# The Subthread > For brands and agencies interested in what's next. The Subthread is an independent media & events company covering creativity, culture and innovation for the marketing industries Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About The Subthread URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/about/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T10:06:55.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/09/ABOUT_Creative_Huddle-2-1.jpg) ## About us ## **Hey, welcome to The Subthread!** Thanks for joining us and taking a look around our site. We’re The Subthread, an independent media and events company covering the intersection of creativity, culture and innovation for the marketing industries. Our mission is to help our audience navigate and make sense of what’s next and do that in a way you will actually enjoy. Unlike many others out there, we focus on original reporting only. The type of content that gives you true storytelling told by humans, whether it is long or short form, written or recorded. > “A sharp new independent publication covering the intersection of creativity, culture, and innovation. Proper thinking, great writing, and genuinely worth your time” — Roger Sho Gehrmann, VP Partnerships, MassiveMusic > “Cool very ‘now’ publication you should check out” — Wayne Deakin, Founder, Studio Deakin > “Thanks so much for a great evening. Looking forward to more in the future!” — The YeahNice team > “We need more Subthread energy on the internet (i.e. intentional, critical, thoughtful)” — Carmen Vicente, Social Strategist, Slate > “Fast becoming essential industry reading” — James Kirkham, Founder, Iconic > “If your job is to turn ‘what’s coming next’ into actual strategy, you should probably have The Subthread on your radar. Sharp stories at the intersection of tech, creativity and innovation” — Fran Pérez, Brand Strategy Consultant, FRKTL ‹ › By starting The Subthread we want to create a place where people can go deeper. Not just to track the next big thing, but to understand what it means, why it matters, and how you can put it into practice. Here’s how we’ll do it: - Share stories and insights that bring clarity to your everyday - Highlight the people and projects shaping the future of the creative industry - Explore the creative possibilities of new platforms and tools - Bring together leaders who act or are ready to act Our aim is to build a community, so we’re also hosting a range of curated gatherings – fun events that will give you lots of take outs and help you build a better network. There’s so much to learn, to explore, to dismiss even – and we’re here to help you make sense of it all while having a nice time along the way. Because, at our core, we believe in optimism as a creative and strategic force – a belief that technology, in the right hands, can unlock better ways of creating, building, and connecting. Will you join us for the ride? *Rich & Alex, co-founders of The Subthread* [Register Now](#/portal/signup/free) ### Advertise with us URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/advertise-with-us/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T12:24:40.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/09/ADVERTISE_Female_Creative_Leaders-1.jpg) ## Advertise With Us ## **Why Advertise With The Subthread?** The Subthread is where brand leaders, innovators, and creative decision-makers turn to make sense of what’s next. We sit at the intersection of creativity, culture, and innovation – reaching a forward-thinking audience that values depth, design, and direction. Through original reporting, video, events, and podcasting, we deliver insight to the people shaping the future of business and brand. By partnering with us, you’re aligning your message with a platform built to connect ambitious ideas with an influential community. It’s not just exposure, it’s meaningful engagement with marketers, innovation leads, creatives, and cultural strategists who are ready to act. Whether it’s through targeted placements on our site, sponsored podcast series, or bespoke event activations, we offer creative, strategic ways to get your brand into the right conversations. [Request Our 2026 Media Kit](mailto:advertise@thesubthread.com) **Our audiences include:** - CMOs, marketers and brand strategists - Creatives, storytellers, and culture-makers - Creative technologists and founders - Innovation and design leads **Opportunities include:** - Website and newsletter sponsorships - Podcast and video sponsorships - Branded activations - Event partnerships Interested in partnering with us? Get in touch now: [Advertise With Us ](mailto:advertise@thesubthread.com?subject=Advertise%20With%20Us) > “A sharp new independent publication covering the intersection of creativity, culture, and innovation. Proper thinking, great writing, and genuinely worth your time” — Roger Sho Gehrmann, VP Partnerships, MassiveMusic > “Cool very ‘now’ publication you should check out” — Wayne Deakin, Founder, Studio Deakin > “Thanks so much for a great evening. Looking forward to more in the future!” — The YeahNice team > “We need more Subthread energy on the internet (i.e. intentional, critical, thoughtful)” — Carmen Vicente, Social Strategist, Slate > “Fast becoming essential industry reading” — James Kirkham, Founder, Iconic > “If your job is to turn ‘what’s coming next’ into actual strategy, you should probably have The Subthread on your radar. Sharp stories at the intersection of tech, creativity and innovation” — Fran Pérez, Brand Strategy Consultant, FRKTL ‹ › ### Past events URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/past-events/ Last updated: 2026-09-12T11:40:46.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-37--1--1.jpg) ## The Subthread's Past Events Where ideas meet action ## Previous Events: ## Brands & Agencies Pub Quiz, SXSW London - 3 June 2026 ​During SXSW London, The Subthread teamed up with Electric Twin to host its first Brands & Agencies Pub Quiz in Old Street. We had over 10 teams from brands and agencies battling it out through five advertising themed rounds to be crowned the winner. ​A big thanks to our partner of the evening, [Electric Twin](https://www.electrictwin.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) *\- Ask your audience anything.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-25.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-29.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-31.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-39.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-45.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-47.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-72.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-90.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/SUB_PUB-91.jpg) --- ## Brand & Creator Partnerships, Community Evening - 15 Apr 2026 ​An evening for brand marketers and those working in partnerships and the influencer space. Two panel conversations held in a gorgeous pub in Soho, London, discussed what good looks like in the future of creator partnerships and sport partnerships. ​A big thanks to our drinks sponsor of the evening, [Artificial Societies](https://societies.io/?utm%5Fsource=luma) *\- insights with weight, for decisions that shape culture*. ### ​**When Brand Collabs Grow Up** - ​Dana Fletcher, brand partnerships & strategy, retail & lifestyle, TikTok - ​Ellie Hooper, global vice president growth, The Goat Agency - ​Pippa Ward, senior marketing manager, Odeon Cinemas - Alex Zeevalkink, editor-in-chief, The Subthread (host) [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDs7ooUvpCU&ref=thesubthread.com) ### **Beyond the Logo: Partnerships That Earn Their Stripes** - Oyin Akiniyi, global brand director, Chivas Regal - ​Alex Scotcher, commercial director, Tottenham Hotspur - ​Kahlen Macaulay, head of sports partnerships EMEA & APAC, Snap Inc - ​Rich Hewes, writer of The Sport Subthread (host) [Read Panel Write Up](https://www.thesubthread.com/how-sports-partnerships-are-evolving-from-logos-on-shirts-to-the-group-chat/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/DSC00628.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/IMG_2721-2.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/Untitled-design--8-.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/DSC00656.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/Untitled-design--7-.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/IMG_2732-2.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/IMG_2803.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/IMG_2782-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/04/IMG_2799.jpeg) --- ## Innovation Culture for Creatives, Community Evening - 10 Feb 2026 An evening for brand and agency leaders focused on turning emerging creative tech from buzzwords into practical, everyday advantage. Across two panel conversations speakers from Studio Deakin, Dept, Lyst and Buck shared how they’re experimenting, setting guardrails and reorganising teams to work smarter. ### ​**From Hype to Habit: Building a Sustainable Innovation Culture for Creatives** - Wayne Deakin, Founder, Studio Deakin - Jeff Bowerman, ECD, Dept - Host: Hannah Bowler, Journalist, The Subthread [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMjJpd9Fhac&ref=thesubthread.com) ### ​**Restructuring for Creative Scale: Just Because We Can Doesn’t Mean We Should** - Miyon Im, VP Editorial & Design, Lyst - Ellen Turnill Montoya, Associate Creative Director, Buck - Host: Alex Zeevalkink, Editor-in-chief, The Subthread [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3ovt2ZZr14&ref=thesubthread.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-7.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-17.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-27.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-70.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-75.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-78.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-107.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/SUBTHREAD_FEB-108.jpg) --- ## Future Makers, Community Evening - 21 Oct 2025 An intimate, after‑work event in Soho brought together marketers, brand leaders and creatives curious about what’s next in brand building. The evening mixed structured conversations with relaxed networking, all framed around how innovative brands stay ahead of culture and technology. ### Innovative Storytelling - ​Will Thacker - Co-founder - 20(Something) - ​Doddz - Artist & Founder - DIME - Host: Alex Zeevalkink, Editor-in-chief, The Subthread [Read Panel Write Up](https://www.thesubthread.com/emotion-first-how-tech-can-build-living-brands/) ### Building Brand Gravity - ​Katie McPhee - Product & Partner Marketing - Veed.io - ​Patrick Horan - Senior Brand Designer - Skyscanner - ​Sarah Booth - Global Marketing Director - Ancient + Brave - Host: Hannah Bowler, Editor, The Subthread [Read Panel Write Up](https://www.thesubthread.com/how-to-build-brands-that-stand-the-test-of-time/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-19--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-26.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-44.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-63.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-62.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-66.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-68.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-61.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD_LAUNCH-3.jpg) ### Privacy policy URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/privacy-policy/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T14:57:24.000Z ## Privacy Policy This privacy policy sets out how Subthread Media Ltd ("Subthread", "we", "us" or "our"), incl its brands The Subthread, Subthread Studios or Inspire, use and protect your personal data. --- ### **1\. IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND WHO WE ARE** This privacy policy gives you information about how Subthread Media Ltd collects and uses your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide when you register with us, sign up to our newsletter, purchase a product or service, attend an event we host or participate in, or interact with us on social media. This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children. **Controller** Subthread Media Ltd is the data controller and responsible for your personal data in accordance with this privacy policy. --- ### **2\. THE TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU** We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you including: - **Identity Data:** name, title, date of birth, gender. - **Contact Data:** address, email address, phone number. - **Financial Data:** bank account or payment card details. - **Transaction Data:** purchases, event bookings, payments. - **Technical Data:** IP address, browser type, time zone, device ID, platform. - **Profile Data:** login details, preferences, responses to surveys. - **Usage Data:** information on how you use our website and services. - **Marketing & Communications Data:** preferences for receiving communications. We may also collect and use aggregated data for statistical or research purposes, which is not considered personal data under the law. --- ### **3\. HOW IS YOUR PERSONAL DATA COLLECTED?** We collect personal data via: **Direct interactions:** When you: - Apply for our services - Subscribe to our newsletter - Engage with us on social media - Register for or attend our events - Contact us or provide feedback --- ### **4\. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA** **Legal basis:** We use your personal data on the following legal grounds: - **Performance of a contract** - **Legitimate interests** - **Legal obligations** - **Consent**, where required **Purposes:** | Purpose | Type of Data | Legal Basis | | ----------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Registering you as a customer or event attendee | Identity, Contact | Performance of a contract | | Processing orders or bookings | Identity, Contact, Financial, Transaction | Performance of a contract; Legitimate interest (debt recovery) | | Managing relationships | Identity, Contact, Profile | Contract; Legal obligation; Legitimate interest | | Running competitions, surveys or promotions | Identity, Contact, Profile, Usage | Contract; Legitimate interest | | Ensuring site security and business continuity | Identity, Contact, Technical | Legitimate interest; Legal obligation | | Personalising content and ads | Identity, Profile, Usage, Marketing | Legitimate interest | | Analytics and service improvements | Technical, Usage | Legitimate interest | | Marketing and promotional messaging | Identity, Profile, Usage, Marketing | Legitimate interest; Consent where applicable | **Direct marketing:** You will receive marketing communications from us if you’ve opted in or previously purchased from us and not opted out. You can unsubscribe anytime via the links in our messages. **Third-party marketing:** We will only share your data with third parties for their marketing purposes with your explicit consent. --- ### **5\. DISCLOSURES OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA** We may share your personal data with: - Service providers (e.g., Ghost, Stripe, Squarespace, Hubspot, [Lu.ma](http://lu.ma/?ref=thesubthread.com), and others) - Professional advisors (legal, financial) - Event partners or sponsors (where you’ve opted in) - Third parties in the event of a business restructure, sale, or acquisition All parties are bound by confidentiality and data protection obligations. --- ### **6\. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS** If we transfer your data outside the UK (e.g., using overseas service providers), we ensure it is protected through legally approved safeguards such as: - Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) - Binding Corporate Rules - Data transfer agreements --- ### **7\. DATA SECURITY** We have implemented appropriate security measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. Only authorised personnel and partners have access on a need-to-know basis. --- ### **8\. DATA RETENTION** We retain your personal data only as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, regulatory, or accounting obligations. We may anonymise personal data for research/statistics indefinitely. --- ### **9\. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS** You have rights under UK data protection laws, including: - Access your personal data - Request correction or deletion - Object to or restrict processing - Withdraw consent at any time - Data portability - Lodge a complaint with the ICO To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 10. --- ### **10\. CONTACT DETAILS** **Email:** data@thesubthread.com **Postal Address:** Subthread Media Ltd, Office, 31 Cattle Market Street, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom, NR1 3DY --- ### **11\. COMPLAINTS** You may raise a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at [www.ico.org.uk](https://www.ico.org.uk/?ref=thesubthread.com). We would however appreciate the chance to address your concerns first – please contact us directly. --- ### **12\. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY** This policy was last updated in **August 2026**. We may update it occasionally and encourage you to review it regularly. It’s important your personal data is up to date – please inform us of any changes. --- ### **13\. THIRD-PARTY LINKS** Our website may link to other sites or services. We are not responsible for their privacy policies. Please read those policies when visiting third-party websites. ### Subscription T&Cs URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/subscription-tcs/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T14:56:47.000Z ## Subscription T&Cs *Last updated: 1 Aug 2026* ### **1\. About These Terms** These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") govern your subscription to content and services provided by Subthread Media Ltd ("Subthread", "we", "us", or "our"). By subscribing, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not subscribe. ### **2\. What You’re Signing Up For** - Your subscription gives you access to digital editorial content, newsletters, and exclusive media produced by Subthread. - Access is for your personal, non-commercial use only. - All subscriptions are managed through Ghost. To manage your subscription or billing, visit your Ghost account. ### **3\. Subscription Plans and Payment** - Prices and billing cycles are clearly displayed before you confirm your subscription. - You’ll be billed in advance for each billing period (monthly, yearly, or other frequency you select). - Your subscription automatically renews unless you cancel before the end of the current period. ### **4\. Cancellation and Refunds** - You can cancel your subscription anytime via your Ghost account. - If you cancel, your access will continue until the end of the current billing period. - We do not offer refunds except where required by law. #### **Your Right to Cancel (UK Customers)** Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, you have a legal right to cancel your subscription within 14 days. However, by accessing our digital content immediately, you acknowledge that this right is waived. ### **5\. Acceptable Use** You agree not to: - Share, distribute, or reproduce our content beyond personal use. - Use our services for commercial purposes without permission. - Misrepresent your identity or pretend to be someone else when using our services. ### **6\. Intellectual Property** All content we publish is owned by or licensed to Subthread Media Ltd. You may not reuse or republish any material without written permission. ### **7\. Our Liability** - We provide our content on an "as-is" basis. We make no guarantees about availability, accuracy, or fitness for a particular purpose. - We’re not liable for indirect or consequential losses (like loss of income, data, or opportunity). - Our total liability to you will not exceed the amount you’ve paid in the last 12 months. ### **8\. Privacy** Your personal data is handled in line with our Privacy Policy. We comply with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. ### **9\. Platform Provider (Ghost)** - Your subscription is processed and managed via Ghost. - Please refer to Ghost’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for additional details. ### **10\. Contact** If you have any questions about your subscription, please email us at: [**accounts@thesubthread.com**](mailto:accounts@mysignalstudio.com) ### Contact Us URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/contact-us/ Last updated: 2025-10-27T15:46:09.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/zz_rico_A_man_sitting_on_a_robotic_horse_in_the_desert_smokin_439577e7-5124-4297-a61c-3b84e80130c0_2-1-1-2.png) ## Contact Us --- Questions, partnerships, or pitches – we’re just one message away. For editorial enquiries: Email us at [editorial@thesubthread.com](mailto:editorial@thesubthread.com) For partnership enquiries: Email us at [advertise@thesubthread.com](mailto:advertise@thesubthread.com) For event or podcast enquiries: Email us at [rich@thesubthread.com](mailto:rich@thesubthread.com) ### Welcome page URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/welcome-page/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T15:47:51.000Z _This page is for subscribers only._ ### Categories URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/categories/ Last updated: 2026-09-06T01:57:46.000Z ## Categories on The Subthread [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/09/Tags-for-website.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brand-building/) [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/5.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/creativity/) [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/3-1.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/culture/) [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/09/Tags-for-website--1-.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/leadership/) [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/6.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/marketing/) [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/01/Branding--1456-x-180-px-.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/sport/) [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/2-1.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/tech/) [ ![ACM logo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/4.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/productivity/) ### Team URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/team/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T23:41:49.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD-8-1-1.jpg) ## Meet The Team Meet our small but mighty team. Together we turn interviews into insight, events into communities and ideas into stories that marketers, brands and creatives actually want to come back to. If you are running an event and would like one of us to host or speak on a panel, please get in touch with us direct or [email to request specific speaker bios](mailto:editorial@thesubthread.com). ![Name 1](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD-50--1--2-1.jpg) ### Alex Zeevalkink - Co-founder, editor-in-chief & marketer With a background in journalism, digital publishing and brand strategy, Alex has spent years helping media brands and marketers find the sharpest version of their message and deliver it through engaged storytelling. Before co-founding The Subthread, she held senior roles at The Drum, Digital Frontier, and Broadcast, where she learned how to build content, communities and events that audiences show up for. Now she brings that experience to every story and every Subthread event, combining editorial instinct with a marketer’s eye for positioning, audience and impact – and a constant focus on why it matters right now. [alex@subthread.com ](mailto:alex@subthread.com) ![Name 2](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD-48--1--1-1.jpg) ### Rich Hewes - Co-founder, writer & head of partnerships Rich turns ideas into experiences you can see, hear, and feel. Co-founder of The Subthread and its head of partnerships and studio, he brings 17 years in publishing to a mission of making media that grabs attention and refuses to let go. A community-builder first and a multimedia maestro second, he's produced events that became the benchmarks of the broadcast industry and cultivated tribes of curious, creative people who actually show up. At The Subthread, he animates stories across video, audio, and visuals — and hosts The Partnership Game, the podcast series at the intersection of sport, brand, and culture. Outside production, he's connecting people, sparking ideas, and making media a little more human along the way. [rich@subthread.com ](mailto:rich@subthread.com) ![Name 3](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD-51--1--2-1.jpg) ### Hannah Bowler - Editor, producer & host Hannah is always looking for the why not just the what. Part reporter, part analyst she digs into the strategies, players, and platforms shaping the future of media and technology. Her reporting blends sharp analysis with a human lens, connecting the dots between innovation, culture, and impact. Not beholden to one format, Hannah likes to tell stories in whatever medium suits the narrative - be it audio, video, online or print. [hannah@subthread.com ](mailto:hannah@subthread.com) ![Name 4](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/10/SUBTHREAD-49-1-1.jpg) ### Ben Mills - Filmmaker A filmmaker with more than 20 years of experience, Ben brings cinematic quality and creative direction to every project - from documentaries to product films to podcasts and live events. With a master’s degree in Graphic Design and Communications and training from the New York Film Academy, Ben bridges design thinking and storytelling craft. His background means every frame is considered - not just for how it looks, but how it communicates. [ben@subthread.com ](mailto:ben@subthread.com) ### ### The Subthread Salons URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-subthread-salons/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T12:50:51.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/11/IMG_3543-1-1.JPG) ## Salons ## Our Dinner Club: The Subthread Salons The Subthread founders love connecting over good food and drinks and thus we created The Subthread Salons. Intimate dinners built for proper conversation. The idea for these dinners came from the 18th‑century idea clubs and we’ve rebooted them for today. They’re our modern take on those Parisian salons where writers, artists and contrarians traded ideas over good food and wine – now with agency folk, brand leaders, futurists, strategists and creatives sharing a table. We keep it tight: one table, smart, curious people, a short toast and a few prompts or surprises. What you will not find at our salons are name badges, presentations or sales pitches. Just a hosted conversation and a bill we'll take care off. > **"Exactly the threads from the recent past people yearn for again… the ideas of the Salon has never been more relevant"** \- James Kirkham, Founder, Iconic ### How It Works We host a handful of Salons each year, most of them in London. Each one is themed, free to attend and invite-only so the mix around the table feels surprising (in a good way). If this sounds like your kind of night and you’d like to be in the mix for a future Salon, add your details to the short form below and tell us a little about what you’re working on. We’ll use that to curate groups of people who can genuinely learn from – and delight – each other. If you’re a good fit for an upcoming dinner, we’ll be in touch with dates, themes and guests. If not, we’ll keep you in mind for future tables. ### Salons for Brands and Teams If you’d like to bring this format into your own world, we also host bespoke Salons for brands and teams – built around the themes you care about, with the guests you’d like around the table. For more information, please get in touch with [Rich](mailto:rich@thesubthread.com). ### Our Story URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/our-story/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T15:44:40.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/12/SUBTHREAD-37--2--1.jpg) ## Our Story We started The Subthread after one too many conferences that felt like déjà vu. We’re two ex‑journalists turned media folk with marketing in our DNA, who’ve earned our stripes at places like The Drum, Digital Frontier, and Broadcast Magazine. We crossed paths for years, joked about starting something of our own, and then – on a sunny terrace in the summer of 2025, fuelled by a couple of very strong G&Ts – we stopped joking. We kept seeing great titles close down and too many others lean into press release rewrites and clickbait. The stuff that’s easy to publish, but doesn’t help anyone. So we asked around: we invited marketers, creatives, and innovators to a few London pubs and listened. What do you need? What’s missing? What are you sick of? What we heard was that people want optimistic, future‑facing, genuinely useful content. Plain‑spoken ideas and more honest reporting. They didn’t want us to just track the next big thing, but to understand why it matters and how to put it into practice. So that’s the gap we decided to close. We champion human‑led creativity while embracing the most exciting innovative thoughts across the marketing industries. You won’t find spectacle for spectacle’s sake at our events, no virality for virality’s sake in our headlines. Just substance, clarity, and a community of people who are forward-thinking doers. And yes, as said, we plan to have fun. If you’re leaving your sofa for an evening with us, it should be worth it. This means laid-back settings, drinks, foods and laughs. If this sounds like you, come join us. We’re building The Subthread together with our audience and we’d love you along for the ride. See you at a [Subthread Salon](https://www.thesubthread.com/the-subthread-salons/), one of our [Community Evenings](https://www.thesubthread.com/events/) or in your inbox soon. *Alex & Rich, co-founders of The Subthread* ### Sponsorship Standard Terms URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/sponsorship-standard-terms/ Last updated: 2026-08-17T11:47:11.000Z ## SUBTHREAD MEDIA LTD STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS --- ## **PART A – SPONSORSHIP AND MEDIA** *The following terms apply where the Contract Details specify that the Company is providing sponsorship rights, media inventory or event activations to the Sponsor.* ## 1\. Definitions In this Agreement, the following capitalised words and expressions have the meanings set out below. Other capitalised words used in this Agreement have the meanings given to them in the Contract Details. **Anti-Bribery Legislation** All applicable laws, regulations and codes relating to bribery and corruption. **Business Day** A day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in England. **Company** Subthread Media Ltd. **Confidential Information** All information disclosed by one Party to the other which is confidential or proprietary in nature. **Content** All advertising, promotional, branding, sponsorship, editorial or marketing material supplied by or on behalf of the Sponsor or created by or on behalf of the Company for the purposes of delivering the Sponsorship Benefits, in any media or format. **Data Protection Laws** All applicable laws relating to data protection, privacy and electronic communications. **Delegate** Any individual attending, accessing or engaging with any Event or Media Property on behalf of the Sponsor, where applicable. **Event(s)** Any live, virtual or hybrid event organised, hosted or delivered by the Company as part of the Sponsorship Benefits, where applicable. **Event Hosting Platform(s)** Any digital, online or third-party platform used to host, distribute or deliver Events or other Media Properties. **Event Marks** The names, logos, trademarks and branding of the Company relating to any Event or Media Property. **Event Venue** Any physical location used for an Event, where applicable. **Fee** The sponsorship fee payable by the Sponsor as set out in the Contract Details. **Force Majeure** Circumstances beyond the reasonable control of a Party which prevent or materially hinder performance of this Agreement. **GDPR** The UK General Data Protection Regulation and EU Regulation 2016/679. **Group Company** Any company that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a Party. **Intellectual Property Rights** All intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, database rights and design rights. **Losses** All losses, damages, costs, claims, liabilities and expenses. **Media Property / Media Properties** Any platform, channel, publication, website, podcast, newsletter, event, digital product, mailing list, video stream, social media account or other media owned, operated, licensed or controlled by the Company. **Modern Slavery** Slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking. **Party** Each of the Company and the Sponsor. **Registration Details** Any registration, access, login or identification details required for access to an Event or Media Property. **Sponsorship Benefits** The sponsorship rights, advertising placements, integrations, promotions, endorsements, branded content or other sponsorship activations to be provided by the Company under this Agreement, as set out in the Contract Details. **Sponsor Marks** The trademarks, logos and branding of the Sponsor. **Sponsor’s Designated Space** Any physical, digital or virtual space, placement or inventory allocated to the Sponsor as part of the Sponsorship Benefits. **Term** The duration of this Agreement as set out in the Contract Details. **Termination Date** The date on which this Agreement terminates. --- ## 2\. Sponsorship Benefits 2.1 The Company shall provide the Sponsorship Benefits to the Sponsor on the terms of this Agreement. Sponsorship Benefits may be delivered through live, digital, recorded or hybrid formats and may relate to Events and/or Media Properties. 2.2 If the Company is unable to deliver any Sponsorship Benefit as originally agreed, it shall notify the Sponsor as soon as reasonably practicable and use reasonable endeavours to provide alternative benefits of equivalent value. 2.3 The Sponsor shall comply promptly with all reasonable instructions issued by the Company in connection with the delivery, publication or promotion of the Sponsorship Benefits. --- ## 3\. Content 3.1 All Content is subject to the Company’s prior written approval. 3.2 The Sponsor shall promptly withdraw or amend any Content which has not been approved or which the Company reasonably requires to be removed. 3.3 If the Fee (or any part of it) has not been received by the applicable Content deadline, the Company shall not be obliged to publish, distribute or deliver any Sponsorship Benefits. 3.4 Content must comply with all technical, editorial and formatting requirements specified by the Company. 3.5 The Company may edit or refuse any Content to comply with legal, regulatory, platform-specific or editorial standards. 3.6 Where the Company produces Content on behalf of the Sponsor, drafts shall be submitted for approval, subject to the Company’s right to make reasonable compliance-driven edits. 3.7 The Sponsor warrants that all Content complies with all applicable laws and advertising regulations and does not infringe any third-party rights. --- ## 4\. Intellectual Property Rights 4.1 The Company grants the Sponsor a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-transferable licence to use the Company’s marks solely to promote the sponsorship. 4.2 The Sponsor grants the Company a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-transferable licence to use the Sponsor Marks for the delivery and promotion of the Sponsorship Benefits. 