Oozing over the edges of shelves and dolloping tendrils across flat surfaces, Dan Lam’s vibrant sculptures (previously) play with form and space. Using polyurethane foam, epoxy resin, and acrylic, the Dallas-based artist makes otherworldly sculptures that appear like alien substances from outer space, apropos to the pieces in her upcoming solo exhibition, Cosmic Shake. 

The artist created 52 new works for the show at Chefas Projects with galactic titles like “Dark Side,” “Waxing,” and “Stellar Wind” that glob and bubble in saturated color gradients and textures. She continues to play with new shapes, sizes, and patterns. “I have discovered that experimenting with scale has altered my approach to materials,” Lam tells Colossal. “This shift has presented new challenges to overcome, but it also leads to new opportunities. Recently, I have been exploring different textures and methods of paint application.”

Cosmic Shake is on view from July 7 through August 5 in Portland, Oregon. Lam has also installed her largest piece to date in the newest Meow Wolf location in Grapevine, Texas, which opens July 14. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

“Dark Side”

“Stellar Wind”

“Limb”

Left: “Zero.” Right: “Nova”

“Nebula”

“Synchronous Rotation”

“Absolute”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Dan Lam’s Radiant Otherworldly Sculptures Evoke Interstellar Phenomena in ‘Cosmic Shake’ appeared first on Colossal.

Heart of London Business Alliance’s cultural initiative, Art of London, is celebrating the return of Art After Dark with a new, illuminated public art attraction transforming Piccadilly Circus for two days. The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain has been decorated with thousands of flowers, and meditative video art will be projected as over 40 art galleries stay open late on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June for the two-day culture programme.

Art After Dark is a free and seasonal arts programme uniting world-class institutions and the finest independent galleries across the West End to keep exhibition doors open late into the night. 

Set to transform Piccadilly Circus as night falls, Amelia Kosminsky’s video artwork, titled ‘Sparks of Nature’, will screen on the Piccadilly Lights and feature a striking sunset, with hues of lilac, orange and yellow, to give the public a moment of tranquillity in one of London’s busiest areas. 

Kosminsky’s stunning visual art has inspired world-renowned florist Phillip Corps  to decorate the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain with vibrant flower beds, accompanied by an illuminated terrarium.

In partnership with Westminster City Council and Landsec, Art of London’s new public art attraction aims to inspire West End visitors to discover the world-class art inside the galleries. As the curtain falls on this summer’s two-day art spectacle, which will showcase over 6,000 flowers and plants, Art of London will donate the floral display to the charity Thrive and for reuse in local communities. 

Art After Dark, created in partnership with Mayfair Art Weekend, will feature London’s most acclaimed independent galleries shaking up the art scene on Thursday, including Cristea Roberts, 3812 Gallery and Stern Pissarro, while on Friday members of the public can absorb the culture at the Royal Academy of Arts, National Gallery and, finally open to the public after its three-year closure, the National Portrait Gallery.   

“There is so much action and life in our great city but sometimes the pace can be overwhelming,” said Kosminsky. “I wanted to create work that gives the public a moment of calm, a pocket of peace where they can stop, take a breath and observe something quietly beautiful within an urban environment. Bringing summer and nature to Piccadilly Circus has been a wonderful experience and I can’t wait for people to enjoy it.”

The event will run October 12-15, 2023 with programming details now live at refractseattle.org 

SEATTLE – Get ready for a captivating fusion of color, heat, light, and passion as Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience, returns to Seattle Oct. 12-15, 2023. Now in its fifth year, this highly anticipated event offers an array of new exhibitions, extravagant galas, rare studio tours, live demonstrations, and the unique opportunity to engage with a new generation of local glass artists of varying backgrounds – all showcasing why Seattle is recognized as the nation’s largest hub of glass art. 

“I’m deeply proud that Refract has successfully reached its 5th year, “says Michelle Bufano, Executive Director at Chihuly Garden and Glass. “We couldn’t do this without our incredibly talented glass art community in the Greater Seattle region. Dale Chihuly put Washington on the map decades ago, and our incredible artists, studios, museums, and art enthusiasts keep pushing boundaries and showing the world what it’s like to be at the forefront of glassblowing here in America. This is a significant milestone and we can’t wait to celebrate!” 

