What else is new?
Posted on: October 27, 2012
The fact that I stop writing on the blog doesn’t really mean I stopped writing, just that my focus lies somewhere else for the moment. That other place is Chesamel Communications‘ website, the insights section, where I get to share all kinds of news about the world of mar-com or the fabulous people I get to meet weekly in the amazing London Town.
If you want to check out Donald Trump’s top tips for succeeding in business, my top trends to use in mobile marketing for small businesses or the winners of this year’s Screen Awards (the marketing and distribution awards for the film industry), do log in and have a read. I’d really appreciate some feedback as well. Also, if there’s something you think I should write about, just drop me a line!
The Post-graduation Blues
Posted on: October 3, 2012
It’s been exactly one month since I handed in my MA dissertation and officially finished university… actually school overall… which means, to be more precise, the end of 17 years of my life!!! SEVEN-TEEN. You can imagine that I wished for this moment to happen over and over again, but now that it’s finally here, now that I’m an adult (!), now that I am absolutely free to set my life, I dread it! It’s so scary knowing that in September you don’t have something waiting for you, that no matter what, you know you’ll always have academia if everything else fails.
Employment is a sort of Pandora’s box, especially if your “broad” degree allows you to work in everything and anything but actually nothing. Which sector, which industry, what position, how qualified, full-time/part-time, freelance, taxes and a billion other dilemmas. The “good” part is that I’m not alone in the feeling…
Last year I wrote a paper for one of my university modules on the Creative Industries in strict regimes, focusing on Communist Romania. It’s definitely not the best piece of writing, not necessarily a mind-blowing piece and for most Romanians things will probably sound very familiar. However, here, in the UK, it was received extremely well (and yes, I got a nice mark for it) as many of my tutors and colleagues found it quite informative and interesting. Also, the introductory part as well as my literature review could prove quite useful for anyone wanting to define creativity, understand what limits it or encourages it, as well as find out what are ‘the creative industries’ and why they should be praised.
Hope you enjoy reading it: Creative Industries in Communist Romania
P.S. I am more than happy to comment on anything on the topic! Let me know what you think!
P.P.S The poster is form the Communism Museum in Prague
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This week I was invited to Communicate Magazine’s half day Transform Conference, followed by the glamorous 2012 Transform Awards. Basically, “transform” stands in for “rebrand” as both the conference and the awards are Europe’s only programs that focus on the process of changing brand identities.
The brand is central to the intangible value assigned to companies by their stakeholders. No company can sit still – the process of examining and re-examining a brand in terms of its relevance to those stakeholders should be ongoing.
The Transform conference is not just there for those about to embark on a thorough rebrand, but for everyone concerned with their brand’s relevance to the changing marketplace and to their stakeholders – whether it’s their investors, employees, the media or others.
I would go through what happened on the day and what were the points that each of the speakers followed, but I think it would be more helpful if you had a look at the live blog from the conference. It is probably more in depth and more accurate than what I can remember and it also includes the presentations from each of the sections, which I am sure you will find very helpful.
Also, have a quick Twitter Search for the #transform12and you will find some incredible tweets with information, opinions and critique. The hashtag also includes all the tweets from the awards ceremony with all the GOLD winners and the Grand Prix for excellence in rebranding and brand transformation: Pearson (Interbrand). Here you can find a video of the strategy and idead behind the multiple award winning rebrand.
The list with all the other award winners can be found on Communicate Magazine’s website. I am actually quite proud as in the Best creative strategy category the GOLD went to Larix by Romanian branding consultancy BrandTailors. Read more about the campaign here.
Starbucks PR stunts
Posted on: March 15, 2012
- In: PR
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I am a huge fan of PR stunts as I think they are the pinacle of creativity in the Communications department (yes advertisers, even better than you!). Considering that I’ve been studying/working in PR for almost 5 years now, I also can’t help questioning everything that brands do in terms of why are they doing it? who is their PR agency ? what was the audience’s reaction or what coverage did they get for it?
One of the companies that never cease to amaze me with their crazy ideas is Starbucks. Over the past week I heard of them in two different news stories, and not just at a small level, but all over the internet and in the UK press. The first one was “Starbucks bans screenwriters from all their 19,435 locations worldwide”. The news broke off in Hollywood and all sorts of media outlets went crazy. Here is the original article. Obviously the 19,435 number already signals something but if you start thinking back at all the problems screenwriters have had lately, it kinda makes sense. Also, the “Screenwriters Guild of America responded”… anyway, really good idea!
The second is the “We have a Latte with your name on it” which started out with a huge ad in the Metro, UK’s free morning newspaper. I saw the one page, A4 ad in the paper of a person next to me on the train so it caught my eye from minute one and then my Twitter feed and Facebook were full of Starbucks related messages. I didn’t get a chance to go myself as I was in a conference all day, but again, it sounds amazing!
