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The rock, or what looked like a secure rock, crumbled beneath my left foot and sent me on a one way ticket to ouch town not 1.5 metres away from the cliff edge in Kleftiko. The pair of shorts and sandals I was wearing provided little protection from my now ruby red sunburnt body as I made the horizontal decent that landed me straight on my stomach, crushing the bottle of water I was clutching like an airbag and cracking the lens of my digital camera which was slung across my neck in a waterproof bag...waterproof so I could swim across the gap between the security of the white sandy beach and the highest accessible cliff face.

Milos is an island south of Greece, accessible by a 32 seater plane from Athens and offers some of the most diverse geology in town...not that I'm into rocks or anything.

The reason for my trip was one of peace and reflection, so naturally I decided to go sea kayaking for two days never having used the particular muscles in my arms required to paddle the two 17km routes to some of the most breath taking sites my eyeballs have witnessed...well...I did use them that one time when I did the Mexican wave at Twickenham...Nigeria beat France, it was awesome.

So, back to Milos. I arrived on a bright sunny Wednesday afternoon. The man I was to meet would later be known as the incredible hulk after his tale of an 11hr kayaking trip around the entire island...his non-comic book name was 'Rod', yes, like hot rod.

Rod owns a kayaking business in Milos called…well…Sea Kayak Milos and has been running it for over 10 years with his wife and three kids in tow, best part, he's Australian. That means no hand gestures, polite smiley faces and nods that mean I don't know what the hell you're talking about.

He’s an exceptional host, having been a Geologist and living on the island for so long makes him one of the most capable guides I think you could find...besides, being an Aussie means he let me jump off cliff faces and explore caves like nobody’s business.

My time in Milos gave me exactly what I wanted: adventure, good food, rest and awesome moments of inner peace while you overlook a crystal blue ocean from a secluded beach or watch dads and their sons fishing in a village miles away from civilization.

Here's what you need to know:

• Stay in Adamas - it's the centre of attention and you could throw a rock and probably hit a bar, restaurant, hotel or grocery store

• Hire a car - kayaking and staying in Adamas will give you a lot, but having a car you can take on dirt roads in the middle of nowhere will get you so much more

• Bring a girlfriend/boyfriend - this place is made for 'sleepy time' and I’m surprised there weren’t beach police ensuring lovers weren’t doing what lovers do best on the secluded beachs only accessible by boat or kayak

• Bring sunglasses, shorts and tshirts - it's all you need, even if you're kayaking with the Rodster

• Come anytime between end of May and August - the perfect temperature for swimming in the transparent ocean

• Get a good pair of waterproof shoes - if you want to explore it might mean swimming and climbing over rocky terrain, and unless you're a dutchman from Pretoria...your soles are gonna take a beating

• Don't assume rocks are solid - scaling the cliffs in Kleftiko I made the logical assumption and fell...twice. The first of which was rather fun, a little jump into the ocean...not so much for the second face planting stomach dive near the cliff face

In conclusion: Go, kayak, be awesome.

 

Kayaking - €180 for two day trips and two nights’ accommodation at their B&B which is run by Rod’s wife

Getting there - €220 total flights from UK – Athens – Milos and back again

Getting around - €40 total cost for 2 days car rental, they also have quad bikes, scooters and dune buggies! I couldn’t get one of those 

Food & drink - €9 average meal price and €4 for a 500ml beer

Siteseeing - €0 once you go kayaking and rent a car, everything worth seeing is free and simple to get to

 

Some time ago I compiled a rather entertaining presentation about Nando's and some of the incredible work they've done in the marketing world since walking the old lady into a street pole. (See the end of this post)

Well, last week Nando's did it again, releasing the "meal for 6 campaign" featuring Bob Mugabe and some of his buddies, including PW Botha, Amin, Hussein and Guddafi.

The ad itself is hilarious, and a little controversial, which we know to be a good mix for social success. What I loved about the campaign was the fact that Nando's could probably have stood back and watched the views come in, but they still went out to handpicked bloggers around South Africa with a guy dressed as Robert Mugabe holding a Nando's USB and a meal voucher. Nando's do an incredible job of leveraging WOM in South Africa, and later today @Whatleydude should be sharing a few more thoughts on that over at 1000heads.com...so will keep you updated. 

