ISSUE 55 /

A BULLETIN FOR
BIG IDEAS AND
BETTER BUSINESS.

OPINION / COMMUNICATIONS

Job one: get
them talking

💬 Sir John Hegarty 

Oscar Wilde is always good for a soundbite. The poet and playwright’s witticisms are unusual in that they get better and more prescient with age. He once quipped that: “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” In today’s over-hyped battle for awareness, Wilde’s words have never rung truer. Winning attention has never been a simple exercise. It takes imagination, daring and relevance.

One of the greatest modern attention-drawing exercises happened at the weekend. Around 119 million people are expected to have tuned in to Super Bowl 2025 for the culmination of the NFL season. The game itself was, this year, a damp squib, with one team easily outplaying the other. But the real entertainment factor is contained in the halftime show. So it was this year with rapper Kendrick Lamar headlining the slot. Aside from his deftness as a performer, the real drama sprung from Lamar’s creative rivalry with Drake, another hip-hop impresario.

“I want to play their favourite song... but you know they love to sue,” announced Lamar a few minutes into the show. He was referring to a number called “Not Like Us” in which he strongly infers that his adversary is prone to some unsavoury (and unconfirmed) sexual predilections. The song’s release last year caused Drake to issue legal action against Lamar’s label Universal Music Group (UMG). Libel or not, creative clashes make for good headlines, and famous feuds can ignite fandom on either side.

Drake appears to be trailing in this war of words. But being ignored is worse than being derided (especially at one of the world’s most-watched events). If the rule for physical retail is location, location, location. Then the rule for communications is: attention, attention, attention.

THE AGENDA

🗓️ Diarise this: your agenda for the coming week

1.
Now hear this: the appeal of aural mediums shows zero sign of slowing, thanks in part to the explosion of podcasts in the last decade. World Radio Day is a good reminder to listen in.
13th February

2.
The British Academy of Film and Television (or BAFTA) Awards will be held in London this week. Edward Berger’s papal drama Conclave leads the nominations, closely followed by Jacques Audiard’s mob musical Emilia Pérez.
16th February

3.
Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival returns this week. Launched in 1951, it’s proven a valuable launch pad for the nation’s biggest musical acts, with performers competing for a coveted spot on Eurovision.
11th – 15th February

4.
The Chinese Lantern Festival marks the end of Lunar New Year celebrations with dazzlingly-illuminated parades and performances around the world. Celebrations involve colourful paper lights with riddles inscribed within.
12th February

5.
The Visual Effects Society Awards are taking place in Beverly Hills today. Contenders for best animated character include the VFX chimp that portrayed Robbie Williams in the singer’s biopic Better Man and clay-mation canine Gromit from Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
11th February

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WASHINGTON D.C. / CULTURE

Make Art
Great Again

Since his return to the White House, Donald Trump has been busy issuing a flurry of executive orders attempting to shape the nation’s cultural output. Among the latest was an order to put a “temporary pause” on grants and loans from the National Endowment of the Arts, a government body which provides funding for initiatives including a prison theatre program in Missouri and a Native American artists residency in North Dakota. Under Trump’s new guidelines, “patriotic” projects that “celebrate and honour the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity” will be prioritised instead. While the decision might be overshadowed by the president’s more jaw-dropping proclamations, it warrants attention. Nudging it in a direction that echoes the administration’s prevailing narrative will diminish the country’s creative capital. Most concerningly of all, it’s straight out of the despot’s playbook. Think Stalin’s push for Socialist Realism, and the Mussolini-endorsed Novecento Italiano movement. Great art should question authority, not enforce it.

ON CREATIVITY /

OSLO / ENERGY

Can creativity
clean up energy?

The Oslo Energy Forum begins today, gathering together international policymakers and regulators with key actors from the global energy industries. Talks will centre on the development of a sustainable, low-carbon economy, with panels taking on everything from the weaponization of energy security to the lacklustre outcomes of the Paris Agreement. Norway’s Energy Minister, Terje Aasland, will also be present to discuss how innovative new technologies can be deployed in the fight against climate change. It’s a subject he’s well placed to speak on given Norway’s emergence as a leader in carbon capture. In a time when countries around the world are scrambling to overcome a reliance on fossil fuels, leaders would do well to engage in some ambitious creative thinking. Take Japan’s deep-sea tidal turbines, for example, or China’s grand plans to build a vast solar farm in space. New solutions and new practices should be the priority. Rather than new reasons to favour old ones.

BERLIN / FILM

Art house
maintenance

Berlin International Film Festival kicks off on Thursday with a diverse programme that celebrates the world’s finest independent filmmakers. Highlights from this year’s edition are set to include Argentinian drama The Message and the big screen adaptation of Deborah Levy’s bestselling novel Hot Milk. Its Panorama section prioritises experimental filmmaking, with features on everything from a queer Malaysian punk band to a satire inspired by 1970s Taiwanese TV culture that features a roller-skating Hitler. As Hollywood continues to play it safe by churning out Marvel flicks and an endless stream of prequels and sequels banking on reliable box office returns, it comes at a great cost to innovative storytelling and boundary-pushing narratives. Protecting the arthouse film scene has never been more important when it comes to ensuring a thriving future for the cinema industry.

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