Home game with us on Leidseplein: here's what I learned from it myself.

Last Thursday, we had a nice group of people in our office in Leiden. Together with ADCN, we organized an event where, together with Stefan Agus, Creative Director of the KNVB, I gave a behind-the-scenes look at how we have contributed to the development of the Orange brand in recent years: “The Making of a National Football Brand”. Of course, it was special to show where the Orange brand comes from, how the strategy was designed and how campaigns are created. But my biggest reflection is not about the content of that presentation. It's about the importance of these moments themselves. One look at the audience was enough to know who we were sitting in front of us: young makers, producers and marketers, the generation that will soon shape the brands of the future themselves. What stuck with me most was the dynamism in the audience. No distant audience that just listens, but creatives who asked immediately. Not only curious about how and what, but especially why.

That's why I realized again that inspiration is never a one-way street. You can share knowledge and experience, but at least that much comes back. The questions, responses and discussions afterwards give new energy and show what really matters in building brands. It means that you go home with insights you couldn't have planned beforehand. And that is exactly where the value of these kinds of events lies. In our profession, everything is often about speed and output. Deadlines, campaigns, on to the next sprint. But without moments of reflection and encounter, stories remain behind closed doors. By sharing them, you are part of a larger creative culture.

Not only are you building brands, but also a community where creatives inspire and help each other out. Back to where it all started:

ODB started out as a music and lifestyle blog and quickly grew into organizing events. That's why it's in our DNA to transform important moments into an event and meet each other as a real community. It is precisely these experiences, especially now, that make the difference: learning together, finding inspiration and taking each other forward.

Creating a world where brands inspire is really our mission. By staying in close contact with the target group through an event strategy, we learn and meet each other in a way that goes beyond campaigns or content. For us, they are not just the public, but the source of inspiration: their energy, questions and perspective fuel our work and ensure that we, as an agency, always keep moving.

Yonah van Andel, Managing Director ODB

That's why Thursday felt like more than a stage for me to show our work. It was a reminder of why we do this profession: to build brands that have meaning and to keep the conversation alive, with the generation that will soon determine the future of brands.

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