ISSUE #04
__Summer 2016
R E V E L AT I O N S I N M O D E R N B U S I N E S S A N D C U LT U R E
S H O P P I N G I S N OT J U ST A F E M A L E S P O RT PAV E M E N T T O P L AT E MEET THE MAKERS R E TA I L WA R S : T H E STO R E S ST R I K E B AC K
HatchIssue04
The Last Four Feet
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We are the SMP Group. We have been supporting marketing departments and retailers across the world since 1928. Marketing needs are changing and we are at the forefront of 360 solutions. As a market leading company, SMP has worked hard to set and maintain high standards and always work as an integrated supplier to its clients, whilst aiming to raise the level of service we deliver to their business. SMP Group has become more than just a printer. We have developed our proposition to deliver beyond print.
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P H YG I TA L
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THE
TEAM
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Ian Irving
Editor
Chris Henry
Creative Director Daisy Boulding
Contributing Editors
Michela Beltrami, Samanah Duran, Mel Noakes, Ian Irving, Chris Henry
Contributing Writers
Andy Vale, Cate Trotter, Isabel Massey, Gideon Lask, Phil Day, Kate Nightingale, Timothy Everest – MBE, Lydia Kaye, Sunta Templeton, Glenn Cooper, Leah Mallins, Bec Tomlinson, Chris Roberts & Rob Evans, Stuart Mitchell, Dave Smith, Colin Campbell, Stephen Gillies and Kate Jones, Melanie Goldsmith, Jessy Harrison, Adam Byatt, Julia Pearson, Gianluca Ivaldi, Tony Solomon, Zoe Adjonyoh, Naomi Atkinson, Vicky Willison, Lara Jane Thorpe, Nadege Meraiu, Simon Alvarenga, Phil Good
Distribution
Hatch Magazine is distributed across Europe by Global Media Hub. Hatch can be found in private members’ clubs, airport business and 1st class lounges, health clubs, hotels and luxury apartments.
Marketing & Advertising
Ian Irving ian@breedcommunications.com @MrIanIrving All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recovering, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publishers. Although the greatest care is taken to ensure all of the information contained in Hatch is as accurate as possible, neither the publishers nor the authors can accept any responsibility for damage, of any nature, resulting from the use of this information. The views and opinions expressed by contributors are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Hatch. C A R G O C O L L E C T I V E .C O M / D A I SY M A I 0 1 N E I L M A S O N P H OT O G R A P H Y.C O M
Cover
Photography: Daisy Boulding
Hatch is printed and bound in the United Kingdom by SMP Group. - 8 -
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__ C O N T E N T S
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A warm welcome to the 4th issue of Hatch Magazine HATCH #4 The Last Four Feet 18-19 Shopping isn’t just a female sport 2 0 - 2 1 Make that sale, keep that customer 2 4 - 2 5 Delivering the Future 27 You’re in control 3 0 - 3 1 Retail Wars: The stores strike back 3 2 - 3 3 How word of mouth is going multi-channel 3 8 - 3 9 In-Store Analysis: Turning people into purchases 4 0 - 4 1 Elements of Distraction 4 6 - 4 7 Two’s Company – The Collaboration Economy 5 0 - 5 1 Tech: The Last Four Feet 5 2 - 5 3 The future success of The Last Four Feet: Stick with traditional chic or go all out tech geek? 5 4 - 5 5 A Day in the Life of – Sunta Templeton 57 Spotlight: Island Records Session IPA Beer 5 8 – 5 9 Seven things you should know before you market to Generation Z 6 0 – 6 1 Can Virtual Reality avoid another a false start? 6 2 - 6 3 What about Real Reality? 67 A Culture of Sharing 7 0 – 7 8 Meet the Makers 8 2 – 8 5 #BEYOUROWN meets Melanie Goldsmith 8 6 – 1 0 5 Pavement to Plate 1 0 8 - 1 0 9 Billy’s road to the Beach 1 1 0 – 1 1 3 Looks tasty 1 1 4 – 1 1 7 An Inside Perspective 1 2 2 – 1 2 3 The challenges of filming in a frozen wasteland 1 2 4 – 1 2 5 Generation Visual 1 2 6 – 1 2 7 Exploding Watches 1 2 8 – 1 2 9 Editor’s Summary 12-13
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A WARM WELCOM E TO TH E 4TH ISSUE OF HATCH MAGAZI N E. Looking at the title of this issue, it’s no coincidence that we are on Issue #4 and we’re exploring the retail terminology ‘The Last 4 Feet’, the final steps that a customer takes as they approach the sales counter, and without question this is the most important part of the process. Modern Marketers place so much emphasis on creating campaigns to the end-user or customer, significant and sometimes, huge budgets are invested to help put the target audience in the right frame of mind to purchase. But all too often, after marketing has done its job with the customer, the process falls down at the sales counter. In the past 5 years alone there has been an incredibly dramatic shift in the psychological path to purchase from pavement to store and from aisle to checkout. However tradition and clichéd terms are not the Hatch way, we’re not dismissing the term, we are merely dragging it into the 21st century and discussing how this methodology translates into the modern world of retail and consumption. The “Last Four Feet” often represents the final steps that a customer takes as they approach the sales counter (or online checkout). Without question this is the most important part of the process, but we believe it’s more than that, it’s also the creative hooks that get the consumer into your retail environment. So it’s not just about “Can you close the sale”? It’s also about… “Can you hook them in, can you get them in-store and keep them engaged when they are inside?”
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So, in this issue of Hatch we share a plethora of tactics, experiences, highs and lows, along with some musings from some of the leaders and influencers in this sector. You might also be interested to know that we will be saying hi to some new regular contributors who will be bringing their perspectives on matters such as tech, VR & AR, moving image and content, we also investigate the current and growing trend of food and drink, talk to some fine producers and restaurateurs in our section “from pavement to plate” and then have a chat with some of the leading photographers that are whetting our appetites with their incredible food photography. We also Meet The Makers, the people who have changed
careers and now deliver some beautiful products to the world. With HATCH’s growing popularity and the title gaining new followers and fans each issue, we continue to go from strength to strength and show no signs of losing people in the last 4 feet, our distribution has now extended to Europe and accolades have been coming from across the globe from those who have picked up the mag in Airport lounges across the UK. A huge thank you to all of our contributors and we hope you enjoy the issue and we always love feedback so don’t hesitate to get in touch via our social channels and our new website will be live soon.
Wo r d s : I a n I r v i n g EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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A cherished wristwatch, the dramatic landscape of Scotland and its industrial heritage inspire Kartel’s approach to watchmaking, harking back to a golden age with a singular aim. To create the modern classic watch.
We’ll supply the watch, the memories are up to you.
D E S I G N E D
I N
S C O T L A N D
W W W. K A R T E L -T I M E .C OM
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S T R A P S
A V A I L A B L E
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W I T H
G E N U I N E
H AT C H # 4
TH E LAST FOUR FEET Defining the Last 4 Feet The Last 4 Feet, what is it exactly? It’s a phrase, much like the regularly used labels Omni or multi channel, that has somehow and somewhere in the history of marketing and consumer culture been unearthed by the powers that be in branding and advertising, and has gone onto generate copious amounts of discussion about its real meaning. Is it the point we choose to buy a product be it in-store or online? Is it the point where we decide to walk into a store or not? Is it whether we like or dislike a social media post or choose not to finish watching a YouTube video, or even taking that decision to experience something live or opt to stay at home? There are many situations and scenarios to which the Last 4 Feet can potentially apply. Looking at it from an overall perspective, I define it more simply as a situation where you decide…is it a yes, or is it a no? Two short but extremely important words in the English language and the use of them in whatever context, shapes the world we live in each day. A yes or no decision, not just for you, but for multiples of people throughout the world, is what drives the real change in it, and your decisions today can ultimately affect anything tomorrow, next week or even next year. Of course there has to be a reason for a yes or a no. Why are we saying yes? Why are we saying no? Something is inevitably affecting these decisions be it in a positive or negative way and they in turn are affecting the actions that lead to these decisions. How can we turn a yes to a no? And how can we turn a no to a yes? The Last 4 Feet’s meaning is undoubtedly deep rooted, but the simplicity of a yes or no answer can shed a great deal of light on its true origins and definition. There are numerous rhetorical questions that are spurring the conversations surrounding the Last 4 Feet, and hopefully in this issue of HATCH we can answer them for you.
Measuring the Last 4 Feet in Retail Your average shopper today is a fickle one. Bombarded by choice, distracted by social, becoming more savvy and growing continually impatient by the day thanks to the immediate gratification that hand held technology can bring. All of this is compounded further by the fiscally strained times we still find ourselves in. We’re in no way suggesting that times are hard for people, but despite your average high street shopper enjoying disposable income, there is still the propensity on their behalf to keep their belts tightened, and the sought after bargain still brings a feeling of ‘retail nirvana’ to a consumer if ever acquired. Loyalty then is still a big area of focus in shopper marketing strategy, and retailers want to continue to reward their customers and ensure they retain them beyond the point of purchase, if it means doing something as simple as saving a few pounds here and there.
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We’ve discovered that, partly thanks to the rise of mobile and onset of digital, that shopper’s experiences are fragmented and disjointed and not altogether straightforward. There are now many complex stages to the retail journey, some stages of which are never fully realised, or completed in different ways and places that fit the consumer’s day-to-day habits. We’re becoming more unpredictable as time goes on and as technology accelerates and retail experiences become more immersive – this has a knock on effect on people’s behaviour, trends and patterns and therefore the problem of understanding your customer will only become more complicated for retailers.
Do we want to visit that store? Do we want to research that product online? Do we want to redeem that online code? Do we want to click and collect? Do we want to buy that item in-store or online? …Who has these answers? The only person who knows this is YOU the consumer. As much as you can say about Omni-Channel or Multi-Channel, or whatever new buzzword is gracing the retail marketing landscape, the only channel that marketers need to lay heavy focus on is the shopper – they are the channel. Ultimately the decision lays with them and them alone over whether or not they want to go through with something: be it entering a store, buying an item or engaging with a branded experiential event. In today’s whirlwind times along with its demanding and indecisive consumer, it is up to marketers and retailers to influence their customers (be it targeted, passing by or regular) in new and exciting ways that will make them go through a purchase or take that first step into the store. To coin an old phrase from an old maverick that still has great relevancy today, “Excite the mind, and the hand will reach for the pocket!” H . G . S E L F R I D G E . Recognised as The Last Four Feet, this shopper stage can be applied to any type of human experience as well as any facet of the overall consumer experience. Right now, you could be experiencing your own Last Four Feet when reading this magazine. Hopefully we’ve intrigued you enough already to continue reading and find out more about The Last Four Feet.
C h r i s H e n r y EDITOR
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__ S H O P P I N G I S N ’ T J U S T
A FE MALE S PORT I N 2015 Research suggested that women drove 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of their buying power and influence. Even when a woman isn’t paying for something herself, she is often the influence or veto vote behind someone else’s purchase. Wo rd s : M e l N o a ke s EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING EXPERT AND FOUNDER OF NAKED COACHING
It’s little wonder then that the stereotypical image of women being obsessed with shopping, shoes, handbags has prevailed for so long.
“Whilst women’s fashion week continues to be the key focus globally, men’s fashion week is now a stand-alone event in many fashion markets which proves that the demand for men’s fashion is on the rise. Male consumers are more astute and fashion forward, and the retailers are responding to it, and that trend permeates through other industries”
So why has shopping been considered a “female sport” for so long?
But is that the whole story? In the early part of the century we witnessed the rise of the “Metrosexual” but as Phil Cheadle TIGI’s General Manager Western Europe comments “It didn’t transform the market in the way we expected, but rather it’s been something we’ve seen impact mens’ grooming, fashion and trends slowly over time. Consider the more recent exponential increase of men’s grooming and lifestyle brands, traditional barbering services and male targeted on-line retailers offering more bespoke and tailored services and ranges”. In 2012 Men’s Fashion week was launched for the first time in London with key cities such as Paris and later New York embracing the trend and the rise in popularity and revenue of websites such as Mr Porter also suggest that men are no longer hiding in the shopping shadows. Katy Moseley, Director at ElevenTen Communications and representing brands such as Taetum Jones, Blood Brother and Katie Eary and artists such as Paloma Faith comments that:
Research into this area suggests that women usually spend longer shopping compared to men, who tend to search for a particular product, purchase it as quickly as possible and leave immediately. Women, on the other hand, search patiently for the kind of products in all available brands, compare the designs, checking for any offers available bargaining and end up purchasing the product to their utmost satisfaction. Both the sexes differ in thinking, perceiving, decision making, managing tactics, planning and many other areas, but the way we market is changing. Marketers are increasingly considering “communities” and “tribes” that focus on psychographic data rather than demographics and gender based assumptions. With the increasing complexity of targeting ‘millennials’, brand authenticity and experience is key in the shopper journey – irrespective of sex as they are increasingly defined by the brands they wear and the gadgets they own.
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Research suggested that women drove
70-80%
of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of their buying power and influence.
“Consumers know what they want, and they want it NOW”
P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
Phil Cheadle has seen this trend in the TIGI Bed Head pop up store at BoxPark in Shoreditch where retail sales account for 27% of the turnover, compared to an average of 8% in most UK stores.
So what did they do differently? They focused on the need of the audience and created desire, intrigue and screen content that would be relevant, but they also understood that their audience desired a brand with a social and authentic mission and created the store with this in mind.
“Men don’t spend as much time on it as women. They do know what they want and they want to look their best, they just don’t waste time, so you have to provide a shopping experience that recognises and taps into this.” Do men and women have differences in the way they shop yes? But the game has changed. You need to provide a relevant experience for your audience and you need to move away from gender based stereotypes (Labour “Pink Bus” anyone?) to connect and build meaningful relationships with your community – whatever colour shirt they wear.
Online we’re also witnessing a difference in shopper behavior. Premium fashion etailer My-Wardrobe.com has two distinct areas on its website for men and women. Buying and merchandising director Luisa de Paula says:
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MAKE THAT SALE, KEEP THAT CUSTOMER. I a n I r v i n g EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
We know that marketers place great emphasis on campaigns to the end-user or customer. Significant, sometimes huge budgets are invested to help put the target audience in the right frame of mind to buy. But too often, after the marketing communications has done it’s job with the customer, the process falls down at the sales counter. Picture a customer who receives direct communications on your product, investigates online, reads the reviews, talks to their friends and decides, “I want to buy.” They enter the “store” to purchase, approach the checkout, and the salesperson (or process) says, “Have you seen the features on alternative product #2 over here?” At that point, in the last four feet, all of your marketing communications efforts are shot down by one missed communication.
So how do you avoid losing your customer at the sales counter? Here are a few steps that I believe will help with “The Last Four Feet.”
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P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
Educate your sales channel first – before any external customer communications begin. Be sure products and processes are easily understood (this applies to e-commerce too).
Reinforce the sales process within your marketing communications. Suggest to the customer in your messaging the easiest route to purchase while reinforcing the same “easy route” to the channel audience.
Let the channel in on the process early, ask for feedback and implement suggestions that will strengthen the relationship with the channel. If using e-commerce, be sure to test the checkout process to make sure it is intuitive and without distraction.
Marketing communications can put the customer in the right frame of mind, but it can’t ring the till by itself. Include a solid channel strategy to make sure your marketing investment isn’t lost at the sales counter.
Involve the channel in the product or campaign roll out. Give the channel an active stake in the process that encourages their engagement. A kick-off event, an incentive, an interesting (but not burdensome) program. The use of social media and branded content will enhance and engage. No single channel is as effective as multiple channel activations.
Wo r d s : I a n I r v i n g EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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DELIVERI NG
TH E FUTURE Wo r d s : C a t e Tr o t t e r, I N S I D E R T R E N DS
With the world of ecommerce growing at an accelerated rate, it seems delivery is struggling to keep up. With a considerable percentage of customers avoiding online shopping because of the complications that come hand-in-hand with delivery, its future seems not just unwritten, but ready for the taking. This year, shoppers are to set to spend £52.2 billion online in the UK alone. A growth of 16.2% from last year, it should come as no surprise that the number of retailers who sell online are also on the rise. Despite the positive progression of both technology and the digital retail sector, there’s still one thing we haven’t fully solved when it comes to buying online: delivery. Overall, satisfaction with online shopping is high, at 83%. However, when shoppers are faced with delivery options, this drops to less than 50%. Be it delivery date flexibility, the freedom to choose a specified time, the option to reroute packages or whether there’s a green shipping option or not, they’re all getting in the way of a seamless digital shopping experience. Knowing it’s an open battlefield ready for the taking, large corporations have already taken steps to make their mark. The click and commute initiative recently hit the capital, with shops like Asda, Waitrose and Tesco giving you the option to pick up your groceries at Transport for London stations. House of Fraser recently went to great lengths to develop a simple yet innovative delivery service so shoppers ordering online by 4pm could specify delivery by 9am the next morning and of course, Amazon are working to launch Amazon Prime Air. A future delivery system designed to safely get packages into customers’ hands in 30 minutes or less, it will use small unmanned aerial vehicles.
P H OT O B Y. M R I G E N D R A C H A U H A N
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London based Shutl is one company who has been leading the way people think about delivery since its inception in 2009. Pioneering what the future of delivery looks like, their fastest delivery stands at just under 14 minutes. Tom Allason, the company’s CEO, describes how Shutl’s success comes from the control it gives shoppers. “Shutl’s model allows the consumer to be in control of their deliveries,” he says. “Local delivery in as little as 90 minutes, or at a one hour time slot convenient to them, is far from the dreaded ‘sorry you were not in card’ or having to stay in one place all day and wait for a delivery.” With a business model built around ensuring customers are having this complete control over every aspect of their delivery process, allocated time slots and communication are imperative. “A recent survey commissioned by Shutl found that delivery options are a key factor in influencing the choice of retailer for three quarters of respondents,” Allason continued. “Furthermore, 91% said that they valued delivery options that provide a time slot so that they don’t have to wait in all day.” With this in mind, Allason feels that the future of delivery is one where, “the delivery service that consumers get from the largest ecommerce today will become standard across all merchants. The two, three day delivery window being offered by the majority of retailers today will seem archaic to people who have grown up downloading entertainment in seconds.” Nimber are another innovative company one step ahead of the delivery curve. It’s a collaborative peer-to-peer service that connects people who need to send something from one place to another with other people who are going that way anyway. It’s a convenient, cost-effective and sustainable delivery option.
