Run on Toast

Data visualisation rules

 

This is a subject getting increasing conversation time on various blogs. One of the consistent challenges is to avoid visualisation for the sake of it.

In thinking about our rule set I like very much Manuel Lima's information visualisation manifesto:

1. "Form follows function
2. Start with a question
3. Interactivity is key
4. Cite your source
5. The power of narrative
6. Do not glorify aesthetics
7. Look for relevancy
8. Embrace time
9. Aspire to knowledge
10. Avoid gratuitous visualisations"

However in avoiding Lima's points 6 & 10 Edward R Tufte is still the authoritative source. Below is Tufte's own manifesto quoted from his excellent book page 13 - the second bullet encapsulates it all really.

"Excellence in statistical graphics consists of complex ideas communicated with clarity, precision and efficiency. Graphical displays should

• show the data
• induce the viewer to think about the substance rather than about methodology, graphic design, the technology of graphic production, or something else
• avoid distorting what the data have to say
• present many numbers in a small space
• make large data sets coherent
• encourage the eye to compare different pieces of data
• reveal the data at several levels of detail, from a broad overview to the fine structure
• serve a reasonably clear purpose: description, exploration, tabulation or decoration
• be closely integrated with the statistical and verbal descriptions of a data set.

Graphics reveal data".

The image above is one of my favourites from his fantastic collection of visualisations - Napoleon's march into Russia. The brown line is proportionate in size to his army as he begins his campaign. The advance of the army is shown across a map of Russia. The black line is Napoleon's retreat with date and temperature plotted - revealing with great articulation the human tragedy.

I just called to say, 'nice suntan'...

Those intriguing bods at Skype have put a guy called Rob in the middle of a Spanish desert, with a phone box...

Check out the site, built by The Viral Factory, here: http://phoneboxexperiment.com/ - watch the intro video, and then you'll see a live feed where you can watch Rob on the phone, all day, every day.

Call him if yourself if you like: +34 951 055 675 (you're supposed to use Skype, but any phone will work)

If this feels oddly voyeuristic in a sickening 'Reality TV' way, that's because it is. But for some reason it's oddly watchable. Perhaps it's because his one-sided chats prompt you to fill in the gaps yourself and in some way feel part of the conversation.

I also think it says something about the credibility of the Skype brand that I wasn’t even cynical about this for a second. If they couldn’t have done it, they wouldn’t have faked it.

Cheers to Hello You Creatives for the heads up.

Love as always,

The Word Monkey

Having a Pop...

So NABS are hosting their annual "Sounds Familiar Music Quiz" on 2nd Dec 2009. And at £600 a team (includes entry to the post-quiz disco, of course), it should be a fairly successful fundraising event for them.

Better still, Christian & Andy over at DDB have come up with this terrific little campaign to get more teams to take part:

Luckily, there'll be a drum solo round.

I don't think you're allowed to sleep over at Jerusalem Bar though.

Great line. I think this might be my favourite one.

Lovely Art Direction. Glad they're having a pop at themselves too.

Everybody loves cheese. Especially song cheese. A DLKW specialty.

 

There's something a little bitter about this one. I like it.

The campaign seems to be getting a lot of blog coverage. Which, even if it wasn't intended, is a great way to amplify the tiny budget NABs will have had. Though I'm surprised it didn't provide a link to the facebook event, which is decidedly lacking in attendees at the moment. Why many creatives don't think about these things is beyond me.

Now for the big question. Will Rapier be taking part? Well, there's a pretty diverse range of music playing in the Creative Dept right now - on one side, we have Lily Allen and MGMT, while on the other we have some classic Queen and Phil Collins. I prefer a bit of 80s cheese myself. So we might have quite a team already. Stay tuned folks.

Love as always,
The Word Monkey

P.S. Sorry about the awful punnage in the headline. But it made me smile.

Belgian Bus Brilliance

Oh, hello there. This is my first post for the Rapier blog and it's a proper cracker.

Belgian public transport company De Lijn wanted to announce its increased night bus schedule. Not a terribly exciting brief, you have to admit. But some bloody clever creatives over at Duval Guillaume had this cheeky little idea for a guerilla campaign:

 

See-through ads hijack event flyposters in the city. The beautifully simple line reads: “Whatever you’re planning tonight, plan your transport too. Take the nightbus.” Bosh. Done.

Of course (as one of the other Word Monkeys here pointed out), if this were to run in the UK, the line would probably have read, "Whatever you're planning tonight, plan to travel home with knife-wielding, vomiting murderers. Take the night bus."

Looking forward to posting more stuff soon.

Love The Word Monkey

Projections

If anyone was walking past Waterloo station last night, they would have seen this (forgive the amateur photography):


A rather spectactular example of Projection Advertising's new AdTrace technology. A digital 3-D map means that the projections can animate over the actual features of the building, rather than just project a static image a la Gail Porter/Houses of Parliament. Waterloo station is going to be a commercially available site from November 5th. It will be interesting to see which other sites get the AdTrace treatment, and how brands make use of it.

Streets are watching

Came across this nice adshell by Amnesty International. I'm always excited about advertising that reacts to or is part of the environment. I think you could so some really interesting things with posters that know if you are looking at it or not.


via I Believe in Advertising

Direct line to my heart

I got a new car a few month ago and insured it with Direct Line. Just before Christmas an envelope arrived containing a slim, nicely produced  booklet of offers. It had my name printed on the front and almost every page had an element of personalisation: my first name on a key ring, my surname on a luggage tag, my car registration on a license plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing amazing or new about that, you might say. Indeed, making free with one’s name and personal details like that might be considered a bit tacky. But for me, when I got this piece of DM, the personalisation struck a chord because I had received superb personalised service from this company. In my mind that gave them permission to communicate with me in a personalised way.

 

When Royal Mail lost my insurance documents (along with at least half of all post that’s ever sent to me!), I was devastated that I would have to wait until another set was sent before I could pick up my new car. I explained this to the person in the insurance call centre more out of self-pity than any hope that they could help, but to my surprise they told me that since I lived relatively near the Direct Line HQ, they could arrange for the documents to be ready for me to pick up from the Reception desk there in a couple of hours. In my eagerness I got there in under 2 hours and they weren’t ready, but an extremely friendly receptionist went to hunt for them in the bowels of the building and offered me a cup of tea while I waited. When she gave me the documents she produced a book that I had to sign, which made me realise that this was not a unique favour, but something that they probably do for new customers on a discretionary basis. Not bad for a company which is all about phone and internet customer interactions!

 

So, given that they made me smile broadly like this…

 

 

…they were more than welcome to stick my name on a key ring and get all personal . And I will keep their offers for future reference. (As you can see from this picture the registration number of my car really is the same as that in the DM. So is the colour, but I’m guessing that’s a coincidence!)

 

The moral of this rather involved tale is not rocket science. We all know that good service and random acts of kindness engender loyalty and help with cross-sell. But the important thing to remember is that personalised communications in particular tend to work best when directed at customers who want to have a personal interaction with your brand. Obviously, this piece of DM was not targeted at me because of my experience at HQ, but it’s enough that they aim to be that kind of company in the way that they serve customers. A similar communication from Royal Mail would have made me froth at the mouth with rage, but I shall keep my ranting on that subject to myself!