NEWS
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Jan 26 - 01
NEW: Vertical by Circle Culture Consulting
Here, Ludwig and Dirk farm, filter and apply cultural insights from GenZ
At Circle Culture, we are a platform and open vessel where multiple perspectives and genres come together to work purposefully on project solutions.
Today, we are proud to launch a new unit within Circle Culture: Vertical by Circle Culture Consulting.
Here, Ludwig and Dirk farm, filter and apply cultural insights from GenZ. What makes this platform truly unique is that we run this unit together with Ludwig, a 23-year-old super talent from this generation, who Dirk discovered in late 2022.
Dirk first met Ludwig four years ago when he wanted to use our Hamburg space for a pop-up. Ludwig Brandt co-founded PlayTheHype in 2019, Europe's first GenZ consultancy agency.
Since then, he has pursued his entrepreneurial journey with his internationally emerging clothing brand WALD, working directly with one of the most influential cultural figures of his time and has been serving as GenZ Lead at Circle Culture for the past years.
Ludwig and Dirk first worked together on a pan-European research project for Birkenstock. This was followed by collaborations with the Brooklyn Nets, Munich Airport, Nike, and personal branding of an internationally renowned scientist and serial entrepreneur.
This intergenerational collaboration is highly relevant for society and for the work we do with our clients.
In a nutshell, Vertical offers:
Dirk 's 30+ years of experience in marketing and strategy frame Ludwig's young intuitive, inside- the-generation perspective — creating a natural and effective synthesis of experience and instinct.Inter-Generational.
vertical.circleculture.com
Today, we are proud to launch a new unit within Circle Culture: Vertical by Circle Culture Consulting.
Here, Ludwig and Dirk farm, filter and apply cultural insights from GenZ. What makes this platform truly unique is that we run this unit together with Ludwig, a 23-year-old super talent from this generation, who Dirk discovered in late 2022.
Dirk first met Ludwig four years ago when he wanted to use our Hamburg space for a pop-up. Ludwig Brandt co-founded PlayTheHype in 2019, Europe's first GenZ consultancy agency.
Since then, he has pursued his entrepreneurial journey with his internationally emerging clothing brand WALD, working directly with one of the most influential cultural figures of his time and has been serving as GenZ Lead at Circle Culture for the past years.
Ludwig and Dirk first worked together on a pan-European research project for Birkenstock. This was followed by collaborations with the Brooklyn Nets, Munich Airport, Nike, and personal branding of an internationally renowned scientist and serial entrepreneur.
This intergenerational collaboration is highly relevant for society and for the work we do with our clients.
In a nutshell, Vertical offers:
Dirk 's 30+ years of experience in marketing and strategy frame Ludwig's young intuitive, inside- the-generation perspective — creating a natural and effective synthesis of experience and instinct.Inter-Generational.
vertical.circleculture.com
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May 25 - 01
Pharma Symposium 2025
Concept Development & Speaker Recruitment
In one of our latest projects, we once again immersed ourselves in the BioTech & Health Sector.
For the Ad Alliance (the marketing agency of the global media group Bertelsmann) we were involved in the content development and speaker presentation & recruitment for their Pharma Symposium which took place in Cologne on April 2.
We made it possible for the internationally renowned speaker and best-selling author ROHIT BHARGAVA to fly in from Washington to open the conference with his keynote on “NON-OBVIOUS THINKING”. We were also responsible to engage DR. SOPHIE CHUNG, the founder of the Berlin Health Start-up QUNOMEDICAL and the top international BioTech manager and former managing director of GEMATIK (the umbrella organization of the German healthcare system) DR. MARKUS LEYCK DIEKEN.
For the Ad Alliance (the marketing agency of the global media group Bertelsmann) we were involved in the content development and speaker presentation & recruitment for their Pharma Symposium which took place in Cologne on April 2.
We made it possible for the internationally renowned speaker and best-selling author ROHIT BHARGAVA to fly in from Washington to open the conference with his keynote on “NON-OBVIOUS THINKING”. We were also responsible to engage DR. SOPHIE CHUNG, the founder of the Berlin Health Start-up QUNOMEDICAL and the top international BioTech manager and former managing director of GEMATIK (the umbrella organization of the German healthcare system) DR. MARKUS LEYCK DIEKEN.
