IBM On Brand

“_____ on Brand” is a series of short films created by VSA to capture the current thinking behind leadership brands—specifically, their origins and intent, audiences and ingredients, and business or societal impact.

In this two-minute tour, the roots of the IBM brand are traced to the company’s management of its character. Narrated by Jon Iwata, IBM Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, 

It's fascinating to see how a company with so much history, and so much history of change, has managed to maintain branding consistency over time. It goes to show how in addition to the visual identity, consistent behavior is really important to a brand and it's usually the first thing to go in the pursuit of rebranding. 

Agony & Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet

Previously I shared the secret lives of dancers and looked at a year at The Australian Ballet. Recently I discovered a three-part documentary filmed in 2010 by the BBC following the English National Ballet as they stage a production of the most famous ballet, Swan Lake, with a Visa-challenged and therefore missing prima ballerina; address injuries and challenging casting choices for a production of Romeo and Juliet; and lastly, speed towards opening night of their biggest moneymaker, The Nutcracker, with a brand-new, incomplete, let alone ready, production. 

During the 2001-2002 season I worked with American Repertory Ballet, which included doing the marketing and subscription operations for many performances of a brand new The Nutcracker. Watching the third episode of this series brought back vivid memories of the process of staging and selling what is without a doubt the key financial production of any dance company.

In the first episode, we follow the production of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall and its enormous cast of new and experienced dancers longing for recognition. When choreographer Derek Deane puts his reputation on the line by casting a talented but inexperienced young dancer with a world-class guest ballerina, the challenge is on. Derek demands absolute perfection, and all the dancers are under pressure to meet his high standards

We join the company as they fight to finish their most ambitious production of the year - Rudolf Nureyev's Romeo & Juliet. From tensions on stage to challenging rehearsals using real weaponry, the men are performing for their lives. The company are already undermanned so it's crucial that no dancers are injured, but it's only a matter of time before the demanding schedule takes its toll.

The final episode offers a raw and revealing insight into English National Ballet, one of the world's premier ballet companies, at the climax of one of its most demanding years. From injury and pain to success and elation, the series exposes the storm behind the calm of big ballet productions.

Wayne Eagling has a highly demanding job as the artistic director of English National Ballet, looking after the 64 dancers that produce eight ballets a year. He has also decided to put his neck on the line by creating his first full length ballet for the company - The Nutcracker. As the company's crucial and lucrative Christmas production, there is no room for error and Wayne must complete the two hour ballet on an extremely tight schedule.

The film follows the creative processes of a choreographer under pressure and a new production fighting against time. With an important audience of critics, donors and government officials expected on opening night, the show must be finished. But with rehearsals running late and severe snow disrupting the making of the sets, it seems the dancers, costume-makers and technical staff are all fighting for stage time right up until the curtain rises.

The Devil Is An Artistic Director→

Adweek covers the promotion of Anna Wintour last week: ​

Powerful Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour is expanding her role at Condé Nast. Today, the publisher announced that Wintour—who is also the editorial director of Teen Vogue—was named artistic director of Condé Nast. In the newly created role, Wintour will be responsible for "curating and cultivating the creative vision" for the company, according to a statement.

In an interview with The New York Times, Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend said that Wintour would be assuming some of the responsibilities left open by Si Newhouse, the 85-year-old chairman of Condé Nast parent Advance Publications, when he scaled back his role, including oversight of Condé Nast's editorial division, last fall. "Si Newhouse leaves a void, inevitably," Townsend told the Times. "Anna, without even having to think twice about it, is the most qualified person to pick up that torch and carry it into the future."

Townsend added that the role of artistic director had been created, in part, to keep Wintour at Condé Nast, telling the Times that he "would go to great distances to avoid losing Anna, particularly in the prime of her career." Wintour had been rumored last year to be a possible Obama administration appointee to the U.K. ambassadorship, but she maintained that she had no plans outside of Condé Nast.

I find Wintour to be truly fascinating. While everyone is discussing the death of publishing as we know it she secures herself an even bigger position of leadership at Condé Nast​. At this moment it's not clear what this new position really means for publications like Wired, Epicurious or The New Yorker and I can not help but find myself very curious to see how her obvious influence will extend beyond the world of fashion. 

​In conversations I often compare Wintour to Steve Jobs. Most of us were willing to dismiss his most demanding character traits while acknowledging that he was a visionary genius, and yet similar behavior and success from Wintour results in her being branded a Prada-wearing devil. 

I gained a better understanding of who Wintour is from a film, not that one, the other one. The R.J. Cutler directed documentary The September Issue (available for streaming in the usual places.)​ Cutler spent eight months following Wintour and filming over three hundred hours of footage. 

While making The September Issue, I observed Anna Wintour day-in and day-out as she single-handedly commanded the $300-billion global fashion industry. In a business where last week's fashion shows are already old news, she has been at the top of her field (and the top of her game) for two decades and counting. Shortly after we began filming, I observed to a friend who asked what it was like to watch Anna work, "Well, you can make a film in Hollywood without Steven Spielberg's blessing, and you can publish software in Silicon Valley without Bill Gates' blessing, but it's pretty clear to me that you can't succeed in the fashion industry without Anna Wintour's blessing."

​Cutler even learned four lessons in management by watching Wintour work. 

Another reason to watch the documentary is to discover Grace Coddington. Every influential public figure always has a behind-the-scenes person who is equally, if quietly, influential to the work. 

Watch the above trailer for the documentary. At around the 2:00 mark there is a moment that resonated with me when I watched the film and that I confess I've stolen. ​In many meetings over the past few years I've been known to paraphrase her and demand "where is the quality?, where is the elegance?, where is the follow through? Come on, elevate it."

​If God is in the details, so is the Devil and she is an Artistic Director.

Humble

Jonathan Ive on Blue Peter. ​

Jad Abumrad: How Did Radiolab Happen? Gut Churn

What's gut churn? At the 99U Conference, Radiolab creator and host Jad Abumrad describes it as the radical uncertainty that's a core part of any creative process that really pushes the envelope. You're entering unknown territory, and working without a map.

Using examples from Radiolab's own evolution, Jad shares the benefits of negative feedback and how we can look out for "pointing arrows" that can help guide our work (even when it hurts).

Jad Abumrad is the host and creator of Radiolab, which reaches roughly 2 million people per month. He's been called a "master of the radio craft" for his unique ability to combine cutting edge sound-design, cinematic storytelling and a personal approach to explaining complex topics, from the stochasticity of tumor cells to musical languages to the mathematics of morality. Jad studied creative writing and music composition at Oberlin College in Ohio. He composes much of the music for Radiolab, and in the past has composed music for film, theater and dance.

In 2011, Radiolab received a Peabody Award, the highest honor in broadcasting, and Jad received the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship.