Russell Davies

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nested brands, minimal brands

Love Saves The Day is a little coffee shop inside Vox Pop records in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. It's a great place. And it's a great example of something I've been thinking about ever since Fruitstock - the phenomenon of one brand nesting inside another. It's not a new thing, think Starbucks and Borders or er, another example that doesn't come to me right now, but I think it's a skill that more and more brand owners are going to have to learn.

Because it's not particularly easy for either party. I think Innocent got it very right at Fruitstock - the other brands there seemed right and appropriate and I think Nike have tended to get it right at Run London. But I've also seem horribly inappropriate partnerships and nesting arrangments. (Though none of these examples occur to me right now either.) The other thing I like about Love Saves The Day (and it is only a coffee shop, I mustn't get too carried away) is the way they've created an effective brand with a really small amount of physical stuff. One logo thing, some bags, some stickers.

The bags make the sign.

 

The stickers turn generic cups into branded cups.

It's clear adding sustainable value is going to be a core skill in building brands over the coming decades, so creating attractive brands that are about maximum idea and minimum stuff seems another good discipline to learn.

chaos chaos

The folk at the Chaos conference were kind enough to ask me to take part and I was very keen to, until something came up. And I was really a bit too late in letting them know, which was rude of me. I feel bad about that. But I feel even worse now because it looks like being a really good show. Damn.

I can't go, but you should. You can sign up here.

there are weathers

Arthur's got a homework project for school, he has to make a little book about whatever country he wants. He's chosen to do America, since that's where he was born. This was the intro he painstakingly typed out. I think it's rather poetic and rather captures the sense of the place.

the chefs

This post from Northern Planner reminded me of the genius of Andy Smith; illustrator extraordinaire, who made Run London come to life so marvelously. And  browsing through his portfolio I found this ebcb illustration which sits proudly on the wall behind me - it was a lovely leaving present from w+k. I've always thought it'd be nice if more people saw it but it's too big to scan and too hard for a fool like me to photograph. But now I've found it. So. Er. Here it is.

coffee all over the world

I think on Friday we may all feel a great disturbance in the force. But in a good way. Because on Friday there will be planners (plus friends, family and anyone who wants to come) having coffee all over the world. Well, a bit.

Noah and Piers are doing likemind in New York and Mark and Tad are doing likemind in San Francisco.

And we're doing coffee morning at Tate Modern. (Meet in the coffee shop on the second floor.) And the following week Emily is doing coffee in Sydney. Hurrah.

the triumph of stuff and embedded assumptions

I saw this splendid folder sitting on someone's desk the other day. (Not at FCB.) I love this kind of thing - task specific stationery. I suspect we'll see a return to things like this. Rather like with scrapbooks, I think the physicality of paper and stuff helps with thinking and memory and keeping a track of things. And people have an affection for it. Just as the paperless office led to a boom in paper sales I bet the boom in people taking and sharing pictures will lead to a microprinting spurt. As with iPhoto books and services like Qoop and the splendid Moo.

But then I noticed the assumptions embedded in the stationery.

The tabs in order: Briefs then Concepts then Scripts then Invoices.  ie the planner does a brief, the creatives do some concepts, then we make some TV commercials, then we bill the client. You can be as forward thinking and media-neutral as you like but you can't fight the assumptions you've built into the fabric of things. It's worth noticing these things.  (Though I'm sure FCB have moved on and now have much more media-neutral office supplies.)

commitment weasel

I think committed is the worst weasel word. Virgin are apparently commited to ensuring the toilets are clean. They're not prepared to say they actually will clean the toilets. They're just willing to commit to it.

I notice they don't offer us the same latitude. We're not allowed to merely commit to not blocking the toilets, we have to just not do it. I think maybe they shouldn't hold us to a higher standard in keeping their toilets clean than themselves. (Sorry about the blurry picture. Them trains is wobbly.)

And, actually, why do we have to put up with all these stupid words? Why can't they just say please let us know if the toilets aren't clean?

the tea of love

I've been doing a bit of work for Love in Manchester recently. They're splendid people. A perfect model for the creative business of the future. Small. Independent. Creative. Can do all kinds of stuff and aren't crippled by London overheads. I've nudged them into getting a blog going, it's early days and the design is a bit minimal but the writing is dead funny (it's not all by one bloke, they've all been using the same login, but that will change).

Anyway.

My point is this. Last time I was there they just left me alone to wander off to the kitchen and make my own cup of tea. Which I always think is a sign that you've settled in somewhere, that you sort of belong. It's always a nice moment. So here's to the tea of Love.

coffee morning and art

Beeker and Lebowski have had a good idea. (Click here and look in the comments.) Coffee morning this week will be at Tate Modern. 11am as per usual. It'll be like a school trip. Not sure exactly where in Tate Modern - anyone got any suggestions where we should meet?