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March 25 - 01
SXSW 2025
Our yearly check-up of current & emerging trends
Once again we visited the SXSW in Austin to deep dive into diverse topics in order to get a touch what and who is shaping social shifts in society and to understand the codes and pressure points of different segments in order to connect the dots and envision the big picture = Macro and Meta trends.
We have listened & learned via the following speakers:
KASLEY KILLAM (Leading Expert in Social Health and Author of "The Art and Science of Connection")
VANESSA GARCIA-BRITO (Nike`s VP & Chief Impact Officer)
MEGAN BARTLETT (Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport)
SCOUT BASSETT (American Paralympian, Disability Advocate)
MEREDITH WHITTAKER (President of the Messaging Service "Signal")
GUY KAWSAKI (Chief Evangalist Canva)
ROHIT BHARGAVA (Non-Obvious Secrets of Understanding People to predict the Future)
JAMES ADOMIAN (Comedy Show on Elon Musk / Disrupt Democracy)
AMY WEBB (2025 Emerging Tech Trend Report)
ISSA RAE (The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, HBO series INSECURE)
JONATHAN ISAACS/Antidote & KATE CRONIN/Chief Brand Officer Moderna (Restoring Trust in Modern Science)
EMILY MONTOYA (Co-Founder of the award-winning design & experience agency Meow Wolf)
NATE DAPPEN (Biologist turned Filmmaker)
MALCOLM GLADWELL/Bestselling Author (i.e. Blink, The Tipping Point, Outliers...)
KENYA BARRIS (Film & TV Writer)
BRENE BROWN (Author of six #1 New York Times Bestsellers)
BEN STILLER (Actor and Producer of the Apple TV Serie "Severance")
EDDY CUE (Senior Vice President, Apple)
CHELSEA CLINTON, KARA EGAN, NAOMI WATTS on Female Health
CHRISTY TURLINGTON on her initiative "Every Mother Counts"
DAN SALKEY/Small World, SAM SPENCER/Atlantic Records, GEORGIA WAGSTAFF/Adidas (How brands build momentum when the Internet is full of Zombies)
GABBY THOMAS/Olympia Gold in Paris, SUE BIRD/US Basketball Legend, MEGAN RAPINOE/US Soccer Legend, NIKKI HILTZ/Olympian on the rise of Female Sports in the USA
FREDERIK PFERDT (First global Evangelist of Google & Futurist)
IAN BEACRAFT (One of the top voices in AI and the future of work)
JAY GRABER/CEO of the upcoming Social Network Bluesky)
CRAIG BROMMERS/CMO American Eagle Outfitters, KELSEY GREER/Brand Partnerships PepsiCo, CAM JORDAN/NFL New Orleans Saints, JONATHAN HEIT/CEO Allison Worldwide (Momentum at the Crossroads of Culture and Sports)
CONAN O`BRIAN/Comedian & Oscar Presenter & JOHANNA FARIES/CEO Blizzard Entertainment (Claiming the future of Entertainment & E-Games)
ZANE LOWE/Apple Music & LARS ULRICH/Metallica (Revolutionary Technology in the Music Industry)
CHRIS PAUL (NBA Legend & Founder of the vegan snack company EATN`N)
Listing Session with MAGNA CADA
Performance by BIG FREEDIE at Soho House
DR. PRISCILLA CHAN/Wife of Marc Zuckerberg, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative & EMILY CHANG/Bloomberg (A future without Disease)
Preview of the CARL LEWIS Documentation
MICHELLE OBAMA, CRAIG ROBINSON/Brother of Michelle Obama, LAURIE SANTOS/Prof. of Psychology at Yale (Transforming Despair into Hope)
TAYLOR TOMLINSON/New Comedian Star in USA (Under the 100 most Powerful Women in Hollywood)
BRIAN JOHNSON/Longevity Icon
Dinner with KRISTEN KISH (Top Chef Winner)
KASLEY KILLAM (Leading Expert in Social Health and Author of "The Art and Science of Connection")
VANESSA GARCIA-BRITO (Nike`s VP & Chief Impact Officer)
MEGAN BARTLETT (Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport)
SCOUT BASSETT (American Paralympian, Disability Advocate)
MEREDITH WHITTAKER (President of the Messaging Service "Signal")
GUY KAWSAKI (Chief Evangalist Canva)
ROHIT BHARGAVA (Non-Obvious Secrets of Understanding People to predict the Future)
JAMES ADOMIAN (Comedy Show on Elon Musk / Disrupt Democracy)
AMY WEBB (2025 Emerging Tech Trend Report)
ISSA RAE (The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, HBO series INSECURE)
JONATHAN ISAACS/Antidote & KATE CRONIN/Chief Brand Officer Moderna (Restoring Trust in Modern Science)
EMILY MONTOYA (Co-Founder of the award-winning design & experience agency Meow Wolf)
NATE DAPPEN (Biologist turned Filmmaker)
MALCOLM GLADWELL/Bestselling Author (i.e. Blink, The Tipping Point, Outliers...)
