8UO: Working Overtime. Voluntarily.

Send a postcard to a child without a home address, hand over a business card which belongs to a professional drug dealer, spread an interactive flyer with the image of a child holding a box where you can choose if it is a lunchbox or a package of cocaine…

These are some of the ideas created while brainstorming for the Juconi foundation, a foundation that gets street children off the street. Juconi works with children from Latin America (focus mainly on Columbia) and is characterized by Unesco with one of the most effective method of approaching street children providing them a better future.

Juconi was one of the foundations joining 8UO better known as ‘working 8 hours late’) an initiative of the ‘Nieuwe Garde’ (-‘the New Guard’) which was held on Friday the 28th of March in the former Caballero factory in The Hague. Also in Rotterdam, Groningen and Arnhem collaborations were made and worked overtime for foundations like Greenpeace and Red Cross.

After some drinks and a good meal the creative minded were divided to groups and escorted to their working space where an introduction round was held. As everybody introduced themselves the foundations clarifies the case and the problem they are facing, and like a lot of foundations like Juconi donations necessary. How can Juconi get more donations and create brand awareness?

The foundation indicates on a promotional campaign like flyers, banners , newsletter and then leaves us to our first round for some lucidity and possible brainstorm. At first we clarify their goal; which is creating more donations. We ask ourselves how the foundation wants to reach their potential ‘customers’ and why they are choosing classic and familiar ways to reach their target group. The answer to that question is that a promotional campaign proves to work and everybody knows this kind of advertizing, it is well known fact. But it is a well known fact as well that this instrument is widely used, flyer holders are overloaded and you have to find more ways of how to create your awareness. Stickers? Please.

We want to create a buzz, and in this short time the AIDA method is a great thing to create and categorize new ideas. For those who are new to this, AIDA stands for creating an Attraction which should create an Interest which should make a Desire bringing it back to an Action.

So how do we create more brand awareness, how do we stimulate the contact between the foundation, their clients and their potential customers. You can think of a wide range of ideas like flying those children to The Netherlands putting and throwing them on the biggest shopping street here, insane? Yes, but it would definitely result into attention creating awareness by the shocking effect which could reach television and newspaper without paying for it. Shocking with a blink…?

Interactive Flyers, a ‘real’ video on the movie theatre, exaggerate the problem, make it humoristic…

High Tech Super Soldier

Once upon a time the planet is going to be torn apart, if it is not because of ourselves with all our wars and destruction and resulting climate shifts, it would be by external forces like asteroids, artificial intelligence and little green men.

It is slightly easy to spot a recent movie with one of these future scenarios, but come on; the future scenario just isn’t that bright.

But there is a light in the dark. Salvation is near. There is a massive rise of mankind; evil will be defeated with all sources available and humans will live happily ever after

But what are those sources, these appliances where mankind deals with in the future. Technological breakthroughs in times of warfare are impressive (according to a lot of people; the most advantageous) because people are under pressure, and the one with the biggest gun wins. In science fiction movies (and games) based in the future you see this as well; like all the technological possibilities of weaponry and other arsenal in Star Ship Troopers.

In a lot of games and movies (maybe for the first time in Alien, 1979) there is this simple utility that helps seeking your comrades in the field. The product is simple; a small screen which shows your location and the location of your other fortune members. The product is used in many games (for instance Halo seen below) which creates a good overview and reduces friendly fire.

The need for this product rose tremendously on account of friendly fire incidents amongst the Dutch Soldiers in Iraq. According to Menno Bentveld in a show called ‘Nieuwsblik’ on 23 February a same sort of product will be used by the ministry of defense in 2011.

According to Dutch Newspaper ‘Trouw’ the device is already there. The so called CIM (communication and information module) is a pocket computer where you can see the commander and the location of its troops. At the moment the CIM is in a test phase though, next year it will be a standard in a soldier combat utensils…

Though the product cannot show the opponent…
...yet.

Rabobank PressureCooker

When the night falls on Rotterdam, 25 creative minds with different backgrounds gather on the 16th floor of a big office building, where they are received by local employees of one of the biggest banks of The Netherlands, the RaboBank.

It's the second Pressure Cooker event organized by the 'Nieuwe Garde' ('New Guard') in Rotterdam. The meaning of Pressure Cookers is to come with the best result within a very limited time. To be precise; create with a group of young creative’s a solution for the problem a company is facing with.

