RPM's Record Year

We've had a fantastic year here at RPM. Our list of achievements has ranged from winning Experiential Agency of the Year to a host of industry awards including a Sport Industry Award for Sky Ride and Diageo's European Innovation Agency of the Year. Check out just what a great year we've had through our coverage on today's C&IT news bulletin. You can read the full story here.

Stripping Back the Branding

We're intrigued by design consultancy Antrepo's latest project, which focuses on stripping familiar consumables down to basic packaging and branding. In their words, "Our latest project is about simplicity and we try to find alternate simple versions for some package samples of the international brands. We think almost every product needs some review for minimal feeling". The website presents an 'original version' of products ranging from Nutella to Cornflakes to Durex, followed by a 'simple variation' and then a very basic 'more simple variation'.

Help the Homeless

A nutrition value sticker is usually found on food packages. In 2006, advertising agency BBDO placed the sticker on rubbish bins, highlighting that some people have to eat from them. This ambient advertisement was made for helpthehomeless.com

http://www.creativecriminals.com/

Underwater Worlds

Benedetto Bufalino and Benoit Deseille have created little underwater worlds in old phone boxes. Of the project, they say, ‘With the advent of the mobile phone, the booth cabins are unused. We rediscovered this glass box to transform it into an urban aquarium full of coloured fish. This is an invitation to travel and to escape the daily city environment’. What a magical idea and a very calming piece of art to look at.

Fitness First Hijacks Receipts

Fitness First Berlin wanted to increase its numbers so decided to reach people by hijacking restaurant cash registers. When a customer's receipt was printed off, it also included the calories in the food they had eaten. Underneath this was a message from Fitness First telling them how long it would take to work off what they had consumed. The customer could then take the receipt to their nearest Fitness First to get a free training session.

RPM Reporter: MasterChef Live and The Wine Show

Admittedly, I like to watch MasterChef, but I wasn't aware of its huge following until I found myself barging through thousands of people who were filling MasterChef Live by the minute. Women in particular seemed rather giddy with excitement to catch a glimpse of John Torode and Gregg Wallace, whose dipping of spoons and 'ever so comedy' squeals of delight were sure to cause a few heart palpitations.

In the middle of The Exhibition Centre was a MasterChef branded kitchen area, in which Andi Peters (or perhaps I should now say a rather 'buffed-up' Andi P) hosted The Invention Test, which we all know so well from the show. The area was sponsored by Plenty kitchen roll, and they brought their adverts to life by using the same actor seen on the screen to come and interact with the crowds.

At various intervals, the 'Spanish' actor recreated Plenty's rather cringeworthy tagline, 'You Only Need One Sheet' by running to the aid of one of the chefs who had spilt sauce all over the counter. It was in among these over-exaggerated gestures and dodgy Spanish accent that I began to wonder if all his time at drama school had really paid off. Despite all this, Plenty did a good job of ensuring that practically everyone on stage managed to 'accidentally' spill a glass of water, causing them to take "just one sheet", which they all loudly announced as they continued to mop up the spillage. This was glaringly obvious product placement, but it did work and caused a lot of laughter among the spectators.

I went to MasterChef Live specifically to see our M&S Wine Lounge in The Wine Show, which really stood out. We'd branded the stand well, and it looked smart and engaging. During my time there, I chatted to a wine expert about the copious number of wine samples he poured for me, and I was greeted by friendly and informative BCs. Alongside the M&S Lounge, there must have been over 100 other stands full of samples and a whole host of food products ranging from spicy curry sauces, to homemade banana cake, to sesame seed ice-cream (apparently very popular in Asia, though to me it tasted slightly like watery....water).

So, all in all I left MasterChef Live feeling slightly sick from combining a whole host of rich foods within a short amount of time, but also very proud that RPM's stand stood out from the crowd. If you'd like to see more images of the M&S Wine Lounge, please check out our Flickr page here.

Movember- Sponsor RPM!!

The 'real men' of RPM are currently growing moustaches as part of the annual Movember charity fundraiser. We have 24 (and counting) competitors with a selection of styles being developed. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, and one man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that we feel passionately about and would be extremely grateful if you could make a donation of any size through our sponsorship site at http://uk.movember.com/mospace/577504.

