skip to main |
skip to sidebar
we are swimming in a sea of content. i don’t think the average person realizes how much “data” is around them, or that the answer to any and every questions is but a click away. we are entering an era that will be defined not by data overload, but information storage, management, and retrieval.
name: ian stewart
d.o.b: 6 july 68
what you do: information hunter
p: how are you?
is: feeling good in the midst of big change. but change is good because it lets you to see things from a different perspective.
p: what is an information hunter?
is: i’m addicted to collecting and filtering content from anywhere and everywhere. the more you get, the more likely the patterns will emerge.
p: can you tell us about your journey so far?
is: well, i’ve always been curious so a career in market research and trends seemed the obvious choice. i’ve spent the last 17 years collecting information like a madman. and i’ve just entered a new phase where i’m stepping back to have a look at what it all means. i am currently heading up research and planning for mtv in asia. a place i’ve been before.
p: tell us about this new journey of yours?
is: it seems perfect timing for all. i am stepping back to take a longer view of it all, while brands are clearly at the digital crossroads. we are all evaluating the signs together. its like that famous 5-way crossroad in shibuya, the busiest in the world, everybody waiting and then the lights go green. which way do you go?
p: is it just mtv or is everyone at this cross road?
is: we’re all there. analog’s behind us and unless the retro trend comes back (again) the fact is, its becoming more like the matrix and less like the amish. there is no choice but to plug in.
p: you talk a lot about trends, what are your views about this??
is: it may sound obvious, but everything is cyclical – everything goes up, everything goes down - some over decades, others over days. think the difference between our growing interest in wellness, which may well be around for many decades vs. our short-lived interest in the da vinci code - which came and went in minutes.
what’s interesting with trends is that some glide in and glide back out (like wellness), while others glide in but snap out quickly, like 80’s retro music and fashion. this “backlash” is one of my favorite topics: when society as a whole says ‘enough is enough’ and moves on. i think sites like youtube are facing a coming backlash but then look at what sites like myspace or cyworld have done to glide us in to online social networking.
cyworld in particular have focused on a much deeper human need than ‘showing off’. they’ve tapped into the asian character of gift giving. that’s why their mini homepages are so rich. what else is interesting about cyworld is that its 100% transparent. id card to sign in means that you are who you are, there’s no hiding. and korean surfers have discovered that there are huge benefits in being transparent – connecting with friends, re-connecting with lost friends, or finding new like-minded friends. this is definitely a big trend. this is the next big thing.
p: why do you think it’s the next big thing?
is: the solution to most things comes from addressing some sort of fundamental human truth. and i think the internet is going in this direction. we’re realizing that it’s a very powerful tool for finding people like me. concepts like friendster have gone in the opposite direction, myspace is halfway there, while cyworld is absolutely there. and if this sounds all too serious just think about sex. it’s all about connecting with people.
p: ok last question – can you leave us some wise words?
is: it’s all about context. you need to look back to go forwards - you can’t chart the future without a map of the past.
www.slideshare.net/ianstewartmtv
richard takes time out from his hectic triathlon training program to join us in the pool for a bit.
name: richard mccabe
d.o.b: ?
what you do: brand strategist aka ‘brandist’
p: what is a brand strategist doing in a triathlon?
rm: i guess, improving my own brand.
p: tell us your journey so far?
rm: wall street > ski instructor > club med g.o.> paper magazine> wired magazine > art school > asia > interactive > ddb > fluid parties > brand consultancy > the filter group > triathlon
p: highlights?
rm: besides my first triathlon –- paper – incredibly creative team, meeting pedro almadovar, pulp fiction ny premiere
- wired – beginning of internet age, working with the founders/visionaries
- cambodia coup ’97 - bombs, machine guns, helicopter air lift, temples and beer
- fluid – founded weekend long getaways for creative interaction, music, sunrises, surprises
- london stint – excellent brands and clients, long lazy dog sundays, east london living, weekends in europe
- the filter group - great people, smart thinking, helping clients push strategic and creative boundaries
- sentosa integrated resort – developed genting/universal studios consumer/brand strategy
p: wow, there’s a lot of news coverage and pr buzz about gentings bid, what’s the inside scoop?
rm: ;) next question, please
p: what’s keeping you busy these days?