16.2% Growth of online shopping since 2015
£52.2 BI LLION
83% Overall, satisfaction with online shopping
Shoppers are set to spend online in the UK alone this year
“We look at delivery and we look at the challenges the sector have and we try to solve them using crowd logistic technologies,” says Ari Kestin, CEO of Nimber. “What we’re doing today, is finding that using crowd for delivery can solve many solutions out there including the most coveted one, which is the last mile.”
delivery solutions to click-andcollect as well as food delivery initiatives. “There’s three areas Nimber look at,” Kestin finishes. “Inter-city, or distances which are prohibited for most people to do themselves, intra-city, where we create a great delivery system for business in London for example and last mile.”
Understanding that today, people find delivery to be complicated, time-consuming and not always the most cost-effective, Nimber feel the future of delivery lies in existing capacity. “In the future I think the industry will become better at using existing solutions,” he explains. “Crowd will be a big one but we’ll constantly look to hit the three important requirements. Price, convenience and experience. Of course people will do that with technology but if we look at the basics, ultimately there’s nothing that can beat someone getting in their car two doors down from you who’s heading to Birmingham and can deliver something for you.”
Whether it’s Amazon drones, delivery slots tailored to you or being brought a package by a real person heading your way, one thing is for certain: getting delivery right is paramount. With companies like Shutl and Nimber making their presence felt on the retail landscape, a future featuring smart delivery is a lot closer than we think.
With Nimber standing at the very heart of this, their future plans include expanding their crowd
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This piece was created by Insider Trends, a London-based trend consultancy that helps global brands create world-leading and profitable retail spaces. Its client list includes Marks and Spencer, Chanel, Unilever, Absolut Vodka, Clarks, Philips, BNP Paribas and Lego. W W W. I N S I D E R -T R E N D S .C O M
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So you can gain sales, grab headlines and get ahead. Insider Trends helps global brands create world-leading retail spaces that pay for themselves. We do this by clarifying what’s coming next in the world of retail, and what clients can do to get ahead of their competitors. Our client list includes: Marks and Spencer, Chanel, Unilever, Absolut Vodka, Clarks, Philips, BNP Paribas and Lego.
Get in touch to discuss how we can help you get ahead. contact@insider-trends.com | +44 (0) 20 -7183 3785 26 -
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YOU’RE IN
CONTROL Wo rd s : I s a b e l M a s s ey H E A D O F M E D I A A N D F U T U R E S AT D I AG E O E U R O P E
Out-of-home, perhaps one of the most traditional forms of advertising has continued to prove its effectiveness when communicating to the masses. With dwell time on the up, surprisingly there’s never been a better time to catch people ‘on the go’. Despite so many modern day distractions, the outdoors is where you could argue we are still extremely receptive to messaging. Obviously we’ve seen advancements in the outdoor world of advertising with marketers embracing interactive technology and providing their campaigns with an experiential twist, but in very simple terms, outdoor is something consumers will struggle not to be affected by whether they like it or not in that part of their lives. Entertainment or more specifically the indoor world is now an arena that is no longer so straightforward. Flash back to a pre-digital age; terrestrial television viewers would not only be welcomed to the world of Ken & Tracey Barlow in their daily viewing of Coronation Street, but also into the domain of Guinness’s four horsemen, Boddingtons’ Mel Sykes and Campari’s Lorraine Chase, if only for thirty seconds what with the many memorable televisual advertising messages created. These thirty-second ads were the focal point of any cross platform campaign and the many ads, stories and characters that were created were the lifeblood of the old Ad Land as we once knew it. For your average consumer at home, the only real means of escape from these messages would have been a swift trip to the kettle. Other than that, television advertisements were powerful communication tools and the key to their success was the time they had to imprint their influence onto a home viewer who had more time to absorb the context of the content in a meaningful way. Time is a precious thing. As far as commerce goes, today’s shopper and the decision to pick up a
product and purchase is becoming more difficult to understand due to the sheer volume of choice available and limited time to make these choices. In this multi-channel and digitally switched on age, the power of the TV advert has lessened, albeit only slightly. Due to the evolution of our viewing and browsing habits; catch-up, record, pause live TV – fast forward, box-sets on demand, as well as game changers like NetFlix and Amazon, we are increasingly becoming used to and expecting instant content. Although a tad traditional when looking at it as an example, but the birth of NetFlix’s ‘House of Cards’ in 2013 showed there was sufficient demand in the content junkie market. The success of releasing the first season’s thirteen episodes all at once proved what star Kevin Spacey aptly put,
“We want content, and we want it now”. So what does this mean for advertising and communications in the entertainment world?, We’ve not necessarily seen less budget invested into TV but this budget has been tweaked to suit today’s audiences and their trends. We have seen brands looking to own forms of entertainment as brands in their own right in the form of sponsoring serialized programming, (The Angry Birds brand have sponsored ongoing series The Simpsons to promote its forthcoming movie for example). Of course TV spots will always have a future, but we are seeing more TV spot buying combined with sponsorships for greater impact. Choice is key for consumers, and that is absolutely a great thing. The consumer’s tastes and preferences have shaped where we are today and their choices will continue to drive change in a positive way.
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We’ve seen that consumers on a whole are not strictly single channel creatures and will jump from platform to platform to suit their needs. Making content more discoverable on these channels and thus giving them the choice that fits more into their way of life and habits is a far more effective way of communicating a message and getting it heard. One of the most focused platforms should arguably be mobile and most people today would say they discovered a piece of content on their smart phone or tablet. Marketers must ensure that content should be primed for mobile from the very start. Consumers might be content hungry, but they are discerning too. At the end of the day, great content, endearing stories and relatable characters are key to captivating audiences and fuelling choices.
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R E TA I L WA R S :
THE STOR ES STRI KE BAC K
Looking back as far as the year 2000 with the closure of all UK C&A physical stores, this was widely regarded seen as the start of things to come when looking at the battles that retailers had to face in the ongoing high street war. Bricks and mortar had received a striking blow with the clothing chain’s demise, but fortunately it still had legs to stand on. Its fall as a retail giant served as a lesson to fellow retail chains that they couldn’t rely on their in-store presence alone and had to assimilate their retail offerings. Since then we’ve sadly seen many chains go the same way as C&A but at the same time seen many more thrive, embrace change and go on to better things. Where chains that have lost the fight in the retail playground, their failure wasn’t necessarily down to their methods not changing. Don’t believe for one second that a huge high street chain like Woolworths didn’t do their best to keep with the times, far from it, more so that their defeat on the high street was down to that constant force that they continually invest time, effort and money in to understand, the customer. Their habits and behaviour, are as we know always spearheading the way commerce is changing.
now to be a regular one for nearly all retailers, this was just the tip of the iceberg and retailers have gone on to continually explore how they can better their offerings as a retail chain and best serve their customers. Whatever amount of pounds you pour into TV, Outdoor, Digital and so on, there is still only one thing that counts today that keeps retail ticking, and that is the purchase going through. The concept of the Last Four Feet is an intriguing one for retailers today as it’s something witnessed each day in the many ways shoppers experience in-store environments.
The savviest retailers today will always aim to keep their fingers on the pulse to where customers’ mindsets are heading and this can even be dated back to pre-high street recession times. Interestingly enough, going back as far as the mid-nineties, the retail world as we knew it back then made the first big step with the first secure online retail order. A practice we all know - 30 -
P H OT O B Y. T O M S O D O G E
Consumer perception of high-street brands has changed drastically over the course of many years with a number of retailers once regarded as the go-to destination for a service or product. Today we’ve seen new retailers and challenger brands emerge and in response, the brands of yesteryear have had to tailor their offerings and expand beyond their original remit as simply living on a title that was previously justified in the past, would be utterly foolish and detrimental to their progression as high street brands. Brands today have had to widen their horizons and investigate other areas of the retail picture and invest accordingly. Beyond the store doors, there is much choice out there for the consumer and this today is where we see the Last Four Feet rear its head in-store. The outcome of an in-store purchase decision will largely be down to the consumer themselves and if it fits accordingly to their needs as a shopper, and this could be anything; price, convenience, brand loyalty, product quality and so forth. All a retailer can do is their best to ensure they’ve offered a great price for a product that is value for money, and that sadly sometimes is all they can do and the rest is up to the shopper. Taking this into account, brands continue to broaden the goods and services they offer in their high street shops to give customers more choice that fits more into their shopping journeys. Introducing lean retail methods such as popup stores disrupt today’s retail environments and as we know have proved effective in regaining footfall and veering customers back to a brand’s agenda on their shopper journey.
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The emergence of other retail domains to mark a brand’s territory has also been another effectively used weapon against the Last Four Feet. With brands dipping their toes into areas of convenience and necessity such as airports, motorway service stations, train stations and local 24/7 suburban areas, a strong brand presence in these areas has ensured customers are given little opportunity to waver and leave the Last Four Feet due to the limited amount of choice outside brands’ in-store doors, and this as a result has yielded strong results. But there of course needs to be a two way conversation between brand and consumer and can’t be just take, take, take on the retailer’s behalf. The introduction of impulse buys at the point of purchase, brands have aimed to give a little back to customers and if anything has helped the customer gain an extra few yards in the Last Four Feet. How retailers continue to take on the challenges the Last Four Feet holds will simply be down to how they want to treat the customer. Brands need to continue to aim to reward customers and deliver on price, convenience and quality, and as time progresses, they will discover what else is important to their customers in their shopper journeys. Wo rd s : C h r i s H e n r y EDITOR
SOCIAL TO IN-STORE:
HOW WORD OF MOUTH IS G O I N G M U LT I - C H A N N E L Wo rd s : G i d e o n L a s k HEAD OF BUSINESS D E V E LO P M E N T AT B U YA P OWA
In a World where we increasingly expect to measure and attribute every Dollar of marketing spend to sales, ‘Social to In-store’ largely remains a blind spot for most marketers. And because marketers struggle to measure and evaluate the channel, they tend to neglect it. That represents a huge missed opportunity! Because we spend so much time online, and 80% of that time (outside of work) is spent being ‘social’, whether emailing or Whatsapping friends, reading and commenting articles, Facebooking, or Snapchatting etc., Retailers should be harnessing social sharing to drive potential customers in-store. Particularly as we now all have the means and technology literally ‘in our hands 24 hours a day’ to spread Word of Mouth faster and wider than ever before. But until now marketers haven’t had the tools to drive and measure ‘Social to In-store’. That has held it back from fulfilling its potential. But it is all about to change! We all live in a Multi-Channel World or do we? While e-Commerce continues to grow exponentially every year, the Centre for Retail Research reported that it only represents about 8.4% of total retail spend across the main European markets, even though in the UK it reaches 15%. These figures illustrate the simple fact that in-store is still where the majority of the retail action happens! For many businesses, like restaurants, bars, hotels and gyms the whole purpose of online is to drive potential customers to physical locations as this is the only way a customer can consume the service being offered. But even retailers like department stores have long known that getting a person in-store is often more - 32 -
valuable than a sale online, as it allows them to grab the customer’s attention, showcase other wares, up-sell, cross-sell and increase average order values. So even though a recent study by IDC found that shoppers who buy in-store and online have a 30% higher lifetime value, it seems that many of those smart people with the word ‘Multi-channel’ in their job title are mostly focused on trying to drive online traffic into physical shops, restaurants and gyms. And they should be using social sharing to do this! Word of Mouth doesn’t just happen online – it needs to be encouraged It probably never occurs to most of us to tell our friends and family how much we love a brand or retailer. Unless a friend or family member asks our opinion, or if we have a great anecdote linked to the brand, like how the airline lost our luggage but gave us cash to buy new clothes until the suitcases showed up! And if it doesn’t spontaneously occur to us offline, it is undoubtedly less of a reflex online. For example, when was the last time you spontaneously emailed a friend to say how much you love American Airlines or GAP? So if retailers don’t do something to encourage Word of Mouth, chances are it won’t happen much or at all. But just asking your online customers to ‘tell your friends’ doesn’t really work either. To really generate sharing, you need to enable and empower your customers and provide intelligent and motivational rewards for both the sharer and the recipient of your brand’s message. Our experience from having implemented innovative ‘invite-a-friend’ programmes with over 100 of the World’s leading brands has taught us that to really generate viral sharing you need to mix smart rewards, gamification and communal targets.
Tracking ‘Social to In-store’ A modern online marketer lives by the mantra that if you can’t track it, you shouldn’t do it. Unfortunately, most of the techniques for tracking in-store sales generated from online marketing remain rudimentary at best. As summarised in a recent eConsultancy article, these include Google’s ‘best guesstimation’ of how many instore visits resulted from paid search ads, call tracking, click and collect and just ‘asking your customers how they heard of you’! The tracking problem is more acute with Social when you consider that, according to Radium One, 74% of online sharing takes place outside of the main social networks, often by email, SMS or Whatsapp. That means that a traditional web analytics platform cannot track or attribute sharing on the so-called ‘Dark Social’, so it is often ignored when trying to understand what marketing efforts drove which sales. At Buyapowa, we realised that the answer was to allow customers to share across any social platform they want to using unique trackable sharing links to attribute referrals to the sharer. So while that solves issues with tracking sharing, until now we have lacked one important element: how to report the physical sales made in-store back to the online sharing platform. Cracking Social to In-store Imagine a World where a leading restaurant chain can drive new customer acquisition by inviting its best and most loyal customers to share the chance to get a great deal on a meal with their friends and family.
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But instead of just driving newsletter sign ups or scatter-gunning vouchers that may never be used, it can now issue coupons or QR codes that can be tracked as they are redeemed and reported this back to the online referral platform. This means that rewards will only be given for referrals that actually lead to meals being bought and paid and not for proxies like email opt-ins or voucher issuance. Well that is exactly what a leading UK restaurant chain is doing by combing two best of breed innovative technologies in Eagle Eye and Buyapowa. By embedding Buyapowa’s invitea-friend platform directly into its website, the restaurant chain will offer customers incentives to share offers with friends and family. Each referrer will have a unique customer reference that will be included in a unique one-time coupon or QR code provided by Eagle Eye. The restaurant will scan the QR code or coupon at the till which will be validated and redeemed through the Eagle Eye AIR platform via their POS integration reporting the sales information back to the Buyapowa platform. The restaurant chain will then be able to issue rewards to its customers based on actual meals sold. So now marketers have the tools to harness social sharing and track and record ‘in-store outcomes’ such as purchases. The barriers to ‘Social to In-store’ have now been removed!
The Escalator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs, one step at a time.
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P H OT O B Y. N E I L M A S O N
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P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
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I N - S T O R E A N A LY S I S :
TURN I NG PEOPLE I NTO PURCHASES
Wo r d s : P h i l D a y , POPAI
In this age of the connected shopper, where the path to purchase extends well beyond the four walls of a store, it’s often easy to ignore the impact that a well-considered and compelling point-of-purchase message can have on purchase decisions. Introducing banks of gleaming iPads to enable shoppers to go online in-store can be helpful, but do we really want to do all that pre-purchase research online, only to be faced with more screens in-store? Actually, most of us would probably rather embark on the process of actually shopping. The shop is, was and will remain the star and the base for shoppers. But how can retail brands, and their agencies, turn more shoppers into buyers? Back in 2009, FMCG giant Procter & Gamble launched what it called its ‘Store Back’ initiative. The concept was pretty simple. Agency partners were mandated to begin by having the end in mind when they were developing ideas – starting the campaign development process by thinking about how a campaign would be executed at retail, and then working backwards.
Rather than simply modifying existing advertising for use in-store, the P&G’s initiative focused on helping its brands to produce more closely targeted executions, to maximise impact at the point-of-purchase – using shopper insight to unearth the barriers to purchase that need to be overcome in-store in order to convert a purchase consideration into a sale.
Whilst shoppers can be the consumer in some instances, they respond to a totally different set of stimuli, sometimes unconsciously, to how they react as a consumer or in planning mode. Advertising is engaging and elicits an emotional connection with the brand. But when it comes to applying that same creative to in-store it becomes all about adapting it to drive transaction. Yes, campaigns in-store should have visual attributes from ATL, but true success requires a creative approach that not only delivers a strong visual message but also more defined messages to the shopper, promoting why they should choose one brand over another at the moment of purchase consideration.
The challenge for retail brands and agencies is to come up with in-store communication that benefits the brand, retailer and shopper – brand and category activations that provide added value, instead of simply replicating creative executions on TV or in print. Do this well and the retail environment will eventually become the place where ideas are born, not just applied. Perhaps then, traditional marketing lines of demarcation will also begin to disappear – instead being replaced by lines of fully engaged shoppers at the till, which would translate rather well to the bottom-line.
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Wo rd s : K a te N i g h t i n g a l e , ST Y L E P Y S C H O LO GY
The Last Four Feet That final moment where you’re close to owning those shoes, trousers or that jacket you’ve picked up; that moment where you delve into your reasons why do you need yet another pair of shoes and gladly notice it’s not hard to persuade yourself; that moment when you think if you should spend that money and which card to use... A lot goes through the consumers’ minds at that time. I’m sure you all have been there. I know I was. And there were times when the long queue, inefficient service, overcrowding and many other things made me leave without buying. There are many reasons why retailers lose customers during this final step. So what to do to keep them in-store and reinforce your brand’s story? The answer is easy: distract them! Introduce things that take their attention off that doubtful internal voice. I call it ‘Elements of Distraction’. There are many available and which ones you choose will be dependent
on your price range, product type, your brand values, your customer profile and the type of relationship you have with them. Video Content A relevant video content behind the payment desks not only takes the mind off the doubtful internal talk but it also helps the customer rationalise the purchase and entice them for the future purchases. The content needs to however tap into the emotional and psychological motivation for buying your brand in the first place and further develop the relationship your brand has with each consumer. Story-Based Labels Product labels which contain messages on your brand story, product story, craftsmanship or are funny will engage the customer and further grow the symbolic meaning of the product.
