The Friday Thing #788

Back in the Pacific Northwest after quick hop to Europe…and what a beautiful Friday it is here.

The Friday Thing #788 could be a detailed rundown of an epic week in Brussels – so many tales to tell, but so few of them I can tell here. So, I will offer one learning and remix it a bit with a previous Friday Thing I had planned to write but hadn’t quite found the angle to do so. The angle presented itself on Monday evening when planning a press conference in Europe and that angle is the power of analog. Now, given I work for a very digital company, which may sound like a contradiction in terms – but this is the magic of storytelling, that we are in the business of capturing attention. And in a digitally mediated world, sometimes the best way to capture attention is to sail in the other direction – i.e., analog.

Which is why I found myself on Monday evening frantically creating, editing and checking digital files to be printed on physical boards. These boards would appear on stage on wooden easels. In the end we had 3 files to choose from and two easels - so one board had to go. The decision on which to cut was also a storytelling insight – that sometimes the best story provokes a question. And so, we ended up with two easels and two cards – one with hard facts, the other with a statement that provoked a question. Both worked. Mission accomplished.

In a somewhat obtuse connection (it’s how my mind works), I was reminded of analog storytelling via the annual HIUT book I am reading at the moment. More on that in the next few weeks but below is Experiment No. 81 from the book – Lessons From a Square Bottle. And not any old bottle but that of Johnnie Walker’s iconic whisky bottle. I had no idea of the history of the square bottle until I read this.?

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Experiment No. 081

Lessons From a Square Bottle

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In 1860, Alexander Walker was the first liquor purveyor to implement square bottles, and many other brands have since followed suit. But there’s more to Johnnie Walker’s signature square bottle than simple aesthetics.

According to geometry experts, cubes and cylinders have a characteristic strength ration of 15:12, respectively, which means cubes are 125% stronger. This meant the famous square bottle significantly reduced breakages during transport, and ensured the product was delivered safely to customers.

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On top of that, less material is required to shape cubes than cylinders. As a result, cubes weigh 36% less per unit. The lighter weight and lesser cost of bottling materials representing yet another win.

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And now we’re getting really geeky…

With a label at an angle of precisely 24 degrees, the square bottle also allowed for larger type to be used.

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All of the above meant that Johnnie Walker had an unmistakable presence on any shelf in the world. A design smart enough to be lucky.

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It turns out Alexander Walker was in the attention business, analog form, back in 1860. I’ll drink to that….

Cheers and happy Friday.

-Steve