A F+A+M+E Fest to remember

A F+A+M+E Fest to remember

Imagine entering a room with hundreds of flowers in a giant glass dome. This was the case for guests and speakers of F+A+M+E Fest, HPB's very first live experience event, on Thursday 15th of September. With an impressive view of Amsterdam, the 6th and 7th floor of Capital C offered plenty of space for inspiring talks, listening to music and, above all, connecting. To infinity and beyond and literally a High Light.

The latest updates in the Press Café

The morning started with a unique opportunity for media and influencers to hear all the ins and outs of strong brands claiming thought leadership in their field. A dedicated Press Cafe showcased brands like Wavin, which builds healthy and sustainable environments. Unox served sandwiches. Mocktails, and even limited edition HPB cupcakes were also there to enjoy. The no-waste goodie bags were a big hit. Instead of putting together a ready-made selection of goodies, guests could pick and choose what they liked to prevent them from getting gifts that they don't really need. Shopping for a tailor made selection of goodies like care products from NIVEA, Labello, Eucerin and Bio-Oil and, for the delicious and/or healthy appetite, Côte d'Or, Willja and Milka and Bastogne turned out to be so much more fun!

F+A+M+E formula

Central theme during the festival was the HPB F+A+M+E formula. With this formula, HPB helps brands to stand out in a way that adds genuine meaning to people's lives. With the F+A+M+E, brands become famous, but only for the right reasons: based on Facts, Attention, Meaning and Earned. To emphasize the difference between the superficial fame as you know it from the red carpet, and the meaningful F+A+M+E, there was a special photo wall featuring the SDGs.

SDGs as a path to F+A+M+E

SDG stands for Social Development Goals, 17 goals to improve the world. Together with our clients, we look at how we can genuinely contribute to these goals to appear in the media for the 'right' reasons. A good example being the the work we do for Libresse to break taboos around the V-zone, or the action we take for Asics focusing to help people improve their physical and mental health. With new (sustainable) brands joining us every year, we can contribute to social issues more and more.

Future gazers: the future is now!

To be able to respond better to what goes on now and in the future, we invited 5 experts who, thanks to their experience and expertise, can offer us a look into the future. Who better to ask to predict what lies ahead than Salmaan Sana, Jonas Kooyman, Farid Tabarki, Gyor Moore and Ashlee Janelle? They were asked: what will the future look like in 18 months? One thing they all agreed upon: we make the future ourselves! Jonas Kooyman, working for NRC and his own platform Havermelkelite specializes in analyzing trends within urban culture. He kicked off with 3 developments he sees in Gen Z. This generation is less capitalistic than millennials and more critical of a healthy work-life balance. In terms of fashion, he sees trashy, campy, early 2000s style making a comeback (after 10 years of minimalist, Scandinavian clothing). Third, he indicated that Gen Z is done with picture-perfectness. Enough with all the uploading of green smoothies, they drink dirty martinis instead, and go to restaurants where it's so dark you can't even take pictures. In short, the new generation is much more conscious about authenticity and things that matter. He also casually announced a new trend in New York: cow's milk ;)!

Ashlee Janelle, Farid Tabarki, Salmaan Sana and Gyor Moore

Creative entrepreneur Ashlee Janelle posed the question: ‘do you choose quantity when selecting influencers for collaborations, or do you dare to choose diversity and influencers with fewer followers but more depth and social relevance?’ ‘Do you look at the impact made and the real stories told, or do you choose someone with a story without impact but with many followers? She herself, with her company YOUNG / The Agency, chooses for impact over popularity, that much is clear.

Next on stage was Farid Tabarki, trendwatcher and owner Studio Zeitgeist., who spoke about the Summer Olympics in 2024. This will take place in roughly 18 months and are supposed to be the most sustainable games ever (even though it requires new things to be built and everyone will have to fly in). He used the philosophy behind the games, "taking part is more important than winning", to explain where he thinks it will go in 18 months. Collaboration and community will get us far.. It takes - also according to author Rebecca Solnit - not one person to "save the world", but all of us!

