Like Minds

This week I attended a talk by Minter Dial: Digital Innovation in Retail, hosted by the very clever peeps at Like Minds.

Minter Dial created Myndset in 2009 to help organisations adopt the new digital landscape. Dial projected passion and knowledge of the digital culture from the moment he was introduced.

Digital within the retail world goes far beyond 'screens in the store front'; the digital purpose is to connect the customer to the product; convert a campaign into sales, encourage conversations and build a community. Dial presented the Uniqlo "HEATTECH" launch campaign using digital to successfully promote, interact, educate and sell their product. Here's an overview video.

The opportunities for brands to be able to engage with the consumer has evolved, meaning that digital has the ability to connect through various channels such as rich media (QR codes, videos), augmented reality, mobile check-out, facial recognition, personalised signage, interactive mirrors, wifi within store, personalised light and sound. "Turn your store into a showroom"

Dial did have some words of warning: Digital technology "Has to work." That sounds obvious, however, Dial presented examples of when the technology has failed. Essentially high tech = Bugs. Bugs are bad, bugs happen, bugs have to be fixed. Prioritise bug fixing.

We're massively excited about creating engaging digital to help our clients promote their brands and products, watch this space!

Salesforce and the GCloud

Elle and I visited the Salesforce live event at London ExCeL and attended a few of the many sessions held.

We were fortunate enough to sit in on a session with Denise McDonagh from the Home Office (Director of the GCloud programme), Claire Myerson from Nuffield Health, and James Herbert from Methods Consulting to discuss the various ways in which salesforce is involved in the third sector.

It was inspiring to hear Denise talk about the Government's GCloud procurement system, which opens up a world of opportunity both to the government bodies and commercial entities involved.

A question from the audience highlighted the great work that the SalesForce foundation does in giving away licences to charities, but also brought my attention to the resultant situation where a charity can not afford the ongoing work required to implement the ever growing list of features, apps and innovations that the Salesforce platform is constantly producing.

It occured to me that a system similar to GCloud would be ideal for the third sector; a charity procurement service, in much the same eBay style as the GCloud.

This would allow charities to get the maximum level of impact from their somewhat lean budgets, and would allow agencies to compete for the work resulting in a better experience for everyone involved.

It may well be that a system of this nature already exists; GCloud is not that radical in its function, but rather in its context - but I've not found one yet.

This is only an idea, but Drew are going to pursue this and see where it takes us. If you have any thoughts or ideas around this that you'd like to share, feel free to comment below or tweet me @DrewLDN

Young's Type

In December 2012, a wonderful friend and incredibly talented individual Joe (Hayes) Young passed away unexpectedly. He was hard-working, creative and driven, balancing a number of internships with his degree, getting his work featured in magazines and winning the Gentletude Design Award in November 2012. He left a great impact on all the people lucky enough to know him.

Inspired by his hard-working, determined ethos and passion for all things typography, Miranda Foxx and Jesse Michael set up the Young's Type Collective in memory of him earlier this year, recruiting what they describe as a 'group of multi-disciplined practitioners out to encourage, design and desire'. 

They released their first publication 'Issue One: Memory' on Thursday night with a launch party and exhibition in Camberwell. Here's a look at some highlights from the exhibition:

Sarah Dimech

Charlotte Halsey

Miranda Foxx

l-r: Ines N.S, Jesse Michael

Issue One: Memory is available for purchase directly from Young's Type, with a third of the proceeds donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
For a wonderful piece on Joe Hayes by YTC founder Miranda Foxx, head over to People of Print.