futurebrand - thinking
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A glimpse into the quality of our thinking (2013/2014)TRANSCRIPT
2Thinking
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A glimpse into the quality of our thinking.
4Thinking
In the pages that follow, you will gain a glimpse
into the quality of thought-leadership we have here
at FutureBrand as the bloggerati in our network
of employees share trends and technologies,
observations and predictions, reflections and insights,
across a gamut of branding, innovation and design.
You’ll be rewarded with not just a wealth of
knowledge that enriches your decision-making
ability to bring tangible bottom-line benefits to your
business, but also an understanding that the inherent
power of creative strategy and expression is what
transforms brands and fuels peoples’ relationships
with brands, through loyalty, attitude, belief and even
a cultural identity.
and take your time to savour the feast of information
contained within these pages.
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The brands of the future will help you consume less
Why Branding is not Advertising, and Advertising is not Branding
Iconography in Branding: The importance of getting it right
Driving brand performance through creating desire
How hard is your brand management tool working?
Managing v#content – Owned brand and consumer brand management
Five things all brand managers should know!
The power of the inner crowd: Building brands from within
3 brand lessons to learn from #fitchthehomeless
Top 10 brands “twentysomethings”cannot live without and why
American spirit in brand identity design
Tackling the war for talent
Lessons in mobile marketing
Managing resistance to change
Partnership Branding: A growth strategy
When humans – not tech, are put at the centre of the experience, everyday problems get solved
The NINJA Generation and how they’re changing the world
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Innovation sparks… innovation?
By 2014, your postman could be an astronaut
The hi-tech weddings of the future
Disconnect to reconnect! – The 1.0 holidays of the FUTURE!
In the future, our home will be a Fashion accessory
In the future, we’ll go back to school without schoolbags, but we’l still be making pasta necklaces!
Ebb & flow: How maps and big data can help us understand how diseases spread
FutureBrand at Tent London 2013
Cannes 2013 – A post-modern approach to creativity after 60 years
FutureBrand wins prestigious CLIO award for American Airlines
Corporate Philanthropy: Now more than part of the agenda Davos 2013: How companies can create a better future
The 22nd century will be the African century (and other predictions)
Future Brilliance! New brands for Afghanistan and the world
ONE way to change the world
Congratulations Solar Impulse
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6Thinking
“Instead of trying to blindly increase penetration and frequency, future brands will help consumers understand how much they consume, and what this means for their health, wealth and happiness.”
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The brands of the future will help you consume less
by Tom Adams
Right now, companies get by through pushing more and more stuff we don’t need. But with data and personalization, they might earn our loyalty and dollars by giving us exactly what we do.
It is an article of faith in mass marketing that more
consumption is good. Marketers focus on increasing
penetration and frequency – selling to more people,
more often – as ends in themselves, and research
consumer attitudes to everything from packaging
design and pricing to the position of products on
shelves to do it. Brands help them to do this more
effectively by making things attractive and easy to
identify and playing on unconscious desire.
So we quite often consume more than we need of
the wrong things, which wastes money, time, and the
world’s resources. For example, it is estimated that
Americans throw away 20 pounds of food per person
per month, restaurants in China throw away enough
food to feed 200 million people a year and we send
hundreds of millions of mobile phones to landfill
annually. Not just that, but potato chips and sweetened
drinks, among other convenience foods, make us
more fat than any other products. So unthinking mass
consumption, and the brand marketing that drives it, has
to change before stuff runs out and we end up floating
around in hover chairs like the future humans in Wall-E.
8Thinking
What if brands were able to help us consume less, not more?
In the future, brands will still sell dreams, but will
also provide tools for a better reality. We have the
technology today to track exactly what we consume,
when we consume it and how much it costs –
individually and collectively. Branded products and
services are increasingly connected, as are the people
that use them, so individual brands and the companies
behind them can learn how they are being used.
Retail banks now offer services that allow you to track
your history and see exactly how you have spent your
money, which provides an unprecedented level of
insight for the banks and builds customer loyalty. Fitness
ecosystems like Nike Fuelband and Fitbit track and
share your levels of physical activity on a real-time basis.
Insurance companies have been offering telematics to
peg premiums to actual usage for years in car insurance.
Major organizations now report exactly what
environmental and social impact their manufacturing
processes and products have on the world – from CO2
emissions to waste and use of resources. And the major
global retailers that provide most of the things we buy
every day know exactly what they sell and who to, often
building sophisticated loyalty schemes around that
data. But, as you would expect, they tend to use it to
recommend more consumption to us, not less.
This fragmentation will soon be a thing of the past
and consumers will increasingly be able to join up
their diverse personal data sources – levels of activity,
spending, location, consumption – to create lifestyle
“As you would expect, brands tend to use our personal data to recommend more consumption to us, not less.”
dashboards that provide real-time information on
what they are using, where it is from and the impact
it is having on the world around them. I will be able
to measure how many soft drinks I have, how much
sugar they contain, and what this means for my calorific
intake. Combine this with basic measures of health
and well-being – my blood pressure, cholesterol,
weight, family medical history and levels of activity and
my consumption choices will start to be framed not
by marketing, but by a real understanding of how my
consumption affects me and everyone else. Not just
generally, but at the point of purchase and consumption.
This data then becomes an asset to the consumer that
they can optimize and sell to service providers.
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Where do brands fit into this?
Instead of trying to blindly increase penetration
and frequency, future brands will help consumers
understand how much they consume, and what
this means for their health, wealth and happiness.
My favorite pizza brand will know how many times
I have enjoyed its meat feast this month and let me
know if I should try a healthier alternative when I
reach my pre-agreed limits.
Instead of allowing me to overspend on my monthly
mobile phone tariff every month, my mobile brand
will calibrate my bill to my actual usage in real time,
reducing as well as increasing the amount I spend
based on personal activity not averages. My gym
brand will only charge me when I use its facilities,
but also find ways to help me exercise more based
on my personal location, levels of activity and health,
as well as connecting me to other members who can
encourage me to visit more frequently – attending
to my overall fitness and wellbeing, not just my hours
using its equipment.
“Loyalty will earn insights and a better holistic life, not just discounts that encourage more consumption.”
My favorite retail brand will build a personal
shopping cart for me based not only on what I
have bought in the past, but how much food I
have thrown away, whether food is in season and
available from local sources, as well as showing
product alternatives bought by similar customers
who have my desired body weight or health profile.
It will also help me to reduce my household waste
and environmental impact by recommending
products with less packaging and brands that have
a lower carbon footprint.
Loyalty will earn insights and a better holistic life, not
just discounts that encourage more consumption.
My favorite car brand will allow me to access any
model I like when I need it and only pay for the time
I use. And because ownership will shift from me as a
consumer back to the automotive company, it will take
care to fully recycle its machines – reusing the raw
materials that made it to create new cars, rather than
committing them to landfill.
10Thinking
Less will build loyalty
Brands have always been a promise of quality and
addressing personal needs and this is how they build
loyalty – people want to recreate previous good
experiences and brands help them to do it easily.
In the future, this quality of experience will depend
on helping people to understand and manage how
much they consume, not just offering pleasure,
efficacy and consistency. As they do this, not only will
they deliver the great experiences we want, they will
also help us to reduce waste, improve our health and
be more conscious of the impact our consumption
has on the world around us.
This will make us more loyal to brands, not less,
because we will depend on them as vital inputs
to our quantified selves. And it will make sure that
corporations continue to make money and grow
sustainably by providing things that genuinely improve
our quality of life, rather than just selling us too much
of stuff we don’t need.
Because it costs them more to sell things that are
wasted, and they might find that people are prepared to
pay more for less, saving them money on raw materials,
packaging and distribution that simply are not necessary
– “concentrated” washing detergents being the prime
example in mass market products today.
But the key to this future is the creation and
management of the dashboard itself. Who will we
trust to aggregate this information, interpret it and
store it on our behalf? For example, would I allow
a food brand access to my health or financial
information so it can design better food for me?
The unspoken contract between people and the
brands they love will need to be more explicit – I trust
you with my data and you have my best interests
at heart in return. If you don’t, the contract breaks
down and brand loyalty is broken. The most obvious
candidates for this kind of trust are the current
“Who will we trust to aggregate this information, interpret it and store it on our behalf?”
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aggregator brands – the search engines, the multi-
brand retailers, the software service providers – brands
that exist to help us get access to multiple products,
services and information, we depend on every day,
and are increasingly personalising their services around
individual customer needs and data.
So what will our future consumption look like?
Supermarkets will deliberately sell us fewer products
in smaller packages. Automotive brands will stop
selling us cars and start selling us access to mobility
services. Financial services brands will help us to spend
less money within our means. Soft drinks brands will
sell us fewer sparkling beverages. Insurance brands
will charge us lower premiums based on our individual
behavior, not actuarial tables. All in the interests of
building the loyalty that comes from being understood
and not trying to manipulate us into using more
than we want or need. And one brand will bring it all
together to drive the balance.
The question is, which brand will you choose to do it?
“A brand is used in business to differentiate goods or services from each other and to help create associations in the minds of consumers which lead to awareness, preference and ultimately, choice or purchase.”
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Why Branding is not Advertising, and Advertising is not Branding
by Chris Nurko
As the Super Bowl in the United States fades from
memory, and clients pay their bills for the mega-
spend on their ads (estimated by the AP to be $4
million for 30 seconds and exposure to an audience
of 112m viewers), it seems an appropriate opportunity
to remind everyone why Branding is not Advertising,
and Advertising is not Branding. I want to make it clear
that I am not “Advertising bashing”; in fact I am a huge
advocate of Advertising in all of its forms as both a
strategic and tactical means of creating effective brand
interest, awareness, desire and sales. However, unlike
the proverbial “chicken vs. egg” discussion, Advertising
is only effective if the brand and its strategy have
been established first and it is subservient to the brand
strategy at all times. As the debate rages over what the
“best” or “most effective” ads were for the Super Bowl –
my question is, which brands used the Super Bowl and
Advertising to the greatest effect for their overall Brand
Strategy? Before I can answer that, let’s just be clear
about what the difference and relationship is between
Brand Strategy and Advertising.
Branding 101 – defined. Branding is the term for a
company, product or service that can be recognised by
the following key ingredients: a unique name, a unique
logotype/marque or visual identity, and a distinctive
value proposition or “offer”. A brand is used in business
to differentiate goods or services from each other and
to help create associations in the minds of consumers
which lead to awareness, preference and ultimately,
choice or purchase. Brands are strategic assets that
on their own or across a portfolio, help to create
customer loyalty and advocacy thus generating a
predictive model for future income. By measuring
brand choice (today’s sales, market share, loyalty, etc.)
a brand’s owner can project future sales with a degree
of certainty and thus value. This future value of a brand
is thus dependent upon a brand being both consistent
in terms of delivery and “offer” while remaining
relevant and salient to consumers. A brand strategy
is therefore all about being consistent and ensuring
that existing and potential brand audiences are familiar
with, and interested in, the brand’s offer. Keep in
mind, when it comes to brands, consumers expect
consistency and a strong current and future brand
is reliable for its unique and defined set of qualities
and attributes that appeal and sustain a consumer’s
attention. If it is successful, a brand establishes an
image in consumers’ minds that creates awareness
and hopefully a “position” that makes it distinct,
differentiated and desired by the target audience.
In order to remain relevant and salient to consumers,
a brand must continually reinforce its “position” (versus
the competition) and build awareness and preference
amongst its audience targets.
14Thinking
To this end, a brand strategy is the sum total of how
the brand and its physical attributes (identity, product,
packaging, services and experiences) are associated
and identified with a set of emotional and mental
attributes (brand image, values, associations, and
unique selling points) that leads to sales. The brand
strategy is the means by which a brand as an asset
is linked to an offer of value that consumers are
willing to pay for and repeatedly purchase over time
so as to create demand. In this way, a brand strategy
for a company, a product or service is executed
and linked to the financial performance of a brand
owner. In order to be successful, the tools and
methods of how a brand communicates its salience
and relevance must be uniquely determined and
leveraged. This is the Brand Communications Strategy
and it is most often made up of Advertising, Media
or Channel Planning, Public Relations, Point of Sale
and Digital/Social or Direct Marketing. Each of these
communications disciplines must work both on their
own and in concert to create an effective “Campaign”
for a brand. This in itself means that a single theme
or series of messages related to a brand is effectively
communicated to audiences to create awareness,
recognition, preference and ultimately, choice for
the brand. A Marketing Strategy is the allocation of
resources required for a brand to be effective given
sales and marketing challenges or competitive activity.
To reinforce my point, a Brand Strategy must come
before the Brand Communications Strategy and it
must be linked to future sales and growth.
So, isn’t Advertising just the TV Ads? No, the TV ads are
only part of the equation – albeit the most expensive and
highest profile aspect of the medium. Advertising has
come to mean the collective use of all forms of Above
the Line (ATL) and Below the Line (BTL) communications
tactics and disciplines. Advertising tends to be “Campaign”
oriented so as to reflect both the shopping/buying
cycles of consumers in any given year, and it reflects the
product or category innovation development of brand
owners. When these two
aspects are brought together, a Brand Communications
Strategy can be developed. A single “theme” or “set of
messages” are developed based on the Brand Strategy
where the objective is to raise awareness and aid
recognition of the brand and link this to the action
of purchase and recommendation.
A strong campaign helps to promote a brand’s relevance
and salience by tapping into the
consumer’s conscious and unconscious mindset.
Ideally, the campaign’s goal is to help create stronger
associations and interest in the brand, the product/
service/experience or category so as to “position’” the
brand for future consideration and purchase by the
consumer. Advertising that is well conceived and well
executed is the ultimate means of bringing a brand
“to life” for consumers by creating a link between the
consumers’ needs and wants, which in turn drives
purchase consideration and behaviour. Often, the
strongest Ad Campaigns create additional elements
of a brand’s narrative or story via campaign imagery, story
lines, slogans/jingles, mnemonics and
associations (including celebrity endorsements).
Ultimately, it prompts the consumer to choose and buy
the product, service or experience either for the first time
(trial and consideration) or for repeated times (loyalty/
advocacy). If a “campaign” is well integrated and executed
using a brand’s unique and memorable attributes, it
creates additional elements that strengthen recall and
preference, a brand gains in strength. Brand strength
means that advertising not only delivers awareness and
recall (aided and unaided) but consumers attach the
specific brand attributes to the communications which
derive from the brand’s core values, attributes and unique
selling points. A strong brand therefore is able to generate
future growth and value.
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What happens when the Advertising becomes the Brand Strategy? Ok, so finally i get to my point! If an advertising strategy becomes the brand strategy, a few things can occur:
A brand becomes associated with a “Campaign” and
by its very nature – the “Campaign” begins to take on a
life of its own. This often leads to the awareness being
high and recall strong (usually because the campaign
elements become cultural signifiers, mnemonic icons
or vernacular catch phrases) but this often fails to
translate into actual sales or differentiating product/
service or experience benefits. The brand experiences
a spike amongst consumers of media and the client
becomes hooked on levels of marketing spend which
need to be continually reinvested so as to maintain
the brand’s profile. This can often occur with total
disregard to either developing the product or service
experience or without truly engaging the consumer(s)
of the brand. The brand either becomes a “generic” for
the category, or becomes invisible as each campaign
becomes “wallpaper”. Often seen in the background
but simultaneously ignored. There are frequently no
discernible or unique aspects to the “ad” and one
could easily substitute any brand for the storyline as
long as the storyline stays the same. Conventional
wisdom also says that when the storyline becomes too
familiar, the audience begins judging the storyline of
the plot against previous “episodes” or versions of the
storyline – and this results in comments like… “it wasn’t
as good as the last ad”. Forgetting about the brand and
focusing on the ad story is never a good thing.
The campaigns often are characterised by advertising
that is disconnected to the actual product, service or
experience. They become victims to advertising that
plays to either a) stereotypes and archetype narratives
which are category generics (thus not differentiating),
or b) they become indulgent set-pieces in bizarre,
humorous or surreal executions which often leave
the consumer or viewer wondering what the ad was
about and with no connection to the product, service,
experience or brand at all. In many cases, the “creative”
metaphor is one of extreme yet familiar storylines so
that it either “shocks” or “grabs attention” yet fails
to connect with any aspect of the brand that is unique
or part of the user experience. Often these ads are
funny in the short term, but do they make you go
out and “buy” the product, or feel “better” about
the brand itself?
So, with this in mind… make up your own mind about
the 2013 Super Bowl ads… and use this as a guide
for whether the ads are good for the brand or not.
Hint – if you can’t remember the brand, or there is no
discernible difference between the brand, the product
and any other competitor – maybe it’s time to re-think
the Brand Strategy and Communications Strategy link.
Bravo to the brand strategy directors and marketing
teams who recognised the value of putting a strong
storyline linked to brand assets (icons, symbols and
unique attributes) into an emotive promotion. For
these brands, the future is one of stronger recall,
positive associations and reinforced attributes.
