Alex Antolino is the Creative Director at Typeform and today he’s joining Cam & Tina to talk about the importance of sustainability and how brands can save the world.
Guest: Alex Antolino
Topic: How Brands Can Save the World
Hosts: Cam Schreiner & Tina Walczak
Watch video of the podcast HERE
Podcast Transcript:
Cam Schreiner: Welcome all you humans to another episode of Cam and Tina. We are going to be speaking with Alex Antolino. He’s a creative director at TypeForm. He is running Video Ask. He is amazingly charismatic guy and he gives a shit about the planet and about brands doing well and doing good.
00:00:35
Tina Walczak: Yeah, so he’s going to tell us all about that. And he has a super sexy voice. So all of you guys are going to be joining. Enjoy this and close your eyes and listen because his voice is so serenading is no so is connecting now.
00:00:52
Cam Schreiner: Thank you all for joining us. And this is going to be, I think, our last live until the new year. So we did it. We made it.
00:01:00
Alex Antolino: Hey, guys, what’s up?
00:01:03
Tina Walczak: I welcome. What’s up? How are you guys doing? Very, very well. How about yourself?
00:01:10
Alex Antolino: I’m great. I’m great. Friday night here in Spain.
00:01:14
Tina Walczak: So, yeah.
00:01:17
Alex Antolino: And we have an exciting topic and we can’t wait to hear about you and and your creative journey. I know you work with Timeform. Tell us what you do.
00:01:28
Tina Walczak: All right. So for those of you who don’t know me, I’m on. Exactly. You know, I’m a creative director. I spend most of my time thinking about brands and branding and how to evolve and create brands that mean shit. And yeah. So basically, I’ve been working on type one for the last five years and my journey, it’s been all about like, you know, changing like professions and things like that. So I started I started filmmaking actually I started at the film school and I did like cinematography. So I was a dope and I did a couple of commercials and I was like, I don’t know about that. I don’t know if I like, you know, directing other people’s stuff. So I got into direction and I started making commercials. I had my own studio and I was directing my own commercials. But then I was doing this crib’s of agencies and things like that. And there was a moment that I struggled a lot because I had to do like a script that I didn’t really couldn’t get behind. So I had it was like like some kind of like watches for women. But they were like doing it in a way that they would put women dancing and shit like that. And I was like, oh, so I had it, I did it, I had to do it. But then after that I was like, that’s the last time I do this shit. So I decided to shut down my company and super them. I am ended up type form, which is like a tech company based in Barcelona for online forums and it forms that look great and are very human and a beautiful experience. So I joined Skype from five years ago when they were 30 people were three hundred now and here we are with Type one, launched a new product called Video Aske and I decided to focus on videos, which is like a very small startup, often people with insight for them. And I’m now running these brand.
00:03:15
Tina Walczak: So that’s my story. And like, oh, thank you.
00:03:20
Alex Antolino: I, I’m, I’m curious to know, like about the Save the World component and how that falls and to play.
00:03:28
Alex Antolino: First of all, I just want to say hi. I fear that we are fear my fear there that the design agency ICRA hello everybody here. So I just want to mention Fierman because there are the guys who created this initiative that I join and I’m like really proud that they’re doing this. It’s an initiative of initiative called Creative’s for the future. Right. And it’s basically gathering creatives all around the world to start working towards creating more sustainable brands and helping brands create more sustainable companies. Right. So I’m really excited that they’re doing this and it’s something very new. You can check it out, Creatives for the future. It’s a very exciting and I got to be more pumped to be part of this community. What they’re trying to do is like bring good narratives into brands. So big agencies or agencies like any guy like you guys could be part of it. They’re basically giving you tools and resources to actually help create good projects.
00:04:33
Tina Walczak: Right. When an agent is hired by a company, how can agencies help bring is good narratives into into companies and together start putting, you know, like, you know, setting direction for like a like a proper future?
