Life Behind The Screen

Nick Bartlett
Digital Strategy Director

Where are we goin' this fine morning?

What are we doin' this fine day?

We're doin' the same as ev'ry morning!


We're stayin' inside on this fine morning.

Stayin' inside on this fine day.

We'll stare at a screen, like ev'ry morning.


And outside the window, spring is here,

And we're gonna hibernate all year.

Under a pile of A4 snowflakes.


Cause we're the new generation,
generation!

We are the battery human!

I first heard this song a year ago, and last night I was lucky enough to hear Stornoway sing it live at their biggest ever gig at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. They played this unplugged, at the front of the stage, and played it beautifully to two thousand enraptured fans.

In hindsight, two things fascinated me about this moment. Firstly, the number of people filming, taking photos and generally faffing around with bits of tech. Instead of grabbing the moment, these individuals failed to get the point of being at a live gig and, ultimately, whilst trying to capture the experience, they missed it.

Lessons learnt – just because you have technology doesn’t mean you have to use it at every turn – experience drives the senses, and the senses in turn drive emotional reaction. If you don’t balance technology, experience and reaction, you’re left disappointed. No-one likes to be disappointed, so why would you want to ever repeat it?

Secondly, the audience had to be absolutely still so that the band had the chance to be heard three tiers above. In the four minutes they performed “Battery Human” the assembled mass of fans quite literally became one. The combined respect and attention the crowd gave the band culminated in a brilliant performance and an enormous wave of appreciation from their loyal community of followers.

Lesson learnt – tell an audience what you need them to do, give them what they want and you can keep their attention fixed, joining them together through a shared experience. The result: Twitter this morning was alive with great feedback for the gig and as a result the viral noise about the band and their music will have spread to many more people.

As the final verses point out below, it’s all about “reception.” Understanding, interpretation and empathy are the keys to a great reception; remember this next time you’re building your brand online.

We've got the whole world at our fingers.

We've got the whole world in our hands.

We get the blues as we grow richer.


Cause we need to fix our loose connections.

Out in the natural World Wide Web.

We’re humans evolved in three-dimensions.


We were tuned in by natural selection.

And we need to go online each day.

But inside we don't get no reception.


So join the new revolution, revolution!

To free the battery human.


Cause we were born to be free range, free range!

View the clip here.