“More and more travelers are interested in glass art, and we are delighted to have this opportunity to showcase the incredible talent in our region. Refract has something for everyone, from long-time collectors to curious newcomers, and offers the chance to meet the artists, get up close to the creation process, and experience a truly unique event. This is the perfect way for us to celebrate Seattle and the Pacific Northwest region as the epicenter of glass art in the United States,” says Tracey Wickersham, Senior Director of Cultural Tourism for Visit Seattle.  

With the 2023 program designed to mark the festival’s momentous fifth anniversary, Refract will reach across Seattle and neighboring cities, including Everett, Bainbridge Island, Issaquah and Tacoma.  

More than 80 events will feature the works of nearly 60 talented artists. As a testament to Visit Seattle and Chihuly Garden and Glass’ commitment to making the festival accessible to all art enthusiasts, much of the programming will remain free. 

Details of the festival’s exciting lineup can now be found on the official website, RefractSeattle.org. Highlights and new elements for this year include: 

• New complimentary shuttle service will be provided to and from a number of private artist studios, bringing attendees to the art more directly than ever before. 
   
• New exhibitions, including Women in Glass, a showcase of female glass artists at Seattle Glassblowing Studio, a solo exhibition by Ginny Ruffner at Traver Gallery, and Luminosity, a group glass exhibit at Stonington Gallery of works by contemporary Indigenous glass masters of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
   
• Events and parties, including Gather: The Official Opening Party* (Oct. 12 at Chihuly Garden and Glass), Pilchuck Glass School’s 45th Annual Auction & Gala* (Oct. 14 at Fremont Studios), and a Closing Party at Pratt Fine Arts Center* (Oct. 15).

• Exclusive tours and access to artist studios, including the rare and coveted opportunity to tour The Boathouse, Dale Chihuly’s private studio and hotshop* (Oct. 12); Refract Artist Open Studios featuring 15 typically private locations across Seattle (Oct. 14-15); a guided tour of the outstanding public glass art at SEA Airport* (Oct. 13), and more.
   
• Artist demonstrations, including one by Jason Christian, a member of Dale Chihuly’s boathouse team (Oct. 14 at Pratt Fine Arts Center); daily demonstrations at Seattle Glassblowing Studio featuring the region’s top women glassblowers including Nancy Callan and Shelley Muzylowski Allen; a demonstration by playful local artist Austin Stern (Oct. 15 at Pratt Fine Arts Center); and an interactive demonstration by Manolo Aguilera, a Mexican artist based in Seattle whose work honors his heritage (Oct. 15 at Cafe Aroma in Shoreline). The Museum of Glass in Tacoma will be hosting a residency with internationally known visiting artist Jay Macdonell (Oct. 12-15). 

* Denotes ticketed or RSVP-required event. Visit RefractSeattle.org to secure your spot and see the full list of programs and events. 

Top hotels throughout the region will also offer exclusive overnight packages for Refract getaways. Details on Refract hotel packages will be added to the website in August.
  

Images for media use can be found here.
  

About Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience
Visit Seattle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and more than 60 Pacific Northwest arts organizations are joining together for this annual festival, taking place October 12-15, 2023. This year’s festival offers a unique mix of in-person shows, demonstrations, parties, and exhibitions, alongside virtual programming options. Visit RefractSeattle.org for further details.  

About Visit Seattle
Visit Seattle has served as the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Seattle and King County for more than 50 years. A 501(c)(6) organization, Visit Seattle enhances the economic prosperity of the region through global destination branding along with competitive programs and campaigns in leisure travel marketing, convention sales, and overseas tourism development. Visit visitseattle.org. 

About Chihuly Garden and Glass
Located at Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass brings together all the elements of artist Dale Chihuly’s work, including drawings, signature glass series, large architectural installations, and personal collections. This long-term exhibition features indoor galleries, the centerpiece Glasshouse, and an ever-changing Garden, along with live glass demonstrations, a Theatre, and The Bar, offering unique cocktails and light bites surrounded by Dale Chihuly’s collections. Learn more at chihulygardenandglass.com. 

