• Gary Baggings
• Inferno
• Thoughts in Flight
• Moving Brands

so no point in replicating the contents here. And you can see the full slideshare here:

One of my favourite No’s was posited by Sam Ball who said NO! to marketing bullshit. Just how many agency folk hide behind terminology and confound their clients with words that actually mean nothing. It made sense that we need to lose the bullshit terminology and just speak in simple understandable language. But then it hit me when Flo Heiss finished the evening by saying No to Gamification. Shit! – I love gamification. Have I turned into another one of those agency bullshitters? Or rather than the terminology per se, is it actually the misuse of it that we should have an issue with?

The reason I like gamification is that it summarises in a single word the concept of adding a gaming layer to real life activity for the purpose of changing behaviour (that’s my definition anyway). And more importantly I know it works – not because I have used it for advertising purposes (yet!) – but because it has changed my own personal behaviour. Nike + has made me run further and faster. Fitbug got me walking up the stairs so that I could earn my daily Pruhealth points (which incidentally paid for my PS3 at the end of the year). And now Nike Fuel is getting me to walk more and run more often.

All these things for me just tap into many of the concepts that were covered in Nudge, one of my favourite business books of the last 5 years. I agree with Rory Sutherland’s view that the industry can learn a lot from behavioural economics and it will be interesting to see how it progresses.

And going back to Nike Fuel, I personally cannot wait to see what happens next. I would be really surprised if at some point it does not become a currency which you can trade for exclusivity or discounts on Nike products – how about an exclusive trainer which you can only buy if you have a million Nike Fuel (I want one). Or as Andy Sandoz suggested at the end of his talk, how about a tie up between Sainsburys and Nike Fuel whereby you can only buy donuts when once have earned enough Fuel for that day – absolute genius!

Anyway thanks to all the speakers and everyone who continues to support us by buying tickets and being such a fantastic audience. Do remember to give us your feedback. Otherwise hope to see you at our next CS Fanboy event – a must if you are in advertising and love music. Tickets on sale here.

CS spoke to Richard Trovatten, one of the students from the Hyper Island Manchester course that created Queue Hacker:

Last week my student-team and I finished a three week course in Creative Problem Solving at Hyper Island. We did so by handing in an idea for a concept we call Queue Hacker. It’s developed for the UK Post Office via the agency DARE who came to us with a brief and the solution is best cooked down to this: we’re moving the queue outside of the Post Office, so you can do more of what you want with your own time. Since release we’ve enjoyed more than 3500 views of our concept-video, and been featured on PSFK.com.

Nice work guys, keep it up!

Creative Social is proud to present our next ‘Fanboy’ and its all about music, specifically BASS – How Low Can You Go?
Curating the night we have our very own creative director and recovering bass junkie Alex Lavery of P&S, the music creative agency. Alex invites special guests to share frequencies below the threshold of hearing and will demystify whether the brown note truly exists.

Its booming sound belies its mystery and with a story that transcends time and culture like no other sonic element, we explore why bass is so universally loved.

Tracking a path through the physics, its role in the history of music and its impact on culture, communication and the evolution of amplified sound, we want to share the beautiful qualities of bass that make us want to have music in our lives everyday.

“Bass For Your Face.”

Alex will be joined on stage by Tony Andrews, the founder of Funktion One, the world’s most respected loudspeaker manufacturer, and Jim Angell, who is one half of Sancho Panza, the legendary London DJ group and Notting Hill carnival sound system, as well as a soon to be announced special guest artist.

Your ticket also includes 2 beers to get you in the mood for some serious bass lines.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW:csfanboybase.eventbrite.com/

CS went down to have a chat with Tim Lindsay, Shakespeare lover and CEO of D&AD.

How would you describe D&AD to somebody that has no knowledge of the design or advertising industry?

I would describe it as 3 things: it is an education charity that promotes creative education, it’s an award show which we like to think of as the Oscars of the advertising and design world, and it’s a growing global creative community.

How did you get to where you are today?

I’ve worked in advertising since I left university, during those 34 years I happened to be at the right places at the right times. I was at BBH for 10 years right at the beginning running the Levi’s business, and then 12 years at Lowe Howard-Spink. I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with some brilliant people on some great businesses and sold a lot of really good work.

So on to how I got here (D&AD). I had been on the D&AD Exec and it seemed like quite a smooth transition for me to become CEO. Once again I was in the right place at the right time.

What do you think are the most important qualities needed to manage D&AD?

I think an enthusiasm for the business, but a particular kind of enthusiasm. A belief that doing the right thing is the right thing to do, that the good stuff works better than the bad stuff and a desire to promote and propagate that through education, awards and other activities. You have to be completely un-cynical and enthusiastic about the business, I think that is probably the most important thing, and that needs to be apparent to the outside world and the people working at D&AD.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the creative industries today?

Clients and their lack of understanding about the creative process; also the fact that what the creative industries do isn’t valued highly enough, except by a handful of clients. I think the cause is an erosion of the trust that used to exist between the client and the agency. I’ve been around for long enough to remember when that trust existed between good agencies and good clients, and I don’t see much of it around anymore.