Here are a few more stunts from Starbuck that I found tonight. They come from all over the world so if you know more please feel free to share them!
Starbuck Paper Cup in NY
LE – I’ve just been told by Hollywood and Swine that the screenwriter thing was not a stunt started by Starbucks but it came from the parody website itself. I guess the fact that the information got to the UK in a very twisted way, kinda shows people’s skepticism when it comes to all kinds of crazy announcements made by the brands or anyone mentioning them 🙂
“There’s a quiet revolution taking place in our leading cities. Places that were once the engine room of the industrial revolution, employing millions in mills, factories, ports and shipyards, are learning new ways to create wealth in a global economy where brain has replaced brawn.” Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, 2004
As culture has been the cherry on (mostly all) my cakes for the past 4 years of academic feasts, I decided to carry on sharing my ‘a la carte’ findings aka school papers, in the event that someone, somewhere, might actually find them useful. Considering that my top blog post is “Bourdieu and The Aristocracy of Culture” with viewers from as far as Myanmar or Sierra Leone (wow!), I find myself obliged to share my ‘vast’ and ‘incredible’ knowledge with the world!
Today’s topic, in case the title and the little quote didn’t give you any clue, is cultural regeneration and post-industrial societies. For the past 30-40 years, city councils, academics, business men, maketeers and many others with a strong voice in city/area planning have been using it excessively. But is it really the panacea for al the issues of ex-industrial communities? Please click and read more… oh, and let me know what you think 🙂
Voila: essay final!
LIFT – The Future of Festivals
Posted on: February 29, 2012
Yesterday I went to an amazing event on festivals and their evolution, organised by LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation at The Southbank Centre in London.
There were loads of points covered in a full day of talks, group discussions and presentations by both artists and festival organisers/producers (plus a delicious lunch with a brilliant view of the Thames and The London Eye). This is broadly what the event covered:
The last decade has seen a rapid growth in the number and popularity of arts festivals in the UK. No longer is the UK arts festival calendar solely dominated by Edinburgh: from Spring to Autumn across the UK there are increasingly popular grass roots festivals that celebrate local culture, large-scale music festivals that now include theatre and dance programmes, new city-wide festivals that promote place-making and civic identity and mainstream cultural institutions wrapping up their existing programme within a festival format. And in addition we are also witnessing the rise of a new type of arts festival led and programmed by artists.
Many of these festivals emerged and grew in the economic boom of the last decade, fuelled by public sector spending, corporate sponsorship and the disposable income of audiences. Now, in different economic times, how many will survive? What strategies will festival organisers need to adopt to make themselves more sustainable? Are there now opportunities for new, more collaborative festival models? What unique role do festivals play in the development of an artist’s career?
Keynote speakers:
Jude Kelly Artistic Director of The Southbank Centre
Simon Mellor Executive Director, Manchester International Festival and newly appointed Executive Director, Arts at Arts Council England.
Key contributors:
Mark Yeoman Director of the Noordezoon Festival in Groningen in The Netherlands, one of Europe’s most innovative and popular performing arts festivals
Stefan Kaegi Co-founder of the German performance collective Rimini Protokoll who recently established ‘Parallel Cities’, a mobile artist led festival taking place in cities across the world
Andy Field co-Director of Forest Fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Faith Liddell Director of Festivals Edinburgh, a new organisation working on behalf of Edinburgh’s major festivals
Jennifer Cleary Head of Creative Learning, Manchester International Festival
And including a new, especially commissioned performance byTim Etchells Artistic Director of Forced Entertainment
It’s impossible to summarise the 8 hours in a few bullet points but until the videos and podcasts will be uploaded on the LIFT website, I’ll put down some ideas that kept repeating themselves throughout the day:
– it is essential that more festivals focus on the “making of new work“, give more freedom to the artists and trust them to produce something original and specially designed for that specific festival
– try to help the artists develop, collaborate and create new audiences through festival participation
– the support of the local councils is more than essential as it can completely revolutionise a festival; this doesn’t necessarily mean more funding, but networking, access to essential city stakeholders and facilities, links with the tourism department etc.
– think medium to long term when planning festivals and have a bigger impact on the city as well
– become more and more environmentally friendly, even if it means increasing costs
– know very well what your USP is and why you are putting it on (is it for the local development, for economic reasons, for artist development, for audience needs?)
– try to change things (socially, artistically…) not just reflect them by bringing same old ideas and acts
– a festival doesn’t necessarily have to become bigger every year as that doesn’t really mean better; more acts and more money in doesn’t imply more satisfied audience members
In the end, do check this amazing project: Ciudades Paralelas. Incredible idea of a festival that can be transferred to every city in the world without the hassle of set design, artists and loads of funding.
PR, Films and Fantasies 
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