What does Asian creativity mean today, beyond cliché, exoticism, news headlines and travel-dream destinations?

This conversation explores Asian brands as agents of evolution in a living laboratory where cultural intelligence, speed, discipline and appetite for innovation become ingredients for blooming businesses, while actively editing mentalities, shaping behaviours and accelerating the magnetic evolution of the region.

From Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, China, South Korea and Central Asia, we'll look at contemporary brands, cultural codes, hybrid identities, technology and new ways of speaking to Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Through awarded case studies and first-hand stories, we'll unpack how Asian cultures connect ancient wisdom with ambitions for a prosperous future, choosing what to preserve and what to update from millennia-old rituals, while integrating status, wellbeing, life choices and social systems into vibrant business opportunities.

PERONI & THE GREAT HILL PRESENT: THE FUTURE OF BEAUTY 2026

What does beauty mean today, when it shapes self-esteem, identity, relationships, professional performance, and the way we show up in the world?

This conversation explores whether beauty has a national identity, how cultural codes define and reshape beauty standards, and how brands decode these signals to anticipate the next big shifts in culture.

From beauty as expression, power, and survival strategy to its link with charisma, prosperity, and success, we’ll unpack how brands capture, amplify, and even redefine the invisible forces behind contemporary beauty.

Since 2018, the UN has annually applauded the power of applied creativity by endorsing the SDG Lions—and 2025 is no exception (with top cases we’ll dissect at the event).

But beyond recognition, what truly guides businesses, brands, audiences, and the wider ecosystem? “An inner compass—Kindfulness as our north, with win-win-win as the consequence,” proposes The Alternative School, much in the line of Ajahn Brahm.

This event pairs EQ-driven, goosebump perspectives with award-winning case studies to prove - with numbers on the table - that doing good is good business, when guided by an ikigai formula, where profit for business and impact for community is totally doable.

We’re bringing together highly awarded international speakers who have captured the essence of their cultures, transforming it into insights that have helped brands reshape their markets for good—deeply influencing their audiences' psyche, beyond mere visibility and profit.

This event marks the first in a series celebrating 20 years of TheAlternativeSchool’s Private Diplomacy, a relentless effort to elevate local creatives—both young and seasoned—in their pursuit of Lions. Since 2005, through consultancy, events, and training, we’ve passionately opened the Romanian market’s doors to the inner world of the planet’s most culturally relevant brands.

Hear, hear—to the next 20 years!

#CannesForClients, dedicated to brand stewards willing to step ahead

On July 31st, starting 6.30 PM, join us at Hilton Garden Inn, for #TheFutureOfCreativity, an exclusive business intelligence event decanting the world’s most impactful campaigns recently awarded at Cannes Lions - the International Festival of Creativity, during its 71st edition. This event is designed for marketers, brand managers and creatives who are eager to stay ahead in their field and set the goals for a new creative year, while being aware of the latest insights.

Intelligence in all its forms, from emotional to artificial, will guide the campaigns' selection and discussions, aiming to uncover the most effective strategies for impact, mindset, and high-quality business practices that make good money while drive uplifting shifts in the society's complex fabric.

What’s the latest in the realm of exquisite brands ? What luxury means today, in a VUCA world, as distilled from the latest awarded campaigns in Cannes Lions & beyond ? The guests of the Future of Luxury event will find out through remarkable case studies but also first hand. Eye Temple, the remarkable eyewear niche boutique, will launch its latest brand shades, alongside Cartier, a couple of days before SLIMO Paris, the number one optical Fair worldwide.

Hani Marin - Managing Partner @ Eye Temple, Iancu Guda - investment consultant, Vlad Gordan - brand ambassador Cartier, alongside Teodora Migdalovici will captivate the audience with an insightful & stylish experience.

Mădălin Dragnea, founder of Mad Animator, will debate about “Branding loves Animation. Performing beyond the AI temptation”, covering topics such talent, creative instinct, wit and their relevance in the context of the AI’s increased usage. Oana Ispir, the White Raven awarded illustrator, will speak about the power of emotion to create immersive experiences, thus helping people to escape time’s dictatorship. Oana’s presentation will guide creators and brands on their journey to reach out for the elusive consumer, seducing him through humor and delightful visual storytelling. Răzvan Ghilencea – former Young Lions Design competition gold winner & founder of Ayz & Hendz, and Dinu Panescu, founder of The Circus, Titanium winner and former Cannes jury member, will discuss how to win at the Lions’ festival and beyond, in the game of life, through emotional intelligence. Teodora Migdalovici, the school’s founder, will have a short intro about design feeling, projecting emotions and the art of creating magnetism through contagious enthusiasm & good mood.

• Why gaming has the power to become the most efficient media platform of the day, as seen @TheCannesLions this year? How Romanian performance in the gaming industry can become a contemporary attribute for national identity and what we can do about it, as community? The guests of The Future of Gaming event will find out through curated international case studies but also first-hand: Good Game industry, the leading Romanian agency to flawlessly integrate brands in the games narrative, will present its latest highly performant case studies and also exciting near future plans. Via an appealing collab, we will dare the branding & marketing passionate crowd to create outstanding campaigns upon a critical mantra: business results, happy consumers, internationally awarded work. Here, here for the win-win-win.