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Stanley Moss to address College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:42:50 +0000

Stanley Moss, CEO of the Medinge Group, will present a talk, The Brand as Jihad, at the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, April 18, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Old Little Theatre (Building 494) as part of its spring 2012 Literature Symposium.
For his presentation to the CCS Literature Symposium, he will read a chapter entitled ‘The Brand as Jihad’ from an earlier novel, The Book of Deals. This will be followed by a brief presentation on branding and a Q&A.
Stanley Moss, brand philosopher, writer, and artist divides his time between Europe, India and Southern California. A disciple of designers Armin Hofmann, Fritz Gottschalk and Paul Rand, he was based in NYC for 25 years, where he created brand solutions for clients like Citibank, Coca-Cola, the French American Chamber of Commerce, Drexel Burnham Lambert, UC Berkeley, Intel, The New York Times and the American Hotel & Motel Association.
Moss is founder and principal of Diganzi, a brand consultancy. Today, his practice centres on the expression of humanistic values in the brand discipline, for clients like Philips, Honeywell, the City of London. In February 2006 he was named CEO of the Medinge Group, the Stockholm-based think-tank on international branding.
He also worked as a ﬁne artist, sponsored by Absolut and Johnnie Walker Black Label, and exhibited landscapes in the US State Department Art in Embassies programme. He had a long association with the NY art journal BOMB as director and designer. His New Wave Cookbook is in the permanent collection of the MoMA NY. He acts as Brand Ambassador for Gottschalk+Ash of Zürich, Switzerland and Travel Editor for Lucire, a New Zealand fashion magazine. Mr Moss finds time to serve on the Boards of the Rocket Mavericks Foundation, and the Advisory Board of Proton Business Schools of Indore and Ahmedabad, India.
A graduate of CCS (Literature, 1972), much of Moss’ work today concerns brand theory and consulting. His novel, Runtime, set in a ﬁctional software company in New Delhi, will be published in Spring 2012 by Prakash Books.

Medinge member Dmitry Petrov’s book on Vassily Aksionov hits top 20 in Russia

admin — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:19:52 +0000

Medinge Group member Dmitry Petrov’s book on Vassily Aksionov, the famous Russian-American writer, novelist and Soviet-time dissident was published in early March in Moskva. It is now retailing in leading Moskva bookstores and is in the top 20.
Aksionov was a legend in his own lifetime, but Petrov uncovers more about the author, who was frequently the target of gossip, denunciation and myth. Petrov worked with relatives, friends, enemies and critics of Aksenov in an attempt to uncover the truth about the author.
One of the retail links for Аксенов can be found here.

Medinge member Nikolaj Stagis collects 2011 Danish Communication Award, for Stagis A/S’s Movia project

admin — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:18:26 +0000

Stagis A/S, the ﬁrm founded and run by Medinge Group member Nikolaj Stagis, has won the 2011 Danish Communication Award.
The award was given by the Dansk Kommunikationsforening (Danish Communication Association) at the DR Koncerthuset (the Copenhagen Concert Hall).
Five projects were nominated, with Stagis A/S’s one for Movia among them. It received nearly twice as many votes as the runner-up.
The Movia project, dubbed ‘Chauffører med karaktér’ (bus drivers with character), was initiated and executed by Stagis. The project integrates efforts in the fields of organizational culture, corporate branding and corporate communication in order to create more character, pride, appreciation and job satisfaction for the bus drivers and managers in greater København. The ultimate aim is to deliver a higher level of service and create a better experience for the bus passengers and get more citizens to use public transportation.
Three years ago Stagis set out with a test project that proved it was possible to change attitudes and pride within bus companies. Almost 7,000 bus passengers have sent their stories about “good moments” to the bus driver website www.buschaffor.dk, supported by a media effort, a training programme, and a Bus Driver of the Year award.
Mr Stagis said, ‘We are really proud of the award and the acknowledgement we’ve received from our colleagues in the field of corporate communication … What makes me just as proud as receiving the award is meeting some of the bus drivers who has been involved in the project, and who tells me that it made a difference in their lives. Like the bus driver Linda, who was awarded the Danish Bus Driver of the Year on September 2 and is soon flying to Singapore to see public transportation there and meet bus drivers in that region. She loves the bus and the passengers and now she is going to board an aeroplane for the first time in her life to fly to Asia!’
Mr Stagis collected the award with Movia executive Maja Nellemann and Stagis project manager Louise Kramer.
Further information on the award can be found at the Dansk Kommunikationsforening website.

