WARHOL. - Aletta Focus Marketing

WARHOL. He is one of my role models. One of the most brilliant marketers I have ever “known” – and we have never met. Yet, I learned a lot from him.

Andy Warhol is much more than an artist to me. A thinker, a critic of the system, a brand. He was one of the world’s bravest self-promoters, who was not afraid to say, “Good business is the best art.” Few people talk more honestly about the relationship between marketing and creativity.

A young boy from the suburbs of Pittsburgh has become an icon in the heart of Manhattan. The son of Eastern European immigrants, he spent his time drawing as a sickly child – and later became one of the world’s most recognisable faces. First working as a commercial artist (on shoe ads, for example), he gradually crossed the boundaries between art, design, fame and business. He didn’t adapt, he reshaped what he touched.

He named his studio “The Factory” – and it wasn’t just a location, it was a feeling of life. A melting pot where art, fashion, music and provocation met. The famous Marilyn Monroe series was made here, but it was also where the greats hung out – Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, Basquiat, Debbie Harry…

And then there was Studio 54, a club that was more than a party place – a stage where Andy Warhol as a celebrity, as a brand, as an icon, became an installation of himself. ❤️ It was the decadent epicentre of the ’70s, where nothing was too much – and where everyone wanted to sit at Andy’s table. Not drinking too much, not dancing, just watching. And he took notes. Because pop culture was his real muse.

Did you know he’s made dozens of groundbreaking films (like Sleep and Empire) and has hundreds of videos to his name? That in the ’80s he had his own show on cable channels like MTV called Andy Warhol’s TV? That he was one of the first to create a digital work on a computer – an Amiga 1000 – back in 1985?

And here’s the twist: with the help of AI, we finally “took” a picture together. No, not real, but symbolic for me. Because the effect is very real.

Warhol is still teaching today. To be brave. To not wait for permission. That your style can be your message. And that self-identity is the strongest brand you can ever build.

I’m charging tonight. I’m diving in. And I’ll post the picture. Because if Andy had taken it, he would have posted it. Even with a filter.