@markcridge \ muck and brass

The sexy way to carbon free?

What comes first? The sexy all-electric car, or the smart carbon-free grid to power it? Whichever way round it is, its going to take machines like the one above to turn enough heads quick enough to make a new generation of transport a reality. (And the current crop don't quite do the job.)

The changes that are going to be required over the next couple of decades to move to a sustainable relationship with CO2 are only going to be possible with a radical transformation and adaptation of our existing behaviours as we reconsider everything about the how and why of what we produce and consume. 

The tension between the need to rapidly get our act together and the reality that trying to cut our way to success is probably not going to change things quick enough means that a big part of the solution is going to have to come from introducing enticing alternatives to our existing way of doing things.

The soon to arrive new generation Toyota Prius and the young upstart Honda Insight hybrids are certainly a first step on the journey, however the sooner we can go all-electric the better, with low-carbon juice of course as standard.

So if Tesla is to be believed the car's nearly there and we're even starting to get the rather lovely looking charging stations popping up around the West End of London, but the way things are going the 'Political will' seems to be somewhat lacking if we're going to get enough carbon-free juice to power these babies in a short-enough time-period.

It would be naive to think that enough people are spontaneously going to be prepared to individually reduce their use of energy and consumption habits quick enough to make enough of a difference. And to be honest to be really believe that the way to achieve this is by heaping further guilt on to and already economically battered and bruised population?

So clearly we're also going to need some of what Terry Macalister outlined in the Guardian today;

 "...the development of massive solar farms being constructed in places such as northern Africa with huge long distance and subsea cables allowing them to pump electricity to 'smart grids' around continental Europe and beyond. The intermittent nature of this power should be backed up by smarter demand management, special power storage - and nuclear. There should be a relentless drive to electrify the transport network - with a timetable for discontinuing the operation of all petrol-driven private cars, buses and other forms of public transport."

None of this is trivial, but the reality is that this will only work if it all works. The whole journey encompassing, idea, product, delivery and experience.

Makin' glue

I did a talk last night for the IPA's 44 Club in the Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh last night and it was load of fun, It was a great crowd and there were loads of very though provoking and interesting questions.

I'd done a run through of the talk at our friends Feather Brooksbank just before which gave me a good run at the night. I was fortunate enough to have the talk summed up for me at the end by Gerry Farrell, the Creative Director of the ever interesting Leith Agency.

glue used to be made by literally boiling down the bones of dead animals. As the theme of the talk included some musings on the agency model of the future, I had taken the opportunity to poke the traditional industry firmly and squarely in the eye with a sharp stick, even though we've clearly borrowed heavily from the models of the past to build our own agency today.

So what better way for him to describe us than;

"glue is made by boiling up the remains of dead dinosaurs"

I liked that very much.

He was also  kind enough to hand me his key thoughts scribbled on the back of an RBS £10 note, which makes it easier for me to sum up some of the content of the talk.

In case you can't read these it said;

• Willingness to make mistakes. Leith.
• Plate of chips.
• Embarrassed about St Mirren. I'm a Hibs supporter. Imagine how embarrassed I am.
• Page 3.
• Swearing x 3.
• Biggest visitor attraction in Edinburgh, a tram.
• Jambo social network site.

Don't know what that all means but I'll leave it suitably vague.

The New Rules of Etiquette

“If you talked to people the way advertising talked to people, they’d punch you in the face.” This wonderful and well used cartoon by Hugh from Gaping Void perfectly captures the feeling of dismay those in digital have felt when they saw their traditional counterparts wade-in, uninformed and claim that ‘this digital lark, its all just more screens innit’.

In reality this was a useful argument as the nascent digital industry carved out a role for itself, distinct from traditional, emphasising the need for a new approach, a distinct set of skills that ‘coincidentally’ only a digital agency could provide.

Clearly as the traditional industry rapidly gets its act together it would be naïve to think that this state of affairs will last much longer. It’s no longer safe to assume that digital agencies will succeed in the future unmolested.

It’s interesting then to experience a sense of deja vu as we see social media rise as a distinct discipline, again requiring a unique set of skills and experience, which of course only ‘social media experts’ are able to provide. This is perfectly understandable as with any new industry it’s a good idea to distance yourself from what has come before, to carve out a profitable niche that you can exploit and get ahead of the pack.

Partly this requires a good deal of 'expedient exaggeration' as the phrase goes, but mostly its true that you can't simply take the old way of doing things and apply them to any new media in exactly the same way. This is especially true within social media, which is as different to the digital of the last few years, as digital was previously to traditional.

Just as digital types complained that traditional sorts shouldn’t treat digital like a mass broadcast channel, so the same is true with social media where you can't expect the same rules and behaviours of digital or traditional to work in the same way.

Ultimately the opportunity is for agencies to understand and advise clients exactly how to behave across the whole spectrum of bought, owned and earned media. Just as in any other social situation understanding the appropriate ‘rules of etiquette’ are essential if you wish to be accepted.

It’s perfectly understandable to expect advertisers to continue shout in traditional broadcast mass-market media, especially as TV ain’t going away anytime soon.

Similarly online and digital channels combine a heady mix of brand, direct and word-of-mouth, a wide variety approaches each with their own rules of successful behaviour. Potentially a minefield, but a hugely lucrative opportunity for those agencies and clients that have learned how to use them well.

In social media where the rule is listen first, then join the conversation, we need to learn to speak in a genuine real voice, real people, speaking to each other.

Right across this full spectrum of bought, owned and earned media the opportunity is for agencies to work with clients to understand how they can find their true and consistent voice across each of these increasingly linked media.

In practice this may mean the client may have to speak with a different voice each time according to the correct rules of etiquette for each channel, but in doing so will always communicate in a way true to itself. This is exactly where smart agencies will find they can help the most.

(A version of this post appears in my New Media Age column.)