SEPTEMBER | THE COLUMNISTS
Access’ regular
columnists talk
innovation, risks and
‘place-making’...
Crafting brilliant B2B
conversations
Jonathan Emmins, founder,
Amplify
Our ECD, Jeavon Smith, has trawled
Mobile World Congress, and came
back with some conclusions.
In a world of innovation, the
core skill of crafting a product
explanation is stagnating. Why?
Too often we use novelties, like
robotic arms and kinetic screens, to
create publishable moments at the
expense of product stories.
So let’s remember the power of
simplicity. Let’s put audiences at
the heart and craft narratives that
can be explored and shared on their
own terms. At MWC, the show floor
was saturated with messages and
gimmicks, but the experience that
resonated the most (a 60-second
Sony product demo) had a simple
idea: convey product capabilities in
a real-world context that’s simply
explained, easy to explore and has a
clear reason to believe.
And let’s make conversation
great again. Expos are driven by
the conversations and deals often
struck behind closed doors. But is
a meeting room - however much
Scandi furniture therein - enough
to catalyse great conversation? We
should aim for less meeting room,
more restaurant. Brilliant expo
conversations will be reinstated
only when we place the same level
of care around the experience
design of stands as we do with the
UX of products.
Top to bottom
Josephine Burns, chair, Without
Walls Trend watch
Simeon Aldred, group creative
director, Vibration Group
The final episode in this season’s
The Bottom Line was on festivals.
The Radio 4 programme covers
business from all angles, presented
by (the excellent) Evan Davis.
Three guests represented Bradford
Literature Festival, the Bath
Festivals, and the End of the Road.
We learnt there‘s been a massive
increase in festivals of all kinds,
across every landscape, and there
are complicated and varying
business models, and high-risk
factors, like weather, always loom.
But audiences love festivals!
There’s good evidence that it’s
how people want to spend their
money and time. The way festivals
‘cluster’, experiences – watching
and listening along with, eating,
drinking, participating, learning
etc - offers a cocktail that stretches
over time, place and generations.
All 18 Without Walls festivals
are committed to new work and
mostly free access - both risky. The
sector manages risk and knows it’s
integral to our work.
Towards the end, something
struck me, and Evan - you must be
mad to do this! Or, rather, possessed
by a passionate commitment to
artists and audiences, to weave
magic through t