Curious Strategy
A playful guide to serious brand leadership. Curious strategy is our substack exploring ideas, insights, and provocations from the intersection of culture, creativity, and change. Each piece is written to help brand leaders cut through the noise, think long-term, and move from reacting to shaping.
Why Trust, Humanity & Differentiation are the Real AI Strategy
Three years of fanatical note-taking at Web Summit confirmed one thing: The noise around AI has peaked. It’s moved from “will it steal my job?” to “why is it still hallucinating?”
Hope Actually
We’re often told “hope isn’t a strategy,” but what if it could be? In this internal memo, we explore how curiosity and imagination can transform hope from a fluffy ideal into a practical force for change. Because maybe the most strategic thing we can do for the future—is believe it’s still worth building.
What if it just worked?
After years of talk about “diversity,” inclusivity has stalled at optics-only, creative opportunity is priced out of reach, and trust in systems is collapsing. What’s really going on beneath it all? People are done performing progress, they want proof.
Moving FWD breaks down the tensions shaping what’s next, and why brands that design for dignity, equity, and reliability will lead in the future.
Better Futures vs. Future Burnout
Q4 chaos doesn’t have to mean burnout. Let’s explore how brand leaders can reframe year-end pressure into opportunity by setting boundaries, making space for futures thinking, and turning the busiest season into a more intentional start to 2026.
From Revival to Remix to Belonging
This week in Moving FWD: London’s comeback, youth shifting from architects to followers, and the decline of big social all point to one thing: culture never really moved in straight lines — it only looked that way when gatekeepers packaged it neatly.
Available Now! The Mindset for 2026
Available now! The nouvôt futures 2026 Mindset Deck helps brand leaders cut through cultural noise, reframe challenges, and plan with pragmatic optimism. Includes a curated cultural calendar to turn foresight into action.
Coming Soon: nouvôt futures 2026 mindset
Feeling overwhelmed by the present but still expected to plan ahead? The nouvôt futures 2026 Mindset Deck helps leaders cut through the noise with clarity, optimism, and actionable signals for the year ahead. Coming soon!
From Burnout to Trust to Tension
From creator burnout to the erosion of trust, the cultural signals are clear: the old extractive models are breaking down. Here are three shifts shaping how brands can build real, lasting value in 2025.
Stranger than Friction
Friction is neither the silver bullet nor the enemy, just as an easy, frictionless future might not be the utopia we can make it sound like. Intentionality. It’s what we crave.
Beyond the Bait
The question for brand leaders is pretty simple: will you be an early adopter and lead the shift away from addiction-based engagement, or a laggard clinging to a failing model until it completely collapses?
Case in Point
Real-world examples of change in action. Where strategic thinking meets creative doing — stories of how brands turn uncertainty into opportunity.
Get in Touch
Change starts with a conversation. Let’s talk about what’s next for you.