#TheAlternativeSchool’s guests celebrated The Future Of Creativity in style, alongside #RomanianThrivers, in the beautifully refurbished Hilton Garden Inn, in the epicenter of the vibrant downtown Bucharest. The exclusive business intelligence event empowered by Invizibilii.ro, decanted the world’s most impactful campaigns recently awarded at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, during its 71st edition.

Handcrafted delicacies matching the local talent theme were featured: matured cheeses with truffle & walnut hearts from Artesana, paired with the cultural codes of Romanian Rosé via Nasul Contesei and Cuve Sisi (kudos Serve Winery), and specialty beer, recently launched, from Ursus. Borsec was on hand to refresh and hydrate the guest throughout the evening.

The Power of Knowledge 

The evening showcased a selection of internationally awarded case studies—Commerce, Effectiveness, and Creative Business Transformation Lions—woven together with a curated red thread in the spirit of 'Kindful Brands,' an original concept under the school founder's signature. For the sake of consistency, relevance, and usefulness to the eclectic audience, 'Kindful Brands' remained the central theme of the evening—designed to inspire and reset the way we conceive remarkable communication campaigns.

 Intuition, faith, courage & gut

Tedi Migdalovici, the school’s founder, delivered a talk on Kindful brands, focusing on SDG goals & responsibility beyond hypocrisy and the new business models of the industry: a mind/heart pattern focused on intuition, faith, courage and gut, quoting here the work of  the new wave’s agencies - let’s applaud here Hakuhodo, Gut or We Believers. 

She stressed also on what’s out of trend while speaking about ESGs: “only a top coat for Marcom”, “considering the sponsorship money as uncountable”, “selecting and working on causes of their tear-jerking potential not on their community relevance”  or “social washing as corporate guilt clearance” - among the topics. What’s in, then ? CSR as a long term investment with a very tangible outcome, CSR as a territory for high quality R&D, to first offer solutions to niche audiences, only to later on replicate the model or serve as an inclusion tool at a larger scale, SDG related causes embedded in the very fabric of the business, leading not only to systemic change for the environment, context or communities, but also for the prosperous business model itself. “6 pack rings”, WeCapital various campaigns, “Renault - Cars for jobs”, “Heintz’ “Life changing reviews”, “The Move to Minus 15” or “D’Arty - Long lasting reviews” are among the impactful cases to document the talk.

Social Media is only a chapter

Venturing deeper, Monica Chirilă, one of the two Romanian winners qualified in the Young Lions Digital Competition, unveiled the most interesting PR trends discovered in the case studies explored during a week at the Cannes Lions 2024 Festival, mainly brand’s focus on resetting mentalities urging their audiences to gather around impactful causes - plastic pollution, inclusivity through urban design, awareness around gender bias. Her prediction for the near future included AI as the go-to-toll, audiences as part of the creative teams and social media as just another chapter in the complex mix. 

Everything is Data

The evening effervescently bowed out with Costin Bogdan, awarded in 2024 with Grand Prix in Creative Data, Gold in Direct, Silver in Creative B2b & Bronze in Creative Effectiveness who delivered a talk on Creative Data in FMCG, documented with campaigns created by the creative team he leads at McCann Europe as CD Mastercard Europe, but also with iconic examples demonstrating the narrative zest, the social tangible impact and the power to change the world behind well spotted, well used Creative Data.

How was it? 

The entire event resonated nicely within the eclectic audience —  people from business, CSR, advertising, PR, social media, architecture, and design communities, all with a soft spot for innovation, quality, and uplifting experiences.

Have a first hand taste

"I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and creativity of the case studies and I am very optimistic about the evolution of the creative fields here, inspired by these educational endeavors." - Doriana Mărășoiu, Illustrator

"We enjoyed taking part in a delightful event, which left us feeling good, optimistic, and full of fresh ideas." - Raluca Burcă, Illustrator

"The presentations were so consistent, full of insightful information. I particularly liked the campaigns developed from data insights." - Victor Ionichi, Illustrator

#RomanianThrivers PopUpExpo: The Highlight of the Evening 

For almost two years, the Instagram platform of #TheAlternativeSchool has become a virtual art gallery and digital magazine promoting local talent and the associated universe. In this context, some of the artists who took over #TheAlternativeSchool’s insta acount had the opportunity to escape the digital space and exhibit their works during #TheFutureOfCreativity event, in a PopUpExpo.

Adelina Butnaru, Doriana Mărășoiu, Mihaela Constantin, Silvia Horobeanu, Victor Ionichi & 999 were the exhibited works’ authors, enchanting with their artwork the audiences’ retina.

The artist's voice:

"It was a joy to participate @TheFutureOfCreativity, organized by #TheAlternativeSchool. Along with several other talented artists, I exhibited at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bucharest’s Old Town, in an evening full of creativity and passion. I am very grateful for the opportunity to present 19 of my works in the monumental staircase space of this superb historic building, whose history began more than a hundred years ago. I want to thank the organizers, especially Teodora Migdalovici and Andra Serea, for their support, trust, and freedom they offered me during the RomanianThrivers’ PopUpExpo," said Doriana Mărășoiu

"Creative people need encouragement and support to develop and evolve in their desired direction. The fact that there are such events that allow creatives to step into the spotlight also contributes to the improvement of quality of life through beauty and aesthetics. Creative fields must be supported because we communicate through images and need harmony and beauty in our lives"  said Mihaela Constantin.

"The experience was very pleasant, I felt very good and learned so many new things," considered Silvia Horobeanu.

The evening was handsomely empowered by Invizibilii.ro Artesana, Borsec, Ursus, Serve Winery, Hilton Garden Inn, Phoenix Media, Retail FMCG, Marketing Insiders Group & WE INVENT.

To be continued :)