Thinking Outside the Box

This week, it has been reported that in 1900, an American civil engineer called John Elfreth Watkins made a number of predictions about what the world would be like in 2000. Maybe no big news, except for the fact that the majority of his predictions came true.

Over 100 years ago, John Elfreth Watkins wrote a feature for Ladies’ Home Journal, entitled What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years. The article said: “These prophecies will seem strange, almost impossible”.  And no doubt, at the time, they did.  He accurately predicted digital colour photography, mobile phones and television – all central to our world today.

Take Watkins prediction of mobile phones – this prediction came 15 years before Alexander Bell made the first call, so to predict mobile telephones was truly revolutionary.  It is this sort of revolutionary thinking which makes great people, well – great.  Okay, so Watkins himself didn’t invent the mobile phone, but he had enough foresight and vision to see further than what was right in front of him.

We need only look at Steve Jobs to see what thinking outside of the box can achieve for businesses.  He revolutionised the way we live our lives on a daily basis, simply by looking beyond the black and white.  It’s important for a business to employ hard working, motivated people, but it’s only when those people start to see the bigger picture and think creatively that truly great successes happen.

John Elfreth Watkins was ahead of his time in the way that he thought.  So was Steve Jobs.  The World Future Society says it best: “We invent the future through our actions and change it constantly”.  Nothing is set in stone and with the right people thinking inspired and inventive thoughts, a business’s success will see no bounds.

An Infographic Is Worth a Million Words

One of the biggest challenges faced by both B2B journalist and PROs alike is making a story visually compelling. It’s relatively easy for consumer products, you often have a plethora of choices, ranging from lifestyle shots, to celebrity endorsements to something a little more artistic. However with B2B products, regardless how cool the technology or service is, you often only have access to pictures of either a big black box, a screen shot or of course your resident spokesperson.

If you take a minute right now and look through a traditional trade publication I am confident that you’ll see that in 99% of cases this is true. There might be some pictures that break this mould, perhaps someone sat at a computer or people huddled around a desk, but in most of the cases the image adds little ‘value’ to the article and was probably courtesy of Getty images rather than the company itself.

So what can we do? Do we start asking celebrities to lay across aforementioned black boxes to add some additional appeal?

Or do we start doing things differently and providing images that not only add value to the journalist but also to our clients?

Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. They allow “viewers” to quickly consume and understand complex information, and apart from that they are damn cool as well. They also have media appeal for both print and online publications, as well as being highly shareable via social media, and so they are quickly becoming an essential part of our PR tool kit.

However, one of the biggest challenges remains educating both PROs and their clients on how best to visually represent this information. So, here are top 5 tips from our experience:

• Think about the big picture. Just like any other PR activity, think about what you want to communicate and the action you want the “viewer” to take.
• Tell a story. Create a storyboard which outlines the story and messages you want to communicate and then start thinking about how you want to visualise this.
• Fit for Purpose. Just like lifestyle shots it’s important to consider how you want your Infographic to be used and how much branding you should allow. It’s better to be subtle and suitable for purpose, than overt and sat on the company’s website.
• Think like ‘Mad Men’. Pithy text that add value to the images and quickly communicate the point are essential to creating a good Infographic. Remember it’s a graphic visualisation and not a short story with pictures.
• Don’t just tag it on. Think about how your Infographic fits into the overall campaign and ties in with the story that the press release and other supporting materials communicate. The Infographic should support the story – not tell a completely different one.

The creation of an Infographic is obviously much easier when you have research to support it, but it can also be used to support product launches and thought leadership in my opinion. For instance, a new hardware product that is 100 times faster than the previous model could be graphically represented by a sports car vs. a rocket ship…..well you get the idea.

If you are interested in learning more about Infographics, I would definitely suggest checking out Mashable.com who are a great resource of innovative takes on the medium.

How to survive Dream Toys

Every year the Toy Retailers Association gather together their leading experts, select some of the best toys in the land, hideaway in their testing labs, then resurface in October to announce their predictions for Christmas.

These predictions are known as the Dream Dozen; the top 12 toys destined for a place under the Christmas tree. The Dream Dozen is unveiled at Dream Toys, a sell-out event for anyone and everyone in the toy industry. We attended alongside our client Playmobil. Their Top Agents Super Racer won a Kid’s Choice award, which is fantastic recognition for the global toy giant.

Although we enjoyed every minute, Dream Toys is a tough day out. Here are my top tips to ensure your experience is a sweet dream not a beautiful nightmare.