The RaboBank needs inspiration to conquer the cities new minds, maybe it is possible to create more creative, smarter and more challenger ideas than what the Bank is offering to youngsters at the moment. Referring to the green student couch of ABN, one of their competes.

Before we take off an inspiring member of Syndicat takes the lead by mentioning to think of letting go your boundaries for a while, looking directly at the bank employees, and give creativity a chance. Approach the product from emotion, what do people want? Is the product low involvement ? Well, how can we make a boring insurance company, less boring then ? Where is the user, how does he/she feel? What would the user do? What are their Needs ?'

After these inspiring words groups of five random creative’s are directed to several rooms where the paper blanks, pencils, post-its and most important of all CHOCOLATE are waiting to be used. Thoughts of exploring, game involvement, communities, events and contests are flying through the rooms and landing on papers, and before you know it is time for dinner.

After dinner the groups return to their rooms to the most important part; creating order in chaos. The second round is used to clear your mind, make a choice and criticize from all those post-its and working the best ones out. Some ideas create more ideas, others are rock solid. In the last minutes everything is written down and thought of how to promote this in front of the company.

It ends where it started and the results of today’s effort are soon to be revealed. When everybody is seated the teams are given one by one a presentation. Five enthusiastic groups are given the time tp present one, or more possible ideas in front of the company. Laughing and Chatter is widely present, and the barrier between company and the creative minds nearly visible and in time the jury gives a brief comment from the company’s point of view.

“We never had this amount of great ideas in such a short time”

Rabobank Report:

http://www.pressurecooker.nu/download/Verslag-PressureCooker-Rabobank.pdf

More Pictures:

http://lauranet.nl/pressurekleur/

Woman with Balls

Woman with Power, like in the book of Thea Beckman ‘Children of Mother Earth’ and other looks far away. Though it is a statement of many marketers. And with the woman’s right to choose (since 1919 in The Netherlands) it was said that ‘there would be less wars’.

Now anno 2008 it is a true fact that in politics and labour that woman are making a hard try for leadership and equal treatment. But it is hard world, it is a men’s world.

The answer of Madeline Albright (ex-minister Foreign Affairs from the United States) on a question in Nova College Tour (21st of February of 2008) about what she would recommend to present female students is as follows; “You have to work hard, you have to work at least twice as hard as men. There is no room for mediocre women, there seems to be plenty of room for mediocre men.”

The brain pattern at the moment seems to be that you can be anything you want. But is it widely accepted ? I do not think so. Though a regular pattern as in the woman in the kitchen and men at work seems to be more common in the western world as we know it. It is true that mainly men at the moment on higher grounds.

In our cool hunt we saw that nowadays more and more marketing is focused on Woman with a goal to be stronger and independent. You can see it in books, magazines and even in woman underwear. Besides that there is the image of models and icons who are pretty and smart as well.

Men are working on their image as well. A lot of products are tagged with the ‘FOR MEN’-phenomenon, for instance Coca Cola Zero, Labello and Andrelon. Besides that the baskets in shops are more than ever filled with a diversity of accessories like necklaces, bracelets, scarves, caps and hats. With our empathizing ability we can say that we agree with what some marketers say, that men are becoming more female.

But we see this development as some kind of seesaw. Slowly man and woman will grow to each other and reach a balance eventually. In the future the relation between man and female will be more equal, with woman being treated equally which will give them more chance in the men’s world.

Because, for everybody to know, man and woman are not equal, but can be equally. Like men are physically stronger than woman, but woman are mentally stronger than man, besides man is easily sexually influenced as woman are in contrary strongly affected emotionally.

Our future image is that this trend will continue when the current development will be accepted and stimulated from society, the trade and industry, and with a major role and influence; the media.

There will be a more female side of men, as there will be a more male side from woman. We estimate this will have a positive effect on the balance and equality between man and woman. On the other side a more feminine-man or a manly-woman will be marked as a homosexual which discourages the trend.

Because it is aberrant. And things that are aberrant are different. And different is strange. And bound to that there are consequences.

In this future image there will be a group which rejects the current development and becomes the total opposite, a polarization as well as appealing towards each other.

In the ideal future image we estimate the manly man and the feminine female will practically be extinct.

Sander Westerduin &
Ellen Schrik , Saida Jahjah