rm: currently i am working with an ultra premium tequila-patron on a series of exclusive ‘customer interactions’. i am consulting on a project for calyon investment bank, and a new tourism initiative in dubai. so really a good variety of interesting brand challenges.
p: tell us about an interesting brand story?
rm: i remember in particular working with emirates airlines on refreshing their frequent flyer program brand, skywards. we went through research, stakeholder focus groups and workshops, and loads of in-depth ‘brand dissection’. in effect as a frequent flyer program has no physical entity, its brand, the card and the website are all a consumer has to represent the brand. we challenged them to really ‘leap frog’ the competition and go in a bold direction with the website.
the head of marketing at the time was a sharp guy and after listening to our presentation of the strategy and creative, asked for a break. he took me aside and said “off the record, do you think this is the right way to go?” i firmly believed that there was a safe route and a brave route, and the only correct route was the one that the client could really embrace, ‘live’ and be comfortable doing so. i told him “do you want to tick the boxes or go beyond expectation? either route could work. i think you are ready to deliver a brave new offering”. he took a chance and went for it. skywards launched and won all the industry awards for best frequent flyer website, voted by the industry and most importantly, consumers.
p: what about a project you did when you were at the filter group, you guys had a reputation for breaking boundaries?
rm: i think my favorite was when we worked on the kotex re-launch. we were challenged with a brand that had an old image, a target audience that was hard to ‘target’ and a very tiny budget. how could we make a big impact, get people to notice and not just notice, but change their impression of the brand? we thought of a place that women gather in groups, but is the most symbolically masculine location in singapore... raffles place (a green open area in the heart of the financial centre). at lunch, groups of women gather to have lunch and were surprised, amused and pampered when kotex took over raffles place.
but it almost didn’t happen when the national parks board of singapore refused to allow us any branding for kotex in raffles place. now in a space regularly hired by all kinds of products, we were confused. why not? no response, just ‘no’. the client supported pushing harder, so i confronted the parks board with an email to the tone of…”surely ‘progressive singapore’ is not embarrassed of women’s bodies?”. they backed down and allowed the event at the eleventh hour and it was a huge hit not only the day of, but in the press as well. i admired kotex for believing in the strategy, despite difficulty and sticking it out.
p: how long does it take to build a brand strategy from scratch?
rm: 5 minutes to generate the quote, 15 minutes to sort out the strategy, 3 months of sitting by the pool, 30 minutes to present the strategy and 10 minutes to write the invoice. no seriously, it depends on the complexities of the brand, the amount of research already available and the commitment of the management team, so realistically 1 month to 6 months.
p: what is the secret formula to make a hit with the brand?
rm: get a real consumer perspective; get away from the ‘companies ego’, be true to what the brand really is and stands for(and embrace it), and build meaningful, not gratuitous, dialogs (communications) that respect consumers intelligence and respond to both needs and desires.
p: you have worked all over the world, us, europe, middle- east, asia. which was the most fun you’ve had and in which country?
rm: dubai – emirates was open to change and really going for groundbreaking work, that mixed with ‘dunebashing’ and kitesurfing on weekends – and amsterdam, working on abn amro private banking, who were serious about listening to their consumers, and…i mean it was amsterdam, need i say more?
p: branding, strategy, interactive, research, creative thinking…etc) which one of these would you turn a hot date down for?
rm: well... a hot date entails research, strategy, creative thinking, interactivity and hopefully a little… well you get the idea
p: creative or strategic which comes first?
rm: strategy is creative, it’s all about ideas and it needs to be incredibly creative given today’s increasingly sophisticated consumers. likewise, creative must be strategic in order to truly connect the brand with consumers.
p: what is the secret when dealing with senior clients?
rm: i am brutally honest, i see my value really as an “outside” part. i believe, that i am paid to tell them like it is - no bullshit. for a senior manager, this is valuable, they appreciate that i do not waste their time.
p: what kind of brand challenges turn you on today?
rm: i want to work with brands that truly believe in the power of brand. the ‘underdog brand’ that has the passion, (and not just in its b.s. list of values) real passion to change, make the brand a part of everything it does, and live and die by what its brand stands for.
p: what’s next?
