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?
We are talking desert island so let's assume it is going to be warm for most of the time. The priority has to be refreshment so I'd hope to find a pallet of Evian washed up from the wreckage of the ship that I had been a passenger on. Experience suggests that most tasks are manageable with a bit of ingenuity but pure, clean water is close to nectar in a hot dry climate. Without it everything else becomes hard work.
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?
To balance out the fish, fruit and nuts diet I would need something that was the occasional indulgence. Also, the diet and lifestyle would be pretty healthy so the odd naughty bit of what you fancy wouldn't do any harm, so I'm going for a nice stock of Cadbury brands, possibly a wide range so I could ring the changes. Somehow Cadbury chocolate is the definitive taste, nothing compares in my book, probably because I worked there for several years and it's in my DNA.
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?
When we started Simons Palmer one of my boys bought me a model of a Porsche 911 as a reminder of what I'd given up to start my own business. I kept it in my office throughout the evolution of the agency and when we did the deal with Omnicom I bought a 911 Turbo. The model was a symbol of future goals so I think I would want that same model with me as it would conjure up all kinds of memories and would give me the continued hope of being able to drive again.
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?
Depends whether they could deliver. If Amazon deliver to desert islands then I'd go for them. They could always parachute their boxes on to my island. I would place my one chance order with a jumbo selection of books and CDs even though I probably couldn't play the music. But I could look at the covers and the notes and pretend.
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?
I think it would have to be something to play my CDs on. Anyone who knows me will testify the extent to which I have music on all the time. I've always had music in my office and I'm pretty keen on good quality kit. All things considered I would go for Sony simply because I still have its equipment dating back many years so I'm convinced about reliability and durability. Essential for my porridge on my island.
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?
Self preservation. The cycles of business life can be cruel so the challenges are always to survive when the going gets tough. I've always been an optimist so I'd probably persuade myself that the desert island was an opportunity to develop myself in new ways. A chance to get fighting fit and clear my head of the stuff I've left behind. Based on the conviction of being rescued at some point the mental state would be to make the most of it while I could.
Adrian Whitefoord, founding partner of Pemberton and Whitefoord, comments:
I get the impression that Paul is pretty health conscious. I was impressed that his chosen washed-up refreshment took the form of a pallet of Evian. I think I would have plumped for a barrel of ship's grog and taken a risk on that muddy stream at the other side of the island.
There is something infinitely comforting about Cadbury's choc but may I suggest a tropical twist?
Recipe for the day: Molten chocolate suprise
1. Place a medium-sized bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk in half a coconut
2. Leave in direct sunlight for 15 minutes.
3. Slice a fresh mango* into thin slivers
4. Dip and enjoy
*For an altogether more crunchy experience substitute dung beetles for mango
I worry that sentimentality may be clouding practicality when it comes to Paul's model Porsche. Why not take the 911 Turbo itself? Paul would impress the natives greatly roaring up and down the beach in his "great iron horse". Once the petrol had run out the Stuttgart Stallion would become a petite but cosy domicile impervious to the attentions of troops of hungry baboons or peckish pythons (unless it's a soft-top).
Music is obviously very important to Paul but since there is no electricity on the island, a wind up gramophone and some vinyl may be more appropriate than CDs and a top notch Sony. The old 78s also double as formidable hunting tools when sharpened and thrown Frisbee fashion. The 'Guinness Book of Records' states that on June 21 1946 Desmond Klum managed to behead 22 chickens in 3 minutes with the boxed set of the complete works of Paul Roberson.
Q&A supplied by design consultancy Pemberton & Whitefoord.
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