Uba Kontrovasie

Creativity and Innovation

I was a proud brother today, I attended my sisters graduation. Rakhi graduated with a BSc(Hons) in Sports Studies, she is now one step closer to her dream of owning her own kiddy fat camp.

Sitting in St Albans Cathedral brought back memories of my own graduation whilst simultaneously reminding me of how fast the internet/technology sector is moving.

There are now so many new internet/media/technology courses available, these courses were just not around when I was selecting my options. I sound like an old man but it actually wasn’t that long ago!

As the graduates queued to pick up their certificates they were also receiving awards and merits from the likes of Sony and other large tech companies. By providing Universities with extensive corporate funding and intelligence, the tech companies are literally “getting them whilst they’re young”. This is a clear sign that they’re out to obtain the best of breed in order to continue providing creativity and innovation.

Creativity and innovation were the key themes of the Deans’ speech who went on to talk about how creativity and innovation will steer the UK out of economic recession. I couldn’t agree more to be honest, some of the best advertising, creative media planning and artwork in the world originate from London. Knowing that corporations recognise this and are funding it at an academic level (be it for their own benefit) makes me glad because it’s reassurance that the UK and London will carry on being one of most creative and innovate outlets in the world.

Enjoy today’s pic taken on St Albans High Street, maybe Nothern Rock should have asked the neighbors for help.

Tags: academic funding, academic intelligence, creativity, innovation, technology companies

Obama won because of hip-hop

I saw this interview live whilst I was eating my supper, other friends who also saw it said they cringed.

I’ve got all of Dizzees’ albums and I know for a fact he’s not stupid, some of his lyrics are quick witted and quite clever. Part of me thinks was he playing up to the camera?

Judging by the comments on youtube his views, combined with Jeremy Paxman selecting him for the interview did not go down too well with the public.

Did Obama win because of hip-hop? Er…No!

I do however think that rap superstars and I mean real rap superstars like Jay-Z and Puffy endorsing Obama definitely worked in his favour. Obamas’ political campaign was executed in a close to perfect manner, endorsements from key celebrities showed that he understood or at least was trying to understand youth culture and I believe this helped him secure a lot of crucial votes from younger 18-25 year old voters.

Who did McCain get backing from? Arnold “Hum-Vee” Schwarzenegger (I can’t believe I spelt that right the first time) and Sly Stallone, hmm…who do you think made the smart the move?

Either way if you were ever looking for a good example of word of mouth marketing try Jay-Z bigging up Barack Obama at a packed Glastonbury headline performance.

Tags: advocacy, McCain, Obama, US election 2008, WOM, youth culture

Morality

I love reading Wired, every month the magazine is a good mix of technology, politics, science and other things from the town of Geeksville. 

I never really log-on to their website purely because I read so many blogs and tech websites, picking up an actual paper pub and flicking through it over a coffee makes a nice treat. 

Anyway I digress…

In this months issue there was quite a good piece on Google, their recent acts of immorality and the organisation changing it’s stance on their original promise of “not doing evil”. 

Wired as we all know is a US magazine and all the examples given in the piece were based on Google’s immoral doings in its homeland. 

Personally I think the acts of immorality have not been exclusive to the US. Google’s recent move to allow gambling advertisers to use paid search advertising in the UK is quite frankly, the icing on their immoral cake. 

They have clearly opened up their advertising platform to gambling advertisers in order to sustain financial business growth throughout the credit crunch. 

With a currently unstable economic climate, people are being encouraged to be wise with their cash. This means living within our means, avoiding credit use, overdrafts etc. 

Taking all of the above into account, what does Google do? They help gambling companies push gambling (a significant waste of money and cause for bad debt) onto the public for the sake of sustaining their own profitability and growth.

Hmm…I’ll leave you guys to be judge of their actions, in the meantime enjoy the pic I’ve scanned from this months Wired.

Tags: gambling policy, Google, morality, wired

Get involved - “Pass it on”

I’ve been watching Jamie’s Ministry of Food for a couple of weeks and I think it’s brilliant! A real life example of a social experiment that encourages people to cook, eat well and pass on their learnings.

In the show Jamie drives around Rotherham, knocking on peoples doors, holding cooking classes and getting people to “pass it on” that’s real WOM in effect!

The show covers all the ups and downs of his campaign and the effects it had on the community he had been working with.

Not many people in Rotherham cared about cooking or eating healthily, Jamie (probably without knowing it) has followed some of the best practice recommendations we pass onto clients in order to make their social initiatives work effectively:

> Create a value exchange - Jamie got involved himself and passed on his knowledge

> Encourage advocacy and WOM - His slogan and concept “pass it on” was designed to get people to teach each other how to cook and take part in the greater initiative

> Aggregation - He organised branded events and set up a Ministry of Food, both were tools or hubs, which bought his communities and advocates together along with new followers

> Taking a personal approach to managing negative commentary and PR - He addressed any cynicism or criticism about his concept personally by converting skeptics through providing examples of proven successes

We often tell clients that utilising social media is graft, it’s hard work and this is especially true if your brand or offering has no equity with your prospective audience.

Jamie really grafted in order to get his concept to work and as a result of his efforts the followers and advocates he gained became loyal, helping him to make his concept a success.

This show is a must see for any Brand Evangelist or Social Media Practitioner.

Tags: advocacy, Brand Evangelist, community aggregation, jamie oliver, ministry of food, social experiment, social media, social media hub, Social Media Practitioner

Primark and Sweatshops

With all the hot water retailers like Primark have got into, I became intrigued by all the press and media attention.

Sweatshops have been around for years, manufacturers such as Nike and GAP have also come under fire for using cheap labour in their overseas factories, providing employees with miniscule wages and diabolical working conditions.

The corporations claim they are supporting local economies by paying workers peanuts for manufacturing hundreds of garments each day, locals say if they didn’t work in the factories they wouldn’t have any other sustainable means of income.

Places like India have “fair trade” factories where the unit costs can double, however foreign fashion buying powers scrutinise over price and they prefer cheaper manufacturers.

My personal opinion is where possible do buy fair trade, why? Well…it may not make a huge difference to the grand scheme of things but you certainly do get what you pay for. A piece of clothing part assembled by hand and made with good material is sure to last you longer than something mass produced with cheap materials and more importantly cheap labour.

If one quality, fair trade garment can last you the same length as three cheap garments that’s three sweatshop produced pieces of clothing you do not need to buy.

Adding weight to one argument also attracts attention to another, what does “fair trade” really mean? If a company is putting together garments with an ethically managed workforce, where are they sourcing their material?

Is managing their workforce ethically coming at the price of land, which has been cleared for mass cotton farming? Are the factory owners buying cheaper materials that are being produced by another slaved system? Are mass cotton farms wiping out small cotton farmers? Is cotton unnaturally grown, genetically modified or sprayed with chemicals?

The truth is no consumer can un-earth of any this via the shelves of department stores and shopping centres. What we really need is more “fair trade, organic” ranges in stores. Great! I hear people say here goes another hippie…and they’re probably right. Realistically how feasible would it be for the majority if not a whole country to wear “fair trade, organic” garments? Not very!

So what’s the solution to the problem? Buy less! Buy for need! Easier said than done, we are all (including me) victims of fashion or have a degree of desire to conform to the sartorial expectations of the people around us.

Like everything else it is our opinions and lifestyles that need to change over time for any real difference to truly materialise. With me personally a certain degree of “needs analysis” does go through my mind when I go shopping, if not for the sake of my wallet than for the sake of the bigger picture.

Tags: chemicals, ethical clothing, fair trade, fashion, GAP, India, media attention, Nike, organic