The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programmes related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer. For more details on the impact Movember is having, please visit http://uk.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

Thank you in advance for helping us to support men's health, and please see above for week one of the tache-growing!

E.ON is on the Road

A very busy five weeks are coming up for E.ON. This week sees the start of our five-week tour of the North for the Energy Fit stand and phase two of our Talking Energy Live events that start in Birmingham this Wednesday, moving onto Manchester next week, Derby, Leeds, and finishing in Sheffield.

The Energy Fit stand is huge and equipped with some very cool features. These include the augmented reality FA Cup photography experience, a working fireplace to put your wish to Father Christmas up, competition entrees, and gift converter touch screens (type into an iPod and it will tell you what changes you can make at home to get that money back on your energy bill).

Riding on the back of the success of the first phase of events, we go live with five more Talking Energy Live events in Birmingham, Manchester, Derby, Leeds and Sheffield.

For those of you that don’t know, Talking Energy Live gives you the opportunity to question experts from E.ON, the Energy Saving Trust and the local community on how you can save energy and money, explore the new technologies available and raise the energy issues that matter to you. They are chaired and run beautifully by the one and only Philippa Forrester.

E.ON has basically realised that energy bills are only going to rise, and there is nothing any of us can do about that, but it wants to help and show you ways in which you can reduce your usage, thereby giving you cheaper bills and saving you money!

For more information and to register for any of the events, have a look at the website: www.eontalkingenergy.com/live

RPM Reporter: Standby Club

The dark and dingy archway of London Bridge’s Counter Culture Club was livened by an energetically eccentric performance from The Correspondents, whose Dubstep, Hip Hop, Jazz, Drum 'n' Bass and Funk beats were delivered with gusto, stamina and some serious sweat. Mr Bruce and Mr Chuckles have toured pretty much every festival scene this summer, headlining Bestival as well as smaller sets at Glasto, Secret Garden and Love Box, which explains why Mr Bruce can still fit into those spandex leggings he sports so well.

Bristol's finest, Parker, set things up nicely for Ninja DJ Jaguar Skills who, hidden beneath his guise, delivered a mash-up set with fierce exertion. Jaguar Skills, who recently headlined Freeze Festival, had an impressive set at The Strongbow Bowtime Bar at Isle of Wight Festival, and you can watch a clip here.

Standby Club is hosted by OurKidBrother, a talent-booking consultation and live event production company who we work with on a number of our events. Keep an eye on its website for the next event.

www.standbyclub.co.uk
www.ourkidbrother.com
http://www.twitter.com/OurKidBrother

Stella's Night Chauffeur

To celebrate the launch of Stella Artois Black, a blond Belgian premium pils that’s matured for longer to produce a richer, fuller-flavoured beer, the brand is taking its own tradition of telling stories one step further with ‘The Night Chauffeur.’ It's an interactive experience that promises to bring cinema to life; lucky ticket holders will be plunged into an intriguing world of film noir femme fatales, secret exchanges and unanswered questions while being driven around the streets of London (and back in time) in a 1960s Citroen DS. Along the way they will be thrust into what feels like the final act of a film, with an intense narrative, tales of love, loss, loyalty and regret.

So how do you get in? Purchase a pint of Stella Artois Black at one of the ten participating venues between now and the 14th, and you’ll be offered an invitation to register your interest. Once the tickets are released you’ll be sent an email asking you to choose a date and venue – but hurry, spaces are limited and on a first come, first served basis, with two available per applicant. Successful entrants will then turn up at their chosen bar (which will be transformed to bring the illusion of being in a sophisticated Nouvelle Vague film to life), where a phone will ring and the barman will call out their name. A chauffeur will pick them up, two at a time, and the nighttime journey begins…

www.urbanjunkies.com

Orange Balloonacy

Orange has kicked off its 2010 edition of Balloonacy. The award-winning campaign sends 40,000 virtual hot air balloons across 3,000 different sites online and 63 million internet miles in a mad two-week race to win a group holiday to Ibiza.

The contest kicks off on November 8th. All you have to do is simply register your balloon, and once released they float from site-to-site, picking up pace and collecting stars, entitling you to a daily prize draw entry. You can also boost the speed of your balloon by collecting nudges from your friends.