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The symbolic meaning is crucial. It is the reason consumers are loyal to particular brands, are attracted to specific products, and believe in some stories more than others. Which symbolic meaning will engage your customer more will depend on their personality, experience, life goals etc. People Although highly undervalued and underdeveloped in the UK, sales assistants are still one of the most important reasons why people buy. The environment might not be perfect, the price not up to your satisfaction but if a sales assistant smiles at you, asks how was your day, invites you to relax and have a drink (mostly in luxury stores), you feel obliged to take time to browse at least if not buy. A glass of bubbly, a soft seating, a short conversation doesn’t cost you much but will certainly earn you a lot!
Distracting Retail Environment Design Now we go a little deeper into the brain. A number of environmental cues can affect our time perception, comfort level and therefore our patience. Music can decrease perceived waiting time, relax customers and slow down their movement. It can also influence the effectiveness and demeanor of the sales assistants. Certain ambient scents can influence our emotional state and, for example, make us less stressed. Softer floor surfaces will slow down people’s movements and relax them which will have an effect on the time perception and the overall experience in-store. Waiting areas with soft seating instead of typical payment desks can be good idea in some midmarket and luxury stores. It will distract the
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customer from the action of paying and focus their attention on the experience. Taste is rarely used in retail. Sweet taste, e.g. chocolate, will make customers happier and therefore more forgiving. Of course, it won’t work for every brand. It makes most sense in boutiques, jewelery shops, car showrooms and some mid-market and luxury fashion brands. You can learn more about the influence of sensory environmental cues on consumer behaviour in our Sensory Retail Design Report www.stylepsychology.co.uk/ sensoryretaildesign/#sthash.0SsTSXpC.dpbs There are many other ‘Elements of Distraction’ you can use. What ‘Elements of Distraction’ will be most effective for your brand depends on many variables. However, the best principle is to keep it simple and consistent with what your brand stands for.
P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
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P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
T WO’S CO M PA N Y – T H E COLL A BO RAT I ON E CO NO MY
BRAN D AN D ARTIST COLLABORATION HAS FAST BECOM E AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO SURPRISE AN D ATTRACT N EW CONSUM ERS AN D FANS, AN D WE ARE NOW SEEI NG A GROWTH I N BRAN D-TO-BRAN D COLLABORATION. There are lots of positive reasons for brand collaborations; they not only refresh the brand’s image and introduce new features and characteristics but can also be profitable for both participating brands. Friendships between like-minded brands and even artists can allow them to enter new markets, to reach new targets, to change perceptions or to enhance and develop their image. Collaboration is becoming a mutually beneficial business trend, but only when the collaboration is smartly chosen – think of Fred Perry & Amy Winehouse, Superdry & Idris Elba, Nike & iPod or Blackberry & Starbucks. In the luxury sector we are seeing lots of collaboration between hotels and beauty brands, ensuring exposure for each party in the other industry’s press. For hotels most importantly - in the fashion and beauty magazines which are read by affluent women. A branded Spa product offers guests a compelling reason to choose a particular hotel over another, adding another luxury string to its bow. In an increasingly saturated luxury market, crossindustry collaborations are becoming more and more important in providing potential consumers with a unique value proposition and offering brands the chance to stand out in a very competitive market place. It’s an interesting trend - right now the luxury sector is riding a wave and sales of many high luxury items are up, despite any perceived economic uncertainty and trepidation. Collaboration is playing a big part in the battle for stand out in the luxury and fashion markets, and we saw some rather interesting brand collaborations coming to life in the past year in an effort to gain the upper-hand in the market. Take for example Apple joining forces with Hermès in 2015. Up until this point, Apple has always believed in the aesthetic
supremacy of its products and it has lived by this mantra, which has served it well while the primary focus has been on items that are functional and clinical in their design. However, with its expansion into the more appearance-driven watch market, Apple discovered the one area its brand isn’t cool enough to conquer on its own. By collaborating with luxury fashion brand Hermès to produce a range of watchstraps Apple shifted the entire paradigm around its product, making it not so much the key stylistic focus as the core functional element. And, in doing so, they effectively paved the way for its long-term future and a place at the top table of watch manufacturers, damn clever marketing I’d say. But it’s not just the luxury and high-end brands that are benefitting from the collaboration. In 2015 ICNY teamed up with Puma, and Worldwide - there are few names that command more fervent überfandom than the Supreme and Jordan Brands. So, when they announced their collaboration it was as if two hype-fuelled suns had collided to form a street wear supernova. Keeping things very deliberately classic, the collection consisted of little more than a thorough range of co-branded capsule staples — everything from tees and hoodies through to snapbacks, sweatpants and a bomber jacket. However, what it lacked in complexity, it more than made up for in the sheer perfect coincidence of the branding, replacing the “R” of Supreme with the inimitable ‘Jumpman’ logo.
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Such was the anticipation over its release that Supreme had to cancel their in-store release of sneaker range in New York and L.A (most likely on grounds of personal safety) and the products in the online store super fast. But then, would you have expected anything else? I have been activating a number of brand partnerships and collaborations over the past few years and some interesting lessons have been learned. The key ones are: Always ensure equal value for each of the brands involved, the very essence of collaboration and partnership is to ensure that both brands and both audiences benefit. Ensure there is a match of brand values. You need to be seen as mutually vetting each other’s core values and making absolutely sure there is never any question that the collaboration is a perfect fit.
Make sure that the consumer “gets it”. If it does not make sense to your target audience you have an instant problem and one that can last longer than the collaboration itself. I’m going to leave the last word to a gentleman who has activated many formidable brand collaborations in his time Timothy Everest, MBE. He says: “Brand collaborations are relatively risk-free if the chemistry is right and the vision is shared. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, a strong collaboration can be truly heavyweight, packing-a-much-needed-punch in a market, which increasingly requires added value in order to encourage shoppers to engage. The luxury market has grasped that there is much value in drawing upon names that really carry cachet, and fusing them with their own brand ethos. To stay in shape currently brands must always update themselves, it’s a continuing evolution.
“Brand collaborations are relatively risk-free if the chemistry is right and the vision is shared.” Timothy Everest
A strong collaboration is about a brand having ‘chosen’ to work with someone who reflects its own inner values but which helps project this in a fresh way to its followers. At Timothy Everest, as a brand with longevity and a much trusted reputation, it’s imperative that we carefully scrutinise each offer to collaborate as to align ourselves with the wrong brand could be detrimental. However, the right collaborations can be hugely rewarding both creatively and from a business perspective. I think people now understand that we have a much broader skill base than they might have previously given us credit for, which has upped-the-ante in terms of the kinds of requests we now receive from other luxury brands. Brand collaborations are relatively risk-free if the chemistry is right and the vision is shared.
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In an increasingly competitive marketplace, a strong collaboration can be truly heavyweight; packing-a-much-needed-punch in a market that increasingly requires added value in order to encourage shoppers to engage. The luxury market has grasped that there is much value in drawing upon names that really carry cachet, and fusing them with their own brand ethos. To stay in shape currently, brands must always update themselves, it’s a continuing evolution. A strong collaboration is about a brand having ‘chosen’ to work with someone who reflects its own inner values but which helps project this in a fresh way to its followers.
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M i c h e l a B e l t r a m i T E C H A N D D I G I TA L E D I TO R
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I N TH IS ISSUE WE GIVE A WARM AN D HONOURED WELCOM E TO TH E I NCREDI BLY TALENTED AN D UBER EXPERI ENCED M ICH ELA BELTRAM I WHO WI LL BE TAKI NG TH E EDITORIAL LEAD ON ALL TH I NGS TECH AN D DIGITAL. A self confessed tech geek and experienced marketer with a rather illustrious career in marketing and creative for brands such as Apple, AOL, Disney, Jawbone and Sony, Michela will bring you content on how and why tech plays such a vital part in today’s consumer communications. OVER TO YOU MICHELA…
Thanks so much guys, and what a thrill it is to become part of the growing team at HATCH, I have been watching the rise of this publication since picking it up before a flight to Asia, I’m honoured to have been asked to give you my perspectives and act as editorial lead on regular features surrounding, tech hardware, software, social media and the positive and sometimes negatives on their roles in marketing and consumer engagement, this month I have compiled some of the best articles and commentaries from some incredibly interesting people and businesses such as Andy Vale of Audiense, Leah Mallins, Lydia Kaye, Shazam and Island Records. I trust you’ll enjoy these great musings and revelations guys. Until next time x
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THE FUTURE SUCCESS OF THE LAST FOUR FEET:
STICK WITH TRADITIONAL CHIC OR GO ALL OUT TECH GEEK? Wo r d s : Lyd i a K a ye FREELANCE JOURNALIST
It’s obvious that technology has changed consumer behaviour and the way we shop. With the rise of online purchasing, The Last Four Feet - the marketing term that refers to those final deciding moments before a customer makes a purchase - is swiftly morphing into The Last Four Clicks. Retail is going mobile and online stores function as a digital orgy of consumerism. Of course online shopping has undeniable perks. It’s reliable, convenient and you have a wealth of product information and honest reviews at your fingertips, from the comfort of your armchair. Despite these benefits, the online realm has not brought about the death of shops or department stores, which suggests that the social experience of shopping still offers something valuable to the consumer. Arguably the rise of e-commerce has resulted in the physical act of shopping becoming a luxurious rarity - occurring only a hand full of times a year and combined with leisurely lunches and hourly trying on sessions in changing rooms. Stereotypically, this sort of shopping appeals to women and their supposed social habits. The battle between online shopping and the high street reflects and enhances the gender binary, as well as capitalising on it. Typically, online shopping suits men because it is fuss free and ‘gets the job done’, whereas women are presented as social creatures who are in need of a pamper. Many of the early department stores, such as John Lewis and Whiteleys in London, were founded by drapers who understood the tastes and buying power of the rising new generation of middle class women that, from the second half of the 19th Century, would spur the department store to opulent heights across Europe and the United States. When Selfridges opened its doors in 1909, it was clear that the art of retail therapy had been honed and perfected. The store offered its customers a hundred departments along with restaurants, a roof garden, reading and writing rooms, reception areas and, most importantly, a small army of knowledgeable assistants who served as guides to this retail treasure trove. Significantly, these store assistants were also thoroughly trained in the art of making a sale. The social skills of the shop assistants and the social surroundings of the store made Selfridges a unique selling force to be reckoned with.
In Japan, robots are taking off and several companies manufacture them for service. A hotel in Sasebo is entirely staffed by humanoid robots, and Nestlé has employed a fleet of bright bots to sell its coffee machines in stores around the country. These ‘social robots’ have faces, maintain eye contact, make small talk and are programmed to ‘read human emotion’. It’s not yet known if they have dramatically increased sales of coffee. A popular robot model in Japan, known as Pepper, is fast becoming the ideal replacement shop assistant. Pepper not only teaches customers about the product being sold, but also has a seemingly chirpy demeanour and ability to make jokes. Coincidentally, a man was arrested in Yokosuka last year when, following a fit of frustration, he attacked a Pepper robot that was acting as a receptionist in a SoftBank branch.
Evidently the modern history of shopping is rooted in the concept of luxury, excess and social mingling, which is something that online shopping is unable to provide in the same way. With this division in mind, retailers and marketers have been attempting to couple the in-store experience with tech innovations in order to bring online efficiency to the non-digital realm. As knowledgeable assistants are a perk of the shopping experience, the concept of ‘digital assistants’ has become a focal point. This assistant may appear in the form of a touch screen tablet, a disembodied voice, or even a Humanoid robot. - 52 -
The thought of this attack simultaneously provokes disgust and sympathy in the best of us. At some point we have all witnessed someone abandon their pile of shopping at the self-service machine when it asks them for the fifteenth time to ‘please wait for assistance’ and, infuriatingly, no one arrives to assist. The only option left is to walk away before having a nervous breakdown on the shop floor and losing all dignity.
One thing that shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to shopping is that, from an anthropological viewpoint, it is quite literally in our DNA. We’ve been trading goods, bartering and providing services for one another for over 150,000 years. These social behaviours are fundamental features of international human relations, evolution and civilisation. Shopping is an ancient human ritual.
Comparatively, in terms of its development, technology is still a foetus. What’s more, we as humans are also immature in the way we utilise it. This is evident in commerce when tech is used as a means of simply displaying wealth or for a brand to appear ‘forward thinking’. Gimmicks such as pointless instore augmented reality, or moving mannequins (creepy), can be spotted as pretentious promotional stunts to even the untrained tech eye. In a case like this, when the technology implemented is useless or overly complex, it becomes a deterrent. The point is lost and most likely as is the customer. Unsurprisingly, humans are far more likely to trust another human being than they are a piece of technology. Therefore, when technology is clearly designed by a human who has the wants and desires of the customer fully in mind, tech is a hit. There are a few savvy marketers who have managed to find a playful harmony between the in-store experience and technology that actually enhances customer experience. For example, in the U.S department store Macy’s, customers can install an app on their phone that alerts them to deals they may be interested in when they enter the shop. The suggestions are formulated from collated data, such as the customer’s previous purchases or online searches. This kind of precision marketing has proved highly effective. Other stores have incorporated virtual rails that allow people to see what the clothes they have selected will look like when put together. This proves particularly valuable for customers with disabilities who are unable P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
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to use the changing rooms. In 2014, Topshop nailed in-store tech by live streaming a virtual reality experience of the their London Fashion Week show to its in-store customers, meaning everyone felt a part of the action. Furthermore, any clever incorporation of social media is often a dependable source of success because, as we’ve established, humans are innately social creatures. Humans are still learning the best way to leverage technology in the world. It has already been built into our homes, personal lives and has radically changed the way we communicate. But when it comes to bringing the digital into the social realm, such as shops and department stores, technology will certainly either repel a customer or entice them further. As we become more aware of technology’s social impact, and with Digital Anthropology becoming an important area of study, we are gradually learning how to humanise the language and function of technology and better understand our relationship with it. When tech is fluid enough to flow with and compliment what humans already do in society – when it is smart and seamless in the hands of its clumsy creators – then it becomes a catalyst. It is then that it manages to seduce any generation, race, class or gender. At this point technology becomes invaluable to marketers because it has transcended The Last Four Feet entirely and become a potent source of persuasion.
“Last week I spoke to Mumford & Sons who were due to play a show in Minneapolis just moments after it was announced Prince had died. It can be hectic but never boring.�
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A DAY IN THE LI FE O F S U N TA
TEMPLETON
JOURNALIST / PRESENTER T H E J O H N N Y VAU G H A N S H OW
To pardon the clichÊd phrase, is any day ever the same for you? Never! I work in news and it's different every hour let alone every day! I'm also always on standby for breaking music news for Radio X which involves interviewing bands and artists about new releases and shows. Last week I spoke to Mumford & Sons who were due to play a show in Minneapolis just moments after it was announced Prince had died. It can be hectic but never boring. What parts of the day do you most look forward to? Between 4pm and 7pm every day I'm part of the Johnny Vaughan show on Radio X and it's definitely the highlight of my day! I never know what's going to happen but it's always hilarious and great fun! We have a really great team and I feel so lucky to be a part of it. What is a successful day for you? It would start with a voice over in the morning in Soho. Then a really great news day with lots of interesting things going on, plus a nice big music news story and interview. Then I laugh for 3 hours straight on the Johnny Vaughan show and finish the day with a DJ set at one of my favourite bars in London. I like to be busy! What’s a bad day for you? Sometimes it's hard to distance yourself from the stories we report. You wouldn't be human if you didn't have some emotional reaction to some of the terrible things that happen in the world. Also as huge music fan I found it hard to report on the deaths of Prince and David Bowie without letting my own emotions get in the way. How do you approach each day? With a large cup of coffee! I'm also an announcer on Sky Arts so I'm often up at 5:30am to travel to their studios before starting work at Radio X. But I feel very lucky to have a job I love so I try and approach each day with that in mind and to be the best I can.
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䈀䔀匀吀 匀䔀刀嘀䔀䐀 圀䤀吀䠀 䴀唀匀䤀䌀 䄀 氀愀椀搀ⴀ戀愀挀欀 猀攀猀猀椀漀渀 猀琀爀攀渀最琀栀 䤀倀䄀 戀甀爀猀琀椀渀最 眀椀琀栀 樀甀椀挀礀 栀漀瀀 愀爀漀洀愀猀 愀渀搀 昀氀愀瘀漀甀爀猀 漀昀 挀椀琀爀甀猀 愀渀搀 琀爀漀瀀椀挀愀氀 昀爀甀椀琀猀⸀ 匀栀愀稀愀洀 琀栀椀猀 瀀愀最攀 琀漀 搀椀猀挀漀瘀攀爀 漀甀爀 挀甀爀愀琀攀搀 䤀猀氀愀渀搀 刀攀挀漀爀搀猀 匀攀猀猀椀漀渀 䤀倀䄀 匀瀀漀琀椀昀礀 瀀氀愀礀氀椀猀琀猀 䄀嘀䄀䤀䰀䄀䈀䰀䔀 䄀吀 䄀䰀䰀 䜀伀伀䐀 䌀刀䄀䘀吀 䈀䔀䔀刀 伀唀吀䰀䔀吀匀⸀ 伀一䰀䤀一䔀 䄀吀 䄀䰀䔀匀䈀夀䴀䄀䤀䰀⸀䌀伀⸀唀䬀 圀圀圀⸀䤀刀匀䤀倀䄀⸀䌀伀䴀 ⴀ 䀀䤀刀匀䤀倀䄀 - 56 -
SPOTLIGHT:
Island Records Session IPA Beer With: Glenn Cooper ST R AT E G I C M A R K E T I N G M A N AG E R , ISLAND RECORDS
In the past few years, we’ve seen the emergence of craft beer make a huge impression on the UK’s alcoholic beverage scene. Where the larger beer brands have enjoyed a great monopoly on customers in this sector – these independent lagers and ales have found success with customers thanks to the interesting stories that lie within their origins and creation. Today’s more contemporary beer drinker isn’t so interested about the clout and advertising power that surrounds a more mainstream beer, but more finds an emotive connection to a lager or ale that has an interesting story behind it, in particular its craft. Stories in the music industry don’t get more interesting than that of Island Records. The label responsible for talents the likes of Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse, its iconic palm tree logo is instantly recognizable to fans and boasts over 50 years proud history of bringing, not singers, but artists to the music scene. With Island’s great story, perhaps it’s no surprise then the label has been busy producing its own craft beer, the Island Records Session IPA, a craft beer bursting with juicy hop aromas with flavours of citrus and tropical fruits. Speaking to Strategic Marketing Director of Island Records,
Glenn Cooper, a big fan of craft beer himself, he saw the natural connection between the ethos behind craft beer and the story of Island Records;
own Soundwaves Brewing business – we signed the talent, nurtured and supported it and we want to develop it further.
“Whenever I discover a new craft beer, I like to look for the story. Why did they make it? For me, it’s all about the detail and the craft behind it. With this in mind, I saw an obvious similarity between passionate music fans trying to discover new music and talent. The craft beer fans looking for new flavours have the same amount of passion as the vinyl crate diggers who’ll spend hours rifling through record shops looking for vintage or exciting new releases.” With the release of their Session IPA, Island Records didn’t want to release any old beer and slap their label on it, there had to be an interesting story and background to its creation. Created by local craft brewer and music lover Robin Pearson, whose exploits in the craft beer scene caught the attention of Glenn – Robin was seen as the perfect artist to help capture the flavour of the record label and he created the Session IPA recipe. “At Island Records, we sign artists, not names. It’s not about bringing in a singer and surrounding them with songwriters and producers to make them a success – it’s about an artist who has the whole package.” With Robin and the beer, our activity there mirrored what we do with music - we signed an artist who had created the recipe in his shed and was preparing to launch his
As well as the story, music had to be to an integral part of the beer. For Glenn, he’s always seen music as an important part of any brand strategy as with music’s emotive quality, you can relate and form that relationship with a consumer more naturally and deliver its core brand values. The challenge was bridging that connection with music for the beer. Looking at consumer’s embracement of digital and social in music today, Island Records were looking for an idea that would connect the beer with iconic Island playlists, but whilst on the move. Digital Music discovery app Shazam entered the scene when they launched their visual shazam technology. Seeing the potential to connect this technology with music streaming app Spotify, Glenn saw Shazam as the perfect partner for Island Records to work with and with that the world’s first shazam-able beer can was born. By shazam-ing the beer can on their mobile devices, consumers can access a series of bespoke created Island Records playlists. The idea behind this was having soundtracks associated with moods that would resonate further the message of Island Records and its Session IPA, to the consumer. Soundtracks include; ‘As the Sun hits the Water’ – a mellow, reggae acoustic folk inspired soundtrack to help ease your soul into the evening with an ice cold beer, ‘A Taste of Island’ –
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an eclectic and left field track list featuring emerging talent and gems from the vast Island catalogue, and finally, ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ – a party playlist full of upbeat dance tracks aimed to lift the tempo and get the party started. Speaking to Glenn about the future of the beer, there is more to come, particularly on the playlist side, with Conde Nast Traveller approaching Island Records about an Island holiday themed soundtrack. Island are also open to working with other Brands who are interested in collaborating on projects that involve playlisting and craft beer. In this exciting time of growth for the beer, Glenn stresses again about the origins and story roots of the beer and the Island Records brand, and any step forward taken needs to hold true to the values of the brand and Robin Pearson’s creative vision for new flavours. With Two Tribes brewery scaling up production, it was important that Glenn built the right team for the beer and given their passion for craft beer and music, Two Tribes were a perfect fit. Much like artists of the Island Records label, Glenn’s vision for the beer is long term; “We don’t want this project to be like a one album artist – we want this to be a 4 to 5 album artist with the right values”. With a 2nd beer (Jamaica Porter) already available on keg and cans set to hit the shelves in October, there is every intention by Island Records to not fall foul of the tricky 2nd album curse. Watch this space!
‘ S E V E N T H I N G S YO U S H O U L D K N OW B E FO R E YO U M A R K E T TO G E N E R AT I O N Wo rd s : L e a h M a l l i n s FREELANCE JOURNALIST
Z’
P H OT O B Y. T O M S O D O G E
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GEN ERATION Z. GEN Z. IGEN. ‘M I LLEN N IALS ON STEROI DS’. KI DS BORN FROM 1995 - ONWARDS. They’re not just the biggest consumers; they’re also the biggest tastemakers. I am a Gen Z adult born in 1996. I am the youngest employee in my building, working mainly alongside millennials and baby boomers. I have been writing about the fascinating correlations and differences between Gen Z and other generations for the last two years. Gen Z can’t remember a world without mobile phones or social media. These people will have anxiety attacks if they are forced to leave the house without access to the internet. They may have curled thumbs and raptor-like postures. Jokes aside, there are many common misconceptions about my generation. I don’t believe we are ‘millennials on steroids’. If anything, those with excessive amounts of testosterone are publicly demonised. For this generation, gender binaries are nothing more than an artificial divide in the world. With that in mind, how do you appeal to unworldly liberal teens? How do you market to the natives of the digital age? How are we different from previous generations? Will you have to learn code? Here are 7 things you should definitely know:
1. We care about personal branding and visibility, 6. Our younger counterparts are learning to and think that everyone/anything should have a social media presence. No hype? Not interested. This is especially true when spending our money. If you are not on the first page of our Google search, we are anxious to buy from you. If you’re not online at all, you’ll have to come up with a very good reason as to why you’re not. In fact, the more social media profiles and SEO budgets you have, the better.
2. We’re a bunch of hippies. We can’t help but
worry about Mother Earth. In 2015, The Green Party’s youth wing Young Greens reached 17,700 members, making it the largest youth wing of any political party in the UK. Could this mean a more green, peaceful and utopian future? With our rainbow flags, online petitions and raising awareness tweets, we hope so.
3 . We are perfectionists. We edit our photos
down to a tee. Filters and photo retouching apps have become the norm across all social media, especially amongst females. Why? Because our friends are doing it, our favourite celebrities swear by it and quite frankly our photos will look crap if we don’t it. There is no longer a shock factor in meeting someone who looks nothing like their pictures. Instead we sympathise. We are also less likely to return goods that don’t necessarily match the photos or descriptions, which is great news for retailers.
4. We are a legion of creative entrepreneurs,
with our own ideas on what the world should be like. We want to be our own boss, but a lot of us aren’t sure exactly what it takes to get there. Grit cannot be taught, and our brain’s relentless need for instant gratification hinders our ability to strive for long-term rewards. We are interested in anything that can help us improve ourselves.
5. We aren’t as self-absorbed as the generation before us. Selfies existed way before we did. We care more about the 2016 US Election than our Instagram feed. Taking a selfie with Bernie however, is an exception that would make us the envy of all of our friends.
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code in primary school. They’re building video games. Websites. Why is this important? We all rely on code, yet there are still some young people in the world who don’t know what HTML is. When the new kids start rolling out into the workplace, they’ll give everyone else in the tech industry a run for their money. Future employers will actively seek Generation Z candidates that have learnt to write and read code from a young age. These types of candidates could easily be hired over those with a technical degree alone.
7. We love a meme. We have a lot going on
right now. There are ads at every corner of the internet and truth be told - we hate them. Brands everywhere are desperately trying to find out what makes us tick, to no avail. Gen Z operates nearly 100% digitally, so market research can easily get swamped by Pepe the frog photos we put online. Our short attention spans mean that we get bored easily, and we’re always looking for the next big thing whether it be a catchphrase, picture, celebrity/public figure or item of clothing. The thing that distinguishes something from everything else is its meme-potential. Want us to pay attention to your brand? Use memes. In the age where everyone’s seen everything, it’s nice to stumble across something absurd. Whether the visual joke was intended or not, the saying ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ definitely applies. Your idea also needs to give way for a thousand more jokes to be made on a group chat. Everyone loves inside jokes that are curated for only a select few who will ‘get it’. This isn’t as hard as it sounds; to target such a large consumer base with content only intended for a select group of people. For example, there are plenty of popular Drake memes on the internet that have made him a laughing stock and a tonne of money. Anyone who listens to his music will see the joke for the first time, view themselves as one of the lucky few to find and ‘get’ the joke, and most likely share it - regardless of whether they like his music or not. The key to making content go viral is to make the consumer have a perceived sense of ownership or exclusive membership over it. We want to be the first to find something, or at least feel like we are the first.
C A N V I R T UA L R E A L I T Y AVO I D A N O T H E R F A L S E S TA R T ?
P H OT O B Y. C H A R L I E D O L B Y
My first experience of virtual reality involved a three hour queue, a short play of a first person shooter, and a confusing mix of optimism and disappointment. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I still thought I had seen the future. The buzz was there, the technology seemed so close, and the marketplace looked to be ripe for virtual reality to rule this generation. I thought that in five years, everyone would have one of these in their home. This was in 1998, and prototypes for VR hardware were being built as early as 1962, so why will 2016 be any different? The buzz about how it will be implemented in gaming has been impossible to ignore, and it looks a natural fit. But as the somewhat underwhelming performance of the Nintendo Wii U (12 million sales) compared to its similar predecessor (100+ million sales) shows, that audience will only tolerate a tech gimmick for a short time. We were all enthralled by waving sticks at screens in 2006, come 2012 almost 90% of their audience didn’t fancy a second bite. In fact, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy (their 1995 foray into VR) was discontinued after five months due to poor sales and a critical mauling. So even with gaming companies on board, this technology is far from a guaranteed commercial success if historical performance is anything to go by. - 60 -
In terms of our everyday lives, for a lot of us the primary differences between now and then are the emergence of social media and the advancement of mobile phones. Henry Stuart, CEO and co-founder of the VR production company Visualise, identifies “a convergence in technology, in particular technology driven by the mobile industry” as a primary reason that VR is more likely to be successful this time around. “This tech is lightweight with high resolution screens, gyroscopes, accelerometers (for detecting head position) and high power processors. Crucially all of this is available affordably.” In fact, very basic VR is offered by Google Cardboard, which works with tech that most of us have in our pockets. This leads us to the second big change. Social data and the resulting targeting possibilities - combined with strong creative - ensure the accurate delivery of VR experiences, rather than just chucking content at the public and crossing fingers. This is important for brands, instead of whatever is selected for an event booth, or a generic roller-coaster video, marketers can ensure people’s early VR engagements in this era can be far more relevant to their interests. This will help win over the all-important casual users, who will be vital for the technology achieving critical commercial mass. This is an area that can’t be ignored if VR is to become a sustainable content vehicle for marketers, businesses, and producers.
Going forward, marketers could benefit even further from data collected by VR usage. Mass data on where people are looking could help sell stadium sponsorships in areas the TV cameras don’t show much of. Cognitive computing that identifies personality traits could be used to deliver virtual experiences tailored to appeal to different personalities. These are just a couple of examples, but such data can also be used to inform creative direction in a way that isn’t possible en-masse with most other mediums. In terms of connecting with an audience, marketers shouldn’t be using VR to replace their experiential efforts. Instead, it can integrate those who aren’t present at an event to in a more direct, possibly even interactive, way. The audience can select a guide to follow round a festival that a brand is sponsoring, or digitally meet contestants of a branded competition at a trade show before deciding on a winner. Along with publishers, brands will probably be providing consumers with the most touchpoints to this medium in their daily lives. So once those first casual users have been won over, how will brands keep consumers interested in their content? VR will still obey rules of other mediums, consumers will fast get used to it and content producers will need to avoid creative laziness. What’s more, VR has more scope than the headline grabbers of 360 videos, sex, and gaming. There are medical, sporting, and educational uses of the technology that all have the potential to enrich consumers’ understanding of the world in immersive ways that build strong connections. Stuart is keen to point out its potential for use in construction and architecture too, telling us how “creating buildings virtually before building works start will save developers time and money as tweaks can be made quickly and final results experienced, all before any building work begins.” VR also presents boundless opportunities for empathetic journalism, Stuart elaborates “every news team will have a setup and news events worldwide will be reported from in a way that lets you be transported to the heart of the action. We will be able to understand world issues on a level people just don’t have now.” The Guardian’s ‘6x9’, which is a virtual experience of solitary confinement gives an exciting, yet unnerving hint at what could be possible. It puts the viewer directly into an intense situation and details how people feel, what they see, and how long it can last for. This type of content can bring users far closer to the news, driving engagement with both historical and current affairs. Looking at uses like this, we can see the importance that this medium can have on society. It’s a genuinely bold technological step, but the cold hard
truth is that a lot of these benefits won’t be seen if there’s no commercial success underpinning future developments. As a result it’s vital that marketers don’t squander early advantages with half-hearted branded experiences that rely too heavily on the VR novelty to nudge their engagement figures up a few points. Consumers need to be made to care. Despite VR being over 60 years old, it’s still very much in early days of what’s possible. To bring the conversation back to computer games, we’re probably entering the equivalent of the Atari era of VR with consumer headsets currently emerging onto the market. But with the technology and appetite in place right now, Sophic Capital currently predicts almost 40 million devices will be sold in 2018, an increase of over 1000% from 2015. This indicates that the initial demand is going to be there, so the real longer-term challenge is going to lie with imaginative content producers, who need to create experiences for users that will connect with them once the aforementioned VR novelty has worn off. Combined with these efforts, marketers must be delivering those experiences to the right audiences in the most effective ways possible for optimum chances of VR succeeding. If they fail, we predict 40 million headsets could be gathering a lot of dust in 2019. Wo r d s : A n d y Va l e , AUDIENSE
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W H AT ABOUT REAL REALITY?
That bloody Bee in my bonnet has been in overdrive on this subject matter for some time now, I am tiring of the vast yet pithy coverage in every industry magazine prophesizing the virtues of virtual in real world situations, the amount of money and time that is being spent by brands taping into whimsical irrelevant VR activations brings a ball of bile to my throat and firm clench of the fist, a fist I continue to hammer on the table as I continue to ask “what the hell is wrong with the real world?” I get that there is value in VR in some quarters such as Healthcare and Surgery, for example I asked a number of colleagues and friends for their views on the subject and one response from Jon Owen from Academy Music Group gave a compelling and moving response “One of my best friends suffered serious brain damage in a near fatal car accident and pretty much hasn’t left his house in 7 years – locked in syndrome I think they call it. When available, we hope one day to take him back to Glastonbury Festival via VR. In a few years you should be able to walk around a festival from the ease of your own home and headset” a truly compelling and emotive argument for VR in health and recuperation. However, the blood boils when I continue to read of VR activations in the events industry that offer consumers the chance to “delve into new and wondrous worlds” here is just one example I discovered in an event industry pamphlet outlining the use of VR during a sampling campaign by a famous cereal brand. “Attendees donned virtual reality (VR) headsets, and they ate the Kellogg’s cereal while sitting at a table with queen Cleopatra. The 360-video also let them look around the elaborate palace and glimpse the pyramids in the background. Countdown presenter Rachel Riley – the face of the range – dressed up as the Egyptian queen for the event”.
The supporting images did nothing to question my bewilderment at the strategy and the creative around this exercise and I struggled to contemplate why a consumer would choose this cereal over another based on this experience. As I stated, I get that there are uses and fun should of course be high on the agenda in the strategy for using VR, take Samsungs School of Rugby activation during the 6 Nations campaign, the experience utilized the new Samsung Galaxy S7 handset and Samsung Gear VR headset to challenge fans’ reaction speeds against rugby stars such as Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio through the medium of VR, but using VR to take you to a pyramid to eat with Cleopatra?. Please! During my research I uncovered a copy of E&T, which is the magazine for members of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. I noted the extended coverage offered to Virtual Reality (VR) and its numerous applications. In a 100 page magazine 24 pages were devoted to the subject and of the 17 applications that were cited, 9 were purely leisure based and of the remainder the only one that seems to offer genuine usefulness was in healthcare and even that was niche. The rest, it seems, could already be solved with current 3D modelling tools. I really don’t understand all the hype and vast amounts of research and development money being spent on this technology. Consumers didn’t really take to 3D, which entails wearing a pair of NHS or Joe90 specs so why will they strap a darkened scuba mask to their head that makes them feel nauseous?
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“One of my best friends suffered serious brain damage in a near fatal car accident and pretty much hasn’t left his house in 7 years – locked in syndrome I think they call it. When available, we hope one day to take him back to Glastonbury Festival via VR. In a few years you should be able to walk around a festival from the ease of your own home and headset” J o n O w e n ACADEMY MUSIC GROUP
What is it with virtual reality anyway? What’s wrong with real reality? Is a virtual tour of the Serengeti the same as going? Sure, it could be cheaper, no jabs, no heat and no flies but isn’t that the point - that it’s all part of the experience? People scoffed at Google Glass in the main despite the huge potential of an augmented reality that offers in so many industrial, medical, commercial, military and education applications. If you were concerned you might look stupid wearing those then what about VR goggles? There is a novelty value in seeing a movie or a sports event from an alternate perspective but that is all there is - novelty that soon wears thin. So 2016 seems to be a big year of VR hype followed by mass disappointment that will see the VR goggles consigned to the back of the cupboard along with your 3D specs that we’ll all be nostalgic about in 15 years time. Wo r d s : I a n I r v i n g EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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THE HEAD SAYS YES THE HEART SAYS DEFINITELY, YES
MASERATI GHIBLI. STARTING FROM £49,165 The Maserati Ghibli is powered by a range of advanced 3.0 Litre V6 engines with 8-speed ZF automatic transmission including, for the first time, a V6 turbodiesel engine.
