1. Digital Shoreditch 2013 : 20th May -26th May
DIGITALSHOREDITCH
Digital Shoreditch 2013
Ogilvy Labs Report
By Will Harvey
@WilliamEdHarvey
Digital Shoreditch (DS) is a festival celebrating creative,
technical and entrepreneurial talent as part of the east
London start-up movement. With over 480 speakers,
14,500 attendees and 13 million Twitter impressions it
was the most ambitious and successful to date.
Now in its 3rd year, the event took place over 10 days,
each day focusing on a specific subject: What is Tech
City?, Tomorrow’s World, Capital & Growth and
Future Brands. It was hosted for the first time in
Shoreditch Town Hall to cope with the higher demand
from visitors.
As part of Ogilvy’s continuing partnership with the
event, we were once again a major sponsor. This
involved us shaping the content of the Friday event
labeled ‘Nudgestock’, a partnership between Labs and
Ogilvy Change to look into the subject of
understanding consumer behavior, looking into why
people do what they do and how brands can use that
information to produce more effective marketing.
speaker slots across the packed agenda (squeezed into
10 days rather than two weeks, as last year). This
resulted in a diverse range of speakers, including
a number of key Ogilvy staff members; Rory
Sutherland, Matt Bayfield, Daniel Bennett, Matt
Watkinson and myself all contributed to the broad
range of topics: Big Data, Behaviour, Innovation and
Consumer Experiences.
Once again, my task was to absorb and digest all the
content available, identify big trends, find interesting
and innovative prospective partners, and bring back
some findings to share with the larger Ogilvy group.
Please enjoy the following Trend report and share with
colleagues and clients alike; if you have any questions,
please contact me at the Lab
Will.harvey@Ogilvy.com
The content that really shaped DS for the other days
was entirely crowd-sourced: we used a voting-based
system to ensure the programme reflected what the
digital community really wanted. There was huge
interest and many suggestions for over 600 proposed
1
@WilliamEdHarvey

2. Digital Shoreditch 2013 : 20th May -26th May
“Netflix’s House of Cards
was made off the back of
user data. Netflix looked at
what consumers liked and
created a storyline from
that”
Trends
Things to watch for in
2013
Coding language
With the ever-changing speed of
communication, demand for rich content
has increased – along with the need for
multi-skilled professionals to create this
growth. The need for people with
photoshop and editing skills seems to have
become an industry standard. This was a
recurring issue at the event: a need for more
people to have an at least basic
understanding of the language and its
commercial possibilities.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the
New Business space. The idea that an app,
for example, can be presented to a client on
Monday, ready to be shown live in beta by
Friday, rather than just as a visual, is fast
becoming a reality. The rise in the number
of companies set up to help in the growth of
this digital capability reflects this. Decoded,
Code Academy and General Assembly are
some of the key players, running courses from
tasters for beginners, through to very
advanced versions. This will allow a much
wider audience to get to grips with coding
and the benefits that knowledge of this new
language brings.
Digital interaction with the physical world
The ability to enable physical, traditionally
analogue objects to now be digitally
accessible, opens up completely new ways to
interact with the world around us. An
example of this was presented by Nexus
Interactive, who previewed their upcoming
giant vending machine-style signage. This will
dispense promotional, physical items from
digital signage when users tweet with
predetermined hashtags. Similar is the
current Mini campaign where an LEDcovered Mini drives around London at night,
playing consumer-uploaded videos (via
hashtag) on the exterior LED cover of the
car.
Greater user engagement, creating more
positive brand engagement in turn.
Digital shoreditch
“If your Brand, Product or
Service is the answer ...
What is the Question?”
Matt Watkinson - Designer
“Jogging is boring, but then
came along Nike who gave
us the Fuelband.”
Simon Attwater - LBI
Affordable tech
Technology is no longer the preserve of the
well-off: the rise of affordable tech is now
upon us. Companies such as Raspberry Pi
and Arduino facilitate the ever-growing
demand of the younger generation to tinker,
play and build their own tailor-made
technology. Raspberry Pi offers a perfect
example. A simple circuit board computer for
£50, which allows monitors, keyboards or
sensors to be plugged into it. Used for a
number of things from streaming boxes for
the back of your TV, beer can keyboards (just
like it sounds) and even home automation. It’s
the connecting of digital technology
platforms made easy, and democratised.
