Budapest 29 March

Alastair Creamer

eyes wide opened

nurturing our expertise

BrandsWe collaborate with

businesses to unlock the potential within brands through insight work,

positioning and innovationWe create our own brands when we see a potential

need includingGreat British Chefs and Eyes

Wide Opened

Creative SkillsWe train people in applying

creative skills such as storytelling and visual literacy to improve their brands and

businessesWe refine our creative skills

by ensuring we’re involved in projects outside the office

ExperiencesWe craft, stage and run

events that have resonance and impact from launches to

summits, blue sky conversations to deep dives

To keep us energised we devise creative interventions for the annual Bermondsey

St Festival

everything starts with a business issue•The war for talent•Exploding social media and communications landscape•How far can I collaborate?•The need to tell stories, not exchange information•Data overload – less is more•Technology – “change will never be this slow again”•Do good, do well - the rising star of mindfulness•Beautiful leadership•Innovation is a mindset not a department•The welcoming of authenticity (a culture of heart and head)•Living with ambiguity•Our approach to risk (in a risk-averse world)•Environment and culture (belonging)

catalyst

Catalyst was created in 1999 and ran until 2007 across all of Unilever UKBased within the Human Resources functionObjectives were to bring two businesses together (Lever Brothers + Elida Faberge) and create a new culture and to help make this new business less insular and connect it to its consumersTo re-establish confidence in ideas, foster creativity and provide inspiring business solutions around brands, innovation and communicationsTo provide a skills edge to some of the leading brand managersMain programmes included: Words Matter; Live + Direct;Stimulating Reflection; artist in residence; 7th Heaven;Braver Conversations; Creative Courage; Unleashed

Live + Direct

conversation

words matterLong term multi-layered programme for Unilever that helped individuals and teams write more creatively, engagingly and develop skills around editing.

Language, and our use of it, is constantly evolving and people aren’t taught how to adapt and write engagingly for different audiences.

We created opportunities including business writing workshops, sessions with the Royal Court Theatre, a new library and one to one coaching with a poet.

language

carnival: a new way of working

We developed a transformative experience for a businesses top 100 global leaders.

The challenge was to build stronger working relationships within a global team.

We used the theme of carnival to give people an experience of a new way of working which relied on clear roles and responsibilities and absolute trust.

The carnival company, Kinetika, role modelled the behaviour. We had 15 year old children showing business leaders how to do it.

transformation

Dr Hans HansenAssistant Professor,Texas Tech University

Narrative Theory expert working with legal teams on Death Row in Texas

Applied his expertise to helping a business tell its story in a new way

storytelling

Burt’s Bees – brand architectureWe worked with the company to help them reappraise their brand positioning and values and to build a more creative culture.

Within this we led a piece of work around storytelling and narrative to help them focus on the key messages of their brand in an increasingly competitive market.

storytelling

how several artists can tell one story

A set designer sourced images that distilled the

idea of the brand into a single image

A decorative historian

explored the look and feel of

the brand within its historical

context

A poet researched the language and stories of the worlds of tea

and coffee

A historian researched the

family and company story

storytelling

Mars - marketing skillsA one-year training programme for the Marketing department of Mars UK.

We focused on training them to develop better concepts, craft more inspirational briefs and judge advertising more effectively. We call this visual literacy.

It contained a mix of workshops and monthly stimulus to ensure the skills were being embedded.

visual literacy

visualisation

visual literacy

space to contemplateWe were asked to host and facilitate a 3 day event bringing together 60 experts from the worlds of science, art, religion and spirituality.

The goal was to discuss and build a route forward for a large scale public project focussing on experiencing the numinous.

Space to contemplate is now a movement, planning several sites and interventions around the world, staffed by high-powered volunteers who are carrying the idea forward. We’re still involved.

conversation

DJs – learning from a parallel worldWe were commissioned to help a business’s brand managers approach their job in a more creative way.

We used DJs as a parallel world to illuminate what the best in brand building looks like:

• Understanding context and appeal• Having unique consumer insight and reaction to

customer needs• Being at the centre of the action• Balance between creative vision and the specific

occasion• Feedback is immediate

inspiration

inspiration

concept storytellingGSK wanted to align their marketing team around a shared process for writing more inspiring, business-winning concepts.

We developed a new approach for them which had, at its heart, stories and storytelling. We also started the journey towards a more consumer-focused language.

We brought to the workshops the work of several writers, film pitches, the structures of stories and writing vivid consumer portraits in 6 words.

language/storytelling

the fragrance revolution

multi-sensorial

spiritedconfidentassured

personal(up close and…)

intimateconnecting

generouswarmthrichness

intelligent

sensuoustexture

depth (lower notes)

authenticemotional

unpretentious

The brand’s sound is

multi-sensorial

eyes wide opened

catalysing cultural change in business

•Leaders must be actively involved in the programme, not just budget holders. In this way you establish a culture of genuine permission

•Always start with a specific business issue, not a creative aspiration•It is part of your learning agenda not just your creative agenda•Programmes should be multi-layered to allow people to engage at different points•Expect a dynamic reaction from people both positive and negative. This is emotional territory that is engaging head and heart

closing thoughts

It’s a lot to do with the quality of leadership / courage and

permission personal perspectiveposition

the opportunity

areas of expertise

BrandsWe collaborate with

businesses to unlock the potential within brands through insight work,

positioning and innovationWe create our own brands when we see a potential

need includingGreat British Chefs and Eyes

Wide Opened

Creative SkillsWe train people in applying

creative skills such as storytelling and visual literacy to improve their brands and

businessesWe refine our creative skills

by ensuring we’re involved in projects outside the office

ExperiencesWe craft, stage and run

events that have resonance and impact from launches to

summits, blue sky conversations to deep dives

To keep us energised we devise creative interventions for the annual Bermondsey

St Festival

the producersWe were commissioned to develop a piece of work for a group of 400 top marketers to raise the standard and impact of their communication. They recognised that the quality of their work was being compromised by the way they were leading their creative process.

We selected some of the most prominent leaders within the creative industries. Their stories included: the development of Oscar-winning films; the most ambitious art commission at Tate Modern; creating a prize that changed the face of literature; the challenge of evolving the largest music festival in the world.

inspiration