Closing keynote slides for Digital Dimensions 2014 conference produced by ESOMAR in Stockholm where I was invited to share ideas regarding digital detox - a period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smart phones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world. ESOMAR Digital Dimensions 2014: http://goo.gl/MxA18O Go for Digital Detox community: http://gofordigitaldetox.com

1. Hello guys! I’m thrilled about this opportunity to share some digital insights and ideas with you. I hope at
least some of them would be really interesting and provoking creative thinking and professional inspiratio
Here we go!You know I want to start with a short story. These days there are many people who think that
you can find everything on App Store.
DIGITALoff is a new
emotionDETOX

2. Moreover many parents are ok with this point of view and therefore their kids are always on their iPads,
Galaxies whatsoever. 2 months ago creative team from Hyper Island in Stockholm, Sweden decided to
remind us that Not Everything is Available on AppStore.

3. They produced these key visuals no provoke telling the story of swings, playground and so on which are
not available on Appstore.

4. Pretty smart huh?

5. So let’s continue thinking about the internet, but let’s think about it without touching upon the bright side
of it.
The Internet

6. We all know how helpful and useful it amy be. Right?!
Bright Side

7. Now let’s think about the opposite side of the internet - the spooky one - the dark side!
Dark Side

8. You know I’ve really enjoyed that idea that marketing is an art of memory. And I’m a huge believer that in the age of content we need to learn how to think like a researcher and marketer, behave like an entertainer and move like a sharp startup. This presentation is inspired by many face to face interviews with different people. We were talking about our relations with the internet and gadgets. We’ve talked with ordinary people, media experts, developers, designers, artists,
musicians and even monks!
Inspired
by real stories

9. This might seem as a silly question. But please tell me is this person familiar to you? Sure it’s Justin. And
moreover some of you probably have mentioned it’s a capture from Social Network film. Justin was
representing one of the most influential Silicon Valley technologists - Sean Parker. Who founded peer-to-peer
sharing service Napster.
And also Sean was the original Facebook president. And while celebrating the first million of Facebook users,
he said in terms of believing in the future: first we lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we’re going
to live on the Internet!
Hello
DIGITAL
DIMENSIONS

10. So let’s continue thinking about the internet, but let’s think about it without touching upon the bright side
of it. We all know how helpful and useful it amy be. Right?!
First we lived on farms,
then we lived in cities,
and now we gonna to
live on the Internet
“

11. And boom!!! This is the point where Karl breaks into our thinking! Why? Because talking about farms, Marx
had an agricultural society term, regarding cities he had an industrial society and finally talking about living
on the Internet... Emm... Well of course Karl missed this one. Probably because he died more than a hundred
years ago, right. But in a sense he predicted the Internet. Why? Because he did imagine the world where
people are free to do whatever we want to... and the Internet in a sense allows us that, with all it’s options
available out there for sharing, creating, stealing, whatsoever...
Karl Marx
goes online

12. Karl Marx of course was a great analyst of the shift from the agricultural to the industrial society. And these
days we are experiencing a very similar shift, I would say, the grand historical shift. From the industrial, from
the analogue, to the internet, to the digital. The previous grand historical shift was happening during
centuries. And the current one is happening with a superspeed. Just think about it, after several decades we
live in a totally different world at least in some parts of it. And the point here is that we are lacking of
philosophical and psychological understanding of it.
The
Grand
Shift

13. Some fast provoking facts here.
We look at our phones 150 times a day.
We look at our phone
150 timesaday

14. 10% of people under 25 think that texting during sex may be alright
10% of
people under
25 maytext
during sex

15. We never look up. And it’s not only the title of a blog on Tumblr that I recommend to check out.
Wenever
look up...

16. A well-known Canadian... or American (you know folks always argue about that) media philosopher and
intellectual, Marshall McLuhan many yearsbefore introduced his loop principle of influence.
MarshallMcLuhan

17. He said we shape our tools and later our tools shape us. We’ve created the Internet and it has already started
to shape us. It’s evident that the results are not exclusively positive.
we shape our tools and
later our tools shape us
Theloopprinciple