One example of this is the old mobile
banking experience for Barclaycard
customers. The process by which consumers
could make quick transactions was not easy
Power to the user
or user-friendly. This led to a drop in
With the faster evolution of technology and
consumer satisfaction. On the other hand,
capability from on-demand services (e.g. Tivo) when I saw the terrifically easy-to-use First
along with additional downloadable content, Direct app in action, some friends and I all
the relationship between consumers and
changed our banks almost immediately. Since
brands is changing.
then, Barclays have caught up and are
Brands and programme makers used to own
developping services such as Ping to keep up
these relationships by dictating what, when
with consumer expectations.
and how consumers watch content. With the
enablement of technology, users can now skip
adverts, divert their attention to their mobile
Make & Do
2 days, 7 Briefs, 50+
creative minds
Following on from last year’s successful
‘Cadbury’s Hack Weekend’ Digital
Shoreditch put on a two-day ‘Make and Do’
event that brought together a mix of
developers, technologists, creatives, and
writers to work on live briefs.
Quick Pitch
Over the Make & Do weekend, teams
were asked to put together quick pitch
responses.
2
and receive content on any internet enabled
device. Increasingly, consumers are now
taking ownership of the relationship, able to
compare prices and brands, or make
purchases on their mobile whilst sat on the
train. Brands need to embrace this change. If
someone can fastforward past your carefullymade content, how else do you reach them?
Which other channels do you need to use to
engage them? How do you best understand
and embrace this change in behaviour and
offer consumers more reasons to be loyal to
your brand?
But rather than the single brief (as in
previous years), there were diverse briefs and
sessions from a selection of companies. The
BBC, for example, were looking for ways to
get younger viewers to engage with
Eastenders using emerging SM platforms.
Ordnance Survey meanwhile were
challenging teams to look into better
utilization of data collected in and around
London, and creating a more user-friendly
interface and methodology to present that
data.
A number of companys also ran a handful of
workshops and talks exploring innovative
tech, while the BBC Comedy team showed
how multi-channel communication has
challenged traditional ways of creating more
engaging experiences with programmes.
@WilliamEdHarvey

3. Digital Shoreditch 2013 : 20th May -26th May
“What we really need to understand is
the psychological effect of this stuff.
What level does technology change
behaviour, when does it encourage
good and discourage bad”
Rory Sutherland - Ogilvy UK Vice Chairman
“..Introducing higher priced products
can push up the complexity of
decision making, by driving up the
middle choice”
Leigh Caldwell - Cognitive-behavioural Economist /
CEO Inon Research
Nudgestock
Ogilvy’s Behavior Day
For this year’s involvement with Digital Shoreditch, Ogilvy
didn't just want to sponsor the event but also to collaborate
with the team to put on the UK’s first applied Behavioural
Science Day. Nudgestock was held on the Friday and
brought together 21 Big Thinkers, from behavioural
economists through to neuroscientists, to explore the subject
as part of the partnership between #ogilvychange and Labs.
Pre-event promotion
3
World-renowned experts, authors and TED speakers
discussed their latest research on how to apply behavioural
insights to the communications industry. Topics ranged from
online psychology, teaching monkeys how to use currency
and the science of persuasion behind irritating phone calls.
The whole day was designed to demonstrate how it is
becoming possible to use deeper human insights to tangible
business advantage.
Films of the speakers from Nudgestock are viewable at
tv.digitalshoreditch.com
In the build-up to the event, the Nudgestock team took an
alternative approach to the promotion of the event by
practicing what they preached.
