Archive for February, 2008

What’s your’s called?

Published by admin on February 13, 2008 in matter. 2 Comments

I’ve noticed a pattern, both from people I’ve spoken to and from many of the blogs and reviews. Everyone who got the box seems to have one item they seem to really like and one they don’t. They all seem to feel quite strongly about their choices–which is fantastic–and of course, they’ve all got different ideas as to why the pieces are good / bad / pointless. Curiously, almost all the pieces in the box manage to be someone’s most / least favourite at least once.

I think this is quite unusual. Given that we’ve worked with different agencies, people and companies, isn’t it odd that all of the items come out with a similar chance of being someone’s most / least favourite? Now, true, the point of Matter is that we bring a pretty clear idea of what we want the whole thing to feel like, but, in the normal course of things, you’d still expect one or two clear winners and one or two obvious turkeys.

Isn’t that normally what happens?

Coffee matter

Published by admin on February 12, 2008 in matter. 1 Comment

I’ve been asked by a couple of agencies to come in and introduce Matter.

Today, it was the nice people at PHD in London, one of whom, John V Willshire had received his Matter box and kindly invited me to come in and run through what we’d learned so far. As is often the case, people come in and out and I leave the box on the table for everyone to have a rummage through its contents.

I’ve always believed that people’s engagement with objects is universal; that people like to touch and hold real things no matter who they are. Someone commented that this “was probably what the recipients did when they got it”. I think that’s exactly right.

Matter matters

Published by admin on February 8, 2008 in matter. 6 Comments

I always try and avoid the word ‘launch’.

It implies a whole level of activity that’s way beyond my organisational capabilities. So, a week after we gently eased Matter on the world, what was supposed to be a low-key evaluation has generated a minor frenzy of blogging and some very enthusiastic reviews from people like notcot, proteinOS, Roo.Reynolds, Nick Burcher, i Noted (”so, everyone is talking about the Matter box…”), notkindacool and a splendid mention on Springwise. Charlie Gower and Bobbie Johnson were more critical but remained intrigued enough to say they’ll still want to get it.

The response to Matter has been overwhelming to be truthful. I’d expected it all to have centred around the “fairly interesting” level–sort of like a three or a four on a numerical scale (which would have included quite a few negative respones too, but, I’ve had only one negative comment). Overall, the level seems to be more around the “really interesting” level–more like an eight or a nine. Blimey.

Photos: roo.reynolds, spiffea, Axis Sound System. Thank you.

Where’s your box now?

Published by admin on February 5, 2008 in matter. 42 Comments

We’re curious to know what’s happened to the Matter boxes in the few days since they were delivered. We’d love to hear from you about what you’ve done with your box and where it is now.You can join the Matterbox group on flickr where you can post a picture and a description of where it is now and what’s happened to the contents.Or you can tell us here…

inside the matter box: the Pilot box (February 08)

Published by admin on February 2, 2008 in Uncategorized. 47 Comments

Matter was always an idea with a clear purpose–to create a vehicle for the creation of real, physical objects that communicate ideas and feelings and that people feel good when they get them. From my point of view in putting it together, I’m thrilled to say that the reality of the very first manifestation of this idea has thoroughly met my expectations.

 

 

The simplicity of the idea belies the work and creativity that’s gone into getting Matter this far, and the list of people who’ve helped it along its way is as impressive as it is as long. To everyone who’s given me a helping hand, thank you indeed. Here’s a quick run-down of what’s in the very first edition of Matter, along with a little back-story. Let me know what you think…

Sony Ericsson. Iris was the first agency to get onto the Matter trail with the Music Monster, a cult-ish figure that represents your personal musical desires that becomes real in its own straw-lined packing case complete with bite-marked brochure. And after an extended amount of will-they, won’t-they anxiety, Andy Smith made it happen.

Stolichnaya Vodka. Peter Riley at 20:20 was unwavering in his willingness to join the Matter trial and created this intricate and ornate enamel lapel badge along with a miniature guide to Russian cultural icons. The badge is a jewel and the tiny format brochure is perfect in its red-stitched execution.

Nintendo Wii. Conceptual thinking guns-for-hire Rebecca and Mike helped with the idea for this, which turned out to be easier to make than expected. The defining characteristic of the games console is perfectly communicated in a single, simple object–a Wii wristband.

EVO Magazine. The original idea was to create the ‘EVO Apex Finder’, a self-adhesive road stud similar to ones they use in Motorway contra-flows which would have allowed car enthusiasts to mark their favourite turn-in point on any corner. However, social-responsibility issues this raised their head and the idea was swiftly abandoned in favour of a game of EVO trumps which more accurately reflect EVO’s position as an unrivaled source of automotive knowledge.

Original Source. This item received the most divided opinion, being the most used and the least creative item in the box. Matter has obvious value as a sampling channel, though we’re very careful about limiting it to samples that are suitable and genuinely valuable, like this one.

Virgin Atlantic. Martin Muir at Start Creative helped secure this contribution–an award-winning calendar about how the airline’s changing–and even pursuaded the client to offer Matter recipients an exclusive invitation to use the new Upper Class Lounge on their next Virgin Atlantic flight. Nice.

Nissan. Daren Kay at TMW brought his team together to create this item to prompt people to think harder about the Nissan brand. It’s brave in that it’s about the Nissan brand and not any specific model. A set of crayons that are really soap tell a story about how Nissan’s not what you expect.

Sony Bravia. Paul Beier at Iris helped bring this idea to reality just minutes before the client disappeared for three weeks. Pots of Play-Doh allow people to create their own version of the award-winning Rabbit TV commercials.

Jordans Cereal and Penguin Books. Mark Waites at Mother has long been interested in Matter and his colleagues Jo Forel and Iskra Tsaneva came up with the idea for Cereal Poetry, which turns breakfast into a new literary occasion–because everybody always reads what’s on the cereal box.

 

 

There were many ideas that came and went and fell by the wayside, such is the way of these things. Thanks once more to everyone who helped me with this including all those poor individuals who let me loose with my overly-excited presentation.

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