H.R. OWEN MASERATI LONDON MELTON COURT, 25-27 OLD BROMPTON ROAD, LONDON, SW7 3TD Phone: 0333 240 1580 / Web: www.hrowen.co.uk/maserati www.maserati.co.uk
Official fuel consumption figures for Maserati Ghibli range in mpg (l/100km): Urban 20.5 (13.8) – 36.7 (7.7), Extra Urban 39.8 (7.1) – 57.6 (4.9), Combined 29.4 (9.6) – 47.9 (5.9). CO2 emissions 223 – 158 g/km. Fuel consumption and CO2 figures are based on standard EU tests for comparative purposes and may not reflect real driving results. Model shown is a Maserati Ghibli S MY16 at £68,923 On The Road including optional pearlescent paint at £1,776, 20” machine polished Urano alloy wheels at £2,205 and Red brake callipers at £432. - 64 -
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A C U LT U R E OF SHARI NG
P H OT O B Y. M A R I S A F R A N C O
IT’S TI M E TO BOOK YOUR WELL-DESERVED HOLI DAY, YOU WANT TH E BEST EXPERI ENCES WH I LE AWAY BUT YOU DON’T CARE WHAT BOB AN D H IS 5,000 FRI EN DS ON YELP TH I N K - YOU N EED TRUSTED RECOM M EN DATIONS. TH E QUESTION IS, WHAT I N FORMATION CAN CONSUM ERS TRUST AN D WHAT SERVICES SHOULD TH EY CHOOSE? We are living in a society where time sparse consumers are constantly being overloaded with a wealth of information during the decision making process. To plan a holiday, consumers spend, on average 30 hours researching a trip, consult 8 different websites and ask 4 friends for advice, which can take up to 5 weeks in total. In an age of Social Media, brands cannot ignore the impact on advertising as consumers’ reliance on word-of-mouth in the decision-making process increases. As peer-to-peer recommendations and consumer opinions remain the most trusted form of advertising, reviews across social media and other sites are directly influencing a consumer’s attitude towards businesses and the purchase of their business services. The core concept of Insiders stems from our CEO, Nicola Hain, constantly being given or asked for “Insider” recommendations for the locations she knew well, or that her friends are Insiders for. Her husband works in the music industry, so her friends are the likes of David Guetta and the Swedish House Mafia guys, who travel constantly and get to discover the most amazing places.
Nicola decided that she had sent enough emails with lists of where to go and what to do, and that she would build an app for everyone to use to add all their “Insider” recommendations. The idea being that, just like Instagram, you are able to follow your tastemakers and have one amazing place to discover trusted recommendations when we needed them. Insiders has since expanded to include channels from over 86 luxury and lifestyle brands, as well as over 50 publications from the world’s leading publishers. It launched publicly mid November, following a global press conference announcing its collaboration with the TAG Heuer Connected watch, where it was the only third party app and one of only three in the world, that launched with it. We worked alongside TAG Heuer to launch a series of Insider guides with their global ambassadors, which sit on the TAG Heuer channel on Insiders. To date David Guetta has created his guide for Miami and Nervo have created their guide to Melbourne. Not only is this content discoverable, searchable and on demand, anytime, anywhere, but it is further amplified through the Insiders audience. As the digital space changes and consumers’ reliance on word-of-mouth mouth increases, it forces to move from awareness building through advertising and branding, towards the creation of loyalty through experiences and engaging lifestyle content. As consumers become accustomed to this form of marketing, brands that fail to bring their strategies in line will fall behind. To follow HATCH Magazine on Insiders, register at www.myinsiders.com with code HATCH3 and receive a complimentary 3 months trial of Insiders Premium. W o r d s : B e c To m l i n s o n M Y I N S I D E R S
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Your lifestyle, curated
Discover the ultimate library of recommendations from your trusted Insiders, accessible anytime, anywhere. Register now at www.myinsiders.com
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O C H R E furniture • lighting • accessories ochre.net
new showroom at 57 pimlico road london sw1w 8ne - 69 -
M EET TH E
MAKERS
P H OT O B Y. A R I A N A P R E S T E S
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The following pages are curated and brought to you by Chris Roberts and Rob Evans of the With Love project. A creative team producing content for people who produce things with a passion and a purpose. Chris is an expert in brand focused art direction, he combines a passion for great creative with a keen eye for detail he is constantly searching for new ways to strengthen the relationship between brand and consumer. Rob is an energetic, exciting and highly creative photographer. His stylish flair for lighting, immaculate attention to detail and ability to bring out the best from his subjects combine to create stunning, beautifully cinematic imagery. They produce words, pictures and film and specialise in fashion look-books and branded campaigns, online and in print. They have travelled the length of the country working with producers, makers and manufacturers. They’ve shot a summer campaign for Walsh Trainers, brought together a creative team to produce a T-Shirt with Origin 68 and documented the pub the Manchester built to name a few. They’ve worked with start up companies and businesses that can trace their history back to the 1300’s, one man bands and brands employing 100’s. All of the companies they work for share a similar vision, they all truly care about what they make and how they make it. The project started as a idea to find and document a small amount of people who produce things with a passion and purpose. Asking one single question along the way... “Why do you do what you do?” They wanted to meet 5 people and produce a small book of the people they met. Nearly 40 makers, producers and manufacturers later they’ve managed to finish the book, they’ve also created a film and documented all the visits on www.withloveproject.co.uk. They are constantly searching for new stories, new people who truly love what they do to document and work with and here are a selection of stories from their trip.
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Stuart Mitchell OWNER OF STUART MITCHELL KNIVES W W W. S T U A R T M I T C H E L L K N I V E S .C O M
Walking through the archway to Portland works, you instantly get a feeling that something is happening. Clanging, grinding, bashing sounds are ringing out from over twenty workshops housed in this historic building. A building that has held a wide variety of makers since the late 1800’s and now is the last fully working integrated steel works left standing in Sheffield. This particular works is interwoven into Sheffield’s industrial past and produced the first ever stainless steel knife. A steel that was also found right here in Sheffield by Harry Brearley on the 13th August 1913 whilst experimenting for a small arms manufacturer. Harry’s employers weren’t interested in the rust free steel at all, so he bought some from them and took it along to Portland Works, at his own cost and perfected the new steel there.
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So our visit to Stuart Mitchell knives was a visit to heart of the steel industry. The building where stainless steel was born and one which has held the Mitchell family for over 35 years allowing them to craft some of the finest knives coming out of Sheffield. Stuart’s workshop is crammed full of character with numerous machines that look as old as the building, shelving stacked full of metals and off cuts of steel leaning against the wall. All illuminated by the light bursting through the many single pained windows and sky lights. Stuart welcomed us in and took us on a grand tour of his workshop and then the building, which is now a co-operative bought and proudly owned by 500 shareholders including the current workers, people across the city and the rest of the world. He talked about the process of making the knives, the bespoke nature of what he does, the family history and his ideas for the future. It is clear to see he is proud of what he creates, taking up to three months to perfect every knife that goes out. Working through each process with care and precision, from the initial design and hand cutting to the forging, grinding and finishing. Each knife is numbered emphasising the bespoke nature of this craft and ensuring no two knives are the same. This individuality is something his customers love. Stuart encourages them to come to the workshop so together they can design the perfect knife, allowing customers to have a real connection with the product they are buying. The quality and time taken to produce each knife attracts a lot of attention, meaning that if you want a knife from Stuart you will have to join a waiting list of eager clients. Ask anyone who owns a Stuart Mitchell knife and they will tell you it is definitely worth the wait!
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Dave Smith TRADITIONAL SIGNWRITER/GILDER, ALBUM COVER DESIGNER, AND O R N A M E N TA L G L A S S A RT I ST. W W W. D AV I D A D R I A N S M I T H .C O M
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Based out of his home Studio in Torquay, Dave Smith blurs the lines between Art and Trade. His distinctive designs can be seen all over the world from album covers for the Kings of Leon to bottle art for Jameson Whiskey and his more traditional sign work which can be seen all over the UK especially adorning lots of London pubs and bars. He welcomed us in to the studio built next to his house and walking in you can’t help but smile. There’s a mass of stunning mirrored sign pieces, hand etched framed artwork and glass engravings all lining the walls. The light bounces around the room off the gold leaf, mirrors and glass signs illuminating different visual delights everywhere you look. A quick glance around and you see hand drawn signs for Burberry, for Booths, mirrored signs from pubs, hand drawn pieces attached to the exposed wooden beams, it truly is a creative’s dream. The detail of Dave’s work is stunning and we were keen to find out how long it takes to get this good. Dave recalls the first sign he made, “I was 14 at the time and I painted a sign for my dad’s friend, a hotel owner in Torquay. I used all the wrong tools, the wrong paints but the sign still looked pretty good, I was hooked from there on in”. That sign led to other signs and by the time he was 16 his dad had managed to get him on an apprenticeship scheme in a traditional sign makers. He said “It was run by an ex-sergeant major, who ran a tight ship and I questioned whether I would stick it out, but I was so passionate and surrounded by professionals I just wanted to learn more”. Whilst at the company Dave produced hand drawn signs for shops, pubs, even one year…. Wimbledon Tennis Club! The apprenticeship lasted 5-6 years, just before the digital age when vinyl sign writing started to take over from the traditional hand lettering. “I used to sign write and paint logos straight onto the side of vans. They were great days and everything was hand brushed with writing quills and sometimes screen printed”. As well as the 4 day apprenticeship Dave had to spend a day in college but at that time the local college didn’t have a sign writing course,the closest thing was a dress making course, so as well as designing beautiful hand drawn signs, Dave can also probably mend your corset or fix that special dress. He chuckled as he recalled the course and then told us about the next few years. “I wanted to learn all of the techniques, traveling extensively to learn different processes’. I spent some time in America on courses and events learning everything I could. I wanted to learn the process for guilding, cutting, silvering, sign writing acid etching and bring it all together as one”. Dave told us one person made a real difference to his world back then, a man called Rick Glawson, “he opened doors to some amazing opportunities in glass and design for me and which allowed me to meet some wonderfully talented people that would cross my path and later become friends”.
Rather surprisingly for a hand drawn signwriter Dave said “the rise of the digital age definitely helped the business, I’d still always start with the pencil, making sure 60-70% of the work is done by hand but then the rest by the computer.” He set up his own business that he ran for 15 years until he decided to sell up and work from the space he occupies now at the side of his house. He said, “I love what I do, I just wouldn’t do anything else, it’s nice now to just get out of bed, wander down and start creating” Dave’s wide skill set means his work is so varied. He goes to a bookshelf and pulls out a vinyl cover he produced for John Mayer, it’s a blend of beautiful typography and flowing design, creating a stunning hand rendered piece of art. Then he grabs a whiskey bottle that he had created for a limited run of Jameson and unrolls a design he was just finishing for Disney. The list of work produced for notable names is a very long one but this acclaim hasn’t affected his warm, welcoming personality. Dave is an incredibly talented and humble person. It was an absolute pleasure to share an afternoon with him, listen to stories and get a small glimpse into his world.
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C o l i n C a m p b e l l M C R O ST I E L E AT H E R W W W. M C R O S T I E .C O . U K
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After a fish supper, Irn Bru and a Tunnocks Tea Cake we headed out of the centre of Glasgow to meet a heavyweight leather specialist. It was a short drive out into the surrounding green countryside where we met Colin Campbell, the owner and director of McRostie Scotland. The company use the finest British materials and traditional techniques to produce quality handmade leather products. Traditionally a master saddler and harness maker, Colin took over McRostie’s in the 1980’s and started to learn the ropes from Hugh Mason, Master Saddler, who had worked with leather all his life. He quickly learned the skills needed to make and repair the products McRostie produced for the equine industries. But it wasn’t until a fashion shop in Glasgow asked Colin to produce belts for jeans that a new market opened up for them.
Belts hang on every wall of the workshop, all different sizes, shapes colours and designs. The space was open and clearly split into working areas. Various tools and cutting equipment sat proudly on a work surface illuminated by the large window in front of us and directly behind that in the centre of the room was a table that held a mountain of leather strips and off cuts. The walls were filled floor to ceiling with small drawers, shelves and boxes containing items from specific tooling to various metal fixings. There were horse saddles, stirrups and harnesses, some hanging like trophy pieces and others waiting to be repaired, all hints of the equine past dating back to 1887. The focus now for McRostie is less on the equine industry and more in the fashion markets. They now produce products including belts, bags, document holders, kilt belts, sporrans and corporate gifts. However their most popular and best selling belt owes its success to a horse harness Colin used as inspiration for the design. He said “ I love to see products through from the initial design stage right through to the hands on making, you just have to look around this place, there is inspiration everywhere” Their - 77 -
handmade, small run nature means they do occasionally get some strange requests. For example, Colin told us about a traveling circus which came to Scotland. “The circus elephant had a sore foot and they asked if we could make a leather boot for the him, which we duly did! It fitted perfectly. More recently was the client who came in with a pair of green wellies and asked if I could transform them into a pair of ‘Big Banana Feet’ for a Billy Connolly tribute act he did. This was more of a challenge, but I think The Big Yin, as he is known in Scotland, himself would have been happy to wear them!” Everything is produced in the workshop using the best British materials and now sells throughout the UK, Europe and in Japan where the demand for handmade Scottish goods is very high. The handmade quality of each heavyweight piece is unique and the great thing about each item is that the use of full grain, vegetable tanned bridle leather means they will only improve with age and wear.
Stephen Gillies and Kate Jones GILLIES JONES MASTER GLASSMAKERS
We headed for North Yorkshire, the sun beaming down and illuminating our way into this beautiful part of the country. We passed ploughed fields and glistening lakes on our way to meet Glass artists Stephen Gillies and Kate Jones. They create visually stunning handmade glass in the picturesque village of Rosedale Abbey, North Yorkshire. The studio is a single story converted barn. There are a number of pieces displayed in the gallery space all with stunning colours and delicate designs. This unique art hits your eyes and the heat from the studio washes over you, radiating from the various kilns that stay fired for 11 months of the year. The space opens out to a large studio area where Stephen blows the glass. The warm room is very calming, everything has its own place, fitting the methodical processes of glass blowing. Stephen and Kate have been producing glass blown pieces together in the traditional way for over 20 years. They opened their studio May 1st 1995 after both attending Stourbridge College of Art. However they only met after they’d both finished their courses which were in different parts of the campus. Kate trained as a painter while Stephen studied glass blowing. In time Kate became fascinated by the world of glass and enrolled on a one year post grad course and learnt all the practical skills and how to make the
marks on glass that she’d previously made on paper. Stephen continued to study the intricate arts of glass blowing at various small studios around the world. He travelled to Denmark, Switzerland, the East Coast of the States as well as the Isle of White. Whenever Kate had the opportunity, she would fly out and assist Stephen and they soon realised they worked brilliantly together in work as well as life. Their style of working together is something they call ‘creative bickering’. Stephen begins the process by blowing the glass and adding colour before Kate creates her own imaginative patterns. Watching Stephen work and effortlessly move from one station to another is like watching a dancer executing carefully rehearsed dance steps. The processes, skills and tools involved in glass blowing haven’t changed much since medieval times. He said “I love the simplicity of what I do, heating the glass so it is malleable and then when it’s hot enough I have this small window of time before it cools again to get my shaping right. It’s really exciting.” Once shaped, the glass then goes to Kate’s space which is in another building adjacent to the barn. It seems busier than Stephen’s. She calls it her “Creative Chaos”. Stephen can blow the glass a lot faster than Kate can finish the pieces so there are lots of them dotted around the room, some that are waiting to be worked on, some finished and some awaiting delivery. Kate smiles when she says “I love the space exactly like this, - 78 -
I know where everything is.” She works on the blown glass removing the top layer to create the patterns inspired by their rural location. “Living in this part of the world definitely influences my work, from the smallest flower to the rolling landscapes and the seasonal colours, I can’t help but take it all in.” We were lucky enough to see the methodical glass blowing process for ourselves which is an art-form in itself and understand the thinking and techniques behind Kate’s surface design. The two processes combine to produce decorative glass work which has received global recognition and it is easy to see why…. the confident use of colour and the marriage of shape and surface design make each piece a unique work of art.
W W W.G I L L I E S J O N E S G L A S S .C O . U K
150 YEARS OF WHISKEY. ONE REALLY BUSY SMALL TOWN. It might not look that way, but things move pretty fast down here. With every single drop of Jack ack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey made in Lynchburg, we have lots to do. Of course, making Jack properly rly takes time. And for the past 150 years, time is something we’ve had. So, while our definition of fast st might be a little different from yours, go ahead and take a sip. We think you’ll agree that we’re moving at just the right pace.
WORK HARD. DRINK IN MODERATION. ©2016 Jack Daniel’s. All rights reserved. JACK DANIEL’S and OLD NO. 7 are registered trademarks. - 79 -
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#BEYOUROWN is the new platform brought to you by the most
affluential, influential and entrepreneurial women of today. Inspiring, sharing & celebrating amazing success stories from well established key influencers to new rising talent, there is a place for us all. Hosted by Samanah Duran, core topics include Business, Music & Media, Fashion & Art and Sports. Samanah Duran is a British fashion designer & successful businesswoman. As company Founder, CEO & Creative Director of Critics Clothing, Samanah is setting a great example as an aspiring 21st century entrepreneur, for an audience of all ages. Her fierce emphasis on inspiring each individual to embrace their identity and to take pride in their individuality is perfectly presented in her vision for innovative clothing, which was revolutionized through the crafting of indulgent streetwear with the power to evoke self-expression. Building on that inspiration as an extension of Critics Clothing, Samanah has now successfully launched #BEYOUROWN. The interviewing channel featuring both new and well established female talent and entrepreneurs that wish to share their story across the nation and who we feel would be a good fit for the readers of the online interviewing blog.
