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?
Through lack of first-hand experience I don't have a name but I'd choose one of those security services staffed by ex-SAS officers. These guys can knock up a two-bed detached from driftwood, sand and a pair of Y-fronts, a three-course dinner from insects, burrowing rodents and pebbles, and a potent but acceptable form of alcohol from sea water and coconuts. When escape becomes essential I'd simply hitch a ride on his back as he swims into the sunset.
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?
The Sausage Shop in Bath. No doubt about it. Finest ingredients, handmade on the premises and 50 varieties. Plus a neat line in the best Greek olives.
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?
Tough one this. Fopp, because according to my wife, I live there anyway. Five Live for the sport (classified football results read by James Alexander Gordon), or A Fair Cup, the street vendor outside our office in Bristol who produces the best fairtrade cappuccino around. Nice bloke too. A Fair Cup it is.
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?
Amazon. I'd whack in a massive book and CD order before the connection fails. Free delivery direct to my beach on orders over 拢25. Sweet.
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?
Twelve issues of Mojo magazine with a free gift of a personal stereo (to play the stuff I ordered from Amazon).
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?
It's not a skill perhaps more of a compulsion but I'm naturally gregarious and inquisitive. So the drive to seek out company, assuming my SAS guy has got fed up and swum off by himself, would point me in the direction of the Communion of Saints. There are plenty of interesting folk there to build a relationship with and the time and silence would give the perfect opportunity to do so. It's good to talk.
Adrian Whitefoord, founding partner of Pemberton and Whitefoord, comments:
Ian certainly has a novel take on SAS skill sets -- part cook, part furniture maker and part midget submarine. Still, a very practical choice for a "Man Friday"
Fairtrade is a really positive initiative and one which I hope stands the test of time. P&W designed the Tesco range of Fairtrade product packaging recently and it is a project which I feel proud to look back on. Perhaps Ian could persuade the island's residents to supply their unique sausage recipe to his favourite shop in Bath. Admittedly python and locust Fairtrade bangers are an acquired taste but they could catch on.
The thing I like about Mojo is that it is brave enough to make the subject rather than the magazine the hero. A discrete masthead and then 98% of the remaining space dedicated to the lead story. I particularly like the "Psychedelic" issue from February featuring Jimi Hendrix.
With Ian's gregarious nature in mind perhaps a ghetto blaster would be a better choice than a personal stereo. The natives on the island are enthusiastic dancers so why not invite them to a beach party? The combination of music and the coconut hooch would be an excellent way of winding down after a hard day foraging for food.
Q&A supplied by design consultancy Pemberton & Whitefoord.
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