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Welcome to the kwittken + company Hothouse blog. What drives the agency is our curiosity about the future. Our kwittken + company Hothouse initiative is what drives our thinking, our approach and our ideas. It consists of events, research and an expert panel that allows us to question and challenge conventional thinking.
Posted by Chris on Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:48am
Kelly Kerruish writes...
The official decision to start work on the £17 billion first stage of the proposed £32 billion HS2 high speed rail project was announced this week. The 140-mile line, known as High Speed 2, will carry 225 mph trains and shorten journey times between London and Birmingham from almost 90 minutes to 49 minutes. Since its inception the project has been plagued by controversy surrounding the environmental impact but, more frequently, the cost.
Posted by Nick on Wed Nov 30, 2011 16:08pm
In our Foresight research last year we looked at the rise of mobile and speculated that 2011 would see a continuation of smartphone penetration around the world. In particular, we predicted a plethora of developments in the smartphone application arena centered on payments, location and heath-monitoring.
Posted by Chris on Tue Nov 08, 2011 17:09pm
Kelly Kerruish writes...
In our Foresight research last year we speculated on the future of the BBC and how it would differentiate itself in light of government spending cuts and increased competition from both the big commercial players and the proliferation of social media channels.
Posted by Nick on Thu Aug 11, 2011 17:52pm
Social media has increasingly been a feature of consumer PR campaigns in recent years. Successful campaigns have proved a powerful new weapon in the promotion of products, building profile amongst youth audiences and making micro-trends hit the mainstream. The question for many corporate and B2B communications professionals is: can social media be effectively deployed in a non-consumer world?
Posted by Chris on Thu Aug 11, 2011 17:15pm
As many of you know, at the end of each year we publish a report which details some of the major trends which we expect to shape politics, economics, society, business, media and technology in the forthcoming year. The idea being that without a view of the future it is impossible to develop effective and relevant campaigns.
Posted by Sarah on Thu Aug 11, 2011 16:44pm
Posted by Helen on Thu Aug 11, 2011 16:32pm
It’s almost written into British DNA that any major event purporting to unite the people is greeted with two options a) sternly-folded arms or b) wildly inappropriate hysteria. From royal weddings to Wimbledon, we’re either rolling around in homemade “Kate n Wills 4eva!!” signs or muttering about Madame Guillotine. So pity the organisers of the 2012 London Games then, who had to psych up the nation on 27 July, to celebrate reaching the one year to go milestone.
Posted by Helen on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:37pm
Brendan Cooper here. I'm a Digital Associate and they've let me post to their blog, albeit under Helen's name for now. It's probably a bit like letting the dog on the sofa for the first time, so I'll try not to drool too much or worry the antimacassar...
Trust is an elusive concept. However, nothing clarifies more starkly what trust is until it is lost.
What we have seen over the last two years is an astonishing and speedy erosion of trust between citizens and governments; banks and customers; companies and employees; newspapers and readers. The combination of the global credit crunch, the parliamentary expenses scandal, the BP oil spill and lately the News of The World phone hacking scandal has shaken the concept of trust to its foundations.
Posted by Nick on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:27pm
I attended a heavily oversubscribed event at LSE dedicated to the Phone hacking debate. Organised by Charlie Beckett from LSE there was a top panel of speakers including Charlotte Harris (Ulrika Johnson and Max Clifford’s lawyer), David Aaronovitch from The Times, Martin Moore from the Hacked Off Campaign & Media Standards Trust and Paul Staines (aka Guido Fawkes).
Posted by Chris on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:57pm
Haifa writes...
Thanks to social media, the human need to feel connected is met wherever, whenever we want. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Linkedin and blogs - to name a few - allow us to connect with others, share our experiences and find out the latest news and insights more easily than ever before.
Posted by Chris on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:24pm
Last week, we launched our Hothouse Foresight 2011 research with a breakfast salon at the Royal Society of Arts, London.
We had an insightful line-up of speakers including Adam Boulton, political editor, Sky News; Paul Mason, economics editor, BBC Newsnight and Bronwen Maddox, chief executive at Prospect and columnist, The Times. Speakers shared their perspectives on the issues and trends likely to shape the coming twelve months and beyond.
Posted by Sarah on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:55pm
It’s been a busy two months at the office with over 300 pieces of coverage generated through projects including…
Posted by Chris on Fri Sep 24, 2010 17:10pm
People often talk about events changing the world as we know it. More often than not such claims are all hype and little substance. But the last two years have been turbulent times for those in the business of corporate reputation.
The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 PR team (Chris, myself, Helen, plus Joe, our work experience superstar), spent a very productive but slightly wet day volunteering at the Greenway yesterday - a footpath and cycleway near the Olympic Park which at one end hosts the popular View Tube.
