ideas can be different www.pomilioblumm.com
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International Communication Summit ICS is an international laboratory for exploring in depth specialistic matters, a space of discussion for communicators and among communicators, to follow innovations and trends in the field through the ideas of its sharpest interpreters
Cultural storytelling #1-2/2015
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The best story ever told
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Michael Dobbs 13
The paradox of trust
AndrĂŠ Singer 43
Oscar Blumm 15
If a word is not enough
The right form
49
Magic called story
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Brand Stories
Like a Moebius strip Frank Rose
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Sahar Delijani 33
Innovation stories Gianfranco De Gregorio
Steve Duenes 26
Back to the origins Jimmy Nelson
John Grimwade 20
Night will fall
The Emperor has no clothes Christian Salmon
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Augmented reality and digital storytelling
Vincenzo Boccia
Marco Sbardella
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Editorial The gaze of the anthropologist by Franco Pomilio
Storytelling: a myth of the present or a true revolution? The emphasis placed today in the various fields on the concept of narration, as though the art of narrating were a disruptive innovation instead of an ancient human faculty, induces the aware communicator to ask a few questions. Just like in every fashion trend though, the point is not so much about measuring the innovativeness of the form, in a game of regeneration that leaves things as they are, but about the use to which the form is directed towards by the living body of the community of its users. And that, of course, has undoubtedly changed. Collective stories have always existed, but stories of collective construction and distributed generation are a real novelty indeed. This use generates transformation: run-in schemes narration renew themselves, inspiring new ways to decode the present. Just like netnography, which instils the interpretive ability of anthropology in the disembodied environment of the web. Or digital storytelling, which is no longer limited to
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juxtapose the language in a mix that is more or less balanced, but blends them in an amalgamation of new nature. Anthropology is not mere observation, said Clifford Geertz, one of the last century's greatest ethnographers. It is something more complex: “an interpretation of interpretations”. Because every culture – he argued – already bears a specific vision of reality, of its own Weltanschauung made of languages, traditions, but above all made of values. Therefore, observing is not enough; we need to understand, engage on the front line, knowing our gaze is not neutral. Therefore, if nowadays communication means moving on the convergence between extremely different stories, it can be very useful to remember how hard is understanding “the other” – even when the other is simply one's own past. As Juri Lotman, another great mind of the XX century, used to say, it is useful to find the “Creole language” between communities never “this far, this close”, which revolutionise codes until new forms of encounter are found by reducing the distances through narration.
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Europe, the best story ever told by Michael Dobbs*
It all started with a bottle of wine, two initials and a fit of revenge on the "eyes of Caligula" of Margaret Thatcher. Michael Dobbs, between humour and political wisdom, remembers why we must relearn how to "narrate Europe". Without getting lost in trifles, and in matters of punctuation
*A transcript of the speech given by the author during 2014 edition of the International Communication Summit in Brussels
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Ladies and gentlemen, Europe is the greatest story ever told. So let's keep telling it and stop worrying about the punctuation.
During the past few years, since House of Cards success has become global, always more frequently I get to take part to political debates where I'm asked to attend mainly in my second role, that of writer, of storyteller, although I've been in the field for years, as a member of the House of Lords. In other terms, they ask me to use my experience to explain the secret of storytelling, de facto how an apparently simple and harmless action such as storytelling can actually change the world. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure of how and why a story can change the world. Although I can certainly say that it changed mine. THE EYES OF CALIGULA Twenty-seven years ago I was on holiday with my then wife in Gozo and I had just been through the most difficult professional period of my life. I have been Chief of Staff to Margaret Thatcher and we’d had a most furious falling out. François Mitterrand once said: “Margaret Thatcher has got the lips of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes of Caligula”. Well, I got the eyes. Anyway, at that time all this was far away: I was resting for the first time in two and half years and one afternoon I was reading a book I found really awful, and I was being disgracefully rude
Culture binds and defines political institutions much more in depth. Who remembers which institutions existed at the time of Homer? And above all, who cares?
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about it when my wife – and I quote her here – told me: “Stop being so bloody pompous. If you think you can do any better, go and do it!”. So I did. I went down to the swimming pool with my pad and pen and a bottle of wine. By the time I had finished the bottle of wine, I realized I had written just two initials “F” and “U”... obviously I was going through some form of therapy… But those letters would have become Francis Urquhart initials and the trilogy was created House of cards, that over the last 27 years it has changed my life, in every way for the better. And I owe it all to my ex-wife.
