The Power spoken word and face to face

A wonderful event was held at The Conway Hall earlier today. The Story is a one-day conference about stories and story-telling. I have been working on a pitch today so could not attend so i donated my ticket to a friend who will give me more of a lowdown later today. I have been following the Tweets all day and it sounds like a missed a great event.

The event is a celebration of everything that is wonderful, inspiring and awesome about stories, in whatever medium possible. there were stories that were written, spoken, played, described, enacted, whispered, projected, orchestrated, performed, printed, generally in whatever form stories come in.

The Story event was not about theories of stories, or making money from stories, but about the sheer visceral pleasure of telling a story. Whether it is in a game, a movie, a book, or a pub, we’ve all heard or told or been part of stories that have made us gasp, cry or just laugh.

Slick APP, Slick Film, Slick Nike.

Its just slick... thats all!

Nike True City Full Trailer - Offical HD from NikeSportswear on Vimeo.

Guerilla projections, lighting and installations

Again research for a client has brought up some really interesting and inspirational ideas around the use of projection and lighting. At one of our recent creative lunches our production team brought a number of fine examples with them to share with the group.

I thought i would share a couple of my favourites with you...

RUNNING JUMPING RABBIT...

BRIGHTON PIER IN LASERS...

PUMA SPINSTAR...

Design Scholarship

I love this.

Rethink Scholarship at Langara 2010 Call for Entries from Rory O'Sullivan and Simon Bruyn on Vimeo.

Get out of the Bar whilst staying in the bar!

This rather amusing contraction was created by Saatchi & Saatchi for their client Andes Beer.

Very amusing of course but take the time to watch to the end and see heo it works in a real live environment.

Pop, Pop, Pop Pop Up!

It appears that the world has gone Pop-Up mad, now I am not knocking the concept and i actually think that there are many benefits to pop ups in these recessionary times, if a brand can fill a decrepit and vacant space and give a good consumer experience at the same time then the more the merrier i say.

That said, i was really interested to discover this morning the Pop-Up Ad Agency The Idea Shop from Ogilvy. Ogilvy is giving back to the local communities in which they "pop-up", they are offering their expertise to local small businesses and social enterprises free of charge, simply book and give an overview of your potential needs and then "Pop-In" for an hour .

Interestingly they will also be holding talks in the space as well as keeping the world up to date through a Blog and Twitter

I LOVE IT, WELL DONE!

The state of the Internet

I am working on a project with a lot of digital support and in my effort to confirm the power of the internet to the client my research came across this great graphic explanation of the internet on from the Focus website.

Click onto it for full effect.

O2 Winning awards in the finance sector already...

I was with a potential client from Natwest yesterday discussing opportunities to create deeper and more immersive customer experiences based around the products and services on offer, in the meeting O2 was brought up by the client as an example of a brand that pioneers great customer experience around what is effectively an invisible commodity and Natwest wish to emulate what O2 has achieved in terms of customer engagement and loyalty.

You may or may not be aware of the relationship between O2 and Natwest but it is one that has already proven to be an award winning collaboration with O2 picking up two finance industry awards last night. The following video gives some insight into why the mobile market leader has taken a step into this volatile market place and is already reaping the rewards, as an O2 customer and a HUGE fan of the brand and its methods of consumer marketing I will be signing up to the service this week and i will keep you posted on the benefits from a consumer perspective.

Well done O2.

Its worth mentioning however that it is not all plain sailing for what was the UK's favorite supplier, it appears that it might not have the standout I thought according to the Marketing Magazine article I just read.

The first events industry TweetUp of 2010

The Lovely Mr Peter Kerwood of Merlin Events Group hosted the latest events industry TweetUp at Madame Tussauds earlier this week.

Here is a video of the event.

The power of Digital & Live

There are many advocates of the use of digital to enhance and amplify a consumer focused experiential campaign.

But just as experiential techniques can be used in a corporate environment to engage internal audiences, social media platforms should also be used to enhance internal events by engaging delegates pre and post event and on-site.

The use of social media can be used to create exposure and increase attendance pre event, engender engagement whilst on-site and then gather feedback and reinforce the event’s impact long after delegates return to the workplace.

Twitter is a good place to start – it is a very powerful tool in terms of pre event promotion and, as my team has proven in past experience with projects for clients such as Carphone Warehouse, Twitter is an incredible tool for engaging with audiences during event. It appears that using channels such as Twitter in the corporate event environment actually liberates people to speak out when they would normally shy away from asking questions or offering commentary at an event. After all – it is an effective communication tool - it enhances word of mouth and offers the opportunity to capture truthful commentary. In addition, it’s an easy way to share and gather information before the event, during the event and between attendees.

