Behind every good brand is a couple of carpenters and a painter
There is a technology fair in Madrid this week. All the big names in IT, telecommunications and consumer electronics will be there.
Even though it starts today I went along yesterday to watch them set up. I was able to wander around the stands without paying an entry fee. The security were too busy looking at the cool stuff to bother with me.
I was struck by how little techonology was being employed in the construction of the stands. It was basically a lot of hammering, sawing and glueing along with some paint and stencils for the logos.
I was also priviliged to be able to browse the wares at my leisure without the onslaught of the various marketing departments.
It opens today for trade-only and the general public can visit at the weekend for €10 (shouldn’t they be paying us? They’re advertising after all). I’m not sure if I’ll bother. I get the sneaking suspicion that I’ve already seen the best of it and the super-slick logos don’t seem to dazzle so much after seeing the kindergarten style process of their creation.
Mark Waters marked time at 6:27 pm on November 4th, 2003 .