EUROPEAN STORIES On the opening pages, supporters of the “Yes” vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. On top of the page, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, selfprofessed fan of the TV series House of Cards
A GREAT STORY This is my story, but clearly House of Cards is also the result of another kind of story, the collective story of Europe. And Europe is the most extraordinary story. A story that outstrips in richness and deaths any other part of the planet. We know that we dominated the world for more than two millennia, but for most of that time we were the world. Yet, as we all know, things are not what they used to be. Europe is going through a bad period, self-confidence seems to take an awkward tour. We’re talking about a continent in decline and undeniably
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Some time ago Renzi was photographed in a bookshop while buying a copy of my book. I thought it prudent to drop him a note to remind him that it's a work of entertainment rather than a set of instructions
in some degrees of difficulty. And my brief reflections are not enough to solve the problem. But let's go back in time for a while, round about the middle of the last century. During the Cold War what was then regarded as Europe, Western Europe, what we stood for was clear. We and our other partners in the west had a sense of purpose and we had the patience to pursuit that purpose. Decades of it. And in the end the world of the Soviet Empire came tumbling, not for military actions, but because our story and our values were embraced by millions of ordinary people in Eastern Europe, who ended up tearing down those walls with their bare hands. It was not only to share our well being, but our identity. These people did not have our politicians as a reference, but to our playwrights, painters and professors, authors, actors, sportsmen, singers and not to mention our chefs. Western Europe had a great story to tell and the people of the East wished to be part of it: that’s why the walls came tumbling down. Now, paradoxically, many parts of Europe are trying to rebuild walls: in Scotland , for instance, many would build the Hadrian’s wall again if only they could... So what has changed over this last generation? Not our values,
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not our identity, not our culture vibrancy, it is still there. We still have enormous influence culturally. That line that stretches us back to Homer, Shakespeare, Mozart and thousands and thousands of others is still extraordinary strong. AN ENGLISHMAN, AN IRISHMAN AND A SCOTSMAN‌ The real problem then, is just the contrast and sometimes the conflict between institutional Europe and cultural Europe. Let us take Scotland as one example. Recently the Scots held that extraordinary referendum in which 85% of the population took part. A breathtaking, staggering percentage. It will take a long time before, I think, we can safely understand not what happened, but why it happened. But one thing that turned out to be common to both sides of that fiercely fought debate was that, one way or another, the Scots wanted to bring their government and their values closer to home. However, the government of Westminster had quite a fright and promised a significant constitutional change, towards a less centralised and more federal system. But that feeling of distance that feeling that government has grown too distant, that pride and that diversity,
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can be seen in almost every part of Europe. Perhaps it will be easier to explain the concept through a little story, hoping I’m not being too inappropriate. Imagine that you are in a railway carriage and that there is a young couple sitting opposite you and they start making out in quite an obscene way. Now, if you were a French man, you will sit and applaud. If you were German you would take details and statistic analysis. If you were Italian you would probably get up and join in. As a Greek you would sell tickets and if you were from Brussels, you will consult a manual to make sure they are doing it right. But if you were an English man, you will sit and stare out of the window, as if absolutely nothing is happening. Unless of course, once they have finished, if the two lovers then roll over and light up a cigarette then all hell would break loose. That’s it: this little story, of course, makes no sense without an appreciation of our cultural diversity. Diversity enriches not only our little story, it enriches our entire continent. So, how do we bring our people closer to our institutions? It's an interesting question, but perhaps the wrong one. Maybe we should be trying to do it the other way around and bring our institutions closer to the people.
A MATTER OF VALUES We all know it: culture means identity. And identity means culture. This is probably what was going through French president Charles De Gaulle’s mind and his heart when, all those years ago, he stood on the steps of the Élysée palace and vetoed Britain’s application to join the, then, European Community. He said we English weren’t “European enough”, that we hadn't yet developed the right values. And I'm sorry to say this, but perhaps he was right.
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Those values were, and are, hugely important. They are the building blocks of what it means to be European. They are Europe's identity. Those values. Yet nowadays, we appear remarkably unconcerned about such things. On the other hand, we seem keen to expand the boundaries of our new Europe, almost regardless, increasing the number of member States. But caution should be used in this area too, so as to do it with the understanding that expansion is not automatic. What I am saying, I know, is heresy to some, but I believe that before admitting a new country into Europe, we should ask: can this country comply with what could be called the "guidelines of De Gaulle”? Does it have the correct values? Will it strengthen Europe or will it simply “force” it, stretch its boundaries? Questions that I think we need at least to ask. Wouldn't it be better to concentrate on cultural expansions, rather than simply pushing our institutional borders? After all, when cultures crash you get Mozart, when institutions do you get war.
