Strange Coordinates

Hosts Robert Balog and Topher Burns sit down with Melissa Dunn , fractional CMO and former Head of Marketing at Suzy , to explore why B2B software marketing is ready for a consumer-grade revolution. Having worked on mega-brands like Visa and Verizon Wireless before making the leap into B2B SaaS, Melissa breaks down why B2B decision-makers have the exact same anxieties, attention spans, and emotion...

In our newest episode of Strange Coordinates , hosts Topher Burns and Robert Balog chart the 25-year trajectory of Salesforce through the lens of two dramatically different San Francisco protests. They unpack how Marc Benioff built a $40B+ enterprise giant by pioneering modern SaaS and seat-based pricing, the influence of Hawaiian culture on corporate America, and the existential threat AI poses t...

In our latest interview, Aydan and Robert dive into the inner workings of Wall Street and market infrastructure with Talia Klein , Head of Wealth and Investment Solutions at the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation . Talia takes us behind the scenes of financial infrastructure to explore the convergence of institutional finance and modern consumer tech and unpack what outsiders get completely...

We heard you loud and clear: You want more Sean Szeps. Fear not, dear listener: Sean is back, this time as the interviewee on Strange(r) Coordinates. Topher and Aydan sit down with the social strategist, academic, and all-star parenting creator to break down what happens when the person receiving agency briefs used to write them himself. --- Find Sean Szeps on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/...

In this episode of Strange Coordinates, Topher Burns is joined by special guest host (and creator, academic, and parent-marketing strategist) Sean Szeps to go behind the leak-proof seams of the multi-billion-dollar war between Huggies and Pampers. They trace the origin story of fierce 1980s patent battles, the effects of duopoly, and the environmental and sociological impacts of the diaper categor...

In this episode, we trace the strategic history of fintech giant Chime to expose how design, psychology, and color theory fuel modern banking. We break down Chime’s calculated play for the underserved gig economy, the ethical entanglements of their early Doctor Phil daytime TV endorsement, and the catastrophic Covid-era algorithm errors that left paycheck-to-paycheck users locked out of their acco...

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (or just Cannes if you’re normal) is coming up, and we’ve got the perfect tour guides. Rachel Segall and Simone Mandel of the growth platform and consultancy NBZ take us behind the festival facades and endless flows of rosé they experienced last year to give us a sense of what to expect next week. We talk about the shifting ecosystem of adverti...

In our newest episode of Strange Coordinates, we’re diving into the pharmaceutical industry with Michelle Nguyen and Barbara Salami of Decyd to explore how AI is transforming how new drugs are brought to market. They break down why so many brilliant medical innovations flop on launch, how their platform acts as "genetic testing" for drug assets, and why the near-term financial payoff for commercia...

In our latest episode of Strange Coordinates, we dive into the fast-moving world of consumer electronics with Laura Kaye, Global Social Media Director at Booking.com. Drawing from her years at Samsung Mobile, Laura breaks down how tech giants engineer brand love, while navigating the rising consumer craving for digital detoxes. --- Show notes: Find Laura Kaye on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/...

In our newest episode of Strange Coordinates, we’re going back to 2009: the year of Kanye at the VMAs, the Miracle on the Hudson, and the 56% market share peak of the BlackBerry. But this isn't just a nostalgia trip. We’re digging into how a tactile email machine reshaped global politics, contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, and turned us all into rats in a digital Skinner Box. Are you using...

Usually on Strange Coordinates , we use brands as roadmaps to arrive at surprising places. Today, we’re arriving somewhere literal: a production set. We’ve pulled back the curtain on our latest collaboration with Zesty Paws to explore the friction, the "hot lights," and the specific magic that happens when creative intuition meets analytical rigor. We’re interviewing the makers and the marketers f...

In our newest episode of Strange Coordinates, we dive into Eli Lilly and the fine line between being a "pharmaceutical company" and "a medicine company." We track their journey from standardizing doses in the 1800s to navigating the cultural minefield of GLP-1s and a $15 billion Twitter crisis. Everyone wants to be a hero… but do they have the history to back it up? --- territorial is an advertisi...

In our newest episode of Strange Coordinates , we dive into OpenAI and the identity crisis happening across the landscape. Everyone’s racing to make emotional, cinematic ads… but do they know what they stand for? --- territorial is an advertising agency that helps brands find their place in the world. To see our work and learn more about what we do, visit weareterritorial.com Follow us on LinkedIn...

