Each week, we share the top five articles that caught our attention. Here are your must-reads, published here and abroad, for the week of August 21st 2017.
The Kardashian effect
Whether you like or hate the Kardashians (or simply don’t care), it’s impossible to deny the magnitude of their celebrity. The family has built an empire over the last ten years by creating a unique (and never-before-seen) branded experience. How did this photogenic family redefine what it means to be a star?
→ Read it on Hollywood Reporter Pocket
Gen X might be our last, best hope
Gen X, who? Caught between the Boomers and the Millennials, this oftentimes ironic generation rarely gets media attention. But according to Rich Cohen, writer and contributor for Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, Gen X has profited from being patient, from quietly observing and learning from its bookend “rival” generations. They could teach us a thing or two… if we bothered to listen.
→ Read it on Vanity Fair Pocket
Can real life compete with Instagram?
Instagram is more than a social network: it’s a platform that can be used to communicate a specific image, a visual experience that’s been meticulously curated. To help this along, increasingly more aesthetic spaces, with perfect lighting and colour palettes, are popping up all over (ex. Museum of Ice Cream and Color Factory). What happens to art, travel or the natural world when these experiences exist solely to be shared online?
→ Read it on The Ringer Pocket
Can a connected home = a green home?
It’s sometimes tricky to balance technological innovation with environmental awareness. In fact, new tech frequently draws criticism about wasted resources. Especially when it comes to connected homes. So how can we enjoy the most modern of homes without killing the planet?
→ Read it on Usbek & Rica (In French) Pocket
VR for senior citizens
Discussions about the applications of virtual reality rarely look at how it can serve senior citizens. According to designer Jake Kahana, we are vastly under estimating its potential for this market. VR could help improve memory and enable seniors to “travel” even if their bodies no longer can. And with our ageing population, the possibilities are truly endless.
→ Read it on Wired Pocket
A strategy with balls
#Sponsored
The challenge at the beginning of a campaign is establishing your presence and quickly gaining legitimacy. Valérie Plante, leader of the Projet Montréal party, has pulled off quite a coup: the campaign hasn’t yet started, but she’s already made a name for herself. Stéphane Mailhiot, our Vice-President of Strategy, shares his thoughts.
→ Read it on L’actualité (In French)
In your earbuds: Blank on Blank
Blank on Blank is a project by Executive Director David Gerlach, Director and Animator Patrick Smith and Audio Producer Amy Drozdowska. The trio produces an animated series based on old “lost” interviews. The series includes “enhanced” interviews with notable celebrities like Robin Williams, Muhammad Ali, Bette Davis, Farrah Fawcett and more.
→ Listen to it on Blank on Blank
This week’s favourite thing
Finding a job that you’ll like is not easy. So getting yourself noticed (and hired) by your favourite rapper, now that’s a feat! First, how to get their attention? This 22-year-old fan started by building a website.
Image from Hollywood Reporter
