Matt Scott thinks it’s worth taking the time to tell a good story.
With data becoming the new cool, there has never been a more important time to make its interpretation as useful as possible. As a self proclaimed chart perfectionist at the agency, nothing concerns me more than the need for endless PowerPoint, when a well thought through design, using key insights can get the point across in a compelling and engaging way in a fraction of the time.
Okay, so my pulse does rise when the new version of Wired gets delivered and I get to admire the simplicity of conveying a global issue on two pages without endless copy…But when I came across the blog by David McCandless it was great to see someone dedicating themselves to the cause in everyday working environments where data is required and interpreted.
As an “independent visual and data journalist” (and proclaimed pie-chart hater; let’s hope he doesn’t mind Venn diagrams) he certainly makes a convincing case with his clever site, Information is Beautiful.
The “Billion Dollar Gram” chart. This eye-opener compares billion-dollar budgets—comparisons of, say, the estimated total amount that will be spent on the Iraq war ($3 trillion) and the cost to feed and educate every child on earth ($465 billion). “I’m interested in how designed information can help us understand the world, cut through BS and reveal hidden connections, patterns and stories underneath,” writes McCandless. “Or, failing that, it can just look cool!”
I guess we just all need to take the time to think things through a tad more before we rush to PowerPoint…as Oscar Wilde once said “I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one.”
Matt Scott - DraftFCB
Welcome to the Direct Marketing Network (DMN) a newly formed Special Interest Group from the New Zealand Marketing Association, aiming to inspire business success through best practice in the disciplines of direct marketing.To see more from the Marketing Association go to
Marketing Association
Or to see more from the Direct Marketing Network go to
Direct Marketing Network
Launched at the end of 2008, the DMN’s mission is to lead and grow the understanding, use and value that marketers, agencies and suppliers gain from best practice direct marketing, while protecting the interests of consumers.
The DMN’s objectives are to:
Promote a community where marketers can tap into innovative and successful direct marketing initiatives and the people who created them.
Present direct marketing learning opportunities that enhance marketers’ ability to produce better returns from their marketing spend.
Identify and recognise talented individuals within businesses, who are using direct marketing as a key driver to business success.
Build the trust and confidence of the New Zealand public by promoting regulatory services and marketing advice that encourages best practice, targeted and relevant direct marketing activities.
Over the coming year we will bring you practical examples of some of the best direct marketing activities, ways to improve your ROI, and opportunities to get together and share ideas with other marketers and leading industry experts.
Who is on the Direct Marketing Network Executive?
Hamish Travers, Twenty (Chairman)
Matt Cowie, Datamine
Sheena Ewing-Brown, AMI Insurance
Michael Griffith, Marketing Impact MessageMedia
Richard Penny, Fuji Xerox
Wayne Pick, Rapp
Matt Scott, DraftFCB
Fiona Woolley, New Zealand Post
Paul Sutherland, Kinetic121
This Blog is just one of the ways the DMN connects with the wider industry, highlighting the best work in New Zealand and overseas, essential and events for direct marketing professionals, along with some interesting opinions from the industry's leading practitioners.