The Shave-Off Begins

Alex has always sported a long beard, so deciding to raise extra money for Movember, we all sponsored him to shave it off. Here are the results...start from bottom up.

RPM Reporter - Freeze Festival

There was a whole host of brand activity at this year's Freeze Festival, the most impressive being Nike's chill-out Lodge, Jagermeister's Ice Bar and Three Mobile's Jump OnBoard Bus. Other brands embracing experiential marketing were Vitamin Water, Desperados, ActionAid and LG Mobile.

Nike's Lodge was designed to resemble the interior and ambience of a ski lodge, with interactive games, a pool table, comfortable sofas, and computers upon which people could browse through different shoe designs. The lodge was full to the brim during the day, and looked great; Nike shoes were displayed all over the trendy interiors, which was a good use of subtle branding.

Jagermeister's Ice Bar, placed near the entrance, allowed people to buy a shot and drink it upstairs in the frosted, ice-cold bar. There was also a heated terrace upon which people were chilling out and which gave a great view of the ski ramp. Back on the floor, LG Mobile recruited photo marketing company Say Cheese to mill around throughout the festival, taking photos of groups of friends or individuals that were then instantly printed and able to be retrieved from the saycheese.co.uk website. LG also had a stand whereby friends were asked to pose in front of a faux ski backdrop and once again, after logging in online, you were able to download the photos.

Three Mobile's Jump OnBoard Bus was surrounded by a heated garden and offered you the chance to 'jump on board' and try out their new Smart Phone. The bus aims to help spread the word about the benefits of using the mobile internet on Three, and the area came equipped with DJ and waffle stand. The bus has toured festivals throughout the summer, and you can follow its progress on the Three Mobile Blog.

Desperados had a small dance arena, which had its own DJ line-up and small seating area. I wasn't overly impressed with this. There was nothing that particularly set it apart from any other music-related brand activity, and it certainly didn't compare to the Strongbow Bowtime Bar! Something tells me I'm somewhat biased though, and perhaps the budget was limited. I still felt they could do more with the entertainment aspect to it. Perhaps some live French bands would have been more engaging? Yes, Desperados is actually French, not Mexican!

Last but not least, ActionAid was continuing its 'Bollocks To Poverty' tour, which has previously been seen at Global Gathering, by asking people to pose in front of their faux NMH (No More Hunger) magazine background holding up anti-poverty banners. The photos are then able to be downloaded online. Bollocks To Poverty is ActionAid's youth arm; in their words, "We want you to ditch the guilt and say bollocks to poverty by doing something you love. Whether it’s through music, art, activism or shopping, there’s loads of ways to say bollocks to poverty."

All round there was some good brand activity keeping people engaged, on their feet and immersed in each brand.

Movember - RPM's Big Shave-Off is Here

All of RPM's bold, brave, bearded men, including the entire board, have decided to embrace Movember by having an official shave-off at the RPM offices this morning in preparation for a month-long moustache-growing.

Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men's health issues, in particular prostate and testicular cancer, and began in Melbourne, Australia in 2003. The trend came to the UK officially in 2006, and last year saw its challenge to bring back the moustache raise more than 25 million globally.

So, which style will you choose? Check out the website for more details.

Starbucks Goes Digital

Starbucks customers in the US can now get more than just a 600 calorie Venti White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped cream, blueberry muffin and The New York Times when they step into their local branch. Uniting with Yahoo and their original WI-FI network, the coffee chain have launched their own Digital Network, which means that as customers nuzzle down into the green cozy armchairs, they are now provided with a whole host of free services such as News, iTunes and the Bookish Reading Club.

A link with job sites as well as career blogs and tips are also available. The network will be site specific, and a neighbourhood channel will bring relevant local content via Foursquare, Patch and Zagat. Starbucks's Vice President of Digital Ventures Adam Brotman, discussed Yahoo with Mashable, saying: “They're so strong in the three areas we knew we needed help with -- technology, content and search. They seemed excited by the local and unique nature of the Starbucks Digital Network.”

Not everyone sees this launch as a positive though. Read some of the debates here.

The Pop Up Shop and The Chewing Gum Factory

Although the heading of this blog sounds a little like the title to a modern age marketing fairytale, the above are just two of some of the many unique events soon to be held in London. Events enthusiasts listen carefully!