18. After a period of online-enthusiasm people start to think about relations with the web much more carefully.
Especially in some societies. Privacy and transparency, security and so on. We all at least from time to time
overestimate the sides of the permanent being online.
Onlineenthusiasm
is slowing down

19. Let’s put it this way. Who loves chocolate, candies, whatsoever? I love it! So damn much! Sure ‘coz it drives
our endorphins making us a bit happier. Right. But in case I would start eating candies every single day and
night, it immediately stops being tasty and even harms my health. Actually a relevant process is happening
with all our Internet activities, that’s why many people start to slow down and go for digital detox.
Online
candies 24/7/365

20. In order to turn this presentation into your personal experience, I kindly ask you to take this crafty envelope
and put your device inside.Seriously I didn’t promise to bring a couple of newshiny iPhones for friends.
Therefore don’t worry about this trick - there is no David Copperfield in this room. Or is he?! And please feel
free to take away these envelopes later.
!
You know every time during this experiment, after sticking down the envelope, some folks normally say:
“Gosh, it looks awesome possum! And I feel I want to instagram it, tweet about it or facebook it”. So before
sticking down your envelope please feel free to take a photo and tell your friends on Twitter or Facebook
whatsoever that you’re going for a short digital detox. Lets do it, we have some time.
!
Go for digital detox!

21. When we talk about digital detox practice, it’s not about becoming a techno luddite or a down-shifter, throwing
out our smartphones, crashing WiFi routers. In a sense digital detox is just a way to slow down and think
about our online behaviour and relations with technology.
We are not
techno luddites

22. Some times you may hear about mediasceticism. In both cases we talk about a way of life that can be
characterised with understanding of digital communication process and its wise and conscious usage. You
know while interviewing young people we also asked them: “Would you like to be ascetic?” Of course “No” most
of them say. Why? Because everybody wants to enjoy things, buy beautiful goods and simply live a happy
cheerful life.
Mediasceticism

23. But when we asked those young people: “Would you like to be like Steve Jobs?”
you know many of them were much more enthusiastic about this life option. Of course Steve had a difficult
personality to understand. But it’s evident that at least partly he was ascetic. And now we basically enter the
meditation renaissance if you wish. Just think about meditation centre at Google. Remember Global Wisdom
2.0 global conference that gathered whole Silicon Valley and so on.
Focus means ignoring. I’m in love with this quote from Steve: “People think focus means saying YES to the
thing you have to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying NO to the hundred other good
ideas. Innovation is about saying no to 1000 good things around”.
Being ascetic from time to time simply trains the body and mind. Going back to my daily routine, I believe we
advertising guys must be ascetic from time to time too. It really helps to create more inspiring single-minded
creative works and lead the creative process in the right business driven direction.
The Grand
Shift
Steve Jobs
focus means ignoring

24. Think about it this way: it’s like a sportsmen training. “Success in sports presumes tough discipline and self
restraint” - said Michael.
The Grand
Shift
Michael Jordan
success presumes
tough discipline

25. The goal of digital detox is to train ourself and learn how to reasonably exist in the world of modern
technologies and media. To learn how to use all these beautiful inventions around more wisely and efficiently.
is to learn how to reasonably
exist in the world of modern
media and technologies
THE GOAL

26. This way presumes self-restraint, but it opens new creative possibilities. Being involved into creative process
on the regular day-to-day basis I can state it’s really crucial. Why? ‘Coz strategic thinking and creativity come
from a free space inside us. I personally 100% sure about this in order to generate something creative, that
place inside shouldn’t be constantly fulfilled with our newsfeed posts, likes, tweets, instagram food-show. It’s
hard to create a great work when we constantly react and am distracted.
digital detox way presumes
self-restraint, but it opens new
creative possibilities
ENHANCECREATIVITY

27. Paul Miller is a technology journalist and editor at The Verge. 2 years ago he decided go for an experiment, has
anybody heard about it? Alright so for those who hasn’t , Paul simply decided not to use the entire Internet for
a year. He wanted to understand his relations with the web, solve problems of being too loaded and stressed
because of huge clutter around him. Paul was continuing working, writing and editing articles, using flash
cards for data transferring. First during his free time he was reading ancient greek philosophers but later he
started to play some offline car racing games and so on.
leaving the internet
Paul Miller