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“The iconography of a nation is representative of culture, patriotism, history and pride.”
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Iconography in Branding: The importance of getting it right
by Chris Nurko
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Let’s explore three interesting and topical brand issues
in the news that underscore the power and importance
of Branding, national identity and design and the
powerful role they have in communications. All three
are examples of national identities derived from, and
integral to, the flags of their respective nations.
18Thinking
Canada and Currency
First of all, Canada has introduced a new
currency note that uses a maple leaf design
as part of the security feature across the
denominations of Canadian Dollars.
The new design includes what has been
described as a “representative” leaf as
opposed to an “actual” leaf (meaning –
a stylised interpretation of what a maple
leaf looks like based on no specific variety
of Maple Tree). However, Botanists and
Canadians are not letting this one get “spun”
– why? Because it does not look like the
traditional native Canadian sugar maple leaf,
but rather looks like an imported species of
maple tree (the Norwegian maple leaf).
One could be forgiven if the differences
were subtle, but anyone familiar with
Canadian symbolism and iconography
knows – the leaves are different and the
sugar maple is the definitive representation
of all things Canadian. So, why and how
could this happen? At the end of the day
(as suggested in the BBC news report), the
role of design is one of interpretation, and
therefore sometimes a designer needs to
take the liberty of interpretation for various
reasons. In commercial enterprise, theatre
and/or entertainment – this is acceptable
and encouraged. However, when it comes
to government, business or any aspect of
society in which a degree of trust, familiarity
or citizenship is involved it is better not
to stray too far from convention. The
iconography of a nation is representative
of culture, patriotism, history and pride. The
symbolism of a flag or coat of arms is almost
sacrosanct and needs to be treated with
respect and care, and it needs to be accurate
to previous and historic convention. I would
argue, in the case of currency – that this is a
base requirement. So – kudos for retaining
the maple leaf design as an integral part of
the currency, and embracing technology to
allow it to be integrated as a security feature
(a see through window). However, nil points
for mistaking an imported leaf species or
“stylistically blending” the Norwegian variety
with the familiar, iconic and truly native
Canadian sugar maple leaf!
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Cuba and the Union Jack
The second example is the report out of
Havana that Cubans are going “loco” for
anything Union Jack. The “bandera inglesa”
(English flag) is a popular design icon for
everything from clothes, to bags, and
tattoos! Technically – the flag is the British
flag (made up of the English Cross of
St George alongside the Scottish Cross
of St Andrew and the Cross of St Patrick).
It is officially the Union Flag but in common
parlance is referred to as the “Union Jack”.
But we are splitting hairs… to young Cubans,
it represents a cool design feature which is
now very “on trend” because of the London
2012 Olympic Games. When asked in the
BBC feature as to why they like it or what
they associate it – a young Cuban answers
that because “the country is beautiful, the
people are friendly and the women are
pretty.” Introduced last summer, the effect
of the Olympic Games and the coverage of
London 2012 has had an impact which has
translated into a commercial opportunity
for vendors in Havana. Suffice to say,
the “Cool Britannia” of the Union Jack is
evident around the world and in Britain as
well – but, to the extent that an avowed
Communist state and its people embrace
a symbol of the United Kingdom versus just
a nice piece of red, white and blue design
depends on their associations. And, in this
case – it is one not of politics but sport
and the cultural coverage from The Games.
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20Thinking
Therefore, one cannot approach the task
lightly. However, I believe the new American
Airlines design gets it right for several reasons.
The iconic elements of the
silver fuselage, red/white/blue,
and “eagle” have all been retained,
contemporised and incorporated
into one system that is easier
to implement and facilitates
brand recognition.
The tailfin is both dynamic and
expressive with a strong reference
to the “flag carrier” concept yet it
is abstract and not literal.
The “flight symbol” is a strong
stand-alone element that unifies
all of the components into one
that aid recognition and ownership,
making it distinctive.
The symbols of America are enduring
and strong, but also ubiquitous and to
create something which stands apart is a
tough challenge. Judging by blog forum
discussions and overall press, the consensus
is that American Airlines needed a “new”
breath of fresh air into its design and visual
identity, and whether you like it or not –
for the brand and the business it was the
right thing to do.
Preserving equity and iconic status is a
challenge, and for an airline it is vital. The
new American represents a 21st century
America and will stand the test of time!
American Airlines and the new American
The third example is that of American
Airlines. We at FutureBrand spent two years
investigating and understanding every
element of the American Airlines identity as
well as what represents “America” in terms
of symbols, icons, graphics, colors, type and
associations. The result is the new identity of
American Airlines. (You can read more about
it on the futurebrand.com web pages and
indeed, in the press).
You can make up your own mind about it
from a subjective or objective point of view.
My point in this article is to merely highlight
that when a branding or design firm is
asked to leverage symbols and icons of a
commercial enterprise (and one in which
there is history, equity and pride) you have
to be careful!
Plus, if those elements are also part of a wider
narrative or cultural symbolism (e.g. that of
the nation) you have to be extra vigilant. In
the airline business, logos and tailfins are
the glamour elements and the icons that
enter into the social and cultural vernacular.
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“Building a structure within the business to encourage creativity requires the right people, processes and tools. Having these three components in place is vital in ensuring communication is centralised and teams understand the stages of an approval process.”
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Driving brand performance through creating desire
by Simon Jenkinson
So what makes our brands and organisations tick?
Most would agree that it’s our people who are
responsible for driving success of the business.
Surely it’s one of the oldest corporate challenges
in the book – “How do we motivate our employees
to perform better?”. From team building days,
hanging upside down on obstacle courses to the
good old fashion cash incentive. There have been
hundreds of solutions to encourage staff to be more
productive with a view to increasing productivity
and the bottom-line.
With over 13 million Google results – who has the right
answer? Or is there even one model that fits all?
One approach I came across was coined by Whetten
and Cameron, who discuss the link between
performance and motivation by referring to the
following equation (I added the last part in the mix):
Performance = Ability × Motivationwhere Motivation = Commitment × Desireand where Desire = Creativity × Autonomy
24Thinking
Admittedly, this equation could go
on forever, however by using this
model it suggests that employees
must first and foremost have
desire – and to create desire,
individuals must feel a degree of
independence and/or freedom
(Autonomy), coupled with being
involved and leading challenging
and engaging tasks to achieve
shared goals (Creativity).
Dan Pink suggests a similar
approach, his book Drive
highlights: “The secret to high
performance and satisfaction
– at work, at school, and at home
– is the deeply human need to
direct our own lives, to learn and
create new things, and to do
better by us and our world.”
He also goes on to suggest that
cash incentives don’t provide an
individual with the desire to be
creative on a daily basis.
Giving individuals the freedom
to do what they please, including
making critical business decisions
sounds like a dangerous theory!
But how about allowing such
individuals to be creative with
a degree of validation from senior
members – a little more easy
to digest? Building a structure
within the business to encourage
creativity requires the right people,
processes and tools. Having these
three components in place is vital
in ensuring communication is
centralised and teams understand
the stages of an approval process.
So to summarise, if you want your
employees to perform better and
the business to thrive, start at the
bottom of the equation and create
the desire by:
Ensuring aspects of your
employees’ roles are
creativity, challenging
and satisfying and provide
them with the tools to
foster collaboration
Give individuals the
freedom to make their
own decisions – with a
level of oversight from
the top – but not too
much bureaucracy please
So as opposed to empowering
teams (which is really another
word for control), provide them
with enough scope to take control
of their own working lives and give
them purpose in fulfilling what
they already know as their role.
The outcome could quite well be
increased productivity, enhanced
satisfaction, unforeseen innovation
and in-turn creation of greater
quality products and services
for your consumer.
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To disseminate
the above
even further:
performance motivationability
motivation commitment
creativity autonomy
desire
desire
N
It is about feeling
aspects of freedom
and self-control over
ones own direction.
Au
ton
om
y
N
It is all about
putting in effort.
Co
mm
itm
ent
Refers to their
drive to succeed.
Mo
tiva
tio
n
It is about being
innovative, challenged
and engaged.
Cre
ativ
ity
Seen as the level of
competence to fulfill
the role an individual
has chosen.
Ab
ility
Seen as enthusiasm
for doing a task.
Des
ire
“Businesses demand more from any tool(s) they invest in, and rightly so, many tools only provide a single solution to a problem though companies today demand that a single tool solves a plethora of business issues.”
27
How hard is your brand management tool working?
by Simon Jenkinson
When I researched the market to compare brand
and asset management solutions about 5 years ago,
I found that a lot of the web-based solutions looked
like they’d been built in the 80s, primarily because they
were created by tech houses with little or no design
thinking applied to the interface. Of course, underlying
technology plays a key role here, but should not be
the prime focus. In order to be successful, user
adoption must be at the top of the list, meaning –
first and foremost, the intended end-user must be
able to easily use and adopt the tool with no training.
When we introduced our own brand management
tool at FutureBrand, the initial intent was for managing
and sharing brand assets and communicating one-
way brand thinking and best practice to our global
network. Shortly after launch, the adoption of the
Creative Workflow feature fell into place. The workflow
component allows for team collaboration, review and
approval of materials produced across regional/local
teams. The uptake of the tool really filled a gap around
multi-way communication; it reduced the amount
of in-bound emails and enhanced project team
alignment. Managing branded assets and guideline
materials in today’s market is a given, but having a
centralised tool that tracks performance of review and
approvals, artwork production and content publishing
really brings great insights to the table while delivering
brand consistency.
Businesses demand more from any tool(s) they invest
in, and rightly so, many tools only provide a single
solution to a problem though companies today
demand that a single tool solve a plethora of business
issues. Brand management tools are no different;
they need to satisfy more functions and departmental
requirements than ever.
From experience, other requirements typically fall
into the following areas; managing multiple brands,
creating & tracking campaigns, localising artwork,
product management, material ordering, publishing
and monitoring social network content and providing
one-to-one support to the network.
28Thinking
MGetting the right stakeholders on-board
at the start of the process will ensure
adoption at the end, plus gaining insights
from Marketing, Advertising, Legal, IT and
Management teams will ensure the tool
serves the purpose of the whole business.
1
2
3
Involve the right people at the start
Make it easy to use
Make the tool relevant in getting the job done
So here are my top-five considerations when
implementing a brand management tool:
As discussed above, the easier the
tool and the more benefits it provides
on a daily basis, the better.
Managing a whole workforce to adopt new
brand strategies and visual identity systems
is all about change management. Equipping
teams with the tools, training and knowledge
they can digest in their own time will help
alleviate the challenges they face.
29
4
5
Centralised engagement
Measure, measure and measure
Teams and individuals can engage with
others on many different levels and in
various ways. Providing a centralised
location to foster collaboration is key;
not just to make their lives easier but
also for corporate compliance reasons.
By identifying the current state of play
at the start of the project will allow
benchmarking success later down the line.
Tracking the performance and measuring
retention, usage, adoption, operational
processes and learning and growth metrics
can provide streamlining opportunities
and justifiable Return-on-Investment.
To conclude, if you have a brand asset
management tool, that is just that, “asset
management”, perhaps it’s time to think
about what other business benefits a brand
tool should be satisfying; one that provides
efficiencies to teams, fosters collaboration,
retains brand value and provides insights
into overall brand performance.
“Connecting both real-world physical products and digital content with the consumer experience has, and will extend the opportunity to build brand loyalty with existing customer...”
31
Managing v#content – Owned brand and consumer brand management
by Simon Jenkinson
As we all know, the role of marketing was once
focused on one-way communication to consumers;
the 4 Ps evolved to 7 with the 8th arguably being
“personalisation”, 9th – “problem”, 10th – “peer-to-
peer”… You get the idea. Today it’s the consumer
that predominately promotes products and brands
between themselves. According to a recent report
by Forrester*, some 70% of U.S. online adults trust
brand or product recommendations from friends and
family and 46% trust consumer (written online) reviews,
while just 10% trust ads on websites and 9% trust text
messages from companies or brands. Technology
has accelerated this change and word-of-mouth
has opened up personal opinion globally.
Neu
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.neu
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>
32Thinking
to combat tomorrow’s v#content
brand management challenges.
Solid rules and
foundations of a “Brand”.
Flexibile, scalable,
relevant and high
performing “Assets”.
Adaptable and compliant
“Workflow” processes.
Having these foundations
in place will allow for brands
to be successful; set, create,
approve, publish, protect and
measure the standards of owned
and consumer based campaign
branded v#content.
Of course, v#content should not
just be restricted to digital formats,
real-world products also need to
evolve… And they are… Recent
innovations in mobile and sensor
technologies allow for creating a
digital representation of almost any
physical entity and its parameters
over time at any place, deemed as
“Smart Products.^”
Technology alone is not the
solution – consumers still need
to be put at the centre of the
experience, with technology as a
supporting role, Adriano Galardi
sums this up well with the article
“When humans – not tech, are put
at the centre of the experience,
everyday problems get solved”
at page 77.
Yesterday brand management was
simply about managing assets,
PDF guidelines, self diagnosis,
decentralised touch-point silos
and logo Police. Tomorrow, the
role of brand management is
about asset performance, “Just-in-
Time” approvals and centralising
efficiencies of owned on- and
off-line branded content and the
life-cycle of such content when
adopted and personalised by
consumers. FutureBrand classifies
this type of content-collaboration
as v#content (virtual content).
I believe that the tool(s) used in the
brand management process need
to consider three key components
The challenge now becomes: How do brands manage owned brand content and consumer created/personalised brand content?
1
2
3
Brand
Assets Workflow
Effectiveness & Efficiencies
33
The plot thickens… Let’s consider
that branded content comes
in two forms:
Physically, such as
product packaging.
Digitally, such as owned
and consumer hashtag
and/or image and
video content.
Connecting both real-world
physical products and digital
content with the consumer
experience (via RFID, QR Codes
and AR) has, and will extend the
opportunity to build brand loyalty
with existing customer, while
providing a platform for said
1
2
Sources: * Forrester (2013) report based on a survey of more than 58,000 respondents^ Wikipedia “Smart Products”
customers to mobilise, connect
and activate their affiliation
with family and friends in an
on-brand way.
So, future brand management
needs to consider not just the
physical, but also virtual and social
aspects of marketing consumer
connections and the process and
tools used to create, distribute,
manage and measure the way
consumers adopt and personalise
v#content. The output will
provide greater connection and
engagement between products,
brands and the consumers’ voice.
And potentially reduce your
marketing spend while retaining
brand equity.
11 0 1
0 0 1 01 01 11 0 101 1 0 101 110 10101 010101110 010010110100011010110
Physicalproducts
Digital content
“A brand must drive its category forward in continually providing relevance and benefits for its consumers. Ideally, by innovating and continually improving where, what, and how consumers experience and derive value from the brand.”
35
Five things all brand managers should know
by Chris Nurko
Managing a brand is a tough job today. Not only are
there continual pressures to manage budgets and gain
more for less from your agency partners but there is
also the added complexity of managing your brand in
real time with metrics coming in from multiple on-line
sources, communities and daily web traffic reports.
Needless to say, Agency campaign results whether
ATL, BTL or Digital can be confusing – and, when
the “Boss” (insert Brand Director, Head of Strategic
Marketing, SVP Marketing or even CMO) emails you
to ask, “How is the Brand doing?”, you may be forgiven
for either wondering if your response may be a career
defining/limiting answer, or a chance to dazzle with
the expertise and data points that will demonstrate
your brilliance and importance. Either way, all too
often the responses can be either poorly constructed
or lacking in depth.
So, here I offer my top 5 action points for all brand
managers to keep on hand and know at all times
about their brand. It goes without saying, that these
5 key points should be aligned to the 5 key things that
a brand should always have at the heart of its strategy.
Of course, there could be more – however, this is my
list so feel free to add and expand! I hope it is useful for
those at the “front lines” of brand marketing and sales.
36Thinking
Market share is a key indicator of business
performance as it measures the “units sold” of a
product/service as a % of the total market sales.
It can also be measured in revenue, or “dollar/euro/
pound/etc market share”. It enables brand managers
to understand the competitive situation in relation
to the market’s growth, stagnation (flat line sales)
or decline. If a key target or strategic objective is
to achieve or protect “share”, a brand manager must
know the dynamics of the market and how his or
her brand is performing. This will drive the choice
of tactical brand marketing strategies and executions.
Market share
Sales figures (and sales trends)
For any FMCG brand or retail brand, knowing the sales
figures is critical to assessing performance across a set
period of time. Whether that be weekly (most common
in retail) or monthly/quarterly (consumer goods), the
Net Sales figures give an accurate indication of what
consumers are buying and at what price, which allows
a firm to calculate its revenue.
Gross sales are useful to know, however they may
not be accurate due to goods being returned or
coupon/discounting. Therefore, from an accounting
point of view Net Sales = Revenue, and for a brand
this, combined with market share gives the most
accurate indication of performance. The sales trends
are the longer term history of a brand and category
performance which involves tracking a brand, and
identifying when and where consumer buying
behaviours changed or were influenced by any
external events or marketing campaigns.