rm: i have several trips coming up to dubai, hong kong for a conference on next generation marketing, and malaysia for some pro – bono work i am doing for a children’s charity. on a personal level, i am planning to be spending some time editing the hours and hours of footage i have been filming for a video exhibition. the footage was shot in california, dubai, egypt, uk, france, australia, indonesia, new zealand and malaysia over the past 4 years. then there is the phuket triathlon in december, i am going for a personal best.
p: leave us a few words of wisdom.
rm: ‘live it’.
richard is a branding and communications strategy consultant. his 15-year marketing career spans global financial, fmcg and lifestyle brands. he has spent the past 8 years based in asia working on local, regional and global strategic initiatives across the us, european, middle eastern and asian markets. in that time, he has worked with agencies including: ddb, bates/xm, the filter group, batey red cell, fin international(uk), strawberry frog(nl) and ion global on brands such as abn amro, nokia, ge, carrier, uob, credit suisse, emirates airlines, hp, p&g, volkswagen, espn, kleenex, tiger beer, kotex, mini & heineken amongst others.
name: scott mcclelland
d.o.b: 23 may 1972ish
what you do: stuff
p: what kind of stuff?
sm: i’m a creative consultant to advertising agencies and i create messages to make people like brands and what they sell.
p: consultant, hey, isn’t that a fancy word for unemployed?
sm: i wish it was - i’d get to sleep more.
p: where are you?
sm: i’m 11,000 meters up, somewhere between melbourne and singapore. i still get amazed that i can be moving at 766km/h and not even spill my drink, let alone be emailable. i quite enjoy flights as it was always a good chance to have a little quiet time but unfortunately you can’t even up here now.
p: and before?
sm: my last grown-up job was creative director of the advertising agency, bartle bogle hegarty, in tokyo where i worked on campaigns with the likes of levi’s, tanqueray, virgin atlantic and ntt dodomo. before that i lived, worked and played in melbourne, singapore, cape town, johanesburg and amsterdam.
p: tell us about amsterdam.
sm: my recollections are a little blurry.
p: tell us about tokyo then.
sm: it was like being a kid again. i had to relearn so many things. we tend to get comfortable and lazy and just accept things for how they are. we don’t question things enough. when you travel, as i particularly found in japan, things that you would normally take for granted present new challenges. you’d think by my age i’d have the toilet thing pretty much down but when you’re presented with a toilet that not only has buttons and switches but also a remote control then you are taken out of your comfort zone. i had fun working it out though.
p: and working there?
sm: it was nice being in a place where i didn’t know the rules as it afforded me a lot of freedom. i didn’t know what i couldn’t do so i just did stuff. i was able to work on a lot more things outside of the traditional channels of advertising. in the name of making people like our client’s brands, we threw parties, did art exhibitions and produced a couple of music cd’s - not of my own music as anyone who has shared a karaoke booth with me is thankful for.
a good example of what we did was the originals campaign for levi’s. to reinforce the message of them being the original jeans and to illustrate the originality of the wearers themselves, we used a really, really big scanner to capture images of levi’s wearers. we threw parties, put it in clubs and levi’s stores and scanned hundreds of interesting people – from celebs to people off the street. each person was given a life-sized original poster of themselves and these images were then used through print, poster, in-store, ambient, web and tv. not only were the people original in what they did, each ad itself was an original with no two ads appearing twice. we also released an album of original songs by different bands who had been on the scanner.
p: sounds like fun.
sm: it was great in that lot’s of people got to connect with the brand in an intimate way. we were pulling people in off the street and dragging people back in the middle of the night from clubs. there were a few images not really fit for print, though.
p: you like to travel?
sm: for my father’s generation the only way to see the world was to join the army. i only had to join advertising. fortunately the only shooting i’ve had to deal with is for television commercials.
i love to travel as i love to observe people. not in a freaky, stalker way but i love seeing the how popular culture bounces around and influences each other. i love seeing how people take things in and make them their own, whether it be design, music or what they wear.
p: and what are you wearing?
sm: a smile.
p: weren’t you once spotted dressed as a tiger on a podium at zouk in singapore?
sm: tigers aren’t spotted, leopards are. i believe there was a beaver too. that was part of the ‘party animals’ guerilla campaign for a website called www.onday.cc. it was a great way to build a client’s brand while getting very drunk.
p: don’t you also work in a supermarket?