One morning, Ogilvy staff entered the building to find free
muffins and fruit awaiting them just before the lifts. Little did Behaviour Lab Day
anyone know that the #ogilvychange team were out of sight Following on from Nudgestock, #ogilvychange and Labs
counting how many of these treats were taken.
plan to focus our next Lab day on the subject of ‘Behaviour’
to give our clients a first hand opportunity to see what this
Using a variety of choice architecture methods (such as the
space can offer them and show that Ogilvy is a leader in this
judicious playing of Caribbean music) the team created a
‘nudge to fruit’ condition in which over 2/3 employees took space!
fruit, and a ‘nudge to muffin’ in which 9/10 employees took The day is planed to showcase a range of speakers from
Ogilvy staff plus assorted external practitioners to inspire
a muffin.
and give examples of how Behavioural Science can be
The speakers
beneficial, as well as play host to 30 Lab partners in the
Rory Sutherland is #ogilvychange's global thought leader in Behavioral space to give staff and clients a chance to touch,
applying behavioural science to advertising. He opened and feel and play with real world examples.
closed the day, as well as interviewing several of the guests.
@WilliamEdHarvey

4. Digital Shoreditch 2013 : 20th May -26th May
Incubation
Whats Happening with Start-ups
Emerging Space
With the rapidly
expanding tech
space in London a
number of initiatives
and spaces have
popped up trying to
bring together
different skills and
disciplines from the
worlds of Creative,
Technology and
Business.
One of the expanding movements within
London’s start-up community and Silicon
Roundabout environment is the modern
alternative take on funding, office workspace, and
the incubation of new companies.
Agency incubation spaces
Most recently, marketing agency Mother teamed
up with Trampery to open a co-working space
together to look at the possibilities of nurturing
some of these cross-disciplined talents and startups internally. The use of internal incubation can
Co-working spaces
come with interesting benefits, exploring
As the demand for space rises (along with the cost alternative revenue streams and growing resources
of workspace), the use of co-working
that agencies wouldn't traditionally employ. Our
environments and workspaces has grown.
own great example of this is the relationship
Companies such as Hoxton Mix, Tech Hub, and
between Ogilvy and etecture since launching a
Trampery are all doing well. These spaces offer
partnership at Digital Shoreditch last year. The
various solutions from desk rental, general
team has now grown to 10, and variously skilled
admission into shared workspaces and being able
individuals help and enable us to expand our into book meeting spaces. This has helped the
house offering for our clients across a number of
potential of a number of companies, forcing
accounts.
collaboration between different skills, disciplines
Mentoring start-ups also exposes us to new talent,
and talented individuals and unlocking new
technologies and thought processes enabling us to
possibilities and solutions. It also creates fantastic
offer a more diverse and complete solution to our
working environments to stimulate entrepreneurs
clients as a Group.
and start-ups to cross-collaborate via the water
This is something the London Labs have been
cooler effect. With over 120,000 people working in working on for some time, and we are continuing
2,500 co-working spaces world-wide* it is a rapidly to develop the model into Ogilvy’s wider family.
growing space.
IC Tomorrow awards
This year’s event also played host to IC’s
‘Tomorrow’s Technology Strategy’ board
initiative. The event represented the final round of
pitches and is part of a government-backed
scheme looking to discover, mentor and harness
Graeme Evans - Director Brunel University
new companies, helping them direct their ideas
into viable commercial uses. Categories included
“The Number 1 reason start-ups find it Out of Home, Retail and Mobile. Three
difficult to raise money is because they companies pitched in each category, in front of a
panel of five mentors who are experts in that field.
target the wrong money sources.”
Ogilvy Labs’ own Nicole Yershon was part of the
OOH Panel.
Rose Lewis - Investor & mentor for Seed camp
“Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
make up 99%of all firms and 60% of
the private sector in the UK.”
4
*Wired - July 2013 Issue
@WilliamEdHarvey

5. Digital Shoreditch 2013 : 20th May -26th May
Pop-up Shops
From Boxpark to Ideas shops
As the retail space continues to face the threat of
online and mail order services, high streets are
struggling to bring in customers. So brands are
looking at alternative fresh perspectives how to
re-engage with their customers in the physical
world.
Pop-up stores look to answer one element of that
problem, offering products or services not
traditionally seen in the retail space, for a short
space of time. Stores that previously existed only
online get the chance to try their hand moving
into the physical retail space, allowing consumers
to touch, see and engage with them first hand.
Ogilvy Idea shops
Set up 4 years ago, the Ogilvy Idea Shop was the
brainchild of Ruth Jamieson and Ogilvy to find a
way for Ogilvy to give back to the local
community within Brixton, south London.