Social media has now become an accepted mechanic in the corporate communications arsenal. Portals such as Linkedin have opened up a whole new world of shared information and networking in the business world and its influence has now led to some incredible new forms of networking technology that allow corporate event organisers to engage their audiences like never before. I am very proud to say that my division RPM Corporate is about to sign a deal with a technology supplier that has built one of the most interesting and technically advanced registration and networking tools to hit our sector for some time.

‘RPM Connect’ will allow an incredible range of audience interaction and networking as well as profiling, feedback, delegate management, content sharing and microblogging. This is just another step in our division recognising the value of social and digital media to content share and network.

I have used social media on many occasions and to great effect with past clients such as innocent (around its village fete), but the use of social media to support consumer experiences is nothing new and all good agencies utilise the various platforms at every opportunity. However in the corporate space its use is a little less common and this offers up a debate in terms of how can you, and how should you, use social media in the corporate environment?

I spoke at a conference last year and an audience member challenged my suggestion that social media opens a new opportunity in internal communications and employee engagement. She even suggested that it was dangerous to allow freedom of speech and it could open up a can of worms, and heaven forbid - what if the commentary was negative?

Well, in my opinion you cannot make change and improve if you do not know all of the facts and you do not know how your people feel. But if you have the negatives you can turn them into positives. A client of RPM Corporate has embraced a proposition we made recently to resolve an internal communications issue. We opened a Twitter channel for internal communication, posed the question and thus opened the debate. Answers can only be a maximum of 140 characters so this ensured that employees think about what they say and how they say it. This mechanic also allows Direct Messaging for an immediate response and commentary is archived. The business has a massive network of out of office staff but they are all on blackberry so access to twitter is an easy communication and content sharing option.

Avoid the use of social media and the online community at your peril!

It is also clear from our experience that increasingly more and more brands are bringing digital techniques into the physical retail environment to add value to the shopping experience. I read recently about RFID Radio Frequency Identity being used on shopping trolleys so that location based advertising can be streamed to the screen on a trolley. This opens up a whole new world of marketing opportunity and it won’t be long before the event and exhibition industry will harness this technology.

Augmented reality in the corporate environment is also giving the challenge of engaging staff an interesting twist. I am currently proposing the use of augmented reality hotspots around the office of a major client, these unobtrusive hotspots will offer the opportunity for staff to engage with corporate message in dwell areas by simply pointing supplied interactive tablets or indeed their own mobile phones.

So all of the above proves that you cannot and should not ignore the opportunity to support live experiences with digital and interactive media.

Those crazy guys at Bompas & Parr are at it again...

I was delighted to be invited to their Gin Mist experience in Carnaby Street last year and it looks like they've gone a huge step further with an amazingly immersive experience for Courvoisier.

The photography is reminiscent of a David Lachapelle shoot and is well worth a viewing. These guys really know how to a brands essence and product at the heart of a gathering, this time they have created what must be the worlds largest Punch Bowl and have flooded a building with enough punch to serve 25,000 people.

I really do love it but i'm not sure of the issues of hygiene and the fact that you could raft across the drink but I don't doubt that they had all the bases covered on this front.

I really like the remote control garnishes.

Great car reveals...

I was talking to an automotive client earlier today and we were discussing launches and new and interesting ways to wow the audiences at dealer launches.

So i was having a trawl through the web and came across one of fords recent launches. Despite the speaker presentations the reveal is pretty darn slick.

2010 NAIAS

Metamorphosis - Building the education centres of the future

My team and I are currently immersed in a major brief for a UK broadcaster and education is at the heart of our thinking. In my research I have come across some outstanding initiatives that bring the end user into the planning and design and the outcome shows just how powerful this kind of end user collaboration can be.

This example especially resonated with me because I have a young child and education and choosing the right schools is currently high on my agenda.

Metamorphosis

This initiative also added further verification that my decision to include employee environment design into my divisions proposition is the right one. I believe that getting the working environment right can only help with employee retention, engagement and indeed productivity and what better way to engage than bring the employee into the planning... just another step in the right direction in terms of Fandom.

Also see Coolhunter for another perspective on the 'School of the future'.

Darth Vaders Shoes!

Those that know me and the name of my son will understand my attraction to the latest campaign by Adidas Love it and I hope they come in kids sizes for my J.E.D.I

La Maîtresse de la Tour Eiffel

I visit Paris at least once a year to immerse myself in the art and fine food and despite many visits I still do not tire of what surprises the city can bring, whether it be performance art, installations or graffiti there is always something new.

This is an installation by the artist Michel de Broin and is reputed to be the largest mirror ball ever made.

It gives a wonderful atmospheric experience in the incredible gardens in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

La Maîtresse de la Tour Eiffel | 2009 from Michel de Broin on Vimeo.

The RPM Corporate Division is up and running and winning.

