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.
Hope Actually
We’re often told “hope isn’t a strategy,” but what if it could be? In this edition of Top of Mind, 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.
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.
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?
Unknown Unknowns
“…there are known knowns; there are things we know we know…there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know.”
What About Trust?
What comes to mind when you hear about declining levels of institutional trust? Is it numbness? Overwhelm? Paralysis? A general sense of “well obviously, but what exactly can I do about it?”
A Guide to Being Solution-Oriented
Be less shit and more solution-oriented and we can start to right some wrongs. Think big by starting small. And it’s never too late to start.
The problems aren’t for posting, they’re the work to be done.
The World We Were Born Into No Longer Exists
What aspects of our present world do you want to no longer exist in the decades to come? What alternative can you build towards? What needs to be true today to create that future?
The New Rules of Engagement
When existence feels chaotic, creating smaller circles of trust becomes a means for survival. Control through community. Agency through back-channel belonging.
The Future isn't Inevitable, it's Intentional
When 70% of young people report feeling worse after spending time online, that's no longer a niche experience. That's pretty massive design failure.
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.