Ogilvy found an unused store and asked the
question ‘If Ogilvy were a shop, what would we
give away?’ So rather than giving away money or
products, we would donate ideas to help local
businesses that traditionally wouldn't be able to
afford our services.
We have now launched a number of Pop-up Idea
Shops in Brixton, Roman Road, The Plaza and
even (for three years running) at Marketing Week
Live.
We feel this is a great initiative for the larger
group companies to be able to give something
back.
Pop up malls
Pop-up shops and malls offer short-term retail
spaces for brands to launch new products or put
on flash sales. Using under-developed locations in
populated areas - or in areas that may have
“If you believe that advertising is
about sending messages to individual
minds , then the Future of advertising
will look the same”
Mark Earls - Heard Consultancy
restrictions on permanent development – allows
reaching out to remote locations or events.
An early example of this took place at SXSW
three years ago around the launch of the first
iPad. Apple put on a pop-up shop in downtown
Austin that just sold iPads. This clever use of the
model in the crucial first weeks of the product’s
launch gave the ability to get the devices into the
hands of key influencers in the industry - in an
unconventional and interesting place.
Boxpark
Boxpark Shoreditch is a pop-up mall based in the
heart of east London. Opened in 2011, it is a
construction of stripped, and refitted shipping
containers, creating unique, low cost, low risk
pop-up stores.
Filled with a mix of fashion and lifestyle brands,
galleries, cafés and restaurants – Boxpark places
local and global brands side-by-side, creating a
unique shopping and dining destination.
Boxpark is not a traditional shopping centre, but
a living, fertile community of brands packed with
talent, innovation and attitude that puts creativity
and fashion back where they belong, on the
street.
Pop up culture
With the growth of
smaller brands and
fast rising start ups
the possibilities of
short term retail
spaces are growing.
Both large brands and
smaller companies are
cashing in on this
exploding trend with
flash sale and more
experiential stores.
5
@WilliamEdHarvey

6. Digital Shoreditch 2013 : 20th May -26th May
6
Exhibition / Companies
A Selection of
Installations and
Companies that Stood
Out
“Brands care about
perception... Antibrands care about
reality and are defined
by what they do, not
what they say.”
Digital Shoreditch isn't just about the
speaker line up: it hosts a vast mix of
installations, hands-on workshops and
start-ups showing off what they do.
Dan Broadwood - Strategist at
Mother
“The Backbone of our
innovation has been to
satisfy the evolution of
our core consumer
habits. ”
Exhibition space
The Great Digital Exhibition was
created as a way of giving something
back to the community that has
supported the Digital Shoreditch team
over the years. By providing a platform
for some of the most creative and
imaginative interactive artists in east
London and beyond, they created a
gallery space that inspired, educated
and amazed.
The exhibition housed over 20 digital
installations ranging from Arduinoenabled home electricals, engaging 360
degree spaces, to time-shifting mirror
experiences. One of the installations
that really stood out to us was the Time
Shifting Maze. This allows the visitor to
enter a world of real-life optical effects,
mixed with virtual, time-shifted content.
The visitor will be confronted with
captured moments from the past that
mix with the present moment in a setup
of mirrors, lights and projection screens.
Matt Teeman - Commercial
Director at Metro
Snap Fashion
It Is 3D
One of the most interesting start-up
presentations came from Jenny Griffiths,
the founder of Snap Fashion. If you
spot an item of clothing you like while
browsing online, you can install the
'Snap it' button onto your toolbar and
'snap' the item you want to search. The
site will then trawl through 170 retailers,
including John Lewis and Topshop, to
find the most similar products in
seconds. This unlocks the possibilities
for online and in-store stores to make
sure consumers find the right style of
clothing, using the snap fashion
algorithm.
An initiative that It Is 3D are trying also
really caught our eye. They are bringing
cutting-edge 3D digital technologies
into every level of education, from
primary schools right through to
universities. This will allow the almost
unlimited possibilities of 3D printing to
inspire the creative minds of younger
generations. In addition, pupils that
have used 3D digital technologies
during their time at school will attain
transferable, usable skills that will set
them apart further down the line with
employers.
@WilliamEdHarvey