00:04:46
Cam Schreiner: I would say I love that. It seems like such an overwhelming topic for for many ideas like how can we do good? How can we make sure that what we’re doing is good and not just. Poor intentions to get more attention. I see a lot of large brands and you’ve seen some sales in the last year, in the last two years where they did something that they were showing that they were doing good, but it backfired because their intention wasn’t there. Their purpose wasn’t to do good. It was to show that they were doing good. So it’s a very selfish approach.
00:05:24
Alex Antolino: Yeah, yeah. I like that.
00:05:26
Tina Walczak: You mentioned that.
00:05:27
Alex Antolino: And by the way, before we continue, I like to say to everyone watching here, if you have any question, this is a conversation, but it’s not a conversation between three people. It’s a conversation between the whole people who are here, connected life right now. So if you have a comment, you want to say hi, by the way, you could actually start by saying where you’re from and what’s your name. So if you want a job right now in the comments, what’s your name and where you’re from? That’s a good start for us to get to know each other.
00:05:50
Cam Schreiner: Right. It’s just immediately making that connection, building that community in a democratization.
00:05:57
Tina Walczak: Right. So I see already people who who I know from my Instagram.
00:06:03
Cam Schreiner: Yeah.
00:06:05
Alex Antolino: So I see, like the art of the art of telling the truth, make sure you hire people who actually have backgrounds in sustainability and diversity, who can work and collaborate with your comms and team. And then I see Nick here from his community manager and then ICRA and. All right. So good. So let’s give it let’s keep it going. I really agree with what I just said. I think, first of all, you need to have the right people in the right place. Like that’s the first thing. Right. But I think, as you said, it’s true that like sustainability in these kind of things, it’s overwhelming. And the reason because it’s overwhelming is because we really we we all want to go towards like a sustainable future, because otherwise we’re out like we’re gone from this planet. But sometimes we don’t know what to do. Right.
00:06:57
Tina Walczak: Like, I don’t know, like I went vegetarian some months ago because it was my I love me, by the way. I love I’m like I love grilling me. I like spending like eight hours making my brisket and smoking my brisket, things like that. For some reason, I’m very American in that sense.
00:07:15
Alex Antolino: But like.
00:07:16
Alex Antolino: But it’s a commitment that I have to make, because otherwise it’s on these little details that we can do stuff to actually change things. Right. And as you guys were saying here in the comments, getting the right people and put them on the right places.
00:07:32
Alex Antolino: It’s the first start to actually, like, start moving things. And it’s overwhelming and like any any overwhelming thing that the way to tackle overwhelming things is to start little by little and start like one step after the other. So maybe today it’s, you know, just making sure you don’t use more paper than the paper you need. If you need any, then maybe it’s like using Toxi to go to meetings within the city and maybe ride the bike. These little things we think are insignificant that actually make a big difference. And by me saying I’m vegetarian and saying how much I love me, but how I decided to not consume more meat because of the plan and things like that, it’s a good start for these people to start thinking right.
00:08:16
Tina Walczak: And love that awareness. That’s what you’re trying to do.
00:08:18
Alex Antolino: Awareness is the first step. Exactly.
00:08:22
Tina Walczak: And also, I think you were mentioning this idea of like green washing, right? So some companies are saying that they’re doing good things. But at the end of the day, you could question that. Right.
00:08:35
Alex Antolino: And I think, you know, I always like to say that brands is not what you say. Your brand is not what you say is what you do.
00:08:43
Tina Walczak: And this is like the first thing that everyone needs to know. It doesn’t matter. And this applies to people, to you already. You know, from my and I like to always say that brands are like people. And so this applies to people, too. Like, it doesn’t matter that I come here on a line and I say, yeah, I’m super, super honest.
00:09:01
Cam Schreiner: But then, like, I go bitching about you guys, like with someone else, like all these guys, you know, look at, you know, these background, you know, it finishes at the edges of whatever you like, this kind of thing.
00:09:12
Alex Antolino: So it doesn’t really it’s all about actions. Right. To the first step is to act and then to and then to talk ride.
00:09:24
Alex Antolino: Many greenwash and being greenwashing happens when you say and then you act or you never act. Right. And then you’re like cleaning your your, your, your image. You think you’re clean your perception. But then we don’t live in the fucking 90s anymore and now people are going to see what you do on social media. People are going to judge you based on your actions, not on your words. So the first thing you’re going to do, it’s fine. No, I was just repeating myself.
