Desert Island Brands - Nicky Fuller

Brand Republic 27-Jun-06, 08:00

A chance to pick five brands that you would like to find washed up on the beach if you were a castaway. What would you choose and why? Design consultancy Pemberton & Whitefoord asks Nicky Fuller, chief operating officer for World Snooker.

1. Survival essential
Making a shelter, finding food and attempting to escape are going to be high on your agenda -- so which brand will you find most useful in your attempt to tame the great outdoors?

Well relax everybody, it's not going to be a Swiss Army Knife or a Leatherman -- sounds a bit like a kinky strippergram doesn't it? I am going to choose a great pair of Prada sunglasses and a satellite phone -- any brand really but Inmarsat are good -- and that would allow me the luxury of long chats with my mates (wherever my island turns out to be) while I relax on the beach without having to squint. The phone also lets me have the enviable luxury of phoning my local police station in London and reporting myself missing!


2. Last taste of civilisation
The island has a plentiful supply of nuts and fruit, not to mention a healthy population of fish, so you will have plenty to eat. But which one food brand are you really going to miss from your old life?
I don't really like cooking and nobody (unless they were on drugs) would describe me as a foodie. But having said that there are one or two things that I would kill for after a couple of weeks on my own away from a Waitrose. Firstly, I drink mint tea and I would love an inexhaustible supply of Twinings in my desert island cupboard. Also, if I am allowed, I would love a lifetime's supply of chocolate -- Cadbury's Dairy Milk would do just nicely thanks.


3. Best reminder of home
Successful survivalists always claim that it is mental attitude which sees them through. Belief that you will get back home is going to be vital -- so which brand will sum up home best?
This is a tough one. I swim almost every day and so anything Speedo would be it really.


4. Most welcome online brand
Eventually you manage to rig up your own connection to the internet using bits and pieces found on the beach but you have only one chance to log on to a website before it goes down -- which online brand will you choose?
Both my partner and I love Google Earth, it's great to see where in the world you have been and are going. I'm sure that I could find my island on there somewhere, probably take me an age to find which island I am on but then I'd certainly have time on my side wouldn't I?


5. Ultimate luxury
Self indulgence is hard to come by on a desert island, so what brand would you be most excited to find washed up on the beach?
Wasn't it Marylyn Monroe that replied Chanel No 5 when she was asked in a phone conversation what she was wearing? It's a great fragrance - one that wouldn't enrage the local fauna too much, and despite being chic and a little bit 'Old Hollywood' it might even keep the mosquitoes down in the evening.


6. Transferable skills
You already work in the jungle of marketing so there are probably skills which you have acquired through your job which will come in handy -- or you may have other hidden talents. Which of your personal skills will help you to get to grips with life on a desert island?
Well I've worked in the jungle of premiership football and now in the jungle of Snooker and I love it. My strongest skill? Probably standing up for myself in what is essentially a man's world (if there was ever a glass ceiling I had it removed a long time ago).


Designer and desert island survival expert Adrian Whitefoord comments:
What a relief to hear someone say that they are not taking a Swiss Army Knife to the island. The dozens of castaways that chose this iconic piece of folding Swiss survival fodder often abandon them on leaving and there is now a rusting heap of these items that are crying out to be recycled. So, Nicky if you change your mind all you need is a whetstone and some WD40 and you can take your pick.


I love the sound of the sunglasses by the way. Prada still manages to be 'the' brand and below zero cool so I am sure you'd look great as you chat away on that sat phone.


Twinings should be delighted that they've been chosen yet again. Mint Tea sounds very refreshing and just the thing for a hot climate though you'd have to eat that Cadbury's chocolate mountain pretty quick or it'll turn into the world's first chocolate lake. Come to think of it though that would show up really well on Google Earth and make the challenge of identifying your island hide away more simple.


Again a classic choice with Chanel -- we'll make sure that some is washed up on the beach for you as soon as possible. As for the mosquito repellent attributes of the brand I'm not sure they should be relied upon, but as a new product development opportunity it might be worth a chat with Chanel don't you think?


Nicky has obviously worked in some testosterone filled jungles in her time so the island wouldn't challenge her too much I feel. My bet is that within weeks she would have introduced the local tribe to both football and snooker and have her own leagues and divisions set up. There are certainly no glass ceilings on the island and I have a sneaky feeling that the chief might have to watch his back. The island's tribe has always had a male chief but you know what they say -- there's always a first time.


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