Our Pioneer in Istanbul, Turkey: Peren Özturan
Peren Özturan is an Ass. Professor of Marketing at Özyeğin University in Turkey, with a passion to conduct research that cuts across marketing and the corporate socio-political activism trend to ask the ultimate question: what is the role of 'Global Brands' in furthering human rights activism? Coming from her previous position at Vrije University in Amsterdam, Özturan's work is grounded in both theory and practice, yielding actionable insights. What keeps her grounded is her deep regard for the most basic elements of life, water and air.
Through our Pioneers series, in collaboration with Nils Adriaans, we catch up with members of the Dutch Creative Community living abroad and ask them to send back personal ‘messages in a bottle’ about life away from the Netherlands.
Why are you in Istanbul right now?
A while back I started working in the Netherlands, and after some time became a Dutch citizen.
My plan was to stay in my new homeland for a long time. Yet then I lost my job and could not find another. Like many from this community, I invested a lot in my career – so at that time I thought perhaps this is the end, but my career did not give up on me. “If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you.” With a 13-month old baby in a carrier, on a cold November day in 2019, I flew to Istanbul for an interview. I immediately received an offer and started working here.
Two months after our arrival, the pandemic hit. Then it did not matter where we were because in the end, we were stuck inside our four walls. If we were lucky, of course. To learn more about the not so lucky ones, you may want to read the “Research on Deep Poverty and Access to Human Rights During the Pandemic” (available here). The report and everything that happened (and did not happen) these past three years changed my perspective of myself.
What makes you feel at home?
I feel at home when I am sitting at my desk beside my laptop with freshly brewed coffee, a smell that fills me with nostalgia and inspiration (by helping me chemically connect the dots), a photo of my family, a small plant to remind me of nature, and a yoga mat nearby (even when I don’t practice regularly it signals me to get grounded). These are my priceless possessions.
Additionally water and air are such defaults, yet for me, whenever I consume them mindfully I feel each and every bit of me come alive. Try it yourself. I do not know why these give me peace. They were important when we were young, they will be when we get old. When we're in our graves too, the odds of resting in peace are higher if we were friends with the five elements beforehand.
“Can you paint the picture of happiness for me, Abidin?” is a famous quote among Turks (for its details, check here) and below is my picture of happiness i.e., a family day out by the Bosphorus at Galataport Istanbul.
What stands out the most there?
I love the colors here.
You can think about this literally because of the days with more sunshine, and figuratively because of the emotions one feels. The prior explains itself and for the latter: the more I see countries at their different stages of their life cycle and different income levels, the clearer I understand that what is special about our posts are really what is special about us.
My mother land is Turkey. I was born and raised in Ankara, the capital city. You need to let go to live in an emerging country such as Turkey with so many ups and downs. Almost every day, there is a major change (if not a crisis) happening. And rigidness does not help.
Your Random Pic(k) Of The Week?
I love reading books and watching movies based on real life, including autobiographies and documentaries. Recent ones include Seeing Allred, Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold; Jeffrey Epstein: The Filthy Rich, The Trial of the Chicago Seven etc. These heroes or heroines touch me in some way. I believe in the principles of fairness, especially when the subject is related to human rights, those cases touch my heart and nerves more.
What’s the most radical piece of work out there?
As I mentioned earlier, I love the human connection and all the emotions that come with it. Yet emotions include anger, frustration etc. too. There can be wild traffic jams, people getting in front of you in a line, or acting with zero empathy to others.
These sharpen my passion to conduct research that cuts across marketing and the corporate socio-political activism trend. I have recently applied for funding for a project titled “Global Brands’ Role in Human Rights Activism” from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Human Rights Fund. The project aims to advocate and research the role of global brands in establishing human rights in an emerging economy, such as Turkey. We propose that brand activism has a facilitator role, by developing freedom of expression and internet freedom in emerging countries with more authoritarian governments. Here is an example:
This is an Instagram post that inspired the brand managers of Sunsilk in Turkey (Unilever’s lead brand in the Turkish shampoo category, known locally as Elidor) and the creatives at their agency i.e., Medina Turgul DDB.
The post is by Ebrar Karakurt, a famous Turkish volleyball player who had come out earlier (with a post they deleted immediately because of a huge public reaction). In this later post, she states; “To the ones who envy, I said it’s possible”. In Fall 2021, the shampoo brand Elidor launched the “I said it’s possible” campaign under the On Our Way projects that supports “opening up possibilities for girls everywhere.” The ad featured Ebrar, who by that time was in the process of moving to Italy and thereby freely associated herself with the Turkish LGBT community. This whole story is mixed with freedom of expression, gender equality, and supporting human rights defenders.
Within a month’s time the campaign reached 27 million views in digital and 1.1 million people in print media, stated Kerem Diramca and Ahmet Adiyaman, the young and courageous brand managers at Unilever, during a guest lecture in October 2021 at my Marketing Strategy course. This campaigned achieved much higher awareness than what a public sector or NGO campaign could have, and was delicately managed against a majorly conservative society. You may find in this Linkedin post the ad and a reaction to it by the Unilever headquarters.
What 'souvenir' would you bring home?
For two or three months now, I have been calling friends around the world, from France, Ireland, and Denmark, to see how their life is and understand if a more stable background would better support my work on brand activism. If you have a short-term focus, a purpose is merely an add-on, and at times I think an audience with a longer term focus would appreciate my interests more. Yet then I remember the ones in need here. The ones who are hungry, out living in the streets, or those who have a home but are eager to learn, who want to express their voices and want to be heard. I cannot close my eyes and think they do not exist.
I will soon be flying back home to Amsterdam for a short while. What I will be bringing back with me is what touch me most: real stories and my related ideas. These are my professional ingredient. As social scientists, creatives and marketeers – we are moulded by society, the people, and the organization around us. While we're knocking on the door of Web 3.0, I feel more increasingly every day that we are under one roof. Once the change in the rules of the game are acknowledge by all and the transition is over, anywhere will be our home. Meanwhile, all the opportunities are wrapped up here in this moment and space.
Candan Erçetin is a famous Turkish female singer, song writer. I came across this song just now and preferred to share it since so much matches with what I wanted to express here in this piece.