OurBrew: Power in Numbers

Ever since the rise of Marxism, crowds have been trying to take the power out of the hands of the powerful. And good on 'em (us!). Over the last hundred years or so these ideals have certainly had their ups and downs, but recently the trend has emerged again, this time in the form of Crowd Clout.

Crowd Clout is the online grouping of people working together to achieve a common goal, whether it’s managing a football club, supporting an emerging band or buying an Eco-clothing store.

There are many crowd sourcing and funding projects already out there but youngest son Danis has pioneered a world First - OurBrew. (We’re talking about a good Kiwi boy with a genetic love of good ale!) OurBrew is not about buying an existing product, it's more organic. It is the crowd working together to produce something from scratch; all paid for by a lucky brewery.

This idea could open a world of possibilities for FMCG companies around the world. As you all know, I've been saying for years now, the Consumer is Boss and good to know Danis was listening. Consumers have the power (and the desire) to barter with companies – this is no longer a one-way conversation. Now there is a chance for companies to work with their consumers and give something back. Who hasn't dreamed of owning their own brewery! Visit www.ourbrew.co.nz to join the fun.

Design to feel for

In the Attraction Economy, design is King. Well, Queen too, for that matter. We are way beyond modernism’s rubric of ‘form follows function’. Now ‘form follows feeling’ - how does a design make you feel about an experience? Creating the feeling begins to ignite in those hotbeds of attitude and talent, craziness and personality: design schools where there are no limits except the ones you choose to observe, no protocols, no politics (office ones, I mean) and no set processes. It's my idea of heaven and a place where young people can take giant steps toward understanding people and the experiences that can help enrich their lives. I was pointed to a great example of what happens when you unleash the spirit of students with a smart project by my new friends at Nestlé. I have had the opportunity to talk with almost a thousand Nestlé people over the past two years. I love their evolving attitude toward design, as well as their commitment to their own traditions: the fledglings in the nest has got to be one of the archetypal brand identities.

Nespresso is the part of Nestlé that ensures you can make a perfect espresso yourself, and they came up with the Coffee for Design Contest in 2005 (if you are in Paris, go visit their concept store on the Champs-Elysees. Maurice Levy did and now we have Nespresso machines throughout Publicis HQ. Yes!). The idea? To inspire espresso (and Nespresso) with fresh perspectives. The people with those new perspectives? Students at top European design schools who get the opportunity to see their work exhibited at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, plus some pretty serious cash prizes.

The latest competition was themed COFFEELUXURY. No constraints, no budget worries, just design, coffee and luxury. The results, which you can see here, are spectacular. One of the judges commented that the definition of luxury is as unique as a person’s fingerprint, and these young designers were certainly inspired by that conviction. I love the way young people leap to a challenge. Entries ranged from sensual new looks for the coffee machine and mugs, to chocolates designed to die for.

Label project

Here’s a cool idea. Artist Luca Pizzaroni (Italian-born, living in New York – what a perfect combination) is creating a sculpture to represent every country in the world. No, he’s not using flags or stamps or coins, he’s gone way deeper and more personal. He is collecting an item of clothing from each country and his criterion is what’s on the label: the “MADE IN …” details you see on every garment you buy but which you often ignore in your search for whether it’s your size and whether you have to dryclean it. Luca is creating his work out of what people ignore and making a rich net of connections. Algeria, Nicaragua, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan. Human beings need clothes. They are made everywhere and labeled with care. As he puts it, his work will be “a metaphor for travel capable of tapping memories of time and place to reveal a sense of unspoken collective identity”. Then there is the amazing variety of garments attached to these labels. Luca understands the Mystery suffusing personal belongings long after their owners have left them behind. I have mentioned this same sort of thing with chairs and the way they represent the history of their owners.

Luca is still short a few countries, so here’s a job for KRConnect readers. If you have an item of clothing made in any of the countries below, please send it to Luca Pizzaroni. You can contact him at info@labelsproject.com.

Countries still to be represented include:
Burundi, Central African Rep, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Palestine, Eritrea, Gabon, Liberia, Mozambique, Sudan, Zambia and East Timor.

Paris Top 10

I love Paris. So very lucky I go there every month as part of my Publicis Groupe duties - what a hardship. One of the things I love most about this city is its beautiful light. Here are 10 spots with great light to guarantee great photos. (Brian Joseph, this is for you). Thanks Peter Christian Christensen.

Palais de Tokyo
13 Avenue du President-Wilson, 75016
A terracotta-colored museum that is great for shooting on a grey day. When you’re done, drink at Tokyo Eat inside.