Get an Early Night

The show starts bright and early at 6am and runs until 2pm. There’s plenty of tea, coffee, Danish pastries and bacon butties at hand to get you through, but cashing in on sleep the night before will ensure you’re bright and breezy. Especially if like this year, the show takes place the morning after the PR Week Awards.

Get Dressed Up

No toy show is complete without our favourite characters. Rastamouse, a Sylvanian family and Moshi monster attended in their finest attire, but most of the exhibitors came suited and booted. To stand out amongst the throng we dressed up as characters from the Playmobil range. We were the only PRs in costume and it was a great icebreaker, starting conversations with a range of media from nationals to mummy bloggers.

Bring Your Running Shoes

You know the saying about mountains and Mohammed? Well, the same point applies to attracting media at this event. If you spot someone you want to speak to, head over straight away and get the conversation started. Given that every other exhibitor is looking to do exactly the same thing, it’s first come first served.

Get Down with the Kids

Dream Toys is a child’s idea of heaven. Unsurprisingly the venue was swar
ming with adorable little faces eager to get their tiny hands on the latest must-haves. Their eyes light up as they discover what each toy is capable of, but there’s always a suggestion of ways that it could be ‘cooler’. “Why doesn’t it fire out rockets?”, “Wouldn’t it be cool if it could fly?”, “Does it come in Blue? It’s my favourite colour”. Note down all the suggestions and take them back to the R&D team, it’s priceless marketing insight.

Embrace the Christmas spirit

It may be October but Dream Toys marks the gateway to Christmas. Snowflakes adorn the walls, icicles hang from the ceiling, kids are dressed as elves and Santa has been constructed out of Lego. All that’s missing is Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas is you’. Scourges, leave the cynicism at home and embrace the Christmas cheer.

Steve Jobs, genuine innovator, visionary, entrepreneur

As the flowers and messages gather at the #Apple flagship store in #Covent Garden near our offices, we cannot let the day go past without noting the sad passing of this creative man who changed and shaped our world forever.   You may not have agreed with everything he said and did but no one can deny that he made a huge impact on our world.

 Barack Obama summed him up best: Steve was among the greatest of American innovators, brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.’

Some of the most notable articles of today:

#Businessweek says “Steve Jobs departs a world he helped transform. Jobs was a total original. He was somehow able to blend iconoclasm, rock-and-roll, and chic industrial design with the nerd sciences, as well as the unseemly profit motive of the corporation.”

#Venturebeat highlighted ten important products Steve Jobs has brought to the world

Moco News – a tribute in links and quotes including “For those of us lucky enough to get to work with Steve, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”—Bill Gates

And finally some of Steve Jobs own most memorable quotes – an inspiration

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” – Macstories.net.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me.” – Wall Street Journal 1993, shared by UK Guardian.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Stanford University commencement address, 1995

Battle of the Playground

When I was at school, the new term signalled a brand new pencil case jam packed with WH Smiths’ finest. Highlighters, protractors, Parker pens – you name it, we bought it simply because shiny new stationery was the ticket to playground cool.

Fast forward twenty years however, and pens have firmly been knocked off their throne. For school children of today the reigning King of Cool are collectable toy figures. Known to any 7 or 8 year-old as “figs”, interchangeable plastic figures, sold in a series and packaged in mystery bags are the only way to earn your kudos on the playground. The aim is to swap with your friends to collect each figure in the series then mix and match to your heart’s content. So not too dissimilar to pogs, tazos or football stickers that have entertained previous generations of young collectors.

The only difference with this incarnation is that these pocket playthings are keeping the toy industry afloat. Despite the overall toy market being stagnant, sales of the £1 to £2 toys have increased by 12 per cent and this price range is now the fastest growing area of the toy market, accounting for £2 in every £10 spent on toys in Britain.

So what’s the secret to their success?

First and foremost it’s the price: £2 is the magic number that brings children into shops. They can treat themselves with their pocket money and still have enough left over for sweets, or even save up for a bigger splurge.

Secondly, it the freedom to make something nonsensical and downright ridiculous, just because you can. I can testify to this firsthand as we’ve recently helped client Playmobil successfully launch their Fi?ures range. Although I’m yet to create each of the 144 different possible combinations, I’m having a good time trying.

Thirdly, it’s the element of surprise. In what other life situation would you go into a shop and buy a product you can’t see, with no guarantee it’s the one you want? Madness.

In light of “figs” is hard to understand what we ever saw in a pencil case full of stationery.