Het andere perspectief van Eva Zahrawi Ruiz

Deze week is Eva Zahrawi Ruiz, marketing, brand & transformation executive 'guiding organizations (including agencies) through periods of change' van The 2nd Half, curator van Random Pic(k) Of The Day For A Week.

Eerder was ze onder meer CMO Vodafone Nederland, Marketing Director bij bol en ADCN-bestuurslid.

Vijf dagen lang deelde zij haar inspiratie op de LinkedIn-pagina van ‘Adformatie’, à één bijdrage per dag.

A Different Perspective

Zahrawi Ruiz over haar week: 'I've always been fascinated by people who have the ability to challenge the expected, to approach something from a completely different angle, looking or treating something familiar from another perspective. I feel deeply drawn to those who question the obvious, turn things upside down, go against the current or find possibilities where nobody else is looking.

What inspires me is not necessarily the newest idea or the latest innovation. Sometimes it's quite the opposite. A different way of telling a familiar story, a surprising new perspective on an old brand, or an architect who decides that instead of building upwards, he'd rather dig into the earth.

My five pic(k)s come from very different worlds, but they all share that quality. Some have inspired me professionally, others personally. And one of them inspired a journey that took me to the other side of the world, creating memories I will carry for the rest of my life.'

Hier haar 5 bijdragen van de week:

1. A24, a film company that doesn’t behave like a film company

'They invite filmmakers to share fragments of their everyday lives. What did they watch? What music did they listen to? What made them laugh?'

'I feel deeply drawn to those who question the obvious, turn things upside down, go against the current or find possibilities where nobody else is looking'

‘I've been fascinated by A24 for years. Not only because of the unconventional films they make, the stories they choose to tell or the creative talent they work with, but because they've completely reimagined what it means to be a film company.

Traditionally, film companies make, distribute and promote films. We get trailers, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and perhaps a podcast. Everything revolves around the film itself.

A24 goes so much further. They've built an entire creative world around cinema, connecting film with art, fashion, music, publishing and live experiences. They collaborate across creative disciplines, develop unusual merchandise and publications, and even acquired New York's historic Cherry Lane Theatre, bringing a physical cultural space back to life, complete with live performances and a restaurant.

And then there's AAA24, their subscription-based membership programme. For a monthly fee, fans receive cinema tickets to A24 releases, quarterly zines, monthly credits, birthday gifts, exclusive merchandise and special access to content and experiences. Which film company builds that kind of ongoing relationship with its audience?

But one of my favourite examples of how differently they think is actually much simpler: their 24 Hours With editorial series, published online and through their newsletters.

Rather than another promotional interview, they invite filmmakers and creatives to share fragments of their everyday lives. What did they watch? What music did they listen to? What made them laugh? What inspired them?

In one of my favourite editions, Celine Song, director of Past Lives and Materialists, shares everything from a Korean reality show to a 15-second scene from a 1957 Soviet film that inspired her, alongside ordinary details about what she ate or what distracted her.

It's personal, sometimes wonderfully random, and brings me closer to the people whose work I admire. But what makes it particularly special is that their inspirations become mine. Through their recommendations, I discover new films, music, artists and ideas I might otherwise never have encountered.

It's the inspiration behind the inspiration.

That's what makes A24 so interesting to me. They've found ways to extend creativity beyond the films themselves, turning a production and distribution company into something much bigger: a creative universe you can continuously explore, experience and feel part of.'

2. Loewe – From your grandmother's wardrobe to one of fashion's most contemporary brands

'I wonder how many people know that Loewe was founded in Madrid in 1846. Almost 180 years ago.

Growing up in Spain, I knew Loewe as a very traditional luxury house. A brand associated with beautiful leather goods, exceptional craftsmanship and impeccable quality. But also a brand for your mother, or perhaps even your grandmother. It was not something a younger generation would aspire to wear.

Fast-forward to today, and Loewe has become one of the most exciting and culturally relevant fashion houses in the world. Playful, experimental, sometimes wonderfully eccentric, and embraced by an entirely new generation.

What inspires me here is the extraordinary power of branding, design and creative direction to transform the perception of a brand so completely. Not by abandoning its heritage, but by giving it an entirely new expression. The same Spanish house, the same commitment to craftsmanship, yet a completely different cultural relevance.

It’s the entire creative universe they've built around the brand: art, design, collaborations, campaigns and a willingness to be unexpected. Everything contributes to making a nearly two-century-old brand feel remarkably contemporary.

One of my favourite examples is Decades of Confusion, a brilliant and entertaining film about how to pronounce Loewe. Rather than a conventional explanation of the brand's origins, it playfully introduces audiences to both its Spanish heritage and its pronunciation. It is such a great example on how to educate about your brand, without being boring, but disguised as entertainment, executed with the same contemporary creative attitude.'

3. The Other Final – Turning the World Cup upside down

'When we talk about sports, we seem to be obsessed with winners. The fastest Formula 1 driver, the greatest tennis player of all times, the football teams at the top of the rankings. The champions, the trophies, the records. We celebrate those who make it to the top, and understandably so. And I find that really exciting and inspiring too. Yet at some point sometimes it feels we left behind the extraordinary ability of sports to bring people together, across cultures, borders and languages.

In 2002, while the world was watching the best football teams compete in the World Cup, Johan Kramer decided to turn that perspective completely upside down.

What if, instead of looking at the top of the FIFA rankings, we looked at the very bottom? And what if the two lowest-ranked teams played their own final?

On the very same day as the World Cup final, two teams from countries that could hardly be more different, Bhutan and Montserrat, came together and did exactly that.