4.3 Neither Party shall use the other Party’s Intellectual Property Rights outside the scope of this Agreement without prior written consent. --- ## 5\. Invoicing and Payments 5.1 The Company shall invoice the Sponsor for the Fee as set out in the Contract Details. 5.2 Unless otherwise stated, invoices are payable within 30 days of issue. 5.3 Fees are exclusive of VAT. VAT shall be payable upon receipt of a valid VAT invoice. 5.4 Late payments shall accrue interest at 4% per annum above the Bank of England base rate. 5.5 All payments shall be made without set-off or deduction unless required by law. --- ## 6\. Company Obligations 6.1 The Company shall use reasonable skill and care in delivering the Sponsorship Benefits. 6.2 The Company may reasonably amend the format, timing, platform or delivery method of the Sponsorship Benefits, including substituting digital delivery or alternative Media Properties. --- ## 7\. Sponsor Obligations 7.1 The Sponsor shall ensure its representatives comply with this Agreement. 7.2 The Sponsor shall not act in a manner which brings the Company, any Media Property or any Sponsorship Activation into disrepute. 7.3 The Sponsor shall not engage in joint promotions relating to the Sponsorship without the Company’s prior written consent. --- ## 8\. Confidentiality 8.1 Each Party shall keep the other Party’s Confidential Information confidential and use it solely for the purposes of this Agreement. 8.2 Confidentiality obligations shall not apply to information that is public, lawfully obtained from a third party, or required to be disclosed by law. --- ## 9\. Data Protection 9.1 Each Party shall comply with all applicable Data Protection Laws. 9.2 Personal data may be processed for administration, delivery, reporting, invoicing, analytics and feedback relating to the Sponsorship Benefits. --- ## 10\. Cancellation or Modification 10.1 If any Event, Media Property or Sponsorship Activation is cancelled, materially altered or discontinued, the Company may substitute an alternative of equivalent value. 10.2 Where substitution is not reasonably possible, the Sponsor’s sole remedy shall be a pro-rata refund relating to the affected Sponsorship Benefits. --- ## 11\. Force Majeure 11.1 Neither Party shall be liable for failure or delay caused by Force Majeure. 11.2 If performance is prevented for a prolonged period, the Parties shall discuss a reasonable resolution. --- ## 12\. Technical Matters 12.1 The Company does not guarantee uninterrupted access, reach, impressions, downloads or engagement metrics. 12.2 The Company shall not be liable for third-party platform outages or technical failures beyond its control. --- ## 13\. Anti-bribery and Corruption Each Party shall comply with Anti-Bribery Legislation and maintain appropriate policies and procedures. --- ## 14\. Modern Slavery Each Party shall take reasonable steps to prevent Modern Slavery within its operations and supply chains. --- ## 15\. Indemnities 15.1 The Sponsor shall indemnify the Company against Losses arising from Sponsor Content or breach of this Agreement. 15.2 The Company shall indemnify the Sponsor against Losses arising from the Company’s breach of Data Protection obligations. --- ## 16\. Limitation of Liability 16.1 Nothing limits liability for death, personal injury or fraud. 16.2 Neither Party shall be liable for indirect or consequential losses. --- ## 17\. Termination 17.1 Either Party may terminate for material breach not remedied within a reasonable period. 17.2 Termination shall not affect accrued rights or obligations. --- ## 18\. Assignment 18.1 The Company may assign or subcontract this Agreement. 18.2 The Sponsor may not assign without prior written consent, save to an affiliate or purchaser of its business. --- ## 19\. Governing Law This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction. --- ## **PART B — FILMING AND PRODUCTION SERVICES** *The following terms apply where the Contract Details specify that the Company is providing filming, production or post-production services to the Client. In the event of conflict between this Part B and the terms above, this Part B shall prevail in relation to those services.* --- ## 20\. Filming and Production Services ## Scope of Services 20.1 Where agreed in the Contract Details, the Company shall provide some or all of the following services (the "Production Services"): on-site event filming; interview and talking-head shoots; post-production and editing; and delivery of final assets including cut-downs, social clips and other agreed formats. 20.2 The specific deliverables, timelines, formats and any technical specifications shall be agreed in writing between the Parties prior to commencement of the Production Services. 20.3 Any material changes to the agreed scope, including additional shoot days, significant changes to edit structure or additional deliverable formats, shall be subject to a separate written change order and may attract additional fees. --- ## Client Obligations 20.4 The Client shall provide the Company with all reasonable access, permissions and cooperation required to carry out the Production Services, including access to venues, personnel and any third-party materials required. 20.5 The Client shall be responsible for obtaining all necessary third-party consents, venue permissions, and releases from any individuals featured in the footage, unless otherwise agreed in writing. 20.6 The Client shall review and provide consolidated feedback on any draft edits within the timeframe specified in the Contract Details. Failure to provide feedback within the agreed timeframe may result in delays, for which the Company shall bear no liability. 20.7 The Client shall ensure that any materials, branding, music or other content supplied to the Company for inclusion in deliverables are cleared for use and do not infringe any third-party rights. --- ## Revision and Approval 20.8 Unless otherwise stated in the Contract Details, the Company shall provide up to two rounds of revisions per deliverable following initial delivery of a draft edit. 20.9 Additional revision rounds requested by the Client beyond those included in the agreed scope may be charged at the Company's standard day rate or as otherwise agreed in writing. 20.10 Final assets shall be deemed approved and accepted by the Client if no written objection is received within five Business Days of delivery of the final version. --- ## Intellectual Property in Production Services 20.11 All raw footage, rushes and working files captured or created by the Company in the course of delivering the Production Services shall remain the property of the Company unless otherwise agreed in writing. 20.12 Upon receipt of payment in full, the Company grants the Client a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use the agreed final deliverables for the purposes set out in the Contract Details. 20.13 The Company reserves the right to use footage, stills and final deliverables in its own portfolio, showreel and promotional materials unless the Client expressly requests otherwise in writing prior to commencement of the Production Services. 20.14 The Client shall not alter, re-edit or create derivative works from the final deliverables without the Company's prior written consent. --- ## Delivery and Archiving 20.15 Final deliverables shall be delivered in the formats and via the method specified in the Contract Details. The Company shall not be liable for compatibility issues arising from the Client's systems or platforms. 20.16 The Company shall retain raw footage and project files for a period of 30 days following final delivery, after which such materials may be deleted. Longer archiving arrangements may be agreed separately and may attract additional fees. 20.17 Risk in delivered files passes to the Client upon delivery to the agreed transfer location. --- ## Cancellation and Postponement 20.18 If the Client cancels a confirmed shoot or production engagement with less than five Business Days' notice, the Company reserves the right to retain any deposit paid and to charge a cancellation fee of up to 50% of the remaining Fee attributable to that engagement. 20.19 If the Client postpones a confirmed shoot, the Company shall use reasonable endeavours to accommodate the new date, subject to availability. Any additional costs arising from the postponement shall be borne by the Client. 20.20 If the Company is unable to deliver the Production Services due to circumstances within its control, it shall use reasonable endeavours to reschedule or provide a suitable alternative. Where this is not possible, the Client's sole remedy shall be a pro-rata refund of the Fee attributable to the undelivered services. --- ## 21\. Retainer Arrangements ## Scope and Application 21.1 Where the Contract Details specify that the Production Services are to be provided on a retainer basis, the terms of this Section 21 shall apply in addition to Section 20 and shall prevail in the event of any conflict. 21.2 A retainer arrangement means the Company agrees to provide an agreed scope of Production Services on a recurring basis over a fixed term, as set out in the Contract Details (the "Retainer Term"). Unless otherwise stated, the standard Retainer Term is six months from the Effective Date. 21.3 The specific services, volume, frequency and deliverables included within the retainer shall be agreed in writing at the outset and set out in the Contract Details. Services not included within the agreed retainer scope may be quoted and invoiced separately. --- ## Fees and Payment 21.4 The retainer fee shall be payable monthly in advance on the dates set out in the Contract Details. The Company shall have no obligation to commence or continue delivery of services in any month in which the retainer fee has not been received by the due date. 21.5 Retainer fees are fixed for the duration of the Retainer Term and are not contingent on the volume of services actually used by the Client in any given month. Unused capacity in any month does not carry over or entitle the Client to a credit or refund. 21.6 At the end of the Retainer Term, the Company may propose revised fees for any renewal period. If no renewal is agreed, the Agreement shall expire at the end of the Retainer Term unless otherwise agreed in writing. --- ## Minimum Term and Cancellation 21.7 The Client commits to the full Retainer Term as set out in the Contract Details. The retainer may not be cancelled, suspended or terminated early by the Client except in the circumstances set out in clause 21.8. 21.8 The Client may terminate the retainer early only in the event of a material breach by the Company that remains unremedied for 14 days following written notice. In all other circumstances, all retainer fees for the remainder of the Retainer Term shall remain due and payable in full. 21.9 For the avoidance of doubt, the Client shall not be entitled to withhold or reduce retainer fees on the basis that it no longer requires the services, has reduced internal activity, or has engaged a third party to provide similar services. 21.10 The Company may terminate the retainer early in the event of the Client's material breach or failure to pay any invoice within 14 days of its due date, without prejudice to any amounts already owed. --- ## Renewal 21.11 Unless either Party gives written notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before the end of the Retainer Term, the retainer shall automatically renew for a further period of the same duration on the same terms, subject to any fee adjustments agreed under clause 21.6. 21.12 Either Party may opt out of automatic renewal by providing written notice no later than 30 days before the end of the then-current Retainer Term. --- # Execution This Agreement is executed by the Parties as of the Effective Date set out in the Contract Details. ### Our events URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/events/ Last updated: 2026-02-24T10:58:41.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/09/EVENTS_Creative_Industry_Party.jpg) ## Events Where ideas meet action ## Join Our Community At The Subthread, our high-touch events bring the marketing and advertising worlds together to explore creativity, culture, and innovation – and to exchange ideas, spark fresh thinking, and shape what comes next [Register for Future Events](https://luma.com/thesubthread?ref=thesubthread.com) Through thoughtfully curated gatherings, panels, live recordings, and intimate salons, we connect brand leaders, marketers, innovators and the creatives with the voices and visions driving change across industries. From storytelling with emerging tech to the future of brand building, our events explore the intersection of creativity, culture, and innovation – with optimism, insight, and intention. > “Aside from the great conversation, being in an intimate space, talking about our craft and culture, with great people, was truly refreshing in this era” — Katie McPhee, Founder Expanded Future > “A great event! Fantastic speakers and a really nice space” — Liah Moss, Senior Creative Manager, Picsart > “Thanks so much for a great evening. Looking forward to more in the future!” — The YeahNice team ‹ › [Register for Future Events](https://luma.com/thesubthread?ref=thesubthread.com) ### Pitch The Subthread URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/pitch-the-subthread/ Last updated: 2026-05-09T11:52:36.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/Journalist-behind-desk-taking-a-call-in-the-80s-4-1.png) ## Pitch The Subthread ## What We're Looking For We cover the people, ideas and experiments shaping the future of marketing – from brands and agencies to platforms, studios and side projects. We update our focus over time, but we’re always keen to hear from professionals who’d like to contribute, particularly senior strategists, creatives and marketers. Contributions can happen either by offering op‑eds, giving your time for features or podcasts, or joining us on panels at events. For sponsorship opportunities, email [Advertising](mailto:advertising@thesubthread.com) For editorial tips, suggestions or recommendations, email [Editorial](mailto:editorial@thesubthread.com) For more details on what we're currently looking for, please read this page. **On this page:** - [Podcasts](#podcasts) - [Features](#features) - [Op‑Eds](#op-eds) - [How To Pitch Us](#how-to-pitch-us) - [Newsletter Material](#newsletter-material) - [Residencies](#seeking-residencies) - [Event Speakers](#event-speakers) - [Partnerships and Commercial Ideas](#partnerships-and-commercial-ideas) --- ## Podcasts These are the podcast formats we currently have in the works: **Culture Code** A series spotlighting artists and designers experimenting at the edge of creativity and technology – and what their work can teach brands. We’re ideally looking for people who are able to come to North London to film these in person. **Brandmakers** This show highlights some of the most innovative brands and the people behind them, digging into how they actually make things happen. For seasons 3 we’d love to hear from forward thinking senior marketers working for household names, who are willing to discuss their work and methods. **Uncut** A conversational podcast about independent agencies, featuring honest and fun conversations with agency leaders about staying innovative, navigating shifting market realities, and their ideas on shaping the future. We’d love to hear from you if you work for an agency in a senior capacity and would like to be interviewed by us on camera at your offices. Expect a conversation that extends beyond what the agency does and dives into subjects like career building, inspiration, innovation and motivation. **The Partnership Game** The Partnership Game dives into the most interesting collaborations across sport and beyond – unpacking how brands, rights holders, agencies and cultural voices come together to create work that resonates with fans and audiences. Through candid conversations with the people behind the partnerships, each episode explores business ambition, creative thinking and cultural relevance. It’s about understanding not just what worked, but why and what it signals for where things are heading next. --- ## Features We’re always on the lookout for people who have something interesting to talk about that can help develop the mindset of others within the marketing and creative industries. Perhaps you’ve recently worked on a new design system and approached it in a different way. Maybe you’re about to launch a truly innovative campaign and can talk about the mindset in the business that made this happen. Or perhaps you and your team are exploring innovative ways of collaborating that have given you a new competitive edge and signal a new way of thinking and working. If this sounds like you, drop us a line and we can discuss setting up an interview – or we can decide together whether your topic is better suited to come from you directly in the form of an op‑ed. **Other content series we are currently developing and for which we are open to pitches are:** **Brand Archives** We’re starting a series that dives into the archives of well‑known B2C brands. Take us behind the scenes to tell a story of innovation and progress fuelled by nostalgia. If you can show us how your brand learns, innovates and grows, drop us a line. **Non‑endemic Sports Partnerships** As we’re gearing up our coverage of the world of sports, we’d love brands, rights holders or agencies to sit down with us for an interview and discuss their recent partnership work and the thinking behind it. We’re equally interested in those who can share thoughts on sports as culture. **Nostalgic and Innovative Campaigns** We’re on the hunt for people who are happy to share the stories behind their old campaigns with us. What made them innovative at the time? How do you look back at them now, and what have you learned since? Was it the first time you used CGI, or the first time you created something for Twitter? Did you experiment with an emerging platform, a new production method or an unusual media buy? We’d love to hear about the cultural or industry shift it responded to. What did you have to fight for internally? What (honestly) went wrong? And how would you approach the same idea if you made it today? Get in touch if you’re happy to share your old work and the thinking behind it for publication on our site. **We’re probably *not* the best fit for:** - Standard funding / hiring / office opening announcements. - Generic ‘state of the industry’ commentary with no fresh insight. - Product launches or updates with no creative or cultural angle. - Content written entirely by AI. - Purely self‑promotional pieces or sly product‑placement articles. --- ## Op‑Eds We love hearing from people who think, create and make change possible. Aim for strong, well‑argued points of view, not generic fluff – and be brave enough to supply examples or evidence. If it’s more of a case‑study‑style piece, make sure it gives an honest breakdown of a campaign or experiment and tells us what you tried, what worked and what didn’t. **What makes a good pitch for us?** - **It’s true thought leadership** – Your article offers readers a way to expand their horizon and challenges their current thinking. - **There’s a clear tension or question highlighting a new approach:** for example, “How X brand is using lo‑fi production values deliberately as a business strategy.” - **It reveals process, not just outcomes:** “How our in‑house team rebuilt our briefing process to work better with AI tools.” - **It says something about the industry:** “What XYZ’s campaign approach says about how Gen Z’s view of nostalgia is slowly changing.” - **It’s specific, not vague:** Data points, results or behaviour changes – we’re here for it, even if they’re directional (“3x uplift in saves vs likes”). If you give us a short outline of your thought process in an email and we green‑light it, we’ll work with you on the piece to ensure it resonates with – and is useful to – our audience. **Who we love hearing from** We especially love hearing from: - In‑house creative and marketing teams - Independent studios - Brand‑side marketers trying interesting, slightly risky things - Producers, strategists, technologists and makers who usually sit behind the scenes - Communities, curators and small projects with something to say about creative culture - Those working on sports partnerships who can give their take on recent deals or cultural moments --- ## How To Pitch Us - **Subject line:** Pitch: Brand / person – short angle - **In 3–4 sentences:** What’s the story, and why now? - **Format:** Are you looking for an interview, offering some thoughts, writing an op‑ed or suggesting someone for our podcasts? - **Key details:** Who’s involved (brand, agency, studio, individuals)? What, where, why and how? - **Why it fits The Subthread:** One line tying it back to creativity, culture or innovation in marketing. - **What access you can offer:** People we can interview, data you can share, assets (stills, video, behind‑the‑scenes, decks). **Email pitches to:** [Editorial](mailto:editorial@thesubthread.com) We read every pitch, but due to volume we can only reply to the ones we’re taking forward. --- ## Newsletter Material **The Subthread Weekly** Every Thursday we put together a newsletter for our community. We love adding fun elements to give our audience extra creative inspiration. If you’ve seen a fun post, launched a wild campaign or have a cracking side project the industry will enjoy, [drop us a line](mailto:editorial@thesubthread.com) and include “Thursday’s Creative Inspiration” in the subject line, with a link to the work and a few lines on why we should include it. **The Sport Subthread** A weekly newsletter for people using sport to track where culture is heading – and where the opportunities are. It sits alongside The Subthread, looking at sport through the same lens: culture, creativity and what’s next. We're actively looking for quest writers for this newsletter. If you have your finger on the pulse when it comes to sport and culture, [email us](mailto:editorial@thesubthread.com) --- ## Seeking Residencies The Subthread team is a small team of four, but we aim to come together once or twice a week in central London. We enjoy visiting agencies and finding out how people work, innovate and think. If your office has great internet, a few spare desks, some welcoming faces and you’d like to host us and show us behind the scenes, we’d love to hear from you. We’re now booking month‑long residencies for the year ahead. Fear not: we don’t gossip or post things we hear around the watercooler, and we’re happy to sign NDAs. --- ## Event Speakers We always plan ahead and would love to hear from speakers who are experts in their field and willing to part with their time in exchange for a fun evening with us, food, drinks and the chance to connect with likeminded people in our community. All our events are filmed and shared with attendees and readers of The Subthread after the event has taken place, and we aim to publish write‑ups of all panels. Email [Editorial](mailto:editorial@thesubthread.com) and include “Speaker Suggestion” in the subject line and a bio in the main body. We’ll keep these on file and reach out if we have suitable opportunities. --- ## Partnerships and Commercial Ideas If you’re interested in working with us on sponsored content, editorially‑led partnerships, live events or community‑driven experiments, email [Advertising](mailto:advertising@thesubthread.com) with “Partnership” in the subject line. We’re interested in collaborations that feel useful and thoughtful for our audience, and we’ll work with you to ensure your brand gets the most meaningful exposure to the right people. ### The Subthread Podcasts URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-subthread-podcasts-videos-shows/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T11:01:43.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/07/u5585895963_podcast_recording_woman_interviewing_a_late_twent_078a5d5d-5118-4b8f-8b80-be3c54ae0c9e_0--1--3.png) ## Shows Welcome to The Subthread's podcasts and video collection, this is your home to a growing line-up of shows on the future of marketing and advertising. Across our series we talk to innovative marketers, creatives, founders, rights holders and strategists who have made their mark on the industry and can help us figure out what's next. [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/07/Podcast-cover-YT.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers/) ### Brandmakers Brandmakers explores the world’s most innovative brands and the people driving them forward. Each episode, The Subthread's editor and host of the series Hannah Bowler is joined by brand leaders to uncover the strategies and ideas keeping their brands culturally relevant. [ \- Watch Brandmakers ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers/) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/06/Podcast-Cover-Art--1400-x-700-px---2-.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/the-partnership-game/) ### The Partnership Game Rich Hewes and guests from across the sports advertising ecosystem talk about the brands, people and partnerships that are shaping both sports and culture. [\- Watch The Partnership Game ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/the-partnership-game/) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/06/Uncut--1-.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/) ### Uncut In The Subthread’s 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 next. [\- Watch Uncut ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/) [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/07/Podcast-Cover-Art--8-.png) ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/culture-code/) ### Culture Code The series featuring artists, designers, and technologists who are pushing the boundaries of creativity with tech and asks what the rest of us can learn from their experiments. [\- Coming soon ](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/culture-code/) ### Brandmakers Podcast URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T16:07:17.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1yw0fKZAEjoN4Rz8Lf7jXj?ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brandmakers/id1885174166?ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGCd8wDy4oBiCRqAH5fiQhJaEBRulgP-G&ref=thesubthread.com) The Brandmakers podcast is a series exploring the world’s most innovative brands and the people driving them forward. Each episode, The Subthread's editor and host of the series Hannah Bowler will be joined by brand leaders to uncover the strategies and ideas keeping their brands culturally relevant. Brandmakers goes beyond origin stories, diving into ongoing culture, design, product and tech decisions that form a brand's long-term success. From bold strategies to breakthrough ideas, Hannah uncovers what keeps these brands at the cutting edge. ## Season 1 Episodes: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/03/Podcast-cover-eps-3.png) ### Ep 1\. Kea Kleihauer, senior manager global culture and experiential marketing at Jägermeister In this episode of Brandmakers Hannah is joined by Kea Kleihauer from Jägermeister who talks about how long-term cultural investment builds keeps brands relevant and creates genuine value in scenes where traditional advertising falls flat. [\- Listen to the episode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-podcast-kea-kleihauer-senior-manager-global-culture-and-experiential-marketing-at-jagermeister/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/03/Podcast-cover-eps--2--2.png) ### Ep 2\. Ruth Henriquez, head of partnerships and licensing at Mattel In this episode we hear from Ruth Henriquez, who oversees the IP behind brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, Uno and Masters of the Universe. She explains how Mattel is shifting from a product-led business to an IP-led one in the post-Barbie movie era. [\- Listen to the epsiode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-podcast-ruth-henriquez-head-of-partnerships-and-licensing-at-mattel/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/03/Podcast-cover-eps--3-.png) ### Ep 3\. Louise Foley, director of marketing, Europe at Pinterest In this episode we hear from Louise Foley, who is director of marketing, Europe at Pinterest. Louise and Hannah get stuck into the subject of trends and signals, and what marketers need to do to stay on the right side of cultural relevance. She also detailed her own marketing strategy and her push into fun and meaningful experiential events. [\- Listen to the episode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-louise-foley-director-of-marketing-europe-at-pinterest/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/04/Podcast-cover-eps.png) ### Ep 4\. Paul Ridsdale, director of brand & marketing at ITV Paul Ridsdale has been marketing the British broadcaster ITV for over 17 years, and has been a part of its journey from a TV channel to a streaming service and content creator. In this episode we dig into the rise of the “browsing audience” and what that shift means for how modern viewers discover and connect with content. [\- Listen to the episode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-paul-ridsdale-director-of-brand-marketing-at-itv/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/04/Podcast-cover-eps--1-.png) ### Ep 5\. Jeremy Jones, global head of creative at Intuit Mailchimp In this episode our host Hannah Bowler sits down with Jeremy Jones, global head of creative at Intuit Mailchimp. Jeremy shares his secret to fostering creativity within his in-house team. There's group trips to galleries and museums, arts and crafts sessions and carved out space in the working day to experiment with tools and techniques. And the results are there for all to see. [\- Listen to the episode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-jeremy-jones-global-head-of-creative-at-intuit-mailchimp/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/04/Podcast-cover-eps--3-.png) ### Ep 6\. Stephanie Legg, director of marketing UK at Pandora Stephanie joins Brandmakers after wrapping up a stint as chief marketer at footwear retailer Schuh where she was behind a radical new positioning, and starting a new venture as the UK's director of marketing at jewellery brand Pandora. After a decade at the Arcada Group during its glory years, Stephanie knows what it takes to build strong brands but also understands boardroom tensions and how to fight for investment in upper funnel marketing. [\- Listen to the episode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-stephanie-legg-director-of-marketing-at-pandora/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/05/Podcast-cover-eps--4-.png) ### Ep 7\. James Rothwell, SVP marketing UK at Zalando Zalando’s James Rothwell talks about turning a retailer into a publisher, why content and entertainment sit at the centre of its next chapter, and how a fashion platform becomes a broader lifestyle brand. [\- Listen to the episode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-james-rothwell-senior-vice-president-marketing-at-zalando/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/size/w2000/2026/05/Podcast-cover-eps--6-.png) ### Ep 8\. Áine Dundas, head of marketing for EMEA at Notion For this episode of Brandmakers, Notion’s head of marketing for EMEA, Áine Dundas, beams in from Dublin to share the secrets of Notion’s community-led strategy. Áine, a self-confessed fan of the productivity tool, tells us how Notion turned passionate users into true ambassadors, built guardrails for community-led storytelling and transformed influencer marketing and experiential into its core marketing channel. [\- Listen to the episode ](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-aine-dundas-head-of-marketing-emea-at-notion/) ## Posts ### Taste Is the New Capital URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/featured/taste-is-the-new-capital/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T15:43:21.000Z Taste has become one of the creative industries’ newest buzzwords. It is also increasingly being positioned as one of the things AI cannot easily replicate. If AI can develop, create and distribute campaigns, what does that leave for the creatives in the room? Taste and judgement are being positioned as the defining skill. Knowing what is culturally relevant, what feels right and, perhaps most importantly, what does not. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Online World of Analogue Living URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-online-world-of-analogue-living/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T09:13:12.000Z Digital strategist[ Sara Wilson recently coined a brilliant term](https://communitycatalysts.substack.com/p/the-perma-nostalgia-era-is-here), perfectly describing the moment we currently find ourselves in: “a state of perma-nostalgia”. She argues that our longing for the past has moved beyond simply being a fad, and now runs as a constant layer through our culture. Fashion, food, music, design all regularly borrow from earlier eras, often introducing younger generations to things they weren’t around to experience the first time. But what happens when that nostalgia moves beyond aesthetics and starts shaping how we actually behave? Film cameras, junk journals, crosswords and crochet. Analogue behaviors have become a visible part of today’s youth culture. But these behavior shifts aren’t a flat-out rejection of online life, but a reaction to what it’s become. Immediate, public, and maybe worst of all, performative. Analogue offers us something noticeably different – tasks that ask us to wait, create without an audience in mind, and enjoy something without attaching a score to it. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The AI Threat Everyone’s Getting Wrong URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-ai-threat-everyones-getting-wrong/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T22:54:49.000Z Mention AI in an industry conversation and people nod along, everyone agrees it’s important, just a tool and isn't going anywhere. But across the Uncut interviews we recorded for season one, our guests thought differently about what AI actually changed, and where the real risks lie. [Rosh Singh, who runs the creative technology studio Astral City,](https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-katie-mitchell-managing-director-at-seen-studios-2/) thinks most of the industry is looking in the wrong direction. The obsession with using generative AI to knock out ads and shortcut production he calls “a race to the bottom.” “It’s beautiful, and it’s brilliant what we can do with technology,” he says. “I think that’s potentially a red herring.” A brand still commissioning “an AI project” now, in his view, “is a dumb decision, because that’s not the point.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Brands Are Built Backstage URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-brands-are-built-backstage/ Last updated: 2026-09-12T11:36:24.000Z Brands spend enormous amounts of time and money perfecting what the customer sees, but what happens behind the scenes can be just as important. Dr. Marcus Collins has spent much of his career thinking about what makes people believe in brands. As a cultural strategist, University of Michigan marketing professor and former chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy, he has worked with some of the world's most influential brands, including Apple and Beyoncé. His bestselling book *For The Culture* explored the relationship between culture, identity and consumer behaviour. But after leaving the agency world and moving into consulting and advising brands, something else began to catch his attention. Companies had good ideas, talented people and excellent strategies. Yet, somehow, they still couldn't execute them. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) “It's not because of talent, the people weren’t mediocre,” Marcus says. “It is that the organizational culture prevented them from being the best person themselves.