The first, is a pop-up book making shop created by Blurb, the creative publishing and marketing platform. From the 3-14th of November in the heart of the capital, Blurb will enable anyone to create, publish, share and sell professional quality books ranging from photography and fashion, to blog and fundraising. Blurb customer service professionals will be on hand to demo Blurb bookmaking, and a range of Blurb books will also be on display.

A world away from book making is The Chewing Gum Factory, currently being built by eccentric food architects Bombas & Parr in Whiteleys Shopping Centre. The group specialise in mastering what they call 'spectacular' food experiences through working with cutting edge technology; think Heston Blumenthal meets Salvador Dali if you're stuck for visuals.

Visitors will be invited to choose and combine 200 familar and unusual flavour of gum including Hendricks Gin and Tonic, curry and beer yeast! There's 40,000 possible flavours to tickle the taste buds and the factory is open from midday to 6pm, 25-31 October. Tickets will be availble to purchase on the day Whiteleys Shopping Centre, Bayswater, and are priced at £2.50.

Halloween Hairdos

Stuck for a halloween outfit? Bleach hair salon in Dalston is offering dip-dying, white-outing, and crazy-colouring to the store for a Halloween special. Check out the 'Dalston Chainsaw Massacre' menu including 'Cheryl Troll', 'Lady Carcass' and 'Taylor Monster' and get your nails, done too, all for £50.

Diet Coke Boudoir

Coca Cola have teamed up with cult celebrity jewellery designer Johnny Rocket to launch a Diet Coke Crystal Collection which kicked off in a pop-up workshop in Selfridges last week. The wrokshop, called ‘The Diet Coke Crystal Customisation Boudoir’ was supported by a Facebook campaign, using the brand’s "Love it light" page.

The bottles will be on sale in the Selfridges food hall for £1.50 each. Customers also have the option to pay £5 in the pop-up workshop to create their own bespoke bottles.

Bird-vertising

Bird-vertising took off at The Ryder Cup this year as Betfair recruited a flock of eagles and hawks to fly mini banners of support for Team Europe over the Celtic Manor course.

Stills were then taken of the birds in flight, with messages tied to their ankles, such as ‘get in the hole,’ and ‘watch the birdie.’

It's an interesting approach to say the least, although I can imagine the brewing 'birds v billboards' debate ruffling a few feathers!

Pop Up Parties-The Indesit Party Laundrette

Indesit embraced the latest US trend for pop-up parties in obscure locations through the creation of the Indesit Party Laundrette that ran from the 15th-17th October.

This very unique, very kitch party invited people to 'Get tipsy, get your groove on and get the laundry done' and you could literally chuck in your dirty socks and party on until the cycle was done.

The Indesit Party Launderette was launched via Facebook, and the page has since acquried 2,800 fans. Although this idea is a good one for attracting a trendy East London crowd, who did turn up in their masses, perhaps a more direct approach would have been more impactful for the brand.

Lumacoustics & Natwest

Tim Williams from Lumacoustics (the brains behind the interactive graffiti wall seen recently on Dragon's Den) sent me over this case study, in which they teamed up with M&C Saatchi to create an engaging brand experience.

Natwest, the client, were looking to engage 11-18 year olds and Lumacoustics were asked to provide an innovative way for them to create their own personalised debit cards and apply for a Natwest account. A customised version of the graffiti wall was installed, upon which students could create their own card design. These were printed internally and given as a take-away for each visitor, along with information about opening a Natwest account.

The image was also uploaded in real-time to the NatWest website where the user could order a real debit card with their own design on it.

RPM REPORTER: THE LONDON RESTAURANT AWARDS

Spitalfields Market played host to the London Restaurant Awards last night; a ceremony to celebrate the diversitiy of London Chefs, restaurants and cuisine served up within all 33 boroughs of the capital.

Food was prepared on site by enthusiastic chefs, who offered an array of samples and tasters for all to enjoy. Exhibitors included Wahaca, Delice De France and Street Kitchen, and Pizza Express chefs were also on hand kneading and spinning dough through the crowds, who were drawn to the slabs of sizzling pizza handed out.

