Do you read Berlingske or Politiken? Do you prefer espresso or caffè latte? Are you concerned about global warming? What party do you vote for?

It sounds like a survey by STAGIS’ new partner, TNS Gallup, and it very well could be - but it isn’t. Quite the contrary it is a part of the new play, “Propaganda”, by Lotte Hansen at Edison.

At Edison they have experimented with the so-called infotainment genre for a while, but with “Propaganda” they twist it and take it to a new dimension. Something I will call interactive infotainment.

The central characteristics are a) the information flow and b) the interaction between the actors, the audience and the unfolding of the story. This concept is in “Propaganda” closely connected to the plot of the play: it is in interaction between the citizens, the politicians and the media that power is formed and established.  Structure and concept is consistent with the content. Therefore it makes very good sense.

In this specific play, the interaction is happening via personal remote-controls, where the audience respond to questions asked by the actors – e.g. do you read Berlingske or Politiken? The responses are collected, analyzed and points are made. As the play unfolds a segment profile of the audience is made and this leads and defines the story and the punch lines of the play.

Will I recommend it? The concept – yes! The play – well… that’s a different blog post, but be aware: it can be a bit too moralizing.

As you probably noticed, someone turned off the big switch to the light outside this afternoon. Still, when I went to our photo shoot for Lindorff today with photographer Mikkel (who also did fabulous OKI Identity lovecolour pics for us time ago), Mikkel easily and creatively managed to do a series of great on-the-spot photos, illustrating the Lindorff environment, people and products for use in new versions of the Danish Lindorff profile material, we are helping them do.

The day spent at Lindorff was really pleasant. I was impressed to see how natural all the employees acted in front of the camera, behaving unaffected and showing a personal magnetism, that was communicative and gives the photos an obliging human glow: So when Lindorff''s clients will be presented the product sheets etc., they'll really see what they'll get, when partnering with Lindorff.

Mikkel and I cruised to and from the photo-shoot in this funky old Mercedes, so that was a bonus...

What do you think of designer toys? I must admit I had my problems understanding them, but then again I do get why ones can be fascinated by the super-designed, pieces. For instance Amos, a quit popular item designed by James Jarvis. In my opinion James Jarvis' figures is great because they are great characters. Maybe it's Jarvis combination of illustration and product design that is resulting in a lively and therefore popular product.

A danish event held in 2006 was the exhibition Dunny Show Cph. An attempt to create attention and break down borders between artist, product- and graphic designers, by inviting danish artists to decorate blank Donny Toys from Kidrobot. I don't think the result is quit as funny or peculiar as the small dolls of Jarvis... but they are all sold out.

I recently discovered Readymechs, witch is a toy designed to be printed, cut out of paper and put together. All you need is a printer, thick paper and some double-sided tape. And then it is for free. On the site you can download any figure you like and print it out. Ready to get going? There quit a few funny pieces designed by different designers!

Last week I was talking at CBS to a bunch of students about authenticity and the model I've developed. One of the (good) questions is why the notion of authenticity has become so important and wether it's a new thing or just a phenomenon that has gotten new interest in the light of how society has developed. On friday the International Documentary Filmfestival in Copenhagen opens. The theme is "Return of the Real", a theme that seems to be more and more visible in the media and in business (or is it just me who's going slightly mad anbd seeing it everywhere?). Maybe some of the documentaries in the festival has alternative answers to why we seem to feel that authenticity is more important now than before. The trailer for the festival goes something like this:

One of the great documentaries opening this week is "Mechanical Love" by documentarist Phie Ambro which I was lucky to see saturday with production manager Tine Knudsen who has produced a number of the small films we've done at STAGIS. Mechanical Love gives a peek into the developing world of androids and geminoids, the main story in the film is Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories near Kyoto and his work trying to understand how "Sunzai-kan", presence, can be understood and what makes us feel the presence of another being. As geminoids, copies of people, are developed to be caregivers and represent meaning and constitute human relationships and presence in different situations it becomes important to understand what makes us feel the presence of another being. I find it disturbing and at the same time fascinating but I can certainly see the need as we are entering a historic high of elders who needs more people to take care of them (us, some time in a near future) than what exists.