What’s been your biggest learning throughout your career?

Work with good people. If you can find people to learn from, and then, as you get more senior, people you respect and want to work with, and then, as you get even more senior, people who are fantastic at their jobs and are going to be better than you, then you’ve cracked it. David Ogilvy said, ‘If we hire people who are smaller than we are, we will become a company of dwarfs. If we hire people who larger than we are, we’ll become a company of giants’.

If you could collaborate with anybody dead or alive, on any project, who would it be?

I’m going to say something really boring like Shakespeare, but that’s only because I would have liked to have met him. I read English at university, I love literature and I am fascinated by Shakespeare, so I think I would go back and be the props man in the first production of Hamlet.

What is the most interesting thing that you have seen recently?

If you had asked me in 6 hours I would probably have said the Hockney exhibition, but I’m not seeing until this afternoon. I saw a Don Mccullin exhibition recently. Our family home is in Bath and he lives in Somerset, it was a mixture of his landscape stuff and some of his war photographs. I really like photography a lot and Dom Mccullin is amazing so I would say that, it certainly left an impression on me.

What keeps you awake at night?

Almost nothing. I’ve learnt that you should only worry about the things you can do something about.

If you could be somebody else, who would it be?

I’ve never wanted to be anybody else. There are people whose lives I envy but not particularly. I can honestly tell you that there isn’t anyone else I would want to be.

If you took a photo of a piece of cheese, what would you say to make it smile?

Saying cheese doesn’t actually make you smile you know, but saying ‘Cherokee’ does, so I would ask it to say that.

Who do suspect of being an alien?

Lots of people. I won’t name her, but there was a marketing manager at Pedigree Pet foods who was an alien, I don’t suspect it I know it. I was up there with the Creative Director, Fraizer Jellyman, we said something quite mild in opposition to what she had said, and she rasped out “LISTEN TO THE FEEDBACK” in a voice that definitely wasn’t hers.

Who’s your favourite villain?

The Joker played by Jack Nicholson, Iago from Othello would be my second choice.

Where do you do your best thinking?

Right up against a deadline probably. I find it comforting to write things down to try and make sense of them, and I do that best in the morning. I have a brief period of lucidity between about 8 and 9.30.

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

You have two ears and one mouth and you should use them in that ratio. I think that works not just for business, but also for everything.

What’s the future of advertising?

I suppose the glib answer is content, but I don’t really know what that means. I think the industry will continue to find ways of interrupting people’s lives in order to engage with them and impart some information or give them a message. I think we’ll find ever more inventive ways to intrude on people, but you have to do it in a way that they allow.

Tictail let’s you start a beautiful online store and be ready to sell in just a few minutes. With Tictail you can either select one of the many templates offered through the service or create your own design.

“I used to work as a brand consultant, being part of building amongst other things spotify.com. When it came to building an online store – for either a client or a friend, all the solutions out there were either really complicated or super expensive, most of the times both…” says Carl Waldekranz, one of the founders and the CEO of the company.

Tictail is free to use and will feature an app system, much like the one for the iPhone for which you will be able to build and use application to create a great e-commerce experience.

“We believe that the best way to market a service company such as ours is to build the best product and offer it at the best price”

Here’s one we made earlier; the new show shop from Laser3.14 –  letmeknowtherules.com‘

CS went down to check out the smallest car in world created by British company, Peel Engineering.

Originally a boat building company, Peel was a World specialist in fiberglass and primarily manufactured boats, however it also made fairings for motorcycles. Peel Engineering’s owner, Cyrill Cannell, a rather bright chap and a prolific inventor, decided back in the late 1950s that Peel should make their own vehicle. They made a prototype called the Manx car, but this was never manufactured. In 1962 they manufactured the Peel P50, a three wheeler which is the Guinness Book of World Records World’s Smallest Production Car and in 1964 another three wheeler a two seater called the Peel Trident. Production ceased in 1967 with a prototype 4 wheeled electric Trident being produced. Since then they have been made to order for clients including Ripley’s ‘Believe it or not’ Museums, and most recently have been used in a Cadbury’s TV advert.

CS went down to their London based workshop to meet James Buggle. He got involved after seeing an article on the Top Gear website about the Peel P50 being brought back into production. He was already a fan of the car after seeing a bubble car documentary about 15 years ago featuring the Peel, funnily enough it was narrated by the late great John Peel.

‘It all started when my Director Gary Hillman, an avid collector of weird and wonderful cars, was on holiday in Florida a number of years a go’ James tells us. ‘He went to Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum and noticed that they did not have any automotive exhibits.  So he decided to provide them with one, well two actually. He started manufacturing replicas of the Peel P50 & Trident, of which he owned one each of the original 1960s vehicles.  He roped in my other director, Faizal Khan to help him out with the venture.  They approached Top Gear and X Factor about using the vehicles. Two summers ago they went on Dragons Den and won investment of £80,000 from James Caan!’.

