TheAlternativeSchool cMBA opens an honest conversation on identity, cultural capital and the creative power of Asia
Featuring Gabriela Crețu and Sonya Dang, two prestigious voices from different generations, TheAlternativeSchool Creative MBA continues its insight-forsight business intelligence series dedicated to culture, branding and private diplomacy with a new edition of “Brands Talk. Identity & Culture”, focused on Asian Creativity and the new geography of influence. The event takes place on June 17, in the welcoming EY spaces, in a format empowered by Asahi Beer and curated by Tedi Migdalovici.
Tedi will put to work her lifelong experience as a festival hunter and creative nomad, sharing wisdom from her role as Spikes Asia ambassador, alongside hot content gathered over the past six months between Jolbors in Tashkent, ADFEST in Thailand and The Faculty of Brands in Sri Lanka, where she contributed as juror, guest speaker and trainer while simultaneously lobbying for Romanian talent.
Same, same, but different
In an always-on world, we have access to the internet, so we tend to mistake access for knowledge. “Same-same, but different”, as the old slang of copycat brands once found in Asia’s crowded tourist markets would have it. That’s where Brands Talk opens one of Bucharest’s most culturally alert rooms, created for business leaders and talent operating in the creative economies who want to understand how the world is changing under our noses, as seen through the direct experience of natives, well-travelled speakers and top creative ecosystems.
After exploring Eastern European creativity through pop culture, branding and national identity, in partnership with the Czech Centre and with the support of the Czech Embassy, this new chapter turns its attention towards Central, East, South and Southeast Asia, not as exotic travel hotspots, but as some of the most effervescent territories of global business performance. Across these regions, empowered brands edit mentalities, refresh traditions, reset norms and keep prosperity in motion.
Meet the Speakers and their talks
The event will host Gabriela Crețu, Vice President of Sales at Ursus Breweries, part of Asahi Europe & International, and a member of the company’s Executive Committee. Drawing on her recent Tokyo specialisation, Gabriela will deliver a talk on Japanese creativity, exploring paradoxes, unexpected experiences, the tensions between expectations versus realities and the lessons Romanian brand custodians can learn from their Japanese counterparts and their appetite for innovation. With over 25 years of accomplished experience across sales, marketing, trade marketing, innovation and strategy, she brings a human-centric approach to market development. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Gabriela actively supports creativity as an engine for evolution. Beyond her executive career and board-level perspective, she has refined her appetite for applied arts through specializations in interior design and upcycling, while equestrian arts remain one of the passions she enjoys alongside her daughter, in her spare time.
Sonya Dang, a Romanian-Vietnamese new media personality, model and Gen Z public voice, will bring the perspective of a generation for whom identity is no longer a single passport, but a living construct between languages, aesthetics, communities and digital platforms. Her story sits at the intersection this event wants to illuminate: Romanian upbringing, Vietnamese heritage, European education and a global-native sense of self.
With the Young Lady platform – a new chapter in the LadiesFirst series, calling for applications from the most talented voices under 35, and launched at TheFutureOfBeauty to promote exceptional female talent abroad, selecting Sonya Dang as the reference of a new generation born to succeed in a formula where “brains and beauty” become a single asset is no coincidence. Featured in advertisements since her teenage years, Sonya has built a splendid modelling career, yet chose to study in The Hague, embracing a path in law.
“Despite being brought up by two entrepreneurs, and having a solid modelling career – photo shoots with some of Romania’s biggest labels – DAAR by Teilor, Ivatherm, Viggo and creative campaigns with international brands – H&M, Nivea, I have still opted for law. Why? Because I have always considered myself an opinionated yet educated person, besides my artistic personality. One year ago I was at a point in my life where I had to choose which career path I shall follow: either follow my diverse background and enter the diplomatic world, or stay in touch with my creative side and specialize in Intellectual Property. After an internship at the Consulate General of Romania in Barcelona, and an IP module, I have realized I want to do both. Now, I have to choose the order,” said Sonya.
Her talk will address clichés about Romanians and Vietnamese in the West, how she learned to navigate preconceived ideas about identity with grace, and offer first-hand access to some of Vietnam’s most vibrant brands, revealing which buttons they push, while revamping the world of her generation.
What to expect in terms of content?
From Japan’s attention to precision and detail as reverent forms of customer care to Vietnamese magnetic brands speaking to Gen Z and Alpha; from Sri Lanka weaving spiritual practices into distinctive brand coloraturas to China’s scale and world’s most interesting brand acquisitions mindset rewriting the script about “Made in China”; from the K-beauty contradictions between aesthetic surgery and natural products usage – both (!!) treated as norms, to the darker realities behind Korean high performance culture and the ways brands respond; from Central Asia’s “stan-rooted” emerging voices to Singapore’s role as a talent hub, the event will address the tensions between clichés and realities, work culture, silent identity judgements and how to address them.
“Brands Talk. Identity & Culture. Asian Creativity” brings updated perspectives from a continent worth discovering beyond the media surface, opening a refreshing conversation about how we relate to “humanity vs business” equation.
The question is no longer whether Asian creativity influences the world. It does. The sharper question is how European brands, creators and institutions learn to read it, relate to it and engage with it without flattening it or simply being engulfed by it.
Contact: To join the event, please drop an email to georgiana@thealternativeschool.com.
