A work of art!

This has just been sent to me and I am truly amazed this morning. So much so, it's word-for-word as the article states. Min-Kyu Choi, we salute you!

The Royal College of Art's graduate show has opened, and this year, the show-stopper was actually - a plug. Min-Kyu Choi impressed every passerby with his neat, apparently market-ready plug that folds down to the width of a thin mobile computer. "Many of today's mobile computers have become wafer thin but here in the UK , we still use the world's biggest three-pin plug," says Choi. Enter Choi's slimmed down British three-pin plug wonder.






Choi's plug is just 10mm wide when folded. To unfold it, the two live pins swivel 90 degrees and the plastic surround folds back around the pins so the face of the plug looks the same as a standard UK plug.

The idea produced a spin off, too. Choi created a multi-plug adaptor, which is a compact standard plug sized unit with space for three folded plugs to slot in, as well as one that charges USB devices.



The multi-plug adaptor has an ultra-compact sandwich design that enables three compatible plugs to cohabit side by side to take up a remarkable small amount of room.



The USB-pluggable three-pin plug adaptor. It's so plausible and so obvious a product that it should produce a few red faces; how many more years are we going to endure attaching our palm sized mobiles and wafer thin laptops to an object that's barely been touched since its first design in 1946? Choi picked an everyday product that most other designers might have found too mundane to dabble with and drastically improved it - exactly the kind of thinking that we should be celebrating right now.

A very clean and elegantly simple solution to an age-old British problem. Choi's full menu of uber-ideas for revolutionising the archaic British plug.

Something different

On a day-to-day basis its rare something stops us in our path and makes us pause. Whilst on my last trip to Rome my attention was well and truly caught by Nara Camicie, a shirt shop for men and women.

In fashion retail, statistics show that you will sell 10 times more product when displayed on a mannequin than the same product hung on a hanger. So what have Nara Camicie done....not a hanger in site!



Fair enough, it is a boutique and they don't have quite the volume of say TM Lewin but the design is clever and most importantly eye-catching. Each bust is attached to a frosted door panel that opens up as a cupboard stocking all the sizes behind it (very reminiscent of the Levis concept on Regent Street 8 years ago). The VM is fantastic and really has that Italian crispness that we have come to expect from our Roman friends.

A look ahead to 2010

Retails sales post increases in LFL and profits for the first time in what feels like a long time. Is this the turn of the tide?

Back in April we posted our video about 'Weathering the storm' and for most 2009 has been just that. As 2010 approaches we have seen a change in the weather with positivity in both the media and our direct clients, old and new. Sales are up for most and reinvestment is now essential to build upon the foundations of what most have managed to retain.

At The Yard Creative, we have a feeling 2010 is going to be a good year for all those who are serious about succeeding. With the right approach and understanding this is now a time where anything is possible.

We wish all our clients old and new all the best for the upcoming year and to achieving remarkable goals that 6 months ago seemed impossible.

Have a great break, have fun and here's to 2010!

Cheers
Steve

Pop-up marmite marketing

Pop-up stores, like the new Marmite one, are the new marketing tool for brands to spread the word in a new and exciting way. They spring up without much warning, cause a media storm and then vanish before they have a chance to go out of fashion. The well timed Marmite pop-up store on Regent Street opened on 3rd of November and will be around for 1o weeks over the Christmas period, stocking over 100 Marmite inspired products (100?...how?).

This new type of pop-up store (another recent one being the Central Perk coffee shop) comes across more like a quirky exhibition than a money making scheme. In fact it's a very clever way of luring people in with the excitement of 'an experience' or a giggle with their friends rather than 'a purchase' but once inside they find it hard to resist buying a souvenir.

Now is the perfect time to be popping-up too, with low rents and vacant retail outlets, landlords are more open to taking short-term leases. Well worth a try too as they're an amazing marketing tool, none pass by without causing a media stir which is great publicity for any brand.

These new temporary stores are also a great way for brands to 'test the water' either in terms of popularity in a certain area or for an online brand to try a more face-to-face approach with it's customers, or simply to get a brand in the public eye in a fresh, exciting way.

The Marmite store has taken their pop-up as an opportunity to show itself off as a lighthearted fun brand.

The store's dotted with quirky, tongue-in-cheek props like a Marmite jar in a bird cage, a Marmite pyramid and a Marmite styled couple eating, yep you guessed it...Marmite, at a breakfast table. So once the shop window display has tempted customers off the street to get a closer look inside they can go upstairs to the 1950's style tearoom where you can buy Marmite on toast and a cup of tea! A perfect finish to the customer experience and a great way to get people spreading the word to their friends and colleagues, whether they're lovers or haters.