Marche Les Enfants Rouges
Rue Bretagne, 75003
I take some of my best shots in the streets near where I live, and then enjoy a drink and a snack at Café Charlot.

Under the Pont Alexandre III
Port de Champs Elysee, 75008
Try a drink at the Showcase nightclub.

Top of Beaubourg from Terasse
6th floor centre, George Pompidou, Rue Renard, 75001
Trust me, Restaurant Georges is the place to go for a quiet refreshing drink.

Trocadero
17 Place du Trocadero, 75016
A great mix of classic types and skaters. Drink outside at Café de l’Homme.

Side Street from Musee du quai Branly
75007
Another terrific angle of the Eiffel Tower - it is Paris after all. Get a drink at Les Ombres at the Jean Nouvel musee.

Canal Saint-Martin
For a nice and a very un-Paris look, this place is perfect. You can get a drink or a coffee at Café Ephemere.

Pont Neuf
Totally Paris and a great look for pictures. Get a drink at Kong restaurant and bar.

Rue de Irlan
Behind Pantheon, 75005
This is one of those very small, but very French streets. Drink at the corner café, next to the church.

Rue Oberkampf
75011
If you’re wanting a picture of a rough Paris street, this is the place to go. Follow it with a drink at Café Charbon.

Stretch and grow

I remember reading somewhere that Roald Dahl, the brilliant children’s writer who created Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, used to sit down and sharpen about thirty pencils every morning before he began writing. It always sounded to me like he was putting off the evil moment when he would have to stop thinking and actually do something, but what it was, of course, was a habit. Maybe a habit dressed up as a good luck charm, but a habit nonetheless. The truth is that habits get bad press. The label ‘creature of habit’ doesn’t exactly bring to mind the most active or entrepreneurial human being. Yet it is often habit that saves us from danger – checking the traffic before we step out onto the road, for instance. Habits often work under the radar so we don’t get driven crazy by having to make hundreds of routine decisions.

In The Open Mind and at Professional Thinking Partners, Dawna Markova looks at the processes we use in decision making and how we form habits. Anyone who makes decisions as a job knows that what you are really doing is casting aside possibilities, as well as settling on a way forward. I expect that is why some creative people are such terrible decision makers. They just don’t want to give up the potential of different possibilities and make a choice. Nice work if you can get it.

Dawna Markova says we make our decisions in one of four ways: analytical, procedural, collaborative and innovative. But because we have standardized the way we test our ideas before applying them, guess which two have taken a back seat? You’re right. Analytical and procedural dominate; collaborative and innovative take a back seat. How does this happen with almost everyone? Because we tend to repeat what worked in the past. That gives us three zones to operate in: comfort, stretch and stress. Most of us are familiar with comfort and stress but by stretching and learning about new things, getting out of your comfort zone and pumping up the curiosity, you can put your mind into the collaborative and innovative zones, and start creating new habits. Markova also suggests a way to use the stress mode that rings a bell with me - Kaizen, the Japanese commitment to small continuous improvement. It sure worked for Toyota. So try putting a little mental stretch into your life and move toward thinking innovatively and communally. To use a phrase that I have learnt as a grandfather, now incredibly knowledgeable about baby clothes – stretch and grow.

thehinitiative

thehinitiative is a fashion house that produces cool t-shirts in New Zealand; nothing startling about that. After all, New Zealand is now recognized as a distinctive influence in fashion. But thehinitiative has combined their passion for clothes with a passion for making the world a better place. Even better, they’ve called their blog Leaning Over the Edge and headed it with a quote from Kurt Vonnegut I have often used myself, “I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center”. Yes, these people are true edge dwellers. You catch it from their designs, but it also shines through in their attitude. As they say themselves: “thehinitiative is a New Zealand street wear fashion label playing Robin Hood. We all know that we love spending ourselves but we still want to help out somehow! However, it just seems a little easier to buy that latest stylish top than to pop that same amount into a collection bucket. So, why not kill two birds with one stone: LOOK GREAT, DO GOOD.”

This is totally in tune with where Saatchi & Saatchi are going with Saatchi S. We have to start grounding sustainability deep into the lives of people. To help them bring sustainability into their world rather than have the immense problems of the planet hung over their heads. We call this moving from Green thinking to Blue action – and you’re going to be hearing a lot more about it. thehinitiative is True Blue. Visit their site and order some t-shirts.

Note: The secret behind their rather mysterious name is revealed on their blog. What’s the extra “H” stand for in thehiniative? Hope. I love it.