What I take from it is ofcourse the study of presence which I transfer to organizational identity. How is it that we can feel presence or nearness when we deal with - or even just think of - some companies but not others? Why is it that I feel presence when I think of Apple (who is certainly not more present in my office than the keyboard I am typing on) but don't feel presence when I think of the company that delivers the electricity that my Mac runs on? Or from the company who delivers the milk i put in my coffee? Yet I feel presence when I think of Elektra who is the company that produced our espresso machine? I am pondering about how we can become better at managing nearness, how we can deliver what feels Real?

WIRED Magazine about Ishiguro. More on CPH:DOX

Recruitment and Employer Branding are project related communication and leadership concepts that I'm working on now, as part of projects in STAGIS' pipeline. That includes taking part in seminars and networks on Employer Branding. Here figures confirm that employees seem to thrive in job-change: Apr. 61% have been offered positions in other companies. 68% consider changing their job. 49 % don't think they'll be working for thir present company in just three years. Our Ministry of Employment tell, that more than 700.000 a year change their job in DK.

With the growing challenge for companies to attract employees, the unemployment rate in DK now also being as low as 86.000, demanding questions for businesses and organizations to ask themselves are:

"How can we recruit the people we need, to enhance our services, product development and business - what makes us attractive, in a way so that we can not only hire, but also keep our work force engaged? And how can we do better in competing for man and brain power, compared to other businesses and companies?"

Learn from your favorite volunteer organization
One way to develop your organization's attraction factor on the job market is to let your Employer Brand be inspired by the high degree of engagement that characterizes successful voluntary organizations.

Even though we tend to spend many hours on our jobs, the interest in voluntary work in our society is still advancing impressively. Especially among young people. And in many different kinds of sectors and fields. One explanation could be the present prosperity in DK. Another, that people actually lack meaning and the sense of making a difference through their (paid) jobs; so they seek to give and be additionally fulfilled on this parameter other where.   


Create loyalty on another level
Sense of pride and meaning, humanity, thankfulness, sharing and being part of a larger and mutual beneficial 'project' are key words here - values, that most businesses would do good nurturing within their organization.

Why is that? Because with our present job-market, employees simply expect salary and workplace organization to be in order: The loyalty from co-workers and employees is to be build on another level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, where softer values are present. Especially young people - Generation Y - seek value-based leadership, and to be part of organizations that clearly signal what they stand for and how they make a difference! They don't want too easy solutions...

Give employees a reason to stay
That's why private companies may learn from the engagement to be found in volunteer corps or organizations. I'm not just talking CSR, even though this is a part of it - but also values, ethics, general meaning, 'project-pride' and community spirit!

So, with the weekend coming up and all, think about it: What characterizes your favorite volunteer organization, learn from it - and give your present and future employees obvious reasons to choose your project, spent half of their wake hours on contributing and sharing - and staying engaged.

The other night I joined some 30-odd design companies in the library of the beautiful Børsen-building in Copenhagen where the Danish Design Association was formally established. I really enjoyed meeting some of the designers working in different areas of the business. Among others I spoke with Jesper from Move who was elected for the board of the association representing small design companies.

There has not been a design association or a forum for design companies in Denmark but the business seems to have a real need for it. The purpose of the association is to professionalize and internationalize the danish design industry. You can read more about DDA here: www.designbrancheforeningen.dk.

This afternoon, November 1st from 5-6.30 pm, Nikolaj Stagis is speaking on 'Den autentiske virksomhed' (The Authentic Business or Organization, my free translation).

The lecture is on how a business or organization is or becomes authentic. What will a high degree of authenticity do for your business, and how can it help your organization attract and keep the right clients, customers and co-workers?

These are some of the topics and questions Nikolaj will talk about and answer on during today's lecture, taking off from our daily work at STAGIS, where we help our clients express their authentic strengths through developing their corporate culture, design and communication .

The arrangement will be free and is hosted by Dansk Marketing Forum (DMF) at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Solbjerg Plads 3, Auditorium SP113, 2000 Frederiksberg.

Participation is still open.