The Subthread

Time to Kill Portfolio Sprawl

Brand portfolios ballooned in a growth‑at‑all‑costs era. Now attention and budgets are tight, only the brands that truly earn their place should survive.

Claire Huxley

Jun 29, 2026 — 4 min read

No More Ivory Towers: The Creative Director Asking Brands to Actually Show Up for Fans

The Premier League’s only creative director doesn’t see himself as a sports marketer – and he thinks most clubs are stuck in an outdated idea of fandom.

Sport Culture

Rich Hewes

Jun 26, 2026 — 3 min read

Why Hasn't Anyone Built the AI Ad Machine?

Everyone’s predicting AI will automate advertising. But the companies best placed to prove it keep backing away. That gap, says Charles Swann, tells us something important about what this technology is really good for, and what it isn’t.

Tech

Charles Swann

Jun 25, 2026 — 4 min read

What is Fan Psychology? How Emotional Identity Drives Brand Loyalty

Fan psychology shows us why brand reactions so often feel extreme, understanding it will help marketers see that what feels irrational isn’t always.

Culture

Calvin Innes

Jun 24, 2026 — 5 min read

Uncut with Rosh Singh, CEO and Co-founder at Astral City

In Uncut, editor-in-chief Alex Zeevalkink sits down with agency leaders to dig into the realities of their roles, how they innovate, motivate, and where they believe the industry is headed. This week she talks to Rosh Singh, CEO and co-founder of creative technology studio Astral City.

Uncut Tech

Alex Zeevalkink

Jun 23, 2026 — 1 min read

Culture

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.

No More Ivory Towers: The Creative Director Asking Brands to Actually Show Up for Fans

The Premier League’s only creative director doesn’t see himself as a sports marketer – and he thinks most clubs are stuck in an outdated idea of fandom.

Sport Culture

Rich Hewes

Jun 26, 2026 — 3 min read

What is Fan Psychology? How Emotional Identity Drives Brand Loyalty

Fan psychology shows us why brand reactions so often feel extreme, understanding it will help marketers see that what feels irrational isn’t always.

Culture

Calvin Innes

Jun 24, 2026 — 5 min read

Drowning in the Group Chat at Dawn

Waking up to a flooded feed, we’re all sunrise editors now – deciding what gets forwarded, what gets killed, and which brands, if any, deserve a place in our day. What do brands have to do to make the cut?

Culture

James Kirkham

Jun 18, 2026 — 4 min read

Explore our archive of articles, interviews, and creative projects

Is Your Computer Hallucinating Correctly?

What does it mean to be a creative nowadays? Everyone’s training models to predict what people like. Fluoro’s Tim Smith argues instead for the unfashionable skill of actually having a point of view – and backing it when the data disagrees.

Creativity

Tim Smith

Jun 22, 2026 — 5 min read

Drowning in the Group Chat at Dawn

Culture

James Kirkham

Jun 18, 2026 — 4 min read

The Partnership Game with Robert Zitzmann, Managing Director and Partner at Jung von Matt Sports

Robert Zitzmann, managing director and partner at Jung von Matt Sports, has spent his career at the intersection of sport and advertising – and he's clear on what separates campaigns that get remembered from ones that just get made.

The Partnership Game Sport

Rich Hewes

Jun 17, 2026 — 1 min read

The Last Shared Screen

Live sport is the last shared screen in a fragmented culture. To matter there, brands must become cultural players – yet while many have capitalized on sport’s influence in retail and online culture, participation in the live moment itself is still wide open.

Sport