I went to my first tweetup the other night, near where I live, and I have to say that after getting past the initial fear of walking into a room full of relative strangers (well, most of us had ‘met’ online previously), I had a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting time.
Posted by Helen on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:34pm
Last week’s debate, which we co-hosted with Spiked and Big Potatoes, was titled ‘Beyond the iPad: what IT and telecoms could do for innovation, productivity and the economy’. An ambitious question, but one that our speakers tackled with enthusiasm, taking in seventeenth century ships, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and why teenage sons prefer the medium of text for communicating unwelcome news along the way.
Posted by Nick on Fri Jun 18, 2010 17:53pm
Yesterday evening I attended the presentation of the DigiWorld Year Book which is an initiative run by IDATE the French based telecoms analyst and consultancy house. There were some interesting issues raised and questions posed during a panel session with speakers from OFCOM, AT&T, Telefonica, Cisco and BNP Paribas. According to IDATE internet traffic growth is occurring at a rate of 40-60% each year.
Posted by Nick on Fri Jun 11, 2010 16:02pm
The issue of the UKs broadband infrastructure was raised again this week with the first speech by the new minister for Culture Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt.
Posted by Nick on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:03pm
Last week I attended the Science museum for a special evening focused on women in science. I'd recommend a visit to the museum during one of its evenings for adults, no children running around and there’s even a pub quiz.
I had the fortune to listen to a presentation by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astrophysicist that discovered Pulsars (large stars that emit radio signals all the way to earth) age 23.
Posted by Chris on Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:15pm
Yesterday, I was interviewed by Paul Mason, economics editor of BBC Newsnight, on why politicians are failing to connect with voters; the impact of social media and whether or not the current volatility in the British political system is a short term blip or will have lasting impact.
It was on the back of Paul's theory that the Blackberry world (that of politicians and those in power) is clashing with the iPhone world (society at large).
Posted by Niamh on Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:58pm
Posted by Helen on Thu Mar 11, 2010 17:50pm
Dan Roberts, Guardian business editor, cut a lonely figure on the panel; the sole left-wing voice defiantly open-collared amid a row of immaculate Windsor knots.
Posted by Nick on Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:59am
Last week I attended a Hansard Society event to mark the launch of their annual Audit of Political Engagement. The Hansard Society is a not for profit organisation concerned with promoting understanding of the role of parliament and politics. It was a good line up of speakers including the Right Honourable David Blunkett MP, Lord Rennard MBE, Shailesh Vara MP and Dr Ruth Fox from the Hansard Society.
Posted by Chris on Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:12am
It has been a big week in the work we have been doing to support the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security. On Wednesday, at the Royal Society, the Taskforce launched their second report - ‘The Oil Crunch – a wake-up call for the UK economy’.
On Wednesday I attended a Computer Weekly 500 Club event for UK CIOs and IT leaders at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. A lively event looking at the challenges CIOs face in 2010. When I arrived at the hotel I was surprised to see more police officers than you would expect at a derby football game – I hadn’t taken CIOs for the rowdy type.
Net Neutrality is an issue that can sometimes bypass us in Europe and often seems like an argument being held in Washington, with a case study being played out in China. For us this debate should receive a little more airtime as the outcome will set out the fundamental governance rules of the internet.
Posted by Chris on Thu Jan 07, 2010 17:15pm
The week most people return to work after the Christmas break has been one of high drama – some real, others less so. Apocalyptic headlines scream ‘The Worst Snow in 30 Years’, ‘Frozen Britain’ and the ‘Deep Freeze’. However, yesterday’s developments at Westminster saw confused broadcasters battling with which story to lead on: Frozen Britain or the attempted coup of the Prime Minister?
Posted by Nick on Tue Dec 08, 2009 17:55pm
The decision by Google to restrict access to content through its Google News service is a landmark moment.
Posted by Chris on Mon Dec 07, 2009 18:51pm
With the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change opening today, there was a stark warning from the Danish Climate Minister, Connie Hedegaard, that the political will ‘will never be stronger’.
I think this is a correct analysis.
With the prospects of a global economy growing much slower than we’ve been used to and with increased public questioning of the science behind climate change it is vital that governments maximise the opportunities presented at Copenhagen. If they don’t, it may well be too late – not just for the planet but politically.
Posted by Chris on Thu Oct 13, 2011 14:16pm
This morning, we launched our Hothouse Foresight 2010 research with a breakfast salon at the Royal Society of Arts, London.
We had a prestigious line-up of speakers including Adam Boulton, political editor, Sky News; Paul Mason, economics editor, BBC Newsnight; Bronwen Maddox, chief correspondent, The Times; and Professor James Woudhuysen. Speakers shared their perspectives on the issues and trends likely to shape the coming twelve months and beyond.