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### AI Can Have My Print Production Work URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/ai-can-have-my-print-production-work/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T09:12:48.000Z Every perk of AI in design has a price tag on it, and someone else paid. These models were trained on huge amounts of creative work: illustrators, photographers, type designers, much of it collected without asking the people who made it. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But there is one corner of design where you can use AI completely guilt-free. Because the only thing it steals there is the job us designers hate. Print production. You know the drill. A 14-page spec sheet lands from the fabricator. You squint at it, map the space in your head, then build files one by one, triple-checking that size, bleed, color code and resolution match the spec. Then you do it again at a scale of 20, 40, 60 files, some of them giant-format, trying not to burn your laptop and hoping Adobe won’t crash before you hit save. Nobody became a designer for this. For the past 6 months, I’ve been offloading almost all of it to AI. Here’s how, including the times it got things wrong. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Age of the Connected Leader URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-age-of-the-connected-leader/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T09:12:55.000Z AI is not arriving in organizations as a single transformation program. Its impact is felt differently depending on where you sit. For all the discussion about how AI will reshape business, much of the conversation has focused on the practitioners: marketers, creatives, strategists and technologists. Less attention has been paid to what it means for the people leading them. From where I sit, the biggest shift is not that leaders suddenly need to become AI experts. It is that they need to guide organizations through change that touches every function differently, while keeping those functions working effectively together. That may sound straightforward. But in practice, it is becoming the defining leadership challenge. This is why I believe we are entering the age of the connected leader. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### A Collective Approach to Solving an AI Bias Problem URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/a-collective-approach-to-solving-an-ai-disability-bias-problem/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T15:43:32.000Z AI-generated imagery is now everywhere – in media, in marketing and increasingly in daily life. As this imagery becomes more prevalent, there are major debates to be had over the impact of the biases it perpetuates. Generative AI can only create images based on what is already in the public domain. That means groups who are already underrepresented can be poorly represented by AI too. For people with disabilities, the problem is particularly worrying. AI models are failing to reflect the reality of everyday life with a disability, instead leaning on a narrow set of stereotypes. That is a problem some are now trying to solve. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Winning on Four Shelves URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/winning-on-four-shelves-shop-online-social-and-ai/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T07:03:11.000Z There used to be one shelf that mattered, the physical one. The stretch of retail space where brands had three seconds to stop a shopper on autopilot, earn their attention, and convert it into purchase. Brands and their design agencies have long obsessed over winning in that moment – through brand colours and shapes, architectures and hierarchies, materials and finishes. Then came the online shelf. Then the social one. Each time, brands found themselves scrambling to adapt – often with other agency partners, not specialists in design – retrofitting identities built for one context into another. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) The results were often disappointing, brands that spoke confidently in-store were mumbling without clarity online, or failed to be noticed on a product listing page. Assets need to flex to context. Now there is a fourth shelf, which once more can change everything for brands. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Ffern and the Future of Luxury Brand Marketing URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/ffern-and-the-future-of-luxury-brand-marketing/ Last updated: 2026-09-01T21:02:59.000Z Luxury has traditionally been about creating desirability through things other people can’t afford. Ffern has developed a different proposition, one based on scarcity, storytelling, and craft but without the usual luxury price point. Ffern, a Somerset-made natural fragrance brand, only releases four perfumes a year, one for each season, and produces them in small batches. Customers can’t buy a bottle whenever they feel like it. Instead, they sign up to Ffern’s “ledger” and enter a ballot, with no guarantee they will make the cut. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) ### **Selling Scarcity** The company, founded in 2017, has a point of view on the rest of the fragrance industry, and is comfortable calling it out. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How to Build a Brand Before Finding Product–Market Fit URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-to-build-a-brand-while-still-searching-for-product-market-fit/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T10:29:34.000Z As Noli searches for product–market fit, its brand is evolving alongside it. Every week brings new customer data, new product iterations and new questions about what the business stands for. Rather than handing an agency a finished brief, chief marketing officer Firdaous El Honsali has invited creative agency Ingo into the process itself, helping to define everything from the brand personality to the value exchange with consumers. “We are building the brief together,” Firdaous says. Ingo is working on the “strategic foundations” of the brand. “We are building a startup and building a brand. Creating the value exchange with the consumer as much as building the front‑facing brand.” [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Great Brands Need Cultural Curiosity URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/great-brands-need-cultural-curiosity/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T08:17:12.000Z "I had always been into music, culture, and voraciously read literally everything I possibly could.” During the 1990s, Nate Skinner devoured Q, Melody Maker and the cult design publication Ray Gun. He'd buy CDs not just to listen to, but to pore over the liner notes, tracing producers, photographers and collaborators from one band to another. "That opened up a whole other trove of culture,” [Nate tells Hannah Bowler in a recent episode of Brandmakers](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-nate-skinner-director-of-brand-at-squarespace/). Looking back, Nate sees those rabbit holes as his first education in branding. Learning how ideas spread between people, scenes and communities. Being informed by “pockets of culture” that resonate on a deeper level rather than thinking of how to market a functional product. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How Search Intent Can Move Culture URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-search-intent-can-move-culture/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T07:57:45.000Z Every year, brands invest millions trying to anticipate the next big cultural moment. From the ongoing Tour de France and the upcoming Premier League to recent heroics of Wimbledon, these events command enormous audiences and even greater marketing budgets. But the challenge is no longer identifying the biggest moments on the calendar. It’s understanding how consumer intent evolves before, during, and after them. That’s because today’s audiences don’t simply watch culture unfold – they participate in it. They search, plan, compare, purchase, and share in real time. And those behaviors create one of the clearest signals available to marketers: search intent. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From Fast Culture to Slow Movements URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-fast-culture-to-slow-movements/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T14:19:38.000Z After a few days of having my meetings in various sun traps in the south of France and going to sessions at beautifully designed brand activations along La Croisette, I noticed how various people had the same thoughts around whether brands were reaching an inflection point, the point at which they realised that they should stop chasing fast culture and change tactics. One of them was Dr Felipe Thomaz, associate professor of marketing at the University of Oxford. Speaking at a Financial Times session, he described brands exploring what he called “sustained culture” – the persistent beliefs, behaviours and world views that shape people over time rather than the fleeting moments that dominate social media. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) "How do I affect the process from fast culture to solid, slow and persistent culture that has a lot lower volatility and impacts growth more completely?" he asked. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Only Moat Left Is Brand URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-only-moat-left-is-brand-tracksuit-brand-tracking-ceo/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T12:15:36.000Z Early on in 2021, when Connor Archbold and his co-founder Matt Herbert bootstrapped brand-tracking platform Tracksuit, they measured one thing and one thing alone: how many meaningful conversations they were having each week. They spoke to every brand believer they knew, shared their vision, listened, refined and did it all over again until they knew they had a product people would use and pay for. Only a few years later, the pair opened offices in four countries, employed around 200 people, launched Tracksuit University, partnered with creators, and poured energy into case studies that help marketers “tell the right stories in the boardroom”. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### "Brand’s Got Its Mojo Back" URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brands-got-its-mojo-back/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T08:17:31.000Z Cassie Hall is a marketer who is ready and excited to adapt to the technological advancements that are reshaping the industry she’s been working in for 17 years. “The highest performing organizations and the best marketers are going to be the ones who are nailing both pieces and becoming more like builders, or conductors of these new systems and workflows that you are just ultimately going to have to use.” As director of brand and marketing for the second hand car site Motorway, Cassie is particularly interested in understanding how brands can be surfaced in AEO and coming up with fresh strategies that work with the LLMs. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Think Influence, Not Coverage URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/think-influence-not-coverage/ Last updated: 2026-08-18T08:37:19.000Z In today’s media landscape, “credibility” no longer automatically translates to a citation by an established journalist. Credibility in this current world of influence comes from people who display authenticity and, above all, personality. Do you remember when the notion of crying into a camera on Instagram was unthinkable? While I’m not advocating for founders to bawl their eyes out directly to camera, I am calling on them to [break the structure and wall](https://www.thesubthread.com/why-founders-are-building-their-brands-in-public/) that has so far existed between them and the audiences they need to influence. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) The great unbundling of media is both good and bad. Misinformation and bias are obvious downsides to unregulated flows of information, not to mention the blow to traditional media outlets and the career security of valued journalists. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Uncut with Andrew Barnard, Managing Partner and Co-Founder at 20(Something) URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-andrew-barnard-managing-partner-and-co-founder-at-20-something/ Last updated: 2026-08-13T08:06:28.000Z As the world hurtles through a decade of disruption, 20(Something) co-founder Andrew Barnard explains why building an agency for this moment meant ruthlessly focussing on three disciplines and always reminding himself that the work can actually contribute to a better future. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Tracking Joy URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/tracking-joy-live-sport-metric-of-the-future/ Last updated: 2026-08-12T14:58:42.000Z Live sport has a measurement problem, but not because it lacks data. We can track everything from who booked, who attended, what they engaged with, whether they returned, and more. For investing sponsors and organizations, that is progress. But more data doesn’t automatically mean more understanding. A person can spend a couple of hours at a fanzone, scan a QR code, and never think about the sponsors again. However, according to the measurement in place, they would be considered engaged, even while they are emotionally checked out. The data isn’t wrong, it is just incomplete. If experience is going to be taken seriously as a business tool, it deserves serious evidence. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### No One Is Searching for Your Brand Story URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/no-one-is-searching-for-your-brand-story/ Last updated: 2026-08-13T13:53:49.000Z “No one's looking you up, no one's searching for your story,” Carlsberg’s global brand director Lynsey Woods says, explaining that getting your brand story out there has never been harder. Sharing the challenges of brand comms in 2026 on a recent episode of [The Partnership Game](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/the-partnership-game/), Lynsey talks of how sports can connect at a time when connection feels fraught. “We're all fighting the urge not to be on our screens all the time. Connection feels like a real effort now,” she says. As a society we’ve been through the Covid-19 pandemic, multiple wars and economic hardships. “The impact on consumers' lives in the last six years has been phenomenal,” Lynsey says. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Art Schools Could Replace Business Schools URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-art-schools-could-replace-business-schools/ Last updated: 2026-08-10T15:31:41.000Z At SXSW London in June, a provocative idea surfaced in two separate keynotes from creative leaders Sir John Hegarty and David Lee, chief brand and creative officer at Squarespace. What if business schools were replaced by art schools? “Business schools, in my view, are flawed,” Sir John said. “They teach everything except what actually drives growth.” International business schools are hugely respected and “command attention”, Sir John said. “But I look at them and think what value are they creating? If they're so good then why isn’t business better?” [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) The revered advertising exec then pulled up a list of modules from Harvard Business School, listing topics like financial reporting, leadership management, marketing and ops listed. These schools are run by people who think “conventionally” about business, he argued. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Reframing Brand Building for the Age of AI Search URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-semrushs-ben-kendall-is-reframing-brand-building-for-the-age-of-ai-search/ Last updated: 2026-08-19T15:07:39.000Z Every few years, marketing finds itself staring down another existential threat. Today it's AI search. Before that it was the death of cookies, the rise of performance marketing and the endless debate over whether brand building still pays off. Ben Kendall tends to see those moments differently. For the former Red Bull and Airbnb marketer, now leading brand and creative at Semrush, disruption is simply another creative challenge to solve. Sitting down in Cannes for a special episode of [Brandmakers](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brandmakers/), Ben was optimistic about the industry and the future of brand marketing. He also reminded marketers to take a step back and find the “fun” in their work again. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Uncut with Tyler Berry and Rob Pratt, Creative Partners and Co-founders of YeahNice URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-tyler-berry-and-rob-pratt-creative-partners-and-co-founders-of-yeahnice/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T08:42:14.000Z [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Mpn5iVBcly5KX2kV9cJ99?si=8vgep8NpSw-1P7iOp210Cw&ref=thesubthread.com) | [YouTube](https://youtu.be/yhxsxTOtCYs?ref=thesubthread.com) After years inside bigger agencies, Tyler and Rob realised the work they were proudest of happened when they were still “on the tools” – close to the craft, close to the client, and not buried under layers of bureaucracy. So they set up their own studio with a simple ambition: stay small enough to be hands-on, and bold enough to avoid the cookie-cutter agency playbook. They assumed their background in tech would dictate who came knocking. Instead, the first three years of YeahNice have involved everything from Korean skincare and robotics, to a rail station and a milk tea brand. That sector agnosticism is now deliberate. The team lean into being slightly “naive” to a category so they can see it like a customer would – without the inherited rules of how things are “supposed” to look. A big part of that is their “challenger state of mind.” YeahNice is built to serve brands with a chip on their shoulder: second in the market, smaller budgets, something to prove. They force sharper thinking, braver creative choices, and often, a more distinctive position than the incumbent can afford to take. They also discuss how brand experiences are still brand work but just in 3D, how they protect time and headspace for genuinely original creativity and how they're building a culture that actually lives up to their company's name. To see more interviews with leaders from across a range of agencies and to find out how they grow, motivate and innovate their teams, [check out The Subthread's Uncut series](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/). --- [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) ### Don’t Fire the Pit Crew URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/dont-fire-the-pit-crew-advertising-ai-talent-problem/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T08:43:25.000Z Formula One is a sport defined by fine margins. The difference between a driver executing the perfect corner and ending up off track can be measured in millimetres. Podiums and championships are decided by tenths, hundredths, sometimes even thousandths of a second – see Kimi Antonelli falling outside of the points at Silverstone as a five second penalty compounded the mechanical issues he suffered towards the end of the race. Although drivers remain the focal point, modern Formula One isn’t decided solely by those behind the wheel. Victory hinges just as much as those on the pitwall and back at the factory. Teams that want to stay competitive must rapidly process millions of data points and make decisions accordingly. And increasingly, they’re using AI to keep up. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### ‘The Feed’ Is a Blip in Our Cultural History URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-feed-is-a-blip-in-our-cultural-history/ Last updated: 2026-08-14T15:42:12.000Z Earlier this summer, the UK government did something I’ve been expecting for a while: it announced a ban on social media for under-16s. A big moment, but not a shocking one. Before I get into why, three quick disclosures. I got my first job back in 2008, just as Twitter and Facebook were taking off, because I was early to understand and explain what social media would do to brands. I then spent three years working inside a social media platform – I can say I was ‘trying to drive change from within’, but it was still a social media company paying my salary. And finally – arguably more importantly – I’ve built multiple communities using social media as a tool to connect people. Those communities gave me somewhere to belong, and they’ve created real positive impact, on and offline. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) So yes, I’m a hypocrite. But I don’t have an axe to grind, or wares to sell. I just want to say, as plainly as possible, that we’re living through a major shift in how people use these technologies – and that shift reflects how the technologies themselves have changed over the last two decades. My view is that social media has evolved into a dangerous tool that future generations will look back on the way we look at cigarettes: a harmful toxin that enriched a few and poisoned the rest. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/07/Jed-Hallam.png) Jed Hallam is the co-founder of CultureLab _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Uncut with Emma Shuldham, Managing Director at Attachment URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-emma-shuldham-managing-director-at-attachment/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T08:46:38.000Z [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/07YFb3cLByFZr1YX7hpEC4?si=gf5xD2qNRiquAfHJAYHFHw&ref=thesubthread.com) | [YouTube](https://youtu.be/9--hKDyGlYY?si=j8vSPiQ3k6P2YJUm&ref=thesubthread.com) Attachment was built on a simple belief: people buy people. Emma unpacks what that really means in a world where “culture” is everywhere and talent is quite fragmented across industries, niches and platforms. She explains how Attachment helps brands show up in entertainment and culture through the lens of talent, what it takes to build an “elite squad” of 22 experts rather than an army of generalists, and why one of their core values is, quite literally, “don’t be a dick.” They also dig into how social and creator culture have democratized the movie star, why the best work still comes down to relationships and human connection, what brands like Gap and CeraVe are getting right, and why unskippable entertainment has one up on any ad. Along the way, Emma talks candidly about leadership, feedback, the myth of the “work family,” and why fun at work isn’t a nice-to-have but a strategic advantage. To see more interviews with leaders from across a range of agencies and to find out how they grow, motivate and innovate their teams, [check out The Subthread's Uncut series](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/). --- [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) ### Nothing Wants to Make Tech Fun Again URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/nothing-wants-to-make-tech-fun-again/ Last updated: 2026-08-11T09:59:04.000Z Consumer technology has been shaped by Apple’s minimalist aesthetic. Sleek, functional and beautifully engineered, their strategy transformed the industry but it also homogenized it. As a result, culture is far less interested in the latest devices. Nothing believes that people haven’t fallen out of love with technology, but that technology has lost its personality. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Nate Skinner, Director of Brand at Squarespace URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-nate-skinner-director-of-brand-at-squarespace/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:08:05.000Z [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0bFNTqOHcbQO3FoXfvliYq?si=BbNyz4CyRDinPbg2JHqktQ&ref=thesubthread.com) | [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-britpop-to-squarespace-making-culturally-fluent/id1885174166?i=1000778590994&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000778590994&ref=thesubthread.com) | [YouTube](https://youtu.be/xcZbmLrtHNM?ref=thesubthread.com) In this episode of [Brandmakers](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brandmakers/), Nate talks to The Subthread’s Hannah Bowler about how a teenage obsession with magazines and music scenes became an unofficial education in brand. Tracing photographers, producers and collaborators across records eventually turned into a way of understanding how ideas spread through people, places and “pockets of culture” – long before social media existed. Today, that same instinct underpins how Squarespace shows up in the world. Nate explains why the company doesn’t rely on rigid brand bibles or endless sign-off processes, and instead trusts a culturally-tuned team with strong personal taste. While the brand’s Super Bowl spots and big set-piece campaigns might grab the headlines, the real craft lives in waiting for the right cultural moment to land an idea. Across the conversation, Nate shares why curiosity still beats ‘always-on’, how to hire for cultural acuity, and why the future of brand building is less about being everywhere and more about picking moments that really matter. Watch the full recording below. For more interviews with the brand marketers behind some of the world's most innovative brands, [check out the full Brandmakers series.](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brandmakers/) ### What Happens After the Experiential Boom? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/what-happens-after-the-experiential-boom/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T08:47:43.000Z For years, we’ve fought for bigger budgets, greater credibility and a seat at the marketing table. Today, we have all three. Experiential has become one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s arsenal, helping brands build connection, community and cultural relevance in ways traditional channels often struggle to achieve. According to the IPA Bellwether report for Q1 of 2026, experiential is the leading channel for growth, up 14.7% quarter‑on‑quarter. In many ways, experiential has never been healthier, which raises an uncomfortable question: What happens when the thing that made experiences valuable starts becoming expected? [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Community Managers: The Secret Weapon in the AI Search Era URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/community-managers-the-secret-weapon-in-the-ai-search-era/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T08:48:10.000Z During talks and conversations at Cannes Lions 2026, it emerged that more and more brands are adapting to optimize their online presence to rank higher in AI search environments – moving their focus from SEO to AEO. Because AI is searching the web for answers, information about a brand and its products that is presented in a Q&A format can be more easily surfaced by these LLMs and AI agents. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) ### **Finding Insights on Reddit** Rustom Dastoor, executive vice president and head of marketing and communications for the Americas at Mastercard, noted that brands will need community managers to engage with users across platforms such as Reddit and other similar forums. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Uncut with Nomi Leasure, Managing Director of Pinch URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-nomi-leasure-managing-director-of-experiential-agency-pinch/ Last updated: 2026-07-21T12:07:43.000Z [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/52YajLwfNl3sW4oZIkvvUa?si=Pzy9moMUQGmDb4sjCx4qhw&ref=thesubthread.com) | [YouTube](https://youtu.be/uXpETfQAARc?ref=thesubthread.com) If you’re expecting a story about hustle, grind, and late‑night pitch decks, managing director Nomi Leasure is politely here to disappoint you. The MD of a fast‑growing experiential agency, responsible for the highly praised Amazon Port activation at Cannes Lions, explains to The Subthread's editor-in-chief Alex Zeevalkink how her number one priority is caring for the people that make Pinch. Nomi is always mindful not to let staff burn out, despite the often high demands that come with building experiences. Though this is not an uncommon phrase, at Salt and Pinch they back it up with flexible PTO, enforced breaks, care packages, and a refusal to treat all‑nighters as a badge of honor, she explains. Nomi had an unconventional route into agency leadership: from local TV reporter and theater kid, to blogger writing frankly about love and relationships for an audience of young women who grew up alongside her. That curiosity about people – and a childhood in a house full of social workers and developing language around feelings – now underpins how she runs Pinch. Understanding emotions also offers its value in the output of the agency. Rather than starting with “the big idea,” Nomi talks about designing from the emotional undercurrent of an experience: how people are actually feeling when they walk into a space, what state you need to move them into, and why just “making the campaign big in real life” misses the point of experiential entirely. She and Alex also get into how “never arrive” became a core principle for the agency as it serves as a reminder that agencies, like people, have to keep evolving. And there’s plenty of uncomfortable honesty, too. Nomi talks about moving from account director to MD, the constant crash‑course learning, and the imposter syndrome that comes with suddenly being the person who’s supposed to “figure it all out.” Finally Nomi discusses her emerging focus on “experiential‑curious” challenger brands that have only existed online, and outlines how wants to help these newer players find their voice in the real world for the first time. To see more interviews with agency leaders who dig into the realities of their roles, how they innovate, motivate, and where they believe the industry is headed, [check out The Subthread's Uncut series](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/). ### Watch: Brandmakers with Cassie Hall, Director of Brand and Marketing at Motorway URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-cassie-hall-director-of-brand-and-marketing-at-motorway/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:07:49.000Z Cassie has built her career around proving the commercial case for brand investment, no matter the category. From global names like Virgin Atlantic, Nike and Diageo to high-growth platforms like Zoopla. She’s the kind of marketer who gets just as excited about a well-built system or workflow as she does about a big creative platform. For Cassie, the best organizations are letting brand shape how a company behaves. In conversation with Hannah Bowler, she talks about what it really looks like to embed brand across everything: from the scripts your customer service team is using, to the product decisions your engineers are making. After years of performance marketing saturation, Cassie shares how she convinced leadership at Zoopla to increase brand budgets by 41%, and why the boardroom is finally waking up to the long-term value of brand again. She walks through how she used econometrics, modeling, and the language of leadership to prove that emotional brand building will always pays off. Cassie is also deep in the weeds of how brands show up in an AEO and LLM-first world, where “brand building is now actually becoming training data.” From owning your digital footprint across review sites and forums to sending the right technical signals to AI agents, she lays out what marketers need to do to “feed the machines” without losing their brand. For more interviews with the brand marketers behind some of the world's most innovative brands, [check out the full Brandmakers series.](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brandmakers/) ### The End of the Brand Gatekeeper URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-end-of-the-brand-gatekeeper/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T14:28:48.000Z Every design team has the same problem. The brand lives in Figma and Figma is for designers. Everyone else such as sales, CS, marketing, the new hire who just joined on Monday, either asks you for assets or makes their own and gets it wrong. The traditional answer is a brand guidelines PDF. But that document gets ignored, and the Slack messages keep coming. This is more of a structural problem than a process one. In the old model, the brand designer is the bottleneck by design. Assets get made when someone asks and consistency happens when someone remembers to check. The system depends on people coming to you to check – and people are busy, and they won’t always come to you. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### “Will Anyone Remember I Was There?” How to do Sports Sponsorship Right URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/will-anyone-remember-i-was-there-how-to-do-sports-sponsorship-right/ Last updated: 2026-07-28T22:34:15.000Z “There's no other language in the world you could come up with, other than football that connects us in a better way,” Robert Zitzmann declares. The managing director and partner at the German agency JvM Sports joins an episode of [The Partnership Game](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/the-partnership-game/) during the Fifa World Cup. In his view, aligning with the tournament is non-negotiable for brands that want to do cultural marketing. “There's no other event with more global reach and depth than the Fifa World Cup and that's just an absolute phenomenon,” [Robert tells The Subthread during his interview](https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-robert-zitzmann-managing-director-and-partner-at-jung-von-matt-sports/). From his perspective, the tournament represents more than a sponsorship opportunity. It is a shared cultural moment that allows brands to connect with audiences through values, identity and emotion. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/07/Robert-Zitzmann.png) Robert Zitmann, managing director and partner of JvM Sports _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Closing the Gap: Why the Online-to-Offline Divide is Marketing's Next Big Problem URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/closing-the-gap-why-the-online-to-offline-divide-is-marketings-next-big-problem/ Last updated: 2026-07-17T11:26:05.000Z Cannes Lions 2026 was full of noise about AI, attention and creativity. But one conversation kept surfacing beneath all of it: brands still can't properly connect what happens on a screen to what happens in the real world. That's the gap our new series, Closing the Gap, is built to explore. Presented in partnership with Adsquare, the show sees host Luc Benyon, Adsquare's marketing director, driving around Cannes in a taxi, picking up guests from across the location intelligence, digital out-of-home and sports marketing worlds for a series of insightful and unfiltered conversations. In the hero film, Luc is joined by three guests: Tom Laband, CEO and co-founder of Adsquare; Laure Malergue, CEO and co-founder of Displayce; and Ronan Healy, CEO and founder of Catapult. Between them, they unpack why brands are shifting spend and measurement away from purely online outcomes, why physical experience still does something digital can't replicate, and what it actually takes to prove a campaign worked once someone steps outside their front door. Watch The Subthread's short film below as we explore the online-to-offline story: There's a case study on how a major sportswear brand rebuilt its retail stores around community rather than product. There's a stat on just how much of global commerce still happens entirely offline, and why that number should worry anyone optimising only for clicks. And there's a running argument about whether the "outcomes era" everyone keeps name-checking is real, or just the industry's latest reframe of the same old measurement problem. --- > This is a partner feature with[***Adsquare***](https://adsquare.