Salmaan Sana (TEDx board member) believes in the power of frustration to make things happen. His expertise is to help companies build a more profound sense of connection, and cohesion. He spoke about a Burning Man artwork that looks different in the light than in the dark. During the day you see two adults arguing, but at night with other lights, they are two pure, peaceful children. They want to be together and connect. 1.5 years into the future, Sana predicts that friendship, love, togetherness and connection will become more important than anything else and that together we should look for how everyone can feel welcome . Find your inner child!

Gyor Moore calls himself "proud, black and queer." As a creative design activist, he wants to make the world a little more beautiful. He talked about developing diversity and inclusiveness in the media and at the workplace. Diverse thinking would be an essential step forward for him in the next 18 months to ensure more inclusion. When you put people from the same background together, you get single-minded ideas. The recent uproar over Black Mermaid showed how 'weird' it is still considered when someone of colour (Halle Bailey) fills a particular role in a film. According to Moore, there is hope: these days, you see more and more (Netflix) series opting for diverse representation so that everyone can identify and relate. He hopes that big steps will have been taken in the next 18 months and sees an essential role for PR agencies here. After all, we decide who’s hot & happening.

Our main takeaway: we are all responsible for how the future develops. You can be sure that here at HPB, we don’t take that message lightly…
Meanwhile In the other room, the Media Girls (Tamar Bot and Fanny van de Reijt) went wild with a quiz on, you guessed it, controversial media moments.

F+A+M+E brand video

After a musical interlude by the talented Shishani, it was time to launch the F+A+M+E brand video. Watch the video here to find out why we are obsessed with F+A+M+E.

Jacqueline Bosselaar on making an impact through F+A+M+E

CEO and HPB founder Jacqueline Bosselaar pinpoints what has changed in the market in recent years. We can tell you in advance: the F+A+M+E formula, with which we break through the noise of contemporary communication, has proved its worth Jacqueline kicked off by outlining the zeitgeist. With all the (fake) news, trust issues, 6,000 commercial messages sent out a day and the opportunity to block ads, it’s rather difficult to stand out. Lucky for you, we’re happy to help.

F+A+M+E

As a brand, it is crucial to use a communication strategy based on Facts, Attention, Meaning and Earned. By combining facts that generate interest with suitable social topics or SDGs, you can genuinely add meaning to people's lives and your own authentic story is born! In recent years, we have applied this formula to Unox (precursor food transition), Libresse (breaking taboos about the womb), ASICS (mental health) and Vodafone (helping children with stuttering problems).

At Cannes, it became clear: the cases that won an award were not advertisements, but initiatives to solving social issues as Decathlon did for The Break Away, a cycling team with prisoners. Another idea is solving things the target group is struggling with. This can also be done with humor, as the Heinz "hot dog pact" proves.

If you are curious to learn more about how to add meaning to your brand story, you might like to hear the talk live. Send a request to camiel@hetprbureau.nl, and we can make it so you hear this inspiring talk at your (company) event or team meeting. Let your brand fly in this time when attention is scarce!

And last but not least,:the results of the Social Impact Monitor!

Rianne de Vries, Team Lead Corporate Sustainability Communications, presented the results of HPB’s very first Social Impact Monitor (MIM) in collaboration with Motivaction. This survey offers companies in depth insights on how consumers perceive their sustainability efforts. Think of it as a tailor made bullshit filter. Confronting, but necessary with people becoming more critical about brands and their social responsibility. 73% of people taking part in the survey think it is companies' responsibility to ensure that people, society and the environment are doing well. Another 63% think companies should do something good for people, society and the environment. Is your company prepared for this? If you are curious to hear about how your social impact is perceived and would like a comprehensive review, send Rianne a message: rianne@hetprbureau.nl. You can be sure HPB is committed to working with you for social change and will help you see which SDGs can be used for impactful communication.

Likefriends made the event even more fun

The evening ended with a delicious dinner and great music. F+A+M+E Fest marked the first party where our new colleagues and clients from Likefriends attended. You will hear a lot more from these talented creative people next year!

We look back on a successful first edition and hope to welcome you for next year’s edition. Send us a message if you want to be there via camiel@hetprbureau.nl.