In our latest Strange(r) Coordinates interview, we sat down with Kelly Colbert , fractional CMO for the Humane Society, to explore how brand strategy works when your goal is purpose, not profit. From her days at Anthem to leading communications for one of the world’s top animal welfare organizations, Kelly shares insights on authenticity, empathy, and storytelling that connects hearts as much as m...

How did a simple dog biscuit become a cultural icon? 🦴 In this episode of Strange Coordinates, Topher Burns and Robert Balog explore the surprising story of Milk-Bone — a brand that turned an everyday pet treat into a ritual, a household name, and even a piece of advertising history. You’ll learn: 🐾 How Milk-Bone went from functional snack to cultural symbol 🐾 Why advertising shaped not just wh...

In this episode of Strange(r) Coordinates , Aydan Sarikaya and Robert Balog talk with Ben Jenkins about the signals, impressions, and contexts that drive creative work and shape how people experience brands. From the way we read meaning before we hear messages, to the role of culture in creativity, this conversation explores the messy, human side of brand building. We discuss: Why brands are inter...

The history of Post-It Notes begins with a glue that didn’t work. What started as a failed aerospace adhesive at 3M became one of the most unlikely and influential inventions in creative culture. From agency war rooms to startup whiteboards to digital tools like Miro and Figma, sticky notes have shaped how we think, collaborate, and build ideas. In this episode of Strange Coordinates , Topher Burn...

In this episode of Strange(r) Coordinates, we're diving into the explosive growth of women’s sports—and the powerful branding and storytelling opportunities that come with it. Co-host Aydan Sarikaya is joined by territorial colleague Julie Sullivan and special guest Andrea Buccilla , a documentary and commercial director known for her work on Shattered Glass and Power Forward, a Delta x WNBA serie...

How did a nondescript running shoe like New Balance become a millennial fashion statement? Topher Burns and Robert Balog explore the surprising intersections of atheltics, fashion, inequality, and barnyard animals. - Subscribe to our mailing list: https://forms.gle/YH9y99y1d9ZVKNm28 - Learn about our approach to Bot-Friendly Branding: https://www.weareterritorial.com/bot-friendly-branding - territ...

In our latest Strange(r) Coordinates interview, Eli Altman of A Hundred Monkeys gives us insight into the world of naming. Also, we explore how he thinks of sustainable growth and why the least-tenured person at his company has been there for six years. It’s the best of interviews, it’s the… blurst of interviews? Eli Altman on LinkedIn A Hundred Monkeys on LinkedIn Subscribe to our mailing list Le...

Watch the full webinar here Subscribe to our mailing list AI comes up a lot on Strange Coordinates, and it comes up a lot in our ad agency’s work as well. You might have a brand people love, but if you can make AI love it too, you can tap into a whole new world of growth. We recently held a webinar with our co-founder Topher Burns and Brian Stempeck of Evertune AI for a conversation about what it...

Register for our upcoming webinar on the intersection of AI and brand design Our Chiquita episode bounces between anthropomorphic fruit mascots and Columbian death squads, with a lot of thoughtful criticism of greenwashing and cultural insensitivity in between. Classic #StrangeCoordinates. - territorial is an advertising agency that helps brands find their place in the world. To see our work and l...

On our latest Strange(r) Coordinates, we talk to Sree Sreenivasan , digital mentor and expert in training people to adopt generative AI. Aydan and Topher chat with Sree about how this disruption might compare with the social media revolution of the 2010s, and how we can collectively envision a better future for this nascent technology. Find out more about Digimentors : https://www.digimentors.grou...

Eleven episodes in, and it feels like our podcast is aging gracefully. That’s why it feels like a perfect time to twist the cap on Oil of Olay , also known as Olay — depending on how old you are. Topher and Robert explore the various ways Olay has been ahead of its time and unfortunately very much of its time throughout its storied history. - territorial is an advertising agency that helps brands...

In our new episode on Cuisinart, we learn that Weird Al Yankovic described his brain as a “pop culture Cuisinart.” Interestingly, the episode itself is a sort of pop culture food processor, full of digressions on topics like Macbooks, 30 Rock, American spycraft, and even Con Air (1997). - territorial is an advertising agency that helps brands find their place in the world. To see our work and lear...