Drinks were also a plenty, with champagne poured freely and some classy Zacappa sampling. The latter was distributed by two smartly dressed men, who took you through the background to the drink, the right drinking occassion and handed out a smart Zacappa leaflet. This was a good event to carry out this kind of sophisticated spirit sampling. Full of food experts and high profile restauranteurs, there seemed to be an interest in this after dinner spirit.

Foodie Tom Parker Bowles hosted the evening and I even spotted Masterchef's John Terode, who took it upon himself to crack open a bottle of champage which he claimed for the evening!

RPM REPORTER: Diageo's Cocktail Bar

I went to check out Diageo's elegant cocktail bar in Selfridges on Sunday, designed specifically to celebrate London Cocktail Week. The bar sits on the men's floor and provides a relaxed yet chic environment to ditch the shopping bags and indulge in some fine spirits. The spacious bar is equipped with cocktail experts, who take you through a week of cocktail making classes and sessions, designed to educate, involve and excite the consumer. Each day, a certain spirit is selected and consumers can enjoy a range of different flavoured drinks and mixes.

Martin Swims Gibraltar Straight!

We understand how important it is to stay motivated and in touch with the latest trends. So we offer any full-time RPM staff member the opportunity to 'stretch the boundaries' by undertaking a new experience that will develop them in a new way. Each month, a fund of £500 is avaliable and may be granted to help them fulfil an ambition.

Right at this moment, Martin Barron, one of our Junior Art Directors, has chosen to swim the Gribaltar Straight. I know what you're all thinking......is he mad?!

Quite simply, yes.

In preparation, Martin has had to put on the pounds to fight the freezing water temperatures as well as completing rigorous training. I'll be tweeting on his progress. Best of luck Martin- swim swim swim!!

Experiential Marketing Is On The Rise!

Well what d'you know, Experiential Marketing is on the rise! From our clients and potential new ones we've spoken to, there's been a high demand for the need to engage consumers with an emotional, long-lasting connection. Happy to help!

The World's Largest Beach Towel

Tropical Beer created the world's largest beach towel to promote the 'sharing' of a beer experience in The Canary Islands. The towel set a world record and users were able to use social media to register their place on it via a grid system. At first this idea seemed rather laughable, but the press reach was absolutely massive and it generated some great PR- so hands up to them!

Smart City Dressing In Today's Metro!

Our City Dressing Specialists, Smart City Dressing, have been working on a project in Redcar, Teeside, to revamp the area with the intention of bringing in business. The project includes the development of a virtual restaurant, cafe, furniture shop and boutique.

Smart City Dressing's core products include retail window dressing and shop front graphics, interactive light projections, lamp post banners, city centre flagpoles, outdoor freestanding banner systems, city gateways, light installations, building dressing and projection.

RPM REPORTER: GHOST STORIES

At RPM, we love a good experience; and what better than a experience so profound, it promises to set your whole body into a constant tremble, forcing your lungs to secrete the loudest, most spine tingling scream.

Oh, and all for at least 80 minutes?

This was not a brand experience (albeit it would have made a great one), more the promise of terrifying play 'Ghost Stories' at The Lyric Theatre, directed by The League Of Gentleman's master of the macabre Jeremy Dyson.

The Marketing behind this play is fantastic. I was genuinely scared simply by entering the website. 'Are you brave enough to enter?' it asks, and I hesitantly clicked to continue. In true blare-witch style, none of the play's content was revealed. Instead of the usual plot summary and cast synopsis, I was faced with eerie music and a film clip of the audience's reaction which I couldn't stop myself playing over and over again. Boy did that have an effect.

The actual play didn't fail to live up to the hype. Before the show had even started, the theatre lights were flickering dimly and people couldn't stop gossiping about their own ghost stories. Even women in the toilet queue were telling ghostly tales and I couldn't help but wonder if this was yet another clever Marketing ploy.

Throughout the play, smells of bleach and dry ice were pumped throughout the theatre adding to the chilly atmosphere and loud, unnerving sounds were also played in between scenes. I know you want me to, but I won't reveal anything about the actual play. The cast in fact request that you don't tell the secrets of Ghost Stories. All I will say, is that this is a theatrical experience like no other, and if you like being scared, it's a must see.

