By now, regular readers of TechCritic will be well-versed with the name ‘Rob Shoesmith’.
The PR & Marketing expert recently completed a ten-day experiment, waiting in line for the new iPhone 4S, where he couldn’t spend a single penny of his own money. Instead, he had to rely on donations from various companies, in exchange for promoting their brand during his stay.
Rob’s experiment was designed to test the global pull of Apple products, and considering that over one-hundred-and-fifty companies offered their goods and services to help, it’s fair to say that the Apple brand is a considerably powerful marketing tool.
Now just over two weeks on, Rob’s fully recovered from his experiment, and I’ve managed to secure a detailed interview with him about his experiences, which you can see below.
Q&A with Rob Shoesmith:
1. Did you encounter any logistical problems when it came to setting up for the experiment? Was it easy enough to get your gear down to London, and was setting up outside the Apple store a problem?
RS: “To be fair it wasn’t too bad. I had my own PA from My Lifestyle PA who offered 16 hours of their time. The owner of the company, Emma, greeted me at London Euston train station and helped me to transport all my kit to the Apple Store in Covent Garden.”
2. You pitched up a tent for ten days while waiting for, what would soon be released as, the iPhone 4S. Was it a disappointment to receive this instead of the iPhone 5, or was there another purpose to the experiment?
RS: “It was all about doing the experiment for the fifth generation iPhone, which the iPhone 4S actually is. In terms of purpose, it was such a great way to connect with new companies, people and media and to gently promote some of our existing apps.”
3. The British weather is a bit temperamental at the best of times. How did you handle the cold and the rain?
RS: “It was freezing at night! Thankfully I had the use of a Musuc Bag, which kept me relatively warm. I still found it a huge challenge to keep warm at night and it certainly opened my eyes to how hard it is for the homeless.”
4. The public response to your experiment seemed pretty positive. Did you meet any interesting characters as a result?
RS: “Yes plenty! The thing with London is it draws in such an international crowd of visitors. I must have spoken to over 2,000 people easily whilst I was in line. I have made some fabulous new friends and made some great new business and media contacts.
The silver-fox UK TV personality Philip Schofield even popped over and said hello! It was a pretty surreal experience to say the least, but old Phil is a top bloke and was really interested in hear about my experiment.
Belly Dancing Barbie a belly dancer from Edinburgh who even flew down to visit and got me doing some dancing to increase my energy levels.
I even had a supporter of the App Incubator come down and pitch me his idea for his iPhone app! He was so passionate about his idea he left work early to come and see me.”
5. You had a lot of wacky ideas for your experiment; I remember discussing the use of gnomes in particular to help generate involvement with the community. Did this work out?
RS: “Unfortunately not. About a week before the experiment took place I distributed them off around London but a lot of them were thrown in the bin by overzealous council workers, who couldn’t see that it was a bit of fun.
I’m firmly of the belief that you have to try an idea, and if it doesn’t work it’s just one of those things. A lot of people doubted me even being able to complete the experiment. I’m not a person who just talks the talk! I like to execute an idea and if it doesn’t work out, well, so what? At least I tried and I’ve learnt something from it.”
6. I understand that you were quite taken back by the homeless situation in London?
RS: “Yes. If I’m being honest, before I went down to London I used to ignore the homeless people asking me for a bit of loose change. Camping out on the street for so long opened my eyes massively to just how hard it is for these people!
Admittedly I had good quality equipment and was fed by restaurants in the area, but even I found it incredibly tough being outside for so long!
On my first day I met a homeless chap called Terry Partington who had been on the streets for around 3 months. It would be awesome if your readers could follow Terry on Twitter. I was really surprised to see him pull out a Mac Book laptop. He has managed to keep hold of it, and it was his life line to the world he desperately misses.
Just before the end of the experiment I gave him a laptop bag that was donated by one of my sponsors. Terry was just carrying his Mac around in a carrier bag and it would have been heart breaking for the winter rain to have damaged it. I gave a lot of the products I was donated to him and other homeless people I met throughout my 10 night camping experiment.
He is really interested in technology and is looking to study digital imaging to help him get off the streets! I now consider him to be a great new friend. He helped me adjust to life outside with very little sleep and helped me take some photographs and filmed some YouTube videos for my blog.”
7. And you’ve setup a just giving page to help tackle the problem, right?
RS: “Yes I’ve set up a just giving page to support a homeless shelter. People can donate at the following link:
www.justgiving.com/iphone5experiment”
8. Thanks to the mass media coverage, many people in the UK now know your name. What tips would you give to someone thinking of undertaking a similar experiment?
RS: “Go prepared! I thought I was fully prepared by having the support of over 150 companies, and yet I still found the whole experience incredibly tough to get through! The lack of sleep was a killer and I was nearly forced to call it a day through sleep deprivation under a doctor’s advice, so I would highly recommend doing an experiment with a group of people and remember to pack your ear plugs. A supply of energy drinks is also a must!”
9. Now the experiment is over, we’re all waiting with bated breath. What’s next?
RS: “I will be jetting off to Dubai on a holiday to unwind, courtesy of flight comparison website Direct Flights. They got in touch on around day 2 and when I was feeling very cold at night I pictured myself on a warm peaceful beach. The holiday on offer definitely helped me get through to the end!
After that… Who knows! I’m a person with lots of ideas and I’m very open to suggestions for new experiments to take part on. As things stand I have around 4 or 5 ideas I’m seriously thinking about. People can follow and suggest ideas to me on Twitter.”
10. Lucky you! Now c’mon, Rob. Tell us. We’re all dying to know. Did you have to pay for your iPhone 4S in the end?
RS: “MEDL Mobile the app company I work for were very kind and purchased the new iPhone 4S for me.”
11. Oh, and one last thing. I’ve just got to ask, how was the bog-in-a-bag to use?
RS: “It was pretty good actually! I only had to use it the once. It was around 3:00 AM in the morning and the toilets next to the Apple Store were locked and I had a ‘I gotta go’ moment and I hid myself under a wall and did the business. All I can say is that it was pretty grim!”
And that’s it. A big thank-you to Rob for the interview. I, for one, can’t wait to see what else you’ve got planned!
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