1 2
$%¢÷
+
+
++
=-
+
37
Awareness (aided and unaided) scores by target audience
Advocacy numbers
This measure is literally the number of “advocates or
fans” whose contact details, addresses or “permission
based marketing” approvals you have to engage in
1:1 dialogue. There are different means of gauging
advocacy for a brand, but the most reliable is based
on Permission Based Data (often held by the CRM
function in a firm). This translates into consumers
who have purchased and “liked” your brand enough
to give you their permission to engage in dialogue or
marketing promotions.
Whether this is on-line or via telephone/direct mail,
this data is the reservoir of advocacy from which
a brand can further engage and interact with its
consumers. Increasingly, as part of the social media
landscape, these communities and databases can be
segmented and further defined giving more detailed
and granular data about who, why, when and how
often a brand “fan” is buying or using a product,
service or experience. The use of Facebook and
Twitter often falls into this category for many brand
owners, however I would suggest that the strongest
advocacy metrics are related to those in which the
consumer has not merely “liked” or become a “friend”
or “tweeted”, but rather engaged in permission-based
data marketing linked to an actual sale or purchase.
One of the critical factors for a brand manager is to
understand and know whether their brand is “top-
of-mind” amongst target consumers and/or opinion
formers or influencers. This information forms the
basis of the Advertising and Marketing strategy
which influences the degree to which a campaign
is effective in translating into sales. The ideal and
primary objective is for a brand to have strong
unaided awareness so that when asked to name a
brand in a category, or associated with a particular
set of values or attributes, the brand is spontaneously
offered and named by consumers.
Aided awareness is recall that is prompted by imagery
or associations in order to stimulate a brand’s
familiarity with consumers. Often, this is with the
category or product/service reference in research
techniques. Aided awareness scores are positive for
a brand, however it begs the question of category
relevance and differentiation depending upon the
brand’s strategy. It often reveals that the category
is either of low interest or the brand is only relevant
in the context of the category associations. Brand
managers with a strong brand name that is only
associated with a category must be careful, for as
powerful as it might seem to want your brand to be
the “defining” brand of the category – this often can
lead to becoming an industry generic or a category
limiting boundary which restricts the brand’s “stretch”
and growth potential. Often this is referred to as the
“Kleenex” or “Band Aid” mindset, as both of these
brands have high awareness and brand recall, but
have become industry generic terms and have had to
truly fight hard to expand beyond the initial product
and category attributes.
3 4
38Thinking
Core brand values
Finally, the fifth most important thing a brand manager
must be aware of and intimately familiar with is the
core brand values of their brand. It seems obvious
to state, however that the core values of a brand are
the words that define what the brand is and what it
stands for, irrespective of the attributes of the category,
marketing campaigns and/or competitive pressures.
The core brand values are the bedrock upon which
the brand’s story and narrative for consumers are
constructed, and as such it needs to be clearly defined
in a short set of words or descriptions.
Many brands use credo and manifesto statements,
and they combine precise adjectives with action verbs
to define exactly what and how the brand provides
“value” and “benefit” to its consumers and advocates.
This is critical for a brand manager because the brand
values direct and guide all aspects of a brand’s visual,
verbal and experiential performance. The core values
and the visual identity equities together become the
benchmark and guardrails for the brand’s image and
identity. When combined with strong advertising, the
brand’s awareness and recall can be strengthened in
relation to consumer preference and choice.
Many a brand manager has come unstuck by
creating too much elasticity and interpretation
of a brand’s values and visual identity thus leading
to a “schizophrenic” brand persona and ultimately
consumer confusion. Brands are built upon the notion
of consistency and reliability, as well as unique points
of differentiation. In order to maintain and build a
brand’s future growth plan, the core values must be
continually reinforced and guarded from erosion or
misinterpretation. When someone says something
is “off brand”, what they are really saying is the core
brand values are either missing, misrepresented
or misinterpreted.
5
39
Has a compellingvision for the future
So, those are my 5 suggestions for what every brand
manager should know and be aware of… and, it might
be a good idea for more senior brand leaders to keep
in mind as well! It always surprises me how some of
these basic elements are ignored or misunderstood
when considering a brand’s performance or relevance
to consumers.
As I mentioned, these 5 elements must always work
and align to the 5 things a brand should always have at
the heart of its future (and present) strategy. They are:
Builds a strongemotional connection
Redefines the category
Delivers sustainablebusiness value
Creates engaging experiences at every touch point
Makes people’slives better
1
4
5
2
3
A brand must have a unique point of view on
the future and be able to articulate it for all
stakeholders. This is often referred to as the
brand vision or brand idea.
A brand must drive its category forward in
continually providing relevance and benefits
for its consumers. Ideally, by innovating and
continually improving where, what, and how
consumers experience and derive value from
the brand.
By doing the two points above, a brand is
truly making people’s lives better. After all,
why would anyone want a brand that
did the opposite?
If a brand is consistent at every touch point
where it engages with its consumers and
stakeholders, the brand reinforces all of the
rational and emotional reasons why the
brand is chosen or preferred.
Ideally, this then leads to the brand narrative
being seen as an “emotional” benefit and
connection for consumers and generates
advocacy and loyalty from preference.
These 5 key elements lead to a final outcome
and ingredient in creating and sustaining a “future
brand”, and that is superior commercial or financial
performance by providing value.
At the end of the day, a brand is an asset and if the
above key elements are in place, and a brand manager
understands how they relate to the task of creating,
measuring and maintaining brand strength – then, the
value of a brand is delivered and measured by the hard
numbers of market share, sales/revenue and advocacy.
Ultimately, this translates into future demand, growth
and success.
“To simultaneously create better, more authentic brands while overcoming alignment challenges, crowdsourcing internally and co-creation with employees itself is critical to all future brand creation.”
41
The power of the inner crowd: Building brands from within
by Sarah Reiter
We have pioneered new branding practices including
reinventing traditional brand strategy and identity
methodologies by incorporating customer co-creation
and embedding crowdsourcing with employees.
The Power of the Inner Crowd is the new approach
to brand creation – one that addresses the challenges
in branding today and ultimately creates great brands
by building the brands from within.
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42Thinking
Here is a list of the many benefits in
harnessing the wisdom of employees:
Achieve a sound congruence
between brand promise and
corporate reality
Create a strong brand
relevancy based on a diversity
of ideas and perspectives
Empower employees and
increase staff motivation,
morale and commitment
Better integrates staff with
corporate goals and values,
through recognition of their
contribution to these
Recognises the important
work that staff do and
therefore harnesses their
commitment to the business
Discover compelling brand
stories that are ideal for
external activation and
internal alignment
Engage employees to
make them identify with
our brand and become a
desirable employer
Manage cultural variation
by building brands around
a shared purpose and
corporate culture
Develop sustainable
brands that speak of the
people and company they
proudly represent
Branding traditionally creates
static personas that bear little
resemblance with reality. It assumes
a top-down approach in which
no truth is being told and thus falls
short of achieving proactive internal
support. As a result, most brands
do not grow organically, detached
from the organisation, with
little momentum.
In contrast, future brand creation
needs to assume a holistic
perspective on building brands
based on internal strengths, core
truths, customer centricity and
experience design. And, branding
must become strongly integrated
in business strategy, product and
internal operations.
The involvement of internal
stakeholders often leads to the
discovery of hidden strengths
since employees are a rich
source of insights and ideas.
Hence, building brands on the
basis of culture and core internal
truths is more credible and
effective, and it allows the brand
to be created organically, reflect
the corporate spirit and grow
with business.
In short, to simultaneously create
better, more authentic brands while
overcoming alignment challenges,
crowdsourcing internally and co-
creation with employees itself is
critical to all future brand creation.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
43
1
2
3
5
6
7 8 9
4
“It matters to us that our favourite brands are managed by businesses that care about their role in the world beyond sales and profit.”
45
3 brand lessons to learn from #fitchthehomeless
by Tom Adams
There are 5,711,249 reasons why Greg Karber’s
#fitchthehomeless video on YouTube should be taken
seriously. His attempt to readjust the Abercrombie &
Fitch brand by donating its clothing to the homeless
in LA has provoked universal outcry. Most of it against
Abercrombie for comments on exclusivity made by its
CEO Mike Jeffries in 2006, and some against Karber
himself for exploiting homeless people to attack a
billion dollar brand.
Jeffries has taken to Facebook to set the record
straight, including a defence of the realities of
managing an aspirational brand, and asserting the
strong values of the business he runs, particularly
in relation to diversity and inclusion. But consumers
don’t seem sympathetic to this.
The short-term reputational impact of this consumer
backlash looks severe. Time will tell whether it
significantly affects sales, or changes the way
Abercrombie & Fitch is run in the long term. But the
whole affair teaches us three simple lessons about
how to manage a major brand today.
46Thinking
Have a clear organisational purpose Connect your purpose to the value chain
Part of the challenge Abercrombie faces is that it
doesn’t seem to have a clear organisational purpose
beyond helping young people to look great. Or at least
one that can be seen from the outside. Increasingly,
consumers want to know about the business behind
the brand, and this is often best articulated through
the spirit and commitments of its leadership, CEO
included. This goes beyond values like diversity and
inclusion – both of which are increasingly obligations
rather than strategic choices – towards a sense of your
broader role in the world and why this is important
for society as a whole. When you dig into the business,
they are clearly making some broader commitments
to helping communities and giving back – through
their mission, vision and corporate philanthropy
initiative – but this doesn’t seem to be guided
by an overarching sense of corporate purpose.
American Apparel, although much smaller, is another
international US fashion brand. And it is explicitly
cause driven. Its “vertically integrated manufacturing”
idea is strongly connected to its brand, product and
organisation – they talk about being “sweat-shop free”
and are proud of making all of their clothes in the USA.
They are also now showing growth year on year
(4% to April 2013), indicating that this commitment
does not mean sacrificing commercial success. The
more closely you can connect your purpose to your
people, supply chain and product, the more likely you
will be taken seriously by consumers when things go
wrong – which they have for American Apparel and
often do in complex businesses. Other brands like
Unilever, P&G and Virgin also embed a bigger purpose
into their operating approach in a way that is consistent
with consumer willingness to choose brands that
demonstrate they offer some kind of social good –
improving lives, building enduring organisations or
simply doing the right thing.
1 2
47
Prepare to be hijacked
Activists hijack powerful brands to promote their own
cause. The bigger the brand, the bigger the target.
And it doesn’t necessarily matter what the truth is.
Abercrombie & Fitch is a major global brand, with
over 1000 stores worldwide, 85,000 associates and
over $4.5billon in net sales in 2013. They also make
a significant effort to help their communities and
demonstrate their social responsibility. But this story
gets lost if it’s buried in corporate reporting, and if it
feels somehow separate from the main business
of the brand – i.e. “we are a fashion brand, but we
also do good.”
Social channels make it possible for anyone with
a smartphone and access to YouTube to attempt a
brand “readjustment” of the kind managed by Karber,
and engineer the type of instant global reach that
could only have been dreamed of by activists a
generation ago. And it’s been happening for a while –
think Axe vs. Dove from Rye Clifton as early as 2007.
The key is to know what you are going to do when
it happens, make sure that your public statements
reflect your broader purpose, are evidence driven,
and that you are making an attempt to reconcile
the contradictions that naturally occur in complex
multinational organisations. That way, you can even
use it as a platform to build your brand, rather than
just defend it.
Above all, this is a good reminder that brands are
no longer just about great advertising, product and
experiences. People want to know what’s going on
behind the models and the storefronts. It matters to
us that our favourite brands are managed by
businesses that care about their role in the world
beyond sales and profit. And when that is already the
case – as it very likely is for Abercrombie & Fitch –
we need to see it in every aspect of the brand. In the
end, it’s increasingly “cool” to genuinely care.
3
Karber, Greg. <youtube.com/user/gkarber>
48Thinking
“As generation Y evolves and utilises multiple media formats to educate and entertain ourselves, YouTube offers us an abundance of content with 100 hours of content uploaded every hour.”
49
Top 10 brands “twentysomethings” cannot live without and why
by Bradley Walsh
Facebook1
Facebook has grown under the influence of
Generation Y. Facebook was released to a worldwide
audience in 2005, and reached 100 million users by
2008. The public reception and acceptance of the
social networking service has made it an internet
phenomenon. Facebook wouldn’t be what it is without
its users – 1.15 billion of them and 699 million are daily
active Facebook users.
Facebook’s attraction to users is in how it links an
individual’s life and friends into one social circle
platform. The site has continued to innovate by
50Thinking
repeatedly adding more features in order to keep
users engaged and, more importantly, in order to keep
them active and returning. Facebook’s mobility is also
a factor in its popularity as it is available on all mobile
web browsers and operating systems. 62% of the UK’s
internet users are Facebook users signifying the impact
Facebook has had on our population.
YouTube
YouTube is the provider of the most popular site for
user uploaded videos. Generation Y knows all too
well that YouTube is a great way of killing some spare
time. Whether it is watching video after video of your
new found favourite subject, or a humorous video
link which has been sent between friends, YouTube
entertains. As our Generation Y evolves and utilises
multiple media formats to educate and entertain
ourselves, YouTube offers us an abundance of content
with 100 hours of content uploaded every hour.
Granted, some may not be worth the individual’s
time, however, with the opportunity and size of the
catalogue available, there is surely something for
everyone which makes it one of the most visited
websites online.
Wikipedia
Put the books away. What is it you would like to find out?
Type it in to Wikipedia and have the answer in seconds.
It really is that simple for Generation Y. Wikipedia has
brought information to our fingertips in an online
encyclopaedia which, best of all, is free for everyone.
Wikipedia is funded by donations from its users.
Wikipedia educates many people daily with its
extensive content. As the saying goes, “Knowledge
is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we
know where we can find information on it.” Wikipedia
gives Generation Y great knowledge as a source
of information.
2
3
51
4
5
If Wikipedia doesn’t have the answer, Google will. The
ability for Generation Y to simply type in any query and
search for the answer is nothing short of remarkable. Even
as Google expands its services, its search bar still remains
its defining feature. Generation Y is adept at saying the
phrase “Google it” when confusion looms. Google as a
resource tool is fantastically convenient for users.
Intelligent “doodles” (interpretations of the Google logo)
celebrate holidays, anniversaries, the lives of famous
artists, pioneers, and scientists; another example of the
innovation Google provides its many appreciative users.
Google does not stop at producing interesting logos:
they are relentless at providing their users with useful
applications to make people’s lives easier. Google’s
tagline is “Don’t be evil”, which is a nice touch from
one of the most influential brands of the time.
Xbox/PlayStation
Xbox and PlayStation are the most popular game consoles
on the market for consumers. Although many consumers
are forced to choose between them at the point of
purchase, deciding between the two is very much up
to personal preference. In many ways comparable to
voting Democrat or Republican; you get two very similar
products wrapped up in different coloured boxes. So
instead of labouring the argument between which console
is best, what must be said is that these game consoles
have played a large part of a millennial’s existence.
Generation Y have grown up through the
advancements in gaming technology. Gaming has
been one of the catalysts of the technology race with
gamers demanding the best quality gaming experience.
The highly anticipated release of the Xbox One and
PlayStation 4 will, as before, have customers forming
seemingly endless queues at “ridiculous o’clock” for
the chance to get their hands on one of these decade
defining consoles in time for Christmas.
52Thinking
National Rail
Travelling does not come cheap and travelling by rail
is no exception. However, this does not prevent the
rail services provided being an extremely popular
and important mode of transport for many twenty-
somethings. The ability to travel around the country is
very important to a younger generation trying to find
their independence.
SkyTV
SkyTV is the nation’s leading television providing service.
SkyTV is responsible for supplying consumers with
hundreds of channels which include the very popular
sports, movies, documentaries, entertainment, music, etc.
SkyTV provides a great deal of choice for its customers,
and is the most coveted provider in the UK. Many
competitors have attempted to chisel away at SkyTV’s
market share and most have fallen by the wayside.
There really isn’t an alternative that competes on the
same level as SkyTV. Sports fans would be lost without
the fantastic SkySports coverage, which covers a
large volume of variety within the sports realm and
continues to produce an excellent, watchable and very
enjoyable service. SkySports is considered the flagship
package of the SkyTV bundle and I know of many who
could not even consider a weekend without it.
Apple
“If you don’t have an iPhone… you don’t have an
iPhone.” Apple sells itself within many markets. It
would be fighting for a higher spot on the list if it
was more widely available to more of Generation Y.
However, that does not mean Apple’s products are
not highly sought after by Generation Y. User-friendly,
intuitive based platforms bring the masses to Apple’s
products. Apple only makes a product if they can make
National Rail
Travelling does not come cheap and travelling by rail
is no exception. However, this does not prevent the
rail services provided being an extremely popular
and important mode of transport for many twenty-
somethings. The ability to travel around the country is
very important to a younger generation trying to find
their independence.
SkyTV
SkyTV is the nation’s leading television providing service.