The Houston government has reimbursed the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia for the money it laid out to launch a campaign aimed at raising tens of millions for its new home on the Halifax waterfront.

The province shelved those plans indefinitely about a year ago because of the project’s hefty and growing price tag. The art gallery was planning to raise $30 million toward the new building, which was expected to cost a total of about $137 million when it was announced in 2019.

Last summer, the premier’s office issued a revised estimate, saying inflation has pushed the cost upward to more than $160 million. 

The province’s $162,193 one-time payment was included in the gallery’s financial statements, released Wednesday at the art gallery’s annual meeting.

Helen Hayward, director of finance and operations for the gallery, told reporters although the campaign never officially launched, the gallery had to cover bills associated with building the fundraising effort.

“We had hired capital campaign consultants who were leading the campaign,” said Hayward. “So even though we had a director of development, a campaign of $30 million requires a lot of expertise.

“So we have the capital campaign expenses, printing of materials. We were developing our marketing collateral as again we’re getting ready to launch a campaign.”

Although the gallery is not actively pursuing donations for its new home, the gallery did raise $37,149 during 2023 for capital projects. That compares to $1,024,210 raised in 2022.

All told, the gallery has amassed signed commitments worth $10 million in donations toward the new building. Last fall, the gallery’s board said a total of $30 million has been pledged, including unsigned commitments.

The future of the project remains unclear but the chair of the capital campaign, developer Jim Spatz, is hopeful the PC government will give the project the go-ahead soon.

“What makes me optimistic about the art gallery is the shovels are heading into the ground, as we speak, to build significant health-care assets,” Spatz told CBC News.

“The government has been able to make that milestone happen and I’m hopeful that now that it has that shortly, you know within months, we’re going to be able to get our show on the road again with regard to the capital campaign.”

Premier Tim Houston announced last December an infrastructure plan to add more hospital beds and operating rooms and expand emergency departments across the Halifax region.

In an email Wednesday to CBC News, Houston’s director of communications, Michelle Stevens wrote, “Right now the government is focused on fixing health care.”

“The art gallery building on the waterfront remains on hold and there is no timeline to lift the pause,” Stevens said.

The mayor hopes the investments will bring more people back to the city’s greater Downtown area after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the activity from daily office workers, visitors and tourists. According to the Downtown Seattle Association, in-person office work is back to about 48% of its pre-pandemic levels. At the height of summer last year, tourist visits were just shy of pre-pandemic numbers.  

Harrell wants to build on this progress by making Downtown more attractive for both visitors and locals.

The Downtown Activation Plan is split into seven goal areas: public safety; residential occupancy; retail recovery; Downtown work; arts, culture and events; tourism and local visitors; and environmental efforts. It also includes a few bigger ideas, which Harrell calls “Space Needle thinking,” that the city is exploring, but isn’t committed to implementing.

City staff did not have an estimate of the cost of implementing each of the dozens of proposals. However, Office of Economic Development Director Markham McIntyre said, “One of our design constraints was to try to do [it] low-cost, within our budget. Everything you’re seeing here we believe we can do, not necessarily within this budget [cycle], but well within the city’s pocketbook.”

Public safety

To address public safety Downtown, the Seattle Police Department will continue targeting drug dealers and trying to reduce gun violence. The mayor intends to extend funding for the Third Avenue Project pilot through the end of 2023 and try to secure additional dollars during this fall’s budget cycle. The project involves concerted outreach efforts with people engaged in the drug economy and those experiencing homelessness around Third Avenue and Pike Street, a decades-long issue in Seattle.

The city also plans to establish an opioid recovery center that paramedics and social workers can take people to, similar to existing sobering centers, to reduce the strain on Harborview hospital. They are also launching a “contingency management” drug program that provides incentives for sobriety.

The plan includes other quality-of-life initiatives such as a one-time $1.7 million boost to the Downtown Seattle Association’s Metropolitan Improvement District program for cleaning; the hospitality and downtown ambassadors program; improved street lighting; and graffiti cleanup.

