Rob Scotland, TEDxKEA
Original article written for TEDxKEA, available here.
The new wave of entrepreneurial creativity and the growing power of the audience
On all levels, certainly in the portrayal given by much of modern media, the world is a grim and unbecoming place. Seek and you shall find however; there are innumerable positives to behold. Whilst there are many who are plagued by concerns over ISIS or Greek financials and long-winded statements by the media, others, choose to see things in a different light.
Meet Rob Scotland – a man with a sense of humour that extends well beyond his positive mind-set towards the world of today and the society of tomorrow. In the midst of all the crises fed to us on TV, Rob stresses the importance of stopping for a second to appreciate the talent and adaptability of our generation. "Five years ago there was no iPad, 10 years ago there was no iPhone and in the last hundred years we've had more innovation than in the last 1000." "The next generation is probably going to be the greatest we've ever had!"
Rob has spent the last 10 years working in advertising with a client portfolio that includes the likes of Nike, Carlsberg, Telia and Procter & Gamble, where he has "argued passionately under the guise of creative strategy to turn anthropological understandings of audiences into commercial returns." For Rob, radical changes in the manner in which audiences think and feel have brought about a paradigm shift that requires more value-based products, services and ultimately advertising. A graduate of illustration, Rob wanted to be an artist for Marvel comics. However, as is the case "with most of our generation", necessity shifted him into other fields – namely magazine sales and later advertising. In this capacity, Rob founded the much revered ad agency, Bandit, in Copenhagen 8 years ago and advised big brands on how best to target their audiences.
Dubbed a 'modern cultural anthropologist', Rob has been championing the understanding of modern culture in marketing communications over the past ten years. Our generation often gets a bad rap in the media, but from Rob's perspective "Far from being lazy, Generation Next's unprecedented surge of entrepreneurial creativity is what will solve many of the challenges facing this world".
I have to be honest and say that Ubud, the land of the majestic rice terraces is a bit overrated - in tourist guides, by influencers - everywhere. Ubud is a beautiful place - don't get me wrong - but if you're looking for a more authentic and laidback Balinese experience, my opinion is that the rugged south (Jimbaran / Uluwatu, etc.) has more going for it. The same is true of the understated northwest and indeed for some of Indonesia's smaller islands such as Nusa Lembongan. This said, I still think that everyone should see and experience Ubud - if only for a couple of days. My advice on how to make the most of your time here would be: 1) Find a good hotel outside of Ubud - ours had rice terrace views and an amazing infinity pool 2) Go local - the town of Ubud is busy and made for tourists but you can still find local warungs / ice cream parlours and restaurants if you wander around for a bit. Get off the main streets 3) Skip the overrated Tegallagalang rice terraces, where every wannabe influencer and their girlfriend / boyfriend go to queue for "that Bali picture." You can find plenty of other terraces in Ubud 4) Do The Campuhan Ridge Walk (pictured.) It is short n sweet - even though it's shorter today than it once was, thanks to the sprawl of hotels and tourist shops that are coming up fast around its upper section 5) Visit the Ubud traditional market. While many of the items here look the same, dig deep and you will find some good stuff. Most of the vendors are very friendly and fun to bargain with. While in the market (and generally in Bali-) please don't support Kopi Luwak Coffee operations. The world's most expensive coffee variant, made from beans passed through the digestive tract of a luwak (civet cat) may sound exotic but these animals are usually overfed for this specific purpose (coffee beans are not their staple diet per default) and kept in poor conditions. Moreover, you'd need a helluva lot of luwaks to produce coffee on a large scale, so any luwak coffee you do pay a fortune for is probably not the real deal anyway. 6) Ubud can definitely be a base from which to explore the north (Mt Batur / The Twin Lakes, etc. or the quiter East coast (Amed)