00:09:51
Alex Antolino: So I was just thinking, like, I think you touched on something and it kind of just like sunk in. If you want to do that, don’t do it with the intention to market it. Just do it with the intention to actually do something good. So if you want to start now, you don’t need to tell everyone you’re doing it online. Just start doing it in your company, do it as your brand and show.
00:10:20
Alex Antolino: Exactly, exactions, what really matter? And then, of course, you can you know, the good thing about the war as it’s going to it actually can change other people. Right. And one of the things that we were discussing on on this group created for the future on the first call, because actually last week was the first call and I’m so excited. But one of the things that was discussed there is that, you know, some companies do the greenwashing and there’s there’s a whole spectrum on how you can actually relate to sustainability issues. Right. There’s people who are like super committed and then, like on a positive way, they can spread the message. Right. That’s the best situation where, like, you’re super committed, but at the same time, you’re positive you’re not you’re not, like, pointing at anyone. And you convince people by being positive and talking about the good things. Yeah. And then there’s like on the spectrum, there’s people who don’t give a shit on the other end and then there’s people who like, you know, they talk but they don’t act, which is, you know, in that program. So I don’t think there’s like a black and white. I think there’s anything there is anything that is above not doing shit or not caring about it. It’s bad. It’s good. It’s a good start. So in a way, sometimes greenwashing can’t even be positive because he could be a star. You know, at least someone is talking about it. Love, right?
00:11:43
Cam Schreiner: So you’re focusing on at least there’s awareness, at least the conversation started even if the action wasn’t there. And that was going to be my question is, is what do you see as like the balance between action and actually getting the word out? Because if you just take action and you don’t have that, that’s for thought for reach, then you might be just doing this in a small group where you might have a larger influence abroad and you could create that and expand that initiative. So even if you’re only able to do this much, maybe the people you reach could do this much. So by exactly not speaking about it, you might be hindering that initiative as well. Like, where is that? That balance of yes, take action, but don’t fear talking about that action you’re taking.
00:12:32
Alex Antolino: I think I think if you were taking I think it’s the there honestly, like start by taking action and then talk about it. But if you start by talking about it and then at some point decide to take action, that’s also OK. I mean, it’s better than nothing. Right. And in general, I feel like sustainability is something that like it’s like we need to it’s not something that you can put on your loan or quarter goals for like next year and like for a quarter. What are we going to do this and that? I was reading here on the comments that, like, it’s it’s not just like a campaign, like you need to get people like you need to embed diversity in your organization.
00:13:13
Alex Antolino: You need to embed sustainability in your organization and start inside the probably the best way to start inside, because it’s hard to try to convince someone of something you’re not doing. So and honestly, really, using the reducing the carbon footprint is like how you call it in English, like the emissions that like from your company. That’s already like a huge challenge. Right. Because because society unfortunately isn’t designed like this. So it’s kind of like you need to go against the like the establishment. Right. In a way. And so that’s that’s that’s the whole, like challenge on its own. But maybe you don’t need to have things figure out to talk about those things. You can talk about the process. And with that process, you might inspire others. Yeah. Which, by the way, sorry sorry. I was going to say which by the way, this applies also to to building a brand, which is something that Kevin and I have been discussing recently. It’s not only about the insides, it’s actually much more powerful, the story of the process, because it has downs and ups and downs and struggles.
00:14:19
Cam Schreiner: So sorry, I guess perfectionist that we that we see in ourselves in our work. But it’s also in these processes, too. It’s like we can only show them once we’ve done it to 100 percent. Once we’re like the most sustainable company then we can talk about and then we can start sharing it when sharing your journey can be like helping them move that that overwhelming feeling like, oh, they’re trying and these are the pitfalls they’re having, trying to be more sustainable and more approachable.
00:14:43
Tina Walczak: Yeah. As a brand as well. When you’re showing here’s our process, here’s where we screw it up. It’s like, oh, I feel safe. I can have a conversation with this person because they’re real. They’re not just this robot out.
