- “Every one of us should push against boundaries”: British astronaut Helen Sharman shares her inspirational story as she encourages leading marketers to embrace fearlessness
- Unlocking creativity: WeAreFearless explores the other side of fear as the agency reveals its latest cutting-edge research
Integrated creative agency WeAreFearless challenged the marketing industry to be more fearless in its approach to creative problem solving with the help of Britain’s first astronaut Helen Sharman CMG OBE.
During the agency’s inaugural thought leadership event, #embracetheunknown…The Other Side of Fear, which took place at Omera, London Bridge on Wednesday 2 May 2018, Helen Sharman supported their message by sharing her unique insight into how she overcame her fear to become the first Briton in space in 1991. She told an audience of senior marketers how she managed the ever-present risk in space exploration through strategy, teamwork and fearlessness.
“Fear is about the unknown. The more we know about something, the less reason there is to be fearful in the choices we make,” Sharman told the audience, as she described her exhaustive training regime prior to her mission. “Beyond that, the question at the heart of all of this is what to do with our fear. What do we stand to lose? And, more importantly, what do we stand to gain by taking a risk?”
She spoke of fearlessness as the bedrock for exploration and creativity, through which we can achieve new understandings, insights and growth:
“There are no boundaries in space. Boundaries are things that we construct because they make us feel more comfortable. But we do not need them. Every one of us should push against them.”
UNIQUE VALUES RESEARCH
Her unique insight was supported by the agency’s proprietary tools which challenge the way the marketing industry thinks about audiences. Naomi Segal, Managing Partner at WeAreFearless shared an insight into how they use consumer psychology to solve business problems differently, moving brands beyond the ‘catch all’ of demographic audience profiling.
The agency’s proprietary values research, captured across 40 years and more than 20 countries, examines the deep-rooted motivations behind why we make decisions, which allows WeAreFearless to take bolder creative risks when it comes to working with brands.
Within the UK, the research identifies three broad “worlds”:
- “Nesters”: or traditionalists, who represent around 24.4 per cent of the population. They need to feel safe, secure and that they belong.
- “Chasers”: or those who embrace the new and exciting; they like to be visible and considered successful and represent around 37.2 per cent of the population
- And “Explorers”: questioning world citizens and independent thinkers, who challenge the status quo, representing around 38.4 per cent of the population.
BOLDNESS WITH BACKUP
A partnership with Dr Joseph Devlin, head of experimental psychology at UCL, explained how uncertainty creates fear in our brain and the impact this has on our creativity. He shared how the unconscious and conscious impact our decision-making abilities, and debunked right brain/left brain industry myths about creativity.
He said: “When there is fear, there is danger, but there is also opportunity. If you can develop the knowledge that will help you navigate this landscape while facing fear, there are great opportunities for creativity to be spawned.”
Garry Dods, founder of WeAreFearless, said:
“We believe fear in the face of uncertainty is the biggest threat to our industry. It causes stagnation and apathy and prevents marketers challenging the status quo. It hinders business growth because you’re comfortable solving business challenges the same way each time. Our event with Britain’s first Astronaut Helen Sharman aims to inspire the belief that if you have the right mindset, tools and back up, on the other side of fear lies real opportunity and growth. And I’m proud that our team of category experts, backed up with our proprietary research in psychology and consumer neuroscience gives us and our clients the confidence to do things differently. We call it boldness with backup.”
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For further information and photos please contact:
Beth Begg / beth@wearefearless.com / 07709858100
About WeAreFearless
WeAreFearless is an integrated creative agency with a challenger mind-set inspiring bolder creativity in culture, sports and entertainment. The agency uses consumer neuroscience and psychology to better understand audiences and find opportunity and growth for clients. For more information please visit: wearefearless.com or find us on: Linkedin / Twitter
About the speakers
Helen Sharman CMG, OBE
Helen Sharman became the first British Astronaut when, in May 1991, she launched on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. She spent 8 days orbiting the Earth, living and working on the MIR Space Station. Helen was awarded the OBE in 1993. In the New Years Honours List 2018, she was further awarded a rare and special honour, being made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to Science and Technology Educational Outreach.
Dr Joe Devlin, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience and Head of Experimental Psychology, UCL
Joe started in artificial intelligence but found himself much more interested in how the human mind works. After training in neuroimaging at Cambridge and Oxford, he established a reputation as a leading researcher in how the human brain processes language before taking up his current position as Head of Experimental Psychology at UCL. Joe has collaborated on various projects with a variety of partners, including Audible, the BBC, JWC, the Times, Guardian and Daily Telegraph.
Naomi Segal, Managing Partner at WeAreFearless
Naomi is a branded entertainment specialist with 18 years’ experience. Throughout her career she has developed and managed strategic sponsorship platforms for high profile consumer brands, sport and entertainment, and charity clients both domestically and globally. She has a wealth of experience across branded content, broadcast, experiential, marketing, PR and social media campaigns for brands such as Barclays, Nokia, Smirnoff, T-Mobile, Orange, Pioneer, Guinness and various film, music and television companies.
Garry Dods, founder of WeAreFearless
Garry is founder and MD of WeAreFearless, an integrated creative agency 3 years old, and never shy to challenge convention, WeAreFearless’ rigorous human-centric approach enables their clients to make braver choices that deliver more commercially successful creative work through culture, sports and entertainment. Proud father of 4, Forest fan, general entertainment nut and lover of marketing that stirs the heart, Garry’s career started in retail and brand management with M&S and Mars before 15 years at Octagon, the global sports and entertainment consultancy where Garry led the UK and Australasian marketing teams.