Creative Industries in a nutshell

Another week has gone by and I must say it has been full of creative inspiration. I had the privilege to work this week in Northern Norway, surrounded by mountains, amazing people and the nothingness.

Nothingness is a concept I discovered in November 2021. Even though it might feel as the culmination of 'Nothing' it is actually a concept of New Nordic happiness. Imagine a place with the cleanest air, crystal clear water and silence that helps you focus. This all while having great internet, modern infrastructure and bright minds. That is the Arctic region and believe me, it is like a sustainable turbo for us Creative Entrepreneurs.

The more I write the more I start to feel pivoting into a newsletter talking from the heart, about my experiences, feelings and more. Would you be interested to hear more about that??

Well, we have an agenda here, so let's stick to that for a while at least, otherwise we let curiosity lead us, and that can easily turn into a creative curse. So today as teased in the last newsletter we will set sail to learn what the Creative Industries are.?

From Creative Economy to Creative Industries

Last week we talked about the Creative Economy that Deloitte (2021) explained as “an ecosystem that comprises a wide range occupation distinguished by the generation of wealth and jobs through individual creativity. A part of this are the Creative Industries.

David Parrish has been working for a long-time with this segment and done some valuable work in defining what the Creative Industries are. Let’s start with the realization that the terminology can be confusing and I’m still uncertain if I even get it. In Swedish we have the saying “A dear child has many names” (“K?rt barn har m?nga namn”) which pretty much means that popular things can have a variety of different names in different context. The same applies to the Creative Industries which are called as well as the Creative and Cultural Industries, Creative and Digital Industries and even the Orange Economy (La Economía Naranja). The term Creative Industries comprises businesses with creativity in its core ranging form games to fashion and design.

UNESCO is one of the key actors within this industry and defines the creative industries as “those industries which have their core in individual creativity, skill and talent which has the potential for job and wealth creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property”. So, in essence the creative industries are those industries that create business through creative pursuits. The value is not only in the product, but in the creative talents filling the blank canvases. There is a set of defined industries, and we’ll look at those next to give you a better understanding what they are.

Creative Industry Sectors

Many governments have been doing an important work in mapping the creative sectors and the British Council (2020) offers a comprehensive list in what the creative sectors are. Combining this information with the research conducted by Howkins (2001) gives us a list of ten industries officially listed. These are as follows:

1.????Advertising?and?marketing

2.????Architecture

3.????Crafts

4.????Design:?product,?graphic?and?fashion design

5.????Film,?TV productions,?TV,?video,?radio?and?photography

6.????IT,?software?and?computer services

7.????Publishing

8.????Museums,?galleries?and?libraries

9.????Music,?performing?and?visual arts

10.?Toys and games

We are going through a rapid digitalization for the moment where industries are developing exponentially. Due to this, this sector is evolving fast, and I believe new sectors are emerging faster than information. Here I would like to turn to you, how would you define these and which sectors do you think fit the list?

Creative Industries as a rapdily growing sector

This is an important sector, not just because creativity and culture help us understand and interact with the world, but also because it is one of the most rapidly growing sectors. It is also a highly transformative one in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. Creative industries are major drivers of economies. In addition to economic benefits, the cultural and creative industries also generate merit to people-centered value, sustainable urban development, development of creativity and culture, and contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals.

The pandemic was not easy on these industries and thus there is a big gap to bridge to sustain this growth. We need the wide public to see its value for the sectors to keep developing and growing. There are many ways we can do it but fostering more creative entrepreneurs and empowering them is one way to go. Our model is called the New Nordic Creative Entrepreneur and in the last section we will dig into what that means.

The New Nordic Creative Entrepreneur

You might have laid your eyes on the beautiful Nordic photographs in this article. Why did I add those? They are a living example of work done by a New Nordic Creative Entrepreneur – Johannes Terhemaa who I have had the privilege to work and build Norders with.

Johannes uses his creative ability to tell peoples stories in the form of pictures and videos. He works with the modern freelancer model acting as an entrepreneur, giving him freedom to create. Based in Helsinki, Finland he acts from the heart of the New Nordic region, acting through the shared Nordic values.

This captures a New Nordic Creative Entrepreneur well, but there is so much more to it. New Nordics was firstly coined as the area combining the Nordic and the Baltic countries into one region. For us it has developed into a mindset, combining the Nordic Model, the shared Nordic values, and the Nordic entrepreneurial mindset into a superpower. We can create value with creativity. We can be agile and efficient. Today, our region is the home to most Unicorn companies per capita, and many of those are within the creative industries. So, what is a Creative Entrepreneur then. That we will dig into next time – guided by the CEO of Norders, Joonas Kylli?inen. In the meanwhile, be sure to attend his webinar “The Disruption and Opportunities in Creative Entrepreneurship” on Wednesday the 6th of April!

Join the event here: https://newcohelsinki.fi/fi/tapahtuma/the-disruption-and-opportunities-in-creative-entrepreneurship/

Finally, what made me really happy was that one person at least got already inspired of this content and started her journey towards creative entrepreneurship, beautiful. If any of this inspires be sure to share and tag me @ronnythenorder, it makes me happy, but lets others also join the journey.

Cheers,