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#BEYOUROWN Meets MELANIE GOLDSMITH
#BEYOUROWN sit down and chat with one half of Smith and Sinclair, whose alcoholic jelly sweets are already stocked in the likes of Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. We discuss the initial start-up process and the trials and errors over mocha and eggs at Soho House. Hey Melanie, let the story unfold…. Okay, lets start from the beginning. I used to be in performance arts but was much more interested in the production side of things and after producing a jazz festival for 2 years, recognised a gap between being in an experience and consuming an experience. Over the last few years a new category started forming which crossed over the arts, food, drink and play, a cross-cultural hybrid with players like Secret Cinema, Gingerline and Bompas & Parr at the forefront. The environments being created for adults to play were all consuming, but there was no tangible source of longevity beyond the events. This is why we created Smith & Sinclair. We wanted the physical environment to match what was being consumed, taken away and reengaged with at a later date. Our first product on market is a range of edible cocktails. Essentially, large fruit pastilles (no liquid centre) which are de-constructed in the same way as a liquid cocktail: Spirit, mixer, garnish. We have eight flavours in our range which include Whisky, Rum, Gin and Vodka. The idea for the Pastilles came from a series of our own dating nights which were focused around the idea of ‘adult play’. We hosted them in a bar in East London and the point was to distract everyone from social constructs to facilitate an environment in which people could be more natural (as no one can hide their competitive edge). What we found very early on was that the minute a guest held a drink, they could no longer play with the games and it disrupted the flow. We needed an alternative ‘ice breaker’ and didn’t want to lose alcohol (it was a dating night after all) so we subverted the idea and built an ‘Adult pick ‘n’ mix’ counter. Not only could guests indulge in our alcoholic delights at the event we got them to take away a ‘goodie bag’ to prolong the experience but also provide a tool which encapsulated what the nights stood for. It was a great marketing
plan; what we hadn’t anticipated was how many people would come for the unusual products over the theme of the night, which were the games. We couldn’t knock a winner so we looked into other environments which would suit the pastilles and the idea of ‘edible alcohol’. We sold the product at a couple different nights, a female members club and eventually got a stall on Berwick St in Soho. Was it a success? Sandwiched between a fruit and sandwich stall we were pedalling the alcoholic sweets all day for the 3 weeks before Xmas and took £3,000. We went away, built a website and had an order for 20,000 pastilles within the week from Imbibe live, who had seen our stall, which kicked off the whole business. So how did you manufacture twenty thousand of them? We had been making the Pastilles for market in my flat, which had its limitations, considering alcohol steam triggered the carbon monoxide alarm. We had to be resourceful 20,000 pastilles equates to 400,000g. So we researched all the venues near us which wouldn’t have been using their kitchen full time; including churches, synagogues and some schools. Once we successfully completed the 20,000 we then needed a more permanent site and found where we are now, which is more than unusual but fits us just great. What was your typical day? In the beginning it was just me and Emile (my co-founder). I would wake up around 6.30 and start packing the pastilles Emile had made the night before, Emile would start cooking again around 9am, I would be doing admin from around 11-2 and then we would have an event/ market/ meetings until around 8.30pm, we would - 83 -
cook until around 12 and start over again. It was hardcore and still is – but in a very different way. Were you able to expand and have a team working with you? For the first year we used freelancers a lot to support packing, events, sales. We don’t take on unpaid interns unless it is a direct course requirement. We now have Hannah, who is our Head of Strategy (full time) and has been a fundamental asset to our growth and a team of around 12 part-time staff who are absolutely fab. Did any disasters happen during? Of course! The biggest disasters probably still stand as our earlier mistakes. Whilst cooking the 20,000 pastilles, we were working on a batch of 4,000 in a school kitchen which was closed for Easter break. On the 5th night we hadn’t been told the hallway was having maintenance work and our dehumidifiers were turned off, resulting in a lot of panic and the loss of around 2,000. Are you looking at going overseas? In the future, absolutely. For now, we are focusing on the UK and our opportunities in hospitality in addition to a summer in Ibiza, which we are all very excited about, being a hub of experience and indulgence. We post internationally from our online portals and would be looking to grow internationally with our hospitality and travel clients. Our strategy in the short term is to focus on events and online and to continue growing the business year on year by 100%.
So no exit strategy just yet then?
What about PR?
We of course have considered how we would want to eventually exit but that is not the focus whilst growing our business. There are a number of cross cultural lifestyle brands which have a wide portfolio, where we could see ourselves fitting in the future, but for now we are building a brand that is recognisable for its quality, internal and external ethics and above all, the experience.
We have had some fantastic PR since the beginning of the company and have worked with an amazing company called Full Fat PR. In regards to marketing and advertising, we always need a direct ROI with anything we do and therefore have focused on brand partnerships as a way of tapping into our direct target market.
Did you have an initial business plan? In the beginning it was about doing, not stopping and planning, we wanted to see if the product was received positively and got traction. We went for around 18 months without a business plan and got the business to a steady point at which we could then really take a step back and review where we wanted to see the future of the business. We do now have a plan, which is constantly evolving.
Finally what is your one staple tip? Persist and invest in your team. We have had to overcome a number of hurdles from starting a company and the number one thing that has kept moral is ensuring everyone is fighting for the same goal and enjoying the roller coaster of a journey!
Do people get this concept? What we are doing is very much at the forefront of what is happening, we are creating consumable products which create and enhance experiences. People do get it (we’ve sold close to 500,000 pastilles in the last 2 years) but it’s down to how we now grow the marketing model to educate consumers and invite them in to what we’re doing.
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P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
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PA V E M E N T
T O P L AT E
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P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
PA V E M E N T
T O P L AT E If we examine the Last 4 Feet in closer detail, we can see it has life outside the retail world. Not to say its role in purchase decisions is not of significance, but to truly understand its meaning and purpose we can’t view it solely from a commerce or transactional point of view. Today, brands can exist in many forms and a brand has never been simply regarded as just an item that one can buy off the shelf on the high street. Each brand has within it a story and a certain lifestyle that a consumer aspires to and can therefore be associated with. This couldn’t be truer when looking at the industry that is hospitality. Throughout the world, we’ve seen restaurants and hotels become more than just four walls with a ceiling where one can eat, sleep and drink. To achieve true maverick status and notoriety, these buildings have created characters and stories and are unearthing new ones each day.
But what makes these places stand out from the crowd and makes them become the place to go to for your business and/or pleasure needs? What in essence gets you from the pavement to the plate? We met Jessy Harrison, a creative marketing consultant to the travel and hospitality industry, whose ethos when it comes to her work got us thinking more about the Last 4 Feet and what it means when applying to an industry such as hers. Having worked with the likes of The Lucky Onion restaurant chain, the Artists’ Residence Hotel Group and the Flat Cap Hotels, Jessy sums up the success of resorts and chains based on the four P’s; ‘From pavement, to painting, to paper, to plate.’ So what does she mean by this? Jessy sheds more light on her motto by sharing her views and speaking to a number of players in the hotels and restaurant game, to find out how they define
‘From the pavement to the plate’.
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C h r i s H e n r y EDITOR
Jessy Harrison M A R K E T I N G C O N S U LTA N T
Those who have dedicated themselves to a career in hospitality will know that marketing to today’s customer demands so much more than great service and delicious food.
Granted, this is the bread and butter of customer experience in cafes, restaurants, hotels and the like, but it seems clearer by the day that industry leaders really flourish when they thrive on the bigger picture – the before, the during and the after. As a result, the hospitality sector is developing an increasingly experiential and diverse offering. You only have to look at the vast array of venues adapting to keep customers engaged to see it. Whether it’s through hosting inspiring pop up events or creating perfect working environments for freelance professionals in need of a networking hub, like the Hoxton Group and Ace Hotel, this industry finds a way to deliver. Whilst witnessing these fascinating changes I found myself fixed upon an all-encompassing and recurring concept dedicated to meeting today’s customers needs – what I call the 4Ps from Pavement to Plate. Today’s movers and shakers lead the way by engaging with customers at four specific stages in their experience, these are; Pavement, Painting, Paper and Plate. It’s the manner in which customers are ushered from Pavement to Plate that creates a brand ethos and ultimately determines whether or not they’ll be returning.
The manner in which student popular restaurant ‘M’ in Budapest brings this stage to life is both original and inspirational. What makes it unique and the perfect setting for the millennial, is the thinking behind the wallpapers and menus. Entirely made up of brown parchment paper, the paintings, decorative features and soft furnishings have all been spectacularly hand drawn with pen and ink, and oh how it works. Finer touches like these can separate establishments from the masses, celebrating that all important USP and ensuring there are talking points for customers, even after their experience is finished. Last but not least, the Plate – the base reason why customers came in the first place. Whatever you put on that plate; how it tastes, looks, smells, and is styled is your identity and how the establishment wants to be recognised or remembered. The formidable 10 Greek Street is a restaurant I return to time and time again. Jay Rayner sums it up - “Actually being convincing in this corner of the pared-down, heart-on-sleeve, no-frills market is a tougher proposition.” This restaurant is more than convincing, not only with its delectable menu but also in its subtle ability to draw you into the theatrical magic conjured up in the kitchen, through its open service area. I passionately believe that a focus on the Pavement to Plate concept not only ensures a wholesome strategy to win customer interest in hospitality, but more importantly encourages businesses to grow and hone in on their identity, their individuality. This concept has given me a fresh sense of direction when working on new launches and brand identity with clients, and I dearly hope it will help many others.
So how does it all come together? The pre-conception and a customer’s engagement with a business before visiting is attributed to the Pavement stage, covering industry ‘marketing’ essentials such as; social media strategy, press coverage, word of mouth, website, signage and online feedback. These strategies are responsible for capturing attention and affecting public perception. A glimpse at the media hype around Sexy Fish, Caprice Holdings latest venture, reveals how powerful this can be. It all centers from a strong brand reputation. Something which even the smaller establishments like Bao which hit the scene as a small pop up in East London, seeing hour long queues within 4 weeks of opening, can achieve. A year on and you’re still pushed to get a taste of their mouthwatering buns without at least a 30 min queue. In hospitality, customers do believe the hype… The ‘Painting’ of a business is the all important first impression your customers are given on arrival. It’s the look and feel, the overall atmosphere and the attitude that shapes opinion. Design and layout are attributing factors to impressions as well as the classic hospitality rule; “service with a smile”. Artist Residence Hotels showcase their identity in everything they do. Interior design, décor and cocktail menus are inspired, if not personally decorated, by artists and they also host talks and exhibitions from industry experts on contemporary art and design for the customers. Truly immersive customer experiences like these make establishments stand out and keep people coming back for more.
Jessy Harrison www.instagram.com/jessy_harrison098 Artist Residence www.artistresidence.co.uk www.twitter.com/artistresidence https://www.instagram.com/artistresidence/
So onto the Paper stage. At this point, establishments have done enough to capture the customer’s attention. Telling a story or creating an ideology through paper communications such as menus, event advertising and merchandise is what keeps people engaged and gets them talking. - 89 -
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Adam Byatt CHEF
What comes to mind when you think of the ‘pavement to the plate’? What comes to mind for me is ’The Pavement’ in Clapham—a popular street that houses a number of amazing food and knick-knack shops. It’s the main path that brings our guests from Clapham Common station to our restaurant, passing by some incredible local shops on the way. One of the most iconic shops on The Pavement is M. Moen & Sons, a fantastic butcher’s shop and our local meat suppliers at the restaurant, whose presence was one of the reasons that I decided to open up shop in Clapham back in 2001. When a potential customer walks through your door, what do you think is the deciding factor that will make them want to be part of your story and the environment you’ve created? First impressions are everything. Making eye contact with a guest as they walk in is paramount! Simply making guests feel welcome and as though you want them there sounds straightforward on paper, but takes quite a bit of consideration to get right across multiple sites and staff members. Then of course there is the look, the feel and the ambience of the place— this is very easily identifiable and again, first impressions count. We have a team briefing an hour before each service so that we are as prepared and relaxed (incredibly important) as we can be for when our first guests arrive. We even put fresh wood on the grills and burn herbs to ensure that the room smells enticing and appealing. The lighting is also incredibly important, as it can really set the tone for the evening. The trick is simple; never lighter inside than out. How do you capture a consumer’s attention from when they’re on the pavement and get them in front of the plate? We hope that their attention was grabbed by hearing great things about us and we are respectful that those guests have committed valuable time and meaningful money to our business. Walk-in trade is less for us than some others and requires a completely different strategy but an important one. We always check the front of the restaurant to ensure that we are in good order before each service. I also tend to go outside and view the restaurants as if I were a customer and I continually ask myself, ‘How would I feel about this place if it wasn’t mine, is the lighting right, does it look overbearing and unapproachable, does it look sharp and cared for?’ Essentially, the restaurant must look and feel correlative to how the experience delivers. Has social media made hospitality anti-social or breathed new life into the sector?
very guilty of it) is that we give away too much! People already know what our food looks like and what artwork we have; they make up their mind about a place based on images that they’ve seen, and this is often very different to the human side of what we do. I freely admit that there are restaurants that I have not gone to— where I may otherwise have done—because I feel that I have enough of a sense of the place already via social media! Crazy. When looking at hospitality as a multi-sensory experience - what do you regard as the most important sense? Taste. In its obvious form, our food must be absolutely delicious and take you away from your real life for a short time, which I believe food can do. But cooking with taste also requires good taste in the visual sense. How does our food look as a first impression, does the setting match the food, do the chairs, tables and cutlery feel as though they belong with our food? The entire restaurant experience needs to be seamless and coherent. To deliver that you need to have taste! Is technology playing a part in the progression of hospitality as an industry or will it always aim to retain as much of its ‘human’ and ‘natural’ qualities? This is an interesting one. Technology is developing at an alarming rate and is mainly aimed at dehumanizing services, which for the most part I am a full supporter of. But when it comes to dining, nothing will ever replace warm hospitable career professionals that can deliver an experience that can transport you away for a short amount of time and make you feel special, valued and completely satisfied. What I feel will happen is that fast, efficient, mechanically-driven food services will gain traction and eating at a mainstream level will evolve with no human interaction. But restaurants that offer the full experience will become even more special and sought-after. I have just returned from Japan where I ate several meals with virtually zero human interaction, ordering my (very good) food via a vending machine, pressing a buzzer for more drinks and sitting in a single compartment booth completely segregated from the other diners. This will absolutely take hold and become the norm, but only at a certain level. Adam Byatt www.adambyatt.co.uk www.twitter.com/adambyatt www.instagram.com/adambyatt Adam’s Restaurant - Trinity Restaurant www.trinityrestaurant.co.uk www.twitter.com/TrinityLondon www.instagram.com/trinityclapham
Social media is a double-edged sword. What I love about social media and restaurants is the opportunity it gives us to communicate with our community in our language (and for free)! It gives us wide reach and allows us to tell our own stories. I’m obviously not overly keen on how restaurants can be unfairly hung out to dry so easily without any verification. But the part about social media that I dislike the most (although I’m - 91 -
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Julia Pearson H E A D O F P R & C O M M U N I C AT I O N S , THE HOXTON
When a potential customer walks through your door, what do you think is the deciding factor that will get them returning as a customer? We don’t think of it as one deciding factor, but rather as a whole brand experience, which builds loyal guests. This is everything from the interaction they have with us before they visit, be it on email or social media channels, the feeling they get when they come through our doors, and the experience they have during their visit. Basically every touch point they have with our brand, if you can ensure it’s a positive one and aligned across the experiences, you will build a loyal fan base. How do you capture a consumer’s attention from when they’re on the pavement and get them in front of the plate? We don’t hard sell to our customers, there are no signs on the pavement but we do have huge windows that allow them to see inside. They might spot the crowd of people having cocktails at the bar and want to join in the fun or the comfy sofa in front of the open fire calling them in to relax on.
What has hospitality got to offer for the future? Where can it go? I think hospitality will become more bespoke, and soon we’ll be able to find out things about our guests as soon as they book, thus tailor their stays. We’re already seeing innovations in guest experience and people like to feel individual (especially millennials) rather than part of a generic group. I think bigger chains will stop expanding and we’ll see an increase of hotels that have character, hyper local and allow guests experience the local culture through every touch point, whether that’s bespoke art and wallpaper in the bedrooms, much like in The Hoxton, Holborn where it’s themed on Holborn’s past and present to the locals hanging out in the lobbies and food and drinks served. The Hoxton www.thehoxton.com www.instagram.com/TheHoxtonHotel twitter.com/TheHoxtonLDN
Has social media made hospitality anti-social or breathed new life into the sector? It’s breathed new life into the sector, it’s allowed people to see what really goes on in hotels and make people more inclined to hangout in them, whether it’s for cocktails or dining.
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“Gin. As it should be.”
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Langley’s No.8 is available nationwide in many major bars, from fine retailers or online at Amazon.co.uk and Ocado.com Copyright © 2016 Langley’s. All rights reserved. Langley’s is a registered trademark.
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FOOD GOES
POP!
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P H OT O B Y. D A I S Y B O U L D I N G
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Gianluca Ivaldi
MISS P’S BARBECUE What comes to mind when you think of the ‘pavement to the plate’? The way in which what you offer and how you present yourself (your business) and your food, draws people in, and gets them to sample your food. How do you capture someone from the pavement and get them in front of the plate? Primarily through smell and sight; the smell of smoked meat triggers the most carnal desires in people, because animals cooked over an open fire is what our ancestors would eat in times of prosperity or after a successful hunt. The sight of a large piece of meat (such as a brisket or rump cap), being carved is impressive and not often seen in street food, and this draws people in.
Has social media made hospitality anti-social or breathed new life into the sector? It has done both; on one hand, framing the perfectly lit and angled shot of your food for you to later upload it to social media, before tucking in, somewhat mars your eating experience and can appear anti-social in the presence of others. On the other hand, lots of people will discover your business through roving through Instagram hashtags and regrams etc.. In short, as annoying as the food snapping is when it happens, it only serves as free advertising for your food and business. When looking at hospitality as a multi-sensory experience - what do you regard as the most important sense? Smell. It is the “trigger sense” because most people will follow their nose to whatever is generating a pleasant scent, and if it happens to be your food, then they are likely to remember how it smelled, probably as much as how it tasted, and more so than how it looked. Miss P's Barbecue www.miss-ps.com www.twitter.com/misspsbarbecue www.instagram.com/misspsbarbecue
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To n y S o l o m o n ANNA MAE’S MAC ‘N’ CHEESE
What comes to mind when you think of the ‘pavement to the plate’? The increasing availability of quality fast food available at various markets and street food spots. The majority of which provide freshly made food, by passionate people with an entrepreneurial spirit. When a potential customer walks through your door, what do you think is the deciding factor that will make them want to eat and hopefully become a returning customer? People judge the whole package. Thought behind every single sensual experience makes for the final impression. That includes the look of the menu, the music playing, the look and feel of the place as well of course as the food. If a lot of thought has gone into the small details then it’s likely the bigger things will follow. How do you capture a consumer’s attention from when they’re on the pavement and get them in front of the plate? As well as practical elements such as very clear simple signage (which surprising is still quite rare) - again it’s about the whole vibe - Is there good music playing? Is the walk up from the pavement attractive? Does the whole package look inviting? Is this somewhere I want to spend 10 minutes of my 30-minute lunch break. We have a big gold van that helps us stick out from the crowd too!
food that otherwise wouldn’t be there. As we’re not in the same place any two days it’s also vital to build a following. On the negative side there is a degree of antisocialness around it - sometimes eating should be about enjoying the moment rather than getting the best shot for Instagram. All things in moderation though. When looking at hospitality as a multi-sensory experience - what do you regard as the most important sense? Can we have two? Taste goes without saying but also sight.. When you’re competing on the pavement with a whole lot of other traders - looking good is as important as tasting great. What has hospitality got to offer for the future? Where can it go? Does technology and its rapid evolvement play a part in its progression as an industry, or will it always retain as much of its ‘human’ and ‘natural’ qualities? From our point of view - the human quality is essential - it’s why people enjoy eating with us - in street food you can see the effort and dedication that has gone into something that people enjoy. Eating with a street food vendor isn’t just about finding where we are on Twitter and Instagramming what you order - so the human and natural qualities will always be retained. If not - we might as well all give up and go and eat in chain restaurants.
