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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: Sable & Shuck
Marlowe Digital interview responses
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frantastic
Boot

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 12
Location: London

 		Marlowe Digital interview responses
Marlowe Digital have gotten back to me in response to my request for an interview (all questions below were mine).

Think their response to 1366 query is particularly interesting - esp the way they split the numbers into 13 comma 66 - is it another long/lat coordinate?

and yes the entire email was 1366 words long - nice touch.


Quote:

Dear Francesca,

Please accept our apologies for the delayed response. As you may be aware, we are somewhat en vogue at present and have to respond to more and more enquiries every day.

You may be pleased to know that we have now had time to study your questions and are now able to respond in full. Please find the information you desire below. We apologise for the length of this email, but we do not like to send attachments in this age of so much e-vandalism and malice.

How did you first start working with Sable & Shuck and its subsidiaries?

Although we do not usually divulge information about our clients, we make no secret about working with Sable & Shuck. Indeed our collective considers it an honour to work with such a well established organisation.

Contrary to popular opinion, we first started to work with Sable & Shuck and their subsidiaries on 11th August 1999. Before this dark day our collective interests were more artistic and theatrical than commercial. However, to borrow from the Hollywood parole, they made us an offer we quite literally couldn't refuse.

After several years of routine design work that included business cards, identities, letterheads, and of course contracts, we slowly sold them the idea of e-commerce. Although the internet bubble had indeed burst by that time, the more strategic thinkers of our collective envisioned an updated acquisition process that would outstrip Sable & Shuck's rather antiquated system.

Our first major digital opportunity came with the much heralded "Golden Futures" campaign that finished last year. It takes a brave client to take on an idea so different, but we had faith in them and they had faith in us.

Despite the fact that Sable & Shuck make no secret about offering products of supreme quality and worth in return for worthy souls or derivatives thereof, they had long feared that any mass media route would be to their detriment. Simple as it was, the "Golden Futures" concept changed that.

Now here we are at the tail end of 2004 with the spirit of the last year's campaign alive in all but name. We have a happy client - acquisition applications are up, partly due to our effort and partly due to Sable & Shuck's most worthy offering. And we ourselves are happy too – we're still their sole creative agency and what's more, we're making a name for ourselves across the globe.

Will you be having any events in future?

We are not entirely sure what you mean by this. The only major event we have had this year was our launch party, which did not take place at Lounge Lover on 31st October.

Our collective will probably take part in some kind of winter festival celebration in late December, client contract permitting, but the details are far from concrete.

What projects are you currently working on and for whom?

In terms of Sable & Shuck work, which is essentially the bread and butter account of the collective, we are very busy as always. Despite our hopes, the acquisition process is not fully-automated, although potential Sable & Shuck clients now enjoy the benefit of a fully-automated application process.

Of course, Sable & Shuck do have a good reason not to automate the acquisition process.

Their proposition is a serious one – far more serious than a mortgage or bank loan. So, until we have convinced them otherwise, the Director of Acquisitions insists on personally vetting all applicants. Unfortunately, so successful is our current marketing drive, he can't always keep up with demand. However, it is not our position to speculate, and it would not be wholly out of the question that he has simply not found many to be worthy enough of those luxuries that the Director of Acquisitions can supply – despite the protestations to the contrary.

Other Sable & Shuck work in the pipeline include a corporate video and a rather technical data-integration system – it's amazing that Sable & Shuck cannot easily share data with its subsidiaries and vice-versa. This has led to a small hardcore of acquisitions being "lost in the system", which is more impractical than it is dangerous.

In terms of non Sable & Shuck work, we are busier than ever. It seems that we are making a name for ourselves as both strategists and marketers.

Our new business department is almost overrun by briefs for new sites for the big multinational conglomerates, defence companies and individuals of dubious morality. Of course, many of these jobs will fade into nothing, but even if we work on 10% of the new business opportunities, we will need to increase the collective by 50 – 80 people.

Like any agency with at least a residual sense of corporate responsibility, we also take on charity jobs too. Our latest "good-will site", as they are referred to them internally, is a piece entitled www.helpmefindjon.com. This site, built for a charming young lady by the rather cinematic name of Brigid aims to help her locate her brother.

