Ideas, provocation, irreverence and news. Edition 1.

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Dan Monteith, our Client Services Director, is one of our new startersDan’s strong advertising background includes consulting work for VW, Audi, P&G, Bosch and Flymo, plus a few years working on Husqvana in Sweden, where he also helped establish an ad agency’s consumer division. Before this, he worked at London ad agencies including Lowe and St. Luke’s, on clients such as Stella Artois, Whitbread and the BBC World Service.

Right now, Dan’s hard at work on a piece of global FMCG business, so he’s spending a lot of time in Tokyo and wrestling with the rudiments of Japanese. His weekends are as full as his working week, starting with Friday night curry, then Saturday Morning Kitchen, and fi nishing with a spot of Sunday rugby.

No, we’re not being rude about our new people; we mean that all our new starters get their own personalised mugs, decorated with a self-portrait. And with thirty newbies swelling our ranks globally, that means thirty new mugs in our kitchen cupboards.

Ellie NussCultural Junkie

Dan MonteithArmchair Rugby Player

Helen CaleSerial Cupcake Baker

Michael DyeCould have been

a footballer!

Julia SteeleMile Muncher

Rhian JamesOld China Hand!

Jessica DuncanThe Little One

Ben BrearsNBA Prospect

Katie WhartonCrafty Candle Maker

Kingsley LuHistory Geek

Erika LenziBlogosphere Lover

Marilyn TjitraFrugalista

Ben HarrisAmateur Art Dealer

Jamie SaundersonCompulsive exaggerator

Ruth WoodAmateur Knitter

Wendy PearceHaberdasherer

Lee ForsterFantasy Football King

Debs Stafford-WatsonPermaculture Apprentice

Amanda CraggBird Lover

Bryn BerryColoured Beard

Polly SandsPolka Dot Queen

Steph OglesbyFancy Dress Maker

Brittany MesolellaCoupon Enthusiast

Blair TriplettAh, Mr Blair

Anne KernahanAmateur Sleuth

Keely JackmanThe Ginger One

Paul DurrantSpin King

Nick AdamsBBQ Pro

Rebecca DeereLady Archer

Tony CharltonValiant driving, coffee drinking, globe trotter

Kate BrownBallerina

Peter AldousFront Row Forward

Sam GillPADI Divemaster

With so many brands demanding consumers’ attention, sensory triggers can help make a connection quickly. Elmwood’s Simon Preece looks at the theory, and how the practice worked for Andrex. Products like toilet paper and cleaning products are selected within three seconds or less. So how can brands like Andrex make a meaningful connection in such a short space of time? Part of the answer, we believe, lies in the use of sentic triggers, sensory cues that aff ect our subconscious.

4%Sales increase of Andrex core range

17%Sales increase of Andrex premium range

+32%Improvement in brand bonding

­ e science of senseSentic triggers generate emotion and action by bypassing the conscious part of our brains.

If you see any kind of relationship between two shapes, be it protective, caring or love, you’ve just experienced a sentic trigger.

Sentic triggers occur widely in nature. Cusp shapes signal fear and caution. You don’t need to be told that a thorn is sharp or a shark fi n means ‘Get out of the water’ – it’s instinctive. On the other hand, there’s nothing threatening about a peach. Curves suggest softness, comfort and safety.

Eyes also trigger strong reactions – when someone looks at you, you look back at them to understand why. In nature, animals look at each other for one of four reasons: they want to fi ght, they want to feed, they fear or they fancy mating.

Interesting stuff , especially when you start applying sentic triggers to brand design.

Designed for softnessand strengthWe applied sentic triggers to Andrex’s packaging, using cusps to frame the brand mark and get attention. We emphasised curves in the typography, window shape and in the pack structure, and introduced a gentle colour vignette and a new soft feel substrate to enhance perceptions of softness and strength. � e famous Andrex puppy played his part, attracting customers with a ‘buy me, take me home’ gaze.

Where sentic triggers have informed the new pack design, this in turn has brought measurable results.

