Chat On the Couch with Mark Kohr

The director of the most iconic music videos of the 1990s spoke to us about creativity and leadership, but also about his personal story of downfalls and rebirths. Because beauty can be born even on a pile of rubble.

For anyone who was a teenager in the 1990s, a frame of the Basket Case video by Green Day has the same evocative power as Proust’s Madeleine. The orange jumpsuits and Billie Joe’s unmistakable open-legged pose while playing guitar — these images take you back in time, to afternoons spent with your nose glued to MTV and your head full of dreams.

Basket Case is just one of the music videos of the 1990s and 2000s that have become iconic for a generation of people. And many of these videos were directed by Mark Kohr. If you have never heard his name, the list of bands he has worked with – Rancid, Green Day, Alanis Morissette, No Doubt… – will be enough for you to see the scope of his work. When we met him here at Blossom, we discovered that his fame and work are only one small part of his charm and life experience. Because Mark is not “just” a Hollywood filmmaker who grew up on the set of Nightmare Before Christmas along with directors such as Spike Jonze and David Fincher: his calmness and openness spoke of an artist, a leader, a professional and a person driven by sensitivity, respect for others and a strong desire to share his experiences.

For all these reasons, the first episode of Chat On the Couch, the mini-series dedicated to conversations with artists and communicators on Blossom’s historic couch, could only be with him.

Two hands-on sessions that transformed perspectives and enhanced team skills

We conducted a bootcamp at the Illumia headquarters, our long-time client, as part of a training program aimed at their marketing, communications, digital, HR, and IT teams. Over two days of practical training, we shared tools and techniques we use daily, offering concrete knowledge on using AI for content creation – from text generation with ChatGPT to image creation with MidJourney and advanced research with Perplexity.

This bootcamp marks an important milestone in our eight-year partnership with Illumia, built on mutual trust and a desire to grow together. With a creative and strategic approach, we supported the team in enhancing their skills, even encouraging those who were initially skeptical to explore new possibilities in the practical use of artificial intelligence.

We continue to share our expertise in communications and marketing, offering innovative and actionable solutions to transform the way companies work.

At the service of creativity, strategy, and innovation: here are the tools that continuously evolve our work.

At Blossom, we love to experiment, acquire new knowledge, and engage in constant learning. That’s why we test different AI tools every day, always on the lookout for those that can enhance our communication methods. These tools become an integral part of our creative, strategic, and consulting work.

But which tools are the favorites of each team?

Strategy Team

Perplexity. Why? With its ability to quickly gather and analyze large amounts of data, it provides us with a clear and detailed view of the market, in combination with other research tools. This tool makes strategic planning more fluid and effective, enabling us to make more informed and targeted decisions in less time.

Copywriting Team

An ideal tool for organizing ideas, developing content, drafting, and revising texts. Which one? ChatGPT. From brainstorming to translations, from editing to structuring complex documents. It’s always open on our desk, making the writing process more agile, creative, and precise.

Media House Team

In video production, Runway (Gen-3) is the most valuable support. Its advanced features and constant updates allow us to elevate the quality and diversify our productions, achieving increasingly stunning realism.

Design Team

When it comes to transforming concepts into images, we mainly rely on Midjourney. With its wide range of artistic styles, it enriches the final result, making each creation unique and distinctive.

AI Impact

The AI tools we adopt not only refine our creative and strategic approach but also enable us to quickly translate ideas and data into practical and concrete solutions. Thanks to this integration of technological innovation, expertise, and critical analysis, we can swiftly respond to market challenges, turning every opportunity into a tangible and valuable outcome.

An intimate journey into “The Hammer’s” energy, on and off the court, during Wimbledon.

Illumia chose to tell a different story. And to do so, they once again turned to the strategic and creative consultancy of Blossom. With the Instagram series “Oltre – Stories of True Energy,” we highlighted the most authentic side of Matteo Berrettini, the star of a unique and engaging journey.

An impactful video to present the first range of fully branded Prometeon tires.

The launch of Serie 02 was a key moment. It is the first-ever Prometeon-branded industrial tire range; designed, produced, and tested to meet performance and durability needs in every usage context.

For this occasion, we created a launch video with the tagline Unlock a New Era, announcing the arrival of this significant innovation that projects every journey into the future of transportation. In a post-industrial space, a man enters and opens a container revealing the first Prometeon-branded tire. 3D animations highlight its components and technology.

The video was presented in Egypt during the event celebrating Prometeon’s thirtieth anniversary of the Alexandria factory, attended by representatives from global branches and major suppliers.

We are proud to enter this new era alongside Prometeon. Let’s keep rolling together.

Watch the video.

How do we face times of great transformation? At Blossom, we started with knowledge.

It is said that to invent the light bulb, Thomas Alva Edison conducted thousands of experiments, using hundreds of plant fibers, and testing solutions for over 18 months. For this reason, Edison has been attributed with quotes like:

True or not, this quote holds great appeal in these times of technological transformation. Edison was able to innovate because he could adopt a new mental approach each time.

But, how easy is it to change our mindset when faced with new developments today?

If you don’t change your mind, you change nothing

A survey we recently conducted at Blossom revealed an extremely interesting fact: after a year of continuous training on the use of generative AI, 42% of participants reported changing their minds on this topic.

While it is true that the majority remained in their positions, a significant portion of the course participants admitted to shifting from a more skeptical approach to a more enthusiastic one.

A Form Of Intelligence

The fact that the mindset change occurred in a positive or negative direction is not as relevant. What is interesting is that training, and therefore knowledge, has been the main factor of transformation.

It demonstrates that knowledge allows us to overcome prejudices; that “knowing” remains the first step to forming an opinion, even in these frenetic times; and that understanding helps us see the limits and potential of a change, even when it is still ongoing.

More Sharing, More Awareness

Along with knowledge, interaction has certainly played a fundamental role in the ability to view new developments with a fresh perspective.

The training within Blossom was conducted largely in the form of Communities of Practice, or “safe spaces” where people can learn together, putting into practice or deepening the theoretical notions acquired in exchange for constructive feedback, either among peers or with professionals.

In the survey, submitted to all participants of Blossom’s Communities of Practice, comments and considerations on the limits, risks, and opportunities of AI emerged, demonstrating an increasing awareness and an ability to keep up with the evolutions of AI itself.

“It’s always necessary to check the results, because mistakes are always possible.”

“AI has made routine operations faster and simpler.”

“I’ve sped up lengthy processes, even when it comes to creative processes (like brainstorming).”

“Sometimes I’m tempted to take the results at face value without applying critical thinking.”

It can WOOOORK!

Change, including a mindset shift within organizations, is a difficult but possible transformation. Of course, it needs to be accompanied and guided.

And if it’s true that the “light bulb” of AI is still quite imperfect, at Blossom we have learned that to get closer and closer to true innovation, we must never stop testing and trying. In other words… to be restless!