00:14:55
Tina Walczak: They’re on the Internet talking and actually really give a shit.
00:14:59
Alex Antolino: There was somebody that said that companies should really worry about the products that they’re putting out and not so much about the initiatives.
00:15:08
Tina Walczak: Like sometimes they lose focus on what they’re doing and focus too much on the initiatives. Do you think that’s a problem?
00:15:15
Alex Antolino: I mean, I don’t know if that’s a problem. I think when you. Create your product like you should be, like what I think and also this is this applies to how I behave personally, but for me, like all these things are long term, like we cannot change the world tomorrow and move on like this, like sustainability, the word itself. It’s like changing for sustained and sustained way. Right. So I think you need to start changing for those things internally and then, you know, try to make a commitment that you can scale. So, for example, I could I could have gone be it.
00:15:49
Tina Walczak: But I know for sure if I go vegan, I’m going to break it like after one or two months. So I but I know I can commit at least to be vegetarian and eat fish for now. I prefer to commit to this long term, that to commit to vegan like Orlean and try to convince the world.
00:16:05
Alex Antolino: And then they are like undertreatment, small things, like we always talk about the one percent improvement that you can do today.
00:16:13
Tina Walczak: Exactly. Small little adjustments. Do you exactly build your product, build your service, but what can you do?
00:16:20
Tina Walczak: What’s that one little thing? Maybe you have a compost that you put beside the trash can.
00:16:26
Alex Antolino: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that’s exactly it. And like I’m saying that there’s more like build up on this comment of, like, you know, sustainability from the product. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about. Like, it’s not like you need to like it’s not like, you know you know how funny was like when people used to think about design as something you put at the end, like, oh, we make we make this great product or whatever. And then at the end it’s like, oh, you design a nice package and like we all now like, yeah, this is like no, you know, like it’s like you need to design from the very beginning. Sustainability’s that is the same. You need to think sustained in a sustainable way from the supply chain like it’s being said in the comments like from from day one, you know, like and and you need to create a world in a way that is sustainable. But this what does it mean? Right. And it’s it’s hard to figure out those things on your own, especially because, as I said, the world is not designed for this or you need to you have to survive. Your business needs to move on and keep making money so it’s not easy. So our recommendation and what’s working for me, and that’s the reason why I joined creatives for the future, is because, like, if you join a community is much easier, like someone that is leading the way the like, it can help you provide the resources that you can follow. You know, you have other people that will hold you accountable, things like that. So my recommendation, if you’re trying to make your business a little bit more sustainable, is that maybe you join a community, maybe you join creatives for the future or any other community. There’s other initiatives in London. There’s other things like that that that can help you at least get started. And then, you know, it’s a process. It’s not like a street. It’s not like turning on the lights. You know, it’s like it’s a process. But anything is better than nothing, you know? Oh, I love your heart. You have such a big thank you.
00:18:21
Cam Schreiner: I think, like even you say, like join a community. If you want to start this locally and you don’t see a community, just find another business. A few other businesses feel the brands that are around you and start talking to them because like you said, like, you don’t need to face this alone. There’s people that have been thinking about this and done this in the past. You’re not reinventing anything. You can you can reach out for support and help in these areas. People are always looking for the magic pill and the way to do it quickly. It’s like whenever someone looks for, like health tips, it’s like, what’s the magic tip to make me healthy? It’s like, have you been drinking water? Do you know maybe I’ve been drinking like or you go and do something like absolutely insane to be the best.
00:19:06
Alex Antolino: There’s a reason why you do that. I like we hurt ourselves because we see people at this pinnacle like, oh, we need to get there, we need to do all these other things. But you don’t realize that people started at the bottom and they slowly worked their way up. And having that mentality is so important that you skip those steps.