I am very proud to announce that RPM's new corporate division is now up and running and targeted to account for half of the agency's turnover within the next two years.

Already in the past 8 weeks the division has won two pieces of business and has secured the contract for at least one other client.

Since setting up RPM Corporate it has been my intention to recruit the best in class to drive the division forward and I am happy to announce the arrival of newly-appointed head of corporate Katie Kenny, formerly account director at Sledge. Katie is an extremely talented individual and brings with her many years of experience in the corporate communications and internal comms sector as well as extensive experience in the consumer and experiential markets.

Katie will progress her career and profile by leading an extensive team of producers, creative’s, planners and the “RPM intellectual Resource” she will also be the conduit to the board. Katie’s arrival along with other team members show’s how serious we are about the investment in this division and will give me the freedom to drive forward the divisions new business team as well as promoting the intellectual resource.

I am currently recruiting a number of experts in the field of internal communications, training and development for businesses, research evaluation and employee engagement to form the corporate division's Intellectual Resource team. Thus far the support from the existing in house resource has helped us to secure two project wins and a new long-term client so the integration into the RPM business has been flawless

The initial goal of RPM Corporate is to replicate in the B2B market what experiential can do for consumers. Essentially, our division mantra will be to turn “Employees into Fans."


We will do this by creating comprehensive engagement programs that will first educate brands on the value of “Fandom” and then put into practice engaging experiences that will turn the employees into better supporters and promoters of the business. As a team we have spent many years educating brands about the value of consumer advocacy and it is high time that brands started to match the commitment they give to customers to their own staff.

Businesses need to start cashing in on the power of experience

The internal communications industry seems to have a more wary approach to embracing new mediums in comparison to the B2C market. Whilst consumer brands have been quick to jump on emerging communication methods to market to their customers, they have often relied on more traditional mediums when it comes to communicating with their employees. Whilst it can be argued that this approach has proved effective in the past, I don't think that the traditional thinking behind internal events has been challenged enough.

In a recently published report to Government entitled “Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement” The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills said “Only organisations that truly engage and inspire their employees produce world class levels of innovation, productivity and performance.”

The report takes an in-depth look at employee engagement and reports on its potential benefits for companies, organisations and individual employees. It goes on to say that business and organisations function best when they make their employees’ commitment, potential, creativity and capability central to their operation. Clearly, having enough cash, and a sensible strategy, are vital. But how people behave at work can make the crucial difference between business and operational success or failure.

Gallup in 2006 examined 23,910 business units and compared top quartile and bottom quartile financial performance with engagement scores. They found that: Those with engagement scores in the bottom quartile averaged 31 – 51 per cent more employee turnover, 51 per cent more inventory shrinkage and 62 per cent more accidents. Those with engagement scores in the top quartile averaged 12 per cent higher customer advocacy, 18 per cent higher productivity and 12 per cent higher profitability.

Engagement is two way: organisations must work to engage the employee, who in turn has a choice about the level of engagement to offer the employer. Each reinforces the other.

There are so many new and innovative ways to inspire and engage the internal audience, from social media to experiential marketing. Developments in areas such as digital theatre and content sharing are creating a revolution in the B2C market that producers of internal events simply cannot ignore.

These new methods of engagement are not just for consumers; it's high time that corporate companies started treating their internal and business audiences as consumers, and building more immersive and engaging 'business brand experiences'.

The recent credit crunch has acted as a catalyst for change across all sectors and now is the perfect time for businesses to readdress the way they communicate with their internal and external audiences. Lord Mandelson confirms this: “ A recession might seem an unusual time for such reflection – in fact, the opposite is the case. Because Britain’s economic recovery and its competitive strengths in a global economy will be built on strong, innovative companies and confident employees, there has never been a more important time to think about employee engagement in Britain.”

Businesses have a duty now more than ever to demonstrate how their business values match those of their prospects, in addition to reassuring their existing clients and employees. We are seeing more and more brands embracing the use of social media and digital platforms to share, measure, and amplify their events and marketing strategy. There is such a wealth of technology available that empowers businesses with the tools to create memorable experiences - for clients, prospects and staff alike.

Experiential techniques, once the exclusive property of the B2C marketing department, are now transcending into the corporate world and are being used to engage prospects and staff. The economic climate has forced a move away from big budget spending on one medium; as a result businesses are looking for new ways to interact with their target demographic.

Businesses are under pressure to engage prospects and sustain a healthy bottom line, and it is difficult to generate stand out and cut through in an increasingly cluttered and saturated market place. And with reports that distrust in big companies, whether as supplier, client or employee, is at an all time low, it is more important than ever for corporates to try and engage on a more personal level. It is high time that brands and institutions started to treat their internal audiences as consumers in their own right and look to turn these people into fans of the brand.

