Hive Health

Monday kicked off my winter night class on Experience Design at Central St. Martins. Asymetric haircuts, country headwear, the diverse and arty greeted me for a 10 stretch of academia. I even took a pencil to sketch  with whilst looking into the mid distance.

Experience design is just that and far from just that. Dozens of man-years have been spent crafting a definition that still struggles with the difference between art and design, let alone the requirement we have to trap, cagoule and force down the edges of what it is to be experiential or to provide experience. The wooliness of the subject is refreshing and helping get my head out of the structured, problem/solution world that billable work often requires (especially on a Monday!).

From 5 senses, to 360 degree immersive sessions it’s clearly going to be an awesome 10 weeks.

My reading list is whizzing past Hegel, Marx, through terms as diverse as relational aesthetics and dystopian community. It’s been a while since I read something (Harvard biz review tends to pride itself on accessibility!) that had me rubbernecking to google this regularly. Blindingly good stuff, even this early session got me thinking like mad on a stack of plans/briefs/trickies I have in front of me.

In a world where ‘Brand is…’ is cumbersome and ‘brand does’ becomes more central to our planning model - experiential planning is pretty sexy for me. It channel planning with lipstick on, spinning on a table, air thick with perfume.

With HBR continuing to kick sand in the face of goods providers with yet another article on the worth of the experience economy. Joining the greying of the boundaries between sponsorship, co-branding, commissioned design, corporate installation etc. And Josephs Pine conforming that customer value has run away from all the  commodities and goods, towards tailored services or authentic experiences. It it  the time to try and consider how we offer these experiences, planned, proactive and of course with an audience insight bang in the centre.

With crossed fingers, in a dark, endless cold room . I am hoping that experience design and the time spent with the talent at CSM contributes a component  to me working on a structured approach to behavioural change achieved along a considered, multichannel, richer journey.

In the meantime – a rather nice Nokia experience, corporate installation, co-branded event, light show or Son et lumière (your choice).

Blimey this is the fourth time I get to write one of these and its zipped by. Four years ago 3 of us kicked off  in a 600sq/ft office on Regent Street. Fast forward 4 years on and we are close to outgrowing our current 4500 sq/ft soho offices and kicking off the search for a bigger home  to help us grow further. Fuelling this growth in 2011 has been a host of really talented new arrivals joining an already so capable team and a continuing set of progressive clients wanting to do it a little differently.

We finished our year with walks in the heartlands of Scotland warmed by knitwear surrounded by snow (imagine a less aesthetic Marks’s & Spencer ad).

I post this from the seriously snowy french alps, where 50 cm fell last night and the slopes are calling. My Mac is reminding me that I should complete the appointment set by me a whole year ago – it feels like I set it last week.

As usual this ‘year in numbers’ finds me rushing around trying to get some new statistics with which to summarise our year. Numerically  2011 saw;

1 patient centric strategic approach

£5.3 million billed

43 brands

13 client companies

27 pitches

8 losses

1 burglary

100% clients retained

1 torture seminar/bobotie/marathon /in-office gig

66 blogs

5 podcasts

16,493 web visits

Our first eBee baby – bouncing little Josh

1 new company started

38 fantastic people

562 hours of team training

1 Scottish adventure

8 bottles of single malt

1 heartfelt thank you to everyone we have worked with in 2011

1 Happy New Year to you all.

As promised mid the 2011 party blog here is the winner of the Group film competition. Pairs were randomly assigned  from across the 3 group companies. Each elite duo tasked with developing a celebration of Hive, birthdays and four years of patient centricity.

Allowed to use only a mobile phones and limited editorial software the event was showcased whilst we were up in Scotland. Hosted by a suitably smart Kieran and Morgaine who despite strict rules managed to enter as well.

Canape fueled voting saw Prateek and Debbie spanking the rest of us with this copywriting and iphone etch-a-sketch effort. Views from the huddled voting masses indicated that ‘Adam’s bulging vein’ won them over. Prateek’s drawing skills clearly demonstrating that all the talent lies in Accounts not creative.

We maxed it this year having finally got to the size that we can sensibly hire a big house for a massive December Party. Alongside some extreme Scottish weather, 34 of us headed up to Glasgow on the big orange bird in the sky. The 120 mile an hour winds had disappeared by the time we landed leaving 3 roads closed and blizzards closing in. The plan evolved with two Coach companies dropping out last minute seeing Sapna and Prateek wheeling and dealing our way to the transfer from Glasgow to the Scottish heartlands; Argyllshire on the west coast of wintery Scotland.

For those of us lucky enough to be with a local driver, we took full advantage of the 3 hour earlier arrival time and checked out the pallet of local booze that greeted us. By the time the last of our crowd arrived we matched their low on spirits with ours, greeting their cheery little faces with highballs filled with Single malt. A 6am bedtime preceded a hearty breakfast and a snow covered treasure hunt and theatre experience all fuelled by enthusiasm, cheating and Team Italy’s faviourite Bunnahabhain.

Alongside extensive training sessions, business updates and state of the nation presentations. Friday night kicked off with a mobile-made-video competition celebrating Hive’s 4th birthday (Entries to be YouTubed later this week). Dinner by Louise and her team included loads of  game, pastry, chocolate and a few bottles of wine. Hearty dancing supported by the democracy of our Spotify account.

Dangerous moves lasted until morning (even the Malt was single!). A beautiful dawn saw bedtime, a waking fire alarm and scenic trip through the countryside and across the ferry to the mainland. Diet Coke, airport-floor-sluping and the slow journey back home saw it over until another year.

I think this trip has been the best ever. All of us together, a new venue,  snow and whisky – perfect. With photos slowly being edited, deleted or uploaded our Christmas story can be enjoyed courtesy of Flickr.