Medinge director Jack Yan to give two presentations in Melbourne this week

admin — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 12:02:09 +0000

Stockholm, July 31 Medinge director Jack Yan will give presentations on branding at both Swinburne University and the University of Melbourne in the coming week.
His lecture for the faculty of design at Swinburne University, entitled Typography and Branding, looks at various elements of branding, including destination branding, the shift to humanism, cultural aspects, and the renaissance in typography.
It takes place on August 4 at 1 p.m., at the Lecture Theatre (PA309), PA Building, Prahran Campus, 144 High Street, Prahran.
His second presentation will be at the University of Melbourne on August 5 to members of the marketing faculty, and will look at his latest paper on social media and branding. A version of the paper appears in the next Journal of Brand Management, a special issue edited by Medinge director Dr Nicholas Ind and life member Ian Ryder.

Six Medinge members quoted and cited in upcoming Viewpoint magazine

admin — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 11:57:03 +0000

Stockholm, July 31 Five Medinge Group members—founder Thomas Gad, CEO Stanley Moss, director Jack Yan and long-standing members Philippe Mihailovich and Tony Quinlan—were interviewed by journalist Anna Sansom on cognitive ﬂuency in the next issue of Viewpoint magazine in the UK. Medinge director Dr Nicholas Ind was cited by Ms Sansom.
Ms Sansom’s story, out for the northern autumn, deals with recent academic studies on cognitive ﬂuency and sought experts’ opinion on the subject.
Each respondent gave answers in some depth, with useful debate, alongside other experts such as Prof Norbert Schwarz, Uri Baruchin and Dr Anastasiya Pocheptsova.
Viewpoint’s previous issue can be found in preview form at the publisher’s website, www.view-publications.com/content.html.

Medinge Group planned speaking roles, September to November

admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:01:24 +0000

Stockholm, July 6 Medinge Group CEO Stanley Moss and member Yousef Tuqan Tuqan will speak at the Social Media World Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE. They will be on a panel together on September 27, and Mr Moss has a keynote address on the 28th.
Medinge Group director Jack Yan will speak at the Creative Camp in Wellington, New Zealand on October 28–9, dealing with typography, and will follow up with an address on social media to the Motor Trade Association in Rotorua, New Zealand, on November 11.

Special issue of Journal of Brand Management sees strong Medinge Group participation

admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 02:59:33 +0000

Stockholm, July 6 The special issue of The Journal of Brand Management, on ‘Conscientious Brands’, has the participation of three senior members and one life member of the Medinge Group, the Swedish-based, high-level branding think-tank.
Both Medinge Group director Nicholas Ind and life member Ian Ryder have edited the well respected academic journal. The special edition features contributions from director Jack Yan and long-serving member Ava Hakim.
All papers appearing in the issue have been double-blind peer-reviewed by the editorial board of the Journal, consisting of some of the world’s leading marketing and branding experts.
The special edition is expected to be released in September.

Medinge’s Petrov featured in Russian business journal

admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 04:54:27 +0000

Dmitry Petrov, a member of Medinge, the Stockholm-based international think-tank on brands, is featured in the current issue of a Moscow magazine, The Russian Journal. The issue focuses on global think tanks, with emphasis on Russia. An international group of distinguished authors contributed. Mr Petrov’s article can be viewed in English translation in a PDF ﬁle linked below.

Medinge life member and former director Patrick Harris joins the Futures Company

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:19:53 +0000

Leading global foresight and futures consultancy, the Futures Company, announces the appointment of Patrick Harris as a Director in the UK. This hire further strengthens the company’s offer in the areas of Strategic Futures—looking at the future of companies, industries and other issues of strategic importance to organizations.
Patrick Harris served as a director of the Medinge Group from 2004 to 2010. He successfully led the effort to formalize Medinge’s foundation status and managed the group’s membership and ﬁnance. In 2010, he was given the title of honorary life member in recognition of his role in the foundation of our organization.
Patrick is a highly respected futures practitioner, renowned for his ability to distil strategies into actionable plans and generate powerful momentum inside organizations. As Director of ‘Creaticity’ for the Orange Group from 1998 to 2002, where he worked directly for CEO Hans Snook and the executive board, Patrick co-founded and managed the Orange Strategic Think Tank that underpinned the company’s group-wide strategy during a period of rapid growth and expansion.
In 2003, Patrick founded thoughtengine, a consultancy focusing on creativity, strategy, brand and futures. He is a former non-executive Director of France Telecom UK R&D and an Honorary Life Member of the Medinge Group, a brand think-tank focused on furthering the humanitarian efforts of brands and their organizations. Patrick is also a founding member of Leadership Works, a Holland-based think tank focused on the future of leadership. His book, The Truth About Creativity, published by Pearson Prentice Hall, was released in July 2009.
On joining the Futures Company, Patrick Harris comments, ‘I have enormous respect for the talented people at the Futures Company and the valuable services that they provide to a number of organizations. I am delighted to be joining such an exciting, vibrant and intelligent team of professionals.’
Says Sarah King, Managing Director in the UK, ‘Patrick’s appointment represents the Futures Company’s continuing commitment to bringing the very best thinking to our mission of unlocking futures for our clients. We are absolutely delighted to welcome him to the Futures Company.’