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) \- the real-world data platform designed for the outcomes era. ### The Case for Rewriting Entry-Level Creative Jobs URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-case-for-rewriting-entry-level-creative-jobs/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T08:50:18.000Z Entry-level jobs are going through a major period of disruption. A tough economy, the impact of AI and the implications of post-Covid work culture mean the creative industry as a collective is hiring and training fewer junior people than before. Though perhaps justifiable in the eyes of some, is this actually benefitting a business? A strong counter argument is that rather than using excuses and backing away from the responsibility of training the next generation of talent, leaders should instead be focused on redesigning the roles normally attributed to the new generation of talent. By doing so they would be making the entry-level position fit for the future of work. [ ![INSPIRE - A one-day ideas-lab for brand, agency and culture-makers](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/All-Event-Banner-Billboards-1.png) ](https://inspire.thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Partnership Game with Massive Music and Tennis Australia URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-massive-music-and-tennis-australia/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T09:32:55.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4eh0oDesPlKdIaCAMrMnw7?si=3Y3zla01S6Kk5lYIJPa6XA&ref=thesubthread.com) | [Listen on Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-sound-is-sports-most-underrated-brand-asset-ft/id1896868160?i=1000776835969&ref=thesubthread.com) | [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/IoloDKanS2Y?ref=thesubthread.com) Roger Sho Gehrmann and Georgia Roberts of MassiveMusic help brands use music and sound strategically – and with Tennis Australia's Roddy Campbell and Britt Wickes, they built one of sport's most recognisable sonic identities: the sound of the Australian Open. In this episode, they talk through how a Covid-era gap in the AO's brand toolkit sparked a market-leading sonic strategy, why sound hits emotion faster than anything visual, and what it takes to get stakeholders aligned when everyone has an opinion on music. They also look at who's getting it right – from the Champions League anthem to Arsenal's North London Forever – how to show ROI, and why AI can't replace a human brand sound. > This episode is presented in partnership with [MassiveMusic](https://massivemusic.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) – leading m*usic* infrastructure. ### Uncut with Jonathan Emmins, Founder & Global CEO of Amplify URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-jonathan-emmins-founder-global-ceo-of-amplify/ Last updated: 2026-07-20T14:14:32.000Z [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE3B4xJrPj0&t=1623s&ref=thesubthread.com) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6BYLKhSDBvhpHhvrqPa9xU?si=CUGm7w%5FFRKiTFKlbZQCWWw&ref=thesubthread.com) Founded in 2008, Amplify has grown from a small London outfit into a 250‑person, multi‑office agency with studios in London, Sydney, Paris, LA and New York and sibling agencies Seed and Wonder. Known for experience, entertainment and culture, Amplify has made a name for itself through its Cannes beach builds for the likes of Google, Pinterest and Semrush, its Milan Design Week installations, Women’s World Cup campaigns and elaborate anime premieres. In this episode of Uncut – recorded at the Common Interest villa among the build crews on the Riviera – Jonathan talks to The Subthread's editor-in-chief Alex Zeevalkink about scaling without losing edge, why co‑creating with communities still wins, and how he’s thinking about the next phase after joining the Common Interest collective. He shares the story of how Amplify went from Red Bull, Nike and PlayStation projects to a global roster of tech and entertainment clients, why he’s obsessed with “breaking formats” and the danger of having a house style. Along the way, they talk about the realities of creative leadership as you grow: how you keep Cannes‑level production standards while giving people room to experiment; and how B Corp accreditation, over‑recruiting under‑represented talent and backing initiatives like Elevate, Brixton Finishing School and Milk Honey Bees are all part of “passing the baton on” to the next generation. To see more interviews with leaders from across a range of agencies and to find out how they grow, motivate and innovate their teams, [check out The Subthread's Uncut series](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/). ### Watch: Brandmakers with Ben Kendall, VP Brand and Creative at Semrush URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-ben-kendall-vp-brand-and-creative-at-semrush/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:07:38.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1a97jiyQtoWezi9t45oxUe?si=uKuOvX7ISVyOTPxNs2Chrw&ref=thesubthread.com) | [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/kUoQWKRfXdA?ref=thesubthread.com) In this new episode of [Brandmakers](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brandmakers/), recorded in Cannes, we catch Semrush’s brand and creative lead Ben Kendall at the exact moment everyone is freaking out about AI search. Every few years, marketing finds itself staring down another “end of days” moment – the death of cookies, the rise of performance marketing, the never‑ending argument over whether brand building even works – and Ben’s take is refreshingly simple: treat disruption as you would any other creative brief. From handing out free cans on university campuses to repositioning Semrush from an SEO tool to a brand visibility platform, the former Red Bull and Airbnb marketer argues that the fundamentals haven’t changed. Strong brands still start from within: a culture that encourages “crazy” ideas and teams who genuinely believe in the story they’re telling. At Semrush that story now centres on visibility in an AI‑shaped world. Ben also pushes back on the idea that AI‑powered discovery makes creativity and visuals less important. After all, it will always be humans who emotionally respond to striking ideas and distinctive campaigns. To find out more, check out the first episode in our three-part Brandmakers Summer Series, recorded live at Cannes Lions and hosted by Hannah Bowler. For more interviews with the brand marketers behind some of the world's most innovative brands, [check out the full Brandmakers series.](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brandmakers/) ### Life After the Feed URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/life-after-the-feed/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T20:01:01.000Z As the UK regulates social media for under 16s, and other countries consider similar crackdowns, Brogan Bowditch argues this is a chance for brands, charities and organisations to build safer, more trusted and more useful relationships with young people. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Stop Trying to “Do Gaming” All at Once URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/stop-trying-to-do-gaming-all-at-once-2/ Last updated: 2026-07-16T08:40:28.000Z When entering gaming a lot of brands created small media businesses instead of actual worlds, and they did so without a real plan for how to manage them. That sounds a bit harsh, but it gets to the heart of where many gaming strategies have gone wrong. A brand sees Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, esports, Twitch, Discord, streamers, UGC, virtual goods, and in-game ads, and then decides to build its own world and hope people will show up. That’s understandable. From the outside, gaming can look like a confusing mix of platforms, behaviors, and acronyms. If you’re a marketer wondering where to start, it makes sense to feel overwhelmed. But that’s where many go wrong. Brands often think they need to understand everything about gaming before they can do anything meaningful. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Uncut with Emily Rickard, CEO of Buck URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-emily-rickard-ceo-of-buck/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T09:52:28.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xlgTVOfvz7t7KeyAkRXIc?si=2Lk1G8KhSOWmEApsWvggLg&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fjRsPH0474&ref=thesubthread.com) Buck is the global creative company behind some of the most distinctive design, animation and brand worlds for brands like Apple, Meta and Google. From London and Amsterdam to LA, New York, Sydney and Vancouver, Buck’s work has helped define how leading tech and entertainment companies show up on screens everywhere. In this episode of Uncut – recorded at Cannes Lions – Alex sits down with Buck CEO Emily Rickard to talk about what it really takes to run a 400-person, multi-studio creative operation and still keep the same culture of innovation and high standards. Emily shares how Buck evolved from a 25-person production house into a global creative company trusted by Silicon Valley’s biggest tech brands, the story behind those early AR face filters for Meta, and why they built an Applied Research Group to make sense of AI and new tools across the business. They dig into culture-led hiring, protecting a fiercely creative DNA while you scale, and how Buck’s “TGAI Fridays” and “middle-out” education model help directors, designers and technologists experiment with tech-driven craft without losing the storytelling core that defines good work. Along the way, they get into the realities of creative leadership and talk about why emerging talent, fresh points of view and genuinely diverse teams still matter more than any tool. To see more interviews with leaders from across a range of agencies and to find out how they grow, motivate and innovate their teams, [check out The Subthread's Uncut series](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/). ### Adland, It’s Time to Bring the Champagne Again URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/adland-its-time-to-bring-the-champagne-again/ Last updated: 2026-07-10T15:44:45.000Z Sitting in Canva’s cabana in Cannes, Rory Dolan, head of marketing strategy at the design platform lays out a vision of marketing that’s equal parts rigor and risk. Rory’s read is that macro-economics and culture inside organizations have made it so the edges of modern advertising have become sanded down. “Businesses are under more pressure than ever to deliver within‑year outcomes,” Rory says. “I think the cascading effect of that is that we end up taking less risks… that creates a degree of sameness and a lack of distinctness across creative.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Building Lore URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/building-lore/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T10:32:21.000Z For more than a decade, marketing operated on a single premise: attention is the most valuable resource in culture. Brands earn it, hold it and optimise for it. That premise is now breaking down. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From Playground Kickabouts to Várzea Culture URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-playground-kickabouts-to-varzea-culture/ Last updated: 2026-07-06T15:10:01.000Z For Saffron Inkster, global master brand director at Dirt Is Good, successful sports partnerships are built on more than reach and visibility. "The most important thing is shared values and a shared sense of mission of where we want to go and what we want to achieve," she says in [a recent episode of The Partnership Game](https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-saffron-inkster-global-masterbrand-director-at-dirt-is-good/). That philosophy has underpinned Dirt Is Good's partnership with Arsenal. While Arsenal's motto is "Always Forward", Dirt Is Good's brand purpose centres on helping people maximise their potential by getting stuck in. "With Arsenal we immediately found an opportunity to lean into that and create meaningful work out of that," Saffron says. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### AI Adoption is the Real Bottleneck, Not the Technology URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/ai-adoption-is-the-real-bottleneck-not-the-technology/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T09:00:05.000Z For much of the AI boom, tech leaders have touted that the promise of AI would be efficiency and lower costs. Emily He thinks that's the wrong conversation. The chief marketing officer at Gong believes the AI industry has become obsessed with efficiency and job cuts, when the real opportunity is using artificial intelligence to grow revenue. "AI is equated with killing jobs," she tells The Subthread. "Whereas if you look at the data, nothing could be further from the truth." _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Partnership Game with Lynsey Woods, Senior Global Brand Marketing Director at Carlsberg URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-lynsey-woods-senior-global-brand-marketing-director-at-carlsberg/ Last updated: 2026-07-01T09:25:34.000Z [**Spotify**](https://open.spotify.com/episode/38lx2BY1OsTg1p6uRtBS0t?si=r4L1Z14nS86gfwR92qx1IQ&ref=thesubthread.com) | [**Apple Music**](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-carlsberg-taught-anfield-to-sign-youll-never-walk/id1896868160?i=1000774873935&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000774873935&ref=thesubthread.com) | [**YouTube**](https://youtu.be/dihWgQbmrWQ?ref=thesubthread.com) In this episode, Lynsey talks through Carlsberg's relationship with Liverpool – now over thirty years old and, by her account, the longest-running in the Premier League – and how that long-term trust gave the brand room to build *Signs of Unity*, a campaign that taught sign language to thousands of fans at Anfield so deaf and hard-of-hearing supporters could be part of *You'll Never Walk Alone* for the first time. She also walks through the Mads Mikkelsen years, why "probably the best" was never really about the beer, and what authenticity actually means when you're choosing who to put your name next to. ### Time to Kill Portfolio Sprawl URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/time-to-kill-portfolio-sprawl/ Last updated: 2026-07-01T09:20:22.000Z Audiences encounter brands through increasingly scattered moments: a social ad, a product notification, a customer service interaction, an app interface, a retail environment, a search result. On their own, none of these moments looks especially significant. But together, they define what people think a brand is. But the fragmentation makes it harder to truly capture attention and build the consistency needed to be remembered. For marketing teams, that’s hard enough when you’re looking after one brand. It gets exponentially tougher when you’re juggling a portfolio of master brands, sub-brands, specialist propositions and product identities, each with its own story, system and stakeholders. > **Coherence matters because no one outside your organisation sees the system.** > **They only see the moments.** There was a time where brand architecture – the strategic framework that organizes portfolio of brands, products, and services – was the preserve of brand geeks and marketing teams. It was seen as a carefully composed concept which internal teams would spend a lot of time sweating over, but which was never thought about after the meeting finished. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### No More Ivory Towers: The Creative Director Asking Brands to Actually Show Up for Fans URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/no-more-ivory-towers-the-creative-director-asking-brands-to-actually-show-up-for-fans/ Last updated: 2026-06-29T09:02:57.000Z Kenny Annan-Jonathan was the first – and remains the only – creative director in the Premier League. He is also the founder of a talent management and creative agency and serves as sports director at Cannes Lions. Despite those credentials, Kenny would not describe himself as a sports marketer. “I work in sports, but if I’m honest, sports is a vehicle that I use to tell stories through. I’m a creative first,” he says. [Speaking candidly on The Partnership Game podcast](https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-kenny-annan-jonathan-sports-director-at-cannes-lions/), Kenny shared his journey from graphic designer to fashion entrepreneur and, ultimately, to leading the sports program at Cannes Lions. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Hasn't Anyone Built the AI Ad Machine? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-hasnt-anyone-built-the-ai-ad-machine/ Last updated: 2026-06-27T10:30:43.000Z There is a question that does not get asked enough in conversations about artificial intelligence and the future of advertising. It is not about which jobs will disappear, or how fast creative production will be automated, or whether agencies are ready for what is coming. It is a simpler question, and a more awkward one. Why hasn’t anyone built the tool? If AI-generated advertising is as inevitable as the consensus suggests, the companies with the most to gain from proving it should be racing to demonstrate it. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### What is Fan Psychology? How Emotional Identity Drives Brand Loyalty URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/what-is-fan-psychology-how-emotional-identity-drives-brand-loyalty/ Last updated: 2026-08-11T09:59:24.000Z Every so often a brand does something fairly normal, like slightly changing their product, amending their logo or introducing a new face, but what follows is anything but ordinary. We’ve all seen it happen. That moment when people express not just mild disappointment or casual approval, but something closer to real grief, or anger, or genuine euphoria. People who have never met are coordinating online and sharing their love/hate for what happened. Petitions are circulating and fan forums and discussions across social media are filled with impassioned comments. [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/08/banner-Cultural-Strategy-community-eve--1-.png) ](https://luma.com/7dficxqt?ref=thesubthread.com) From the outside looking in, it looks completely irrational. From the inside, when we look at fan psychology, it makes total sense. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Uncut with Rosh Singh, CEO and Co-founder at Astral City URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-katie-mitchell-managing-director-at-seen-studios-2/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T09:52:43.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xlgTVOfvz7t7KeyAkRXIc?si=2Lk1G8KhSOWmEApsWvggLg&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/BLH8ERFP67E?ref=thesubthread.com) In this episode of [Uncut](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/) Alex meets Rosh Singh, CEO and co-founder of creative technology studio Astral City and together they talk about what happens when you put emerging tech in the hands of creatives. Astral City specialises in understanding where technology and human behaviour meet. With the help of emerging tech they bent this into beautiful, useful experiences that actually do something for a brand. Rosh unpacks how he thinks about the intersection of technology and behaviour, and why “beautiful, useful” is a more interesting North Star than “innovation” for its own sake. They also dig into the reality of running a small and senior team spread across different timezones, building a culture while fully remote and how to balance long‑term strategy with the day‑to‑day of pitches, production and cash flow. To see more interviews with leaders from across a range of agencies and to find out how they grow, motivate and innovate their teams, [check out The Subthread's Uncut series](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/). ### Is Your Computer Hallucinating Correctly? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/is-your-computer-hallucinating-correctly/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T19:15:00.000Z AI has both the tech and creative industries obsessing over “taste”. On one side, technologists are desperate to prove LLMs can master it, turning another human quirk into a scalable service. On the other, creatives cling to taste as a holy grail that will save them – not just from bots, but from anyone who doesn’t know what’s “good”. That tension cuts to the heart of what it means to be a creative. Here’s my take. ### **You Need a Soul to Consume Culture** Pre-AI, we had already reached peak ‘taste-slop’. Now we seem to be in some collective eye-roll moment where we can’t take another mediocre mood board meant to convey ‘quiet luxury’ with a hero ref of Princess Diana in casual tennis wear. These collections of images claim to be your brand perspective but don’t really mean anything. And don’t even get me started on AI ‘taste’ – it’s a homogenised, mutant mess. There is nothing special, smart or clever about arguing with a computer until hallucinates correctly for you. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/Tim-Smith--fluoro.png) Tim Smith, founder and creative director at Fluoro The culture I consumed as a youngster is what built my identity, not in a literal way, not via some band tees or visual choice, but in the way I am as a person. Tech without a soul cannot consume culture. That is even before it has gone through its corporate agenda. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Drowning in the Group Chat at Dawn URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/drowning-in-the-group-chat-at-dawn/ Last updated: 2026-06-20T00:26:07.000Z We’ve all become sunrise editors. I woke up the other morning to a phone that had been busy all night without me, again. Before coffee, I’m already assigning my energy: what gets my attention, what gets binned and what gets sent on. It’s not all doom and gloom, but it all competes for the same thing: your time and your loving interest. Somewhere on the island of Kaş in Turkey, fans had stayed up to watch the national team in the most glorious sunrise setting. By the time I’d reached for my handset, there were four versions of it waiting: a fan’s vertical clip from the beach, a drone shot from a regional sports page, a broadcaster’s cut-down already edged with a sponsor logo, and somebody’s reaction reel reacting to all three. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Partnership Game with Robert Zitzmann, Managing Director and Partner at Jung von Matt Sports URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-robert-zitzmann-managing-director-and-partner-at-jung-von-matt-sports/ Last updated: 2026-06-17T13:06:25.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1VteApprC3n6ztc7Tmai7M?si=Ub0nwpTyRoSfS0RJ4cU%5F-Q&ref=thesubthread.com), [Listen on Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-sport-is-still-the-best-storytelling-platform-ft/id1896868160?i=1000773008793&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000773008793&ref=thesubthread.com), [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/OZj5QfvsJjA?ref=thesubthread.com) In this episode, Robert talks through the agency's model, the work he's most proud of, the lessons from campaigns that didn't go according to plan, and what he really thinks brands should be doing with the World Cup this summer. He also looks ahead to where cultural marketing is heading, why specialism is winning over generalism, and what the agency of the future actually looks like. ### The Last Shared Screen URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-last-shared-screen/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T07:42:01.000Z Sport as entertainment is growing fast, and brands are taking advantage. With viewership and participation both on the rise, the $2.3tn global industry is projected to reach more than three times that by 2050. Sport today is first and foremost a cultural ecosystem, made of highly engaged communities, rituals, niche fandoms and shared moments. All intertwining over moments of global fascination that define emotions and even impact politics. Advertisers rightly want a piece of this engaged audience. Yet no matter how clever the creative, perimeter ads and billboards are restrictive mediums. To truly and authentically impact the audience, brands must move away from simply buying visibility and create meaningful roles for themselves in culture and fan communities. They must become cultural players. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Uncut with Katie Mitchell, Managing Director at Seen Studios URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/uncut-with-katie-mitchell-managing-director-at-seen-studios/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T09:52:54.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0iOq1JNOKb2L0NRopteJSq?si=s7iXW6CmSJeyIlR7oeGIsg&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/jVCDX4H%5FlWM?ref=thesubthread.com) Seen Studios is the design and production agency behind some of the most recognisable retail experiences on the high street and beyond. In this episode of Uncut, Alex sits down with managing director Katie Mitchell to talk about growing a 50-strong, female-led agency, navigating “purposeful growth” without burning out yourself or your team, and why performance sport has become such a powerful gateway to wider culture, wellness and innovation. Katie shares how she balances spreadsheets with storytelling, why B Corp has changed more than just Seen Studios’ sustainability credentials, and how their Seen City initiative is helping brands look beyond the usual suspects when it comes to cities and communities from where to get signal. They also get honest about leadership, motherhood in the creative industries, and the power of building space for creative parents to support one another. To see more interviews with leaders from across a range of agencies and to find out how they grow, motivate and innovate their teams, [check out The Subthread's Uncut series](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/uncut/). ### Does the Future Belong to Growth? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/does-the-future-belong-to-growth/ Last updated: 2026-06-17T07:51:04.000Z Two years have passed from when GHD's CEO Jeroen Temmerman made plans to create a more efficient organisation. But that script has flipped. Now, rather than chasing cost savings, GHD is using AI to drive growth. Rolling it out across the business forced the 25-year-old brand to rethink its positioning and learn a few hard lessons – including that AI is not a shortcut. “Like everybody else, we started to look at how to get efficiency, whether it’s through customer service, data collection, marketing and media modeling,” Jeroen said. But through the process, he came to the conclusion that using AI to drive top line profit will “bring GHD to the next 100 years of existence of the brand.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Partnership Game with Kenny Annan-Jonathan, Sports Director at Cannes Lions URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-kenny-annan-jonathan-sports-director-at-cannes-lions/ Last updated: 2026-06-15T14:14:01.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kdF1EfJK6X2LqvjCFJGtC?si=CD0Z4ChTR2u8DAIrY2GS9A&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-premier-leagues-first-creative-director-on/id1896868160?i=1000772023138&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000772023138&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/aNfs6XAqwOo?ref=thesubthread.com) In this episode of The Partnership Game, Rich Hewes sits down with Kenny Annan-Jonathan – the first (and still only) creative director in the Premier League, founder of a talent management and creative agency, and sport director at Cannes Lions, where he's building out Lions Sport: a new initiative designed to bring brands, agencies, rights holders and marketeers into one room and fix how the industry talks about sport. Kenny traces a career path that starts in graphic design, moves through fashion, and finds its way into sport via a chance customer relationship with Wilfried Zaha. He makes the case for why the best sports marketing speaks to communities rather than at them, why creativity in sport has to be a long play, and why the Ronaldinho crossbar ad remains the campaign he wishes he'd made. ### Bridging the Experience Gap for Virtual Artists URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/bridging-the-experience-gap-for-virtual-artists/ Last updated: 2026-06-15T13:27:27.000Z Virtual artists are topping charts, packing screens and commanding fandoms. Increasingly brands and entertainment marketers will try to reach those fans by designing participatory worlds, but they need to recognize that live and alive are not the same thing. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Can Bluesky Rebuild the Foundations of Social Media? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/can-bluesky-rebuild-the-foundations-of-social-media/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T10:04:57.000Z Most people know Bluesky as an alternative to X. But during a session at SXSW London, chief operating officer Rose Wang made the case that Bluesky is not trying to build another social media platform but wants to rebuild the foundations of social media itself. Our current social media landscape is controlled by a few corporations and a few billionaires, Rose told the audience in London. “Today’s online world looks like a medieval society where you have land that's owned by a few noblemen and kings, and we are the tenants who work on this land,” she said. They control the information, and ultimately control speech across the world, Rose argued. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### If You Don’t Understand People, AI Won’t Save You URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/if-you-dont-understand-people-ai-wont-save-you/ Last updated: 2026-06-07T23:19:07.000Z Last month, McKinsey said that European consumer businesses are pouring more money into AI while seeing little proof of impact, and the gap between ambition and execution is widening. It’s a damning assessment. Despite AI’s potential, using it badly leaves many consumers feeling unseen. This is a timely reminder of the enduring power of truly understanding people. The paradox McKinsey highlights is clear. AI – now embedded across everything from insight to innovation and supply chain to marketing – promises faster decisions, sharper targeting and more certainty. As a result, brand and innovation teams at consumer businesses have never been more data‑rich or technologically enabled. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/06/Headshot-Article-Template--32-.png) Ashleigh Steinhobel is senior vice president, strategy at FutureBrand Yet despite this, there’s a problem. Brands are struggling to genuinely connect to the people they exist to serve – especially in FMCG, where brands are, ironically, closest to people’s lives, homes and routines. This isn’t down to a lack of intelligence, but a growing distance between insight and genuine human understanding. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Partnership Game with Saffron Inkster, Global Masterbrand Director at Dirt Is Good URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-partnership-game-with-saffron-inkster-global-masterbrand-director-at-dirt-is-good/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T23:09:04.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PeLSUt22tinhr1gqcqCNS?si=gztOV1yoTYqc4J5BMBZ4yQ&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-dirt-is-good-x-arsenal-campaigns-ft/id1896868160?i=1000770915492&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000770915492&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Vxawgo7hk&ref=thesubthread.com) In the first episode of The Partnership Game, Rich Hewes sits down with Saffron Inkster, global masterbrand director at Dirt Is Good – the world’s largest laundry brand, known as Persil in the UK and as Breeze, Skip, Surf or OMO in other countries. Saffron talks through what she looks for in a partnership and why shared values matter above everything else. She also dives into their partnership with Arsenal F.C., unpacking the thinking behind two recent campaigns with the club: Dirt Is Glory and It Starts Outside. --- To keep updated with future releases you can sign up to our FREE [newsletters](https://www.thesubthread.com/#/portal/signup). --- ### Why Speed, Scale and Trust Will Decide the Future of Agencies URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-speed-scale-and-trust-will-decide-the-future-of-agencies/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T08:04:40.000Z There was a time when companies could rely on a competitive advantage lasting five to 10 years. In today’s market, it is thought that the window has [collapsed to somewhere between 12 and 18 months](https://bcghendersoninstitute.com/is-your-strategy-a-source-of-sustained-competitive-advantage/?ref=thesubthread.com). For agencies, the implications are profound. When Eileen Kiernan was chief executive officer of IPG Mediabrands, she used that statistic as a “rallying cry” to help the media network and its 18,000 employees understand the “urgency” with which the organization needed a culture that was better equipped to manage change. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How Nike Is Rebuilding Its Universe of Football URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-nike-is-rebuilding-its-universe-of-football/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T08:32:07.000Z Street football, a cast that stretches from Ronaldo to Kim Kardashian, and football positioned as pop culture. Nike’s latest football campaign shows how big brands should start to think "culture-first" when it comes to major sporting events. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How Notion Turns Its Superfans into a Community-Led Marketing Engine URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-notion-turns-its-superfans-into-a-community-led-marketing-engine/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T13:48:11.000Z Áine Dundas was first introduced to Notion when she spotted some ads on the side of a bus in Dublin with “beautiful illustrations.” She got her phone out and searched the name. “How often have you seen a SaaS advert and then immediately Googled it?” she asks. At the time, Áine was working for Google heading up campaigns for Cloud, but as she explored the productivity tool she got hooked. The stars aligned when Notion’s former general manager, Robbie O’Connor, reached out to ask her to come on board as head of marketing for EMEA. [](https://luma.com/7tqgz6pi?tk=9yztAU&ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Founders Are Building Their Brands in Public URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-founders-are-building-their-brands-in-public/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T08:55:09.000Z Across Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, companies are increasingly being built in public. Founders are sharing product development, setbacks, strategic decisions and raw personal journeys in real time. What began as a startup tactic is evolving into a branding strategy in its own right, particularly for smaller consumer brands competing against corporations with far larger marketing budgets. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Where Do Brand Leaders Go for Inspiration? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/where-do-brand-leaders-go-for-inspiration/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T09:40:01.000Z You can’t come up with new ideas and fresh approaches by looking at your screen all day. You might get a lot of inspiration from what a peer has done on LinkedIn or from reading one of our articles, which is great, but you will inevitably hit a wall or end up in a feedback loop. You're unlikely to really break new ground this way. This is a topic that has consistently cropped up in my conversations with brand leaders lately: how to carve out time and space to get the creative juices flowing. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/05/Animated-banner-large.png)](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers/) It isn’t easy when you’re under constant pressure to deliver and hit those all‑important KPIs. It’s something that needs to be protected and encouraged in corporate spaces, and it’s down to today’s leaders to instigate this mindset and lead by example. For the first series of the [Brandmakers podcast](https://www.thesubthread.com/tag/brandmakers/), we asked a set of brand leaders what they did to take their mind off work, create time for thinking, and get creative inspiration. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How Dance Dance Revolution Rewired Pop Music (and Perhaps Invented Our Adaptive Future) URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-dance-dance-revolution-rewired-pop-music-and-perhaps-invented-our-adaptive-future/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T08:40:42.000Z When we tell the story of modern music culture, we tend to start with the internet. We talk about Napster upending the industry. We discuss how MySpace, SoundCloud and TikTok democratized distribution. We talk of the algorithm as a tastemaker. And of course, all of that matters, but, if you are trying to understand why music sounds the way it does this very day, and more importantly, why younger audiences respond to intensity, speed and immediacy the way they do, you have to rewind further. You have to go back all the way to the days of the mall, back to the sound of the dance pad. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Most Radical Move in Marketing: Make People Feel Alive URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-most-radical-move-in-marketing-make-people-feel-alive/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T13:47:47.000Z The most radical thing you could do this year, the most commercially disruptive thing you can do is make people feel alive, was the message of advice that brand strategy consultant Nishma Patel Robb had for a room full of senior marketers. Having spent 30 years in the industry, a decade of it at Google, Nishma has witnessed seismic changes before. Yet she said, she’d never been more sure that as an industry “we are potentially sleepwalking into irrelevance.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Internet is Too Generic by Design URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-internet-is-too-generic-by-design/ Last updated: 2026-05-26T08:41:53.000Z For years, the web has asked us people to do all the work when looking for information on a website. Even if that website has a good functioning search – and let’s be real here, we’re often taken aback when they do – we then still need to navigate to it, type in our query and find the best answer. At Pioneering Tomorrow in London, R/GA's executive creative director Rob Northam gave a keynote entitled “The Brand Reset: Cultivating Living Systems,” in which he argued that this architecture had always been flawed – and that AI is about to expose just how badly it serves both people and brands. For marketers and agencies an interesting question arose, what happens to your brand when most people never visit your website again? [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/05/Event-Banner-Billboard--1-.gif) ](https://luma.com/ggxego7n?tk=jF7ABO&ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Your Branded AI Needs a Soul URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-your-branded-ai-needs-a-soul/ Last updated: 2026-05-25T18:25:01.000Z We trust people, not machines. Plenty of brands are racing to bolt AI onto their products, but very few stop to ask whether what they’re building actually feels like them. If your AI does not behave like a member of your team, your audience won’t trust and adopt it. So how do we solve this? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Áine Dundas, Head of Marketing, EMEA at Notion URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-aine-dundas-head-of-marketing-emea-at-notion/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:07:23.000Z Notion's Áine Dundas on why the brand leads with community and small, thoughtful experiences, how formats like Café Notion turn power users into the marketing engine, and what its evolving visual identity says about infinite use cases. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Brompton's CMO is Pushing Back Against Content Landfill URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-brompton-is-pushing-back-against-content-landfill/ Last updated: 2026-05-21T09:39:48.000Z At a time when brands are racing to produce more content than ever, Brompton chief marketing officer Chris Willingham is taking the opposite approach. “I don’t want to produce five times more content,” he said. “The content we produce has to be meaningful and interesting. If you drown people in content they just ignore you and lose respect for you.” “There’s too much landfill out there.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How Zalando’s Content-First Strategy is Closing the Gap Between Content and Commerce URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-zalandos-content-first-strategy-is-closing-the-gap-between-content-and-commerce/ Last updated: 2026-05-15T11:14:10.000Z Zalando is one of Europe’s biggest advertisers, but its ambitions stretch far beyond traditional marketing. Under James Rothwell, the company is pushing to behave less like a retailer and more like a publisher. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Branded Entertainment’s Second Act URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/branded-entertainments-second-act/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T10:18:55.000Z Branded entertainment has been on the agenda for more than two decades. While there have been standout examples, it never quite gained sustained traction among brands or producers. Anthony Freedman, who leads the communications and entertainment group Common Interest, was at the forefront of the first wave of branded entertainment. He points to a set of structural issues that held it back. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### People Didn’t Reject the Metaverse, They Rejected Zuck's Version of It URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/people-didnt-reject-the-metaverse-they-rejected-zucks-version-of-it/ Last updated: 2026-05-19T16:27:14.000Z In early 2026, Meta began dismantling its original Horizon Worlds vision, only five years after declaring its all‑in bet on immersive virtual reality. It would be easy to call it a failure and move on. But that misses the point. The metaverse didn’t die, Meta just built a version of it that nobody wanted to spend time in. I say this as someone who bought in early. I had the Oculus Rift, then the Quest. I played *Half‑Life: Alyx*, watched NBA games in 3D, even attended a Coldplay concert in VR. The immersion was real. For a moment, it felt like the next frontier. And the market seemed to agree. VR headset shipments surged more than 50% year over year in early 2021. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### What the Languages of Football Can Teach Brands About Cultural Nuance URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/what-the-languages-of-football-can-teach-brands-about-cultural-nuance/ Last updated: 2026-05-12T09:27:56.000Z During the FIFA men’s World Cup this summer, stadiums, pubs and living rooms will be full of fans speaking their native languages. On the pitch, there’s a universal language: football. But any football fan knows the game isn’t played the same way everywhere. The Dutch gave us Total Football. Spain perfected Tiki-Taka. Brazil embodies joga bonito (the beautiful game). And in the UK, it’s often grit and directness. Each team plays by the same rules on the same pitch, but the result is entirely different. That’s a useful metaphor for any brand trying to speak to audiences with genuine cultural nuance. Global marketing depends on how deeply a brand adapts to a market, not just whether its content exists in another language. So, how should these shifts impact your global audience outreach? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Hold Your Nerve: Why CMOs Win by Doing Less, Better URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/hold-your-nerve-why-cmos-win-by-doing-less-better/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T11:05:26.000Z “A brand doesn’t need to be in every channel. A brand just needs to do some really great work in one or two channels,” says director of marketing at Pandora, Stephanie Legg. It's a bold statement for marketers obsessed with reaching as many consumers as possible. She points to brands like Adanola and Tala as evidence. The athleisure brands have seen extraordinary growth over the past five years by resisting the urge to be everywhere. Instead, they focus on a handful of channels and execute them exceptionally well. For Stephanie, a retail and fashion marketer with more than 20 years’ experience in high-growth brands, it all comes back to positioning. What do you stand for? What price is your product? What are you showing up for? What are you here to do? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Belonging is Sport’s Blind Spot URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/belonging-is-sports-blind-spot/ Last updated: 2026-05-11T21:47:55.000Z Sport has always been good at creating a powerful sense of connection once people have been welcomed through local identity, inherited loyalties or tradition. What it has been less successful at is creating a pathway for people who take the road less travelled. The industry still operates as if fandom begins close to home and grows from there. While that may be true for a lot of fans, it is far from the whole story. I’ve felt the other side of it myself. I moved to a new city, walked into a sports bar, and suddenly felt like I was in a room where I knew no one and still felt part of something. And that feeling is separate from loyalty. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Synthetic Audiences and the Shift from Gut Feel to Go-To-Simulation URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/synthetic-audiences-and-the-shift-from-gut-feel-to-go-to-simulation/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T06:38:54.000Z There’s a moment most senior marketers know well. The creative is almost there. Your instinct says it’s close, but something isn’t landing the way it should. Is it the message hierarchy? The audience frame? The execution? You can feel the gap between where it is and where it needs to be. What you can’t do is close it quickly. So you do what the process demands. You book the focus groups or run a quant evaluation. You wait weeks for a verdict on a version of the work that, by then, is already locked in. When the findings come back, they confirm what your instinct already suspected: the core idea was strong, but the execution missed. And the window to do something about it has closed. ### **Marketing’s Quiet Waste** This is marketing’s quiet waste. Not bad ideas going to market, but good ideas arriving there half-formed, because the feedback loop was too slow and expensive to do what it was designed for: making your work better. But something is changing. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with James Rothwell, Senior Vice President Marketing at Zalando URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-james-rothwell-senior-vice-president-marketing-at-zalando/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:07:13.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/49zieiFv3jlgvkp7ZJ7xcV?si=H5pUhd3BRA-Y11VdWEI7FA&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Music](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pandoras-marketing-director-on-leaving-every-brand/id1885174166?i=1000764647786&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000764647786&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXiI4CyHrE4&ref=thesubthread.com) Welcome back to a very exciting episode of Brandmakers with James Rothwell, who is senior vice president of marketing at one of Europe’s biggest advertisers Zalando. James is at the heart of a transformation with the company moving away from acting like an advertiser to become more like a publisher. In this conversation, James lays out why he thinks content and entertainment are the future of marketing as he sets out his plan to take Zalando from a clothing retailer to a fashion and lifestyle brand. Season 1 of Brandmakers is presented by [SBS](https://wearesbs.com/?ref=thesubthread.com). Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. ### Take the Future Seriously: Why AI Needs More than Legacy Thinking from Leaders URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/take-the-future-seriously-why-ai-needs-more-than-legacy-thinking-from-leaders/ Last updated: 2026-06-08T21:15:17.000Z “Take the future seriously.” That was the message from Dex Hunter-Torricke to a room packed with senior brand leaders. “It is astonishing to me how many smart leaders are essentially winging it through the 21st century when one of the most powerful pieces of technology is arriving,” he said, while pointing to early skepticism around the iPhone. A time when some insisted no one would ever send emails on a mobile. “Do not be that person,” he warned. ### **Views from the Frontier of Technological Change** _This post is for subscribers only._ ### To Survive Brands Must Sell Utility Over Desire URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/to-survive-brands-must-sell-utility-over-desire/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T08:52:19.000Z 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. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Stephanie Legg, Director of Marketing at Pandora URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-stephanie-legg-director-of-marketing-at-pandora/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:07:00.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5OHgSzkbG2bREWfZwg8Kgf?si=X-9BlVPESvqYTP1s8ag8tg&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Music](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pandoras-marketing-director-on-leaving-every-brand/id1885174166?i=1000764647786&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000764647786&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCzzInxebu4&ref=thesubthread.com) Stephanie Legg loves the challenge of a brand transformation. Her promise as a CMO is to always leave a brand stronger than you found it. Stephanie joins Brandmakers after wrapping up a stint as chief marketer at footwear retailer Schuh where she was behind a radical new positioning, and starting a new venture as the UK's director of marketing at jewellery brand Pandora. After a decade at the Arcadia Group during its glory years, Stephanie knows what it takes to build strong brands but also understands boardroom tensions and how to fight for investment in upper funnel marketing. Season 1 of Brandmakers is presented by [SBS](https://wearesbs.com/?ref=thesubthread.com). Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. ### How Mailchimp’s ‘Expert Absurdist’ Studio Keeps Creativity Weird URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-mailchimps-expert-absurdist-studio-keeps-creativity-weird/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T14:00:42.000Z When we meet, Jeremy Jones sits down in front of a wall stuffed full of art. The global head of creative at Intuit Mailchimp is an advocate for getting offline, getting inspiration from outside sources, and spending time with art. “It’s really important for us to be inspired by art. One of the biggest things for people to do is to take a break from work so your thoughts have time to collect,” Jeremy says. “It just helps you see things from a different perspective, or just being inspired by the risk that someone’s taken or just to question things.” Recording from Atlanta, US, for an episode of [The Subthread's Brandmakers podcast](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers/), Jeremy tells me that the in-house creative team he oversees often takes time out to visit galleries or museums to break from the grind. “Being able to get out of that and go offline and get inspiration from outside sources is really important. The physical is a big deal,” he says. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Age of Sport-tainment URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-age-of-sport-tainment/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T16:48:37.000Z Sport has morphed from “just the game” into a full-blown content engine. Ben Goldhagen unpacks how creator fights, tunnel fashion and fan‑led formats are reshaping sport into a hybrid of competition, entertainment and social‑first marketing. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### A Brand That Thinks URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/a-brand-that-thinks-building-a-brand-brain/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T14:01:10.000Z A brand is a funny concept. What a brand is – its design systems and rules on how it should show up – lives in files on the desktops of people who work in brand and marketing. When you think about what gets documented, it’s the briefs and the final work, but all the context and rationale behind those final decisions is missing for its final users. This common way of working is a static one. It keeps the brand locked in a moment in time, forcing brand marketers to invest in costly rebrands every few years. But what if it didn’t have to be this way? What if the brand could constantly evolve and become a generative entity? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How a Broadcaster Builds a Modern Brand in a Streaming World URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-a-legacy-broadcaster-builds-a-modern-brand-in-a-streaming-world/ Last updated: 2026-04-27T20:56:00.000Z British broadcasters can’t beat Netflix at its own game – so ITV is doubling down on what makes it different. “We don’t want to be a poor man’s Netflix because we’re never going to out-Netflix Netflix,” Paul Ridsdale, director of brand and marketing at ITV, says when reflecting on the marketing challenge facing the British broadcasters. “But we can be the best ITV in the market, and no one else can do what we do.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How Sports Partnerships are Evolving: From Logos on Shirts to the Group Chat URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-sports-partnerships-are-evolving-from-logos-on-shirts-to-the-group-chat/ Last updated: 2026-04-23T15:45:40.000Z At a recent event hosted by The Subthread, a brand, a platform and a Premier League club talked all things sport partnerships. Though it started off as looking at the more classic approach to partnerships, the conversation moved away from logos and in-stadium opportunities almost immediately. The truth is that the classic sponsorship model was built for a world where attention was centralised around live matches and broadcast TV. Today, the audience is just as likely to meet your brand via a Netflix docu‑series, a creator’s TikTok or a screenshot in the group chat. So what does a *valuable* sports partnership look like in that world? ### **Why Values Come Before Assets** When that question was put to ​Oyin Akiniyi, global brand director at Chivas Regal, she set out the brands history and values. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Jeremy Jones, Global Head of Creative at Intuit Mailchimp URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-jeremy-jones-global-head-of-creative-at-intuit-mailchimp/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:06:46.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1i9lpxbMmL7xraUlXHfVOc?si=Zcc3gR9nR8GjDLd%5FqrgfEw&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Music](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mailchimp-keeps-creativity-weird-inside-its-in-house/id1885174166?i=1000762601941&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000762601941&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/s3OZHb9fEyg?ref=thesubthread.com) Another week, another Brandmakers podcast. In this latest episode our host Hannah Bowler sits down with Jeremy Jones, global head of creative at Intuit Mailchimp. Jeremy shares his secret to fostering creativity within his in-house team. There's group trips to galleries and museums, arts and crafts sessions and carved out space in the working day to experiment with tools and techniques. And the results are there for all to see. This episode also dives into the story of the Mailchimp mascot, Freddy Von Chippenheimer 4th and how this monkey’s wink has to be a part of everything the Mailchimp team do. Season 1 of Brandmakers is presented by [SBS](https://wearesbs.com/?ref=thesubthread.com). Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. ### Why Brands Need to Start Acting Like Creators URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-brands-need-to-start-acting-like-creators/ Last updated: 2026-04-22T12:39:59.000Z At The Subthread’s latest Community Evening, one idea kept surfacing: brands aren’t just working with creators anymore, they’re being expected to behave like them too. It’s a subtle shift, but one that reflects a broader change in expectations. Working with clients on their creator strategies for The Goat Agency, Ellie Hooper is seeing how brands are “setting their tone of voice, and acting as a creator.” The global vice president, growth, at the influencer agency pointed to a more conversational approach: replying to comments, engaging directly with audiences and treating content as an ongoing dialogue rather than a series of campaigns. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Don’t Become an Onion: How Great Brands Win When Voice and AI do the Shopping URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/dont-become-an-onion-how-great-brands-win-when-voice-and-ai-do-the-shopping/ Last updated: 2026-04-20T17:06:40.000Z In the new world of shopping, the difference between winning and losing is just a few words. If I say, “add Hellmann’s mayo,” brand-owner Unilever wins. If I say, “add mayo,” an algorithm picks your competitor. As voice, re-orders, and AI agents take over shopping, brands that get named have a massive advantage. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Netflix Doesn’t Need to Own Live Sport URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-netflix-doesnt-need-to-own-live-sport/ Last updated: 2026-04-17T13:22:49.000Z Recently I watched the Fury vs. Makmudov fight on Netflix. I’m a fighting fan and although one of the main reasons for watching was to see the return of the Gypsy King, I was also curious to see how Netflix’s first UK boxing event landed and how they’re starting to build an identity in this space. What stood out to me was how the event showed Netflix using boxing as a kind of “live billboard” for its wider IP and ecosystem. I guess that’s the point, but it also raises a bigger question: what does this actually mean for brands? Netflix has been disciplined in how it approaches live sport. Rather than chasing big, expensive rights deals, it’s focused on more contained, high-impact events that generate attention without the burden of year-round programming, things like the MVP/Jake Paul productions. That approach leans into one-off moments and selective properties like WWE as efficient ways to drive subscriptions, especially when they have global appeal. And it’s a model that increasingly aligns with how attention works today. As Michael Isaacs-Olaye, vp sales & partnerships at an ad-effectiveness platform Happydemics, tells me, Netflix’s tentpole approach to live sport “speaks directly to the attention economy – shifting brands away from always-on sponsorship towards high-impact, must-win moments.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From Vanity Metrics to Sanity Metrics: Why Social’s Real Wins Don’t Show Up on a Slide URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-vanity-metrics-to-sanity-metrics-why-socials-real-wins-dont-show-up-on-a-slide/ Last updated: 2026-05-05T07:51:24.000Z There was a time when a big number could genuinely make my week. You know the moment in the boardroom, the slide changes and suddenly: reach, impressions, coverage volume. Nice, chunky and comforting. Everyone in the room exhales and someone says: “great result.” I’ve absolutely been that person. I’ve sold those numbers, celebrated them, high-fived over them and built entire decks around them. I’ve said “this really traveled” while pointing at a graph, as if I personally escorted it across the internet. No shame, but okay, maybe a little shame. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Paul Ridsdale, Director of Brand & Marketing at ITV URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-paul-ridsdale-director-of-brand-marketing-at-itv/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:06:28.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ArLYcJoNTyvtipWq2FBw2?si=CigjvxNASl2cl0miwKfAuQ&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Music](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/itvs-brand-strategy-why-it-wont-try-to-out-netflix/id1885174166?i=1000761133300&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000761133300&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/4ABpuCSGtG8?ref=thesubthread.com) And we're back, this week the Brandmakers podcast dives into the world of ITV, a major UK broadcaster and content studio reaching millions of viewers through its channels and ITVX. Its director of brand and marketing, Paul Ridsdale, has been marketing the British broadcaster ITV for over 17 years, and has been a part of its journey from a TV channel to a streaming service and content creator. In this episode, presenter Hannah Bowler digs into the rise of the “browsing audience” and what that shift means for how modern viewers discover and connect with content. Season 1 of Brandmakers is presented by [SBS](https://wearesbs.com/?ref=thesubthread.com). Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. ### The End of the User Journey: Why the Future of Experience is a Conversation URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-end-of-the-user-journey-why-the-future-of-experience-is-a-conversation/ Last updated: 2026-04-27T11:09:44.000Z For decades, the foundation of digital experience has been the “path.” We obsessed over the user journey: semi-rigid, linear steps that shepherd a person from point A to point B. We built maps, defined flows, and constructed menus. But there’s always been a flaw in that architecture: humans don’t think in straight lines. That friction is becoming impossible to ignore as the center of gravity shifts away from the smartphone. We’re entering the era of the mainstream wearable, a format where traditional interaction models start to fall apart. If you’re a marketer, product lead, or designer, your carefully crafted funnels and in‑app journeys are about to matter less than how good your product is at holding a conversation. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### What the Training Data Can’t See URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/what-the-training-data-cant-see/ Last updated: 2026-04-17T12:55:58.000Z Palantir’s chief executive officer, Alex Karp, said recently that two types of people will thrive in the AI era: those with vocational skills and those who are neurodivergent. I’m dyslexic. And I have a complicated relationship with that word “thrive.” Because dyslexia is not a superpower you can switch on. It’s not a productivity hack or a hiring category. Some days it’s the thing that lets you see a pattern no one else can see. Other days it’s the reason a simple email takes four times longer than it should. It’s the reason you avoid certain rooms. The reason you developed instincts that look like confidence but started as compensation. So when a billionaire CEO frames neurodivergence as a competitive advantage, I get it. And I also don’t. And I say that as someone who does not have much time for Alex or the world he is building. But on this, he’s not far off. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Pinterest’s Louder, Bolder Bet: Culture-Led Marketing and Real-World Creation URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/pinterests-louder-bolder-bet-culture-led-marketing-and-real-world-creation-louise-foley/ Last updated: 2026-04-27T20:56:35.000Z After quietly occupying a part of the internet for more than 20 years, Pinterest wants to take a new approach to be louder, bolder and far more willing to take cultural risks. When Louise Foley first joined Pinterest six years ago she says it was a “little bit apologetic” as a brand. “It was just quietly doing its thing. We knew that people loved it, but we didn't really shout out about it,” she reflects. Louise was previously at Snapchat during what she says was the “most innovative time” its development. Now at Pinterest the platform is “looking to be as unpredictable as unhinged in some of the marketing choices that it’s making.” While speaking on the[Brandmakers podcast](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-louise-foley-director-of-marketing-europe-at-pinterest/), Louise teased that a core part of its 2026 strategy would be to double down on cultural marketing. Louise and her team are looking to employ “tactics that harness and capture that cultural conversation,” she says. “You're going to be seeing a lot of that in 2026, we're going to be hanging our hats on some real cultural tentpole moments, some expected and some unexpected.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### When Community Sits Upstream: How Elf Turns Social Signals Into Products URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/when-community-sits-upstream-how-elf-turns-social-signals-into-products/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:09:36.000Z Elf Cosmetics “deconstructed” its innovation pipeline, shortening development cycles and creating new products, all to respond to its customer demands online. The beauty brand has a strong presence on social media with a loyal customer base that is vocal in what it wants from the company. Hannah Roberts, vice president of marketing at Elf Cosmetics, shared how it has shifted its way of working to put social media feedback “upstream” of R&D rather than sitting purely with the marketing function. ### **From Social Signals to Shelf** _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Louise Foley, Director of Marketing, Europe at Pinterest URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-with-louise-foley-director-of-marketing-europe-at-pinterest/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:06:14.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6pcnv3OpYRGxqWksM7jfSh?si=sjTJjAjQTF-MPuNtg-ZbAA&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Music](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pinterests-bet-on-culture-and-irl-experiences/id1885174166?i=1000758812639&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000758812639&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/8VJGrTGQbWk?ref=thesubthread.com) Welcome back, it's week three of the Brandmakers podcast, and Hannah is joined this week by Louise Foley, who is director of marketing, Europe at Pinterest. Louise and Hannah got stuck into the subject of trends and signals, and what marketers need to do to stay on the right side of cultural relevance. She also detailed her own marketing strategy and her push into fun and meaningful experiential events. Disclaimer: we recorded this episode just before Christmas, hence Louise’s background tree. She isn’t one of those all-year-round Christmas people – or maybe she is… Season 1 of Brandmakers is presented by [SBS](https://wearesbs.com/?ref=thesubthread.com). Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. ### Sport as the Operating System for Culture URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/sport-as-the-operating-system-for-culture/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:09:02.000Z Of the top 100 most watched TV shows in America in any given year, about 90 are NFL games. That stat, from Henry Hodgson who spoke at Advertising Week Europe recently and who runs the NFL’s international business out of the UK, is a neat way to understand where we are with modern day sport. Sport isn’t just another content vertical. It’s increasingly becoming a dominant layer of attention the rest of culture is increasingly built on. That sentiment will only increase after the sport events and moments we're about to witness this year. What’s changing now is not the scale of that attention, but the way it’s being presented to audiences – it's moving from stadiums and TV into social feeds, fan group chats and increasingly into shoppable moments. The leagues, platforms, brands and athletes that get this are treating sport as a cultural operating system. The ones that don’t are still buying perimeter boards and hoping they get some extra screen time when something happens on the field. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Case for Thinking Smaller in a Summer of Sport URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-case-for-thinking-smaller-in-a-summer-of-sport/ Last updated: 2026-04-06T20:41:35.000Z I was at Advertising Week last week at 180 Studios on the Strand. As you’d expect, there was a lot of talk about the year ahead, where brands are placing bets, what’s changing, what’s working, etc. I spent most of my time in sessions focused on partnerships, particularly in sport, which is where my interest naturally sits. Unsurprisingly, a lot of it centered around what’s coming this summer. The “Summer of Sport” has become a fixture in the marketing calendar with big tournaments, audiences, and opportunities. The types of cultural moments that are easy to plan and justify, and most importantly, to get excited about. However, it was a non-sport-related panel that got me thinking about looking at opportunities for brands differently. It was during a panel about Wendy’s fast-food chain and just at the last minute of the panel they mentioned they sponsored the Peterborough Phantoms, an ice hockey team here in the UK. A sport that doesn’t dominate headlines, but one with a loyal, tight-knit audience. While everyone was talking about scale with the likes of the World Cup, this was a reminder that not all valuable audiences look the same. It sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, which later took on a new dimension when Simon Leslie, chief operating officer of ReachTV, said during his panel: “Don’t let logic kill the magic.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From Cost Centre to Growth Engine: How AI Has Pushed Creativity Center Stage URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-end-of-the-cost-center-how-ai-has-pushed-creativity-center-stage/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:08:38.000Z In the 1990s, there were fears email would kill the office. Of course, it didn’t, but it did redefine it. Phone calls became less common, but new industries emerged, communication accelerated, and the modern office adapted. Now we have Slack, video calls, and ways of working nobody had previously imagined. When it comes to digital marketing, AI is no different. Far from being an existential threat, it has the potential to spark a new generation of creative excellence – more so than anything we’ve seen in the past 20 years. But it requires a change of mindset. The opportunity is with those who lead with excitement rather than those who go down a blind alley fuelled by fear. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Mattel’s IP Play: How The Toymaker Is Turning Into an Entertainment Powerhouse URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/mattels-ip-play-how-the-toymaker-is-turning-into-an-entertainment-powerhouse/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:09:57.000Z For 80 years, Mattel has been thought of as a toymaker. But under the helm of chief executive officer Ynon Kreiz, the company is in the midst of restructuring itself into an IP-led entertainment company. Ruth Henriquez, head of licensing and partnerships at Mattel, admits there is still a way to go on that transformation, but after three years Ynon’s strategy is becoming a reality. “There is still a lot that we need to do. There is a lot of effort and a lot of investment to make sure that we move from being perceived as a toy company to being perceived as an entertainment company,” Ruth says on [The Subthread’s Brandmakers podcast](https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-podcast-ruth-henriquez-head-of-partnerships-and-licensing-at-mattel/). _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Ruth Henriquez, Head of Partnerships and Licensing at Mattel URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-podcast-ruth-henriquez-head-of-partnerships-and-licensing-at-mattel/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:05:58.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/24mkPe9D1eGmO7RRydACzb?si=F%5F84DNDoTDipgyR8%5FGg9oQ&ref=thesubthread.com) [Listen on Apple Music](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mattels-big-pivot-from-toymaker-to-global-entertainment/id1885174166?i=1000757242333&itscg=30200&itsct=podcast%5Fbox&ls=1&mttnsubad=1000757242333&ref=thesubthread.com) [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgtmTMNF624&ref=thesubthread.com) Welcome back to the Brandmakers podcast, where Hannah is joined by Ruth Henriquez who is head of licensing and partnerships at Mattel overseeing the IP for brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, Uno and Masters of the Universe. In Mattel’s post-Barbie movie era, the company is shifting from a product-led business model to an IP-led one. At a time when advertisers are all finding ways to be ‘entertaining’ Mattel’s strategy is worth paying attention to. Season 1 of Brandmakers is presented by [SBS](https://wearesbs.com/?ref=thesubthread.com). Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. ### Has The Word ‘Trend’ Lost Its Meaning? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/has-the-word-trend-lost-its-meaning/ Last updated: 2026-05-19T16:37:48.000Z From four recent interviews I spotted a pattern. People across the industry were telling me that the word “trend” has lost its meaning and that it’s time to look for an alternative. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a trend as “a general direction in which a situation is changing or developing.” But in today’s social media world, “trend” has come to mean a fleeting viral moment. These days a lot of brands are focused on identifying and replicating TikTok trends rather than building strategy around a shift or development in consumer behavior. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Designing The Future We Actually Want URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/designing-the-future-we-actually-want/ Last updated: 2026-04-13T09:52:39.000Z How often do you sit and think about the future? Not your future but our collective future. I know I don’t, because imagining the future right now feels dystopian and a little uneasy. This is a question the design futurist and trends forecaster Sarah Housley posed at a recent Creative Mornings event. She said we are living through what the science fiction writer William Gibson termed “future fatigue.” In the 20th century, images of the 21st century were often conjured up in art, culture and film, but you can’t say the same for the 22nd century. For most people, that feels too scary to think about. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Culture Isn’t a Channel: Jägermeister’s Kea Kleihauer on Earning Relevance URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/culture-isnt-a-channel-jagermeisters-kea-kleihauer-on-earning-relevance-culture-marketing-branding/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:11:01.000Z “If a brand says they are culturally relevant, they probably aren’t.” Kea Kleihauer laughs when she says it, but it is an accurate statement. Culture, she argues, is not something a brand can simply declare itself part of or can buy its way into. It has to be earned over time by a willingness to listen, not lead and be “useful”. “You have to have an actual purpose of working with culture. It's not something that you can just buy, like your media budget,” Kea says. “It’s not a marketing channel.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From Worldbuilding to World Belonging: What Animal Crossing can Teach Brand Experiences URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-worldbuilding-to-world-belonging-what-animal-crossing-can-teach-brand-experiences/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:14:39.000Z For a game where almost nothing dramatic happens, Animal Crossing has held people’s attention for years. You catch bugs, craft furniture and chat to animal neighbors about absolutely nothing. Yet millions of players happily spend hours wandering these small islands, visiting friends and slowly shaping their own corner of the world. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why ‘Friction-Maxxing’ Is Catching On and Why Brands Are Starting to Care URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-friction-maxxing-is-catching-on-and-why-brands-are-starting-to-care/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:14:54.000Z Friction-maxxing emerged as a term in an article in The Cut, where writer Kathryn Jezer-Morton explored the idea of avoiding things that make your life more convenient. The article argues that by adding friction and rejecting tech-enabled convenience, we get the satisfaction of achievement for our efforts, a feeling that in turn makes us happier. Since the piece was published in January, the phrase has gained traction, with publications like the FT, The Guardian, BBC and Elle each exploring the subject for their readers. Friction has also been a hot topic in Substacks and on LinkedIn. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### When Results Don’t Matter: What Fandom Teaches Brands About Loyalty URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/when-results-dont-matter-what-fandom-teaches-brands-about-loyalty/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:12:23.000Z If you’re a football fan, it’s hard to escape the heated battle for survival at the bottom of the Premier League table this season. Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, and, most surprisingly, Tottenham Hotspur, three teams you’d have been shocked to see struggling, are all circling the drain. Poor form, and the looming threat of relegation as your beloved team plummets down the table, can be devastating for fans. That pain was on brutal display during Tottenham’s 5–2 thrashing by Atletico Madrid recently. Of course, as rival fans, it’s easy to point and laugh at Spurs. But something struck me during last week’s game. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Watch: Brandmakers with Kea Kleihauer, Senior Manager Global Culture and Experiential Marketing at Jägermeister URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brandmakers-podcast-kea-kleihauer-senior-manager-global-culture-and-experiential-marketing-at-jagermeister/ Last updated: 2026-09-03T16:05:34.000Z [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/17SBbitJWYBHtESbZ2p37t?si=WmsNNUSeTxSwKzwC-mPQcw&ref=thesubthread.com) [ Listen on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-j%C3%A4germeisters-culture-marketing-strategy-brandmakers/id1885174166?i=1000755573708&ref=thesubthread.com) [ Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/HJoQ79hyHLA?ref=thesubthread.com) In this episode of the Brandmakers podcast Hannah is joined by Kea Kleihauer who is senior manager global culture & experiential marketing at Jägermeister. Cultural marketing might be the buzzword of the moment but it has been around as long as the profession, yet it’s still misunderstood in boardrooms where it’s often treated like a channel rather than a long-term strategy. At Jägermeister initiatives like Save the Night show how cultural investment builds long term credibility and equity, especially in markets where traditional advertising isn’t possible. Season 1 of Brandmakers is presented by [SBS](https://wearesbs.com/?ref=thesubthread.com). Helping brands and independent agencies deliver smarter, high-impact programmatic advertising. ### Why Creator Investors Are Becoming Football’s New Distribution Partners URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-creator-investors-are-becoming-footballs-new-distribution-partners/ Last updated: 2026-03-16T08:58:33.000Z Roughly a week ago, YouTuber-turned-media and business entrepreneur KSI purchased a reported 20% minority stake in National League South club Dagenham & Redbridge. It’s not the first time a celebrity has stepped into football ownership. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney famously acquired Wrexham, Tom Brady holds a minority stake in Birmingham City, Snoop Dogg has invested in Swansea City, and Natalie Portman helped launch NWSL side Angel City FC. But KSI’s arrival adds another dimension to the trend. Increasingly, celebrity investors are becoming more distribution partners than owners. Lower-league clubs have historically struggled with reach, often relying on local support and modest commercial deals. A creator or celebrity investor can instantly change that dynamic, injecting global audience, narrative and media value into a club that previously operated largely within its community. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Love’s Weird: Why Imperfect Brands Win Deeper Affection URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/loves-weird-why-imperfect-brands-win-deeper-affection/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:11:32.000Z There’s a persistent rumor that Gen Z have the attention spans of overstimulated goldfish: eight seconds, allegedly. The counter argument is that rather than attention spans shrinking, young people are just sifting through more content than any generation before them. They’ve simply raised their standards. If it doesn’t cut through, they don’t stick around. Whichever way you read it, we live inside an attention economy. Human attention, once ambient and abundant, is treated as a scarce resource to be chased, hacked, and monetized. Platforms optimize for it. Creators contort themselves for it. Brands spend millions trying to rent it. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Visual Social Listening Is The Next Frontier For Brands URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-visual-social-listening-is-the-next-frontier-for-brands/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:11:46.000Z The notion of visual listening – tracking and analyzing what people share visually – is no longer experimental. It’s slowly becoming its own discipline, cultural trends expert Franziska Gregor tells me. With today’s social habits, images and video can carry deeper signals of brand sentiment and emerging trends than text. Yet the social listening industry until recently has been about tracking words, not visuals. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Winning the World Cup Before Kick‑Off URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/one-world-cup-after-another-2/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:12:05.000Z There’s something about the World Cup that’s hard to put your finger on. It’s a feeling that builds in the weeks before kick-off, somewhere between the group stage draw and the first whistle, where a belief takes hold that this might be the tournament where everything finally clicks. And for brands looking to capture attention at scale, that same surge of possibility is impossible to ignore. For most fans, the World Cup will be an ocean away. For advertisers, the mission is to shrink that ocean to the size of a screen, turning distance into digital proximity through smart, real-time social storytelling. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### When AI Starts Selling, What Happens To Trust? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/when-ai-starts-selling-what-happens-to-trust/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:12:53.000Z “If we want people to trust advertising more, ChatGPT ads could be a big help,” was the controversial hot take given by Marcos Angelidas. The managing director of L’Oréal Lab and head of AI operations at Publicis Media wrote on LinkedIn after Anthropic and OpenAI put their stakes in the ground about taking advertising dollars. While OpenAI has explored commercial partnerships and hinted at future monetisation models, Anthropic has publicly positioned Claude as ad-free – at least for now. But both companies face the same question, which is how to fund increasingly expensive AI systems at scale. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Revenge Of Millennial Cringe: How Brands Can Grow Up With Their Fans URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/revenge-of-millennial-cringe-how-brands-can-grow-up-with-their-fans/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:13:08.000Z Skinny jeans are back. The indie sleaze aesthetic of unwashed hair, American Apparel, MGMT, and blown-out flash photography is suddenly cool again. After years of being on the receiving end of Gen Z mockery over their trainer socks and outdated emojis, Millennials are feeling something new: vindication. The culture has come back around, and the generation that came of age in the early 2000s is having a moment again. But nostalgia alone won’t bridge the chasm between these demographics. In fact, in some ways, the intergenerational tension is intensifying, with, as The New York Times [notes](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/style/taylor-swift-cringe.html?ref=thesubthread.com), Millennial Taylor Swift fans increasingly hiding their fandom out of sheer embarrassment, unwilling to be associated with what Gen Z perceives as uncool earnestness. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why the NFL Is a Masterclass in Winning New Fans URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-the-nfl-is-a-masterclass-in-winning-new-fans/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:13:21.000Z Ask the average American what they’re doing on a Sunday afternoon and you’ll get a consistent response: Sundays are for football. The numbers back it up, according to Nielsen, the NFL accounted for nearly 90% of all top broadcasts in 2025\. The NFL has been as American as apple pie for more than a century. The anticipation of Monday Night Football, the five-month build-up to the Super Bowl, the buzz about the next generation of athletes thanks to the NFL Combine and Draft Night. The sport has evolved into a phenomenon shared by millions. But bringing that across the pond was never going to be easy. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### What Real Community Looks Like (And How to Build It) URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/what-real-community-looks-like-and-how-to-build-it/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:13:47.000Z Everyone’s suddenly obsessed with “community”. For SXSW, the most popular topic submitted this year wasn't AI – it was community and human connection, with organizers saying that "in an AI-saturated world, proposals show a renewed emphasis on the power of connection and what it means to be human." Every deck, every pitch, every brand update seems to have it somewhere near the top. But if everyone’s “building a community”, why does so much of it feel empty and one-directional? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Designing for the Feeling: How AI Can Support Creativity and Shapes the Future of Experiences URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/designing-for-the-feeling-how-ai-can-support-creativity-and-shapes-the-future-of-experiences/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:15:34.000Z Audiences aren’t chasing bigger, louder nights anymore. They want experiences that feel human, intentional and emotionally rewarding. Here’s why the next decade of events will belong to those who design for emotional resonance first and use AI as a powerful, but purely supportive, tool. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Football Isn’t Just the 90 Minutes Anymore: 3 Signals for 2026 URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/football-isnt-just-the-90-minutes-anymore-3-signals-for-2026/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T21:47:47.000Z Last week I tuned into James Kirkham on Meta’s Summer of Football webinar. The founder of Iconic described football as “the North Star” of culture. It sits at the centre of gaming, music, fashion and fandom, he said, while he talked about why we can’t keep treating tournaments like neat, 90‑minute campaign windows. Below are three ideas that stuck with me, and feel especially useful for anyone working in and around brands, agencies or rights holders this year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/Headshot-Article-Template--27-.png) James Kirkham presenting during the Meta Summer of Football webinar **1\. The Aftermath Economy Is Real** James talked about what he calls the “aftermath economy” – the bit after the whistle. It’s the long train back from an away day. The WhatsApp group picking apart substitutions. The picture carousel the next morning. The meme that refuses to die or the playlist that quietly becomes the sound of a tournament and outlives the final. Most football marketing still builds towards kick-off and then gently powers down by full-time. But as James suggested, that’s often when the meaning actually lands. The debrief in group chats, the clips that get forwarded, the in-jokes that start on Stories and end up in real life. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Innovation Is a Mindset, Not a Process URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/innovation-is-a-mindset-not-a-process/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:14:09.000Z “Being creative is fucking hard,” Wayne Deakin vented at The Subthread’s latest community event. The relentless pressure to come up with good ideas and to be constantly innovating is a challenge, but it also encourages a little healthy competition, which Wayne says fuels the industry. The founder of Studio Deakin spoke alongside Jeff Bowerman, executive creative director at Dept. Both creatives shared their own approach to breaking new ground, but also opened up about how hard it is to experiment under budget and time constraints. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### This Is Not a Story About the Super Bowl, It’s About Community URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/this-is-not-a-story-about-the-super-bowl-its-about-community/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T08:53:45.000Z Sport’s biggest cultural power is still its ability to bring people into the same room. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Scaling Smart: Why Creative Teams Shouldn’t Produce Just Because They Can URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/scaling-smart-why-creative-teams-shouldnt-produce-just-because-they-can/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:16:04.000Z How to scale sustainably was a key conversation at The Subthread’s recent community evening. At a time when technology makes it easier than ever to spin a single idea into hundreds of formats – more assets, more content, more campaigns – it opens up the question: just because you can, should you? Ellen Turnill Montoya, associate creative director at the design agency Buck, kicked off by speaking more broadly about the pressure on agencies to scale. “You do have to have some kind of scale and growth because of inflation. Everybody’s wages, the office that you’re in, the snacks get more expensive,” she told an audience of designers and creatives. That means you need to have some level of scale and growth within a company. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Where Have All The Humans Gone? The Retreat Of Customer Service URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/where-have-all-the-humans-gone-the-retreat-of-customer-service/ Last updated: 2026-02-22T13:12:14.000Z Have you tried calling a business’s customer service team recently? I'm going to take my chance and say no. Somewhere between the chirpy website chatbot, the app you have to download just to ask a question, and the automated phone system that hangs up before you’ve finished explaining yourself, actually speaking to a human has started to feel like a luxury. But here’s the thing: that has always been, and always will be, true. Service design shapes a brand’s entire perception – for some brands, more so than the glossy campaigns they spend (most of) their marketing budgets on. Take Octopus Energy’s radio ads that focus entirely on (supposedly) real customers highlighting the very good customer service they’ve received. The brand recognizes that these firsthand accounts do more to build recognition and trust than any shiny celebrity voiceover ever would. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### You Can’t Rent Culture: What Bad Bunny’s Success Just Told Brands URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/you-cant-rent-culture-what-bad-bunnys-success-just-told-brands/ Last updated: 2026-04-21T11:06:55.000Z When Bad Bunny picked up Album of the Year for a record sung entirely in Spanish, it didn’t feel like a massive surprise. But I did have this feeling that the industry had finally caught up to what everyone else’s headphones already knew. For years, Spanish‑language music has been treated as something orbiting the “real” mainstream. Huge numbers, huge fandoms, yet always framed as Latin first, mainstream second. The story many told themselves was that success meant it needed translation, and as a consequence, dilution. Then the biggest prize in American music went to an album that didn’t translate a single lyric. There was no mention of “English version coming soon.” Bad Bunny stayed put and the mainstream moved. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Lock In for Content, Stay for Community URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/lock-in-for-content-stay-for-community/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T08:57:46.000Z Look to your left. Now, look to your right. If you are sat by two people, it is likely that all three of you have multiple subscriptions. Across the UK last year, four in five people had at least one subscription, and the total number of subscriptions in the country is double its total population. But with consumers always looking for ways to cut costs, businesses need to give people more reasons than ever to remain loyal – and one of the most impactful ways is through community. ### **Sunderland ‘Til I Die** When it comes to passionate loyalty, you don’t need to look much further than the football stadium. Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die proves that. The community that exists around Sunderland AFC is strong, dedicated, and frankly, something that businesses can learn from. One in four subscribers place community and membership perks as essential to building lasting loyalty to a service. But beyond the perks, it’s about fostering a sense of belonging. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/Headshot-Article-Template--21-.png) Guy Meyers, senior director, customer & growth at Recurly People aren’t going to Sunderland matches because of the great facilities or for a 10% discount on hot dogs and soft drinks. They’re going because of the community experience and the atmosphere that is unique and personal to them. Any brand that can tap into this will stand the test of time. But how can businesses go about turning their services into wellsprings of community and shared interest? [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/Black-and-White-Minimalist-Creative-Brief-Presentation--Billboard--Landscape----2-.gif) ](https://luma.com/6sh8zayg?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Brand Trust Is Needed Now More Than Ever URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-brand-trust-is-needed-now-more-than-ever/ Last updated: 2026-02-16T10:30:49.000Z Trust in our institutions and in business is being tested. Even without touching the bigger, more disturbing political stories dominating the news cycle, people are increasingly skeptical of what they see online. Scams, AI-generated slop, harmful content, misinformation and sheer bombardment have combined to erode confidence in digital spaces. Inevitably, advertising gets caught in the fallout. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### In Search of Innovation: What Good Leadership Really Looks Like URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/in-search-of-innovation-what-good-leadership-really-looks-like/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T10:22:56.000Z Every time I talk to someone about “innovation,” the conversation eventually stops being about ideas at all. Instead we talk about calendars, org charts, too many stakeholders and brand safety. In other words: the problem is almost never that teams are short on ideas. The problem is that leadership doesn’t create enough space for those ideas to turn into anything real. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Past, Present and Still Playing URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/past-present-and-still-playing/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T14:29:39.000Z From Chelsea’s “Return of the Rebel” and TAG Heuer’s revived Formula 1 watches to fans co‑creating future kits with AI, clubs and brands are using nostalgia to draw in fans, blending archive with the present day to offer continuity in a culture where the past is as valuable as the future. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Brands Can't Be Neutral URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brands-cant-be-neutral/ Last updated: 2026-02-16T11:27:10.000Z Recently we saw some big brands finally stand up and take a stance against the actions taken by ICE. Target, Anthropic and even OpenAI put out messages saying enough is enough. Some CEOs did so to internal staff only but they must have known full well it would leak within seconds. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be about US politics. It’s about branding. Every CMO who has ever worked for a large-scale company or a publicly traded one knows that to remain neutral in situations like this can work for and against you. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The ‘Richness’ of Female Athletes and Why Brands Need to Go Deeper URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-richness-of-female-athletes-and-why-brands-need-to-go-deeper/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T10:23:49.000Z Brands all want a stake in women’s sport but not all of them know what to do with its stories. While audiences and investment continue to grow, the real value lies in the depth, emotional resonance and just pure fun of the female athletes’ experience. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Fashion, Cultural Fluency and What Comes Next URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/fashion-cultural-fluency-and-what-comes-next/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T21:50:15.000Z **If you’re a brand looking at sport in 2026, it’s becoming clearer that visibility alone isn’t the point anymore.** There’s been a noticeable change in the types of sport partnerships being announced as we head into the year ahead. Not louder deals or bigger numbers necessarily, but a shift in where brands seem to think sport is most useful. The question is whether these early moves point to what the next phase of sponsorship actually looks like. A handful of partnerships announced in January feel like early indicators. They provide useful clues about how brands are starting to approach sport differently – less as a channel for exposure, and more as a place to build presence, relevance, and cultural weight. One clear signal is a move towards lifestyle integration. McLaren’s switch to Puma as its global kit, apparel, and footwear partner isn’t just about race-day uniforms. It’s about products that sit comfortably in everyday life – streetwear-led drops, driver-fronted storytelling, and merchandise designed to travel well on social. The partnership treats fans less like spectators and more like actual participants: people who wear the team with pride and fold it into their own identity. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/01/PUMA-X-McLaren_Model-c-1030x580.jpg) Puma x McLaren _This post is for subscribers only._ ### ‘Human-Made’: The Premium Worth Paying For? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/human-made-the-premium-worth-paying-for/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T10:22:30.000Z I’ll start this article with a disclaimer. One thing that has pained me as a writer covering the AI boom is the number of times I’ve had to use the word ‘human’ as a way to distinguish between machine-made. Well, this is an article all about that distinction, so this piece contains 19 mentions of the word ‘human’. When sifting through the many trends reports for 2026, one thing has become abundantly clear: this year branding and advertising will see a rejection of AI-generated creative. In this pushback on overtly AI-made advertising, brands and agencies are going to start touting their [‘human-made’ creative](https://www.thesubthread.com/why-lo-fi-is-winning-the-music-war-and-what-brands-should-steal/). There has been both a mocking of AI slop within adland, as well as high praise for brand work that has been done using traditional techniques. Take the Jonas Brothers’ Almond Breeze campaign that mocked ad execs for proposing ridiculous AI-generated ideas. The Apple TV logo that garnered industry praise for carving into glass rather than using CGI. The recent Hermès website redesign which features hand-made illustrated designs. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Lo-Fi is Winning the Music War (And What Brands Should Steal) URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-lo-fi-is-winning-the-music-war-and-what-brands-should-steal/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T08:53:48.000Z In the early 2010s, "production value" was the primary gatekeeper of the music industry. If you wanted to be taken seriously, you needed a six-figure studio, a 4K music video, and a team of retouchers to sand down the edges of your personality. To be professional was to be perfect. By 2026, that paradigm has flipped entirely. We're witnessing a "human premium" take hold. As our feeds become saturated with hyper-polished, AI-generated slop, our internal marketing alarms have grown highly sensitive to anything that looks too clean. The result is a massive economic migration toward the unpolished, the grainy, the real. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Creative Director Camille Chu on Brand Craft in the AI Age URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/creative-director-camille-chu-on-brand-craft-in-the-ai-age/ Last updated: 2026-02-05T11:35:16.000Z “I have been doing this for a couple of decades plus,” Camille Chu says, tracing a path from fine art into the early days of After Effects – at the time a ground-breaking tool. As an early adopter it got her freelancing across motion studios, ad agencies, and in-house teams before building an agency inside Sony Entertainment. The agency serviced Sony’s needs across the television entertainment landscape globally and helped Camille build her leadership skills. Now, some five years into her career as group creative director at creative agency Buck, she describes the latest phase of her path as “growing this new discipline within an already very successful company that has always championed craft." “Buck was really looking to grow and really cultivate and foster this brand thinking mentality, but also really being able to answer this plethora of RFPs that were just organically coming in around brand asks, brand focused work and brand awareness campaigns.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Flags, Fashion and a Derby Feeling URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/flags-fashion-and-a-derby-feeling/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T21:49:28.000Z ### Liverpool X Tommy Hilfiger There’s been a lot written recently about the growing overlap between football and fashion, but one partnership announced last week with Tommy Hilfiger and Liverpool FC feels worth discussing. On paper, it’s a familiar setup, a global brand partnering with a global club but what’s interesting here isn’t that it happened, it’s what it says about how football clubs see themselves, and how they want to show up beyond the pitch. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/01/stad-liv.png) When I think about how clubs build their brands today, I tend to come back to three things I heard years ago at a sports conference: culture, community, and content. Culture is the foundation – a club’s heritage, values, and identity. Community is the people it serves, from local supporters to a global fanbase. Content is how those two things are expressed and shared, on and off the pitch. Viewed through that lens, the Tommy Hilfiger partnership starts to make more sense. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The 2026 Media Diet URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-2026-media-diet-where-do-brands-need-to-turn-up-by-izzy-ashton/ Last updated: 2026-01-22T08:18:43.000Z Think back to last night. Not the gory details, but what were you consuming? What media had your attention? Were you hunched over your phone, thumb scrolling through the time vortex? Casting to your TV, that familiar red-and-white frame around the picture? Or were your screens off, a magazine spread across your lap and glossy pages turning at a more human pace? How you spent that evening says something about your media diet. And in 2026, that diet looks distinctly different than it did last year, or even the year before. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Switzerland: The Iconic Brand That Created Trust by Doing URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/switzerland-the-iconic-brand-that-created-trust-by-doing/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T11:11:10.000Z Switzerland didn’t advertise its way into trust but instead it built and protected it. It turned a minimal flag, strict origin standards, and consistent performance into the world’s neatest quality mark desired by other brands. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Design Is Getting Messier, Deliberately So URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/design-is-getting-messier-deliberately-so-predict-designers-wayne-deakin-agustina-panzoni-liron-eldar-ashkenazi-justin-cone/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T10:07:21.000Z Childlike line work combined with “oddly slanted type, if type at all” is having a major moment. Agustina Panzoni, head of culture at Death to Stock, said in [a video on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DRvRC-vktYv/?ref=thesubthread.com) that this sits within the “broader naive design trend where designers lean into wobbly lines and visible human imperfections to bring emotion and texture into their work.” This feels like a continuation of what the branding agency Stills listed as a design trend last year, which it termed “half finished”. This is where designers embrace half‑finished, hand‑drawn looks that feel “raw and real”. [ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2026/02/Black-and-White-Minimalist-Creative-Brief-Presentation--Billboard--Landscape----2-.gif) ](https://luma.com/6sh8zayg?ref=thesubthread.com) _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Gen Z, the Rise of Niche Culture and the End of the Mainstream URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/gen-z-the-rise-of-niche-culture-and-the-end-of-the-mainstream/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T11:26:25.000Z In the UK, Reddit recently overtook TikTok as Britain’s fourth most visited social media service, a key search destination for Gen Z. This shift says less about platform preference and more about trust. When young people want unfiltered opinions, lived experience or nuanced debate, they are increasingly turning to community-driven spaces rather than algorithmically optimised feeds. Gen Z has grown up in a world where it is exceptionally easy to discover, engage with and commit to highly niche interests. Algorithms, forums and community platforms have made it possible to go deep rather than wide - whether that’s through a specific fandom, an interest-led subreddit or a creator focused on a single topic. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### This Year a Live Sports Conductor Will Be the Hottest Asset of All URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/this-year-a-live-sports-conductor-will-be-the-hottest-asset-of-all-james-kirkham-brand-strategist/ Last updated: 2026-01-15T08:33:44.000Z For the past decade, the live sports industry has been obsessed with reaction. Faster highlights, rage inducing talent, bigger social spikes, more cameras, more clips and more prompts to respond in the moment. The assumption has been that intensity equals engagement, and that engagement, measured loudly and immediately, then equals value. ### **The Stacked Live Experience** But I think in 2026 we will see that assumption no longer holds. Live sport has not lost its power, but the way audiences experience it has fundamentally changed. A match is no longer a single broadcast moment shared by millions at once, it's a multi-layered experience distributed across group chats, creator watch-alongs, mini leagues, third and fourth screens, social feeds and private messages, all running in parallel to the live feed itself. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Digital Recalibration: The Rebirth of The Indie Internet URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-digital-recalibration-the-rebirth-of-the-indie-internet-tebo-mpanza/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T17:57:42.000Z At some point last year, the internet stopped feeling like a place and started feeling like a billboard you scroll through. Every feed had the same tone: clever captions, cinematic reels, a certain face, a certain font, a certain rhythm. Everything became optimised to death. Even creative work began to look like it had been pre-approved by an algorithm. Then something interesting happened, people started leaving. Quietly, without announcements or grand exits, users began retreating into the digital side streets. First Reddit overtook X as the fifth most-used social platform at the end of 2024, and at the start of this year it overtook TikTok to take fourth place. And its growth is by no means done yet. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From Trending to Trends: Why Culture Beats Dashboards URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-trending-to-trends-why-cultural-analyst-matt-klein/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T10:25:08.000Z “Who gives a f\*ck about the trend?” Matt Klein is talking about the cultural analysis industry he works in, an ecosystem built to help brands spot and react to shifts in culture. Brands have never had more technology at their fingertips to help them decode trends, but that is meaningless without understanding the context. Three of the most commonly used approaches are social listening, audience segmentation, and a newer breed of AI‑driven trend prediction tools. Social listening platforms such as Brandwatch or Hootsuite analyze millions of online mentions tied to particular keywords. The sector is rapidly growing, with a[ Mordor study valuing it at USD $9–$10bn with projections to reach $20.51 billion by 2031](https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/social-media-listening-market?ref=thesubthread.com). _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From SEO to GEO: How L’Oréal Is Rewriting the Rules for AI‑First Discovery URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-seo-to-geo-how-lordeseal-is-rewriting-the-rules-for-ai-first-discovery/ Last updated: 2026-01-06T14:45:13.000Z AI agents are changing the way consumers discover, research and make purchasing decisions, the result is that brands are being forced to rethink their entire digital presence. For L’Oréal, that shift is already underway. The beauty company’s chief digital marketing officer for UK and Ireland, Laetitia Raoust, says AI agents are no longer a future consideration but an active part of today’s consumer journey. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### What Happens to Culture When Brands Become Patrons URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/what-happens-to-culture-when-brands-become-patrons/ Last updated: 2025-12-22T11:04:25.000Z Years of funding cuts have hollowed out the arts ecosystem. In England alone, government funding for the arts fell by 18% between 2010 and 2023, with local authority spending halved since 2009, according to Campaign for the Arts. As institutional support weakens, new patrons have stepped in. Today, some of the most ambitious cultural patronage comes not from museums or foundations, but from platforms with unimaginable scale. Amazon and Apple commission TV and films through their studio and streaming businesses. Google Arts and Culture digitizes and showcases global art, history, and cultural heritage. WeTransfer’s editorial arm, WePresent, has gone even further, winning an Oscar for The Long Goodbye. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### "Never Heard of Them" URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/never-heard-of-them-tiktok-influencers-brand-partnerships-chris-jarvis-ganggang/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T09:29:07.000Z If I asked you if you’d seen the latest TikTok from Becki-Jo, Bemi Orojuogun or Francis Bourgeois? Would you know who all three are? (Surely *everyone* knows Francis by now, right?) And what if I pitched a man who wears thick orange tan, sharp marker lip liner and homemade tinfoil hoop earrings to your beauty brand? Or I pitched a Nigerian mental health nurse who likes to stand in front of buses to your English heritage fashion label? It’s probably the making of a very awkward stakeholder Zoom call. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How to Earn, Spend, and Exchange Cultural Currency URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-to-earn-spend-and-exchange-cultural-currency/ Last updated: 2025-12-16T13:30:04.000Z It’s the time of the year when most marketers are thinking long and hard about how they’re going to turn up during the next 12 months. While most planning is done around budgets with actual currencies, it is also important to think about how brands can earn *cultural* currency. Multiple experts have expressed the same thoughts on panels, posts and in newsletters recently: think about the concept in a more practical way. If we treat cultural currency like a real asset – something that can be earned, spent and exchanged – it stops being a fuzzy marketing concept and starts informing the choices we make in our 2026 planning. This too was the idea shared by experts at a recent session hosted by Frontify on the topic. Barr Balamuth, founder of brand strategy agency Parallel Play, explained the concept as follows: "We define cultural currency as the ability to influence what people talk about, how they behave and what they come to see as valuable. Cultural currency is an asset that lets your brand set reference points in people's heads. What they talk about, how they behave, what they decide is worth their time, money and social capital." _This post is for subscribers only._ ### What’s your Brand Stack? How brands can show up on Substack URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/whats-your-brand-stack-how-brands-can-show-up-on-substack/ Last updated: 2025-12-23T20:21:12.000Z Editorial is having a moment. Now I know that sounds self indulgent but hear me out. People are increasingly turning to longform storytelling – in audio, written or video format – as a break from the madness. Because in a world where the Oxford University Press declared ‘rage bait’ the word of the year, longform feels like a worthy indulgence. Sitting down to consume something that will actually improve your intellect rather than suck what’s left of it out of your ears. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Tech as a Tool, Culture as a Compass URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/tech-as-a-tool-culture-as-a-compass-louise-millar-seed/ Last updated: 2026-01-02T11:53:54.000Z Micro‑scenes, meme logic, and IRL moments shape youth marketing. Tech and AI aren’t the headline for these audiences, it's just a tool. Usefulness and participation, those are the areas to win. Louise Millar of Seed champions collaborative, human‑led designed experiences with results that travel. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Micro‑Learning the Machines URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/micro-learning-the-machines-ai-training-msq/ Last updated: 2025-12-09T14:20:14.000Z As AI platforms iterate at breakneck speed, MSQ’s Steve Gatfield argues for task-based training, reusable prompt libraries, and interoperable stacks. He hopes teams stop using AI for search and encourages them to start shaping models that can turn into real working partners focused on outcomes. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Algorithm Has No Feelings. Social Media Still Does URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-algorithm-has-no-feelings-social-media-still-does/ Last updated: 2025-12-08T11:31:31.000Z At an event a couple of weeks ago, someone on a panel said something that caught my attention and gave me the idea for this feature. They said: “There is no real difference between B2B and B2C. The laws of content are the same – you should feel something.” It stood out because it matched what I’ve been noticing across social platforms. Even as algorithms scale and AI becomes part of day-to-day production, the social content that resonates with audiences still tends to be the work with emotional weight behind it. To dig into why, I spoke with Laura Griffin, social lead at First Bus, and Lottie L’Amour, global head of social and community at Affinity by Canva. Both operate in data-heavy environments with plenty of tooling, but both are adamant: emotion is the thing that drives social beyond just metrics. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/12/Headshot-Article-Template--8-.png) (Left to right) Lottie L'Amour, Global Head of Social and Community @ Affinity by Canva & Laura Griffin, Social Media Lead @ First Bus _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Creator-led Live Media Is Here, Many Brands Aren’t Ready URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/creator-led-live-media-is-here-many-brands-arent-ready/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T13:19:17.000Z We’ve already seen live sports shift from free‑to‑air and cable to streaming. It’s not just Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime or Sunday Night Football on Peacock. The way we watch sports has changed. Earlier this year, [YouTube produced a watch-along broadcast](https://www.tubefilter.com/2025/08/26/youtube-creator-streams-nfl-match-exclusive-broadcast-i-show-speed/?ref=thesubthread.com) for the 2025 NFL season opener matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers, letting fans watch with commentary and reactions from popular creators like iShowSpeed. Meanwhile, “Manningcast” sees brothers Peyton and Eli host an alternate broadcast for several Monday Night Football games each season. The NFL’s move to hand broadcasts to creators shows that attention is no longer owned by broadcasters; it lives wherever culture happens: chat, threads, clips, remixes and memes. ### From ratings to reactions: the measurement reset For brands, this is both exciting and deeply problematic. Current sponsorship metrics are built on viewership, logo exposure, and estimated media value. But how do you measure that in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape? When attention is fragmented, how can you prove the value of a sponsorship? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Creative R&D Sprints: Turn Experiments Into Shippable Ideas URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/creative-r-d-sprints-turn-experiments-for-marketing-ideas/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T09:24:58.000Z The American poet and social activist Langston Hughes once wrote: “A dream deferred dries up like a raisin in the sun.” This is definitely the case within many marketing departments, its files are full of raisins. But the sad thing is that most creative ideas floating around didn’t vanish because they’re bad – they vanished because there was no straight path from “interesting” to “let’s make it real.” Think about all the half‑edited tests in your shared drive. The notebook of concepts on the nightstand. The “let’s try this someday” comment that never survives the action notes from a meeting. Meanwhile, marketing teams are asked to move faster, prove what works, and show results on tighter timelines. So, more marketers are now borrowing from product teams and start treating creativity like R&D. Instead of guessing what an audience will respond to, they run small, intentional experiments to see which ideas deserve investment. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Productivity Playbook: CapCut URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-productivity-playbook-capcut/ Last updated: 2025-12-02T08:34:58.000Z Welcome back to The Productivity Playbook - the series where we explore tools that help small teams work more creatively, more consistently, and with less overhead. This week we’re looking at CapCut; the lightweight editing platform that has become a go-to for fast, polished and social-ready videos. *As always: this is an independent review, not a sponsored post.* ### **Why It Matters** Video is the language of the modern internet, but not every team has the resources for a dedicated editor, a complex workflow, or enterprise-grade software. Most people simply need a way to produce clean, engaging videos without going through a full production cycle. CapCut sits perfectly in that gap. It’s fast, simple and for the most part, forgiving. You can start with a messy clip, add captions, drop transitions, clean the audio, apply a template, and have something shareable in minutes, not hours. For small teams juggling multiple roles, that accessibility isn’t just convenient, it’s what makes video possible in the first place. The real value of CapCut isn’t that it’s super powerful, though it is in a way, but the power lies in the fact that it lowers the bar to start. There is a caveat though for this product that I really should mention early, so you do not waste your time reading this. CapCut is really well suited for small teams or solo creators, if you want to turn some event photos and a few thoughts into a snappy video for LinkedIn, then this is the way to go. But the tool doesn’t really fit into the stack of large organisations with strict compliance needs. There has been public discussion around CapCut’s data and privacy policies – it is owned by the same company that owns TikTok. And while millions use it without issue, teams handling sensitive material may want to review privacy terms carefully or consider more controlled alternatives. However, as said, if you don’t need expert-level editing skills, or if you are already happy putting things on TikTok, then by using this tool you’re likely to end up publishing more often than you do now because it is super simple to use with fun results. And, showing up consistently is what helps smaller teams and solo creators grow, even without a full production crew behind them. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Forget About Micro‑Aesthetics, Find Macro Truths URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brands-forget-about-micro-aesthetics-find-macro-truths/ Last updated: 2025-12-01T09:39:09.000Z I’ve always spent too long online, but since starting The Subthread it’s spiraled. With a fragmented web, fewer shared tentpoles, and accelerated trend cycles, you feel the whiplash if you work in this space. That is probably why I've had quite a few conversations about “monoculture” lately, and especially the seeming lack thereof. So, I dug into the research to separate signal from noise and surface what brands should focus on (and what to ignore). It seems monoculture isn’t dead, as many of us like to bemoan. Our shared cultural moments persist even as fragmentation increases. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Digital Twin, Human Truth URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/digital-twin-human-truth/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T09:15:55.000Z As a marketer it would be ideal to have an on-going chat with your customer to ask every little question or test any idea that popped into your head. Would you buy this product, do you emotionally connect with this advert, what do you think about xyz. But this would be an impossible and, well, rather costly ask from your customers. Digital twins, synthetic audiences and AI personas are all being touted as the future of consumer research. For decades, marketers have relied on focus groups, surveys, and ad pre-tests to understand behavior. Traditional methods have their limitations though. Real time insights are tricky to achieve, data is often siloed with social listening handled by one department, surveys by another and shopper analytics somewhere else. Then there is a simple fact that it's more expensive and time consuming. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Keeping authenticity when writing with AI (without becoming a slop brand) URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/keeping-authenticity-when-writing-with-ai-without-becoming-a-slop-brand/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T09:50:55.000Z It’s your colleague’s leaving do. On the way, you grab the first card you see – stock photo of a skyline, “Good Luck!” stamped in foil. Inside, the default message. You scribble your name and hand it over. Technically, you did something. But it smells like minimal effort – and they’ll feel it. That’s where a lot of AI-in-marketing sits right now. As a tool, its capabilities are vast. Yet brands are undermining their voice by using it with almost no effort. Open a chatbot, drop a short prompt, skim the output, hit publish. Boom, easy. But also, crap. It’s a fast track to “slop brand,” and it will erode whatever authenticity you had. Your audience will know it – and be just as disappointed as your workmate reading that card. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Aftermath Economy URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-aftermath-economy-james-kirkham/ Last updated: 2025-11-25T09:05:30.000Z For twenty years the industry told itself it had learned how to extend the life of entertainment. We built second-screen experiences that ran alongside live broadcasts. We filled Twitter with running commentary and encouraged viewers to react in real-time. We created companion apps, backstage streams and a steady flow of additional clips that surrounded a program like scaffolding. At the time it felt progressive to us, we believed we had broken open the format and given audiences a seat at the table. In hindsight it looks like an early, tentative draft. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Creative Stack: Flora URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-creative-stack-flora/ Last updated: 2025-11-20T01:10:28.000Z There are a million and one creative AI tools on the market right now, each company spending a lot of money to tell you that their technology and features are the best of the bunch. Since I spend my days talking to the people who are actually using these platforms on a daily basis to create brand work, I thought I would spotlight the ones that are being chalked up as the game changers. I first heard about Flora when [interviewing the art director Charlotte Cripps](https://www.thesubthread.com/from-acetone-to-ai-charlotte-cripps-and-the-art-of-staying-ahead/) when we spoke in July. “I’ve been playing around with Flora which is amazing, I love it,” she told me at the time. “It looks a bit frightening at the start because it has screens with nodes. It can be a bit intimidating, but it’s actually really simple to use,” Charlotte said. She’s been using Flora to create entire animations with very little content by just giving a start and an end frame. “I find that absolutely fascinating, it is great to use and actually some of my best AI is being done on Flora.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Productivity Playbook: Descript URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-productivity-playbook-descript/ Last updated: 2025-11-25T09:08:41.000Z Welcome to The Productivity Playbook – our series on tools that help us think faster, focus better, and work with more clarity. This week we focus on Descript; the all-in-one editing workspace that makes video creation feel easy for small teams. *As always: this is an independent review, not a sponsored post.* ### **Why It Matters** If the last few years taught us anything, it’s this: Video isn’t optional anymore. It’s how ideas spread, how brands take shape, and how teams tell their story. That was my biggest takeaway from a recent marketing event hosted by Veed. But for most small teams, video still feels like a big-energy project. Lights, mics, editing timelines, awkward “do I actually sound like that?” moments. It all adds up, and the result is usually the same, we avoid it and stay in the comfort of text. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Uncanny Valley of Brand Storytelling URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-uncanny-valley-of-brand-storytelling/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T01:01:06.000Z AI in advertising is having a moment. My LinkedIn feed is full of it. My inbox is full of it. And my DMs are full of people asking if we should be worried, impressed or somewhere in between. As a creative director who uses AI every day, I’m sitting right in the middle of that debate. But the recent Autotrader “It’s time for Autotrader” AI adverts helped clarify something for me. It showed me exactly where the line is. The work is technically brilliant. You have to look twice, but once you do, something in your brain starts to tighten. A face looks a little too smooth, a smile lands half a beat too late, or a newborn looks… almost right, but not right enough. Your instincts tell you something’s off long before you can articulate it logically. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Are We Living in a Creative Nightmare, or a Creative Knightmare? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/are-we-living-in-a-creative-nightmare-or-a-creative-knightmare/ Last updated: 2025-11-18T15:27:16.000Z I grew up obsessed with the children’s TV show Knightmare which ran in the late ’80s and early ’90s on CITV. The premise was simple: one kid in a giant horned helmet, stumbles through a virtual dungeon while their friends’ shout directions from a control room, all guided by the Dungeon Master. Looking back, the graphics feel nostalgically dated, but at the time it felt radical, like someone had opened a portal from the TV into another world. What made it work wasn’t the technology, it was the tension, the storytelling and the sense that a bunch of people were creating this bizarre adventure together in real time. Scroll forward a few decades and we’re surrounded by a different kind of virtual world. Our feeds are packed with AI-generated images, strange ads, synthetic influencers and endless content produced at the push of a button. A lot of it gets dismissed as “AI slop” – technically impressive in places, but hard to care about. The tools have never been more powerful, yet so much of what they produce feels soulless and empty. Which raises a more interesting question than “is AI killing creativity?”: how can better stories, and smarter storytellers, turn this machine-made chaos into cultural moments that actually matter? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How WeTransfer Turned Cultural Impact into Brand Strategy URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-wetransfer-turned-cultural-impact-into-brand-strategy/ Last updated: 2025-11-25T11:25:52.000Z When I first watched Riz Ahmed in the harrowing – and frankly disturbing – short The Long Goodbye, I couldn’t believe it was commissioned by a software company. After years of writing about corporations pulling back from political statements for fear of backlash, it felt unexpected to see a business stick its head above the parapet. And here was a company that pushed precisely those kinds of projects for broader recognition – and received an Oscar for its efforts. Unlike a lot of other software companies, WeTransfer wasn’t founded by tech people; it was founded by designers and advertisers to specifically serve the creative industries. You’re likely familiar with the WeTransfer “wallpapers,” the digital art displayed on the file download page. When the site launched, founders Rinke Visser, Bas Beerens, and Ronald Hans asked friends from the art and design world to create them. As the business grew, inbound offers multiplied, leading to the recruitment of curators to manage the spot. Over time, this became a separate initiative called This Works, which signed Prince as one of its earliest collaborators before his passing. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Brave by Design URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/brave-by-design/ Last updated: 2025-11-13T06:47:29.000Z Because November 10th marks the start of Anti‑Bullying Week 2025, with this year’s theme “Power for Good”, we decided to look at a digital tool that quietly gives kids that power in practice and explore the design choices and processes that make it a success. Lumi Nova, BFB Labs’ child‑led role playing game (RPG), turns exposure therapy into therapeutic play: small steps, clear wins, and boosts from language that lifts young minds. Bullying fuels anxiety and anxiety in turn fuels avoidance. This game breaks the loop by helping kids face the moments bullying amplifies, such as walking into class, speaking up, trying again after a bad day. There are no dopamine traps, no loot boxes, and no grind for screen time. It is all just evidence‑based progress, with parents as copilots rather than enforcers. If Anti‑Bullying Week is about moving from awareness to action, Lumi Nova shows how power for good can look: resilience built one mission at a time. But it isn’t just bullying Lumi Nova addresses. There’s a gap between the promise of digital wellness and the reality of families hunting for support that actually helps. Anxiety among young people is up and access to timely care is down. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Is Being Great at One Thing Still Enough in the Age of AI? URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/is-being-great-at-one-thing-still-enough-in-the-age-of-ai/ Last updated: 2026-01-02T09:51:43.000Z A few recent conversations and posts had me thinking about how creative and marketing teams are changing in the age of AI. [In an interview with tech founder James He](https://www.thesubthread.com/testing-culture-before-it-happens/) from Artificial Societies he says, “being great at one thing might no longer be enough”. Around the same time, Ross Mawdsley, global head of visual design at Skyscanner, told my colleague Hannah something similar in another interview, people should push for breadth but retain their core skill. It’s a perspective I’ve heard and seen more this past week. Nicola Ryan, VP of design at Condé Nast, [recently shared a post on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicolaryan%5Fproductdesign-designleadership-uxdesign-activity-7391081797071163392-yQbM?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAVDkb0B4B%5FcQntvW7LEVknh%5FKYF6uIBhKQ) about how designers who are generalists are thriving. And even Marc Andreessen, co-founder of VC a16z, in a recent tech podcast episode, predicted that the most successful entrepreneurs of the AI era will be those who master multiple disciplines. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Your Next User Is Probably a Robot: Web Design in the Agentic Era URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/your-next-user-is-probably-a-robot-web-design-in-the-agentic-era/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T19:00:23.000Z We all know quite a bit about how humans interact with websites, and how to design for them. But agents are a different matter. The underlying technology is shrouded in mystery. What do they like? What do they care about? How do we get them to find us, and then use our website to do the things we want them to do? This is the wild west, with fast‑evolving terminology and few established best practices. Confusion is inevitable. But there are two core ways to consider the impact of AI on your website. First, how is your content surfaced in AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude? How do you optimize your website so that your brand shows up for the right queries in the right way? This has come to be known as Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO. There’s a fair bit of information out there on this already ([Hannah Bowler’s article on this very site is a good place to start](https://www.thesubthread.com/from-seo-to-geo-how-brands-get-recommended-by-ai/)), but this is essentially a similar discipline to SEO, and has similar principles. Without wishing to minimize the impact of a whole new set of challenges and problems, this change feels relatively incremental to me. Second, and perhaps more profoundly, there’s the challenge of optimizing your site to enable AI agents to browse it, take actions, and complete tasks on behalf of the user. AI agents are a fast‑emerging technology that promises to fundamentally change our relationship with the internet. While the tech is still in its infancy (it’s often slow, imperfect, and frustrating), the potential is huge. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### When Brands Start to Speak URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/when-brands-start-to-speak/ Last updated: 2025-11-08T16:48:52.000Z After decades of swiping, scrolling, and staring at screens, the way we interact with technology in the future is set to be very different. As AI grows more conversational, brands are faced with a new challenge in how they communicate, that is how they sound. What happens to brand identity when voice, not images becomes the primary interface? This topic was a thread from a conversation I had with Rosh Singh, chief executive at the immersive studio Astral City, about Big Tech’s growing investment in spatial computing, and [glass more specifically](https://www.thesubthread.com/glass-vs-screens-why-smart-glasses-wont-kill-our-phones-yet/). “We've come through decades and decades of user interface, design and iterations, and development of what UI looks like. But we're at the precipice now of a moment where voice is going to be the next UI and understanding voice is going to be super important,” Rosh tells me. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### How to Build Brands That Stand the Test of Time URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/how-to-build-brands-that-stand-the-test-of-time/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T12:09:45.000Z In a world where AI tools evolve faster than most teams can keep up, the pressure to innovate can feel relentless. At The Subthread’s Future Makers event three marketing leaders, Sarah Booth, Patrick Horan, and Katie McPhee, made it clear that innovation isn’t about changing course over the next shiny thing. It’s about creating a culture where experimentation, learning, and yes, a little play, can thrive. Last week, The Subthread brought together these leaders from Skyscanner, Ancient + Brave and Veed at a pub in Soho to chat brand strategy. During the session they talked about how a business can allow for failure, what tenants make a successful brand and how to avoid the hype cycle. Sarah, global marketing director for the wellness brand Ancient + Brave, is a big believer in organized fun. An approach to brand strategy that she learnt from her time in the Asos brand team. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Why Microsoft’s Clippy Comeback Says More About Brand Trust Than Nostalgia URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/why-microsofts-clippy-comeback-says-more-about-brand-trust-than-nostalgia/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T12:10:07.000Z I was watching Microsoft’s fall update last week, the Copilot announcement filled with AI demos and discussions about the future of productivity. Then came the real surprise… On the screen appeared Mico, Copilot’s new avatar. A soft, shapeshifting orb that reacts to your voice, it was introduced to make artificial intelligence feel a little more human and perhaps build some more trust. The audience seemed impressed enough. But what caught my attention was not Mico itself. It was what happened next. If you tapped on the avatar a few times, Mico changed form to none other than Clippy. The little paperclip from Microsoft Office, blinking and grinning like it was 1998 again. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### When Ritual Becomes Design URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/when-ritual-becomes-design/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T15:43:03.000Z Seventy-five years ago this month, C. S. Lewis published The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a story that begins with a child stepping through a wardrobe into another world that feels impossibly real. It’s a simple image, but a powerful one: the familiar turned extraordinary, the moment when imagination becomes experience. Just as Lewis’s readers once longed to step through the page into Narnia, today’s audiences want to move beyond the screen into experiences they can truly feel with all their senses that offer emotional connection as well as transactional and efficient technology. Brand spaces are responding, becoming portals of emotion and identity powered by technology that senses, learns and adapts, bridging the gap between digital and physical life. **The Rise of the Ritual Economy** At a brand level, when building an experience, what marketers should be asking themselves is "what’s missing emotionally"? Because sameness has crept in everywhere. People aren’t swayed by what brands claim; they’re moved by what brands help them *feel*. > **"Emotion always leads and technology follows"** _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Emotion First: How Tech Can Build Living Brands URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/emotion-first-how-tech-can-build-living-brands/ Last updated: 2025-11-25T09:07:27.000Z The right tech can help brands build worlds but those worlds are meaningless without putting the audience at the center. At The Subthread’s first event in London, artist and Dime founder Doddz and 20(Something) co‑founder and creative partner Will Thacker drew the audience of marketers and creatives a blueprint for developing experiences customers will actually want to be part of. Doddz begins every idea by asking “what emotion are we trying to evoke and what universal truth can the audience recognize?”