SkyTV is responsible for supplying consumers with
hundreds of channels which include the very popular
sports, movies, documentaries, entertainment, music, etc.
SkyTV provides a great deal of choice for its customers,
and is the most coveted provider in the UK. Many
competitors have attempted to chisel away at SkyTV’s
market share and most have fallen by the wayside.
There really isn’t an alternative that competes on the
same level as SkyTV. Sports fans would be lost without
the fantastic SkySports coverage, which covers a
large volume of variety within the sports realm and
continues to produce an excellent, watchable and very
enjoyable service. SkySports is considered the flagship
package of the SkyTV bundle and I know of many who
could not even consider a weekend without it.
Apple
“If you don’t have an iPhone… you don’t have an
iPhone.” Apple sells itself within many markets. It
would be fighting for a higher spot on the list if it
was more widely available to more of Generation Y.
However, that does not mean Apple’s products are
not highly sought after by Generation Y. User-friendly,
intuitive based platforms bring the masses to Apple’s
products. Apple only makes a product if they can make
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it better. By using this method as a filter by which they
develop products, Apple will always be pushing to be
the market leader.
Tesco
Convenience is a desire for many consumers in
this modern age. The times of supporting the local
butcher, bakers etc., have been sacrificed as a result
of Generation Y’s thirst for efficiency. It is now almost
taboo that one would not do all their food shopping
for a week under the one roof with the ease of
shopping at Tesco. Tesco have become the most
effective producer of convenience, feeding many
individuals and families on a daily basis.
EasyJet
Many individuals love to travel the world and
Generation Y is certainly no exception. However,
these price conscious individuals cannot perhaps
afford the luxurious getaways older generations
can. EasyJet provides an excellent service that gives
individuals the opportunity to fly and explore the world
whilst removing the barrier of price. Flights abroad
can be cheaper than trains across the UK. Without
EasyJet many consumers would not have the ability
to do something as exciting as travelling abroad.
Many individuals recall their favourite memories
having occurred whilst on holiday. EasyJet will be
continuously appreciated by the public as long as they
continue to provide people with the opportunity of
flying at a reasonable, transparent price.
54Thinking
“ When we design for a global American company, it’s important to know these associations and take advantage of them. America’s sense of optimism, especially, can be a strong selling point for any American brand – no matter where it goes.”
55
American spirit in brand identity design
by Sven Seger
I’ve noticed a strong shift in the associations people
around the world make when they think of America.
Our research indicates that, today, the world
values America for its technology, social media,
entertainment, optimism and its cheerful service
culture. Other countries love these new-American
qualities and values.
When we design for a global American company,
it’s important to know these associations and take
advantage of them. America’s sense of optimism,
especially, can be a strong selling point for any
American brand – no matter where it goes.
This is the American spirit that the world loves, and it
should be emphasised over the old post-war themes
that associated America with size, politics and power.
Today those old associations can tend to make others
see America as over-aggressive or bullying.
Many companies manage to very successfully
incorporate and live the new-American spirit,
including Harley Davidson, Apple, Nike, Facebook
and Levi’s. Each finds ways to communicate America’s
sense of freedom, opportunity and optimism in its
branding and advertising.
56Thinking
There are even people in politics who manage to
accentuate these new-American ideals, in spite of the
strong pull of old-American associations in the political
world. A good example of this is Michelle Obama.
While she is not an elected or appointed official, the
world sees her as part of the American political scene,
and she is seen as accessible, inclusive and optimistic.
Even her fashion sense has become an emblem of the
new-American spirit.
New-American associations point the way to a huge
opportunity within the branding and advertising worlds.
While many seem to think that American companies
need to appear to be “beyond a country” in order
to make themselves more attractive in the world
market, there are strong American themes that are very
credible in the global market that can give an American
company a great competitive advantage.
When the personality of the company is a match, the
right competitive approach may well be to incorporate
these new-American themes into the brand. Given
how highly so many people in the world value these
qualities, the American origins of a company can now
be a highly positive differentiator in the global market.
57
58Thinking
The number one strategic issue regional CEOs and leaders cite to me is “the war for talent” as they seek counsel for how their organisations can attain the coveted status of
“employer of choice”
59
Tackling the war for talent
by Sarah Reiter
“The Singapore Ministry of Defence’s attempt to attract female recruits to the service by sending out army green eye shadow attracted the wrong attention. Recognising the challenge of War for Talent, what MINDEF needs is a more relevant, meaningful and sustainable strategy.”
The campaign by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF),
advertising the 2013 Army Women’s Seminar, took a
surprisingly tongue-in-cheek approach in order to
gain traction with young women in Singapore. And
while there is a time and place for levity in campaigns,
dealing with military recruitment most probably isn’t
one of them.
In protective services, such as military, intelligence,
policing and security, women play an equally critical
role, often providing unique insights and skills
necessary for these types of organisations to be
contemporarily effective. When servicing the country,
society and community, accenting facial features is
certainly not a female officer’s main concern but this
is how the campaign from MINDEF sends the wrong
message from the outset – painting an improper
image of the role women play in protecting the nation.
Mar
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60Thinking
Singapore’s protective services are facing an uphill
battle in attracting and retaining high-performing,
values-driven employees — regardless of their
gender. Recent research, as conducted by my team
in Singapore, has revealed that young Singaporeans
search for professional opportunities where they can
pursue their passions, develop professional skills that
are in high demand, as well as achieve recognition for
the unique individual contributions they make.
In fact, the number one strategic issue regional CEOs
and leaders cite to me is “the war for talent” as they
seek counsel for how their organisations can attain
the coveted status of “employer of choice”. Through
our work with many top organisations in Singapore,
we have identified universal principles to becoming
an employer of choice. They are:
Strong & accessibleleadership
Develop careers & individuals
Strive beyondcategory standards
61
Engaging workplace
Nurture a healthy lifestyle
Reward fairly & recognise creativity
Whether operating in the public or private sector, each
principle requires full organisational commitment, for
delivering long-term outcomes of effectively attracting,
optimising and retaining top talent.
Needless to say, to give meaning and distinctiveness
to candidates and employees, how organisations
follow and apply these principles should be directly
driven by a brand strategy — developing a clear and
distinctive employee value proposition that addresses
the needs of both the employee and the organisation.
Choosing a career is a life-changing decision, and in
the context of providing protective services, it is often
a “life or death” decision. Many officers and employees
put themselves in harm’s way to protect our nation,
our communities and our people. Therefore, a
respectful understanding of their needs and ambitions
are simple hygiene factors.
62Thinking
Think about your smartphone for a moment. Of all the apps you have downloaded, how many are “branded,” i.e. mobile apps created by a brand you like or admire? Now ask yourself something else: in the last three months how many of these apps have you used more than once? Does the answer surprise you?
63
Lessons in mobile marketing
by Dan Dimmock
The importance of mobile as a marketing channel
has experienced substantial growth recently but its
effectiveness as a means for brands to create valuable
and lasting relationships with customers has, to date,
been utilised by only a few. By following several key
strategic steps, some brands have discovered ways of
using mobile technology to deliver real customer value,
building brand loyalty.
64Thinking
Recent statistics indicate that while the landscape of
mobile applications is indeed vast, the usage rate of
each of these apps is much lower than expected.
This not only speaks volumes about the lack of
customer value provided by these apps but also paints
a poor picture for the brands that are trying to build
a consistent relationship with their customers.
The size of the mobile app market is indeed impressive
when you look at the statistics. In June this year, Apple
celebrated 50 billion downloads on Apple App Store.
In addition, their largest competitor, Google Play,
recorded a higher number of downloads in the last
quarter achieving a 10% margin over Apple for the
first time in history.
Looking a little deeper at the Apple App Store, we
can draw some conclusions about the competitive
landscape of the mobile apps industry. Presently, there
are over 500 million active Apple App Store accounts.
Therefore with 50 billion downloads, we can then
assume that each user has downloaded approximately
100 apps, on average, onto their mobile device (in
the case of Apple). For both the Apple App Store and
Google Play, games dominate the share of revenue at
75% and 80% respectively. This is closely followed by
Market research
Communications, Social Networking and Music. With
such intense competition for customers’ attention, is it
any wonder that brands find the mobile app landscape
daunting, challenging and increasingly competitive?
More interestingly, according to Deloitte, 80% of
branded apps have been downloaded less than a
thousand times, with only 1% actually eclipsing a
million downloads. Again, comparing this to Apple
App Store’s 50 billion downloads, branded apps are
failing to attract attention. While the picture painted is
specific to mobile apps, it reflects the state of mobile
marketing as a whole – ripe with opportunity but an
ever-growing graveyard of failure.
Regardless of whether they choose to leverage or
invest in the newest technology, we have found that
the few brands that have managed to achieve app
success share one simple characteristic: customer-
centricity: adding tangible value to peoples’ lives in
seamless and consistent ways.
Adopting this approach requires two critical shifts as to
how brands must and should view mobile engagement
with their customers.
80% 75%
??
65
Case study: Domino’s Pizza
Mobile marketing efforts are valuable in using
innovation to, not necessarily pioneer the use of
new technology, but, recognise human behaviours
to solve simple and pressing daily dilemmas,
frustrations or inefficiencies.
One recent example of this is Domino’s Pizza
who reinvented the entire pizza delivery experience
by creating not just another order placement
alternative, but a real-time tracker that enables
customers to follow their order from the assembly
line down to the exact delivery time. Coupled with
an interactive and customisable menu, a built-in
game to amuse the customer, and mobile coupons
for them to redeem against their next purchase,
the application proved to be a success, providing
the customer with an enjoyable distraction while
awaiting delivery of their order.
Thanks in large to the advances of mobile capabilities,
the once inconvenient activity – searching around
for a menu, being held in a queue on the telephone,
combined with the uncertainty of the time taken
to deliver your purchase – is now a seamless and
enjoyable customer experience.
Lesson 1: Change the focus from generating transactions to fostering relationships.
Daily transactional issues were not only addressed
and refined, but a useful customer tool was created,
bringing both tangible and emotional value to the
overall customer experience.
Domino’s Pizza adopted a tailored strategy that
focused on attraction, engagement and retention.
They provided a convenient and intimate experience
centred around their customers’ needs without
deviating from their brand mission; shifting from
“the quickest pizza delivery service on Earth” to “the
quickest delivery of pizza that’s made with care”.
66Thinking
Case study: American Airlines
From booking a flight, to arriving at the airport, checking in and boarding a plane, until landing and eventually sharing experiences online, travellers are continually evaluating their experiences with airline brands. These soaring customer expectations continue to put pressure on airlines to deliver a standard of service throughout the entire airline travel customer journey: from booking to beach.
Borne out of the recent brand revitalisation programme, American Airlines created a unique concierge journey, embodying the American spirit, as it is perceived today
– one of progress, entertainment and technology.
Lesson 2: Evolve from selling a lifestyle to serving a memorable experience.
Leveraging off American’s positioning, the airline embedded the role of mobile in the overall customer experience consequently heightening service standards throughout the customers’ experience.
This resulted in the creation of a complementary mobile app that addressed customers’ needs as they progressed through crucial milestones of the flying experience – from travel booking and flight detail tracking, through to providing a virtual boarding pass, entertainment, and finally into the airlines’ customer loyalty programme.
67
Great brands view mobile as just one of the means to make peoples’ lives better.
Developing a mobile strategy in isolation from the brand inevitably results in wasted opportunities for connecting with customers in meaningful and valuable ways. How brands effectively respond to what people want today and need tomorrow requires marketers to stop thinking of mobile as a lone channel or initiative and recognise it as one of the many touch-points within a customer’s ecosystem of brand experience.
When businesses think more about the long-term value to their customers, future brand success will be attributed to responding to people in smart and engaging ways. Today’s generation thrives on connectivity, and a needs-centric approach to innovation in mobile marketing can give fresh perspective on how to avoid the pit so many brands have already fallen into.
Successful brands will be those that create a better future for their customers, resolving tensions between what people want today and need tomorrow. The implication is that mobile does not connect brands to potential customers; rather, mobile connects people to experiences that leave a positive impact on their lives.
Mobile devices are and will continue to be inextricably linked to human experience. As such, to be a successful brand requires the implementation of strategies that focus less on short-term gimmicks and more on long-term, sustainable and commercial creativity.
68Thinking
“After all, transformation means change. And change hinges on a vision and faith in what will be.”
69
Managing resistance to change
by James Cockerille
“While people are engaged in creating a totally different world, they always form vivid images of the preceding world.”
This isn’t one of Marshall McLuhan’s most prescient
statements, but it is an articulated one and addresses
a paradox of any organisational change program.
It highlights both the fundamental barrier and a
reliable solution for moving a group from one way
of doing things to another.
Mar
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70Thinking
The context I’m thinking of is that long journey
organisations make (often as unwitting participants)
as they move from an existing brand strategy and
brand experience to a new one. In such a situation, it
is rare to avoid hitting the cultural inertia that change
inspires. It doesn’t matter if it’s a huge intercontinental
effort or a small, local enterprise shifting into another
phase of growth. Individuals start asking… Why
change? Will it be good for me? What caused this?
How much is this going to cost, anyway? What are
the guarantees? The important differences, however,
will be the scale of that inertia and what resources
are available to offset it.
So on the one hand, it’s frustrating to think you’ll
need to pry a company’s cold dead hands from their
old positioning, logo or ways of going to market.
It’s daunting to watch as formerly compliant voices
come forward with crisp, fact-laden portraits of
a past that may not have been perfect but are
demonstrably working.
This is one meaning of McLuhan’s quote: the barrier.
After all, transformation means change. And change
hinges on a vision and faith in what will be. But the
counter-arguments will be based on facts, things that
have happened. There never seems to be enough
case studies, comparable statistics or credible
experts to sway a person or group accustomed
to acting on scripts and data alone. It isn’t even
the point to compare the past to the future, but
inevitably this is what humans try to do. It is the crux
of the transformer’s challenge. You would think it’s
just another example of kooky branding people
persuading more rational clients to do something
that isn’t good for them. But oddly enough, some of
the most analytical people I know, financial reporters,
wave a similarly mystical flag: Past performance is no
indication of future results.
But what if the resistance to change carries a secret to
how we can lock-in acceptance of something new?
What if the “old way” was in fact the “new plan”? Could
we then simplify the journey and accelerate buy-in?
This is the second wisdom in McLuhan’s observation.
It is the solution in the form of a paradoxical reading
of what only seems like a dilemma.
Specifically, it suggests putting the new intent
forward as part of something already underway.
This will probably involve the use of rhetorical /
negotiation techniques like anchoring, framing,
scenario depiction, migration paths, or other
approaches that effectively shift the perception
of risk outside the change itself.
By putting the new intent forward as part of
something already underway, we rally an individual’s
urge to resist and create “vivid images” as a way to
lock-in what’s strategically important, and beneficial
for their group. It’s admittedly the use of red herrings
but these birds aren’t meant to deceive. For example,
instead of speaking to the “newness” of a logo at a
company unveiling and asking everyone what they
think of it, you would talk of “refinements” or “further
proof of our evolution” with emphasis on the markets
changing demands. It’s a subtle shift of emphasis,
but more productive. The red herring in this example
(the marketplace) provides a more useful reference in
assessing one’s ROI for a change, than the end goal
can by itself. Karate instructors do this when they
suggest aiming beyond the board before trying to
split it with your fist.
That’s the concept anyway. But using the concept
involves a bit of forethought and staging. And this
is where it helps to have partners who’ve travelled
the terrain. Like a magician who leads the eye one
place in order to lead the imagination elsewhere, we
have to credibly shift the emphasis toward a greater
change that sits beyond the one you’re campaigning
for. This is like the sailor navigating toward a buoy
or lighthouse or similar landmark outside of the
intended path. Or another way to think of it is the
skier plodding atop a mogul slope. If the skier moved
slowly, celebrating each dip and ascent, the mogul
would seem a disorienting and fatiguing challenge,
but taken together these single bumps blur into a
single, rapidly dissolving texture.
Show how the new direction, identity,
value-set (etc.) delivers on a long-established
promise to the audience. You asked for it,
and now I present…
Point out how the content is a single solution
for a mess of problems. With this one move,
we’ve managed to reduce the negative impact
of four areas of poor performance.
Introduce a new, less precious change
initiative at the same time as a current
(but strategically important) one is unveiled.
Steve Jobs never ended a presentation
without saying “And oh yeah, one other thing…”
De-emphasise the first step of change by
placing it into a multi-stage plan. This is so that
the riskier perception of change seems way
down the line. This is just the beginning…
Place the key elements of a solution within
a holistic package. The content needn’t be
assessed in isolation. “The importance of
this initiative demanded a thorough,
systemic approach…” And always remember…
If you want people to embrace something,
just tell them it’s about to change!
All metaphors aside, here are a few examples of how to shift the focal point of change away from short-term content and thereby enhance the chances of adoption in your next change initiative:
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72Thinking
“Waiting for opportunities to come to you is not a strategy. You must have a clearly defined plan to proactively pursue in order to drive real, long-term value.”
