Atha goes to prison

I was delighted to be invited to present to a group of prisoners at HM Prison in Greenock last week.  Some of the prisoners were “lifers” who were hoping to be eligible for parole and attending business studies classes as they prepare for release.  Before my presentation I was given a tour of the prison including inside one of the blocks where I mixed with the prisoners and was shown around one of the cells.

Greenock prison is an imposing Victorian building perched on a hill above the town and quite an intimidating place to visit. Inside was very much in the style of prisons often featured in movies and TV programmes. Any comparison with the TV set for “Porridge” soon disappeared when mixing with real life prisoners. The comic banter of Ronnie Barker was replaced with grim reality of prison life.

I started to realise the different world I was moving into when I was asked to leave behind my mobile phone, lap top and any form of recording device even down to a USB stick. I was not even allowed to give out pens which might be used as a weapon.  My presentation had to be sent in advance and checked for content.  I was advised that some of the prisoners, especially those who have been there for many years, would have limited understanding of the modern world, including many aspects of the internet.

I had been asked to present on the role of marketing as part of a business plan.  Some of the prisoners who would find it difficult to find employment in the outside world had hopes of setting up their own business.  Using the 4 Ps I kept it pretty simple – if only because when it comes to it marketing theory is pretty straightforward.  My hope was to assure them that effective marketing, whilst central to business success, was largely applied common sense. I also wanted to inspire them about the power of big ideas, even for small start-up businesses.

To illustrate the point I used a selection of ideas from the Pioneering Spirit Award programme.  Ideas which were brought to life by short and inspiring videos.  I asked the prisoner students to score each of the ideas using simple criteria. Bold – how brave or risky was the idea? Leading – how original or creative it was. Inspiring – how exciting it was. Execution – how well produced or delivered was the campaign. Lastly, how effective it was in achieving the objectives.

I also added a competitive element by offering a prize to the student who guessed the top 3 ideas as scored by our international panel of over 400 judges.  I assured the students that their opinions were equally as valid as our senior marketing and creative judges.

The prize was a chocolate bar which, when you have an allowance of £5 a week to spend, is a big incentive.  I was amused when I assured the students that there was no right and wrong answers as it was all a matter of opinion it was suggested this couldn't be the case given there was a prize to be won. Fair shout.  

I was really pleased that the students got really engaged with some of the ideas and in discussing their relative strengths and weakness.  My hope was they found the presentation in some way stimulating and would provide some encouragement for setting up a business when they get out.  As for feedback I was delighted with the remark “f***in’ solid” by one of prisoners as he shook my hand whilst filing past and back to their cells.