Brigid is sure that he is not 'missing' but has simply gone into hiding for reasons unknown. Simply put, it is her desire to find him. So impressed were we by her passionate performance, we decided to give her a site for free. As you can see from the site, we have gone to at least some lengths to help her locate her rather stubborn brother.

Are you aware of any significance to the number 1366? It seems to pop up coincidentally on a lot of your sites.

The world is a complicated web of synchronicity and coincidence, and the world-wide-web is by its very nature more inter-linked than anything produced so far.

However, we have gone back and looked at our public sites and identity work and it you are indeed correct. After an internal brainstorm arranged to consider what this may mean, several schools of thought are now flourishing within the collective.

1: That the 66th year in any given century is associated with moments of change and/or greatness (1066, 1366 and 1966 to name but 3).

2: That it is entirely coincidental.

3: That the number 13,66 is significant for an unknown reason.

Note: You may find a word count of this email particularly coincidental at this stage.

Anything else too add?

If we may be so bold, we would like to take this opportunity to speak a little about our position in terms of "selling out" to advertising/marketing and a client's right to explore the new terrain with impunity.

As is betrayed by our name, we began as a purely artistic collective. Long was it our dream to push the boundaries of the possible way beyond the realm of the likely. If we could not achieve this technically it was our aim to do so at a conceptual level.

As our collective grew and our journeys into the impossible became more and more difficult, we quickly realised that the possible became far more probable with some level of corporate advocacy and patronage.

When institutions have money to spend on creative pursuits, it would be foolish of the artist to refuse their sponsorship. Advertising and marketing takes the traditional form of patronage to its next logical level.

Our critics, if indeed we have any, may rebuke and chide us for choosing capitalism over aestheticism, but we are of the firm opinion that these go hand in hand. Indeed, this is why we were particularly attracted to the unique proposition of Sable & Shuck: Everyone is implicit in the great "sell-out" to capitalism. They merely take the process to its logical conclusion.

Francesca, we hope that these answers are to your satisfaction. Of course, we may have raised more questions than we have provided answers, but that is much like life. It is not that there are not enough answers, rather, it is clear that there are far too many questions - many of them nonsensical in all but syntax.

It is up to you to disseminate our responses as you see best. None of this is secret anymore, and it would do our business no harm if you were to make our opinions known.

http://www.marlowedigital.com


PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:31 am
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Psemmusa
Greenhorn

Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Posts: 8
Location: Birmingham UK

 		Thank you :)
Cheers for posting the Marlowe email Smile I can't be the only to spot the August 99 date as being the last solar eclipse visible from UK (and probably Belgium) of the millennium...

PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 11:07 am
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simonjp
Boot

Joined: 09 Nov 2004
Posts: 55
Location: London

 		That's great, frantastic, well done! I think it's time to start deconstructing the email to see what's there. The first clue I spotted was 'cinematic' - I've tried looking Brigid up on IMDB but no luck- am I being too literal? Of course, Jon Harker was the name of the protagonist in Dracula, but that's more book than film...

PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:00 pm
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guy_psons
Guest


 		Perhaps the 'cinematic' comment is in reference to the video clips on the website? It does seem a little off, I guess, that there'd be videos where all she does is recite the text right next to her, that you can just read. Then again, that is the method of choice for thousands of middle-managers and their Powerpoint presentations.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:43 pm
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Darkman
Greenhorn


Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 6

 		Re: Marlowe Digital interview responses
Hi There,

This is my first post but I would like to share this with you.

1. Of course, many of these jobs will fade into nothing, but even if we work on 10% of the new business opportunities, we will need to increase the collective by 50 – 80 people.

I think this refers to the max score you get on the test at sable and shuck

50 * 1.6 = 80

1.6 been golden ratio. maybe if you get 80 with a soul derivative of 50 then you will be contacted I dunno.

Darkman

frantastic wrote:
Marlowe Digital have gotten back to me in response to my request for an interview (all questions below were mine).

Think their response to 1366 query is particularly interesting - esp the way they split the numbers into 13 comma 66 - is it another long/lat coordinate?

and yes the entire email was 1366 words long - nice touch.


Quote:

Dear Francesca,

Please accept our apologies for the delayed response. As you may be aware, we are somewhat en vogue at present and have to respond to more and more enquiries every day.

