1. Survival essential
Making a shelter, finding food and attempting to escape are going to be high on your agenda -- so which brand will you find most useful in your attempt to tame the great outdoors?
The company I recently formed has a bedrock belief in challenging the given and delivering the unexpected. So, right from the start, I am probably going be a little bit of a maverick in my approach. My answers are based on a couple of fairly fundamental assumptions. Firstly, that there are no financial limits and, secondly, that all logistical impossibilities can be overcome! With that being the case, and with shelter being vital, I'd have to choose a house by the wonderful German house-builders, Huf Haus. I've always had a keen eye on design, have little time for incompetence and delight in manufactured items that work seamlessly without the threat of even the smallest hitch. A Huf Haus fits the bill perfectly. You can bank on the Germans; well, this bunch of Germans at least, since they've pioneered a unique form of architecture that draws timber and glass together to create a perfectly formed space with wall-to-ceiling glazing that would open the view on all of the surrounding nature. A significant step up from the standard couple of palms held together with tropical twine, a couple of hitch knots and a whole lot of hope. Every element of the house is built in Germany to the tightest of specifications before being tested time and time again. Because my house would be built by Germans, any logistical difficulties in getting the components to the island would be overcome and the house built to exacting standards and on time. And lastly, every Huf Haus is a unique expression of life in harmony with nature so why would I even consider travelling back home with the builders once the job's been completed.
2. Last taste of civilisation
The island has a plentiful supply of nuts and fruit, not to mention a healthy population of fish, so you will have plenty to eat. But which one food brand are you really going to miss from your old life?
It's a toss up between two. I love Ocado.com -- a hugely successful marriage of high-quality Waitrose product with outstanding levels of customer and home delivery service. Then again, there's the Gourmet Burger Kitchen - the New Zealand company that's taken the everyday burger and done somewhat more with the basic concept than our American fast food friends. Anyone who can expand the potential of the happy go lucky burger to the extent that Peter Gordon and his myriad of chefs around the world have done certainly deserves my vote. But, there's just one problem -- GBK don't deliver. So, unless I can encourage the Huf Haus builders to bring my venison burger with GBK fries along with the house, I'm going to have to opt for Ocado.com.
3. Best reminder of home
Successful survivalists always claim that it is mental attitude which sees them through. Belief that you will get back home is going to be vital -- so which brand will sum up home best?
There's no brand that sums up home particularly, although Channel 4's imaginative and informative cricket coverage definitely plays a part in every summer. But the best reminders of home, of my wife and 11-month old daughter, could certainly be kept fresh with my JVC MC200 camcorder. It's an incredibly small and elegant use of the latest technology, works to a simple point and shoot approach (and, believe me, that's vital in my hands) and would hold 60 minutes of my favourite family footage on its tiny 4GB microdrive.
4. Most welcome online brand
Eventually you manage to rig up your own connection to the internet using bits and pieces found on the beach but you have only one chance to log on to a website before it goes down -- which online brand will you choose?
It has to be the BBC - with its huge wealth of news and information and ease of navigation. I'd rest easy in the knowledge that I would always be kept aware of what's going on in every other corner of the world -- news, sport, weather (critical if Ocado are going to deliver all my provisions on time), and radio programming. I'd also have the perfect tool with which to keep fully up to date with West Ham's notable return to the Premiership and, should my stay on the island last a little longer than the 2005/06 season, of remaining fully informed of the Hammers' smooth progress through the 2006/07 Champions League.
5. Ultimate luxury
Self indulgence is hard to come by on a desert island, so what brand would you be most excited to find washed up on the beach?
Again, the choice is down to two. The first would be the 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, the most beautiful car ever designed. However, with rust and sand likely to represent worrying obstacles to the car's performance I'd probably end up just looking at it or maybe having it as an art installation in my Huf Haus. So, the Dino would have to take second place to the Sunseeker Predator 108, the ultimate in performance motoryachts. Although quite what it would be doing washed up on the beach is a dilemma that I'd be willing to spend slightly less than a nanosecond worrying about.
6. Transferable skills
You already work in the jungle of marketing so there are probably skills which you have acquired through your job which will come in handy -- or you may have other hidden talents. Which of your personal skills will help you to get to grips with life on a desert island?
Positive spirit. As is evident with the answers above, I tend to live in a world in which everything is slightly offset by a rosy tint. But, I've always believed that a realistic approach, influenced by a sense of optimism, fuels a positive spirit that can be really useful when faced with unfamiliar circumstances and surroundings. And, what with my daily Ocado.com delivery of GBK burgers to my newly built Huf Haus overlooking the repair work on the Sunseeker Predator, what need would I have for anything other than a positive spirit and optimistic outlook regarding the days ahead?
Designer and desert island survival specialist Adrian Whitefoord comments:
Well, we have very few castaways that know so exactly what they want to the very millimetre. It sounds as if life for Guy will be so well organised we would have trouble getting him off the island should a rescue be attempted. The Huf House is a great design triumph I agree, and unlike the three little piggies there won't be a wolf with enough breath to "huf and puff and blow the house down" (sorry dreadful play on words there). No, this Germanic structure is hurricane resistant all right.
Ocado is again a great choice but this chap sounds like he might be able to persuade GBK to deliver his beloved burgers. He certainly seems to have the marketing skills to persuade the culinary New Zealanders that this is an emergent market and therefore worth some investment. Failing that I can see Guy schooling the local tribe's head cook (and I mean that literally) to diversify into gourmet burgers. Though the venison might be a bit of a stretch as the only common local fauna is wild boar (small fast and fierce) and a rather stinky squirrel like creature that is definitely not edible, even when the diners are wearing surgical masks dipped in Dettol. Fish burgers anyone?
The JVC camcorder sounds fun and would be excellent for recording the reaction of the German builders when they discover there is no readily available meat on the island, or, for that matter any loungers by the lagoon. The choice of the BBC as a news vehicle is a common one amongst those suddenly cut off from civilisation and can't be faulted in my opinion. It's nice to know that it is also popular with West Ham supporters. By the way Guy, don't mention Ham to the German builders it will only cause trouble when they realise that there is none and that they will be eating shell fish and squirrel burgers until the house is finished.
The Ferrari is a strange transport choice for the island but the motor cruiser sounds more practical and if the desire for burgers grows too strong guy could always make a bolt towards civilisation - computed by the local tribe to be several moons away (we are talking full moons here Guy so you better have plenty of gas on board). Lastly, positive spirit is always a good thing. At least the local chief will love you for it. Spirit is incredibly important to him since he found a case of rum washed ashore a couple of weeks ago. It was 40% proof and he is currently discussing with the witch doctor whether or not this elixir could become the basis for a new pan island religion. No decision has been reached yet and there are two bottles still to go!
Q&A supplied by design consultancy Pemberton & Whitefoord.
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