KENYA BARRIS (Film & TV Writer)
BRENE BROWN (Author of six #1 New York Times Bestsellers)
BEN STILLER (Actor and Producer of the Apple TV Serie "Severance")
EDDY CUE (Senior Vice President, Apple)
CHELSEA CLINTON, KARA EGAN, NAOMI WATTS on Female Health
CHRISTY TURLINGTON on her initiative "Every Mother Counts"
DAN SALKEY/Small World, SAM SPENCER/Atlantic Records, GEORGIA WAGSTAFF/Adidas (How brands build momentum when the Internet is full of Zombies)
GABBY THOMAS/Olympia Gold in Paris, SUE BIRD/US Basketball Legend, MEGAN RAPINOE/US Soccer Legend, NIKKI HILTZ/Olympian on the rise of Female Sports in the USA
FREDERIK PFERDT (First global Evangelist of Google & Futurist)
IAN BEACRAFT (One of the top voices in AI and the future of work)
JAY GRABER/CEO of the upcoming Social Network Bluesky)
CRAIG BROMMERS/CMO American Eagle Outfitters, KELSEY GREER/Brand Partnerships PepsiCo, CAM JORDAN/NFL New Orleans Saints, JONATHAN HEIT/CEO Allison Worldwide (Momentum at the Crossroads of Culture and Sports)
CONAN O`BRIAN/Comedian & Oscar Presenter & JOHANNA FARIES/CEO Blizzard Entertainment (Claiming the future of Entertainment & E-Games)
ZANE LOWE/Apple Music & LARS ULRICH/Metallica (Revolutionary Technology in the Music Industry)
CHRIS PAUL (NBA Legend & Founder of the vegan snack company EATN`N)
Listing Session with MAGNA CADA
Performance by BIG FREEDIE at Soho House
DR. PRISCILLA CHAN/Wife of Marc Zuckerberg, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative & EMILY CHANG/Bloomberg (A future without Disease)
Preview of the CARL LEWIS Documentation
MICHELLE OBAMA, CRAIG ROBINSON/Brother of Michelle Obama, LAURIE SANTOS/Prof. of Psychology at Yale (Transforming Despair into Hope)
TAYLOR TOMLINSON/New Comedian Star in USA (Under the 100 most Powerful Women in Hollywood)
BRIAN JOHNSON/Longevity Icon
Dinner with KRISTEN KISH (Top Chef Winner)
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Dec 25 - 01
Culture Interview w/t Aaron Rose
Brain Evangelist Nike, Artist, Curator & Author - Click dot to Videolink
https://vimeo.com/1152162099/95bf9e9a78
Excerpt from a series of interviews between Dirk Staudinger (CEO & Co-Founder of the Gallery and Consultancy) with the long-time artist, curator, and brand evangelist Aaron Rose.
We are delighted to have recently spoken with him about “how we met” and his core perspectives on cultural marketing and its changes.
We have organized numerous exhibitions with him with our gallery—we presented him as an artist and he curated the following exhibitions for us: Corita Kent, Beautiful Losers, Raymond Pettibon, Ed Templeton, Barry McGee and have worked with him on brand projects for Nike, Mini and the avant-garde fashion label 81hours.
About Aaron Rose:
Excerpt from a series of interviews between Dirk Staudinger (CEO & Co-Founder of the Gallery and Consultancy) with the long-time artist, curator, and brand evangelist Aaron Rose.
We are delighted to have recently spoken with him about “how we met” and his core perspectives on cultural marketing and its changes.