Downtown living

To replace some of the lost in-person office workers who’ve switched to hybrid work, the city wants to increase the number of residents living Downtown. In service of that goal, the mayor’s plan includes upzoning Third Avenue from Union Street to Virginia Street to allow taller residential buildings and to waive state environmental review requirements for residential construction Downtown. The new maximum building height would be 440 feet, up from the current 170 feet, or about 17 floors.   

The mayor also has proposed creating a density bonus on Third and Fourth Avenues in the Downtown core for residential developers who include a child care or educational facility in ground-level space. Tim Burgess, the mayor’s director of strategic innovations, said this could help provide Seattle Public Schools with space to build a Downtown school someday.

The city also wants to pass regulatory changes to make it less expensive for developers to convert office buildings into residential spaces.

In addition to upzones, the plan includes bringing more farmers markets Downtown, encouraging more grocery stores to open, improving alleyways for pedestrian use and more.

Retail

In June, Harrell launched The Liberty Project to support Black and other business owners from underserved communities with their small businesses. As part of the Downtown plan, the Office of Economic Development will support those business owners in opening or maintaining Downtown businesses.

The mayor also wants to expand the Seattle Restored program which places pop-up businesses and art galleries in vacant retail spaces.

Downtown work

Although a portion of the plan is dedicated to repurposing vacant office space, the mayor still wants people back in the office. He plans to bring together public- and private-sector business leaders to encourage return-to-office policies as well as create “effective” hybrid work policies.

The plan is to have a series of networking events for Downtown workers such as June 28’s Black Tech Night.

Arts, culture and events

The mayor plans to create a new director-level position to lead on special events in the city as well as hire a “creative economy” manager.

The activation plan also includes $700,000 for new murals in the greater Downtown area.

The city wants to temporarily waive fees for street use fees for food trucks and small-to-medium street and sidewalk events. On July 26 at 6 p.m. the city will host a viewing party in Westlake Park for the USA vs. Netherlands Women’s World Cup match.

Tourism and visitors

To make Downtown a better place to visit, the mayor wants to install a network of digital navigation kiosks, open the proposed Tribal Interpretive Center in Waterfront Park, improve connections from Downtown to the waterfront, and modify the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area to provide more money for advertising and marketing.  

Environmental improvements

The reactivation plan includes goals of improving existing Downtown parks, exploring the use of Pier 48 as a new open green space, and similar green efforts. The mayor also plans to keep half of Pike Street between First and Second Avenues closed to cars, to serve as a pedestrian-only space. The eastern half of the block between the alleyway and Second Avenue will remain open.

‘Space Needle thinking’

Finally, the reactivation plan includes several bigger-picture ideas for improving Downtown that the city is committed to exploring, but not necessarily implementing.

They include constructing the First Avenue streetcar to connect the existing streetcar lines and creating an arts and entertainment district along the route; building a year-round indoor/outdoor sports facility downtown; renovating Westlake Plaza with interactive art installations and year-round programming; building a new market dedicated to businesses run by Black, Indigenous and other people of color; and more.

Pompeiians—they’re just like us! Hungry for pizza.

Earlier this year, archaeologists excavating a block of houses in Regio IX of the Vesuvian city uncovered a fresco that shows a round, doughy dish resembling the modern favorite. Researchers were quick to point out that pizza, as we know it today, hadn’t been invented when the 2,000-year-old painting was created, although the ancient civilization did enjoy foccacia, a cousin of the tomato and cheese-covered pie.

This dish appears topped with pomegranate, spices, and a cheesy pesto known as moretum. Served on a silver platter accompanied by dried fruit, yellow strawberries, and a chalice filled with wine, the focaccia likely represents a “gift of hospitality,” according to the Archeological Park of Pompeii. These offerings to guests emerged from the Hellenistic period and the Greek practice of Xenia, which also describes the genre of paintings depicting this tradition.

Approximately 300 frescoes of ancient food have been found around Pompeii, although this still life is particularly well executed. While the work offers insight into what the buried civilization ate, director Gabriel Zuchtriegel says it also has implications for how we understand the evolution of food and wealth, sharing:

I think about the contrast between a modest and simple meal that reminds us of a sphere that stands between the pastoral and the sacred on one side, and the luxury of the silver trays and the refinement of the artistic and literary representations on the opposite side. When considering this matter, how can we not think about pizza, also born as a ‘poor’ dish in southern Italy that has now conquered the world and is served in Michelin star restaurants.