Has social media made hospitality anti-social or breathed new life into the sector? Social media has been vital in communicating where we are to our customers and talking about what we’re doing, flavours, events. It creates a buzz around the
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Anna Mae’s Mac ‘N’ Cheese www.anna-maes.com www.instagram.com/mac_not_crack www.twitter.com/Anna_Maes
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Zoe Adjonyoh ZOE’S GHANA KITCHEN
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What comes to mind when you think of the ‘pavement to the plate’?
Friday night’s drunk kebab falling out of someone’s hands and them scooping it up to take home for dinner :) Just kidding - Advertising boards to walk-ins. When a potential customer walks through your door, what do you think is the deciding factor that will make them want to eat at your establishment, and more, become a returning customer? Eye contact with staff is key - I press this home to my team all the time - you need to engage with customers as soon as they walk through the door or even before - then being made to feel welcome and comfortable in the space straight away and having someone explain / talk them through the menu and guiding them as to the best choices for them as an individual rather than trying to sell them the most expensive thing on the menu. Being available and friendly throughout service is always important. Hopefully we tick a lot of these boxes and this results in positive results when people review our staff and their customer experience online as much as the food.
How do you capture a consumer’s attention from when they’re on the pavement and get them in front of the plate? We have a catch by line ‘It’s Ghana Be Tasty’ that pulls people in - our presentation is generally fun and colourful and not in any way pretentious - I think that helps. Has social media made hospitality anti-social or breathed new life into the sector? I’m not sure either statement applies - the craze of people taking pictures of food as with any trend becomes fatigued and over time has less and less impact - I’m now hearing talk of ‘ugly food’ being the next big thing because people are tired of beautiful pictures of food - that will no doubt be a food trend for a while. Also If people like a plate of food enough to take a picture of it - that can’t be bad for the business if they share that picture all the better - if anyone comes into dine off the back of that - great! My feeling is that people generally trust a written review or verbal recommendation more than a picture of food - and the #instafood doesn’t replace a genuine customer experience communicated to another genuine customer. Most pictures of food on Instagram by food bloggers are essentially people getting a free meal in return for taking the picture - how often that is accompanied by an actual review is rare. That’s not to say it doesn’t add to the businesses marketing bow - all publicity is good publicity - but in real terms the ratio of people that will come in to dine off the back of an Instagram
picture I feel is low - you can’t beat word of mouth recommendation. Has it made the dining experience for the customer anti-social? Yes undoubtedly - if you’re trying to have a nice meal and catch up with someone and they’re pulling their phone every two minutes to take pictures or even just to check email - which is actually more common it’s actually quite rude - I think everyone should get off their phones within 5 minutes of being seated and ENJOY the meal and tell someone about it afterwards if the experience was good enough to share. Conversely - as a business trying to sell a cuisine not yet in the mainstream - the power of images and video online is invaluable in communicating our product and brand - it makes it easier for people to understand what the offering is so that they can then go and search for reviews/ recommendation online in a more informed way before deciding whether or not to book a table. Where is technology taking the hospitality business? Given the devastating projections recently about the impact of automation on employment figures in the next 40 years I’ve actually had a think about that - what will customer service in the hospitality industry look like in 25/30 years? Can and will people try automate waiting services? Quidini is one thing in terms of managing queues and waiting times - but does the bloke holding the Ipad become obsolete in ten years? Why wouldn’t it just be securely fastened to the restaurant door and people plug
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in their own info? Technology will no doubt be more and more integrated into the customer experience - ordering via Ipads or app pre arrival and so on however my personal brand and business is built on genuine customer engagement and interaction and we need good humans for that - so while I’m happy to embrace technology where it can increase efficiency and eliminate bureaucracy - I think people will always crave human experience in a dining environment - I hope so anyway! Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen www.zoesghanakitchen.co.uk www.instagram.com/ghanakitchen www.twitter.com/GhanaKitchen
N a o m i A t k i n s o n H O S P I T A L I T Y M A N A G E R
T H E G R E AT N O RT H W O O D What comes to mind when you think of the ‘pavement to the plate’? For us, it’s about keeping local and staying true to our surroundings - the pavement is being part of the community. It’s being able to use and support local business in our offering - like our local brewery, Canopy, our coffee roastery, Volcano, who are literally a stone’s throw away and our sourdough breads from Bread Bread in Brixton. We mix it all up with a bit of love and dish it right back out! When a potential customer walks through your door, what do you think is the deciding factor that will make them want to eat/stay/ make a good impressions and ensure they’re a returning customer? Fairly obvious answer here, but it’s all about the atmosphere! Sometime we think of it as an extension of the customer’s living room, with the log burners, the chesterfield sofas, the houseplants and the bookshelves. We’re lucky to have a huge, central D shape bar and it’s almost like it creates this little family of bar staff welcoming our even bigger family of customers. Chuck in a BBQ in the garden and a damn fine roast each Sunday and Bob’s your uncle! Quite literally! Who’s Bob? The guy that drinks Gipsy Hill Hepcat on the right hand side of the bar.
How do you capture a consumer’s attention from when they’re on the pavement and get them in front of the plate? We’re a pub. Pub does booze. People like booze! Oh and we have a smoker in the kitchen - we’ve been known to waft some pretty good smells onto West Norwood high street! Has social media made hospitality anti-social or breathed new life into the sector? (this is taking into account the thinking behind the Instagram foodie craze) We LOVE a good hashtag! Our current favourite is #friendlybarmantom who was manning our new DIY bloody mary bar last week! Social media connects us to our suppliers and our customers at all times. It extends the conversation beyond the pub. We can check out feedback and also be inspired by whats “trending” around us, making it a perfect tool for constantly moving in the right direction. Just don’t let your roast lamb go cold while ‘gramming, please. When looking at hospitality as a multi-sensory experience - what do you regard as the most important sense? They all have to work together. I suppose it’s about getting the order right. If it looks good, - 104 -
while sounding good, then it smells good, tastes good it should leave you feeling good? What has hospitality got to offer for the future? Where can it go? Does technology and its rapid evolvement play a part in its progression as an industry or will it always aim to retain as much of its ‘human’ and ‘natural’ qualities? Some bits are good, the apps eg. untappd, instagram etc. and certain technology that make service smoother/our lives easier, however i would always come back to the fact you need a pint poured with a smile, and for us particularly, that organically grown veg from a plot down the road or the beer lovingly made with hops grown in the community. I suppose you move with the times and use technology as an aide but it’s all the word, hospitality, you can’t forget the stuff people come back for, the love, the care and attention. The Great North Wood www.thegreatnorthwood.co.uk www.twitter.com/tgnwpub www.instagram.com/tgnwpub
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NOT JUST FOR CITI ES
P H OT O B Y. A A R O N B U R D E N - 107 -
B I L LY ’ S R O A D T O
T H E B E AC H
My father was a brilliant cook; an eminent neurologist by day and by night cooking was his relaxation. He was thorough and meticulous when planning meals and took no short cuts. He understood the science and had a varied repertoire of dishes some of which he created and many he picked up from trips to Denmark, Italy and France. He was an exceptionally patient teacher and as soon as I could stand he had me on a stool or sat on the worktop ‘helping’. I started out at 18 by persuading my parents to let me go to Prue Leith’s school of food and wine in Notting Hill Gate. In those days there was not much choice in terms of ‘cooking school’ and I didn’t fancy Cordon Bleu which was the other choice and all a bit to posh. Leith’s had its fair share of gals learning to cook for the rich husbands they were hoping to snare but a few of us were there to learn to follow a career in the world of restaurants. We were taught well. Wine Bars were all the rage in those days, a more attractive option for women who didn’t fancy the local boozer; even in 1978, it was unusual to see a single woman in a pub. I spent a couple of years honing my fledgling skills in Tiles, one of the very first wine bars in London. It was set up by John Patterson (who started Dateline International) who hit on the idea of singles nights. So by day Tiles was a magnet for the business community in Victoria and a watering hole for the wine trade, then by night it would morph into a pick up joint. It was extremely successful. Food played a major part as the wine side was very professionally run by the manageress with a vast range of excellent wines to choose from. I was given a free rein to do pretty much what I pleased in the kitchen, managing to triple the food take in 6 months. I was off and running and I loved it. We never had to look for work in those days as so many places were run by independents, we all knew each other and word of mouth was the order of the day. I moved on after a couple of years to Covent Garden and took on the kitchens of Brahms and Liszt which was the one of the biggest wine bars of its time. Six months in, aged 21, I was offered my first management job; to run the whole shebang and I grabbed it with both hands.
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It was a huge site with a regular lunch trade and then it morphed into a manically busy drinking bar, the motto was ‘if the music is too loud you are too old’, if any one said ‘can you turn it down’, we turned it up. The placed rocked and it was not unheard of to sell Leibfraumilch by the case across the bar. It was a madhouse and for 3 years I learned pretty much all there is to know about how to run a wine bar; if I could run Brahms and Liszt I could run anything.
had a painting party and a few mates helped us knock it into some form of shape. We bought plastic garden furniture and my sister ran up some cushions on her sewing machine. An open BBQ grill went in the middle of the space which was an idea from Australia and from there we opened to great fanfare. Seven years on, after buying the pub next door and having created much loved local hang out for the myriad of offices and becoming the ‘works canteen’ for Capital Radio & Thames TV we sold out to Youngs Brewery. I could write a book about what went on in that Wine Bar, littering it with spicy stories of some very well known people. It was fortunate FB and Twitter was stuff that belonged to Star Trek and fortunate that I always keep secrets.
with no hot water, no heating, everyone got ill and it was with a certain relief that the doors finally opened on a sunny February morning. We called it ‘Billy’s on the Road’, ‘Billy’ being my childhood family nickname. We did not take in just what a strong brand it would become.
I went again, sold up home and moved to Croatia. This was not my most commendable life decision, but it did produce my two beautiful children who came back with me to live in the UK, penniless after a pretty disastrous marriage. Needing money quickly I started up a Private Dining business and cooked my way from small Sunday lunches to eventually running big weddings and other functions in venues all over Oxfordshire. It was a hard game, ten years in I was burnt out with it and needed to change.
The building of Billy’s on the Beach began just as we opened Billy’s on the Road and as a new build took 6 months to construct. We decided on a beach hut approach with blues and white stripe panelling and Clare filled it with her driftwood boats that she makes in her workshop at home. We stuck with the same type of menu but much more fish and seafood led and kept the branding so they would be unmistakably a ‘Billy’s’ cafe. She opened in September of the same year with my sister at the helm, it went potty and has stayed potty. It has become a bit of an institution putting Bracklesham Bay firmly on the map as a beach destination giving its neighbour The Witterings a run for its money.
I moved to West Sussex with the kids to be with my partner and made the break. I spent two years trying to sell kitchens at which I was utterly useless just not having the killer salesman techniques and realised that I needed to go back to what I do - food and wine.
I was then headhunted and took the job of Day Manager of Le Routier in Camden Lock which in its day was a very famous busy French restaurant. I learned the art of table service and how to manage a brigade of chefs. I opened up Le Routier Number 2 in the West End and this was my first attempt at starting from scratch, I spent two months at a desk putting it all together from the kitchens through to the colour of the napkins, building wine lists & menus and hiring the team. I loved the challenge and it was a huge success. I was 26 and had covered quite a lot of ground by now without much time out. There followed a falling out with the owners coupled with an opportunity to travel, so I downed tools & headed to Amsterdam and 6 months later found myself in Australia where I worked for 9 months in a 500 seat restaurant in Sydney. I waited tables, refusing management positions as I didn’t want the responsibility. I learned a lot about a new approach to food. I hung out mostly with the chefs and they were into fusion, mixing up Asian and local food with great success. Time to head home to the UK and had I arrived just in time. My old friend James has just secured a lease on an empty premises inside the prudential building at the back with an entrance from a pedestrian square on the corner of Tottenham Court Road and Ruston Road. It was a failed crepe restaurant and had been empty for 18 months. He needed a partner and I needed a job, so The Square Wine Bar was born. We had no money to speak of so
Sitting under a hibiscus tree in a Costa Rican hotel feeding the iguanas with the flowers, my sister the creative, my partner the lawyer and my brother in law the entrepreneur set about a plan to find a premises and open up a cafe/restaurant with myself the caterer at the helm.
Six months on an old little chef site came up a mile from our home and we just had a gut feeling that this could be turned in to something the area was missing. We quickly cobbled together a business plan and put in a bid. We won it but it took an age to nail the deal. We were in doubt as to whether it would come off and in the meantime the kiosk on the beach at Bracklesham Bay came up for grabs. It was 500 meters from my sister’s house. Why not we thought, one of them will come off. We won that bid as well. In the space of 2 weeks we had two premises both of which required considerable investment in both time and money. We began with the Ex Little Chef which was completely on its knees, nothing worked and the whole place needed a major face lift from brand new electrics to new floors, new windows, new equipment et al. It was a major task and one we all undertook with my sister and I doing a major part of the painting, decorating, planning & design. We worked through a freezing cold winter - 109 -
It struck a chord with the locals and road users by keeping it heavily breakfast led with an eclectic selection of brunch and breakfasts dishes inspired by my extensive travels mixed with some good home cooking. The service is supplied by local staff who are dedicated to making it a fun, family friendly cafe where everyone feels at home. We are 3 years in and the leading establishment in the local area according to Trip Advisor with no sign of slowing up.
We are all quietly rather chuffed with the success of the Billy’s cafes and if I had a penny for everyone that said “I wish you would open up one round the corner from me” I would be a wealthy girl. Will we stop at just the two? I am 55 and not sure I have it in me to ‘do another’ but maybe someone else in the family will, who knows. I do know that without my father all those years ago patiently allowing me to stir the sauce I don’t think I would have had much of a tale to tell. Vicky Willison F O U N D E R A N D O W N E R O F B I L LY ’ S
Billy's on the Road A29 Stane Street Billingshurst West Sussex RH14 9AE T: 01403 784289
Billy's on the Beach Bracklesham Lane Bracklesham Bay West Sussex PO20 8JH T: 01243 670373
billysontheroad.co.uk
billysonthebeach.co.uk
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Looks tasty
P H OT O B Y. L A R A J A N E T H O R P E
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Looks tasty I have quite a unique background for a commercial food photographer, as I came in to photography from the other side, the retail side. With almost 20 years’ experience in buying, product and brand development from mail-order, to high street to supermarket all of which gives me an amazing prospective on where images end up and how getting them right will dramatically lift sales. I approach my photography assignments the way I would have developed a product range, assessing the tone of the brand, the market it sits in, to get inside their customer’s head before producing the images that will sell their products. Being a massive foodie, loving to cook and collecting props, food photography became a natural fit. 2016 has seen my profile lift after being shortlisted for the international food photographer of the year award sponsored by Pink Lady apples. Currently I am putting the final touches together for this summer, where I have joined forces with White Pepper cooking school, to start my #instafood training course for budding chefs, food business owners to learn food photography and how to build their brands on social media. Social media has been a big game changer for brands as their imagery is more important them ever, images that sell a lifestyle, sense, feelings, moods and has to sell a story with just a split second view as you scroll through your smart phone every day. No more important is this than food photography as it needs to jump off your screen or pages and scream “eat me now”.
Food photography styles have changed a lot over the last few years with the likes of Instagram being on the forefront of this. It has made food photography more edible, real and less contrived, clean and possessed, because you are no longer just a selling a plate of food you are selling the story behind it. The atmosphere of the restaurant it comes from, the chef who lovingly cooks it or the field its nourished and grown in, you’re selling the lifestyle the story of that food as much as you are selling the food. Just as wonky veg is come back on the shelves as customers are more educated and aware, food photography is become more honest as it becomes more accessible. The way people are posting on social media are also affecting the trends of food. Not only is it changing rapidly as people post several times a day, people are becoming healthier as they are far more accountable for what they post and in turn what they are eating. With the bloggers and social media stars being the new era of chefs with recipe books, just shows how important social media and food images are becoming. As food trends are pushing for more locally sourced ingredients, sustainable fish, Nordic cuisines, negative on GMO, healthy street food, using buzz words like clean eating, raw and Gluten free. Food photography is becoming more about keeping it simple, allowing the colourful ingredients to shout out. It’s about homemade artisan food, rustic textures, props, spontaneous and honest food with natural and ambient light. It’s about movement, whether that is in the shot of a blurred hand mixing a bowl, or with GIFs or video and it’s about showing real food images that makes you drawl at the very sight of them.
Wo rd s : L a ra J a n e Th o r p e F O O D P H OTO G R A P H E R
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P H OT O B Y. L A R A J A N E T H O R P E
P H OT O B Y. L A R A J A N E T H O R P E
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AN I NSI DE
PERSPECTIVE
W o r d s : N a d e g e M e r a i u P H OTO G R A P H E R
P H OT O B Y. N A D E G E M E R A I U
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“
I’m drawn to edible materials because of their complex textures and colors but also because they are alive and unpredictable as they change with time and temperature. The trans-formative, alchemical aspect of growing and cooking food is interesting to me, perhaps because it is akin to the creative process.
P H OT O B Y. N A D E G E M E R A I U
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P H OT O S B Y. N A D E G E M E R A I U
“I DON’T SEE MYSELF AS A COM M ERCIAL PHOTOGRAPH ER BUT MORE AS AN ARTIST WHO TAKES ON COM M ISSIONS AN D WOR KS COLLABORATIVELY WITH ART DI RECTORS, DESIGN ERS AN D PICTURE EDITORS.
