What is Passion? And, it's uses in creating successful business and living (Vlog)

Support for the arts spurs social transformation

The artistic community is often likened to the collective conscience of a country, inspiring people to reflect and reframe, or exposing contradictions or horrors in society. But many artists struggle to survive, ultimately resorting to other means to generate income, jeopardizing the crucial role that the arts play. An innovative project in South Africa is supporting artists, giving them a leg-up in their careers and therefore playing a role in transformation too.

To date 18,422 Creative Blocks have been purchased from artists, and 123 artists are or have participated in the program.

One such artist is Miranda Vinjwa, who was born in the Eastern Cape of South Africa but grew up in the township of Khayelitsha near Cape Town. She battled at times to pursue her artistic dreams, but is now a mosaic artist and a key contributor to the Creative Block art project. “Every month I submit enough blocks to cover key monthly expenses,” says Vinjwa. “Creative Block also plays a key role in promoting up and coming artist, especially for a mosaic artist like me as mosaic is not recognised in South Africa like it is in Europe.”


Left: Miranda Vinjwa    Right: Liza Grobler (Photo: Adam Letch)

How it works

Creative Block invites artists, both established and emerging, to create work on a small block (18cm by 18cm by 2.2cm). They are in no other way restricted in their expression. The blocks are submitted to the Spier Arts Academy, and only works of the highest quality are selected. The chosen blocks are immediately bought from the artist and are subsequently sold to collectors all over the world.

Each artwork is original and unique yet affordable, selling at a set price of R1200, ca $110.00. The initiative has achieved cult-like status, and artists congregate on a weekly basis at the company’s base in Cape Town to deliver their completed blocks and study each other’s creations.

One artists, Pierre Fouche, says that Creative Block is an important part of his creative process. “Apart from providing a much needed sense of financial security, the Creative Block initiative also encourages one to ‘let go’ creatively,” he says. “The smaller format allows, and indeed, encourages the ‘happy mistakes’ that often become the artworks’ strongest aesthetic points.”

Collectors become creators too

Collectors choose a number of blocks and hang them together, building an artwork greater than the sum of its parts. When viewed in large numbers, the blocks form a mesmerising mosaic of various styles and techniques.

“In my mind, whilst each piece is special in itself, the magic really happens when you put a group of say 20 together,” says Dick Enthoven, Creative Block collector.

“The blocks relate to each other so strongly that they themselves merge their individual identities and become a single work of art where the whole far exceeds the sum of the parts. Because each ‘part’ is by a different artist and reflects their own experiences, it soon becomes clear that actually what is being displayed is a newly created single piece of art that mirrors contemporary South Africa.”

Wine to support the art

While Creative Block was taking hold amongst the arts community in South Africa, the winemakers at Spier wine farm were dreaming up a range of wines to support the project. This has given the arts project a much higher profile internationally particularly, while the wines themselves have gained popularity, both because of the project they support and the awards they have won.

“We recognised the synergy between the art project and the process of blending wine,” says Spier Cellar Master, Frans Smit. “Creative Block combines artworks from different artists, and we take grapes from different varietals and vineyard blocks, enabling us to create wines that are greater than the sum of their parts."

“Through blending we can get the best out of each varietal, and create a layered wine that has richness and complexity,” says Smit. “At the same time, blending enables more consistency from vintage to vintage. It’s a wonderful art and challenge for a winemaker.”

Spier therefore named its range of blended wines after the art project. There are four wines in the range: Spier Creative Block 2, 3, 5 and 8 – the numbers representing the varietals used in the blend.

The design of the wine label emphasises the collaboration, mixing, blending, selecting, collecting, arranging and re-arranging behind the creative process.  To create the artwork for the label, Spier divided each number into a series of blocks, each of which was given to an artist to draw in isolation. These drawings were then gathered and arranged to recreate the number you see on the label, mirroring the process of arranging Creative Block artworks and blending wine.