This discovery comes three years after archaeologists in Pompeii uncovered an impeccably preserved snack shop that served up fish, fowl, and of course, plenty of wine.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Archaeologists Uncover a Fresco in Pompeii with a Cheesy Pizza-Like Dish Served on a Silver Platter appeared first on Colossal.

Glowing swans float atop a lake, a jellyfish-like creature hovers in the air, and supernatural alien blooms spring from the ground in Hannu Huhtamo’s ethereal light paintings, which position radiant creatures among darkened landscapes. Long-exposure photography has been the Helsinki-based artist’s medium of choice since 2008, having spawned a robust repertoire of plants and animals both real and imagined.

As shown in the making-of video below, each completed work contains minutes or even hours of heavily choreographed painting, all captured in camera with no post-production editing. “If I start from scratch, it takes about a week to learn how to draw the new shape with light,” Huhtamo (previously) shares. “First, I want to do some simple sketches on paper. After that, I try to figure out how to do all the elements by using my light tools. I usually divide the form or a shape into sections and then practice each part separately.” Finding the proper location for the life form is the most difficult step in the process because the environment needs to feel natural for the intended creature and be dark enough for the composition to glow.

To create the works, Huhtamo primarily uses various sizes of optical fibers, which give “smooth transparent light trails that have a nice organic texture.” These fibers require sufficient power to be effective, so he attaches them to 1,200 to 2,500-lumen flashlights with custom adaptors. Colored filters in turquoise, yellow, pink, and green slot between the two elements to produce vibrant hues.

Huhtamo is currently working on a few collaborations and commercial projects, and you can find more of his paintings and information about prints on his site and Instagram.

“Imaginary Sea Creature 1” (2022)

Top left: “Âmes Libres” (2019). Top right: “Wild Ones” (2021). Bottom left: “The Bond” (2019). Bottom right: “Risen” (2021)

“New Terrain” (2022)

From the ‘Imaginary Sea Creature’ series (2022)

“Photon” (2021)

“Starmade” (2021)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Luminous Creatures Haunt Darkened Landscapes in Hannu Huhtamo’s Dreamlike Light Paintings appeared first on Colossal.

For those of us in marketing, there’s really nothing quite like Cannes. Beyond the great food, rosé and sheer beauty of the South of France, there is no other event that brings together as many of the world’s top marketers as Cannes Lions. This year, Brand Innovators along with Influential, took over the beach that Twitter had occupied for years. Additionally, Brand Innovators announced that they would be merging with what was formerly called the CMO Club. which only extends and elevates what was already a huge marketing community. With that as the backdrop, we heard from CMO’s from some of the top brands in the world, including Raja Rajamannar from Mastercard, Mark Pritchard from P&G, and of course my old peeps from IBM and Unilever.

As always, the festival provided an opportunity for industry talent to showcase their creativity, share insights, forge partnerships and hear about the emerging trends that will shape the future of this business. This year’s key themes were personalization, DE&I, CTV, Immersive technologies, Data & Purpose. But the talk of the town, up and down La Croisette this year, was Generative AI. It came up in about 90% of the sessions I attended. There were hundreds of sessions on these key topics, many of them great, but the following highlights a few of what I thought were the most interesting and unique, along with my take on the subjects: 

Generative Artificial Intelligence

It seemed as if everyone thought AI was a new thing. It is not. When I was at IBM several years ago, we worked on and created some incredible AI programs years before this, using Watson technology. For example, we created 1) sizzle reels for Wimbledon by having Watson create highlights by recognizing when players pumped their fists 2) a dress for the Met Gala by having Watson gauge fashion trends and 3) even here in Cannes, way back in 2016, we had Watson scrape people’s social media feeds to hand them their favorite drink as they walked in. And broadly, while people may not even realize it, Watson has been enhancing our experiences in the background for years. 