The return of Jeeves?

Is our current economic and employment structure going to be enough to sustain the growth of the UK in the years to come?

Currently the public and private commercial sectors support the majority of the financial growth but we’re wondering whether we will see a trend of ‘people-employing-people’ (PEP) to help support the system.

With the increases in population would we ever get to the point that there just aren’t enough jobs for everyone? Even though we all strive for better education and healthcare perhaps it would get to the point whereby a percentage of the population would end up work for the ‘people’ rather than organisations.

This trend already exists with many more career driven couples using nannies to look after their children whilst at work. People are using at-home chefs for dinner parties and even a handyman. These types of roles have been around for centuries but as we have developed they have remained only for the richest of society. How long would it be before these luxuries become everyday to ensure economic success and the elimination of unemployment?

Would we see a new modern-day-extended-family style of employment coming directly from the people to support the economy?

A little piece of Farm in the crazy City of London

Locally sourced food is ever present in today’s market place with everyone from Tesco to Jaime claiming such support for our countries producers. And some clearly do it better than others as traceability has recently shown.

In to this already established ring enter the Farm Collective. Representing in the green corner ‘the new movement in food’, FC promotes itself as using UK sourced food to provide its customers with fresh, natural, and good quality food.

The difference with FC is that they are very clear about who they buy from and are very vocal and proud of their suppliers. As the name suggests, they have a Collective of suppliers who have to fulfil a set criteria proving their ‘UK’ness’, commitment to animal welfare and the exclusion of nasties in their produce.

And having just visited the new addition to the trendy streets of Farringdon I must say, I was impressed. Greeted by friendly staff that clearly love working there, I was tempted to try the ‘Best sausage roll in London supplied by a nice lady called Kitty’. To quote the esteemed Borat, all I have to say is “Wawa Wee wa!”

The space itself is nicely kitted out with a sense that these guys really believe in what they are doing rather than just recreating a craze. The bright flashes of colour against the heritage colours and natural materials really helps make it jump out to any passing customer and the food is just there in front of you without any fuss.

Definitely one to go see and watch out for. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more from Farm Collective over the next few years.

A New Chapter

It's Saturday afternoon in London and I'm in Waterstones Piccadilly. Although it seems busy, very few people have bags and there seems a reluctance to buy and even interact. Some people seem to be buying something specific, others look like they are being dragged round. The general atmosphere seems tense and nervy.

Why is this? Why have bookstores lost their personality, their interest and their intrigue?

Well Amazon certainly hasn't helped. Online book sales are high and the technology-friendly consumer is loving cheaper books with the 'ease-at-home' style of shopping. With instant emails at sale time and recommendations on that next book internet brands are the VHS to the cinema right now.

So what's next for the high street stores? Borders have sold their UK arm. Waterstones, owned by the HMV group still have the biggest share in the market place but are struggling to maintain this in todays tough economy and the independents are falling victims to the Tesco of the world.

Is now the time for a fundamental change?

Books are a wonderful extensions of our imagination. They allow us to escape to another world, to create our own 'in-head-cinemas' and have endless opportunities. So why not embrace this and design a store based on this excitement and intrigue and make the book store of tomorrow a destination that attracts all and stimulates our senses?

We have asked ourselves these questions and tackled the challenge head on and found that there are so many new ways that the bookstore of the future could reinvent itself.

Our customer research has shown that people still love the tactile nature of a physical book but they come up against many obstacles that stop them from buying in store. We need to breakdown these barriers and as we enter the Wisdom Generation, people combined with technology will be the answer.

By embracing this combination of people and new technologies stores will have a clear point of difference over the online retailers and they will help us all to access the plethora of titles on those shelves. Combining personalities with new technologies such as QR codes (an easy way to contain information in such a small bar-code-like square) would be a great way to tell customers more about a book.

Social media allows us to instantly access millions of people and many of those people are happy to give recommendations and advice to help customers buy that next, right book.

And rather than going against products like the Kindle, take it head-on and provide opportunities to embrace the change and plug-in in store.

And there are so many more!

Many of these new opportunities have been worked in to a conceptual project at The Yard Creative titled A New Chapter. By exploring customers needs and demands we have identified a totally new way to engage with books in the real world.



All we need now is a client who wants to fight back and take the next step to help us all find that next great book!

By Steve