73
Partnership Branding: A growth strategy
by C. Gunnar Jacobs
Companies are always looking for ways to increase
awareness and grow the value of their brand, but
partnerships are often overlooked or underutilised as
an effective approach for achieving these goals. There
are many different types of partnerships (e.g. ingredient
brands, sponsorships, co-marketing, joint ventures,
etc.), and all can be used to drive tangible results.
Opportunities will come up for an organisation
to enter into a partnership and that tends to be
how they are managed as well – opportunistically.
As a result, partnerships are looked at as a one-off
occurrence to achieve more tactical, short-term
objectives. There is no doubt that this approach can
have a positive impact and provide a brief boost in
awareness, but over the long-term this does little
to truly grow your brand.
Instead, when managed more holistically and
proactively, partnerships are a strategic tool that can
help to strengthen and even re-define your brand in
the long-term. When dividing the benefits into tactical
vs. strategic, it is easy to see why partnerships can be
a powerful method for building brand equity when
thought about over the long-term.
Tactical benefits:
• Increasemarketingexposureandvisibility
• Createefficienciesandcostsavings
through shared resources
• Reachnewaudiencesandchannelsthat
were not previously accessible
Strategic benefits:
• Reinforcecurrentpositiveassociations
that drive preference and loyalty
• Expandperceptionsbeyondwhataudiences
currently give the brand credit for
• Improvetheoverallvalueofofferingsand
the company through expanded capabilities
• Buildstronger,emotionalconnectionswith
audiences through associations with other
brands they love
While the benefits may be numerous, the number
one rule to keep in mind is that you must protect your
brand. Partnerships are inherently riskier since you
are associating your brand with something you don’t
have complete control over. With the risks involved, it
is surprising that more companies don’t have a clearly
defined partnership strategy.
74Thinking
Here are a few tips to help develop or
strengthen your partnership strategy:
Use your brand strategy to guide your partnership strategy
Evaluate your partners
Ensure partnerships are tied to business results (ROI)
The first step is to have a clear picture of what your
brand stands for. In order to effectively grow your
brand, audiences should be able to easily understand
the connection between partners – there needs to
be the right fit. Without proper alignment with the
overall strategy, you are only able to achieve some
tactical benefits, and you also increase the risk of the
partnership in general.
Most people wouldn’t marry someone they just met,
and you also shouldn’t enter into a partnership without
getting to know them better. You may not always
have access to appropriate research to do a proper
evaluation, but a simple Google and media search can
go a long way in finding out more about a company’s
reputation and any potential causes for concern.
You should be able to measure how any
partnership is generating tangible results. Whether
it is increased traffic to a microsite or a boost
in market share, monitoring the success of
partnerships will ensure that all efforts are truly
adding value to your brand in the long-term.
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Institute a partnership governance process
Identify partnership opportunities and create an action plan
Just like your core branded-assets, all activities
related to partnerships should be carefully managed
and monitored. Tools such as decision trees
and guidelines help to ensure consistency and
effectiveness. Depending on the size and complexity
of your company, you may also want to consider
a Partnership Committee that reports to the Brand
Council (if one exists). Regardless if the tools you
decide are most appropriate for your company, given
the visibility and potential risk involved, governance is
a critical aspect of any partnership strategy.
The key to becoming more strategic than tactical
is to create a clear plan of action to proactively put
your partnerships to work. The first step is to define
the key areas that the organisation wants to be
known for, that align with and support the overall
strategy and positioning. Perhaps a company wants
to become more known for sustainability efforts, or
become better known in a certain market. Once these
parameters are defined then it is easier to identify the
partners that will help you achieve your goals. Waiting
for opportunities to come to you is not a strategy. You
must have a clearly defined plan to proactively pursue
in order to drive real, long-term value.
4
5
“Once the problem has been identified (and confirmed as being a real problem and not just one affecting you), that’s where the tech can come in to solve it, or at least reduce the pain involved in the process.”
77
When humans – not tech, are put at the centre of the experience, everyday problems get solved
by Adriano Galardi
Today’s space race is all about tech, with a global battle
amongst start-ups all trying to be the next big thing.
And for good reason too. Success stories emerge on
an annual basis now highlighting the new American
dream – from garage start-up to sell out in 2 years for
seven to eight figure sums.
However, whilst I mentioned in a previous post
the merits of this new “system” for economies still
struggling with youth unemployment, it is important
to note that tech for the sake of tech doesn’t work, at
least not in the long term. The only way to succeed in
today’s tech world is to put the consumer at the heart
of the experience, and use technology to enhance
it. Another way of looking at it is by asking yourself
“what problem am I really solving here”, and more
importantly “is it really a problem?” This often happens
when people start to challenge the status quo by
questioning “why”. Why can’t we… Why do we have to…
Why should we be constrained by… and so on. Once
the problem has been identified (and confirmed as
being a real problem and not just one affecting you),
that’s where the tech can come in to solve it, or at least
reduce the pain involved in the process.
78Thinking
A recent example of this is Tile, whose aim is to make
sure you never lose your keys (or anything really), ever
again. Their solution is a small Bluetooth enabled
device that can be attached to almost anything. The
guys behind Tile have clearly started by identifying a
problem that affects us all, then turned to technology
to find a simple solution. Interestingly enough, though
they’d received an initial round of funding, they turned
to a crowd-sourcing site to request funds to finance
their production. With a goal of $20,000 and current
funding level of just under $2 million, they have clearly
identified a problem that affects us all.
Tile aren’t the only ones solving basic problems with
even more basic solutions, nor are they the only
ones turning to the masses to prove and fund their
concepts. A year ago an interesting project by the
name of LIFX appeared on KickStarter with the aim
of revolutionising one of the greatest inventions of all
time – the light bulb. Phil Bosua decided it was time
for a change after being frustrated with fuses blowing,
the high amount of power being consumed, and most
of all, having to get up to turn on (and off) the lights -
despite the TV remote control having been invented
for the exact same purpose over 60 years ago. His
solution was a Wi-Fi enabled energy-efficient light
bulb that can be screwed into any standard socket.
The bulb comes with a free app allowing the user
to control their lighting from their smartphones.
So did he identify a nuisance felt by many? Having
asked for $100,000 and receiving just under $1.5
million, it would appear so. The list continues with Nest
who solved the problem of complicated and energy-
wasting thermostats, Yves Behar’s August smart lock
that manages who can and can’t enter your home,
without any keys, and so on. This is what I mean by
putting the human, or at the least the problem at the
centre of the equation.
Turning to KickStarter or any other crowd funding
website seems to be a good way off assessing whether
or not you’ve stumbled on a real problem, rather than
just a personal one.
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80Thinking
“However with all death comes rebirth and as always, extreme situations force positive change.”
81
The NINJA Generation and how they’re changing the world
by Adriano Galardi
When Gordon Gekko is released from prison in the
2010 sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, he sets
about giving talks to peers about his rehabilitation and
preaches the failing “greed is good” model he had
once coined as his mantra. In one particular talk to a
group of college graduates, Gekko refers to the group
as the Ninja Generation, an acronym which stands for:
No Income, No Jobs, no Assets. As amusing as it is,
the phrase is actually quite accurate in describing the
dire situation that awaited twentysomethings following
the global economic meltdown of 2008.
Fin
Mag
. <fin
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82Thinking
So, as hundreds of thousands of young adults were
graduating from top universities across the world,
promises of top jobs, high salaries and glory were
replaced with no jobs, debt and definitely no glory.
Some risk takers decided to weather the storm by
entering Masters programs, hoping to emerge into a
bright future with employers waiting with open arms.
Sadly, this never happened, and graduates found
themselves waiting after school for parents that had
clearly forgotten to pick them up.
Others, in desperate need of revenue to start paying
back their student loans, took any work they could
find – often in low-end positions well beneath their
level of education and expertise.
However with all death comes rebirth and as always,
extreme situations force positive change. The period
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that followed saw a startup boom and the beginning
of a new era. For many, launching a business is a
dream come true but is also extremely high risk. The
risk of failing and losing everything is strong enough
to keep the world of entrepreneurs small and intimate.
But this changed. Whilst the risk of failing is still as
prominent (if not more so) today, the NINJAs have
nothing to lose, literally, there is nothing better waiting
for them. The rest just fell into place really, starting with
a massive pool of (cheap) talent, all desperately willing
(didn’t have the choice really) to believe in the startup
model hoping to build the next Facebook.
And then there was the money. As the number of
startups grew, so did the number of angel investors
and VCs. Because just as every startup was hoping to
be the next Facebook, every investor was hoping to be
the one that got them there. By pumping money into
83
startups, investors allowed them to stay afloat whilst
they were losing money, allowing them to concentrate
on building the next big thing.
So what was the next big thing? The innovation
we’re seeing coming out of the San Francisco Bay
Area, Portland and New York is rather disruptive, with
common everyday problems caused by “the system”
being solved with clean, efficient, user-friendly and
intuitive solutions that are so simple, we could (and
should) have come up with them ourselves. The ideas
are often revolutionising the way big industries work,
providing easy boutique alternatives for consumers
demanding change.
Square for example, has revolutionised the way
payments are being made with a simple dongle that
can be attached to any smartphone or tablet, allowing
users to pay with credit cards without the hassles of
the standard credit card reader. The device also comes
with a polished app allowing users to track payments
in a beautifully designed UI.
AirBnb is another gamechanger allowing users to rent
out a spare room or their entire home to travellers
seeking a hotel alternative. Simple is a bank for the
modern user that doesn’t want a bank. Offering a sleek
credit card and app, Simple is focusing on offering a
few services that users really care about, and getting
rid of the rest.
These are just a few of the people out there who have
understood that the world is changing but services are
yet to catch up. What’s more, this trend is still growing
with more and more startups launching every year. All
of this innovation has made people wonder – will the
next big thing come from a Fortune 500 company?
Probably not, but before we go ahead and quit our
day jobs, let’s not forget that for every successful
startup that makes it to the big screen, thousands are
failing. Many are questioning the sustainability of this
model in the long run – people saying it’s just a matter
of time before this bubble (yes, it probably is another
bubble) bursts and we move onto the next big trend.
Only time will tell.
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84Thinking
“It seems that working with visionaries – the type who see opportunities where most see barriers – can spark similar pioneering tendencies amongst others.”
85
Innovation sparks... innovation?
by Adriano Galardi
The knock-on effect of start-up philosophy.
Starting your own company is a dream to many, and
who can blame them? The chance to be your own
boss, carry out your dream, define the vision, (fail), try
again and eventually, maybe, with a bit of inspiration
and a lot of perspiration (1 to 99 ratio to be precise),
your baby is born. It definitely isn’t for everyone,
which is why many prefer to simply join startups (that
have received funding of course). Here, there is the
chance to be part of something at an early stage,
contribute ideas (flat hierarchy), work in a fun and
young atmosphere, and be well-paid with good health
benefits. You don’t need to be a visionary or a pioneer;
just talented and “fun”. Obviously, this appeals to many.
What’s interesting though, is the effect that working in
a start-up has on its employees.
It seems that working with visionaries – the type who
see opportunities where most see barriers – can
spark similar pioneering tendencies amongst others.
However the bird doesn’t leave the nest straight away.
This tends to happen when the excitement of working
with a startup has worn off (often because the startup
has grown and is being run by somebody else), or
when the opportunities to advance or progress are
diminishing. And that is when the bird decides to fly
the coop. Often they leave with a fellow co-worker
who is similarly searching for new adventures and has
also been influenced and inspired by visionary leaders.
86Thinking
A perfect example of the bird
leaving the nest scenario is
British duo Mike Stevens and Dan
Shrimpton, who left the pioneering
and beloved Innocent Smoothies
to found Peppersmith – a premium,
all natural and locally sourced
chewing gum company.
Stevens and Shrimpton applied the
natural goodness philosophy that
Innocent has commoditised to
an industry largely dominated by
synthetic, mainstream brands.
Nest is another example of this
trend, though this time the visionary
leader was no small startup; it was
Apple. I wanted to include Nest
as an example because Apple,
as big as it is, may as well have
“innovation through good design”
as their mantra. They build
products that aim to make life
easier and more efficient, whilst
looking great at the same time.
This is the philosophy that many
startups run by; Nest being one
of them. Tony Fadell and Matt
Rogers left Apple’s iPod and iPhone
division in 2010 after a realisation
that thermostats remained an
unexplored opportunity for
innovation in today’s world.
They set out to revolutionise them
by making them simple, more
effective, and attractive (see the
Apple philosophy?). This duo has
managed to make a thermostat
desirable – a feat no one had
accomplished before (I was sad
to discover I do not have a
thermostat in my home and
therefore won’t be honoured
with a beautiful Nest on my wall).
As working in a startup increasingly
becomes common practice, we
can expect to see a lot more of
this can-do attitude rubbing off
on employees; encouraging them
to leave the nest, setting out on
their own – a good thing no doubt.
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88Thinking
“The dream of dancing among the stars has enchanted us for millennia. But now, this year, space is truly within reach for everyone.”
89
By 2014, your postman could be an astronaut
by Alicia Fowler
In the 41 years since man last set foot on the moon,
a new generation has been preparing its own route
to space. But this path will democratise, and likely
commercialise, space travel in far reaching ways.
In fact, your postman could count his name among
the likes of Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin.
Three factors — policy, infrastructure, and culture —
are aligning to make consumer space travel a reality
before the end of 2014.
First, public policy is not only favourable towards
private space travel enterprises, it’s downright
encouraging. Companies like SpaceX transport NASA
cargo to the ISS for a fee, and states like New Mexico
invest millions of dollars in commercial spaceports.
All the while, legislatures are determining how
to protect consumers and companies alike as we
begin to navigate this brave new world.
Second, the infrastructure supporting consumer space
travel has grown in size and sophistication, and will
continue to do so. Private enterprises engaged in
spaceflight are getting savvier; their vehicles are getting
safer, and more predictable. Just this April, Virgin
Galactic’s newest ship, SpaceShipTwo, broke the sound
barrier. And, adjacent industries, from insurance to
fashion to entertainment, are adapting their offerings
to support both the travellers and companies alike.
Third, and perhaps most significantly, is that the
culture is ripe for consumer space travel. Nerds have
gone mainstream. Science fiction heroes, like Captain
Kirk and Doctor Who, will enter their 50th years of
popularity this decade, with more allure and fandom
than before. And science, real space science, is more
accessible than ever. We can watch experiments
telecast from the ISS captain, via Twitter. We can
discover — and comprehend — extraordinary theories
with the help of world-renowned physicists like Brian
Greene. Space is near. Space is here.
The dream of dancing among the stars has enchanted
us for millennia. But now, this year, space is truly
within reach for everyone. And as we ascend into the
great beyond, the culture, infrastructure and policy
that enable our flight, will themselves forever change,
leading to new products, new experiences, and new
forms of commerce.
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90Thinking
“Far from being a sanitised experience, the hi-tech wedding will be ultra-connected and interactive. Couples will share their joy live on the internet. Once married, the happy couple can rely on technology to help them in their everyday married life.”
91
The hi-tech weddings of the future
by Barbara Viana
“Twitter and Tinder are delighted to announce the marriage of Lulu63 and Vinz22 on Saturday, August 18, 2018 at 16h00 GMT on the internet. The virtual wedding reception will take place afterwards on the Social Network.”
Some of us have found love on the internet. In the
future, we foresee we’ll be getting married on it!
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92Thinking
August, the wedding season, is probably a month
studded with quaint country weddings with their
never-ending receptions, long-winded speeches
and improbable outfits.
Enjoy it for now! Because tomorrow, weddings like
these will be a thing of the past.
Before we get married, we have to find our soul mate.
There’s no lack of internet dating sites, but when you
see that more than 5 million people a month logged
on to dating sites like Meetic or AdopteUnMec,
we understand the problem of too much choice.
Tomorrow’s dating sites will be increasingly specialised,
sophisticated and geo-localised.
Take Tinder, the new dating app that matches you up
with interesting people around you, that everyone is
talking about in the US. Love stories will have different
beginnings: “Mum, what app did you meet Dad on?”
Tomorrow, it won’t be luck, but technology that will
help us find our soul mate!
Asda Dating, the dating site of the eponymous online
supermarket proposes that you “shop for your dream
date”, comparing baskets as you shop.
It’s smart and practical; normal.
It’s English.
Some take technology even further and propose
donning a cat’s tail before the penguin tails!
Intrigued? The idea is to attach a “neurowear”
cat’s tail that connects to the wearer’s brain patterns.
The tail responds to the wearer’s mood and indicates
the degree of enthusiasm s/he’s feeling. So if your
contact is wagging his tail, it means he likes you!
It’s weird and scary; normal.
It’s Japanese.
Tomorrow, we won’t even have to talk before mating.
And the actual wedding ceremony? Virtual, naturally.
French United for Equality Association recently hit the
headlines when it associated with Google+ Hangout
to create France’s first social network wedding.