You may be pleased to know that we have now had time to study your questions and are now able to respond in full. Please find the information you desire below. We apologise for the length of this email, but we do not like to send attachments in this age of so much e-vandalism and malice.

How did you first start working with Sable & Shuck and its subsidiaries?

Although we do not usually divulge information about our clients, we make no secret about working with Sable & Shuck. Indeed our collective considers it an honour to work with such a well established organisation.

Contrary to popular opinion, we first started to work with Sable & Shuck and their subsidiaries on 11th August 1999. Before this dark day our collective interests were more artistic and theatrical than commercial. However, to borrow from the Hollywood parole, they made us an offer we quite literally couldn't refuse.

After several years of routine design work that included business cards, identities, letterheads, and of course contracts, we slowly sold them the idea of e-commerce. Although the internet bubble had indeed burst by that time, the more strategic thinkers of our collective envisioned an updated acquisition process that would outstrip Sable & Shuck's rather antiquated system.

Our first major digital opportunity came with the much heralded "Golden Futures" campaign that finished last year. It takes a brave client to take on an idea so different, but we had faith in them and they had faith in us.

Despite the fact that Sable & Shuck make no secret about offering products of supreme quality and worth in return for worthy souls or derivatives thereof, they had long feared that any mass media route would be to their detriment. Simple as it was, the "Golden Futures" concept changed that.

Now here we are at the tail end of 2004 with the spirit of the last year's campaign alive in all but name. We have a happy client - acquisition applications are up, partly due to our effort and partly due to Sable & Shuck's most worthy offering. And we ourselves are happy too – we're still their sole creative agency and what's more, we're making a name for ourselves across the globe.

Will you be having any events in future?

We are not entirely sure what you mean by this. The only major event we have had this year was our launch party, which did not take place at Lounge Lover on 31st October.

Our collective will probably take part in some kind of winter festival celebration in late December, client contract permitting, but the details are far from concrete.

What projects are you currently working on and for whom?

In terms of Sable & Shuck work, which is essentially the bread and butter account of the collective, we are very busy as always. Despite our hopes, the acquisition process is not fully-automated, although potential Sable & Shuck clients now enjoy the benefit of a fully-automated application process.

Of course, Sable & Shuck do have a good reason not to automate the acquisition process.

Their proposition is a serious one – far more serious than a mortgage or bank loan. So, until we have convinced them otherwise, the Director of Acquisitions insists on personally vetting all applicants. Unfortunately, so successful is our current marketing drive, he can't always keep up with demand. However, it is not our position to speculate, and it would not be wholly out of the question that he has simply not found many to be worthy enough of those luxuries that the Director of Acquisitions can supply – despite the protestations to the contrary.

Other Sable & Shuck work in the pipeline include a corporate video and a rather technical data-integration system – it's amazing that Sable & Shuck cannot easily share data with its subsidiaries and vice-versa. This has led to a small hardcore of acquisitions being "lost in the system", which is more impractical than it is dangerous.

In terms of non Sable & Shuck work, we are busier than ever. It seems that we are making a name for ourselves as both strategists and marketers.

Our new business department is almost overrun by briefs for new sites for the big multinational conglomerates, defence companies and individuals of dubious morality. Of course, many of these jobs will fade into nothing, but even if we work on 10% of the new business opportunities, we will need to increase the collective by 50 – 80 people.

Like any agency with at least a residual sense of corporate responsibility, we also take on charity jobs too. Our latest "good-will site", as they are referred to them internally, is a piece entitled www.helpmefindjon.com. This site, built for a charming young lady by the rather cinematic name of Brigid aims to help her locate her brother.

Brigid is sure that he is not 'missing' but has simply gone into hiding for reasons unknown. Simply put, it is her desire to find him. So impressed were we by her passionate performance, we decided to give her a site for free. As you can see from the site, we have gone to at least some lengths to help her locate her rather stubborn brother.

Are you aware of any significance to the number 1366? It seems to pop up coincidentally on a lot of your sites.

The world is a complicated web of synchronicity and coincidence, and the world-wide-web is by its very nature more inter-linked than anything produced so far.

However, we have gone back and looked at our public sites and identity work and it you are indeed correct. After an internal brainstorm arranged to consider what this may mean, several schools of thought are now flourishing within the collective.

1: That the 66th year in any given century is associated with moments of change and/or greatness (1066, 1366 and 1966 to name but 3).