With that in mind, I went to an IBM session at BI’s Armani Café to listen to IBM chief creative officer, Billy Seabrook and IBM CMO Karen Feldman talk about what IBM is doing now in the AI space. Billy spoke of how they’ve advanced their use of AI by “using Watson for content generation. And then, once the content is created, using it to automate and personalize customer experiences.” He also spoke of using analytics platforms to monitor performance, and then turning the insights into creative briefs”.  

But now, with the hype cycle and fear around ChatGPT, it seems that everyone is trying to figure out how to work with OpenAI, or whatever new start-up in the field to get engaged in generative AI for marketing. But in my view, with all the experience Watson has and their long-held approach to data protection and security, IBM would be the place I’d go to first… and I’m saying this, even though I’ve long since left Big Blue!:-) 

DEI 

It’s clear marketers are now on the front lines of dealing with the politicization of seemingly everything. Grappling with tough questions around a slew of DE&I related cultural issues highlighted by the recent bud light/transgender campaign. Brands know that diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives can drive success, but implementing those strategies can be tricky. We saw a number of solid campaigns, but I thought one stood out as particularly creative and unique.  

Denise Vitola, vice president of brand integration, social/influencer, Bayer, showcased a diversity program for the allergy brand Claritin. A program that won a Cannes Lion for what they called the Claritin “Diversitree.” The premise of this campaign was based on the insight that trees have genders (who knew??). There are far more male trees than female trees, and apparently male trees give off tons of pollen (female trees don’t give off any), which of course cause allergies. So Claritin proclaimed, “we have to stop this tree inequality” and started an influencer campaign where they had influencers plant female trees in different places, starting in Richmond Virginia, which is one of the worst US cities for allergies, with the goal being to reduce pollen levels. Their influencers talked about how more female trees make a better outside for all. 

This is a great combination of experiential, influencer marketing, gender equality, and of course has a direct link to the brand. Win, win!

Modern Marketing

There were a lot of conversations around today’s best practices in marketing, especially in lieu of the cookie deprecation and IDFA issues. Many discussions and questions related to the need for first party data, performance vs. brand, customer experiences, martech stacks, etc… There were far too many discussions on these subjects to summarize here, but I thought Ann Mukherjee, CEO Pernod Ricard and former marketing executive at PepsiCo, did a great job of simplifying their approach. Here is what she shared…

“We as brands are too worried about trying to do everything and developing “cool creative” on the newest channels and technologies.” She made the case that trying to do that makes it difficult to achieve the ROI you’ll need. She said, “you need to recognize that science should drive art. We have so much data today and predictive human behavior is how you do great marketing. So you need to understand the customer journey and path to purchase for your brand, and recognize that every brand has a different path. For us in the alcohol industry for example, 65% of all shopping decisions are pre planned. That fact alone starts the marketing journey earlier than some other categories.

Then when you create plans for each brand in the portfolio, you need to understand that they all address different occasions. For example, when you want to celebrate you look for  champagne, when you want to impress you get a high end whiskey, when you want to party you go for beer, etc.. Every brand has a purpose in people’s life and as a result purchase decisions are based on those specific paths. Then when you recognize the consumer journey, you start making choices on how best to interact with them. This way you are addressing your consumers’ needs through science to create that incredible art of receptivity.”

Essentially, my take on this is that you need to capture data to understand key insights about your brand, then carefully understand the consumer journey, and build a martech stack that harnesses the data in a way that allows you to intercept people with creative, personalized messages at key points on their path to purchase (or whatever the key proxy metrics are). 

On a more personal “cool Cannes story” note, Ann and I spoke together here at Cannes almost 20 years ago as we collected awards for the first ever consumer generated campaigns. She was working on Doritos at that time and I was on Dove. The industry has come so far in innovations since then, but it was almost surreal for me to see her on stage once again talking about another modern and innovative way to market. Just as all those years ago when we spoke on stage together, I couldn’t agree more with her approach. 

CTV

New media channels such as TikTok and retail media networks came up quite a bit, but the bulk of the discussions were around streaming video. There was lots of talk from and about Netflix, Roku, Hulu, etc..but there was one conversation I found fascinating. Kara Swisher interviewed Telly CEO Ilya Pozin at Brand Innovators beach. 