sm: probably very soon but in the meantime, i work on various art projects with my side entity, supermarkart. it’s art meets crass commercialism and i hook up artists with brands and hope they both end up smiling. we’re currently putting together an exhibition and book based on my dog, cookie, with contributions from lots of arty farty people around the world.
p: so what’s next?
sm: i’m quite excited about where the industry is heading as i believe there’ll be a much stronger emphasis on creativity. we can no longer rely on traditional media channels to engage people. we have to be invited into their lives. we have to reward them for listening to our sales pitch, captivate them, entertain them, enthrall them, educate them.
some guys lip-synching on youtube are being seen by more people than your very expensive commercial. we’ll have to find more entertaining ways to connect with people and that’s where the fun bit is. unfortunately we’re not curing world peace here. we’d best at least entertain and inform people as we make them feel good about the brands and things they choose to surround themselves with.
oh, but first i think i’ll have another drink.
scott is currently based in melbourne but works with brands all over the world. in the last year he’s done projects with heineken in amsterdam, johnnie walker in shanghai, renault in australia and nokia in singapore. he should really spend more time at home with his lovely partner and their rather cute dog though.
he’s far more handsome than he looks, funnier than he sounds and usually drunker than appears.
it's rather distressing that when people talk about the world-wide-web, they very seldom mention the word culture. or realize the fact that digital beings will soon outnumber the living and the dead combined. we catch up with paul tan to talk about his adventures in cyberspace and to ask him that burning question - is elvis alive and living on the internet?
name: paul tan
d.o.b: 27 march 1967
what you do: cyber culturist and creative
p: how are you and how is elvis?
pt: i'm fine but i can't speak for elvis, you'll have to google him yourself.
p: what is a cyber culturist?
pt: i knew you'd ask me that. a cyber culturist is an observer, advocate and documenter of online culture. the basis is simple - where is everyone today and what are they doing there?
p: can you tell us about your journey so far?
pt: it's been a long one with great experiences. i've gone from floppy disks to gigs of memory the size of my thumb, castle wolfenstein to counter strike, oil painting to set design to videography to directing flash sites. i've done research for big brands and contributed to their strategic marketing plans. creativity is a transition.
p: tell us about your set design for mtv asia awards 2004?
pt: i was with singapore repertory theatre at the time when i got a call from mtv. they wanted a massive set for the show at singapore indoor stadium. the show was on valentine's day and the theme was of course love. it was a tough theme - how does one present love in an un-corny way and have that understood by the young mtv audience? i guess you could say that this was my first actual foray into cyberspace. i did days of online research before coming up with the design that took up almost half of the venue. it was dark and disturbing and they loved it.
p: and you went on to work for mtv?
pt: yes i did, but as an independent creative for the marketing and digital media department. i re-skinned their old website and worked on the mtv trade campaign creative look and feel as well as the guerilla section of its trade portal. you can check out the giant screen saver i worked with photographer geoff ang on for the trade party at supreme court on www.poolatwork.blogspot.com
i will say mtv really nurtured my online concepts and i was given the opportunity to think and propose for brands like motorola, samsung, johnny walker, x-box as well as original concepts for mtv itself.
p: what's the most exciting project you've worked on to date?
pt: that would be the zouk book micro-site - www.zoukbook.com and cd-rom. it was a contributor's book and i had to interview clubbers and opinion leaders on camera, post it online to stimulate contributions. this was years ago and as far as i know, way before any video profiling of opinion leaders was used.
i spent months in the club interviewing 35 international djs, punters and shooting the dancefloor and dj booth action for the video section of the cd-rom. i interviewed danny tanaglia, roger sanchez, dave seaman, fat boy slim, giles peterson and a whole bunch of other djs. i had so much footage that i ended up cutting a tvc and radio spot with my vo for the club as well. the tvc ended up on that big monitor outside lido cinema. that was pretty awesome. you can see some of the unreleased interviews and the tvc on www.poolatwork.blogspot.com
p: what are you doing now?
pt: well, after my creative gig with tiger beer where i directed its new website and curated its global design and music platform, translate - www.tigerbeer.com
i'm now working with several online communities and doing trend research for synovate quarterly. based on the research, i discovered that there were strong desires in the community for music, beauty, digital content and social profiling. so i've put together a few online environments, firstly for research and documentation but also to provide a space for communities to gather, share and contribute. they are called rightclick, jane's beauty shop, deep end and pool people respectively. please do have a look.
