Barbara van Druten & Niki Koutouras: Winner of the 2024 Great Companies International Women Entrepreneur Award

Name: Barbara van Druten & Niki Koutouras

Business Name: ARTvertisements

Location: Leiden , Netherlands

Establishment (Year): 2012

Category: Advertising & Marketing

Profession/ Specialty: Visual Communication & Storytelling

Website/Social Media: ARTvertisements.com

Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-van-druten-92a0108/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/niki-koutouras-%E2%9C%A8-8a991717/

Company Detail:

ARTvertisements helps clients to market locations and optimize workplace environments with their innovative concept that synthesizes art with data and content, leading to the creation of beautiful storytelling digital collages. These are used in property windows, construction site hoardings, interiors of hotels and offices, shops, school playgrounds, as well as hospitals and public transport infrastructure e.g. cycle tunnels.

Their collages synthesize a myriad of individual images. Each image is carefully selected and edited. And subject to the requirements of the brief, integrate well-known sites, historical and educational data, buildings and landmarks, scannable QR codes and other relevant content.

Their work can be commissioned through a variety of channels: the landlord, the developer, the local council or in partnership with local retailers, public attractions, or Tourist Information/City Marketing functions. However it comes into fruition, the end result is a unique and successful form of advertising.

ARTvertisements is run by creative duo Barbara van Druten and Niki Koutouras.

Barbara graduated from the Art Academy of Maastricht and the VSUP; the Artacademy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague in the 90's and has since developed a deep expertise in illustration and graphic design, along with her renowned design aesthetic. Within ARTvertisements, founded in 2012 by Barbara; she is the artist of the digital collages, but there is also a lot of preliminary work done by both Barbara and Niki.

Archives need to be accessed, trajectories of communication and participation need to take place, images need to be preprocessed, sources need to be researched, etc. So, within the company, there are many varied tasks that they dedicate a lot of time, love, and attention to. Niki immerses herself in the technical/architectural drawings. She determines the look & feel of an interior and creates the color concepts and 3D artist impressions, where she excels. Niki has an international background in the fashion industry and has developed a deep expertise through her work as a retail designer for companies such as Scotch and Soda, Mc Gregor Group and Supertrash.

Unique Selling Proposition or Competitive Advantage:

One can buy artwork for decorating their space but that doesn’t differentiate them from the next brand or organization. Choosing the right visuals helps tell unique stories to the audience, whether they are customers, visitors, passengers, or employees.

ARTvertisments can help extend one's fingerprint to create a palpable feeling of what makes them different, in their space. Whether in conjunction with broader interior design refurbishments or in isolation.

Their collages synthesize a myriad of individual images. Each image is carefully selected and edited. And subject to the requirements of the brief, integrate historical and educational visuals and data, buildings and landmarks, scannable QR codes and other relevant content.

Challenges Faced During the Journey:

Their concept/product is very unique, but therefore people often don't know it

Advice for Women Entrepreneurs:

One of it would be that in a co-operation, to be completely transparent and always express thoughts, no matter how difficult.

Also, start small (Barbara started the business while being a single mum), don't invest what one doesn't have. Take risks but well judged.