“I wanted to extend this connection between architecture, dwelling and food, so I started to take pictures of vegetables on allotments, getting right down to the level of the vegetables. But one problem was you could see what the vegetables were. I felt there was something missing and then it started to get cold outside! So I began to photograph in the studio.” Au Centre de la Terre is a reflection on ecology in the true sense of the word; as in the study of habitation and the way in which humanity inhabits the world and feeds off its natural and cultural environment. Reminiscent of romantic landscape painting, Jules Verne’s depictions of exploratory voyages or science-fiction films, these works regurgitate representations of the natural world throughout Western culture, pointing to the human need to idealize, appropriate and conquer nature, and the increasing tendency to see the world as something that is to be consumed and devoured.
My agents Metcalfe Lancaster are known for representing people who didn’t set out to be solely commercial photographers. They have an understanding of fine art and documentary photography, which makes it possible for me and other photographers to work with them. I see my art and commercial practices as separate yet entwined: One is research based and the driving force behind everything I do, the other is more indexical and about working collaboratively on a brief. I enjoy both and I see them as feeding off one another as if part of an ecosystem.” “I’m drawn to edible materials because of their complex textures and colors but also because they are alive and unpredictable as they change with time and temperature. The trans-formative, alchemical aspect of growing and cooking food is interesting to me, perhaps because it is akin to the creative process. I also like the idea of exploring everyday edible objects such as a piece of bread or a potato.” “In Au Centre de la Terre I was thinking, “how you can make food more animate, how you can make it a space so that you can enter it”. I started making pictures that showed this on my MA course at the Royal College of Art after I read a book by Darwin on the behavior of worms and how when the worm feeds it builds its own burrow through feeding.”
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IF IT’S STUPID BUT WORKS, THEN IT ISN’T STUPID.
We are a creative agency that works ‘Inch-Wide, Mile-Deep.’ Strategies that are ‘Inch-wide,’ tight and right. Campaigns that are brilliant, engaging and drive a ‘Mile’ Deep’ through any activation, regardless of whether it’s branding, out-of-home, social or live events. Staying true throughout and doing nothing but nail it. WeAreKemosabe.com
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Faithful Friend. Trusty Scout
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https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5j75uauK0GcdWlTODVTalQ1LXc
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TH E CHALLENGES OF FI LM I NG I N A
FROZEN WA S T E L A N D S i m o n A l ve ra n g a KASH
Treading carefully in the glacial regions of Iceland’s national park We landed at Reykjavik airport with our thermals packed, met our heavily bearded guides and strode into the car park to be greeted by a balmy 15oC breeze. This was our first Icelandic lesson, expect the unexpected. According to our legendary fixer, Petur ‘I-can-get-you-anything’ Bjarnason, Iceland was named specifically to keep people away, because contrary to what the name suggests, Iceland is surprisingly verdant. The strategy seems to have worked as Iceland has a tiny population (323,002 in 2013). So tiny infact locals require an app to ensure their latest hot date isn’t a relative! The feeling of sparsity is emphasised as you head out of Reykjavik on Route 1 (the road circumnavigating the entire island) and encounter a vast emptiness populated by the occasional 4x4 or brave cyclist. Yet despite being thinly populated and inhospitably named, Iceland is a very accommodating country to film in. Although we transported all of our own camera gear with us there are some decent local kit hire companies available. We stopped at Kukl on our way out of the city and admired their wide range of equipment including Arris, Reds, Cooke Primes and Canons. It was cheaper for us to hire in London and lug everything in ourselves but, if you’re in a pinch or want convenience, hiring in Iceland is a viable option. Thanks to a plethora of natural riches Iceland has played host to many productions over the years: Batman Begins, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Prometheus and Oblivion to name just a few. One of the first locations we visited was a corner of the Vatnajökull glacier, Skaftafell (the largest glacier in Europe). It turns out this was the very spot Matt Damon played the insane Dr Mann in Interstellar. Apparently Christopher Nolan and co closed the entire glacier for their shoot, whereas we settled for a couple of experienced guides to navigate through the wastes. Once we’d donned our crampons and had our safety briefing we were ready to venture out. The distinctive veins running through this part of the glacier are caused by the churning of earth as the ice makes its inexorable, 20cm per day, journey down the mountain. These conditions weren’t ideal for the purposes of renowned photographer George Logan, whom we were filming. He was looking for pristine ice but thankfully they worked great for our aerial shots. We were carrying the Inspire 1 drone which worked a treat in this environment. With a default flight ceiling of 150m and a range of around 2.5km we were able to get some commanding views of this breathtaking environment.
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After shooting at Skaftafell we drove on to Hofn through some of the most hauntingly spectacular landscape I have ever experienced. Nowhere on earth has really resonated with me so powerfully. It’s hard to explain but Iceland has a raw beauty that gets under the skin. Aside from endless mountains, valleys and waterfalls, Iceland holds another more subtle magic born out of its almost aggressive starkness and other worldly landscape. It’s no wonder so many productions come here, it’s an environment like no other. Grey Healthcare Group, which commissioned us to film, wanted to showcase and augment the work they had put into their latest campaign for a leading pharmaceutical company.
What better place to visualise this concept than a 40ft vertical glacial cliff in the stark landscape of Iceland’s national park. Equipment is becoming lighter and easier to transport, making extreme environments and hard to reach locations more accessible. In the past couple of years we’ve filmed from helicopters in Chile, hung from crags in the Peak District and of course, climbed glaciers in Iceland. Each trip teaches us something new and proves to us that anything is possible. There’s never been a better time to add some extreme locations to a film.
S t i l l s t a k e n f r o m f i l m e d f o o t a g e b y R I C K Y PAT E L
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G E N E R AT I O N V I S UA L I a n I r v i n g EDITOR
The increasing importance of the moving image. We are well under way with 2016 and there is already a new visual lexicon being driven by Gen Viz, (Generation Visual). A picture is worth a thousand words, ‘Seeing is believing...’, the camera never lies. These old adages cut to the core of a fundamental truth: as The Future Laboratory state, “visual communications can create ‘a directness’ that surpasses the norm of verbal communication. Generation Viz consumers are turned off by traditional brand messaging and are fiercely rejecting brands that cannot understand their visual language. They are a digitalfirst generation, which means they are also visual-first and fluent in non-verbal communications.” As time goes by and we understand the increased importance of data, marketers will have access to more and more data measuring engagement. They’ll be able to see exactly how many people viewed a video, up until which point, how many times they watched it and how many people clicked on the video’s call to action. Shareability is now a more powerful communication tool than ever. Trust based advocacy is integral to the success of a brands’ comms and more and more brands are realising the power of storytelling; and what better way to tell a story than through moving image? These specific insights provide brands with ‘actionable’ feedback to improve their videos and therefore engagement. As predictive analytics gain steam in the industry, businesses can use these metrics in new ways to target their most promising prospects, communicate more effectively and therefore increase revenue.
One must add that there is an acute imperative in the way a brand should distribute its film content, “Build it and they will come” does not cut it, contextual placement, seeking and qualifying your audience and putting your content in front of them is as important as great production. Sticking your quality content on Youtube and awaiting views is not a strategic approach nor will it deliver results. Most marketers recognise the growing importance of content marketing but fewer actually have a plan for doing it. There are some very simple ways to start the process and below I outline my rules and guides on this matter. Advertising and content marketing used to be almost interchangeable. Branded content was typically developed as a by-product of a traditional ad campaign or TVC, creative or original enough to stand out and shine on its own merits. Print, TV, radio or ambient they all served a single purpose: advertising a product or service. But now that Ads and marketing are so easily avoided by consumers every piece of communication from a brand needs not only to advertise, but also to serve as creative “content”, worthy of talking about and sharing. Sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Magic was the prerogative of Hollywood and Madison Avenue. There was always a mystery as to how content was created, with only a few people understanding the technical landscape behind the illusion.”
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Now with the massive shift to digital and multiple platforms available to all, the world of content has expanded dramatically. From tweets and status updates to e-books and interactive digital experiences, there are a number of ways for brands to tell their stories. What’s more, consumers also have a very big role in this digital age. They’re creating more content while also consuming and surfacing more content, serving as both our competitors and our collaborators, and creating opportunities for brands to be a part of this conversation. But the art of creating and joining conversations isn’t easy. Brands need to work for it, infusing a little bit of magic back into the content they create, instead of only repurposing their advertising. After all
“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” Scott Cook, co-founder, Intuit Needless to say content marketing is not just another buzzword to ignore. It is evident marketers want to get on board, with 90% acknowledging that content marketing will become even more important in 2016. Nevertheless, it is said that only 38% of marketers actually have a content strategy in place. This is a major problem. Even those that have in fact implemented content strategies often fail to effectively deliver on them. Many create or curate content, but don’t understand the value in developing a strategy that accounts for both. Without creation there would be no curation. This is where Kash come in, through strategic and creative content creation from concept creation and research to delivery and amplification, and then detailed evaluation. Here’s what Rosie Siman, Senior Strategist at 360i has to say about curating the best content... Use social listening to understand your audience. While no one’s figured out how to predict viral success, using social listening to inform content creation and curation is a good place to start. Don’t limit it to your own communities. Instead find out where your audience hangs out online and what it’s consuming. Build in cultural relevance by asking yourself:
Create a feedback loop to leverage success and limit failure. Don’t overlook the reporting you get from your community managers. Pay attention to content that’s over-performing and graduate those successes. If you post a status update on Facebook and see particularly high engagement consider creating something else with the same theme, like a poll. And if that does well? Maybe an infographic or content series is next... or take it to the next level with an event or game. Incorporate stock and flow. A winning content strategy combines stock and flow, creation and curation. “Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that remind people that you exist. “Stock is the durable stuff. It’s the content you produce that’s as interesting in two months (or two years) as it is today.” Beyond creating content, many brands forget content curation or worse, have been scared away by their legal teams. But curation is on the rise. Unique visits on curation platforms including Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, BuzzFeed and even Fab are all steadily increasing. Consider a technology partner to surface relevant content. There are some incredible partner opportunities in the social market now: Take for example Visual Voice, which is a very unique platform that you could consider engaging as your social media publisher. Their in house team helps brands identify relevant content and content sources. Everyday new content is created and delivered to the community manager. After it’s been published, it is seeded and visual voice tracks how well the content is received and feeds back the conversations in the digital space. Add context or a different point of view. Instead of just aggregating content curation requires adding context, it requires you as a brand to tell a story from your perspective to those who want to hear it and potentially share it. Why is this content relevant or interesting to your consumers? How can you tie it back to your brand? It’s not just about tying content back through products but about incorporating your brand voice to set-up the content.
“What part of culture or consumer behaviour are we tapping into?”
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As digital continues to evolve so will the way brands need to approach content marketing. But no matter which new platforms or tools are developed, the importance of creating and curating stock and flow content that’s both engaging and relevant still stands. So, if you want consumers to relate to and spread your content - whether you have created it yourselves or curated it from others - we’ve got to find a way to re-introduce that creativity and originality and spread it to a much wider and more diverse audience... Mums, Students, Landlords and your historical brand-fans. In short content creation requires a “newsroom mentality” that most marketing departments don’t have and, frankly, probably don’t want to have.
Always create content that will interest the people. Always create content with context.
EXPLODI NG WA T C H E S
P h i l G o o d KASH S t i l l s t a k e n f r o m f o o t a g e b y E WA N M U L L I G A N
The importance of getting it ‘in camera’.
You can see already how much more fun this was than the CGI route.
Certain products frequently appear as CGI in advertising - watches being one of the them. There are often very good reasons for this. Tech products texture and render to look pretty realistic. You gain complete control over lighting, positioning and movement; no dust, scratches or awkward reflections. It offers brands the chance to display their products pixel perfect. But as filmmakers we love the challenge of capturing live action on camera. What you lose in control, you gain in realism. And often the lack of control delivers beautifully unexpected results.
We knew we wanted to shoot in slow motion to capture water and explosions in epic proportions. During preproduction testing, it became apparent only one camera was going to do the job; the Phantom Flex 2K. Even at 800 fps (frames-per-second) water still looks like it’s flowing normally. The Phantom is capable of 2500 fps at 2K; effectively turning a one second event into one minute of footage. Combine this with an Arri 100mm macro lens and you’re in a space that previously could only be imagined.
The Challenge Casio G-Shock approached us to create a series of television idents to bumper their new extreme sports show The Indestructibles. Casio wanted to see the watches in three different environments: air, land and sea. It would have been very easy to create CGI effects to composite with a watch packshot, particles floating or an animated splash of water. With CGI we’d have had no concerns about maintaining the look of the watch and having complete control over the final result. Somehow this didn’t seem fair; to take a watch designed to be rugged and indestructible but then fake its interaction with harsh environments. So we chose to put these watches through their paces for real. We wanted to see if we could destroy the indestructible watch Our creative solution was not only to challenge the watch with real effects but also re-imagine the watches as larger objects: spaceships, tanks and submarines. So, the Gravitymaster watch would experience re-entry from orbit, the Mudmaster would face being shot at by exploding dirt pellets and the Gulfmaster would become a submarine in turbulent waters.
As we fired our pyro paint balls at the watch face all you could see on the set monitor was the watch quiver for a brief moment. The explosion was over before your eye could register it. Then we’d watch the Phantom playback and see a whole 60 seconds of dust and particles flying in every direction, filling the screen with colour and movement. During the two day shoot we used CO2 gas canisters, paint ball guns, scuba gear, flame throwers, plastic explosives, paint, gold leaf and the odd dog biscuit. Not everything went to plan and working with such volatile materials focussed on such a small subject (a watch face) threw up endless challenges to overcome. Overall, the effect of seeing these watches punched, burnt and blown up for real is so much more evocative and visceral than if we’d taken the easier, more controllable CGI route. The Indestructibles complete with explosive idents can be seen on Dave, Sundays at 5pm.
Real effects all the way We enlisted the help of feature film SFX specialists, Agog. Together we planned and built a water tank with a propulsion arm to eject the watch at high speed. We experimented with explosive paintballs and CO2 fired paint. - 126 -
TOOLKITTI NG FOR I N T E R N AT I O N A L F I L M I N G
Assuring quality and matched footage in multiple international locations simultaneously. You have a product or service that is sold in multiple territories around the world and you need to create video assets that feature interviews or filmed segments in several territories. How can this best be achieved on budget and how can you maintain continuity of voice and visual style? Well, if you choose one trusted team to travel the world filming each piece you can rest assured the quality will be as required and everything should look and feel the same. One camera crew, one camera. Unfortunately, this will almost certainly blow your budget with international travel and accommodation costs alone. So it’s not usually a viable route. Go local The most obvious choice is local assets. This can be either a great solution or a potential disaster, depending on how you approach the production. The two main problems are quality and continuity. How do you control either if you are not there to oversee the work? It’s not just a case of finding the best people, crossing your fingers and hoping everything works out. You need clear guidelines, toolkits or bibles. The aim is to minimise as many random elements as possible. They’re referred to in a number of ways but simply put they are a clear set of instructions for your local filmmakers to follow. Providing your instructions are comprehensible and everything goes well, you should end up with some usable footage that matches the style and quality you’re aiming for. The instructions will vary depending on budget and requirements. For example, a recent campaign we undertook for New Era involved getting footage from artists around the world and documenting their bespoke hat designs for the New Era Introducing competition. Over 40 artists from EMEA took part. Each artist was sent a small digital camera accompanied by a bible explaining everything including how to hold or place the camera, what kind of action to capture and the basics of sound and lighting; ensuring people with little or no filmmaking knowledge returned usable, quality footage we were able to edit into a final film. Another global project executed with great results involved filming staff in a very limited time frame. We shot all the European interviews ourselves, but due to time and budget constraints used local crews to shoot the interviews in Brazil, Japan and Canada. We didn’t want to risk wildly different footage coming back so firstly we identified and partnered with some great local production companies. But because of the wide variety of cameras, lenses, formats and conditions it was imperative we created the right toolkit. Our filmmakers were instructed on every detail of what we wanted; specifying composition, camera model, lighting, frame rate and codec. Importantly, we also created and emailed a specific monitor LUT (this stands for Look Up Table and is essentially a mathematical formula you can
load into your camera to allow you to see how the final grade will look, so you can shoot accordingly). The local crew could load this data into their cameras, giving them the same reference point as us, ensuring when we got to the colour grade their shots were lit and balanced similarly to ours. So with a little planning, multinational shoots can be executed in short order and at a fraction of the cost of sending out your own crew. Couple this with fast broadband speeds enabling Skype conversations with your collaborators and fast upload speeds for sharing the rushes (filmed footage) and you are now able to deliver a great final product within a week of being commissioned. S i m o n A l ve ra n g a KASH
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Well I trust you enjoyed the diversity of this issue and the modern day challenge to The Last Four Feet, it’s clear that there is much to contemplate and implement when it comes to attracting the modern consumer. In this issue I believe we’ve taken a much closer look at The Last Four Feet and its real meaning - its life in entertainment, retail, social marketing and gender focused advertising as well as technology’s growing impact on a consumer’s behaviour within it. Food and Culture were explored, particularly on the world of hospitality and how people are being grabbed from the pavement to the plate. We met some truly inspiring individuals the likes of Samanah Duran and Melanie Goldsmith, a group of maverick creators, and we were also transported into the world of creative team KASH. In the next issue of Hatch we take an in-depth look at ‘The Experience Economy’. The past ten years have seen consumers being bombarded with the word ‘Experiential’ and brands and agencies claiming that everything they do is ‘Experiential’. Experience is not the be all and end all of marketing and consumer engagement, sure experience plays a part in the mix but ‘everything’ it is not. Today’s consumers are getting savvy to the bombardment of ‘experience’ as are the more qualified marketers amongst us. We will be taking a deep dive into the power of experience and what part it plays in the sales and marketing of products and services. We will take a look at what the consumers think and how some of the leaders of industry are placing experience into the mix. We will hear from brands in fashion, automotive, music, broadcast, banking and retail as well as understanding how we get cut through in the most cluttered and diluted of marketing terms. Until then, take care and remember to get phygital and ban the buzzwords. Wo r d s : I a n I r v i n g EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - 128 -
P H OT O B Y. N E I L M A S O N - 129 -
____N E X T I S S U E :
THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY OUT AUTUMN 2016
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WR AITH I N S P I R E D BY M U S I C
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