p: so what's next in the pipeline?
pt: something meaty, viral and free.
p: ok last question - can you leave us some wise words?
pt: understand very clearly who you're talking to.
paul's creative output and research direction can be found on the following links:
www.rightclickamix.com
www.awe50me.com
www.youtopiaproject.wordpress.com
www.dope.com.sg
www.poolatwork.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/paulofpool
Radio / Podcast:
www.gcast.com/u/RIGHTCLICK djs
www.gcast.com/u/RIGHTCLICK/dope dance
www.gcast.com/u/RIGHTCLICK/AWE50ME mash-up
www.gcast.com/u/RIGHTCLICK/rightclickloosechange eclectic
he is a contributing editor for mtv 2nd edition collection of cool - gamers, a collection of essays and stories of cutting edge asian youth themes and concepts.
a published artist himself, he has curated several exhibitions on street art including world renowned new york artists faile. always keen on the 'next wave', he has brought many emerging artists to the international stage.
he works very closely with a group of trend analysts, brand architects and strategists to help brands reach beyond the looking glass.
brian takes time out from his hectic traveling schedule to join us in the pool for a bit.
name: brian tiong
d.o.b: 27 oct 1970
what you do: new media evangelist
p: what's up, b?
b: since leaving mtv, the year has been crazy. good holidays, people and projects have turn up and being able to work on choice projects has been my luxury this year. it's all good!
p: tell us the b-side story?
b: banking -> internet startup -> own startup -> wireless heavy weight -> mtv -> b-side
p: are you the wireless evangelist?
b: ha ha... how did you find that out? that's quite a while ago. it's from my days in the wireless telecommunications industry. i have always been interested in new media from technology to marketing. back then I did quite a bit of the conferencing circuit and hence was known as such.
p: tell us about an interesting story at mtv?
b: 1 lump of shit (that was not used), 100 students, 1,000 rolls of toilet paper and 1 toilet bowl was used as part of a pitch and we landed the big moto account. well executed to the last detail. strategic & funny with results. just the way pitches should be... mtv style.
p: what about that gorilla project you did when you were at the mtv?
b: ha ha ha... it was more a guerilla than gorilla project. it was actually a mtvasia regional trade campaign to reward our trade partners. it just involved a gorilla (as you do).
this is one of my favourite campaigns for that year as it involved a well executed integrated campaign that raises awareness to mtvs programming.
we targeted 100 of our most valued trade partners and clients and surrounded them with non-traditional media and then sent them a hand delivered suitcase (with men in black suits) with a gift of communication that led them to a website which showed the new mtv programming of the coming year and ended with massive event with live performances in an awesome venue. mtv then blew the story large in a regional trade magazine as pr. the gorilla was just a stunt and a mascot, a bit of a joke really.
p: what is b-side?
b: b-side is a new marketing consultancy company that i set up early this year to help brands understand this new media space with how consumers are actively joining and/or forming their own communities to create, consume and share media. it's such an interesting space on the internet now. check out my blog on www.b-side.com.sg where i actively post interesting articles i find.
p: what has b-side done lately?
b: i just finished a project with tiger beer on their translate lifestyle platform. great working with the brand and agency team traveling the world showing people a good memorable time drinking tiger beer with emerging artists and musicians. that was the first project i took after mtv. it was a nice strategy / architect platform project. quite a few brands are heading that way these days. have a look at some of the clips that were produced for this project on www.myspace.com/briantiong. tiger worked with idn magazine on this project and you can actually buy the dvds for us30/-. i think they have actually sold a couple.
p: what is b-side looking to do next?
b: i've always said that it will be interesting to connect all the talented people i know to work on a collaborative project. something like an interactive animated series for your mobile devices. i'm getting closer to that goal and i'm actually working on framework of this right now with a small team.
i would like to also do a music project again. i'm a sucker for music-related projects.
p: what kind of brands do you like?
b: i like brands that think of their consumers first and are willing to be strategically adventurous. what I mean by that is that consumers are always looking for something interesting that breaks from the media clutter. i've always believed that if you take care of your consumers and customers, everything else would fall in place.
p: what's next?
b: have you seen the latest video on jenny the meat packer on youtube? killer.