 

 

A great man once said…

In a world of buzz words, powerpoints, spreadsheets and metrics, it’s important to keep in mind that even someone in a position of power, whether that’s a client or an agency, may still find this marketing world a little daunting…or just plain confusing at times.

The information is important we know, but is it really that hard to “simplify” what you’re trying to say, put it into a “story” and make it easy for people to understand? It’s called “Storyselling”, and if you’d like a fun read I suggest checking out this post by Johnny B. Truant

Think about it this way. Has anyone ever said "That's way too easy for me to understand"?

No, of course not, but what you might hear are things like:

Marketing is all about psychology, and I find it fascinating that so many people just don’t grasp the basic idea of how humans behave. Yes, you might be brilliant at coming up with an idea that gets people buying your products, but if you don’t sell it to the man, or lady, who’s got the power to make it happen…it falls into the dark halls of mediocrity where great ideas go to die.

People get bored, sad, angry, jealous, annoyed, confused…we understand this, which is why we find marketing so fascinating, because every day we put ourselves in the minds of our consumers and try create inspiring campaigns. My question is this, why in the world wouldn’t we show the same kind of empathy towards our clients, agencies or employees?

Empathise, be brutal in your simplicity and sell a story…it’s pretty damn simple. And again, I’d like to ask the question – Has anyone ever said:

“This is too easy for me to understand”?

 

Haha...I asked my old boss from Thunk!, now 21Tanks, if he had any photos of me while I was "working" at the office for a blog post I hope to get written up over the next week or so...

Needless to say, hair aside, this was a day in the life of working for @RichMulholland and @donpackett :)

So yesterday, I finally got around to seeing the Power of making exhibition at the V&A. The King Kong installation made completely out of coat hangers was the only pic I was allowed to take unfortunately. The exhibition is free, so if you're board one Sat or Sun and in London...I'd definitely suggest checking it out.

Highlight for me was the alphabet work by Dalton Ghetti

Aah...those days...the days when you have a moment of clarity. When your friends look at you while holding their beer and say..."that sounds stupid dude"

I'm a pretty retarded person when it comes to pursuing things that truly interest me. Not sure if it's the lack of motivation, or the realisation that I'm just poking at a bee hive I'm inevitably going to get stuck on my head.

Have you ever wanted to play an instrument, pick up a new language, learn how to draw like Todd McFarlane, or even Seth MAcFarlane for that matter? Well, me too buddy.

The point is, when ever I find myself inspired by someone, or something, I tend to do my excited puppy dance and run around like I'm trying to find something to piss on. I never sit still for a second, take in the scenery and then find something suitable to lay my claim against...no...I just run around thinking everything's great! Ooh, look at that shiny toy! Is that a cat I just saw through the window! I'm pretty sure I heard the biscuit tin open! Tennis ball!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

No, as much as I hate the damn creatures, you need to be a cat when it comes to kicking as at hobbies. Even though an owner bought you, raised you since you were a kitty, threw your poop away, hit the dog for chasing you and introduced you to that fine cuisine cats know o so well...you're still a cat, and you'd probably face-five your master with your claw-paw if he ever did something that pissed you off. You're independent, and proud!

It sounds strange, but lately I've been thinking it's independence at the root of my hobby failure, and possibly faliure in other facets of life. Don't get me wrong, failure's important, but sometimes we should forget the bullshit and people around us, sit back, relax and think what the hell "I" "actually" (that's right...double quote baby) enjoy doing.

Once you find things you think are interesting, turn it into a hobby. People stumble across hobbies and talents all the time, whether it's a friend who took you salsa dancing or your mom smacking your hands while you were playing chopstix on the piano like a Trex...you learn a lot, but you excel in things that you find personally relevant to where you are in life. Right now, I'd probably roundhouse kick someone if they tried to teach me about archeaology...funny...because when I was 12 I used to run around the garden wearing a crap hat whipping a piece of rope at everything I saw like I was Indiana "faster than a boulder" Jones.

