Ripped up drawings and a lot of Playmobiles
I was five years of age when my primary teacher asked me to make drawings and rip them up in front of my colleagues. Not just me but also other children like myself who did what they felt at that moment was the very best that they could.
Traumatic?
Depends on your point of view.
40 years later, I feel grateful. Out of these abrupt social tests, I was able to get where I got. I’m not the only one. There are more “children” from our class who reached benchmarks of successful not only at the local, regional or national levels but also internationally. I can recall three or four in an instant.
In parallel, at home, I had my playmobiles that would take me off into the worlds of the imagination with the themes that I tried to reflect in my ripped up drawings. I was always a “dreamer” and, despite everything, I was a happy child.
Today, I run a company with a great deal of pride in its professional track record, with over 20 years of experience, that I still love to draw (even if without any particular skill) and play with playmobiles.
I am the Managing Director and founder of B16.
This so very special place derives from this imaginary place, the drawings and the fantasy world of playmobiles.
It’s a special place made up of still more special people, where the work is a pleasures, where being is a reality, where growth is a path and, above all, where there are white sheets of paper, pens and colouring pens, crayons, marker pens fluorescent pens, special pens and – to the amazement of all – hundreds of playmobiles in every colour, scenario format and type. And marbles. And other toys. And plants. And still more toys. And cushions. And games. And PlayStations. And music.
A place where my former primary school teacher would certainly feel overwhelmed by without knowing just where to begin the much vaunted creative destruction.
The history of this place spans eight years and is made up of many episodes, both good and bad, of many people, of many clients and, above all, a great deal of creativity.
This is, most sincerely, a very serious subject.
The work that we develop with our Clients derives from a combination of technical characteristics, acquired experience, a multifaceted team and, above all, an intangible feeling that is difficult to express in words and that stems from the pride and dedication that each one of us puts into our work.
The way that we found to describe ourselves is the thousand year old Japanese samurai code of conduct, bushido, which inherently combines very particular ways of being and acting. That’s how we are when we work with our Clients. We have sabres, swords, kimonos, origamis, books, props and we even have samurai characters in the Playmobil format but, in essence, we deal with our affairs very seriously.
We guide Clients so that they – like ourselves – believe that the world is a place where we can and should make the difference. For the better. A place of legacy, of improvement and perfection.
And the journey – this – is the very best part.
When we talk about organisational culture, commercial strategies, sales funnels, market positioning, content production or any theme in our work, we make use of white paper, colouring pens and the playmobiles.
We have various examples of this work. Market strategies, communications plans and product and service campaigns that started out as toys. There are videos that went global that started out as models made out of these toys.
They help us explain to the Client and connect with them. And the reason for this connection is very simple: we were all children once.
B16 was launched in 2016 as a unique professional affirmation, with solid pillars and with a great deal of know-how and creativity.
All thanks to the playmobiles that my parents would gift me when I was little and to my dear primary teacher who had the courage to transform mere children into Great Men and Women.
And the Great are the Men and Women of the B16 Clan!