Ogilvy PR Worldwide. <youtube.com/user/OgilvyPRWorldwide>
93
In the throes of the gay marriage debate, a Belgian
mayor celebrated a same sex marriage by using
live streaming.
No more bad DJs who insist on imposing their
personal taste on the dance floor. Tomorrow,
we’ll entrust Spotify or Deezer to stage-manage
the evening intelligently. Does everyone desert
the dance floor on Magnolia? Time to shelve
Claude François and move on to something else.
As for frozen snapshots by professional
photographers? They will be put away too. With
more and more sophisticated wedding photo apps,
tomorrow the guests will be the official photographers.
Wedding apps like Yapp keep guests informed of
events during the day, provide directions to the venue,
newsfeed and also let you upload photos in real time.
Far from being a sanitised experience, the hi-tech
wedding will be ultra-connected and interactive.
Couples will share their joy live on the internet.
Once married, the happy couple can rely on
technology to help them in their everyday married life.
RunKeeper, the Personal Trainer in your Pocket,
acknowledges your sport sessions, shares them on
Facebook in order to encourage you to follow your
fitness regime.
Full of good intentions and good advice, these
apps reward good deeds with a points system –
version 2.0 of the famous English Brownie points.
Three bunches of flowers per month – that’s worth
at least 5 Brownie points!
Symbolic objects are not forgotten.
As everyday objects are becoming more intelligent,
the engagement ring follows suit with a useful
feature, a memory! The ring heats up to remind
you of your anniversary!
In the meantime, enjoy the wedding cake and best
man’s speech with jokes in bad taste – they are an
endangered species!
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94Thinking
“Tomorrow’s 1.0 holidays will teach us about changing the rhythm. Slow food, slow life, slow beauty are already surfacing concepts. Welcome to Slowlidays – holidays based on time, not space.”
95
Disconnect to reconnect – The 1.0 holidays of the FUTURE
by Barbara Viana
Booking a guaranteed WiFi-free hotel, holidaying in
your neighbour’s apartment, taking 15 hours to make
Bordeaux to Paris – the holidays of the future will be all
about taking it slow.
So you cracked for the iPhone 5? You’re thrilled with
the new fiber-optics in your apartment? Your Xperia
tablet is your new baby?
Great! But we foresee that tomorrow, you’ll be paying
to be disconnected.
With technology, like everything else, enough is
enough! The principal motivation for taking a
holiday is to relax and take it easy. But FOMO
(Fear of Missing Out) ensures that Homo Connectus
can’t keep away from reading his textos and his
Facebook page – stress!
96Thinking
But relax! Tomorrow, following Kit Kat’s lead with its
“Have a break – Have a Free No WiFi Zone!” campaign,
Homo Connectus can book a hotel room guaranteed
without internet access. He can entrust his beloved
iPhone 5 to a babysitter or to a safe to which he won’t
have the code (otherwise, it would be too tempting).
We’re always hearing about the bridge between real
life and virtual life, but tomorrow we’ll pay to learn to
separate them.
In 1623, holidays were defined as “the period when
freedom is restored to students.” Tomorrow’s
holidays will restore idleness to us, eaten away by
new technologies that devour whole minutes of our
precious free time.
Equipped only with a ballpoint pen and the Day &
Night Romain Jerome watch that doesn’t tell the
time, the future Homo Deconnectus write postcards
from home! Holidays 1.0 will teach us how to
appreciate a change of scenery from the exoticness
of our own home.
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Aviation fuel is a luxury, and while low cost flights
will be with us for a while to come, he will have to save
for longer to be able to go away. But he won’t want
to wait forever to go travel.
Tomorrow, he’ll go local. He’ll take a “staycation”
spending his holidays at home. He’ll use room service
every day in his own bedroom or if he feels the spirit
of adventure coming on, he’ll rent his neighbour’s loft.
Today, life is speeded up to the max. Tomorrow’s
1.0 holidays will teach us about changing the rhythm.
Slow food, slow life, slow beauty are already surfacing
concepts. Welcome to Slowlidays – holidays based
on time, not space.
The latest Airbus, the new A350, maximises the well-
being of passengers by placing a bar in the front of
the cabin. They’ve understood that personal comfort
makes a luxury experience. Tomorrow, the foot is off
the accelerator and on the brake! Paris-Bordeaux in
15 hours – a dream come true! London to Florence
in 5 days – perfection!
Tomorrow, we’ll be celebrating the Orient Non-
Express. Jeep is on the right road with its “GPS to Get
Lost”. Losing time is gaining freedom. All that remains
is to brand the design of this new experience of
suspended time.
Marcel Proust was already running round in search
of lost time. The holidays of the future have found it!
It was a close call…
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98Thinking
“The home of the future – the reflection of our identity – is set to become the IT fashion accessory of the 21st Century. Today’s young interior designers will become tomorrow’s Home-Fashionistas, and our interiors, the must-have designs!”
99
In the future, our home will be a Fashion accessory!
by Barbara Viana
In fashion, there’s the art of dressing and the art of
accessorising. Can you imagine yourself all dressed
up in jeans, tee-shirt and a jacket – but barefoot?
Unthinkable!
The same rules apply to our “Home Sweet Home”.
Once the bed and the fridge are in place, we turn to
the fun part – decorating, selecting the furniture and
fixtures that let the world know who we are.
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100Thinking
And we won’t let austerity stand in our way! According
to a recent IFOP poll, home decor is the primary
source of household spending in France. In the current
climate of technological, social and ecological change,
our home is at the centre of our existence. Feeling
good in our home is fundamental to our well-being.
And tomorrow?
The home of the future – the reflection of our identity
– is set to become the IT fashion accessory of the 21st
Century. Today’s young interior designers will become
tomorrow’s Home-Fashionistas, and our interiors, the
must-have designs!
Like any self-respecting Home-Fashionista, the home
must be well equipped. To be truly cutting-edge, the
home of the future will also be interactive!
Following Living Tomorrow’s “Carehome” project, the
Home-Fashionista’s future home will be the last word
on infotech (before anyone else’s!). After an exhausting
day, she’ll start her housework on her trip home using
the MyHOME app.
She can turn on the heating, draw the blinds and start
cooking dinner so that she returns to a warm, cosy
nest. As soon as she steps over the threshold, PaRePO,
her home robot, will ask her if she’s had a good day. In
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101
her spare time, she can share her latest tips with the
home networks and organise live Deco workshops
from her living room.
A SmartHome – of course! But that’s not all! Our
Home-Fashionista will elevate her home into a
temple of customisation.
As a militant eco-warrior, the Home-Fashionista
proudly wears DIY (Design-It-Yourself) fashion.
Even more than flea markets or reusable packaging
(produced by the Dutch Joolz brand, for instance),
her ultimate eco-weapon in realising her flights of
fantasy will be the 4D printer. The fourth dimension
is transformability. The 4D printer will allow her
to express her creativity by creating 3D objects in
evolutionary materials that self-assemble or reshape
themselves over time!
Smart technology prevents our Home-Fashionista
from making any expensive faux pas. Using IKEA’s
increased reality app on her tablet or smartphone,
and her Google Glasses, she can have a virtual
sofa pop up in her living room and test her choice
without having to take out her credit card!
To keep her aesthetic sense honed, she’ll select
some of the world’s most beautiful home designs
through Spootnik.com.
As she won’t have an unlimited budget, the Home-
Fashionista will be creative in acquiring the latest must-
have for her home. Using the Revolushion e-shop,
she’ll hire the sofa of her dreams for a fortnight,
changing it again whenever the mood takes her…
an effect guaranteed to impress her friends!
And because her home will become as much an object
of desire as the It-bag at its height, photos of her
“personal touch” will be on display on TheSelby.com!
As the ultimate accolade to her expertise, she will be
invited to participate in TF1’s new TV program (on
the French channel) “An Almost Perfect Deco” (the
real name is still under wraps) and invited to redesign
candidates’ homes like a professional interior designer!
Customised, interactive and eco-friendly… let’s make
a toast – to the fashion accessory house of the future
that has more than one trick up its sleeve!
102Thinking
“Gone are the heavy files, the dusty slates, the bulky books, and the bulging pencil cases filled to bursting with erasers, scissors and pencils.”
103
In the future, we’ll go back to school without schoolbags, but we’ll still be making pasta necklaces!
by Barbara Viana
Torn between the return to the traditional and the
arrival of the hi-tech in teaching methods, the school
of the future will be hi-tech, but not too much…
School ain’t what it used to be. That’s why a smart
television programmer had the idea of creating a reality
show based on the school of yesteryear – “Back to the
Boarding School” that broadcasted in September 2013
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104Thinking
on M6 (a French TV channel). It proposes a ’50s style
boarding school to 24 teenagers to let them discover
how their grandparents were educated (just without
the corporal punishment).
This vintage reality show will end with awarding
successful students with a diploma of the era. It
goes without saying that the candidates will leave
their smartphones and sneakers behind and don
the inimitable blue blouse to pass their “certif’’.
Gen Z will learn about “Our Ancestors the Gauls”
and the imperfect subjunctive in this retro utopia.
Viewer ratings assured!
While the 50s style boarding school is a fascinating
subject for TV, it’s a different story in real life. Far from
the accepted traditional methods, making handwriting
optional is the current subject of lively debate.
Don’t worry; it’s in the US, where joined-up writing
hasn’t been taught in school for the last two
generations. The 45 states that are considering
abolishing handwriting argue that learning to write
on the keyboard is a priority, and manual handwriting
is no longer of any practical use to students.
Terrifying for some, inevitable for others, this prospect
raises the question of the evolution of learning
methods in schools, and more specifically at this
time of year, the future of school supplies.
Gone are the heavy files, the dusty slates, the bulky
books, and the bulging pencil cases filled to bursting
with erasers, scissors and pencils. School children’s
little fingers now get busy on the Qwerty keyboard
and ultra-sensitive track pad of this portable laptop.
Tomorrow, the traditional heavy schoolbag may
disappear for good!
Still further away, it’s the touch screen tablet that will
invade classrooms.
My
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105
BiC, already a well-known brand to primary school
pupils for its pens (and to secondary school pupils
for its lighters…) launches its digital slate. The chosen
term is important: slate. No more authentic slate for
the chalk purists, no more whiteboard for the more
modern; the slate is about to be digitised.
In the video presentation provided by the 01net site,
a BiC Education Project Leader says: “This tablet is
very technologically sophisticated and permits better
teaching of handwriting through a stylus.”
This should reassure the advocates of manual
handwriting. The tablet is connected to the teacher’s
computer. The teacher can submit exercises and
monitor the students’ work from his or her post.
But in a paperless/cloud classroom, might our children
be missing out on something?
BiC Education. <bic-education.com>Lesnumeriques. <lesnumeriques.com>
Every action has a reaction, even more so in this
paperless world that gains a little more ground every
day. So when the students of tomorrow learn to read,
write and count on a digital device, we can offer them
in return a wide range of leisure activities, from arts
and crafts, to cooking classes or DIY.
And we can go back a long way. This is the case in
Finland, where sewing and woodwork lessons are part
of the primary school curriculum for girls and boys,
giving an opportunity for putting tangible skills back
into this digital world, and give voice to talent.
Because learning also involves handiwork and mothers
of the future will always need a pasta necklace and a
papier maché vase.
106Thinking
“Of course, mosquitoes don’t respect international boundaries, and it becomes more and more important to try to predict how the disease might move back in. One way of doing this is to look at the migrant human population...”
107
Ebb & flow: How maps and big data can help us understand how diseases spread
by Stephen Barber
Maps and mapping, way-finding and navigation have
always fascinated mankind. Ever since we started to
move around our planet, we’ve striven to document
it in some way – to try to understand the relationship
between where we were, where we are now, and
where we’re going.
Maps are an imperfect way of describing the layout
of our environment. Anyone trying to reflect in
two dimensions that which naturally needs to be in
three will find themselves scratching their heads and
making compromises in all sorts of ways. Our planet
is spherical (actually much more like a rugby ball) and
this makes for a hard translation onto a single piece
of paper. To get to a reasonable semblance of what
an atlas of our world looks like, we use projections
to convert the sphere to the plane (in fact, we use
a projection that was created in 1569 by Flemish
cartographer Gerardus Mercator).
Nowadays we almost all use maps on a daily basis to
get us around – and they’re even more prevalent in
our lives thanks to the omnipresent mobile devices
we use. When was the last time you got lost going
108Thinking
somewhere? We carry sophisticated global positioning
devices wherever we go, and it’s easy to forget that
navigation used to be something that was much
harder to do. And of course, because our phones are
all connected to networks, there’s much data that
exists about where we are at any particular moment.
One person who is very interested in using maps to
make sense of some of the issues facing some of
the poorest areas on earth is Andy Tatem. Andy is a
professor at Southampton University, and director
of a number of organisations that are attempting to
correlate any vectors between how people move from
one location to another, and the spread of disease.
We were fortunate enough to have Andy come talk
to us about the work he’s been doing, and give us the
lowdown on how maps have evolved over the ages.
He started by talking about the history and uptake of
mapping as we know it – from the oldest known map
(created in the 6C BC) through a number of other
iconic and interesting maps; including one that shows
the number of heavy metal bands per capita across the
world (hint: you might consider moving closer to the
Nordic parts of this world if you’re a fan).
Then we looked at how our sense of scale has
changed over the generations. Not so long ago, our
grandparents would have considered a trip to the next
town or village a major outing – but nowadays we’re
all very much comfortable with the idea of hopping
from place to place; from continent to continent.
This has been driven by the growth of our transport
networks, and the availability of relatively cheap travel
prices – and has led to the unforeseen consequence
of the creation of comprehensive data on our
movements. Every airline, for example, keeps a record
of passenger data, including who has travelled, when
and where.
Speed of movement was a theme that came up again –
this time in the context of the speed at which diseases
have spread through populations over the ages. In the
middle ages, it took 16 years for the bubonic plague to
109
move from China to the UK – in contrast to the recent
outbreak of Swine Flu, which took just two weeks to
circle the globe. It’s this pace of change, driven by
human networks, that has both enabled viruses to
navigate our planet, and also empowered us to use
technology to try and understand how and where it
happens. For example, malaria can be spread through
our shipping networks by stowaway mosquitoes laying
eggs in waterlogged tyres on container ships – which
provide the perfect habitat for breeding mosquitoes.
In many countries across the developing world,
malaria is slowly being eradicated – thanks to the
efforts of governments and organisations like Malaria
No More – but often it can easily spread back in from
adjacent territories. Of course, mosquitoes don’t
respect international boundaries, and it becomes more
and more important to try to predict how the disease
might move back in. One way of doing this is to look
at the migrant human population – specifically the
infected human population – and extrapolate from
that the risks based on the numbers of people likely to
move at particular times of year. Using this knowledge,
relief organisations can prioritise and organise their
efforts to try to counter the most high-risk locations.
To get an understanding of how people move across
borders, from place-to-place and country-to-country,
Andy and other researchers have had to get hold
of lots of data – really, really big data – which, until
relatively recently would have been derived from
population censuses, and therefore would have been
out-of-date very quickly. These days, each of us
carry something with us pretty much all the time that
knows where we are, and regularly communicates
this without us having to think about it – our mobile
phones. Our phones tell the nearest mobile phone
mast where we are, and triangulates our position so
they can more effectively help us to communicate
with one another – but this information is stored
and logged by mobile phone companies. By talking
to the phone companies then, it’s been possible for
researchers to get hold of data that they can use to
correlate the movement of individuals, and map this
onto recent data of malarial outbreaks.
Of course, this does open up all sorts of privacy
questions – especially in light of the recent NSA
revelations – but it’s the data at scale that’s useful,
not the movements of single individuals, nor is any
personal data ever shared. That said, it’s hard to
persuade phone companies to part with this data –
understandably – as they have valid concerns about
the confidentiality of the information. And often, this
is not something that the individual customer of the
phone company can opt into.
Andy’s talk gave us an interesting insight into how new
technologies can be used to help the world. More and
more of our daily lives are being recorded, plotted
and mapped across social networks and physical
locations – often without us even knowing. Frequently,
it’s harder to opt out of these initiatives than to opt in,
especially for those who’re not quite so comfortable
with technology.
The UN’s innovation initiative Global Pulse have
started to talk about these issues and more – but
especially the real value of the data that is locked
away by commercial organisations, and the different
ways in which it might be used. They’ve been building
awareness around their term “data philanthropy” as the
way in which large business can start to act almost as
real-time sensors for early warnings into mass changes,
be they job loss, disease, or natural disasters.
At FutureBrand, we’re interested in how this field will
develop – through our work with Malaria No More we’ve
seen the need for society to use all the weapons at its
disposal in fighting against the spread of disease. We’re
interested in the role of data in predicting the future, and
we wholeheartedly expect that people like Andy Tatem
will be at the forefront of this new kind of behavioural
insight, as we track more and more of our lives.