Creative Block = co-creation and co-action

Creative Block is giving South African artists real opportunities to pursue their dreams, and the wines are raising the profile of the project, catapulting it onto the global stage. The result is an invigorated arts community in South Africa, which continues to play a crucial role in the social transformation of the country.

Liza Grobler, one of the rising stars of South Africa’s contemporary art scene, says, “Aside from assisting me and others personally, what is so amazing about the project is that it is supporting the artistic community as a whole, and doing a lot to grow an art-loving public.”

For more information and to purchase Creative Blocks, visit http://www.creativeblock.co.za

Refresh Agency was gifted our first Creative Block by Spier during our visit to the Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch, South Africa last November - it's hanging pretty and proud at our office in Copenhagen, emenating of adventure, hope and interdependence - we are all just humbly small and unique pieces of art co-creating a bigger world together. 

We are inspired by Spier's commitment and dedication to doing business as a force for good. You can read more about our work with Spier here.

ECO-FASHION WITH A VISION. HOPEFUL IDEALISM OR POSSIBLE CHANGE AHEAD?

The fashion industry is one of the largest polluting industries in the world today. Fast fashion consumption is driving prices down, and production is outsourced to developing countries such as Bangladesh and China with little concern for the people producing the products and the environmental impact this business and consumption model has.

In the US alone 80 billion pieces of clothing is consumed per year, and the average American generate 84 pounds of textile waste per year. This is not just an American consumerism issue, this is a global issue with similar behaviors and staggering statistics seen across the globe.

2013 was one of the most devastating and tragic years for the fashion industry with the factory collapse in Rana Plaza in Bangladesh. With tragedy often follows the potential for awakening and reprogramming how things are done, and many promising initiatives have already been launched following this catastrophe. 

TIPPING POINT COMING UP?
We are in need of a mindset shift from fast fashion consumption to mindful consumption and purchasing behaviors across industries.  Having been an advocate for business as a force for good for more than 15 years, I am thrilled to see the movement on a global scale to raise awareness regarding these issues. Here are three promising & change-making initiatives that I think is worth a little bit of your time. And please do share, like, comment, create dialogue, ask questions, inspire each other, voice your concerns - this is how each of us can participate in propelling this sentiment forward.

COPENHAGEN FASHION SUMMIT is the largest sustainability solution-focused fashion symposium in the world held in Copenhagen April 24^th, 2014 featuring speakers such as Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Marco Bizzarri from Bottega Veneta, Eva Kruse from Danish Fashion Institute, Livia Firth from Green Carpet Challenge, Helena Helmersson from H&M, Stefan Siegel from Not Just A Label and more.

This will be powerhouse event, and I am very excited to participate, get inspired and be part of creating the solutions. Website.

THE TRUE COST is a documentary film exploring the impact and true cost of the global clothing industry on people and the planet by Andrew Morgan with UK based Eco Age & Green Carpet Challenge founder Livia Firth as consulting producer.

 

THREAD is another fashion industry documentary by Michelle Vey, celebrity model Amber Valletta, ecofashion entrepreneur Summer Rayne Oaks (who is also speaking at Copenhagen Fashion Summit in a few days) and my girlfriend Marci Zaroff, Under The Canopy founder and ecofashion pinoneer among others. 

The documentary is setting out to shed light on the multifaceted issues of the fashion industry today, and call out needed efforts on many fronts to implement change such as strong governmental support for sustainable agriculture, rigorous enforcement of existing environmental laws, visionary entrepreneurs investing in green technology, consumer “dollar voting” to create a sustainable mass marketplace for organic and sustainable products and lower prices to increase the pool of potential customers. 

Are Marketers Underestimating Consumer Interest in Good Cause Business?

 New research released last week by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and Edelman shows global marketers overwhelmingly agree that "purpose" will be increasingly important to building brands in the future.

Putting Purpose Into Marketing also reveals that consumers and marketers are sometimes divided when it comes to their perceptions of "purpose" and how it acts as a driver of purchase decisions. While both tend to agree that "purpose" is defined as "protecting and improving the environment," "positively impacting local communities" and "having ethical business practices," marketers underplayed emerging consumer concerns and failed to identify the markets where consumers are most driven by brand purpose.

