Europe's creative capital? Introducing our insider's guide to Amsterdam
A hearty ‘goede dag’ from Amsterdam and FinchFactor HQ, as I watch bikes riding along a city-central canal in the blistering sun from a freeze-thaw airco’d office.
Welcome to our new Amsterdam blog
This is the first in a series of blog posts from me, focusing on the block-rocking heartbeat of Amsterdam’s creative innovation industry. Every couple of weeks I will be climbing to the top of the turret for a landscape view of both the brands and brand builders playing their part in establishing the city as an international game-changing hub of creative excellence.
Of course, it has been for centuries, because Amsterdam has always attracted talent from beyond a map of the Netherlands. With so many cultures, creeds and languages mixing it up since the Golden Age – led by a local nation bred on seafaring adventures and pioneering trade routes - it’s no wonder that ideas, collaborative consumption and co-creation is entrenched in the city.
From the brushstrokes of Rembrandt to the designs of Marcel Wanders and the graffiti art of Laser 3.14, creativity - in one form or another - is the lifeblood of this city. There is a sincerity in Amsterdam adland for mixing it up, queering the pitch, with innovators and experimenters across diverse disciplines. It’s what sets this local-international community leaps and bounds apart from other creative hot-spots around the globe. Don’t be surprised to find pop-up gallery organisers and cake bakers sitting alongside social media mavens, working together on a brand platform which encompasses hotel design, botanical hybrids, and a new form of sound technology.
Sold yet? If you haven’t already logged on to KLM.nl for last-minute flight deals, stay tuned for my fortnightly cocktail blended from the creative juices this city has to offer.
And not a clog in sight.
Kerrie Finch is the founder of FinchFactor, based in Amsterdam, and is the Netherlands rep for the Cannes Lions festival