28. Paul Miller VIDEO

29. Paul understood a lot. First he overestimated importance of his relations with his social circles. This radical
experiment brought a loss of many social connections. Paul understood that the Internet wasn’t the actual
reason of his problems of being tired and exhausted. Problems were coming from the way he was interacting
online.
Offis a new
emotion

30. Really fast internet has dissolved in our daily life. Glad to see some friends from India here. ‘Coz this reminds
me the way indian spices became an ordinary and a must-have part for the every dish after being a real
precious and equal to gold before. Just like indian spices once totally changed the entire taste of every dish on
this planet, the Internet has changed our life and its taste will never be the same. Of course there are many
reasons why this is happening.
Internet
has disappeared
in our daily life

31. Mobile internet, social networks, niche social networks, location-based services, online financial tools,
augmented reality, internet of things, online expressions and so on are dissolving boundaries of our real and
virtual identity.You know touching upon online expressions, a short time ago I went out with my friends, and
aroundmidnight one of them told me: “Alex I’m going home, sorry, hashtag - I’m getting old!”. And later I
Fallon show realised this short video.
#

32. HASHTAG VIDEO

33. The practice of unplugging or digital detox is based on the two major pillars. Insights and actions. Well known
philosopher said that insight may stop the action. It’s time to negotiate about additional media education for
kids I think. For instance in my neighbourly country of Estonia, kids already have media lessons and even
learn how to code early at school. I think this something to twist in mind! I believe basic media education and
being able to understand the code behind the web soon can be considered a one more foreign language to learn
and use worldwide.
INSIGHTS
& ACTIONS

34. We also need to move from insights, concepts and words to actions.
Digital
Etiquette
is needed

35. Take Google’s chairman, Eric Schmidt, who has warned that we need to define times when we
are ‘on’ and ‘off’ and announced his commitment to make his meals gadget-free.

36. So in order to understand our Internet behaviourwe must update our vocabulary. Vocabulary shapes our
thinking.
OUR VOCABULARY
shapes our thinking

37. That’s why at the moment together with think tank I’ve finished working on a book called ‘digital-vocabulary
- define how gadgets and the Internet shape us’. An ad-hoc website www.digitalvocabulary.com will be
launched later this summer. And I would be amazing if you would like me to share our content with you to
receive that valuable feedback from such a smart audience later.We aim to describe new behaviours with
special words and expressions that can help people be more insightful about their digital life. For example we
all are familiar with the “selfie” phenomenon. Right. But there are many more out there. For instance
“facebook shower”, “infomaniacs”, “tablet zobies”, “microboredom”, “toilet game sessions” and so on!

38. Let's face it, these days, we can't go anywhere without having at least one smartphone. We are enjoying a
night out and these days our cheerful night is always featured by some sad faces, upset that they can't get
WiFi access or on the other hand people are trying to capture everything with their smartphone. But frankly
does anybody check or sort all the photos we take later?
SCREENAGEDRAMA
I forgot my phone!

39. I Forgot My Phone VIDEO

40. Across the globe some insightful bar managersstarted to tell their visitors this idea.

41. Moreover a day before after our welcome reception together with Jeff and Adam I went to a tapas bar right
around the corner and guess what?

42. Eventually thanks to all the interviews, ethnographic human observations, a really interesting insight came.
In January back at BBDO office in London a creative solution for Guinness based on understanding of this
digital detox trend was developed. People in pubs from time time were playing a simple game, putting their
mobile in a pyramid. And their friend that couldn’t stand no more and finally grabbed his phone to check
something before the meeting finished, was closing the bill alone.In order to build branded relations that
matter this idea about enjoying people around and a pint of the black stuff was introduced.

43. Frankly speaking I enjoy social media a lot. But just as much as I love social web, it exhausts me. I feel like I’m
constantly leaving when I have only just arrived…Well I kindly recommend to try and go for a short digital
detox next weekend for instance, and youmay call that digital sabbath you know. Thank you!
LET’SGOFOR
digital detox practice