110Thinking
“ ...it didn’t matter what was being displayed, the most compelling stalls were the ones which displayed a single minded brand experience – from the way the product was experienced, to the way the visitor was greeted by the stall owner, to the giveaways that we took home with us.”
111
FutureBrand at Tent London 2013
by Stephen Barber
The end of September saw the London design
community wake up after the summer holiday season,
and step up a rather well-considered gear. The London
Design Festival, a nine day event showcasing the best
that design has to offer in the capital and beyond, is an
eclectic and wide-ranging view over many different
design disciplines – typography, interiors, furniture
design, product, digital and many more. It really is
possible to lose oneself in the breadth and depth
of events that take place – one look at the Festival
web site will show you an overwhelming array of
opportunities to learn about, to play with and to buy
design from a mix of individual designers, and new
and established businesses.
Ten
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112Thinking
FutureBrand was proud to play a part in the Festival
by hosting one of the Super Brand London talks
which was at Tent London in Brick Lane. In the midst
of the many talented designers and companies who
were exhibiting, we spent some time talking about
how brands help us make choices and decisions
every day, and how the responsibility of those
brands is increasingly to help us make positive
change in our lives.
One thing struck us as we walked around the different
floors at Tent: it didn’t matter what was being displayed,
the most compelling stalls were the ones which
displayed a single minded brand experience – from
the way the product was experienced, to the way the
visitor was greeted by the stall owner, to the giveaways
that we took home with us. And Tobias Gutmann, with
his Face-O-Mat, seemed to get it more than most!
If we had a slight criticism, it was that we didn’t see
too many examples of designers using new tech to
connect product to service to experience – but we
also know that we’re in the early wave of adoption
to this kind of innovation. We expect to see more of
this in the future, as future brands connect the dots
between their products, new services, and the people
who engage with them.
Our talk was divided into two parts: the first explained
how our belief is that brands can help us make day-to-
day choices as we go through life, and therefore they
increasingly need to contribute to a future which is better
for us, better for the planet, and better for their business.
We talked about the context that brands operate within,
and how new technologies can create new value and
intimacy between brands and “brand users”.
And finally – speaking to an audience who understand
the concept of “product” more than most – we
talked about the need to think about product and
service ecosystems as we go forward, and not to think
about products in isolation. This was our segue into
our favourite part of the session – the bit where we
encouraged our audience to get together and create a
bunch of new product and service ideas based on their
own experience.
Our thought before the event was that we’d be able to
tap into the energy and creativity of designers, design
industry specialists and other interesting people during
the second part of our talk, and we were fortunately
proven right.
Just to make sure – we provided beer. And the
workshop that we hosted did manage to get out some
genuinely interesting concepts despite the short time
we had together.
My highlights:
1
2
3
All told, the group that took part enjoyed themselves,
and hopefully learned something of brand, and the
power of branding to help us make better choices
in our lives.
The Harley Davidson connected helmet that
streams music directly to me, but adapts the
playlist depending on which classic road I’m
driving along.
The Pampers map of changing facilities in
London, showing parents which restaurants
and buildings offer private space for baby
changing (and give Pampers the opportunity
to sell more diapers).
The high energy tea, served in a Nike teapot
for athletes to enjoy and improve their
performance with.
113Volume 1 F
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114Thinking
“...Clients have the power today and not the Agency world of yesterday, which represented the early years from which Cannes Lions first was born.”
115
Cannes 2013 – A post-modern approach to creativity after 60 years
by Chris Nurko
Yes, it’s the 60th year of the Cannes Lions awards for
the best of Global Creativity. 2013 was busier and
more crowded than ever before with events, content
and presentations covering the full spectrum of
marketing. This year there was more evidence of
client presence as attendees, sponsors and speakers.
Google, Twitter, GM, Coke, Unilever and Heineken
were very visible and the themes of social media
connectivity, creativity and measurement were hot
topics. So too was the discussion around “big data”
and the need for a balance of creative “emotion”
with commercial “rationale”.
Contemporary marketing requires consumers to
“engage” and work harder than ever to contribute,
share, comment and “buy” into brands, products,
content and services more than ever before; which
means brands now have to work very hard! Not just
to get their message across but to involve consumers
and sustain their involvement. So, as “consumers
call the shots” for brand communications – who is
“calling the shots” on strategy? There is no doubt that
the era of crowdsourcing and web-enabled creativity
has arrived, which begs the question; do clients need
agencies any more?
After all, clients can now go direct to creators of
content film, scripts, design and executional ideas
through either a competition initiative or a loosely
brokered “open source” call for entries. Combine this
with the new powerbrokers of media and distribution
(Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc) and you can
see a pattern emerging. Clients are calling the shots!
And against a backdrop of Agency networks trying
to stay as relevant as possible.
The fact emerges; Clients have the power today and
not the agency world of yesterday, which represented
the early years from which Cannes Lions first was born.
The buzzword titled exhibition “Game Changers”
at the side entrance of the Palais was an almost
historical homage and “Origin of Species” display of
how Mad Men have become Creative Commercialists.
An interesting reflection of how Advertising changed
the world (yes, really!).
While we are talking “buzz words”, the North
American terms in vogue at the moment are “pivot”
and “transform”, which reflects the nature of creative
commercial strategy in marketing.
116Thinking
Surprisingly there were very few international brands
present with a definite bias towards North American
brands. One would be forgiven for thinking it was a
Northern European/North American brand roster with
primarily Brazilian and Latin agencies attending – such
is the power and fame of The Lions in the Americas!
The Asian presence was more subdued this year except
for the “China party” on the beach that certainly won
plaudits for the theme and popularity! And a special
mention must go to Scarfe’s illustration of the Lion
which adorned the festival “branding” and passed the
“t-shirt” test for most participants who could be seen
sporting the design from the Gutter bar to Le Suquet!
My personal take on this year versus previous years’
content is that Storytelling, Emotive Engagement,
Purpose and Brand Effectiveness are the topical points
we will be seeing the 2014 Cannes agenda being built
around. There was a more visible acknowledgement
of the importance of social issues and conscious
capitalism, and certainly a shift towards how non-
traditional media has triumphed.
Apart from the obvious celebrity quotient being
represented in creativity (Jack Black, Vivienne
Westwood, Sean ‘Diddy’ Coombs, and legend – Lou
Reed) the best session I attended was that of Conan
and Anderson Cooper who, in a post-modern and
surreal conversation, admitted to “having no idea what
Cannes was about nor why they were there!” Cannes is
about understanding the zeitgeist of global marketing
and branding, and as clients become more involved
and powerful in direct to and through consumer
marketing, Brand Strategists must pay attention!
Interestingly, this year many of the entries crossed
categories and were submitted in multiple categories.
As always, a particular complaint of mine is the
submission in the design category of “work” that is
really just internal and “self serving” pieces of print
or “ideation”. But hey, that is Cannes… not based on
commercial challenges nor results but rather creative
inspiration and execution. Note to self – must submit
more work like that next year!
Looking forward to Cannes 2014!
117
The “Legendary Journey”, part of
the “Open Your World” campaign,
encapsulates Heineken’s approach
to asking its drinkers to live beyond
their boundaries, inspiring men
across the world to seek new
experiences. The campaign was
developed in partnership with
Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam.
Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches”
initiative employs a forensic
sketch artist to illustrate to women
the differences between their
perceived and real beauty. The
campaign, led by Ogilvy Brazil São
Paulo, is part of the brand’s Real
Beauty campaign launched nine
years ago with the goal of changing
the way people perceive beauty.
The “Oreo Blackout Tweet” is
an off-the-cuff response to
the 30-minute blackout at the
Superdome, from 360i and Oreo.
By focusing on relevancy and real-
time content within its active social
communities, the brand stood
out during the day that was most
saturated with advertising.
Heineken – Legendary Journey
Dove – Real BeautySketches
Oreo – SuperBowl Blackout Tweet
Best works:
360i. <360i.com/work/oreo-super-bowl/>
Dove. <www.realbeautysketches.dove.com>
Heineken. <heineken.com>
118Thinking
“Wonderfilled”, by The Martin
Agency, is a commercial that
explores whimsical possibilities!
It focuses on the positive change
that the simple act of sharing an
Oreo can create, tapping into the
universal human feeling of wonder.
“Wonderfilled” captures the feeling
that kids are naturally so good at,
yet adults need to be reminded of:
a sense of wonder in the world.
The “Whatever’s Comfortable”
campaign celebrates and inspires
the awesome attitude of people
who are completely comfortable
with themselves. The film “Beach”,
created by Wieden + Kennedy
New York, features a man walking
casually down the beach, totally
owning his self-comfortableness.
Oreo – Wonderfilled
Southern Comfort – Whatever’s Comfortable, Beach
An inspiring and powerful film,
“Meet the Superhumans” is from
the team at 4Creative. It features
a multitude of Paralympians
each with their own life story
and highlights the herculean
efforts that have gone into their
preparation for the Games.
London 2012 Paralympics ad for Channel 4 – Meet the Superhumans
Channel 4 Paralympics. <youtube.com/C4Paralympics>
Oreo. <oreo.com/wonderfilled>
Southern Comfort. <youtube.com/user/southerncomfort>
119
Launched by DDB New York and
Water is Life, the “Hashtag Killer”
campaign was created by gathering
various “first world problem” tweets
and having people in Haiti to recite
them in an anthem video – and, in
the process, raise awareness about
serious developing world issues.
“Dumb Ways to Die”, created by
McCann Melbourne, is a morbid
but memorable campaign to
promote train safety by featuring
colourful cartoon blobs that die in
crazy ways, such as swimming with
piranhas, to highlight that, indeed,
the stupidest way to die is to be
unsafe around trains.
Water is Life – Hashtag Killer
Metro Melbourne – Dumb Ways to Die
The “Small World Machines” is
an uplifting Coca-Cola film that
shows what unites us is stronger
than what sets us apart. Linking
strangers in two nations divided
by more than just borders, the film
features Indians and Pakistanis
interacting with each other, via the
machine – waving, touching hands,
drawing a peace sign or dancing –
before sharing a Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola – Small World Machines
Coca-cola. <youtube.com/user/cocacola>
DDB New York. <youtube.com/user/DDBSocialCreativity>
Metro. <dumbwaystodie.com>
120Thinking
“...the goal in creating a clear brand foundation with new verbal, visual, environments and cultural toolkits was to help serve as a guide and inspiration for the continued changes that lay ahead.”
121
FutureBrand wins prestigious CLIO award for American Airlines
by Jack Arrowsmith
It’s always gratifying to be recognised for doing work
you believe in. This year, FutureBrand was honored
to receive a CLIO award for the new American Airlines
identity, marking the first time an airline has won
in this category.
While the CLIOs recognise agencies and organisations
working across a wide range of creative disciplines,
from advertising to innovative media, there is something
especially unique about a win in the design category.
Design CLIOs highlight “creative work that conveys
brand and product messages in a way that not only
functions for the client, but also compels and inspires
the consumer.”
For corporate identity to be included in this segment
is a testament to the ability of world-class creative
thinking and expression to serve the practical needs of
businesses and influence the decisions that consumers
make each day in a way that is visceral, compelling and,
of course, memorable.
122Thinking
Just as importantly, the win also supports our belief in
the inherent power of creative strategy and expression
to transform brands — and peoples’ relationships to
brands — in incredibly positive ways. Our work with
American Airlines has been built on this premise. The
transformation of such an iconic brand — the first since
1967 — can only be approached with the intention of
driving substantive and positive change. Our goal was
not simply to update the look of the brand — our goal
was to reflect the very real progress the company and
its people are making throughout the company.
Further, the goal in creating a clear brand foundation
with new verbal, visual, environments and cultural
toolkits was to help serve as a guide and inspiration
for the continued changes that lay ahead. From the
design of airplanes and airports, to mobile apps, menus
and uniforms, to policies and procedures, well-formed
brands can help guide the myriad decisions that can
make the difference between a great customer or
employee experience and one that is simply acceptable.
We are incredibly proud of this recognition. It’s the
result of our 2-year collaboration with American
Airlines and entirely representative of the great efforts
that the company has made to modernise just about
every aspect of the airline.
123
124Thinking
“Numerous corporations today are making the shift towards creating a ‘purpose beyond profit’ and ‘the triple bottom line’ – people, planet and profit.”
125
Corporate Philanthropy: Now more than part of the agenda
by Chris Nurko
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
– Albert Einstein by way of Marc Mathieu
Each year on the fourth Monday in February, the
corporate community celebrates International
Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICPD) and comes
together to build awareness and inspire ideas of how
big business can move the world forward. This is
facilitated by FutureBrand partner, CECP.
Wal
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>
126Thinking
Today, more than ever, companies must look to “give
back” and add something to the world beyond what
is often their core business. Many buzz-words and
acronyms are thrown around – such as CSR, CRM,
Corporate Science, Social Performance, Responsible
Business and so on – but the truth is, what unites
all of these terms and what they all stand for (giving
something back) has never been more important
than it is today.
Companies large and small – if they are to succeed
today and have a future tomorrow – need a “purpose
beyond profit” today. Businesses should find a
reason(s) to exist beyond bottom line profit and
shareholder value; of course, these are key and core
aspects of any successful and functioning business
and have been and will continue to be metrics and
measurements for success, but the world is changing
and business too, must change along with it.
At the core of everything we do at FutureBrand
is the resounding principle of “Future Positive”.
This emanates through who we are, how we act (with
one another and with our clients) and how we approach
our work and the future. We believe that tomorrow will
be better than today and we believe this because we
feel that brands (formed and developed correctly)
have the opportunity to create a more positive future.
We work with brands every day and that’s why our
purpose is to create a more positive future.
Many organisations are now changing their thinking
to solve today’s problems, and in turn are changing
the mindsets of others. These businesses don’t make
Corporate Philanthropy part of their business; they
make social change their business.
Take Method for example, a California-based company
creating cleaning products for the home (and for
personal hygiene), that clean as well as any traditional
bleach-based product, but are made from all natural
ingredients and do not harm the environment or its
people. They are using new thinking to solve old
problems and help create a more positive future.
Meth
od
. <m
eth
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me.c
om
>
127
Numerous corporations today are
making the shift towards creating
a “purpose beyond profit” and “the
triple bottom line” – people, planet
and profit. It is being increasingly
regarded as the only direction
for companies to head in, large
and small. It affects everything
from the way they are perceived
in the press, to who wants to do
business with them, who wants to
be employed by them and so on.
Look at Unilever, for example, and
their Plan for Sustainable Living.
This “ten year journey towards
sustainable growth” is applied right
across Unilever’s value chain. An
audacious and highly admirable
goal, that “aims to double the size
of the business while reducing
our environmental impact”. This
is the next level of Corporate
Philanthropy, set to inspire the next
wave of businesses, entrepreneurs
and social advocates. Unilever are
setting a fantastic example, and
I salute them! This highlights the
fact that brands must make positive
change part of their overall brand
and business strategy (for it to be
taken seriously and acted upon by
those within and doing business
with the organisation).
Here are some of the greatest
innovators, leaders and
organisations of our time who are
seriously taking on this challenge
and making it a core part of their
businesses and business agenda:
• CannesChimera
• GatesFoundation
• ClintonFoundation
• D&ADWhitePencil
• UnileverPlanfor
Sustainable living
• UnileverWaterworks
• Oxitec
• SeeChangeHealth
It is imperative for me to stress
the importance of Corporate
Philanthropy (and all of the above)
in helping move us all towards a
more positive future; more positive,
more sustainable, and in turn, more
profitable (as a by-product of doing
everything else right).
These types of programmes must
be embedded into the heart of
future organisational business
strategies; they must be intertwined
into the fabric of an organisation
and its people (by being adopted
from both the top down and
bottom up), so that both the
organisation and its people can
become vessels and advocates for
social change… and thus, a more
positive future. So let’s change our
thinking. Let’s reaffirm the agenda.
Let’s heighten the importance of
this new facet of business and let’s
move forward to make a positive
change and positive future for all.
Un
ileve
r. <
un
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r.co
m>
128Thinking
“A Future Positive attitude to WANT to change, and to leverage corporate brands and their resources is a good place to start – and the world is tweeting about it!”
129
Davos 2013: How companies can create a better future
by Chris Nurko
As this year’s World Economic Forum ends, it is
interesting to note what is on the mind of the world’s
leaders, movers, shakers and opinion formers, and
compare that to what the world’s public-at-large
are thinking! One quick look at the KPMG “tweet
cloud” (see below) shows you one interesting and
fundamental overlap – VALUES and BUSINESS.
KP
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130Thinking
It is not surprising, after all – following on from a
global economic recession and collapse of trust
in all of the institutions of capitalism; a global
movement of anti-corporate capitalism (e.g.