p: leave us a few words of wisdom
b: discover, design, develop & deploy... i always say.
brian is the former head of marketing for mtvasia and a new media evangelist.
he has worked with various clients ranging from tiger beer, motorola, philips, msn, yahoo, nokia, palm, startv, universal music on various traditional & new media marketing initiatives & strategy.
these days, brian spends most of his time observing and exploring cool new media trends and community cultures to help brands understand people and their networks in order for them to innovate, strategise and transform their businesses to communicate effectively with their target audience in this fast changing new media space.
he is a part of a collective of creatives, strategists, brand architects & trend analysts with www.poolatwork.com and also writes for www.b-side.com.sg which is a new media marketing blog.
www.myspace.com/briantiong
www.b-side.com.sg
name: laurent verrier
d.o.b: 4th june 1965
what you do: multitasking in the digital media matrix
p: what’s been happening lately
lv: managed to ride from singapore to kuala lumpur, malaysia under 3 hours last weekend, breaking my speed record of 255km/h and in the process losing both my wing mirrors on my BMW K1200R. oh and got myself a little speed boat to go island hopping
p: oh.. okay. tell us a little of what 2007 was like for you?
lv: After close to 2 intense years at mtv asia as head of digital media, 2007 had to start with a fantastic 1 month ski trip in the southern alps, france followed shortly by a 2 week mountain trek in the wild & beautiful cordilleras, philippines. then fully recharged, i immersed myself as a digital media consultant in the wonderful world of fox international and national geographic channels, yet another media company in search of the digital holy grail.
p: what is the digital holy grail?
lv: with shrinking TV audiences and digital marketing capturing a sizeable amount of ad spend, the social web, the need for self expression and interactivity are as many disrupting factors media companies need to understand and embrace. not forgetting gaming and the advent of virtual worlds. the digital holy grail is simply the ability to make content available everywhere, to attract, retain, entertain and empower audiences to participate and emulate your value proposition. and of course to make a few bucks in the process through efficient advertising offerings and transactional revenue.
p: say that again?
lv: recommend & assemble a digital media team for fox, distribute their content to 3rd party digital platforms, create branded online, mobile destinations and applications for their audience to interact and contribute and complete the sales team’s product offerings.
p: so.. what do all these media companies need to do in the next years?
lv: while some fundamentals such as entertainment value and consumer experience must remain as core objectives, i believe those catching the virtual world phase early will greatly benefit in the coming 3 to 5 years. this of course translates into some form of investment but here again, the web is turning ineluctably from a 2D to a 3D environment at a frenetic pace already and there are very solid business cases behind this recommendation.
p: what is the strangest place you have traveled to this year and why?
lv: washington dc, 2 blocks away from the white house, at the illustrious national geographic society - the world's largest non profit organization created in 1888 - presenting a virtual world concept in this environment full of tradition and history to john fahey, its current president and ceo (a job previously held by the likes of gardiner hubbard and graham bell) and to natgeo ventures & fox international ceos.
p: we've been talking a lot about the future... how about we talk about some some history now? your history...
lv: lived in UK, in the US, traveled around the world a few times, started work as late as possible at havas media communication & vivendi universal for 9 years, shifting to internet startup beenz.com, the web's currency, to my own digital media consultancy firm oneday interactive, to mobile365, to gm digital media at mtvasia
p: so what’s next?
lv: kenya is next, on a safari with my 2 boys and close friends, some of them working at the united nations' environment program headquarters in nairobi. and on the professional front, 2007 has been a fantastic year for me as a consultant and a new secret mission is currently lined up for 2008. the head hunters are still banging on my door and as always should the right corporate job come along, i would definitely consider
p: a few wise words of wisdom maybe?
lv: travel the world as much as possible, take risks, dare to try something new and get a new scar every now and then. btw always remember to take care of your family & friends.
laurent verrier is a digital media consultant that lives far away from his french home land, in a little island called singapore. He’s been on both sides of the fence and has over 15 years of management experience across traditional media, the internet & wireless industries with large media corporate groups like havas, mtv & fox as well small entrepreneurial startups.
we are swimming in a sea of content. i don’t think the average person realizes how much “data” is around them, or that the answer to any and every questions is but a click away. we are entering an era that will be defined not by data overload, but information storage, management, and retrieval.