THE FACE OF POLITICS Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. On the following page, Kevin Spacey in the role of Frank Underwood, protagonist of the Netflix series inspired by Dobbs’ books
ARMED WITH MUSIC AND WORDS In Europe we have a great story to tell; extraordinary thought lines, overflowing with wonderfully diverse characters. Although sometimes, instead of telling this wonderful story we have been wasting our time on the punctuation. Culture binds and defines much more fundamentally than political institutions. Who could remember what institutions were around Homer’s time? But above all, who cares? Almost all of us in Europe have had our empires that once flowered, then faded and died, but our culture carries on. And our culture gives us enormous power and shows us the way ahead. We don't have much of a relationship with Russia right now, on a formal institutional basis, but they still come to buy
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François Mitterrand once said: “Margaret Thatcher has got the lips of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes of Caligula”. Well, I got the eyes
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Let's face it: the only way we can conquer China is by marching armies of Christian Dior, Robbie Williams, Dino Ferrari and Johnnie Walker
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our brands, our buildings and our football teams. And let's face it: it's the only way we’re ever going to conquer China through the marching armies of Christian Dior, Robbie Williams or Dino Ferrari, Johnnie Walker and, who knows, even things like House of Cards. I have to tell you that the House of Cards is a hit in China. Mind you, president Obama twitts about it too! David Cameron and George Osborne both love it. And some time ago Prime Minister Renzi was photographed walking into a bookshop in Rome and buying a copy. And that is when – I must confess – I thought it prudent to drop him a note and remind him that it's a work of entertainment rather than a set of instructions... BROUGHT TOGETHER BY DIVERSITY The point is that the storytelling – that sort of storytelling, which thanks to new technologies enables us to tell our stories like never
before – can get across boundaries. Something that politicians and institutions simply cannot. As for reaching people, culture has its ways that institutions can't even get close to. Well, if there's something my personal little story can teach it's this: the incredible ability of culture to reach and bring people together. I wrote House of cards all those years ago, it was started as a mild spat with my wife, became an idea, transformed itself into a novel, which was then broadcast on dozens of channels until it gave rise to some sort of entertainment revolution that stretches around the globe. For me it’s been all too simply unimaginable, but that's what culture can do. Winston Churchill once described Britain and America as two countries divided by common language. In that spirit perhaps we should see Europe, as a continent brought together by our diversity. Ladies and gentlemen, Europe culturally is the greatest story ever told. So let's keep telling it and stop worrying quite so much about the punctuation.
POLITICS IS SO OVERRATED It is known that politics has always been a highly valued literary subject. In fact, its point of departure is literature; hence, naturally, without even needing to be romanticised. Juri Lotman used to say that art is the process that transforms chaos into structure. If so, politics is a form of very refined art, in its own way. Able to making the innate entropy of power relationships systematic, controlled and in some cases even reasonable. After all that's what makes storytelling a valuable resource which is very much exploited for the average politician. Today anyone with an institutional and governmental role seems to have great stories to tell, or at least pretends to have them. Unless one forgets that telling stories is not so easy. In contrast, the story is a hot topic and must be handled appropriately. It is not by chance that Dobbs himself, during the ICS summit in Brussels, sarcastically recommended the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi not to take his book House of Cards as an instruction manual. Adding then, more recently, that real politics requires a firm hand and studded boots. As if to say: it's okay to lighten the load of the power with the art of storytelling, if this undermines certain deep meanings, but let's not forget that politics is indeed made of matter, which remains a difficult and unpleasant business, in which ultimately, one just hopes to be able to survive. And where the maximum value, if you really want to do well, lies in earning the respect of the citizens, at the risk of being hated. Because love on the other hand, the holy grail of politics 2.0, "is so overrated". Frank would say. D. P.
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God save the British humour
He drives - says - a "purple Panda". Because in the grey smoky London traffic he loves "leaving the House of Lords and locating it in a flash between the rows of identical, black and blue berlins". And he repeats it amused, emphasising the random alliteration, which is more interesting thanks to the consonantal verve of the "very British" accent. But the story is not just a triviality. Michael Dobbs, the creator of House of Cards, is a smart, very alert, jovial English lord: the right hand man of Margaret Thatcher and the leaders of the Conservative Party for a long time. In the late 80s he was dissatisfied reading trivial stuff so he downed a bottle of wine and wrote the first chapter of the House of Cards saga, which first became a British mini-series and went on to a cult series on Netflix produced by David Fincher, starring a ruthless Kevin Spacey. Good manners and good culture, mixed with an acerbic sense of humour, have allowed his character to move with the same ease in the staid British political environment just like in the hyper-pop scene of American TV, where the series has even won over President Obama, despite representing the politics of the Capitol sparing wickedness and immorality. Let's face it: today, there are a few political writers, although Dobbs is more of a narrator than a writer, a pure breed storyteller. One who has understood very well that, in spite of post-modern proclamations, we are still in an era that longs for stories. Maybe not "grand narratives", but short stories, intimate and minimal, which can open up to a collective sense. And even open the doors to the White House Daniela Panosetti
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