Johnson & Johnson

Westifeld never fails to keep us entertained, and I'm not talking about the shopping! One member of our RPM team walked past to see these three human beauties posed on a billboard to advertise Johnson & Johnson moisturizer.

SKY 3D at The Ryder Cup

Despite the rain pouring down at this weekend's Ryder Cup, our polished Sky 3D Prism stood tall, drawing queues of intrigued consumers. All who entered inside were treated to the high-tech world of Sky 3D. The Prism continues to tour around the UK.

Donate A Barcode

This 'Donate a Barcode' ad campaign aims to feed the hungry by using images of food to explain that local food banks need support by way of food donations..

The Federation of Food Banks in Belgium is calling for the population to head to their nearest supermarket, purchase food with a Food Bank bar code and a product purchased will be donated to the campaign.

About Food Banks:

Anti-hunger project called “Food Banks” is based on the general principle of gathering place, local aid, bringing the benefit of donors, allowing closeness between the giver and receiver. Today there are 282 Food Banks operating in Europe, which in 2008 distributed 294,500 tones of the 4.5 million people through 27,000 associations.

We're In The Business!

Our latest press in Access All Areas magazine. Over the last couple of months, RPM have won contracts with M&S, Royal Ascot, Eden TV, EON and ECB.

Sleepiness Kills

This print campaign shows a close-up of an eye getting smaller and smaller. Above the eyelid is a car that closes in on a family as the eye shuts. If the eye is completely closed, the cars crashes into them.

This is a non-profit-campaign for the Thai Health Promotional Foundation.
Sleepiness is stronger than you.

www.creativecriminals.com

BASE CAMP EDEN: BEN FOGLE ON HIS TIME AT THE BBC

“I was very lucky, as I was approached by BBC Country File and they asked me if I’d like to become a presenter. This is something I hadn’t really ever thought about- becoming a presenter? It had never really crossed my mind. I loved watching Blue Peter and I thought being a Blue Peter presenter might be fun, but it wasn’t something I genuinely thought about.

So, I decided to have a go and I worked on that show for 8 years, during which time I got to do some pretty fun things. I got to take part in the world lawn mower racing championships where you sit in a little mower and race around a course. I crashed it and ended up in hospital incidentally. I took part in the world conker championships and the World oyster eating championships; I managed to eat 88 oysters in 3 minutes! I took part in the world stinging nettle championships; I managed to eat 200 leaves in one hour and I felt very sick afterwards with a very sore tongue! I took part in the world tin bath racing championships where you sit in a little metal tin bath and race across a harbour. I sank and got hyperthermia in that. I also took part in the man versus horse race, a 21 mile race across the black mountains racing against horses- and yes I got beaten by a horse.

So my early sporting achievements weren’t bettered by any of those challenges. But I loved being in the outdoors and I developed a real passion for the countryside; I discovered what we have on our doorstep which you’re all discovering today [ at Eden]. It was about the same time that I was asked by the BBC if I would like to present a programme called Animal Farm. I did that for 10 years and that was one of my favourite programmes. I got to work with the lions, the tigers, the elephants and finally I was fulfilling my childhood dream, working alongside vets. I got to work with animals on a daily basis which was just fantastic. We witnessed the highs and lows, the cycle of life as it’s called. Animals passed away but many animals were born and again all of these experiences started changing me as a person, started changing my values in life and I suppose another of these tipping points, these moments when you realise what other people do and what work goes on, was when I became an ambassador for WWF, The World Wildlife Fund for Nature.

As an ambassador they sent me off to Nepal to watch a Rhino relocation project down on the border with India. A lot of us think of Nepal as being just mountains but they’ve got lowlands there too. I went to one of the big National parks called Badia, and the idea was that there were too many Rhino in one of the national parks and not enough in the other. So they wanted to move these enormous creatures from one park to the other and the only way to do that was to go out on elephant back, huge Indian elephants- they’re the biggest thing I’ve ever seen-they would take 5 of us on top of each elephant, in a convoy of 20 elephants with 5 people on each one. These included vets, antitheists, scientists, and we all went out for a 5 day trip, walking through this forest until we found a rhino.