Yip..."you grow out of it", "you get older" etc... My theory...you see and experience things that simply change your perspective of "cool". I still think Heman's cool, and my dad said "Son, if I told you to put your heman sheets back on your bed at 27, would you do it?"...Yes! Yes I would dad...because it's retro :)

Anyways...I digress...Jesus...digress is an understatement judging by the fact that I can't see the top of this post any more. The reason I've selected the three challenges you see below is fairly simple...these are things that interest me "now". I don't know much about any of them, but feel that if I threw myself into these things, spent a little time researching and getting to know them for who they really are as hobbies...I might just come out of this whole thing a little smarter than the guy writing this today. So, without further adieu, let me explain to you what my three challenges are, and why I've decided to drop kick these puppies over the posts...

"Mic me up" challenge

You guessed it: Public speaking! Sounds ridiculous, but a wise man, and a wise lady, once told me that I should just give it a crack. So...why the hell not? I've spoken in front of people three times in my life now...and you know what...it's pretty awesome when you actually know what the topic is and you've thrown more time into it than you've throw into your own pillow.

I'd like to become a speaker of some sort, and the greatest man of them all once said "Don't bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.", so Mr.Ogilvy...one day my goal is to stand on the stage of TED and babble my rubbish to hundreds! Or ten if it's a TEDx talk...either way really.

"Unleash the pen" challenge

So, I've actually got a few dorky poems and a couple random stories on a secret website I've decided to make public today due to the fact that writing is now part of my challenge. Yes, it's not the kind of stuff that would make Poe, Elliot, Wilde or Twain jealous, but, it's an atempt at putting thoughts into words that sort of make sense to me at the time. Anyway, over the next three months I hope to write at least one (maybe two) new stories over on that site, and by God...they better be awesome future Riccardo Webb! The idea of writing stories is one thing, but looking at Sarah Kay I can't help think...hey, what's the harm in trying to read those stories out loud? Might even help with the first challenge if the writing isn't too shit.

"Art master" challenge

This one is going to be tricky...the idea to create a work of art within three months. Big ideas, little talent and no knowledge of art what so ever. What chance do I have? Every chance in the world I think. It's art...I could slap a microphone to a bedroom lamp and call it "Light mic" and be hailed as a genius...or an idiot...either way it's mine, and you can't have it.

So, those are my challenges...anything you could do in the next three months?

Let me intro this post with a damn cool video recently released by the very company you're gonna hear all about

So, sometime ago...I sold a car to this dude - Richard "The Rockstar" Mulholland.

Richard arrived on our showroom floor wearing shorts, sneakers, spikey hair and was covered in tattoo's, as you've obviously just seen...not your average Lexus client. I ended up selling Richard the most expensive car we had on our showroom floor, but more than that, got a long with the guy, because he's a rockstar.

Due to our mutual appreciation for fine cars and service, which I think is the reason Richard tried to get me to work for his company...I said no...then said no again when he got me an interview at Investec...finally, I came to my senses and decided to join Rich...! in his new venture called Thunk!

Best part of all, I got to work for this dude too - Don "The really, really, ridiculously good looking" Packett:

Needless to say, working for these guys led me to do, experience, talk about and see amazing things I had never heard of before...or never thought of actually doing:

Thunk! The company I worked for, with walls painted by these very hands! Has now become something much easier for people to repeat when you say it to them...and something far more awesome :)

Introducing...21 Tanks!

 

The way "they" explain what the company does is simple enough:

"When a group of smart people are struggling with an innovation based problem, it's never a lack of knowledge that's holding them back - it's a lack of perspective. We sell perspective!"

 

The way "I" explain what the company does is a little more flattering:

"A group of rockstars, dedicated to being on the forefront of business, tech, social and marketing innovation. They take all the random crap they constantly, and consistently, read, hear, see or do...and package it into an idea that can help companies solve a variety of problems. These are people who know nothing about your business, but know a lot about what works in the real world. Having someone who isn't engrained in your company politics and targets, but is dedicated to solving problems and innovating the way businesses are run, treat their employees or talk to their consumers is an invaluable asset for any company to have.

An educated outsiders perspective...that's what they sell!"

 

UPDATE: PICS JUST IN!

That's right, if my words weren't enough to convince you...here's a glimpse at their war room! ;)