00:19:22
Alex Antolino: Right, exactly. And I think the good thing about sustainability is like who doesn’t want sustainability? Right. Like, you can say that climate change doesn’t exist, whatever for like marketing purposes. But like, we all see what’s going on. We see that, like, summers are getting warmer, you know, like it’s just like it’s not fucking thousands, you know, like. So the good thing about sustainability is that it’s contagious. Right. But it takes a lot because it’s like it’s going against the establishment and this takes courage, state’s commitment. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy. It’s like if you’re leaving. Have you seen the movie? Was it up the movie that at the end of the movie? Nor was it that maybe the one that we don’t know, there was a movie that at the end, maybe if you guys watch it than anyone in the audience can point that out for me.
00:20:11
Alex Antolino: I’m not going to look like a fool, but like there’s this movie that at the end everyone starts eating and there’s like everyone gets. I don’t know, maybe it was like the guy, like the little robot, anyone, a Pixar movie right at the end, everyone is five and like they’re all like in this cards and I like a world.
00:20:27
Alex Antolino: All right.
00:20:30
Alex Antolino: Well, so imagine living there and trying to get skinny. You know, it’s like, how can you do it when your world is not designed for that? It’s hard. So the easiest way is actually to, like, connect with someone. Accountability is the best thing for that. And just like it doesn’t need to be local, like you can have like a group on, you know, like, come on. Like if people are doing dorm groups to their post on Instagram, are you telling me you cannot join a fucking group on Instagram that helps you move in that direction?
00:21:04
Cam Schreiner: Well, it’s it’s so easy to guess how easy it is. There’s already people in this conversation that that would be good to reach out to, like they are all lined up saying that or I like it’s so easy to find your people. You just start speaking about that topic and people flock to you and you’re like, oh, I get it.
00:21:22
Cam Schreiner: These are the people that I could collaborate with to find better ways to do something. And they might have ideas that they’ve already tested and tried that you would have taken the next five years to try to develop.
00:21:33
Alex Antolino: And so one hundred percent and actually here on the comments, I’m reading a lot of the art of telling the truth. So if you follow her, I actually been tagged with like she’s amazing. She’s a great person. And like we’ve been we’ve met for like many months. And she’s she knows, like, a lot of it. That’s her thing. So if you’re interested, just the m her she’s a beautiful person and she’ll be able to like she loves talking about these, like I’m talking about your eyes. So maybe you got something from this conversation. But I think that’s good because we need passionate people that they need, that they take us in the right direction and you are one of them. So if if you want to follow her, I mean, she’s my leader, like, I don’t know in English, but like the people that, you know, like it’s like she was like, oh, Angelina, that’s not that they don’t really know whatever it is like.
00:22:16
Alex Antolino: OK, I my mom just by the way, am I right, OK, I love this.
00:22:26
Tina Walczak: I feel like the passion has been so exciting and like I feel like ready to like crash and stuff and be more sustainable. I like I almost want to leave it on that. So maybe we can just answer one more question from the audience.
00:22:39
Alex Antolino: Oh yeah.
00:22:41
Tina Walczak: And I don’t know if there’s anything you guys want to ask, but please, maybe, Mom, you have something to ask.
00:22:49
Tina Walczak: You should be proud of your son, by the way.
00:22:51
Tina Walczak: His mom is like islands is you. Yeah.
00:22:59
Alex Antolino: So you guys, if you want to if you have any questions, just drop it here in the comments. We’ll pick it up. But on the meantime, I want to mention something to one of the things that it was discussed there. It’s like one of the things to start this.
00:23:11
Tina Walczak: Like first you need to fix your own business and then you can start convincing others. And one way of convincing is just telling your own story. You don’t need to I need to figure anything out, just like start doing your own process and without process, you tell that story and this happens outside. And one of the things that I learned from the creative, from the future is that it’s very creative for the future, which you can find on Instagram. You can after this call, you go, it’s not ready for the future. You follow them. They’re designers. Then they’re like a branding agency, my favorite one. And they have like they’re great like that. The Fed is going to its eye candy.
00:23:50
Tina Walczak: So it’s like it’s not hard to follow because also one of the things that was said there was that first day to start and then the zero waste was the first topic, though, that I want to tackle. And even just before that, some people in the sustainability race are going to be like farther on the journey and some of the people are going to be behind. So, for example, start with zero waste like paper, and you need all these kind of things. And then what kind of products that you consume? I mean, when you when you’re getting the rabbit hole, it gets pretty deep.
