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As crazy as it sounds, the Korean language was invented by one man’s kindness. In the 1400s, many lower class Koreans were illiterate due to the complexity of their language Hanja (effectively literary Chinese). So to promote literacy among the masses, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, Sejong the Great, personally created and promulgated a new alphabet known as Hangul, which has remained in place ever since.
Ex-footballers have different views on the age-old England midfielder debate: they pick the one they played with. John Terry says Lampard, Jamie Carragher says Gerrard, and Gary Neville says Scholes.
Larry king accent change
Lego (temporarily) turned their Battersea Power Station store into a florist – a brilliant way of bringing the brand to life.
Since the 1930s, English toymaker Hilary Fisher Page had been selling a system of ‘self-locking building bricks’ called Kiddicraft – which was the main inspiration for Lego (as the company will readily admit).
Lego’s research revealed that its toys weren’t just appealing to curious children, but adults who wanted to relive their childhoods. A series of 18+ product innovations have since become bestsellers; including the 2,048-piece ‘Friends apartments’ (based on the sitcom), a 11,695-piece ‘World Map’, and the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars. In fact adults now account for 25% of sales in the wider toy industry, according to the NPD group.
Lego’s Fortnite partnership has reached 83 million people (largely adults) and helped the toymaker achieve double digit growth this year: a perfect illustration of the power of creativity in commercial success.
Lidl owner Schwarz Group has a standalone unit that offers cloud computing to corporate customers. This unit, which generated €1.9bn in annual sales in 2023, has signed up clients including Germany’s biggest software group SAP and the country’s most successful football club Bayern Munich and the port of Hamburg.
When Thomas Edison created the light bulb, he presented the unfamiliar technology in familiar terms. He set the power of the electric bulb at 13W – almost the same as the gas lamp — even though it was capable of far higher brightness. He copied the gas lamp tradition of using light shades, even though these were superfluous — their original purpose was to stop the gas flame guttering in the wind. He even insisted that electricity cables were placed underground — like gas — rather than using pylons, like the telegraph.
Limeseat change(from pod)
Don’t underestimate the influence of Lionel Messi. When the football legend joined Inter Miami FC; subscriptions to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+ more than doubled; retailer Fanatics reported that Messi’s jersey was the top seller all sports; ticket prices skyrocketed by more than 1,700% on resale sites.
An ad at the Superbowl is famously expensive – $7 million for 30 seconds – so water brand Liquid Death used this to their advantage. Instead of paying for airtime themselves, they allowed brands to bid to advertise on packages of Liquid Death, which are seen in store by 200 million+ people per week. A great way of zigging when others zag, and using existing media effectively.
London taxis must have a turning circle not greater than 8.535 m (28 ft). Why? To be able to navigate the small roundabout outside the Savoy Hotel.
Harry Beck, the creator of the iconic London Underground map, was inspired by his training as an electrical engineer. Like his map, circuit diagrams don’t need to show actual locations of components, just where they are in relation to each other.