When it got darted, a huge sledge was bought in on the back of elephants and we had to lift one of these rhino that weighs many, many tons- more than a car- onto this sledge and then get the elephants to haul this thing out. It was like watching an episode of King Kong, I’d never seen anything quite like it, and the reality that people worked for these conservation groups made me decide that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to do as much for nature and working for wildlife as I could.

BASE CAMP EDEN: BEN FOGLE'S CAMPFIRE STORIES

Ben Fogle, our Base Camp Eden leader, told us all about the adventures he has had over the last 10 years. Here, he takes us back to where it all began...Castaway.

"When they told me [I had been selected to go to an island for a year] I had images of white sandy beaches and girls in bikinis, but I later found out they were talking about an island in the outer Hebrides, a windswept island, totally treeless, in one of the windiest parts of the British Isles. But it didn’t put me off and I unwittingly became one of the very first volunteers of reality TV in the UK.

I personally wouldn’t call it reality TV though. The idea of the project, Castaway 2000, was to take 36 volunteers like myself all from the City, (I grew up in London) to this remote island and have to create a whole lifestyle from scratch. So we’d grow our own crops, we had our own animals, we milked cattle each morning, we had sheep there for our meat and we had children. We therefore had to build a little school and we took turns educating them. We did absolutely everything. The idea was that by the end of the year, we would be entirely self sufficient.

For me, it was probably the happiest year I’ve ever had. I absolutely loved every minute of it. We were an eclectic bunch- some of you who may have seen the series will have seen a lot of arguing but actually, the reality was there was a lot more happiness and laughter than there was arguing. The show wasn’t a contest and there was no winner; I’m sometimes referred to as ‘the winner’ but I wasn’t. There was no prize money, there was no voting off, it was purely a social experiment and it was a success. By the end of the year, we grew 25 different crops, we reared all our animals successfully, the children had jumped ahead a year in terms of their education and for me, leaving that island was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

Going from this incredible island which I loved, into city life, was such a shock to the system. I felt I was suffocating, there was no air. All the food was too rich back in London because we’d had all of our organic food for a whole year and all the noises were too noisy, the smells were too smelly, I couldn’t bear crowds of people, and all I wanted to do was get away again...."

See what Ben did next in tomorrow's blog.....

BASE CAMP EDEN ALAN CREE

I was lucky enough to join the UKTV competition winners at Base Camp Eden in The Forest of Dean; a weekend that celebrated Eden's British Wild Life season with an array of activities, luxury camping and encounters with locals and wild life experts. One of these experts was Bushcraft genius Alan Cree, who has over 20 years of outdoor experience. Inspired by living and working in Africa, he has been studying Bushcraft and outdoor leadership for the last 10 years and holds over 10 relevant qualifications. I managed to tear Alan away from the forest for a quick interview and here's what I found...

RPM: Tell me a little about yourself and how you became the Bushcraft ‘guru’ you are today.

ALAN: I used to work in London, and to release myself from the pressure I was under, I used to do some wild camping. I spent a lot of my time designing buildings around the world-I realised I had designed all different types of architectural buildings- yet knew very little about the natural world. So about 12 years ago I started going on some courses in Bushcraft with some very well known names and those courses gave me the confidence to study nature in much more detail. So after that I moved down to the Forest Of Dean and I’ve been studying bush craft and wilderness skills here for 12 years.

RPM: So you were an architect before? That must seem very different to what you’re doing now?

ALAN: Funnily enough I don’t think it is different, I teach people about the design of furniture and shelter outdoors and architecture is a form of shelter. The tepees you see around here (he points to the yurts our competition winners are staying in) they are still some of the most elegant shelters that have ever been designed. So I think I’ve learnt quite a lot about architecture from working in the woods because the ergonomics, the design of everything has to be the appropriate size of human beings. It’s actually a very similar skill, just going back about 40,000 years!

RPM: How did you become such an expert? Did you have to live in the woods surviving off water and berries for a year....?

ALAN:You can get courses now, but they’re quite simplistic. They teach people some skills, but the only way to really learn is through experience. For five years, I spent every single day going out and trying to learn 2 new things about nature: one wild flower, one plant one medicinal herb whatever it was, and if you add that up, then you end up with about 30,000 things you know. Again, for one year, I would spend every single day going out and making a fire, without matches, every single day.