00:24:19
Tina Walczak: So, again, I start with something and and move on from there and like just what we’re doing here, just like spraying the water, bringing out these conversations and going like one of the things that is important for me, and that’s what I try to do also with my own personal brand is like rebrand sustainability. Right. Because like when you say sustainability, like everyone thinks green and, you know, like, you know, cute things and shit like that.
00:24:45
Alex Antolino: And fuck, you know, it’s sustainability is it’s hard, you know, it’s dangerous, like if we don’t like it. So I’m trying that’s one of the things I’m trying to do when I talk about sustainability is like I go like fucking you know, like I go hard because like it is it is hard, you know, like it. We don’t we don’t need to be like, oh yeah, I’m vegetarian. No fucking you know, like you can swear. You can, you can’t. Am I right by the way.
00:25:08
Tina Walczak: It’s like I just got a guy that it was like right. I like people’s attention.
00:25:12
Cam Schreiner: You have to go outside the norms. That’s why people like people like Gary V, because they think that they have to be in this box of like professionalism. That’s why people like Mo Isma, because when you step out of that box and you be you and you swear and you bring this like edgier side to maybe something that’s been super fluffy and and hippie awesome, Alex is coming out and being like, fuck this, you know, fucking save the planet.
00:25:38
Tina Walczak: They’ve got to get attention. Exactly. Yeah.
00:25:41
Tina Walczak: So I think I think that’s basically what it is. And I think, yeah, I don’t have anything else to add to this point.
00:25:48
Cam Schreiner: I’m going to go is there anything coming out of twenty twenty that are like other positive trends that you see brands maybe picking up on or things might be just under the threshold that people.
00:26:00
Alex Antolino: I’m burning inside now because like I need to spend like two hours yesterday on a jungle.
00:26:06
Cam Schreiner: I was supposed to hold on a second. This is worth mentioning. Look at my leg. Look at the threads here in the comments. It’s going crazy about my mom. Like, it’s like, oh, I’m telling a story or my yard and stuff like that. Guys, thank you for interacting.
00:26:23
Tina Walczak: Sometimes it’s just like us talking and people just watching and then switch on and off. And I think it’s great that you guys are participating in this.
00:26:30
Tina Walczak: We love you.
00:26:31
Tina Walczak: We love you guys. So, yeah, so transfer 20, 20, I’m not there, like I’m not fucking Gharaibeh is going to be. Oh yeah, go and talk, talk or like go on Tweety Bird. Like there’s definitely something that we spent like two hours talking about yesterday and. Yeah, I want to mention that. So I don’t know what’s going to happen next year or the other one of the other one right now because otherwise it would be fucking boring.
00:26:56
Tina Walczak: But the thing here is that I’m starting out like I’m developing.
00:27:02
Alex Antolino: I’m kind of like the inside of me. I’m trying to develop what brands will look like in like five years from now. Right.
00:27:08
Tina Walczak: And I have the feeling that we’re moving into towards what, you know, let’s say brand 2.0, what brands are going to be in the future. And with more social channels popping up with tech talk, all these kind of things, the more and then video is like taking off finally, you know, like Instagram was about photography. Now it’s video everywhere, technologies, all video, tweets, video. Oh, maybe there’s a trend here.
00:27:40
Alex Antolino: So I’m. I’m trying to promote video, ask for like in a way, but I’m but I’m doing it so fine.
00:27:49
Alex Antolino: I’m not in a way, this is one of the reasons why what I was excited about was when when they asked me to to run the brand because, like, I see a channel video and the try to video only it’s like the surface because there’s something behind that trend.
00:28:06
Tina Walczak: And in my opinion, what’s behind that trend is people write videos on videos just just the way for people to connect when they’re apart.
00:28:15
Alex Antolino: And I do think that this raise on video, especially post by covid and things like that and poverty, it’s what’s really good designer, really good designer, really, really good human, too. So.