Design Eff ectiveness Awards Gold – AnchorSilver – Bob’s BittersSilver – Make Mine a Builder’sBronze – Carman’s

Graphic Design USA’s American Package Design Awards Walmart CanopyElmwood Tin Can Mailer

Roses Creative AwardsGold – People Can (Corporate Literature and writing)Silver – People Can (Identity)Finalist – Make Mine a Builder’s Xmas Cards

Design Week AwardsFinalist – Hall & Rose

New York FestivalsFinalist – People CanFinalist – Hall & RoseFinalist – � e Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town

Pentawards Gold – Ann Summers Rampant RabbitsBronze – PZ Cussons Radiant

Fresh AwardsGold – People CanSilver – Royal Mail Bronze – NordStar

Cannes Design LionsSilver – Wearhouse

Cream Awards, Yorkshire Grand Prix – People CanPeople Can (Craft and Corporate Literature)GressinghamNordstarCommendations: Make Mine a Builder’s (Direct Mail and Outdoor Advertising)Angus McDonald

Yorkshire Post Excellence In Business AwardsExporter of the Year

Store-walking is something we spend many working hours doing at Elmwood – from New York to London and from Singapore to Shanghai. It’s one way of keeping tabs on the latest and greatest in retail. But the fundamental truth is, if it’s already on the streets, it’s already yesterday’s idea. So what’s the next big thing?

� anks to communication technology, we live in an immediately transparent world. So if pioneers, such as Walmart founder, Sam Walton, were around today, how might they reinvent EDLP (everyday low price)? One way might be to cut out the middle-men – the store AND the warehouse – by selling product direct from the shipping container. Buying trips could be advertised online for anything from toys for Christmas to barbecues for spring, with buyers uploading live images of the products along with indicative selling prices direct to a customer base via the same site. Consumers could then purchase online, and then the container with the goods would be delivered to a nearby arena car park for pick-up. No shop, no warehouse, no colleagues. Just product

straight from the dock at the lowest cost. Maybe that’s what someone like Sam might do. If so, we have a great brand ready and waiting!

And so to Amazon. If the online world is making it tough for traditional retailers, what might pose a threat to the Amazon business model? 3D printing is one thought. It wasn’t so long ago that we took our 35mm fi lm to a high street store to get our photos printed. Today, many homes have their own colour printer hooked up to their home computer. � e next big thing is to ‘print’ products in three dimensions – and 3D printing shops are already emerging. One day, you’ll have a 3D printer in your home. In fact, you can already buy one for around $2,000 US. Just like your colour printer, which prints four colours one colour at a time, so too does a 3D printer print one layer at a time.

­ is was just one of the questions we posed at ­ e World Retail Congress back in September. By way of provocation, we also asked who the next retail game changer, following on from Amazon, might be…

All you need are the digital fi les of the object and a printer containing the relevant compounds. And here’s the scary news. In the summer of this year, the US Agricultural Agency received an application to fund the research into the printing of meat. Providing you have the right molecular compounds in the printer, you can theoretically print anything. Maybe even your Sunday Roast. 3D printing may well put a hole in the Amazon model in the same way Amazon put a hole in the high street.

­ is is an extract from a presentation given by Elmwood at the World Retail Congress in September, 2012. If you’d like to see a full copy of this paper, please contact Emma at emma.stapleton@elmwood.com

3D printed sculpture by Joshua Harker

Melbourne: ­ e Lui Bar Located on the epic 55th fl oor of the iconic Rialto building, this bar’s a real stunner. Floor to ceiling glass shows off a view that tourists used to pay for (up until 2009 it was the site of the Melbourne Observation Deck) and there’s an array of decadent chaise longues to kick back on. A tall list of tipples and exquisite nibbles tell a distinctly Australian story – from high-end ham and cheese toasties to Sherry Cobblers – giving a delightful charm to this special little bar in the sky.www.vuedemonde.com.au/the-lui-bar

Leeds: Friends of HamIt doesn’t look much from the outside, but this bar-cum-eatery is a real little gem. Huge sheets of greaseproof paper adorn the walls, detailing the speciality cheese and meat on off er that night. A cured leg of pork, trotter and all, graces the bar, and behind that, beardy barmen jostle to pour artisan beers and serve giant platters groaning with cured hams and pots of sweet, spicy relish. It’s my kind of place. � ere’s even a wooden shuffl eboard downstairs – perfect old-school entertainment.www.friendsofham.com

Natalie WoodheadHarley Augustine Tet Marti

For more thought-provoking fi nds, check our Daily Pokes. � ese bring you some of the best creative ideas from around the world. Browse through our Poke archive and sign up at: www.elmwood.com/poke www.elmwood.com

New York: Little Italy� is little Italian deli IS New York. Hell, Frank Sinatra used to go there. Inside is a typical old school deli counter, with the exception of an entire glorious wall that’s packed with morning-baked bread in all shapes and sizes. � is place is famous for two things – borderline rude service and deliciously fresh MASSIVE Italian sandwiches. Back at the offi ce, we put one on the postal scale for kicks – 2.6 lbs!!! We had a good laugh about it, but I realised something slightly troubling. I actually have fi nished one of these in a single sitting…www.parisibakery.com