NORTHERN PLANNER

Right second post. Niku Banaie from Naked is up to talk about how understanding basic human needs can keep your customers and employees happy and fresh. Since this is something I think is fundamentally missing from loads of thinking at the moment, I know I’m going to like this, and I do.

(Incidentally, I spent this entire talk sitting next to Faris, not knowing who he was. There was also this foot next to my chair that turned out to be Russell’s).

He thinks that if you continually look at how people are fulfilling (or not) they’re basic human needs, you see new opportunities for fresh ideas, you can anticipate what people want. They are; love, learning, giving back, simplicity and play.

Love – there’s strong evidence that Web 2.0 is making us connected, but lonelier than ever. Social aptitude is suffering as a result. Apparently we need to be touched 3 times a day to feel healthy, no wonder the Guardian Online’s Soulmates is there most successful new media venture. And then there’s this.

Learning – the way Web 2.0 links is together means we can learn from each other.Like Crowdstorm and Instructables. I’m getting very interested in bottom up systems at the moment and the way we all follow the herd’s recommendations. Like Amazons ‘people that bought this, also bought this’. Another bit clicks into place.

Giving back – We all know that sustainability is becoming more important anyway. I liked the way Patagonia wants people to have fun but respect what we live in. I really like the idea that when their staff are banged up for ethical protects, it’s company policy to bail them out. Kiva is a peer to peer loan site, and you probably don’t need me to tell you about Freecyle.

Simplicity – We’ve just too much stuff to deal with, new and improved is simply viewed as more complication! Google makes more appear less, so does Craigslist. The Ipod is a model of technical brilliance that ‘hides’ the technology and complication, like the 100 dollar laptop that HAS to be devastatingly simple.

Three rules – SHRINK (easy to use) HIDE (looks simple) EMBODY (give off signals of quality and value)

Finally, Play. It’s boring to think like adults all the time, sometimes we want to cut loose. Gymns are dull, why can’t they be more fun? Like the Nintendo Wii that simply looks like an antidote to hard core gaming to me, especially when you can great your own Wii Mii and get them do loads of stuff for no other reason than it’s a great laugh.

Then is was the turn of Mike Butcher to talk about the effect of digital media on traditional media. Here’s a transcript of his speech, but there are some salient points that struck home with me. A new media turning things upside down is nothing new. The onset of print allowed insurgents to distribute information and organise in ways they never had before. Information of power – the greater its distribution, the greater the sharing of power and authority.

Press simply has a smaller, cheaper and quicker competitor to deal with now – online. Like the way Craigslist totally undermines paid for classified advertising (so does Ebay). Now old media may be dealing well in parts, like Guardian Online, but it isn’t leading the way, at best it’s part of it.

We’re going to see the old media continually squeezed by the new technical behemoths like Google, and the little niche start ups from the other side. It suggests a new model for media – take part and we’ll give you the space. Maybe the new model is less power at the top and more stuff coming up from the people on the ground. That bottom up theme again.

Then is was Simon Sinek, Beeker, Faris and Steve Overman to discuss how to turn trends into insights, and how then to use them. Now, this conversation went on for a while, it even got a little heated. Here are the main points:

There are way too many trends at any given time for you to try using. You need to understand who you are and what you do best in order to select what’s relevant and credible for you to tap into.

In the end, trends are useless, and insight is something that makes them useFUL. The audience is really the creative team and the client – can you give them something which as a) genuinely happening or about to b) can them show them how they can use this to lead to fresh ideas, and new, useful, distinctive connections with their audience? In essence, does it shed new USABLE light on the subject?

Beeker made a great point that you shouldn’t do something just because it’s fresh and new. Do what yo should, not what you can.

Steve Overman made a point that insights can be uncomfortable for clients – new stuff usually is. It’s massive to be able to put yourself in the client shoes. I also think this stands for creatives too. Tools to use are finding a way to take the sting out of it, make it come from someone else (voxpops?) or maybe just have the balls to tell it like it is!

Some good points about making it inspiring – Faris reminds us of the weakness of words v images and associations, Beeker talks of rich hooks – useful stimulus that makes it real for people. Simon Sinek makes a good point that much of marketing is manipulation – promotions and such, while the stuff that works in the long term is inspiration.

In the end, I think they’re just saying is that an insight something new that resonates in a new way with the client culture and consumer culture (and agency!).

And that will do for now. Third and last bit soon.