Now is the time to focus on your business brand - A New Approach

In recent weeks i have been out and about meeting clients to discuss the new RPM Corporate Division and its reason for being, i thought i would use the blog to spread the word a little further because the reaction from clients has been very promising indeed and in fact we have already secured two new clients with our first employee engagement project kicking off in January 2010.

There are so many new and innovative ways to inspire and engage the corporate audience. Developments in areas such as digital theatre and content sharing are creating a revolution in the corporate communications and event market. In this day and age there is no excuse for “death by PowerPoint”; and I am certainly not referring to virtual events (don’t get me started on these glorified conference calls!).

In light of this, at RPM we recently launched a specialist corporate division, dedicated to providing a tailored and bespoke service for internal and B2B engagement briefs, headed up by yours truly.

This was a result of seeing a gap in the market for RPM to tap into, and knowing from a wealth of experience that this is the perfect time for re-addressing the way in which corporate clients approach their live communications, when talking to their internal and business audiences.

Today’s conference and B2B Meetings are utilising the latest wireless and HD technology. When we want audience interaction, education and content sharing, we are seeing an increase in the use of interactive and touch screen technology. Furthermore, we are seeing brands embracing the use of social media and digital platforms to share, measure, and amplify their events. You can be sure that 2010 and beyond will see clients enhancing their live experiences with the likes of 3D and augmented reality (watch the press for news of this with our project).

At RPM we live and breathe the power of experience, and have used many of today’s innovations to great effect when engaging consumers and delivering effective campaigns for clients. And in our view, these new methods of engagement are not just for consumers; it’s high time that corporate companies started treating their internal and business audiences as consumers, and building more immersive and engaging ‘business brand experiences’.

Ultimately, we are all consumers, and treating staff as such and investing time in ensuring that all methods of internal communication are as engaging and relevant as the external marketing messages is key in creating ambassadors for a business. Getting face to face and making sure that business messages are at the heart of the communication will be the key to success for clients in 2010.

It is our aim to build a division that provides a new and experiential approach to the way in which brands communicate to their audiences in the live environment. We will be building a sophisticated proposition that will be involved in the communication process from a very early stage, and following this we will create IP rights owned properties that clients can buy in isolation. These rights will cover areas such as communications audits, employee engagement tools and programmes and, of course, channel activation.

Experiential techniques, once the exclusive property of the marketing department, are now transcending into the corporate world and are being used to engage their staff. Never before have we seen so much distrust in big companies. With this in mind, and most successful business leaders across the world would agree, an engaged and motivated work force is the first step businesses need to take in order to reconnect with their customers and earn back their trust.

At RPM, our objective for the new Corporate Division is to focus on much more than business brand activation. Our aim is to integrate our thinking into our client’s business right from the creation of an idea, through to development, implementation and evaluation, and thus enable them to turn employees into loyal fans, which is arguably the best asset a business can have.

Recessionary times of staff disillusionment and uncertainty have created a perfect opportunity for this proposition. We have set ourselves some big targets and rightly so; I have 100% confidence that the team we are building and the existing exceptional internal resource at RPM will deliver tenfold.

Photographic endeavours

As my slow progression into the world of Photography continues I’m increasingly finding myself seeking out inspiration from the professionals.

Today I came across some stunning images from the Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, his photography is mostly devoted to the reflection of how industry shapes certain natural landscapes and I personally think his imagery brings this otherwise unknown fact of the modern world to us with startling yet stunning effect.

Go see more for yourself at his site

Twitterature

So we all now the ever increasing popularity of twitter and many of us have been embracing it for self promotion, new business and indeed Social Media marketing for some time and, like me you will no doubt have experienced its power and how it can increase awareness of your messages.

For example, prior to my departure from Sledge, Google analytics was showing that the main drivers to the Sledge.co.uk site were the following:

1. Google
2. Experiencethis/Twitter
3. Ian Irving Blog
4. Bing

And the hit figures from no’s 2 & 3 were pretty impressive, thus proving how powerful and cost efficient social media can be for business.

So, all this said… I was interested to read today of the forthcoming release of a rather interesting example of how Twitters USP has transcended into the more tangible world of literature. November sees everyone’s favourite publisher Penguin, release Twitterature… the worlds greatest books in 140 characters.

If for no other reason, as with any Penguin classic, it’s worth a purchase just for its achingly cool sleeve designs.

"A tool to aid the digestion of great literature" Says The Guardian

Buy it here

This got me thinking about the numerous speaking engagements I have coming up and perhaps I should consider taking this 140-character thing on board and see how I can adapt my Experiential Marketing presentations to meet this ever-increasing trend… Not groundbreaking thinking I know but I’m going to give it a shot anyway.