00:28:37
Tina Walczak: So these Stranraer like video to me only highlights the fact that we’re moving towards brands run by people. Right. That’s that’s what I like to think when I say brands brand 2.0 for me up until now, brands being about storytelling, about content. You see, we transferred, you see a male team, we present all these kind of things. And I was looking at them, by the way, Isle of Man team, they’re doing great. But I have a feeling maybe because I’m biased on Betio ask, but I have a feeling that at some point. Who talks is going to be more important than what they’re saying and when and some brands are realizing about this already and we are stuck. We start seeing more brands, bringing people, bringing faces. Right. So, oh, this is the Diana from. And I so she told me on a podcast, she’s like, oh, she’s been called the big girl. Right. So these might happen, like accidentally now in their case. I know because I talked with her, it’s very like a strategy. Right. So that people can connect with the brand at the more personal level. But I think this is the trend that is going to like if there is any trend or whatever. I don’t like talking about trends, but if if there’s a direction where brands are going, I think it’s about people. I think it’s like brands are just a way for people to connect and brands and big companies are going to try to find ways for for customers to see a face when they talk about their brand. And I’m not talking like celebrities. Beyonce, Colin Kaepernick. No, I’m talking about normal people like you. Yeah, right.
00:30:21
Alex Antolino: So that’s why front. So, like one hundred percent of the customers are the people to the forefront. Exactly.
00:30:28
Tina Walczak: And I think that’s what the future, if there is a brand from the future, is the future. They they nailed this and they were able to do get a bunch of people and put them in the center of their brand. And it’s hilarious that it’s a design brand. It would have been really easy for them to make it very tiny and stop at the future. But it’s actually very notable. And what matters is Kristo Mafia, Ben Burns and all of that. Right. And so. That’s that’s a brand new point, all in my opinion. You can argue the future when when you say future, you’re thinking, though, my dad’s a brain 2.0 and that’s what I’m trying to do also with videos like get some people and put them in the front and people will connect with that.
00:31:15
Cam Schreiner: Yeah, totally agree, and I think this is going to be an amazing year coming up. I think you’re right that the connection is what’s going to push us through. We all got separated by what was going on in the world, and that’s going to be the reason for people to bring back together and the reason to push people to the forefront and have people driving the brands instead of brands driving the people.
00:31:38
Tina Walczak: Yeah, and I, I love the comments is like, oh, so yes, there are some business when hard in celebrity, in hiring celebrity chefs have the spotlight. I don’t follow the restaurant I love, I follow the owner. Chef provided say spaces are new logos which I totally agree. There’s a whole discussion for personal brands. That’s a personal brand new logo. I don’t think so. In general. I think brands, I think brands. We are creating the feeling of transparency through retail, maybe more. Spokesperson Steve Steve Jobs energy. So I do think there’s going to be a new position in the short future. Am I already thinking about this? But this is very small now. But if I was running type one right now, I would definitely hire someone to do that. Well, actually, they are doing it because people can be the head of Brand is actually taking that role, but he’s the head of brand. But I think at some point there’s going to be like even like a job position, that it’s going to be like the brand representative, the visionary, the brand, the visionary.
00:32:40
Alex Antolino: But that’s not a job like that’s more like someone who has got a role like Steve Jobs. Right. But like, I think there’s going to be like a position, someone like they’re going to hire someone to like. If you like to like be the spokesperson of the brand, and I’m not talking about brand S.A.M. brand ambassadors, right. Like it’s not like, oh, we his influence are we’re going to give them some money and they’re going to put a poster post out there of our lipstick on their face. Like, I’m not talking about brand ambassador, I’m talking about someone within the company. That’s their job is just to be the face of that brand. And it could be the social media manager. It could be the chief content chief content to come down or whatever the person running the fucking content. Or it could be the CEO. Right. Whatever. Like for Steve Jobs, who was the CEO?
00:33:31
Tina Walczak: Yeah, I feel like I guess I could be talking about these things.
00:33:40
Alex Antolino: But there’s one thing like is I always the people that people talk about, like Apple and shit like that. Right. And when I think about Apple, I think I think about like a very refined, sophisticated brand that it’s even like a sceptic. Sometimes it’s like, oh, it’s so fucking dry, you know, like, you know, you watch them. It’s boring. Like you watch the keynote. Then I watch they’ll ask, you know, where they presented the homepage. And I was like, this is fucking porn.