. It's a similar starting point for Will when working on a client brief. “People need to feel something and a brand needs to have some sort of soul,” Will says. > **“People need to feel something and a brand needs to have some sort of soul”** _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Relevance Is a Two-Way Street URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/relevance-is-a-two-way-street/ Last updated: 2025-10-29T21:02:01.000Z In a world where culture shifts faster than campaigns can be planned, staying relevant has become a brand’s greatest challenge and opportunity. That was the crucial takeaway from Tom Beckman’s keynote, which explored how brands need to evolve from passive observers of culture to active participants within it. “If you’re not in the loop with what actually goes on in the world you will never be relevant in your stories,” Weber Shandwick’s global chief creative officer told a packed-out room at Paradigms. Tom challenged the industry to rethink how it connects with audiences, arguing that the most powerful ideas emerge in the space where brand, product, and culture collide. “If you want to engage people,” he said, “you have to relate to the world they live in – the real world.” His message was that understanding the zeitgeist is no longer enough. To earn relevance, brands must have a point of view, create mutual value, and embrace the cultural shifts transforming how people connect. Culture, of course, is constantly changing – it’s not fixed. Think about how society has evolved: politics, technology, health, even the way people talk about happiness or success changes. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Productivity Playbook: Notebook LM URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-productivity-playbook-notebook-lm/ Last updated: 2025-10-28T13:34:36.000Z Welcome to The Productivity Playbook – our series on tools that help us think faster, focus better, and work with more clarity. Following a meeting last week, I was intrigued to hear how a small marketing team was using an AI notebook. So, in this instalment of the Productivity Playbook, I decided to explore Google’s Notebook LM and how it can be used as an efficient research tool for marketing teams. *As always, this is an independent review, not a sponsored post.* ### **Why It Matters** There’s a moment in every collective research session when your curiosity turns into chaos. Tabs multiply, podcasts stack up, PDFs get lost. That rabbit hole you’ve started going down suddenly becomes a bit of a nightmare. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Spotting Signals with Are.na URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/spotting-signals-with-are-na/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T20:31:23.000Z A minimalist bookmarking site is shaping how creatives collect, share, and think online. Designer Nu Goteh, founder of Room for Magic and co-founder of Deem Journal, calls Are.na “the shit.” Not a social app or productivity hack, but a “platform that truly signals.” ### **How Teams Actually Use It** “When I’m with my team, instead of me making a mood board or a deck, I’ll just make an Are.na channel, and everyone will just chuck into it,” Goteh tells me. It’s become a go-to for website redesign inspiration, which his studio often works on. He discovered Are.na through a graduate designer. The platform – over a decade old – is populated with art directors, designers, writers, and researchers. “If I was to find something that you posted, an article that you wrote on Are.na, I would think 'this person is rad and will probably like more things that I’m into',” he says. Are.na is often framed as an alternative to Pinterest, but it’s more about thoughts, musings, and research, not just images. It lets people go very deep, very niche. “It’s all about rabbit holes, it just brings you deeper and deeper into things,” Goteh says. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From SEO to GEO: How Brands Get Recommended by AI URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-seo-to-geo-how-brands-get-recommended-by-ai/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T12:23:11.000Z Your dishwasher dies and you need a new one. A year ago, you would have gone to Google, searched “dishwashers,” and clicked whichever retailer ranked highest. Today, you open an AI assistant and ask it to tell you which dishwasher fits your exact needs. It will trawl reviews, consumer publications, and social platforms like Reddit and YouTube to generate a list of recommendations. You can then compare, pick a match, and jump straight to the brand’s product page. With Shopify and OpenAI’s recent integration, ChatGPT users in the US can soon buy from Shopify merchants without leaving the chat. Ask “most eco‑friendly slimline dishwasher,” and ChatGPT can surface relevant products – and if instant checkout is supported, you place the order and wait for the merchant to accept, and the dishwasher is on its way. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Testing Culture Before It Happens URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/testing-culture-before-it-happens/ Last updated: 2025-10-30T17:09:19.000Z “In marketing, you often test two or three concepts a week,” James He tells me over our Riverside call. “Now imagine testing 200, or 2,000.” That is a great promise to many a marketer but this isn’t just about providing more ideas, it’s about context and answers. James has built a system that surfaces the top performers and explains what’s driving them. Consider the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle campaign. In isolation, the “jeans/genes” wordplay might charm a focus group. But the conversation changed once a now‑removed video – “Genes are passed down… my jeans are blue” – hit social feeds. That’s where small takes get amplified, meanings shift, and backlash becomes real. Artificial Societies is built for that gap: simulated communities that argue, influence, and harden opinions the way people do outside of forms and surveys. James’s London start-up mimics human culture so brands can test ideas before they blow up in public. ### **From Cambridge to simulated societies** James didn’t set out to build marketing software. At school, he was obsessed with people who bridged art and engineering – Leonardo da Vinci, Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing. “Ada helped invent computer systems and was Lord Byron’s daughter, which is crazy,” he laughs. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Beyond the Rebrand: Building a Tech-Enabled Culture of Design URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/beyond-the-rebrand-building-a-tech-enabled-culture-of-design/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:24:31.000Z Skyscanner has been quietly redesigning its brand from the inside out. This rebrand wasn’t just about new visuals or a refreshed tone of voice, it was about how transforming creativity operates inside a tech organization, using automation, templates, and emerging AI tools to unlock speed, consistency, and scale. When Ross Mawdsley joined Skyscanner as global head of visual design, the travel giant didn’t have much of a brand to speak of. “It was a very different organization. It had just done a rebrand,” he recalls, “but it was really complex and the team was set up more to do banner ads, emails and very basic stuff.” The creative team’s remit has evolved dramatically since those early days. What was once a reactive in-house creative team, producing logos for engineers and banner ads, is now a department of 12 designers, four writers and three motion designers tasked with building and maintaining the Skyscanner brand. While Skyscanner reports over 1bn searches every month, over 110m monthly users and posted a record £95.2m in pre-tax profit last year, competitors popping up everywhere. The site is arguably competing with the likes of ChatGPT for travel planning. The answer, Ross says, is to build feeling around the brand. “We wanted to build a brand and a feeling around the brand, so we had to change that team slightly – bring some new people in, but also inspire the people we had and make them feel part of this journey we’re on,” Ross tells me shortly after coming off the stage at [Paradigms, ](https://paradigms.io/?ref=thesubthread.com)where he and Skyscanner’s head of design ops, Carla Sandhu, were giving a keynote presentation. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Glass vs Screens: Why Smart Glasses Won’t Kill Our Phones – Yet URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/glass-vs-screens-why-smart-glasses-wont-kill-our-phones-yet/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:24:43.000Z Look around any café or on the subway and you’ll see the same hunched-over heads staring into a rectangle. For nearly two decades, the smartphone has been our portal to the digital world – with very few credible alternatives. But Qi Pan, Snapchat’s director of computer vision, thinks that time is nearly over. “Until now, the phone has been pretty limiting,” he says. “You’re still trapped behind this tiny screen. You have to look at everything through a rectangle.” Snap’s long-term vision is simple and radical: glasses replace smartphones. “This is a shift in the future paradigm. This is not like a certain subset of the population will start to use these. Consumers will just use them instead of looking down on their phone,” Qi says. Snap isn’t alone. Big tech is placing its bets on glass, not screens, as the future of consumer tech. Meta, Apple and Google have all laid out their visions for a screenless era. When I caught up with Qi, I was given a sneak peek of developer‑ready Snapchat lenses – soon to be tested and iterated before consumers get their hands on a pair. In my demo, I tried the real‑time translation feature: a Snap engineer spoke to me in Spanish while English captions appeared in my lens. I wandered the room asking for info on the author of a book on a shelf and plant care instructions for a cheese plant in the corner. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Problem With Brands and Fast Trends URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-problem-with-brands-and-fast-trends/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:18:04.000Z Open Instagram or TikTok and you’ll see it: the same memes, the same matcha lattes, the same “cool” aesthetics, the same Labubu dolls and Liquid Death lookalikes again and again… There are entire accounts dedicated to charting the irony of this sameness. Partly, fine – everyone wants to look current. But when everyone jumps on the same wave, everything blurs into one. That’s the TikTokification of culture: marketing stuck reacting to the latest thing, instead of looking at what sits underneath. ### **Fast Culture vs. Slow Culture** I think about this as fast versus slow culture, culture on two speeds. Fast culture is the visible stuff, the looks, memes, formats, jokes. It spikes, spreads, disappears. It is shiny, easy to copy and has a short half-life. But slow culture is deeper. It contains the values, habits, feelings and how people want to live. It moves slowly but it shapes the fast layer. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Attention is Finite: Eugene Healey on Structuring for Creative Scale URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/attention-is-finite-eugene-healey-on-structuring-for-creative-scale/ Last updated: 2025-11-08T16:48:09.000Z You’ve probably seen Eugene and his floating head on your socials – viral videos that dissect cultural shifts through the lens of brands. His skill isn’t hunting signals; it’s context. “My skill set is about taking what already exists disparately and being able to thread that into a cogent narrative for a much broader range of people than would be able to access those individual threads.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Designer’s Shortcut: Branding, UI, UX URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-designers-shortcut-branding-ui-ux/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:08:51.000Z Meanwhile, the hours slip by and your page is still empty. So here’s a shortcut, a small map past the noise and straight to the useful stuff. **Branding & Graphic Design** Start with a labor of love. Alessandro Scarpellini’s [Visual Journal](https://visualjournal.it/ ?ref=thesubthread.com) collects branding and graphic design projects from around the world with zero fluff. It’s ad‑free and run by Alessandro. If it helps, buy him a coffee so he keeps up the good work for the rest of us. If you want more raw discovery, [The Index](https://theindex.website/projects ?ref=thesubthread.com) is a curated gallery and directory of graphic design projects that rewards curiosity and wandering. To widen the lens, [Craftwork’s](https://craftwork.design/curated/websites ?ref=thesubthread.com) curated web UI pulls from portfolios and agencies, filterable by style, illustration, and attributes. When your brain needs examples instead of adjectives, go here. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Future Makers Live: Insights You Can Use Tomorrow URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/future-makers-live-insights-you-can-use-tomorrow/ Last updated: 2025-10-02T08:17:51.000Z On Tuesday 21 October, we’re hosting ***Future Makers Live*** at The Crown & Two Chairmen in Soho, London. Expect smart insights, bold strategies, and practical takeaways for brand leaders, marketers, and curious creatives who prefer action over hype. We’re also celebrating the launch of *Future Makers*, our new podcast and editorial series presented by Hannah Bowler in which she explores the world’s most innovative brands and the people driving them forward. From bold strategies to breakthrough ideas, we uncover what keeps these brands at the cutting edge. ****Join us for an evening of talks, fresh perspectives, new faces and a drink on us** [Join us at Future Makers Live ](https://luma.com/kq3g5cku?ref=thesubthread.com) ### **What to expect?** The same rules apply on the site and IRL: fast, focused conversations with people who consistently innovate in marketing and creativity. That means real examples over jargon – and time to meet, swap notes, and spark collaborations, with a drink (or two) and a bite on us. Come early and say hi. Bring a colleague. Leave with something you can use tomorrow. ### **Details** Date: Tuesday 21 October Time: 16:00–20:00 Venue: The Crown & Two Chairmen, Soho, London Sign up: [Register via our Luma page](https://luma.com/kq3g5cku?ref=thesubthread.com) Registration is approval‑only. Request to join and we’ll confirm shortly. Can’t wait to meet you in person. --- ****Consider becoming a paid-for member of our community and support our mission. Get extra content, early event invites and more.** [Upgrade Now ](#/portal/signup) --- ### The Pyramid of Creative Automation URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-pyramid-of-creative-automation/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:09:49.000Z On average a CMO gets around five to 20 martech and AI solutions pitched every day, depending on company size. And at enterprise scale, the level Unilever finds itself at for example, this is often more, running into the 30s. Add in existing partner proposals and the “self‑discovery” every curious marketer does on their own, and the signal‑to‑noise ratio gets really really overwhelming. This too is a problem for Unilever’s associate director of digital capabilities, Rachelle Schuimer, who spends her weeks swimming in vendor pitches. So how does she separate a shiny capability from a real solution? And how does any marketer scale content without sacrificing creative quality or overwhelming teams? ### **Start with the right lens** For Rachelle, who recently spoke to Celtra’s Vanja Brzin about this problem in a live session titled *Behind Unilever’s AI-powered creative transformation*, the first move is distinguishing “what’s available” from “what we need.” That means asking four questions up front: - Strategic fit: Does this address a genuine pain point? - Scalability: Can it work across brands, categories, and markets? - Impact: Will it make marketers’ lives meaningfully easier? - Time horizon: Does it solve a short‑term churn issue or align to a longer‑term bet on where marketing is going? _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Productivity Playbook: Wispr Flow URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-productivity-playbook-wispr-flow/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:19:57.000Z Welcome to **The Productivity Playbook** – our running series on tools built to make us faster, sharper, and a little less drained at work. This week: **Wispr Flow**, a voice‑first AI assistant that transforms messy monologues into usable insights. *As always: this is an independent review, not a sponsored post.* ![](https://media.tenor.com/MuWD670-KAgAAAAC/whisper.gif) ## **Why It Matters** For many, productivity isn’t just about finishing tasks. It’s about being a better creator, capturing sparks when they hit and shaping them into something useful. But most tools aren’t built for that. They’re dashboards, lists, or heavy systems that only work when you’re staring at a screen. Creativity doesn’t wait for that. That’s why Wispr Flow stood out to me. It’s less of a “tool” and more of a quiet PA who jots down your thoughts – always listening, structuring, and helping you focus on what really matters. ## **My Own Use Cases** I’ve been living with Wispr Flow for the last two weeks, and here’s where it’s quietly changed the way I work: - **Daily notes**: Each morning I speak out what I want to get done. Later, I refine those notes in ChatGPT into a plan. It’s like talking through the day with a partner, then tidying it up. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### There Can Be No Innovation Without Good Leadership URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/there-can-be-no-innovation-without-good-leadership/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:23:03.000Z Sofia Ryan never imagined herself as a leader. Leadership, she admits, was something she avoided – until she discovered that innovation doesn’t stumble because of a shortage of ideas, but because it’s missing the right kind of leadership. ### **Why Innovation Fails** “You can hire the best of the best, put them in a room, and still get nothing,” Sofia says. “Innovation breaks when leaders don’t understand the craft, when they don’t see people’s strengths, or when they can’t create a space for collaboration.” That philosophy now guides her work as vice president of product at Frontify, the brand management platform. Her role spans design, user research, R&D, product management, and marketing, all disciplines that are often kept in silos at large companies. But for Sofia, bringing them together is essential for the kind of fast, complex innovation today’s world demands. ### **Leadership as Orchestration** For Sofia, leadership isn’t about who has the most authority, it is about orchestration. “It's really about creating a space for different opinions but also knowing when to cut through, so it doesn't become an endless discussion. You need to say, 'Let's try this' – always keeping things lean and experimental.” Innovation, she reckons, is powered by play – a lesson learned from her children. “What happens when I bend this or push this, and what reaction will I get from my sister if I poked her,” Sofia shares. The problem though is that companies are so geared towards productivity, they forget to give time, space and resources to play. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### Confessions of a Serial Tabber: How Dia Became My Digital Wingman URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/confessions-of-a-serial-tabber-how-dia-became-my-digital-wingman/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:22:48.000Z In former jobs, colleagues recoiled in horror upon seeing my screen. IT sent gentle reminders that I should now *really* close my laptop for those mandated updates from weeks ago. My laptop fan often sounds like a jet engine. And yet, I persist. Because tabs are possibility, tabs are hope, tabs are my digital comfort blanket. ### **The Switch I Swore I’d Never Make** Enter Dia. I read about this new browser a few times but the thought of changing something so embedded in my ways of working as well as personal life felt like a chore too big to even consider. Until we started this site. Working as part of a small team requires you to look at everything you’re doing and find ways to optimize yourself and your productivity - I guess the same is true nowadays for every marketer or those working at creative agencies. We have to be able to do it all and do it quickly. So, thinking about how I worked I figured my surfing habits needed a do-over. When looking into Dia and requesting access (they’re still in Beta at the moment, though you’d never know), I did so with the same skepticism reserved for “life-changing” productivity hacks, any mention of “good gut bacteria” in food products or the words “proven results” in cosmetics. Their offer is simple, a browser that’s familiar, easy to use, and actually designed for humans (and their tab hoarding tendencies). And like Arc, also designed by The Browser Company, the branding is a delight. It just exudes the feeling of calmness. The first step was switching browsers, and though I expected to have an existential crisis through its design, Dia made it as smooth as putting on your shoes in the morning, if those shoes were also velcro. It recognized my passwords, preferences and history. Looking into this, Dia passes what its creators call the Tuesday morning test – it’s so instantly recognizable and reassuring that you could switch over mid-week, mid-coffee, mid-chaos, and not miss a beat. The design team, led by Charlie Deets (ex-Safari, WhatsApp, Facebook), have somehow made a new product, with new capabilities that feels like the browser we’re accustomed to. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### AI Can Make Images, But Only Humans Can Make Meaning URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/ai-can-make-images-but-only-humans-can-make-meaning/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:21:09.000Z Jonas Hegi is a filmmaker and the co-founder and creative director of [Builders Club](https://builders-club.com/?ref=thesubthread.com), a studio known for creating visual worlds that mix design, 3D motion, AI and film production. Sitting in Morocco’s Agafay Desert at the close of the [Paradigms](https://paradigms.io/?ref=thesubthread.com) conference, Jonas gestures to the rocky horizon. “I love film and photography and seeing light and thinking can we do something new. Nature is surprising me every day. I could stare at this landscape for hours – and the same is true for CGI, and also for AI these days.” Fresh off his keynote on AI and the future of creative work, Jonas is eager to discuss how tools shape imagination. “Our studio is all about creating visual worlds and playing with imagination,” he says. “To do this we’re using tools to bring our imagination to life.” That shift has already transformed Builders Club’s workflow. On a recent [Nike project](https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/collections/nike-nfl-2025-rivalries-uniforms-official-images?ref=thesubthread.com), Jonas says the scope was “so massive” it simply wouldn’t have been possible without AI tools. Using AI was a practical decision in this case, but it also gifted Jonas’s creative freedom. 0:00 /0:15 1× “We suddenly realized we had a freedom to think incredibly freely in terms of what shots we wanted to do, what worlds we wanted to create. Things that aren’t possible with live action, without incredible budgets or timelines. It allowed us to actually be creatively incredibly free.” _This post is for subscribers only._ ### We're live! Welcome to The Subthread URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/were-live-welcome-to-the-subthread-newsletter/ Last updated: 2025-10-27T17:40:12.000Z Hey there, After months of plotting, caffeinating, and pestering industry friends about what they *actually* want to read, The Subthread is finally live and here is its first newsletter. Welcome, this is your new home for sharp ideas, human storytelling, and optimism with bite (never the bland LinkedIn kind). Building this in eight weeks with three people? Like running a marathon in flip-flops. I’ve become a designer, podcaster, marketer, developer, and finance whiz – all before lunch. How did we survive? Tools, lots of tools. This morning alone: Flora and Midjourney for imagery, Dia browser for research, CapCut for socials, Descript for editing, Canva for brand consistency, and a rotating cast of AI sidekicks for everything else. ### **So, why are we here?** Because keeping up with change is hard, and most of us don’t want to gamble on every shiny new tool, or simply do not have the time. We do all want to innovate though, be the best, stay one step ahead. So we made that part of our mission: helping you make sense of creativity, tech, and innovation without the hype. Expect interviews with people shaping culture, honest reviews of tools, and a peek at what’s next. If you’re curious, here’s [the story behind The Subthread](https://www.thesubthread.com/featured/weve-launched-heres-why/). --- ### **On the site today:** - [James Kirkham](https://www.thesubthread.com/culture-as-r-d/): Why culture is the new R&D lab. - [Charlotte Cripps](https://www.thesubthread.com/from-acetone-to-ai-charlotte-cripps-and-the-art-of-staying-ahead/): The creative technologist who future-proofed our brand. - [Granola](https://www.thesubthread.com/the-productivity-playbook-granola/): The AI note-taker saving our meetings (and our memory). --- **Inspiration Hit: Pollution Piano** Doddz is the digital artist redefining what “interactive” really means. He’s the brains behind AR art that jumps off jackets, canvases, and just about anything you can point your phone at. He’s also worked with brands like Dior and Disney. Last week, the founder and creative director of DIME posted something on LinkedIn that caught my eye… [How Pollution Piano uses AI to create music from air quality data | Doddz . posted on the topic | LinkedInHow can technology deepen emotion, not just deliver utility? For my latest global installation entitled Pollution Piano, the team at DIME built an AI-driven system that transforms live air quality data into original, ever-changing music. Here’s how it works: 🎹 Hold your phone up at select iconic locations, and a pianist appears in AR, performing a piece being generated in real time. 🌍 Each composition is unique, created by AI and shaped by the pollution levels around you. 📍Launched in cities across the world, each piano tells a different story through sound. DIME is now in conversations with brands about how this same system can be used to turn live data into emotionally resonant experiences, blending tech and storytelling to help audiences see, hear, and feel something deeper.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/icon/al2o9zrvru7aqj8e1x2rzsrca-1)LinkedInAlexandra Zeevalkink![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/thumbnail/1756800780562-1)](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/doddz%5Fhow-can-technology-deepen-emotion-not-just-activity-7368556563352981506-j1a4?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAVDkb0B4B%5FcQntvW7LEVknh%5FKYF6uIBhKQ) --- **The Week Ahead** Hannah’s in Morocco at [Paradigms](https://paradigms.io/?ref=thesubthread.com), chatting with industry leaders and filming BTS (yes, we’re jealous). If you're there say hi and send me a photo. Meanwhile Rich is tuning in to a Notion event tonight - if he falls asleep, [Granola’s got his notes](https://www.thesubthread.com/the-productivity-playbook-granola/). And I’m off to shoot a trailer for my new podcast *Culture Code,* which will spotlight artists and designers pushing the boundaries of creativity with tech. Got guest ideas? Let me know. We’re also deep into planning for [Future Makers Live](https://luma.com/kq3g5cku?ref=thesubthread.com) in October. Sign up now if you want in. ****Consider becoming a paid-for member of our community and support our mission.** ****Get extra content, early event invites and more.** [Upgrade Now ](#/portal/signup) And that’s a wrap for week one. Stay curious. Stay caffeinated. See you next week. – Alex (Editor-in-Chief, *The Subthread*) P.S. Follow us on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-subthread/?ref=thesubthread.com), [X](https://x.com/thesubthread?ref=thesubthread.com), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/mysubthread/?ref=thesubthread.com), or reply with your best AI meme – we’ll feature our favorite next issue. ### We’ve launched. Here’s why. URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/weve-launched-heres-why/ Last updated: 2025-09-24T19:52:36.000Z After years in marketing, media, tech, and creative industries, we kept running into the same wall: innovators had nowhere to go for sharp insights, genuine connection, and a dose of curiosity. Most outlets treat creativity, technology, and innovation as separate planets. We know they’re tangled together – and that’s where the real action happens. Tech’s evolving at breakneck speed. Creativity’s getting braver. The best innovation? It’s still happening in the messy middle, where ideas collide and culture gets rewritten. That’s the space we live for. But all these new opportunities for progress come with a challenge. The speed of change makes it harder to separate fleeting trends from meaningful signals, and it’s getting harder to know where to invest your time so you learn the skills that will still matter tomorrow. That’s why we created *The Subthread*. Our mission: connect you with the people, stories, and tools that help you not just keep up, but leap ahead – no hype, no filler. Whether you’re a creative leader, marketer, founder, or product maker, we showcase the boldest ideas and bring you the stories that will help you innovate faster and smarter. You need information that’s undiluted, insightful, and presented in a way that doesn’t just inform, but also inspires and entertains. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2b/42/2b427eb5-62dc-4319-bf64-456ce38c47c6/content/images/2025/09/u5585895963_A_cinematic_film_photograph_in_a_retro-futurist_s_6bc23049-7c77-45c2-a244-6288fab09882_3-1-1.png) ### **What you can expect from us** *The Subthread* is dedicated to the stories, people, and projects shaping what comes next. We explore how things like AI, immersive tools, spatial computing, and emerging platforms are changing the way we design, tell stories, launch products, and build communities. We do this through regular podcasts, shorts, documentaries, events, and a weekly newsletter – plus online pieces dropping multiple times per week. Here’s what you’ll get: - Original stories on the future of creativity and tech - Deep dives into campaigns, tools, and ideas that actually move the needle - Candid conversations with the visionaries building what’s next - Curated events and gatherings – think less PowerPoint, more brainpower Curious about what’s next? Join us – subscribe, follow, and let’s shape the future together. **✉️ Subscribe to** [***The Subthread* newsletter**](https://www.thesubthread.com/#/portal/signup) 👉 **Follow us on** [**Instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/mysubthread/?ref=thesubthread.com) **/** [**LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-subthread?ref=thesubthread.com) **/** [**X**](https://x.com/thesubthread?ref=thesubthread.com) **/** [**TikTok**](https://www.tiktok.com/@thesubthread?ref=thesubthread.com) 🔖 **Save** [**this link**](https://thesubthread.com/?ref=thesubthread.com) ### Culture as R&D URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/culture-as-r-d/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:21:39.000Z **The white coat no longer owns experimentation. Today, it’s far messier than that, writes brand strategist and cultural critic James Kirkham.** Today, the proving ground for new technology is not a sterile lab but a virtual pit at a gig, a queue for a fashion drop, or the resale market for a digital trainer. Before Fortnite hosted a concert the idea of millions logging in to a video game to watch a pop concert or music event was laughable. Before Gucci sold untouchable shoes, the idea of paying for pixels was a punchline. Yet it was culture that ran the tests in public, and once culture accepted them then commerce swiftly followed. Culture functions as a petri dish moving at the speed of memes and fandom. It fails in full view, iterates within hours, and scales globally overnight because every experiment is delivered straight into feeds and streams. When teenagers queue for a virtual item with the same devotion their parents once reserved for vinyl it is not simply a marketing stunt but an indicator of where value has migrated. Attention clusters, value follows, and markets form. Most brands still don’t get it. They treat culture as decoration, not as the engine of transformation. They brief a film, or buy media, and call it progress. The sharper move is to recognise culture itself as research and development like a living portfolio of small bets inside scenes that already matter. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### From Acetone to AI: Charlotte Cripps and the Art of Staying Ahead URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/from-acetone-to-ai-charlotte-cripps-and-the-art-of-staying-ahead/ Last updated: 2025-10-25T18:22:02.000Z Meet Charlotte Cripps: the design director who doesn’t just think outside the box – she’s busy redesigning it, branding it, and probably teaching it how to use AI. From transforming legacy publications into glossy coffee-table stunners to leading bold design teams, and most recently, shaping the branding for *The Subthread* – Charlotte’s career reads like a masterclass in visual storytelling. She’s not just fluent in editorial and brand development, she’s also conversational in AI, wielding new tech as both muse and toolkit. Today, she’s fresh off a run as design director, her portfolio bursting with award-shortlisted covers and a knack for making even the most strategic design look effortless. If there’s a new frontier in creative tech, Charlotte’s probably already mapped it – and added a killer logo for good measure. We sat down with Charlotte to talk about pushing boundaries, the joy of collaboration, and the right way to think about AI in design. ## The fundamentals of good design “When I first started designing magazines, images arrived on little acetone squares. I’d use a slide loupe to check small acetate transparencies on a lightbox,” says Charlotte Cripps, sipping from a Kate Bush-themed coffee mug at her breakfast bar. It’s a memory that captures just how much publishing has shifted over her 25 years in the industry – and how she’s shifted with it. _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Productivity Playbook: Granola URL: https://www.thesubthread.com/the-productivity-playbook-granola/ Last updated: 2025-10-29T12:00:56.000Z Welcome to *The Productivity Playbook* – our running series on tools built to make us faster, sharper, and a little less drained at work. This week: **Granola**, a very neat AI-powered note-taker that handles the messy parts of meetings so you can actually focus on the people in front of you. *Before I dive in: as always in this series, this is an independent review, not a sponsored post.* ### **Why It Matters** Meetings aren’t going anywhere. But the way we survive them? That’s up for grabs. Too often we spend meetings half-listening while scribbling half-thoughts, only to realize later we missed the actual decision. “If you’ve ever been “voluntold” to take notes and then realized later you missed the actual decision, you know the pain.” That’s where AI note-takers step in. They’re everywhere right now, and most do a solid job with transcription. But many are built for sprawling enterprises – overloaded with features that feel heavy if you’re running a smaller, faster-moving team. Having worked in creative groups and now building *The Subthread*, I know how easily ideas vanish when you’re bouncing from one brainstorm to the next. That’s where Granola shines. It’s lightweight, quick, and doesn’t disrupt the flow. Instead, it just catches what you’d otherwise forget. _This post is for subscribers only._