As growth stalls and the planet strains, the brands that will remain won’t be the most desirable, but the most useful. These essential brands should rely on systems, values and quality which people trust and use, says designer David Johnston, founder of Accept & Proceed.
Hannah Bowler
Branded entertainment didn't live up to the early hype. Now, with ad performance dropping off and entertainment financing under strain, brands and producers are starting to look for each other once more. But how can these partnerships truly work for both parties in the future? Hannah Bowler reports.
Hannah Bowler
Global campaigns don’t fail on grammar when it comes to translations, they fail on nuance. This piece argues that translation gets you on the pitch, but only real cultural fluency turns a global brand into a local one people actually care about.
Contributor
In an era of fragmented media, brands are tempted to be everywhere at once. Pandora's marketing director Stephanie Legg argues for doing fewer things better. Here she discusses Schuh’s fight to regain cultural relevance to why CMOs must own the full funnel.
Hannah Bowler
The signals beneath the noise. We track slow culture, emerging scenes, and values shifts shaping how people live, work, play – and what that means for the products, media, and experiences they choose next.
After two decades of growth, Pinterest is stepping into the cultural spotlight – doubling down on experiential activations, product differentiation, and moments where the platform has a legitimate role to play, on and offline.
Hannah Bowler
Sport has stopped being just a sponsorship channel and has slowly but surely become the operating system for culture. Leagues, brands and athletes can all win if they treat every fan touchpoint as part of an always‑on, integrated experience, rather than a row of logos on shirts or around a pitch.
Alex Zeevalkink
Explore our archive of articles, interviews, and creative projects
Zalando’s James Rothwell on how a retailer learns to think like a publisher, why content and entertainment sit at the centre of its next chapter, and what it takes to turn a fashion platform into a broader lifestyle brand.
Hannah Bowler
A wave of AI-led change is colliding with old corporate models. In a recent talk, Dex Hunter‑Torricke argues that marketing leaders need to stop “winging it” on AI and start redesigning their roles, teams and systems for the future they actually want while change is still possible.
Hannah Bowler