International think-tank announces eighth annual Brands with a Conscience awards

admin — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 01:06:33 +0000

The Medinge Group (medinge.org), an international think-tank on branding and business, today releases its eighth annual Brands with a Conscience list. The Group employs yearly awards to support and encourage businesses who demonstrate humanistic, compassionate, sustainable and socially responsible behaviour. The awards may be given to organizations, large or small, for-profit or NGOs, who have come to the attention of the membership and who are deemed worthy of recognition.
A formalized nomination and voting process occurs between August and December, during which Medinge’s members evaluate, based on their expertise in humanistic branding, the competence and authenticity of each nominee.
Among this year’s winners are:
• a marine-based alternative energy system, which references conservation of the seas;
• a monolithic government-owned media company encouraging small business and grass roots’ endeavour;
• an ethical bank located in one of the troubled EU economies;
• a visionary zero-carbon urban community under construction in the Emirates;
• and for the Colin Morley Award, in the year of the Wikileaks controversy, a not-for-profit organization using the internet as a channel for open distribution of information.
The Colin Morley Award, a unique category recognizing excellence by an NGO, this year honours TED and its enduring commitment to ‘ideas worth sharing’.
Stanley Moss, CEO of the Medinge Group, remarks, ‘Once again, the BWAC process has identified the most compelling areas of discussion in the current brand universe: alternative energy, grass roots’ initiatives, ethical finance, community and social media all figure in the organizations recognized.’
Jack Yan, one of the directors of the Medinge Group, says, ‘This is one of those rare times when we see a state-owned enterprise—the BBC—engage in socially responsible behaviour, showing that it is not the structure of the organization that matters, but the strength of its purpose.’

2011 Brands with a Conscience winners

Aquamarine Power/UK
www.aquamarinepower.com
Aquamarine Power’s Oyster tidal energy technology produces electricity from the ocean waves. A demonstration-scale installation has been successfully deployed in Orkney, Scotland, proof that this alternative energy strategy could create sustainable zero-emission electricity, heralding the eventual progression away from dependence on fossil fuels.

BBC World News–Newsweek for World Challenge/UK
www.theworldchallenge.co.uk
Now in its sixth year, World Challenge is a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots’ level. World Challenge is about championing and rewarding projects and businesses which really make a difference. In making this award, the Medinge Group wishes to acknowledge a channel of mainstream media for using their power and influence to help those under-appreciated organizations in need.

Caja Navarra/Spain
www.cajanavarra.es/en/home.htm
This not-for-profit Pamplona-based bank loaned €3·3 billion and had a net profit of €200 million in 2008. Customers decide the social causes to which profits shall be allocated. There is a policy of complete transparency and exemplary peer-to-peer lending; and bank staff are encouraged to do voluntary work. In an era where banks are regarded with scepticism and disdain, Caja Navarra stands as a model for conscience-driven financial institutions.

Masdar City/UAE
www.masdarcity.ae/en/index.aspx
The world’s first zero-carbon city, designed to be powered by the sun and free of cars and skyscrapers. Projected to accommodate 50,000 people, at least 1,000 businesses and a university. Now under construction, it is being designed by British architects Foster and Partners, funded by the ruler of Abu Dhabi, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Medinge’s Simon Nicholls remarked, ‘If it works, it will combine 21st-century engineering with traditional desert architecture to deliver safety, health and happiness.’

2011 Colin Morley Award

TED/USA
www.ted.com
TED’s simple credo of ‘ideas worth sharing’ is a concept absolutely core to the philosophy of the Medinge Group. This non-profit organization believes that sharing compelling ideas is the way to change the world. They have created a simple but powerful mechanism for doing it: an 18-minute filmed talk shared for free on the web, an elegant demonstration of the positive power of internet-borne social media which exists in tandem with regular international seminars.

2011 Brands with a Conscience committee
Chairman: Sergei Mitrofánov
Committee: Enric Bernal, Thomas Gad, Sicco van Gelder, Ava Hakim, Pierre d’Huy, Nicholas Ind, Tim Kitchin, Sascha Lötscher, Philippe Mihailovich, Johnnie Moore, Stanley Moss, Simon Nicholls, Simon Paterson, Dmitry Petrov, Tony Quinlan, Anette Rosencreutz, Yousef Tuqan Tuqan, Erika Uffindell, Jack Yan