James got in contact with Faizal & Gary telling them he was a designer currently studying an MEng at the University of London and that he thought he could help them out.  A few weeks later they got in contact with him and he is now in his second year of working at Peel. The workshop is an amazing Aladdin’s cave of memorabilia. Owner Gary Hillman has been collecting show cars for the last 25 years, my personal favorites where the Pool table car and the Alvin and the Chipmunks car. He also has a very impressive collection of vintage peddle cars. Check out some more photos here.
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Of course, I couldn’t leave without taking one for a test drive. James took us out on the road with an electric and a petrol version of the P50. At 54 inches long they are pretty cosy inside and I was quite thankful to be a short arse when I climbed in. They are both amazing fun to drive, although the petrol version takes a little getting to. They’re fairly nippy with a top speed of 40mph, and a fuel economy of 118mpg or a range of 20 miles per battery pack. The company is only producing 25 of these special edition cars for about £12,000 each. If you’re thinking about buying a new ride for the daily commute, these will certainly turn heads.

Today, Porteur.cc is launched – a new bicycle brand and concept that makes it easier to transport yourself on two wheels in town with style.

‘Porteur is much more than just a bike. When you buy one, you become a member of an exclusive community for inspiration and social networking’, says Jimmy Östholm, CEO and co-founder of Porteur.cc.

As a part of the launch, Porteur.cc will show their new cycle in a new way. Today, the founders will act as bicycle messengers for free in downtown Stockholm with the help of social media.

If you want to deliver something to someone in Stockholm today, just use the hashtag # porteurcc on Twitter. ‘We have no idea what will happen, but it feels like a fun way to showcase the bike for creative professionals’, continues Jimmy.

Throughout the day, select people in media, fashion, culture and advertising will get a surprise delivery. The founders’ adventures can be followed live on Porteurs facebook page where you can also read more about the bike and request your own delivery.

Behind the campaign are, among others, award-winning creatives Martin Cedergren and Patrick Dry, and Fredrik Widén, account director.

Find out more about Porteur here.

Creative Social Presents NO. To ‘NO’ or not to ‘NO’ that is the question. The Socials philosophise this perplexing and at times controversial dilemma. Through a cacophony of swearing and impassioned furore we will remind ourselves and anyone who wants to listen about all the things that turn us on and off, in the work place. About ego, psychology, storytelling, walking and breathing.

Is it worth a fight?

Yes, because ‘No’ is for cowards. Fierce optimism is a powerful force for creativity, change, and even revolution. We’ll take a breakneck tour through work and ideas that prove that an authentic and enthusiastic “YES” is always more powerful, interesting (and takes more nerve) than a lame-ass “No”. But is ‘yes’ always the best option? Let’s flip the coin and take a look at work that makes you think ‘how the bloody hell did they sell that in?’ The weird, the daring and the downright off-brief. How do you wrestle a client from ‘no’ to ‘yes’ and is it always the right thing to do?

Who really knows?

For all is but a woven web of guesses. Most of the great revolutions in advertising have turned on theories of breathtaking audacity not only in respect of creative imagination but in their depth of the insight involved. What we call our knowledge is in its nature provisional, so stop thinking you have figured it out, you don’t know nuffink. And nuffink may be the way forward, or so we investigate in, ‘ON? NO! In praise of nothing, an exploratory jump into turning it all off.

And finally, the future says NO. (all by itself)

Nike FuelBand ate my homework & other excuses from the future. In the future you will no longer have to say NO. It will be said for you. Although, perhaps the choice will no longer be yours…….

Speakers
Flo Heiss, Executive Creative Director, Dare
Sam Ball, Creative Partner, Lean Mean Fighting Machine
Steve Price, Creative Director, Plan-B Studio
Laura Jordan Bambatch, Creative Director, Dare
Becky Power, Executive Creative Director, Grand Union
Andy Sandoz, Creative Partner & Innovation Director, Work Club

+ Free drinks courtesy of Source
Because Source is all about Connected People, Creative Social is the perfect platform for people to network whilst benefiting from leading industry knowledge. To help conversation flow, there will be a sponsored bar, courtesy of our friends at Source (www.wearesource.co.uk)
Thanks for the support guys.
We would also like to say a special thanks to our venue partners LBi for providing us with ‘The home of Creative Social Presents..’ a top notch venue for creative thinking. (www.lbi.co.uk)

Please note: This event is for agency folk and students only

Tickets avaiable here, they go fast so get them before they’re gone.

Berghs is going abroad. For the first time ever, Berghs is setting up a summer program in San Francisco. Crammed into 8 intense, mind-expanding weeks, this summer program offers a unique opportunity a group of selected students to work in multicultural integrated groups with real-life cases tutored and coached by industry notables.

Combining Berghs’ action-based learning methods with industry networking and personal coaching by leading advertising professionals, this summer program gives you an exclusive start to your international career. The tutors constitute a select group of individuals from some of the best agencies in Sweden and the US.

The students selected, representing all communication disciplines, will work in integrated teams, solving different advertising problems using a strategic and creative approach. Besides working on the two real-life cases, the students will participate in classes and seminars covering the entire communication spectrum – from insight and strategy to execution.

Check out more info including how to apply here.