What unfolds is a beautiful story about humanity. Two countries with completely different histories, geographies and traditions find a shared language through football. You don't need to speak the same words to understand the joy, the emotions or the connection.

I watched the documentary when it came out in 2003 and it touched me so deeply that I decided I had to go to Bhutan one day and find that football pitch. Six years later, in 2008, I was on my way.

By then, that football pitch had received a big upgrade as it was one of the locations for the coronation of the new king. I had the privilege of witnessing the celebrations firsthand. I celebrated my mother's 70th birthday in a small local restaurant and from our hotel room high in the mountains, we watched Barack Obama being elected president of the United States. It all felt very surreal.

Those days are among the most unforgettable experiences of my life. And none of it would have happened if I hadn't watched his documentary about the two lowest-ranked football teams in the world.

That, to me, is the power of inspiration. Johan Kramer didn't tell a story about the winners as pretty much everyone does. He turned the idea of a final on its head and told a story most people would never have thought to look for.

More than two decades later, I am still grateful to him for where that unexpected perspective took me. And whenever I think about what truly inspires me, The Other Final is one of the first things that comes to mind.'

4. Setouchi Triennale – What if art could bring an entire region back to life?

'When speaking about inspiration, next to travel, for me it is art and specifically contemporary. The way art has the capacity to transform something in you, being in the presence of someone’s work. One of the most extraordinary experiences I've had with art has taken place on a group of 12 small islands in Japan's Seto Inland Sea. I've had the immense privilege of attending the Setouchi Triennale in 2019, 2022 and 2025 so that I could visit every island participating.

The Triennale takes place every three years, bringing contemporary art to island communities affected by ageing populations and declining economic activity. But the art doesn't simply arrive and gets exhibited like in many other gatherings. Artists collaborate with local people, transforming abandoned houses, former schools and unexpected outdoor spaces into installations. You discover the islands through their art, food, history and the people who live there.

On Naoshima, Tadao Ando's Chichu Art Museum is one of the most indescribable places I've ever visited. Rather than placing a museum on the landscape, Ando has built it into the earth.

Works by Claude Monet, James Turrell and Walter De Maria are presented in spaces conceived specifically for them. Ando is the fourth artist. The architecture is as important as the artworks. You remove your shoes for the Monet room. With Turrell, one of my favourite artists, the experience plays with perception, light and your own sense of space. You're not just looking at art; you're part of the experience. And there are no photographs allowed. You have to be there.

On neighbouring Teshima, the Teshima Art Museum is almost impossible to explain: one immense concrete shell, designed by Ryue Nishizawa where water, wind, sound and changing light seem to become the work itself.

What moves me just as deeply, though, is what happens beyond the museums. Local food and specially created menus, conversations with islanders, installations in forgotten buildings or on a stretch of beach. Each island is different and tells a different story. I've spent weeks exploring them, and the experience has stayed with me long after leaving Japan.

For me, Setouchi challenges not only how we experience art, but what art can do: change a landscape, revive a community, connect strangers and transform the person experiencing it. If you have the chance to go for the 2028 edition I cannot recommend it enough.'

5. The Cool Hunter – The art of making us stop scrolling

'There are very few things on Instagram I genuinely look forward to every week. The Cool Hunter's compilations are one of them.

If you visit their website, you'll discover a beautifully curated world of architecture, interiors, art, design, travel and lifestyle. An editorial journal featuring extraordinary places and spaces, alongside a shop with carefully selected objects and products. Exquisite curation, but not necessarily something we haven't seen before.

What I find really intriguing is what happens when you move from their website to their Instagram account. Most brands use social media to extend what's already on their website: more products, more articles, more reasons to visit or buy. The Cool Hunter has taken a completely different approach.

Their Instagram feed, particularly the weekly compilations, is an entirely different world. They bring together videos and images created by people from all over the globe: extraordinary landscapes, unexpected human encounters, beautiful moments between friends, sunrises, sunsets, little gestures, sometimes something wonderfully strange or funny. Life unfolding in all its beauty.

No elaborate storytelling, no voice-over, no attempt to sell you anything. Just a beautifully curated collection of moments, with the original creators credited.

And the curation is phenomenal. A single post can bring together fifteen completely unrelated pieces of content, yet somehow they all belong together. I sometimes visit the original creators and discover that the videos are exactly as they were published. The magic isn't in improving the content. It's in finding it.

Their captions are equally simple: 'Small moments. Strange moments. Beautiful moments. Life doing its thing.' Or: 'Meanwhile, somewhere else… Life looks pretty good.'

In a world where every brand is trying to turn its social channels into another sales opportunity, The Cool Hunter (TCH) seems to understand that a platform can serve a completely different purpose. This is the one weekly selection I genuinely wait for: a moment to pause, watch and remember how much beauty there is in the world.

It's a wonderful reminder that extraordinary creativity doesn't always mean creating something yourself. Sometimes it is about having a great eye for what others have created and bring it to the surface for everyone else.'

In de week van 2 november – Random Pic(k) Of The Day For A Week verschijnt tweewekelijks – is Pieter Paul Verheggen , algemeen directeur van marktonderzoeksbureau Motivaction International, CEO van 'leefstijlenmodel' Glocalities en samen met HPB | Het PR Bureau, SWOCC en Tussen de Linies mede-initiatiefnemer van een internationaal onderzoek naar Brand Fame®, curator van #RPOTDFAW.

Tijdens Marketing Live! op 12 november en in het nieuwe nummer van Adformatie zullen de uitslagen – welke merken hebben in Nederland en internationaal (o.a. het VK, Duitsland en de VS) de meeste Brand Fame®? – voor het eerst worden gepresenteerd.