RPM: And were you successful every day?

ALAN:I reckon I’ve made 3,000 fires now and I think only about 3 times it’s not worked. That took a lot of practise and preparation though. It’s not obvious to people for example when they come to my woods that there is actually preparation that’s been done. There are groups of young people I’ve had for 24 hours who have never even been out of a city and it just rains for that entire 24 hours and you’ve got to keep them warm. Fire is one of the most basic forms of shelter; it’s something that you can’t live for long without in the outdoors as people get hyperthermia and die.

RPM: So you’re interested in showing people how to survive?

ALAN: You know humans have some physiological requirements and some psychological requirements and that’s what I’m interested in showing people; how nature provides for them, in abundance. It provides for all our physiological requirements: food, shelter and water.

RPM: I’ve lived in London all my life, so it’s really interesting meeting people like you and the rest of locals at The Forest of Dean who can take me back to basics. I really wouldn’t have a clue how to survive in the forest!

ALAN: Deep down in the back of your head, you actually do know these things. I do try to prompt people to think about what the priorities in life are. There are lots of things in life that are unnecessary and only a few things that are necessary and it’s quite amazing how necessary these few things are. You actually do know; all humans know instinctively. You might not know how to go about getting it in an elegant and good way, but you do know what’s important. So I think it’s a good thing to reconnect people with nature, and I think bush craft and wilderness skills are the best way of doing that. It’s about what we need as humans and it is a very human experience. When you spend a lot of time out on your own in the woods, you come to appreciate the value of human company, so it teaches you that as well, it teaches you humanity I think.

RPM: I saw you earlier sniffing the firewood we’ve got ready for our bonfire later. What exactly were you doing there?

ALAN:I was trying to tell how long ago it’s been cut, because it’s not been cut as long as I would have like it to have been cut. It’s only been cut in the Spring so it’s not completely seasoned. That’s one of the few fire-woods in the world; it’s the best firewood in the world as it has the highest calorific value. Ash will burn when its green and no other wood will burn when it’s green. So looks like you’ve arranged a fire here that has the best combination of firewoods possible, ash, which is the heat, and I’ve bought in five year old seasoned beach from a forest. That provides a very clear white light, so more light than heat and the combination of those two woods gives the best combination.

RPM: Is fire-making one of things you enjoy teaching the most?

ALAN: Fire, yes, we’ve been doing it for the last thousand years and there’s a lot more to it then lighting some matches you know? You get to learn lots of things. I stay away from the brutal aspect of ‘survival’. I’m much more interested in talking to people about life and things that are really helpful.

RPM: What are you going to be teaching the competition winners today and tomorrow?

ALAN: Well I have a two hour session, a bit like a TV programme, with some scratch and sniff elements where people can get involved. But I’ll teach a couple of the most fundamental skills for living outdoors and show them how nature provides for it. I’ll let them see it through my eyes. I’ve bought along some examples from nature, for instance I’m going to teach people about shelters, so I’ve bought a long a Green Finches nest, a Wren’s nest and a solitary Bee’s nest to show you how nature solves those problems. You’ll see that nature has set a very high bar for us to jump to. A wren makes its nest with a beak and a couple of claws so architecture and shelter is inspired by nature. The competition winners can learn from that and I want to really inspire them, to show them what we can come up with, some fundamental life skills

Westfield Car Boot Fair & Designer's Block

Lucy Heale, our design guru, will be reporting on some exclusive events at this week's London Design Week. Yesterday, she headed to the Car Boot Fair at Westfield and Designers Block.

Lucy:"The Car Boot Fair has a great interactive stand from Whistles, which took the 'whistle' concept to the full! You can choose a whistle from the back of the boot and if it doesn't make a sound once you blow it, you get chance to try the lucky dip". The Car Boot Fair displays a range of highstreet and up and coming designers, and had an seating area, fronted by a sign saying 'Bloggers Only'.

I predict that Designers Black on the other hand is going to be one of the best shows at London Design Week. They've bought together a range of young product designers and installation pieces. There were some great products and ideas that could be applied to events such as www.theideamonster.com which displayed an electronic portrait sketcher.

The best use of innovative new materials would go to www.faymccaul.com, who showed some beautiful UV lighting (see pic).