Occupy!) and the increasingly ineffectiveness of
governments to create jobs and forward economic
momentum – is there any reason to doubt that
there is a gap between “values” and “business” in
the world? And what we mean specifically, is
that the social contract and role of business in
playing a “force for good” between the public
and communities, governments and shareholder
seems to be broken. Essentially, people of the
world distrust how and by whom decisions get
made, and the motivation and impact of those
decisions on everything from the economy (i.e.
jobs/employment) to the environment. If we add to
this the relentless march of “people power” not only
to force governmental change, but also corporate
governance, product pricing and profitability – we
see a fundamental shift in the world. Consumers
and citizens now expect companies (yes – business
organisations) to have a new role in society. A role
based on ethics and morality, and which harnesses
the “good” of capitalism for the benefit of all NOT
just the perks and payouts of the few. VALUES
based leadership and capitalism has now arrived
on the C-suite agenda.
Future Positive Social Impact
People – as consumers, investors, employees and
citizens now want a force for change and for good.
The license to operate for companies and their brands
now comes under scrutiny 24/7/365 in a digitally
connected and transparent world. Companies
no longer can just placate the masses and their
“audiences” with messages and PR initiatives.
Corporate brands must now link their purpose
and profitability to value creation that is more than
just profits. Happiness, meaning and quality of life
are words that are being discussed and espoused
by corporate boards all over the world, and being
included into the business strategies of the world’s
most successful companies. The public is demanding
new levels and actions that demonstrate transparency,
collaboration and capitalism.
Issues the world is interested in include Equitable
Opportunity and Distribution of Wealth, Anti-corruption
in business and government, Sustainability and Low/
No impact on health and the environment as well as
Ethical/Values-based leadership in working cultures and
business practices. In short, business has to “catch up”
to a maturing world-view that basically says…
ATTENTION BIG BUSINESSES and LEADERS…
“Hey, big businesses and brand-owners – start behaving
like a good company! Don’t be corrupt, don’t pollute,
hire and pay employees fairly, pay your taxes and don’t
just BS us with PR or marketing. Yes, YOU heard us!
We mean it – be good or we won’t let you succeed!”
A few stats below help support this view…
In a national USA survey conducted for 18-24 year-
olds, 63% identified one of the biggest problems in the
country has to be the fact that not everyone has an
equal chance in life.
In 134 out of 183 countries in a 2011 survey, people
expressed the belief that they lived in a country that
was significantly corrupt; 72 of them were ranked
as very corrupt.
Wo
rld
Eco
no
mic
Fo
rum
. <w
efo
rum
.org
>
131
According to the 2011 National Business Ethics
Survey, the share of companies with weak ethical
cultures also climbed to near record levels of 42%,
up from 35% in 2009.
So, what does all this mean? I have to reference here
two great books that were recently published, which
go a long way to helping frame this discussion and
provide insights for leaders (and concerned citizens/
consumers!). One is “GOOD WORKS!” By Philip
Kotler, David Hessekiel and Nancy Lee. A cracking
read on how Corporate Initiatives and Philanthropy
is changing the dynamic for companies that want
to commit to “Causes”; and the other is “Conscious
Capitalism”, by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia. A
brilliant summary of how Conscious Capitalism is
now driving the success of many of America’s most
successful, innovative and admired companies. What
both books highlight, and which answer the topics/
tweets/attention of Davos leaders and the public-at-
large is that corporate brands and organisations are
now accountable to doing more than just being a
good company, being profitable, hiring employees,
and not polluting. On every level, and based on
ethical standards and values-based leadership, the
future will belong to organisations that not only
aim to have a future positive impact, but more
importantly – want to! Yes, they WANT TO! They
may need to (in order to have a license to operate,
in order to avoid consumer boycotts and employee
labour disputes), but more importantly, they are
motivated by their purpose that is at the heart of their
organisation and their reason for being in the world.
They WANT to and so do their employees, and their
investors. The communities and consumer public
WANT them to succeed, and value their role in the
world. And, guess what – the company’s products
and services, and brands are more popular and
successful for it!
So, back to the World Economic Forum – and, what
does this all have to do with the topics covered?
Well – if you put aside the discussions on economic
growth (austerity versus government aided stimulus);
the debate on the UK and if it is “in” or “out” of the
EU (a referendum of confidence or collaboration?);
the search for energy (Fracking) or innovation (digital
technology) – what you end up with is the over-
arching theme of our world’s FUTURE. Do we want a
FUTURE that is better than today, or yesterday? And,
if we do – what role does business, government and
science/technology play in making the future better?
How can corporate organisations drive future growth,
and a better social contract?
The challenges touched upon beyond just Corporate
Values and Governance can be found in some of the
quotes from the sessions and leaders –
“Companies need to wake up and smell the coffee –
customers have had enough” – David Cameron
“Forty global companies have more fortune than all
the governments” – Shimon Peres
“Water is the new Oil” – V Nasr, SAIS School at
Johns Hopkins
“In the worst climate scenario, my kids will live in a
world without coral reefs, with acid oceans and with
wars fought over the water.” – Jim Yong Kim,
President of the World Bank
All of these issues are inter-related, and the future
needs to be determined by what and how businesses,
governments, the public and social interest groups
respond to the world’s challenges. A Future Positive
attitude to WANT to change, and to leverage corporate
brands and their resources, is a good place to start –
and the world is tweeting about it!
See you in Davos in 2014!
132Thinking
“... it is important for international businesses to continue managing a balance between global standardisation and local relevance.”
133
The 22nd century will be the African century (and other predictions)
by Tom Adams
Tidjane Thiam made a bold prediction at the IOD
Annual Convention held in London on 18 September
2013. If the 21st century is now officially the “Asian”
century, the CEO of Prudential PLC argued, the 22nd
century will be the African century. All because, as
he puts it, “demographics are destiny”. The numbers
supporting the Asian century would now seem to
be inarguable. Not only does Asia constitute 40% of
global economic output, but for the first time ever,
emerging economies combined are now bigger than
their developed counterparts. The middle class in
Asia alone, now estimated to be 525 million people,
is larger than the whole population of Europe and is
set to treble by 2030. By contrast, the largest growing
demographic in the west are people over 85 years old,
and by 2030 there will only be 2.5 people of working
age for every pensioner in Europe. The current
median age of Europeans is 41, compared to 27 in
Asia and 18 in Africa. And the rate of growth in China
dictates that it will create what is equivalent to four to
six “Germany’s” over the next twenty years to surpass
America as the world’s largest economy. In this context,
he argued, it is important for international businesses
to continue managing a balance between global
standardisation and local relevance. For example,
Prudential has 13 million customers in Asia across 30
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markets, each with its own unique set of products –
like those attending to the Islamic faith in places like
Indonesia. “The man from the Pru”, he joked, is now
a woman on a motorbike meeting customers in a
Vietnamese café with her iPad. Critically, though, he
also talked about the need for consistent values in
the organisation – that shape its growth, culture and
ways of doing business.
Insurers are in the business of accurately predicting
the future, and Mr Thiam’s thoughts emerged in the
context of some other predictions from a thought-
provoking line up of leaders at the convention.
Simon Walker, Director General of the IOD, talked
about the need for a future European Union that
allowed for greater liberalisation of trade that
would allow SMEs (who represent over 80% of the
European economy) to deliver more cross-border
business – particularly in the service sector.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, cautiously
predicted an “economic renaissance” in the UK,
powered by its most successful brand “London” and
building on the success of London 2012, technology
and infrastructure investment, the finance sector
and growing exports to countries like China. One
particular case in point: the success of Jaguar – a
British brand whose cars now sell in their tens of
thousands in India and China because of the quality
of its products, not their price or nostalgia for a
bygone age of Britishness.
Ana Botin, CEO of Santander UK, talked about
creating the future of business success today by
providing more capital investment for entrepreneurs
and capturing the UK’s spirit of enterprise,
innovation and ambition, and that banks can make
a positive difference to society – a powerful and
encouraging statement from a leader who can
make that possible in the banking sector.
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George Osborne, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer,
was cautious about the UK economic recovery, saying
it had “turned a corner” (although no green shoots of
recovery yet…), and predicted that China as a market
for our exports and source of tourism would be a
powerful force in this recovery. Not least because
Chinese investment in the UK has increased by over
90% since 2011.
Joanna Shields, CEO of Tech City and former Silicon
Valley entrepreneur predicted an 8% growth in the
Internet economy in the UK in the next five years.
But she also talked about the power of technology
to positively disrupt businesses, sectors and markets
– something we have talked about at length here
– and that every business can create its future by
“thinking like a start up”. And closed by saying that
entrepreneurship is now recognised as a legitimate
career path by young people in the UK.
And Dan Cobley, MD of Google UK and Ireland,
stressed the need for business to move from “10%”
thinking to “x10” thinking – shifting from incremental
improvements to groundbreaking ideas that change
everything – and how this continues to power
Google’s extraordinary growth and innovation in
everything from driverless cars to Google Glass. Above
all, he reminded us of a favourite FutureBrand saying
that the best way to predict the future is to create it.
The IOD event hinted that business, technology and
political leaders in the UK and beyond are united
around the need to create a more positive future
around ideas, technology and brands. There seems to
be a spirit of cautious optimism in the air, and a sense
that collaboration, openness and adapting to change
are the secret to that future.
We couldn’t agree more.
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“Conscious capitalism is a key mindset that nations and commercial organisations must adopt in order to maximise shared value for stakeholders, citizens and the consumer at large.”
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Future Brilliance! New brands for Afghanistan and the world
by Chris Nurko
As London Fashion Week opens for 2013, we
are proud to say we have contributed some of
our “future positive” thinking and creativity to help
create a brand and strategy to succeed something
that truly deserves recognition!
Future Brilliance is a not-for-profit organisation
founded by the inspiring Sofia Swire. Its purpose
is threefold and inter-related:
To help the artisan women of Afghanistan (and
other post-conflict nations) to be educated and
engaged in commercial activity, thus creating a
more stable home and economic basis for activity.
To do so via training, education and support that
can help achieve positive change in their lives and
those of their communities.
To ensure that the cultural and commercial craft of
jewellery and other hand-made goods survives and
returns economic benefits to those closest to the
origin of the goods and economic chain.
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Why this is so vital is that in a country such as
Afghanistan, the economic stability and survival of the
nation depends upon the women and craft economy
to flourish in the face of political and economic
challenges to self-sufficiency in 2014. It is a model
that could potentially be extended to any post-conflict
nation or group of citizens who need support in
training, education and commercial knowledge. For
Afghanistan, a country rich in gemstones and with a
heritage of craftsmanship in jewellery and hand-made
goods – this is seen as a first line of defence against
those who seek to undermine the legitimate economy
and stability of the nation, and the rights and freedoms
of women in particular.
Future Brilliance has created a jewellery brand,
“Aayenda“ (which means “Future” in Dari, the lingua
franca of Afghanistan), and through partnerships with
experts and multi-national organisations, hopes to
create a commercially viable supply-to-retail chain
that delivers profit and value to those involved in
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training, education and creation. The key stakeholders
to be benefited being the women of Afghanistan,
who are creating beautiful jewellery and designed
handicrafts using the gems of the land and the cultural
tradition of the craft. Famous designers are lending
their expertise, as well as academic institutions so
that students in Afghanistan under Future Brilliance’s
auspices and tuition can learn, engage, create and sell
their skills and work via Aayenda.
By launching at New York Fashion week and London
Fashion week, Aayenda aims to bring more awareness
and quality crafted jewellery to an international
audience. In concert with the brand “Afghan Made“,
which applies to the wider crafts of carpets and
cashmere products, Aayenda is a prime example of
how commercial and community minded initiatives
can work in harmony to great effect and results. One
of the key ingredients is to enable the connection
between expertise and those who are in need of
the knowledge. Future Brilliance has pioneered the
use of Solar Powered laptops to bring 21st century
technology in an affordable and practical manner as
the vehicle for content dissemination. To start, it will
be focused on the craft and artisan skills but rapidly
can be expanded to include any form of knowledge,
data or training. The opportunities and the benefits are
enormous, and are a prime example of “future positive”
in action. That is why FutureBrand has done all work
related to Future Brilliance as a pro-bono initiative and
will continue to support its success and promotion in
the years ahead.
Conscious capitalism is a key mindset that nations
and commercial organisations must adopt in order
to maximise shared value for stakeholders, citizens
and the consumer at large. The new brand launched
at London Fashion Week hopefully will be a “brilliant”
example for the category, the women of Afghanistan
and the nation of Afghanistan in the future!
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“This truly is Future Positive in action and is why we are proud to be a part of this movement and are 100% committed to helping make the event a success.”
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ONE way to change the world
by FutureBrand
FutureBrand has been working with Nokia and ONE
to help form an effective partnership for global, social
advocacy. ONE – the grassroots advocacy and
campaigning organisation focused on eradicating
poverty and preventable disease – wanted to utilise
its power and influence ahead of the up-coming G8
conference in Northern Ireland to help drive awareness
around major global issues and social change. In order
to do this, they corralled a group of the world’s biggest
musicians (including Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran,
Jessie J, Tinie Tempah and Allison Moyet to name
a few) to support their “agit8” event by singing their
favorite protest songs from history.
ONE Future T-shirt
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FutureBrand client, Nokia, was brought in as the
campaign’s image partner, to help raise awareness
and advocacy for the movement (in real time).
The partnership was a great fit as Nokia has always
been focused on “connecting people” and ONE’s
drive for this event was not about money or
financial investment but about using community
manpower as a method to empower people to
influence government decisions.
FutureBrand is a supporter and partner of the ONE
organisation and the agit8 event, held at the Tate
Modern in London, in June 2013.
As a precursor to the G8 event-taking place in
Northern Ireland – the agit8 event seeks to amplify
the power of protest songs to have an effect on
mobilising public support and opinion to change
the world for the better. Specifically, to end Poverty
in our lifetime in Africa and to create a more open,
free and humanitarian world. This truly is Future
Positive in action, and it is why we are proud to be
a part of this movement, and are 100% committed
to helping make the event a success. With Bono
behind the idea – many of the world’s leading
recording artists and singers either sang live or
recorded a video singing a famous protest song
that helped to change the world. Accompanied by
a film shot by Richard Curtis and with the support
of leading actors, chefs and politicians – the ONE
organisation has put a stake in the ground to
change the world!
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Congratulations to all those involved in helping move
the world forward through this powerful movement.
It doesn’t end here though, please check out the event
online and show your support via the channels below:
Website: www.one.org
Twitter: @ONEcampaign
Facebook: facebook.com/ONE
JOIN. WATCH. LISTEN. ONE.
http://www.one.org/protestsongs/
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“We are true advocates and supporters of Solar Impulse and what they, as a movement, stand for – creating a more sustainable future through renewable energy and technology.”
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Congratulations Solar Impulse
by Jack Arrowsmith
They say “the main thing is to make history, not to write
it”. The team at Solar Impulse has truly made history
and others (including myself) will be writing about it.
On 7th July 2013, the Solar Impulse plane completed
the final leg of its “Across America” mission, flying day
and night soley with the power of the sun. Originally
starting in San Francisco in May 2013 (where the plane
was reassembled, after being taken apart at the team’s
HQ in Switzerland in order to transport it to the USA)
the team and pilots (Andre Borschberg and Bertrand
Picard) flew from city-to-city making stopovers in
Phoenix, Arizona, Dallas, Texas, and St Louis, Missouri,
including others, culminating in the final leg of the
journey – the flight from Washington D.C. to New
York’s JFK airport. The plane set off at 04:56 (08:56
GMT) on Saturday from Washington DC for the final
leg of its journey, and landed at about 23:15 (03:45
GMT Sunday) in New York. A Statue of Liberty fly-pass
had to be cancelled, due to a 2.5metre (8ft) tear in the
fabric of the left wing.
Thankfully, the pilot managed to complete the journey
without incident. FutureBrand has been working with
Solar Impulse since 2012 to help form its future brand
strategy and partnership offering, ahead of the “Flight
Across America” and eventual “Flight Around the World”
initiatives. We are helping to take the company to the
next level as a brand and as a movement.
We are true advocates and supporters of Solar Impulse
and what they, as a movement, stand for – creating
a more sustainable future through renewable energy
and technology. The team and all they have achieved
so far are a true personification of “future positive”.
We are excited to continue to work with Solar Impulse,
to help them to achieve their goals of flying around the
world and ultimately using their achievements in the
plane to be a catalyst for change and a proof-point for
how we as society can create a better future.
Borschberg and Picard and the whole Solar Impulse
team have practised the FutureBrand principle of
“Foresight”, by imagining the believable future they
want to see and taking steps to create it. “We want
our solar airplane to be an example of how new ways
of thinking can inspire people to reach goals many
consider unachievable”. I think this successful flight
is a huge step towards achieving this future positive
ambition. Congratulations Solar Impulse and good
luck for 2015!
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FutureBrand is the creative future company.
With a future-focused methodology,
combined with incisive strategic thinking
and creative visualisation techniques,
FutureBrand co-creates and delivers to
clients a believable future for their brands to
achieve desired strategic goals.
In the highly competitive and complex
cultural landscape of Asia, we work with
various organisations, private and public, to
strengthen their brand for competitiveness,
helping them to grow, extend, and defend
their market position.
www.futurebrand.com
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