2: That it is entirely coincidental.

3: That the number 13,66 is significant for an unknown reason.

Note: You may find a word count of this email particularly coincidental at this stage.

Anything else too add?

If we may be so bold, we would like to take this opportunity to speak a little about our position in terms of "selling out" to advertising/marketing and a client's right to explore the new terrain with impunity.

As is betrayed by our name, we began as a purely artistic collective. Long was it our dream to push the boundaries of the possible way beyond the realm of the likely. If we could not achieve this technically it was our aim to do so at a conceptual level.

As our collective grew and our journeys into the impossible became more and more difficult, we quickly realised that the possible became far more probable with some level of corporate advocacy and patronage.

When institutions have money to spend on creative pursuits, it would be foolish of the artist to refuse their sponsorship. Advertising and marketing takes the traditional form of patronage to its next logical level.

Our critics, if indeed we have any, may rebuke and chide us for choosing capitalism over aestheticism, but we are of the firm opinion that these go hand in hand. Indeed, this is why we were particularly attracted to the unique proposition of Sable & Shuck: Everyone is implicit in the great "sell-out" to capitalism. They merely take the process to its logical conclusion.

Francesca, we hope that these answers are to your satisfaction. Of course, we may have raised more questions than we have provided answers, but that is much like life. It is not that there are not enough answers, rather, it is clear that there are far too many questions - many of them nonsensical in all but syntax.

It is up to you to disseminate our responses as you see best. None of this is secret anymore, and it would do our business no harm if you were to make our opinions known.

http://www.marlowedigital.com


PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:45 pm
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Darkman
Greenhorn


Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Posts: 6

 		Soul derivative and the golden ratio
Sorry forgot to mention when you take the test on the S&S website. If you times the soul derivative by 1.6 then you get your sould worth.

Darkman

PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 9:49 pm
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simonjp
Boot

Joined: 09 Nov 2004
Posts: 55
Location: London

 		dates
Just in case the non-brits out there don't know:

1066 - Norman conquest of Great Britain
1366 - Stella Artois first brewed
1966 - England win Football World Cup

So I think we can take it as read that that email was written by an English(wo)man! Smile Suprised they didn't include 1666 - the Great Fire of London.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:07 pm
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digi
Boot

Joined: 30 Nov 2004
Posts: 25
Location: liverpool, uk

 		yeah, 1666 would have made sense.

Anyone had any luck with 13,66 thing?

I googled it to oblivion and beyond, but to be honest I couldn't find anything useful. Maybe was just a typo? There was a number of words dropped out of the sentances I noticed, but I figure that was just to get the word count. This thing has me so confused Sad

PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:17 pm
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frantastic
Boot

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 12
Location: London

 		no something in 1366 for sure
there's something in 1366 for sure

Marlowe emphasised it too much i think for it to be coincidence
i'm sure its something. Just not idea what!

PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:28 pm
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KirstenBaum
Boot


Joined: 29 Nov 2004
Posts: 12
Location: Southern California

 		1366 is also the listed number of rooms in the Europa venue in Elysian Fields on the Pathway Travel site.
_________________
Like Jane Lane with a sword.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 11:35 pm
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nellyhawk
Kilroy

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 1

 		1366
Very Happy 1366 was the year a certain Belgium brewery was set up.
Idea Yes, you guessed it - Stella Artois.
Twisted Evil Although it was originally named 'The Horn' or 'Den Horen' which just happens to be the name of the lottery winner - Dennis Horen (Hornchurchstar.com)

PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:29 pm
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subbes
Guest


 		In France and Belgum, a comma (,) can stand for a period(.). While I'm fairly sure that the 13,66 is just a reference to the year SA was founded, it could also be a price, or some other number.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 1:01 am
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noblesavage8
Kilroy

Joined: 10 Jan 2005
Posts: 1

 		what i'd like to know is how did you set this interview up? by leaving something in the "comments" section of Contact Us?

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:52 pm
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Neffarious
Greenhorn

Joined: 10 Jan 2005
Posts: 9

 		1366 words in the response, wonder how hard that was to do Twisted Evil

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:22 pm
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Meak
Decorated

Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 230

 		I went to the supermarket yesterday and guess how much a crate of stella was?

Yup, you guessed it.... £13.66

PostPosted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:18 am
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