We have organized numerous exhibitions with him with our gallery—we presented him as an artist and he curated the following exhibitions for us: Corita Kent, Beautiful Losers, Raymond Pettibon, Ed Templeton, Barry McGee and have worked with him on brand projects for Nike, Mini and the avant-garde fashion label 81hours.
About Aaron Rose:
- An artist with an unparalled visual impact and craft derived and trained over 25 years
- Founder of one of the first street art landmarks. Alleged Gallery in New York & Tokyo
- Spiritus Rector and Curator of the Beautiful Losers „movement" and museum shows that toured globally
- Co-Curator with Jeffrey Deitch of the iconic „Art in the Streets" exhibition at MOCA LA
- Curator of several Corita Kent retrospectives & Director of a documentary on her work
- Author of New York Times featured book „Blackout Poems"
- Cultural Evangelist for Nike, Agnes b, Supreme, Louis Vuitton and more
- Director of numerous documentaries, film pieces and commercials for global lifestyle brands
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June 25 - 01
OMR Speaker Recruitment
Amy Webb (Future Today Strategy Group), Gabriel Whaley (MSCHF), David Fisher (Highsnobiety)
OMR is all about a powerful and invigorating variety of perspectives.
After 2 successful years of working together with Philipp Westermeyer and his team, we were part of the recruitment team again this year and have brought 3 top notch experts with Amy Webb, Gabriel Whaley from MSCHF and David Fischer from Highsnobiety to the festival.
We are very pleased with the selection of these 3 experts, as they represent the services and playing fields of Circle Culture Consulting and Circle Culture Gallery:
After 2 successful years of working together with Philipp Westermeyer and his team, we were part of the recruitment team again this year and have brought 3 top notch experts with Amy Webb, Gabriel Whaley from MSCHF and David Fischer from Highsnobiety to the festival.
We are very pleased with the selection of these 3 experts, as they represent the services and playing fields of Circle Culture Consulting and Circle Culture Gallery:
- Insights, design & strategic thinking
- Popular culture
- Contemporary art
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April 25 - 01
Nike Gen-Z Insight Project
We have started this year with a new research project for our long-standing partner Nike
_____You can listen to Podcasts
_____You can do Secondary Desk Research
_____You can attend Marketing Keynotes
...or you can go into In-depth Expert Interviews with a well curated mix of Experts to learn what you need.
As in many research projects we started our new Gen-Z Insight Project for Nike with Experts In-depth Interviews to get a real-time helicopter view about the current Gen-Z landscape. This is followed by Focus Groups with the actual Target Group in order to evaluate and consolidate the findings.
Thanks to our Experts on this project: ARIA NEJATI, Head of HipHop, Apple Music ALESSANDRO COSTA, Head Brand Creative & Content Lead 11Teamsports, Top4Running, Kickz VALENTINA VAPAUX, Journalist, Author of “Generation Z” & Host of the “Internet Girl” Podcast
...or you can go into In-depth Expert Interviews with a well curated mix of Experts to learn what you need.
As in many research projects we started our new Gen-Z Insight Project for Nike with Experts In-depth Interviews to get a real-time helicopter view about the current Gen-Z landscape. This is followed by Focus Groups with the actual Target Group in order to evaluate and consolidate the findings.
Thanks to our Experts on this project: ARIA NEJATI, Head of HipHop, Apple Music ALESSANDRO COSTA, Head Brand Creative & Content Lead 11Teamsports, Top4Running, Kickz VALENTINA VAPAUX, Journalist, Author of “Generation Z” & Host of the “Internet Girl” Podcast
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Oct 24 - 01
Brooklyn Nets
Insights German Sport Market & Communication Concepts
Through Nike, for whom we have been working on projects since 2002, we have had points of contact and gathered insights into the US sport market here and there.
But now we had the privilege of working for the Brooklyn Nets franchise from New York on German Sport market insights and communication concepts.
Everything I have in my mind about "how they think marketing, how they collaborate with brands & artists and how they pay homage to their athletes" doubled my expectations. The interplay with their team is Triple "I": Inspiring, Intrusive, Invigorating
But now we had the privilege of working for the Brooklyn Nets franchise from New York on German Sport market insights and communication concepts.
Everything I have in my mind about "how they think marketing, how they collaborate with brands & artists and how they pay homage to their athletes" doubled my expectations. The interplay with their team is Triple "I": Inspiring, Intrusive, Invigorating
SHARE IT