20 years of celebrating creativity.
This website turns 20 years old today!
That means I’ve been writing about pop culture, marketing, brand strategy, and the arts for two decades.
I remember wanting my own website as soon as we learned to type with 10 fingers and search for information online with AltaVista. This was in our eighth-grade computer studies class, where everyone just wanted to join online chat rooms or play Quake over a local network. It was all very 90s.
I had no idea what I would’ve done with my own piece of digital real estate. Nevertheless, I felt compelled.
The school didn’t offer hosting, so I had to hold on to my dream until 2006, when blogging was becoming more mainstream and publishing platforms were becoming more available.
The website started as a personal diary, before becoming more focused on pop culture and marketing. Here’s the full oral history in Finnish.
Nowadays, it increasingly represents my professional self, highlighting my work experience as a brand strategist and creative.
That said, I’ve always written about movies, music, books, and video games – and don’t plan on separating my fanboy self from my professional self anytime soon. Because both marketing and pop culture boil down to the same thing: creativity.
What is the Golden Circle of brand positioning?
As a thought experiment, what if I used one of the most common brand positioning tools on this website?
The Golden Circle, popularized by Simon Sinek, aims to define a brand’s what, why, and how. That makes it one of the easiest ways to distill a brand’s essence.
The Golden Circle
Why
This is the purpose, the belief, the very reason the brand exists.
How
These are things that set the brand apart from competitors.
What
These are the products or services that the brand offers.
So, what are the what, how, and why for this website? For Hurraakerkko.com, the Golden Circle would be something like this:
What
An inspiration source for creative minds.
How
Hot takes on brand-building and pop culture classics.
Why
To celebrate creativity.
After two decades, what does creativity mean for me?
Much like brand strategy tools like the Golden Circle, creativity helps me anchor myself.
By writing, making videos, and composing music, I learn more about myself and the world. Whether I’m working on something original or analyzing someone else’s work, it is my experience, my point of view on display.
I wouldn’t be myself without creativity. And for the past 20 years, this website has been at the heart of my creative journey, both professionally and personally.
Feeling thankful for reaching this milestone. Thanks for reading,
Kerkko
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