This week has flown by at the festival, and it’s crazy to think there is only one day left. I started my day at the New Creators Showcase where I was able to view short films created by the highest curation of craft. Each short film was different therefore I found my self laughing, deep thinking, and even crying at one point. I enjoyed most films and didn’t like others, but I enjoyed the way each made me think. After viewing the films it was interesting to talk to my classmates about our favorites and what we got out of each film. Some of us saw different meanings in each and it was cool to compare each of our point of views.
Next I attended a panel of powerful women who discussed how they are using their platforms to smash beauty stereotypes. Most of the panel was apart of the campaign #ShowUs by Dove, which is the world’s largest photo library created by women and non-binary individuals to shatter beauty stereotypes. Based on Dove’s research, 70% of women do not see themselves represented in the media. Dove took it upon themselves to change that percentage. Apparently 6 out of 10 people are more likely to buy a product if they see themselves represented, therefore Dove changed what it means to be a women while improving their sales. I love what Dove is doing and how they promote diversity in body shape, race, and religion in their advertisements, yet one part of the talk I did not agree with. The campaign #ShowUs was created by women and every person involved in the creating process was also a woman. One woman on the panel made a comment that we needed to bring down male creatives, which I don’t believe is true. Instead of the mentality of competing between male and female creators, I believe there is a balance and beauty between the collaboration of the two. Throughout the session, I was also kind of confused why Shonda Rhimes was on the panel when the Dove campaign was discussed most of the time. When the interview was shifted in her direction the topics were always very different than those being asked about the Dove campaign, therefore I did not really know she had a role in creating it. I would have loved to hear Rhimes talk about her career at a different event that focused on her career as a producer.
This afternoon I enjoyed visiting more of the beaches by meeting up with other college students from Alabama. We explored more of the Pinterest beach and then attended the Pride social at Facebook. It was very cool to see a large company like Facebook making everyone feel included while at the festival and celebrating the LGBQ community.
Later in the afternoon I attended Why Dunkin’ Dropped the Donuts. This talk was all about how and why Dunkin’ Donuts changed what everyone loved into something new. The speakers talked about their strategies of changing the brand, but by sticking to what their brand truly means. The ultimate reason Dunkin’ Donuts changed their name to Dunkin’ was to appeal to a larger crowd of consumers. According to the presentation, 60% of their sales were from coffee, the coffee industry is inclining where as the food industry is declining, and 2 out of 3 people drink coffee a day. Therefore it made sense for the company to change its focus to coffee and call itself Dunkin’.
The company did this by staying true to Dunkin’, simplifying its name, keeping its original font and colors, creating an energy sense to their designs, and by standing out from other coffee companies. The results of their rebranding has improved their sales, therefore they must have done something right! They ended their presentation by giving Rosè to the crowd in a can that resymboled their classic design—I was a big fan!
Lastly, I attended Modern Brand Building with players and the league. Not being a big fan of the NFL, I didn’t know what to expect of this talk, but it didn’t totally let me down. It was interesting to see how the NFL relied on its players to help build their brand, therefore what the players stand for matters to them. Because of this they created the Live Content Correspondeners who follow players in their daily life to film them doing things they are passionate about, other than
Football. I didn’t like the fact that the event felt like a press conference and all that was discussed was the player’s social media and thoughts. I was also very unimpressed at how short the talk was and how it ended early.
I ended my day at the Twitter beach and then later the Google Beach for sunset socials. The Google sunset social was also themed pride which resulted me in getting glitter put all over my face! I loved getting to bond with my classmates and dance the night away.
Keeping up with Katherine 