Pion is now 20 years old. We've grown over the years and made it this far by keeping connection at the core of everything. It’s our business model, our favourite pastime, and, well, our superpower. Whether it’s verifying a student for a killer discount on Student Beans, creating brand IRL experiences that people actually remember, or building YMS, our work is built on making connections that stick.

So when our co-founder James Eder drops a book about the art and science of meaningful connections, it’s worth a read.

“Too often, we wait until something forces us to make a change. But what if we didn’t?”

The Collision Code isn’t just another “network harder” manual. It’s part memoir, part manifesto, part toolkit for turning everyday encounters into life-changing opportunities. James weaves together personal stories (including some very real health scares), business wins and fails, and practical tips for creating the kind of collisions that change everything.

And while James has stepped away from the day-to-day at Pion, the DNA of his approach is in every campaign we run, every insight we share, and every brand we help connect to the youth market.

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From Student Beans to The Collision Code

If you know Student Beans today, you see a global student verification and discount platform trusted by the world’s biggest brands. What you might not know is that its origin story is pure Collision Code, born from chance encounters, persistent follow-ups, and saying “yes” before the dots were even visible, let alone connected.

The book takes you right back to 2004, when James’s “business plan” for a Birmingham-based discount site caught his brother Michael’s attention.

Cue a flurry of introductions... some helpful, some hilariously unhelpful (“English?” in response to “What language is your site built in?”). The inevitable rejections (thank you to the bank who said “no” so The Prince’s Trust could say “yes”). The relationships that turned into launch partners, like Victoria, the PR manager who sent 10,000 Jelly Belly samples for the launch.

“People do business with people. It is always the individual connections that will make things happen.”

Fast-forward to today and Student Beans has grown into Pion, with services that span closed consumer group verification, experiential advertising, and YMS, the world's largest youth marketing festival.

And that's the power of human connections to create commercial growth.

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Collisions in a digital world...

If you’re a CMO, category lead, or brand manager, you already know the marketing landscape is noisy. Every scroll, every screen, every second is an opportunity. Or a missed one. The Collision Code’s core message is a wake-up call:

For brands, that means stop waiting for the “perfect” brief, budget, or moment. The perfect moment is the one where your audience is right there, ready to collide with you.

James’s stories underline a truth every marketer should tattoo on their strategy decks: real growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens when your brand steps into the path of your audience with something that matters to them, in a way that feels personal, not programmatic.

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Lessons for marketers from The Collision Code

Here are just a few takeaways from the book that map directly to how we think you should approach your marketing:

Assume every relationship will go somewhere‍

This is Networking 101, but with less schmooze and more genuine curiosity. James nurtured contacts for years before they turned into partners or clients. In marketing terms: don’t ghost your audience between campaigns, but keep showing up.

Use “no” as a pivot, not a stop sign‍

The Prince’s Trust loan only happened because a bank rejected James. In campaigns, the creative idea that gets shot down might be the spark for the one that changes your market.

Create permission for connection‍

YMS works because it’s a safe space for brands to talk, test, and try. Your marketing should do the same: invite your audience into something, rather than broadcasting at them.

People do business with people‍

Yes, it’s a cliché. Also: yes, it’s true. Even in B2B marketing, your “decision-maker” is a human who responds to emotion, story, and connection.

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Why this matters more than ever

In an age where AI can write your ad copy, automate your targeting, and predict your click-through rate, human connection is actually an advantage. Something the algorithm can’t fake.

Gen Z, in particular, have a built-in radar for the inauthentic. They’ve grown up drowning in content and are quick to swipe away from anything that feels soulless. If your brand wants their attention, it needs to show up where they are (we can help with that), speak their language (we can help with that too), and make them feel something (yep, still us).

The Collision Code is full of stories about what happens when you do just that, and what you miss when you don’t.

Whether you’re plotting your next youth marketing campaign or just trying to get more out of the networking events you already attend, The Collision Code is a sharp, inspiring reminder that opportunities don’t just “happen.” They happen because you put yourself—and your brand—where the right people are, with the right offer, at the right time.

James wrote the book after facing a literal life-and-death wake-up call. His takeaway applies just as much to marketing as it does to life: don’t wait until it’s too late. Start creating your own collisions now.

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{{ctaNeon}}