it that brings a much stronger community ethos to the scene than we might otherwise have.

So I wasn’t surprised to see that Jamaica Street Artists (Bristol’s biggest art collective) are auctioning off some of their finest work in the hope that they will save their iconic headquarters, and one of the city’s major landmarks – The Old Carriage Works in Stokes Croft. They have over 43 artists in residence at the moment and are a collective with diverse skills including internationally established illustrators, film makers, and fine artists. In advance of the auction on the 3rd December, and building on the success of the Banksy exhibition, there will be a month long preview exhibition at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

The auction itself is invitation only and there is more information on how to get a ticket at the Jamaica Street Artists website. The preview at the City museum is definitely worth a visit, and you never know you might find a unique piece of work to buy.

laura@3sixty.co.uk

The guys at Ogilvy London have just released this new making-of video, showing the behind the scenes trickery involved in their latest viral campaign for BP Ultimate.

Having worked on helping seed the campaign over the last few weeks it was a real eye-opener to get an insight in to how exactly they did manage to shoot a group of people carrying a car across a city (Cape Town to be specific).  I particularly love the interviews with the kids involved in the shoot who are not the most articulate interviewees!

If you haven’t seen the viral campaign already, you can check out the film here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILPBWQzC5x0

and the teaser clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3xZNrIJWe0

Going back a few weeks, I wrote about “who owns social media?” The answer to that particular piece being that social media cannot operate in isolation and to be successful, multiple different skills need to be blended together. To add some more fuel to the fire and to broaden this a little, we’ve been discussing internally the merits of a specialist digital media agency versus a full service one.

Paid Search became the domain of the specialist agency when a flourish of agencies were set up focusing all of their resources on that particular field, developing expertise as a genuine point of difference while increases in technology took away some of the man-hours to increase efficiency. Media Planning & Buying has existed in its own right in the traditional sense and that has followed in digital with large agencies dominating on the pretence that they can achieve greater buying economies of scale with an increase level of spend.

The disadvantage with specialist agencies comes from the nature of a ‘specialist’ – someone who is devoted to a particular occupation. They can be very single-minded due to the expertise and experience that they have in that particular field, however this can lead to them having a narrow and restricted view on advertising and indeed marketing in general. To that end specialist agencies are beginning to broaden their services, such as The Search Works merging with TradeDoubler to offer a more holistic approach. It’s also been said a million times before that people consume media differently now than they have in the past therefore surely their behavior requires an approach from the people who connect brands with consumers which mirrors this?

Naturally I’m inclined to believe that a full-service environment, with all disciplines together under the same roof with central co-ordination of these disciplines, is the way forward. This way, full-service agencies can provide independent, agnostic advice on aspects such as the budget allocation between the different disciplines, or advise on the impact that Display actually had on persuading one of their customers to convert online through a different channel.

Moving away from media in isolation, we’re seeing digital creative agencies such as AKQA launching their own media divisions to combat the need for digital expertise in all areas under one roof, i.e. Media and Creative. As the IPA’s newly inaugurated president, Rory Sutherland recently addressed the challenge of having media planners who do not have experience in dealing with creatives, highlighting the need for a more rounded approach:

“It terrifies me that almost nobody under the age of 35 in a media agency has any experience of working with creative people and vice versa; hence fewer and fewer people understand … the whole equation of business”

Coming from LBi it would be easy to accuse me of blowing my own trumpet but that would be missing the point. Ultimately co-operation is what is important – we are all better if we are working together.  If a business is able to get a group of specialist agencies working together towards a common goal then that is fantastic, but in practice this rarely happens and it is most achievable within a full service environment, with each party fighting for their share of the budget.