00:34:06
Alex Antolino: Like as a filmmaker, I was like I was like, oh, I didn’t know how to feel right. And so and so.
00:34:14
Alex Antolino: But no wonder no wonder why they have the customer support that they have because they didn’t like that. You feel like they’re really there to help you like that. Like any time I had issues with like something like any Apple product, I really feel that these people care about me. Yeah. Beautiful. And and that’s that’s like they need this because otherwise the brand would be like so fucking dry that people would even like not necessarily feel comfortable with it. Right.
00:34:46
Cam Schreiner: Because they’re robots like it, like based on what Apple is, they’re creating robots. You need that human side or else that’s like Terminator, they’re things that they’re Skynet coming for them. So you need that human side to take that emotion and put that into people, right?
00:34:59
Alex Antolino: Yeah. And, you know, I feel like I feel like we’re going to talk to you forever because we love hearing your voice. And I don’t want to be mindful of time. And I love the food and the and the topic. And I think we should leave it here. And if anybody wants to reach out, please do. You can see the handle at the top and maybe neck, if you wouldn’t mind putting everybody’s handle who’s here in the comments and just reach out, then we can continue the conversation.
00:35:28
Cam Schreiner: Let us know if you want to hear this again. There is so much to unpack. I’m here. Yeah. We want we want to talk about this topic because it’s near and dear to all of our hearts. Reach out to us that highlight. Reach out to Tina, reach out to Alex myself and let us know if this is a topic that really matters to you because we’re all in this together like Alex at the start. This is a conversation sounds like between three, but it’s between all of us.
00:35:56
Tina Walczak: And I love seeing how how engaged people are here, like on the comments, because there’s only highlights that there’s excitement about the topic. And this is the most important thing I get to fire. Like, we just need to like, you know, let it spread in a way. So I’m SIGGRAPH for part, too.
00:36:11
Tina Walczak: I see already people suggesting parties, let’s do it. Let’s say like got a New Year’s resolution partho in January.
00:36:20
Tina Walczak: And if you want to do it, you have my commitment.
00:36:22
Alex Antolino: And is before we wrap up, there’s just one more thing that I want to finish with.
00:36:31
Tina Walczak: For me, it’s very important, so we started with and also it’s a good rubber because it started off with like what we said at the beginning, like, how can Brand save the world? Right. I think we live in that. And I said this many times that if you haven’t heard this, we leave now in like capitalism. Right. And things are moved by money. Right. So, of course, there’s politicians who are going to do their their stuff and, you know, like bring awareness to topics. And whoever who is in charge might try to move things in one direction or another. Yeah, the truth is that even you can go to them like like a protest. And yet those protests change things like we’ve seen on Black Matter movement and things like that, Black Lives Matter movement and things like that.
00:37:18
Tina Walczak: However. There’s even something more powerful, which is where you spend your money. And I don’t think this gets of. In a capitalism system, things are run by businesses and businesses need money to survive. So if you cut the money they’re getting in some time, they’re going to disappear. So you have more power than you think in your pocket when you buy stock. So the most important thing you can do is like just start to be aware where you’re putting your money. Right? Because every every time you buy something, you’re making a choice and you’re making a statement. And that’s why I think brands can and have the potential to maybe even be the only ones that can save the world because the world is do they run by money so it brands at least put good narratives in society. That’s already a huge achievement because the world is getting moved by that money. And we’ve seen it many times and I think we’re going to see it more now.
00:38:28
Cam Schreiner: It’s an option for some brands, but in 10 years from now, it’s going to be a must that’s so powerful that basically the the power is in your hands as the individual and and ours as as businesses. We love you guys. Thank you so much for Alex for joining us. We will do a part two in twenty twenty one. And I hope you guys all have a great Christmas, great start to your new year and will be back soon for supporting us.
00:38:54
Alex Antolino: Thanks for having me. Bye bye. Thank you guys for your love. You guys.