Telly is a free 4K television that’s “free” because of a secondary bottom display that will constantly rotate content such as news and sports scores, and advertising. Consumers answer some surveys and let Telly share your viewing habits with advertisers, and in exchange, you pay nothing for a 55-inch 4K TV that’s supposed to be the “smartest” tv on the market. 

Historically, most of these type businesses have failed, but Ilya was the founder and CEO of Pluto TV as well, so has been successful in launching free ad-supported new models in the past. His belief here is that TV’s have been commoditized and you can’t make money on the hardware anymore, but you can from highly targeted advertising on a high quality, big screen. The TV is worth more than $1,000 and allows consumers to do more than just watch. 

They can run a slew of apps, play music on Spotify, do Zoom calls and watch with friends and family who are elsewhere. While you’re watching TV, sports scores, news, weather, things that are really useful that people are typically distracted by on their phone, they’ll have right on their TV along with ads. You will be able to take action on the ads through voice activation. So for example, you can buy a pizza from Pizza Hut while watching a football game. 

Conceptually it seemed great. It’s a captive audience, with targeted ads, the ability to buy, the smartest tv, doesn’t disrupt the content, it’s free, and has apps like Zoom built in so you can watch with friends. They are currently in 250k homes and it’s probably a long shot, but at the very least, it seems like something to keep an eye on…Stay tuned…

Overall, while not all the way back from pre-Covid, Cannes Lions 2023 got close. It continues to embody the spirit of creativity and innovation that the industry is known for. The festival highlighted how the marketing industry continues to drive positive change, foster inclusivity, and embrace emerging technologies. As the industry continues to evolve, Cannes Lions serves as an essential event for showcasing the most creative ideas and inspiring the next generation of creative leaders.  Hope to see it come all the way back in 2024. Au revoir till next year…

At the invitation of Nese Erikli, Member of the Baden-Württemberg Parliament, the Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany, Cem Özdemir, visited Reichenau-Gemüse eG, Germany’s southernmost vegetable growing region. During a tour of the state-of-the-art marketing facility, the minister was first able to get an idea of the high quality and the current, very broad range of vegetables grown by the Reichenau market gardeners. Around 14,000 tons of fresh vegetables leave the marketing facility every year. 50 % of the turnover and 35 % of the quantity are already in organic quality according to the specifications of the associations Naturland and Bioland.

However, all those involved in vegetable production are concerned about the current market conditions. For 30 years, there has been a common economic area in the EU without tariffs and other residual regulations. However, vegetables are produced in the other member states at significantly lower costs than in Germany. Due to these distortions of competition, German fruit and vegetable production suffers greatly, said Johannes Bliestle, managing director of the cooperative, who is also chairman of the Federal Association of Producer Organizations. In this context, the topic of minimum wages was also raised. Here, Germany is the front-runner after Luxembourg. According to Bliestle, the farms will not be able to cope economically with another short-term increase.

Afterwards, the minister visited a typical family farm to get an idea of the organic production there. He was very impressed by the high professionalism of the young farm manager Manuel Uricher.

Minister Peter Hauk launches the ministry’s new regional campaign on the island of Reichenau
Together with the managing director of Reichenau-Gemüse eG, Johannes Bliestle, the Minister of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection Baden-Württemberg, Peter Hauk, opened the new campaign of the state of Baden-Württemberg “Natürlich. VON DAHEIM.” The campaign’s motto, “We do it,” focuses on people, products, and other participants in the value chain. Transparency, trust, enjoyment – Baden-Württemberg offers all this with its many different producers and skilled workers in the food trade.

And so it is not surprising that at the campaign launch, a large number of Reichenau gardeners also listened intently to the words of the Minister of Agriculture. For it is precisely these growers who give the campaign a face. Directly from the field, or from the greenhouse, to the consumer’s plate. Producers, marketers, processors, they are the central cornerstones of our regional food, said the Minister. And that is exactly what Reichenau-Gemüse eG and its nearly 50 producers stand for regionality, transparency, enjoyment, trust, and sustainability.

For more information:
www.von-daheim.de
www.reichenaugemuese.de

The Gist

• Customer-centricity. Focus on customer needs before choosing marketing channels.
• Value statements. Develop a customer-centric value statement for guided decisions.
• Smart channels. Use tools like AR to personalize customer experiences.