Presented as part of the Global Marketer Conference in Brussels last week, the study identifies the extent to which marketers believe that consumer decision-making is prompted by brand purpose, as well as gaps and business opportunities. The aim was to reveal the flip side of the coin explored by Edelman's goodpurpose survey, which explores consumer attitudes around social purpose, their commitment to specific societal issues and their expectations of brands.

Marketers strongly acknowledge the growing importance of purpose: 88% agreed or strongly agreed it would be "increasingly important to building brands," 83% that it is "important for a brand to have a sense of purpose" and 81% that it was "a business opportunity." However, when comparing their responses with Edelman's consumer data, marketers seem to underestimate the extent to which consumers said they supported good causes (46% of marketers said consumers support good causes vs. 60% consumers) and the proportion of global consumers who thought it was OK for brands to support good causes and make money at the same time (56% vs. 76%).

Significantly, the biggest gap between the two sets of responses was marketers' perceptions of which region's consumers are most motivated by purpose. When asked for the continent with the greatest proportion of consumers who say they make purchase decisions based on good causes, 58% of marketers chose Europe, 36% North America, 5% Asia and 1% South America.

Conversely, Edelman's research identifies consumers in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, UAE and Brazil as being the most purpose-driven. These results show that consumers' passion and action on behalf of purpose in these emerging markets is much stronger than in developed markets. Consumers in these countries also say they are more willing to pay more and more often for purpose-infused brands.

Marketers agreed that purpose needs to be top down with 80% saying that the Chief Executive — and 74% the Chief Marketing Officer — should be involved in designing and shaping purpose. Only 53% of marketers thought all employees should be involved; but as many as 88% agreed or strongly agreed that "purpose needs to pervade the entire organisation and have buy-in from all business functions."

When asked if the brands they worked for generally had a sense of purpose, 49% marketers agreed or strongly agreed but only 38% felt they had been successful in effectively communicating the "purpose" of their own companies. Nevertheless, some 93% agreed that it is possible to measure the impact of purpose on positive PR and reputation, 91% on consumer engagement, 90% on employee satisfaction, 86% on brand equity and 71% on customer satisfaction. 54% agreed it was possible to measure the impact of purpose on sales but 74% disagreed or stronglydisagreed that it is easy to measure the the impact of purpose on the brand.

When asked to pick a purpose leader out of the Ad Age top 20 global marketers, 23% of respondents chose Unilever, Coca-Cola and P&G were tied second with 16% each of the votes, and McDonald's came in fourth with 11%. 

Putting Purpose Into Marketing is based on responses from 149 senior marketers representing 58 companies in more than 40 countries for companies representing over $US70 billion in advertising.

Full Article by @jenelks for Sustainable Brands

You Are Allowed

From Simon Sinek's WHY Movement

Conscious Fashion Connecting You With the Cultures of the World.

Live Worldly. Now - this is a company mission where the words jump vibrantly out at me, and I feel like saying "YES" this is it!

Here's to a life full of inspiration, beauty, intrigue, compassion and hope. When these attributes come together they have the power to transform the world. It's this belief that lies at the heart of our company philosophy. Be part of something bigger. Live Worldly.

What a pleasure to meet founder Kael Robinson last week in Denver, CO.  She has tapped into her passion, and she is unstoppable.  Kael and her team travel the world to hand select products made by and supporting the third world poor. And they have a great eye for what's fashionable and stylish.

A percentage of proceeds is donated to non-profit partners with social and/or environmental causes in each of the countries to further solidify the mission to help alleviate poverty in the world, and empower people to live their most vibrant lives.

Shop online with a social mission @ www.liveworldly.com 

What is Your Work Sweet Spot?

My sweet spot is visionary, creative and international PR & Social Media communication for brands and people who do business with a heart through social- and planetary betterment = Conscious Capitalism. What is your work sweet spot?