"The role of a curator is to sort through culture and show us what we need to know and why."

"“Curare, curatus means to care. Initially, it meant to install objects in the museum. A curator was a caretaker of objects. Curation is also about curiosity. But then it happened that curation has expanded, and that has to do with art having expanded.”"

"the role of curation has always been to democratize, to bring art to different sections of society and “build exhibitions into society.” Obrist brings up the idea of “civic curation,” where curation is linked to generosity and has a bigger social role."

"The partnership is simply one example of a shift towards curation as a preferential strategy for modern brands to differentiate themselves, gain relevance, build equity and ensure longevity."

"the aesthetic world and the narrative that curation creates is much harder to replicate than a brand’s visual handwriting and a tone of voice."

"When brands moved from manufacturing products to manufacturing culture, design, luxury and art, curation zoomed onto taste, aesthetics, identity and social status."

"Curation became the fuel of modern culture: it is indispensable in the cultural landscape where products, people and experiences are all comparable in value"

"“A good curator does the research, writes and edits, and doesn’t just repost images.”"

"There’s value in finding a new angle on old things and connecting them with new things."

"Under pressure for newness, brands struggle to actually create new stuff, but by curating the old, they give it renewed meaning and purpose in consumers’ eyes."

"Under pressure for newness, brands struggle to actually create new stuff, but by curating the old, they give it renewed meaning and purpose in consumers’ eyes. Curation contextualizes product within a specific time and a point of view."

"Curation turns items into collectibles and more often this value is created by curators, showing the importance of brands becoming curators of their own."

"Curators bridge the gap between different taste communities and introduce them to one another. They also often connect people, products and ideas in a way that creates something that’s simultaneously new and familiar"

"Our worldly successes outbid the desires each of us have to be good people, resulting in the fraying of the social fabric of our communities and the demise of traditional institutions, like the church, libraries or local newspapers that held them together."

"We put radical individualism ahead of society and ignored the secondary effects of our choices."

"There was never a better time than a global health crisis to reorganize our communities around new influencers, aspirations, social rituals, and habits."

"The playing field of who and what we want to identify with and aspire to be and do has expanded. It has also reorganized our communities under different personality cults: more generous, pro-social, and giving."

"Social influence rests on the fact that, when faced with an abundance of choice, we habitually rely on others to know what to buy, read, wear, or listen to."

"When these others are “regular” people just like us, we tend to trust them more than we would a compensated spokesperson, a model in an ad, an invisible editor, or a distant celebrity."

"“Selling out” equals being an authentic influencer, with a following and engagement large enough to be recognized and sought after by brands wanting to reach your audience."

"Social commerce emphasizes individual taste and style savviness over brands: we are buying someone’s look, not a particular brand within it."

"This product-centric model is the opposite of brand-centric communication."

"In the social commerce context, products make influencers, not the other way around."

"Where social commerce particularly dovetails with the modern aspiration economy is in how it can flip the idea of wanting to own the next big thing."

"In contrast, social commerce can extend product life cycle nearly indefinitely, as the same product can be resold and prosperously revived in many different styling iterations."

"More recently, curators took over influencers as the core vehicle of capturing the cultural mood and starting trends, and this is the second model of social influence."

"“value in having someone who is amongst what is happening in culture.”"

"“There is value is having me as a narrator and telling the story, telling you what is relevant. A good curator does the research, writes and edits, and doesn’t just repost images.”"

"“A lot of my followers enjoy reading the context and history behind images,”"

"Curation gives even mundane objects value by connecting them with a point of view, heritage, subculture, or purpose that makes them stand out in the vortex of speed, superficiality, and newness."

"Define what you’re trying to accomplish (business objective)."

"Define the point of view and the story you’re trying to tell (brand objective)."

"Define how you are going to convey this story in order to achieve your objective (strategy)."

"Make an execution plan."

"The third model of social influence is algorithmic personalization. In this iteration, brands create their own influencers."

"Algorithmic personalization refers to repeating choices that were successful in the past, building on the human tendency to like what we liked before."

"Online, algorithmic personalization means we get to enjoy highly appealing content regardless of who created it."

"Our social media gives us more of what we liked in the past, and we don’t need to follow anybody or browse or search to make it happen."

"Content is delivered to us based on an algorithmically created taste profile rather than through social connection."

"TikTok effectively wipes out social status as the influencer market’s capital, and taste as its currency. It creates the radically new kind of market where we equal our own taste profiles."

"To stand out in the world defined by algorithm is to be its opposite: human, flexible, surprising and wildly creative."

"This chasm makes the future of aspiration K-shaped. Models of social influence should be selected in context of this new reality."

"Ideally, brands can make them work together so that they amplify each other. When it is not known what works, a mix of all three is our best bet."

"Enjoying time alone and having a personal brand was once considered a contradiction in terms. Today, it may be the winning approach."

"In practice, this means playing up on the benefits of recharging solo, regardless of where you are on the introversion-extroversion continuum."

"introverted leaders deliver better results than extroverts, according to research by psychologist Adam Grant, a management professor at Wharton."

"Introverted leaders have proven that they go beyond their ego and craving for spotlight and work toward a larger goal; this purpose-driven approach gives them the power and authenticity that inspire a following — and a personal brand worth cultivating."

"Introverts are able to spend a lot of time with an area or activity of interest."

"“Curators are often playing the long game, slowly building up knowledge, sharing it, improving upon it,”"

"Because curators are able to focus and dig deep, and because they are highly selective in how they socialize, they regularly build influential cultural niches around themselves — whether that be sneakers or denim or food — and often become a source of inspiration for wider trends."

"Introverts’ inclination is to listen rather than speak. This makes them sensitive to the nuance and complexity of life situations, and it gives them time to think and process aspects that may go unnoticed by extroverts."

"It allows introverts to express themselves in a public way that at the same time feels safe."

"Modern aspiration is not about having money to buy things, but having taste to know what to buy."

"We trust curators because we believe that they spent time and effort in developing their expertise."

"the new breed of aspirants looking to share their taste and turn their social and cultural capital into the economic one."

"being a coveted curator of a cultural niche (e.g. menswear, streetwear, luxury fashion, design, food or travel) conveys one’s distinction and social standing"

"curators often choose to remain anonymous as a way of boosting their cred."

"They are also not after the sheer reach and volume of followers: in their niches, it’s the quality of followers that count"

"For a brand (or a person) looking to become a curator, here are the 4 starting points:"

"Define how you are going to convey this story (strategy)."

"Values. Filtering brands within a category based on their values (gender equality, sustainability, diversity) makes it easier to make a decision between products with similar properties."

"here are some of the mechanisms to select and organize items by:"

"Knowledge and expertise"

"Cultural moment/atmosphere."

"Story."

"Hobby and interest"

"Location"

"Trend and hype."

"Personality or celebrity."

"Price"

"Heritage, ritual, and tradition."

"True loyalty is emotional and irrational and leads to customers feeling like they’re part of an exclusive membership group which then leads them to become loyal subscribers or consumer network participants."

"In the modern aspiration economy, consumers are fans, influencers, hobbyists, environmentalists, and collectors."

"Any brand can cultivate a select group of people who are passionate about what it stands for and seeks to do in the world"

"Membership is micro."

"Membership is myth-making."

"Membership is meet-ups."

"Membership is maintenance"

"Research shows that consumers prefer small repeated gains and incremental rewards over big infrequent ones."