Last Friday I had the pleasure of joining a bunch of rather nice people at the PSFK’s Good Ideas Salon,
hosted at the Guardian’s brand new building in Kings X. Really cool
building by the way. As the name suggests, good ideas were the order of
the day, looking at this subject from different perspectives:
social/cultural, design, technology, youth, storytelling, media,
communities and collaboration. The eclectic mix of people in the room,
from designers, planners, researchers, media, agency and client-side
was testament to the variety of angles covered. A lot was said that an
article can't really do justice. So, I'll just say here's a wrap of
some of the bits I quite liked...
The day started with an opener from Mark Earls, founder of HERD consulting, underlining why good ideas matter, especially in these uncertain times with tightened budgets. An underlying message was the importance of experimentation, immersing the brand in new technologies, and looking outside of an industry or marketplace for ideas that can be applied under one’s own roof. Mark also highlighted that the overriding financial imperative driving many businesses, can limit the ideation process, as can pigeon-holing it within an ‘innovation’ hub or department. In essence, he gestured towards a more open and collaborative approach to creating ideas, a theme that continued throughout the day.
The ‘Good Ideas from London’ session brought together a mix of speakers from the media and publishing worlds to discuss London as a creative collective. It was a big topic to deliver, but there was some anecdotal evidence to suggest that London continues to spearhead its position as a creative hub. Journalist Matt Brown was keen to point out London’s scientific credentials, citing the Wellcome Collection as an example of fusion between science and creativity. Talking on the broader cultural environment and leisure scene, Taryn Ross, co-founder of Urbanjunkies noted that new ideas are emerging at the premium and budget end, to the detriment of the mid-market. Members bars and pop-up restaurants are satiating consumers desire for ‘affordable luxuries.’ Grassroots events cultivated by small communities, meanwhile, underline a trend towards hooking up in real spaces. Justin Quirk, associate editor of FHM and Arena, drew some parallels in the publishing sphere, highlighting the continued fortunes of The Economist, Monocle and The Daily Star, with middle-market titles feeling the crunch. There was talk of a ‘smart period in publishing’, as consumers demonstrate a renewed interest in politics and more intelligent content…even some FHM readers (honest).
A recurrent theme throughout the day was the infiltration of technology into consumer’s life and the rise of ‘lifelogging.’
This is a trend that is becoming more entrenched in societies as people embrace social media, cataloguing and sharing every part of their lives online and offline. It was fascinating to hear Richard Banks from Microsoft’s research division divulging some of his research around what he called ‘technology heirlooms.’ The fast turnaround of technology and adoption of new gadgets means we are constantly consuming and producing more digital content. But, as Richard points out, how will we cope with the every growing amounts of digital content we are creating? What will happen to it all as it is passed down to next generations? Microsoft non-commerical focused research hub brings together some 1,000 researchers, many of which are straight from academia, study these concepts through ethnographic research.
The ‘good ideas on mobile’ panel continued the focus on lifelogging. I was hoping for some pearls of wisdom about the ‘next big thing in mobile,’ but there wasn’t much chat on specifics, and perhaps rightly so. As Jonathan Macdonald (Ogilvy) firmly pointed out, good ideas in the mobile space today should centre on the utility it can yield to the consumer, as opposed to focusing on the latest gizmo. Clearly, these guys were ahead of their game and the curve in terms of technology adoption, but as they duly pointed out, their behaviour is a far cry from your average consumer. My takeaway was that good mobile ideas are the ones simple enough to make an impact on the everyday consumer.
Towards the end of the day, we moved into a couple of discussions around 'good ideas through collaboration.' Although the concept of collaboration is far from new, there is undoubtedly a shift towards brands opening the doors to consumers, and other companies from whom they can learn. One panellist even noted that there was an element of arrogance to companies who didn’t embrace collaborative ventures, thinking they understand it all. Fair point, but others were keen to point out that opening the doors to greater collaboration is challenging, requiring a certain amount of control to be relinquished. Not always an easy move.
The rise of digital technology is driving the need to collaborate in media and publishing, where specialists can be brought in to help inject fresh ideas. The Guardian’s Simon Waldman gave a great presentation on how his own organisation has embraced the digital era, requiring an altogether more collaborative and ‘open’ approach to working from the top down. Pat Connor (BBC) highlighted that a wider range of tools are making it easier for people to share and collaborate to produce creative ideas. Experimentation is important in the media and publishing sectors, where print is under threat, but there was cautionary advice about being too overzealous with the latest craze. Instead, the focus should be about meshing digital ideas that fit with the brand.
There were a number of other great talks looking at design, youth and storytelling, including Colin Nightingale’s tale of Punchdrunk and the Clod & Pebble store, bringing a new meaning to concept of retail theatre. Troika’s Eva Rucki gave us a showcase of some of their art installations, with a detailed explanation of how they pulled off the cloud in Terminal 5. There were others, such as Christian Nold’s discussion around bio mapping and community that I wouldn’t dare try and summarise, but you can read more about him and his ideas at SoftHook.
All in all, it was a great chance to delve into a variety of disciplines, to see how good ideas are being fostered and be among some hugely talented people. Looking forward to the next one…