In today’s current environment, marketing feels more about cost and efficiency than about creativity — the balance between art and science is askew. The relentless pressure to achieve more with fewer resources, amid stagnant budgets and the ongoing need to demonstrate their value to leadership, coupled with looming market challenges, has left marketing leaders besieged by both internal and external forces. 

One of the barriers, which is partially self-inflicted, is that marketers have been all about the customer, but not in the way that they should. They have been adding more to the experience, more channels acquiring more data, but to no avail. A mere 5% of customers recalled a memorable and valuable digital interaction with a brand.

Instead of focusing directly on customer needs, marketing leaders often focus on a channel-first customer experience (CX), which is putting the proverbial cart before the horse. Marketers must build their CX by identifying the customer needs first before focusing on channels. While it may seem straightforward, it’s surprisingly common for marketing leaders not to adopt this approach, whether due to technological debt or other internal factors.

Ultimately, this approach fosters stronger, more sustainable customer relationships, resulting in customers who are more likely to make a purchase, demonstrate brand loyalty and be willing to pay a premium. 

With such positive outcomes, the question then becomes — how exactly do we achieve a customer-focused customer journey?

Focus on Customers’ Standards for Success

Many brands leapfrog to a channel as the solution, missing a critical step: to create a clear, customer-centric value statement that will serve as the compass for the project. This is otherwise known as the experience thesis statement. Doing this ensures that each decision regarding CX ties back to the thesis so as not to succumb to opinion (shiny-object syndrome) or common biases.

The thesis statement reflects the goal that target customers (the personas who are of strategic importance for the brand) expect the brand to deliver. It includes the indicators that signal whether those goals have been met.

Marketing leaders should look to achieve two goals when developing a thesis statement. First, ensure that the experience is helping customers accomplish something from which they’ll derive value. Second, it should help align all stakeholders on what specific business target this experience will help their companies achieve.

Related Article: Content for Every Stage: Maximizing Engagement in the Modern Customer Journey

Highlight Personal Benefits for Customer-Centricity

What should the customer-centric value statement focus on? While societal and functional benefits positively impact brand commitment, Gartner research has found that personal benefits have an outsized impact on brand commitment — more than societal and functional combined.

Personal benefits have three important characteristics:

1. Focus on the customer, not the company.
2. Emphasize the outcome the customer will receive.
3. Fulfill a psychological need for the customer.

In fact, the more customer-centric the brand promise is, the more impactful the potential brand experiences will be. Consumers are 1.73 times more likely to buy more when they realize something new about their own needs or goals.

Related Article: Augmented Reality, Experimentation, Ecommerce and Your Customer Base

Channels Are Stepping Stones to Better Customer Experience

Customers do not think or assign value based on channels; they do so based on the experiences a brand delivers. More specifically, they want to be clear on their next steps and feel confident in their decisions.

With this in mind, consider augmented reality (AR) tools. While they are often viewed as more of a luxury, they can be essential to CX if value is outlined first. AR tools are often used on product pages to aid shoppers’ decisions for product sizing. But leaders who recognize the importance of creating value statements first to highlight products in a new way through AR can be more purposeful in helping customers better understand and learn about their requirements through visualization. In this way, AR is less “fun” and more so furthers “self-learning.”

For example, clothing brands can ask customers to take a quiz to discover their personal style and ask questions focused on personal traits, preferred style and habits in order to recommend products that match their responses. Only then does a customer work with an AR tool to find clothing specifically tailored toward them.

If this is married with the ability to allow users to add products to their carts directly from guided selling pages, a brand can differentiate themselves from peers and meet consumer needs that they just outlined. This customer-first mindset not only helps to close a sale, but also leads to more loyal customers and less returns, ultimately impacting the bottom line in multiple ways.

If marketing leaders begin by identifying and aligning around the objectives of their target customers, they will be able to deliver results in line with the outcomes the brand is aiming to achieve. Remember, when a brand focuses on understanding how to help a customer feel good about themselves and their decisions, they are less likely to return products and more likely to return as loyal customers.

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