APG Sideways
About our guest: Sarah Rowand
Hey, I’m Sarah. I'm a Strategist at Courage.
I’m always on the hunt for ancient Toronto establishments to hang out in, so send me your worst. Beyond strategy, I’m interested in urban planning, politics, fashion design, filmmaking, and art. You can find me at any free event this city has to offer, whether it be a street party, a library lecture, or a city budget consultation.
Brilliant Weird Best
Strategists are curious folks, so we asked Sarah to tell us the most brilliant, weirdest and best things she’s come across recently.
BRILLIANT: This is not a soft drink by IRN-BRU
This is brilliant world building. This is the face of cool. In a world oversaturated with hot people and safe strategies, IRN-BRU chose to lean into the weirdos that make Scotland what it is. For all the Canadian brands struggling to meaningfully attach themselves to our national identity, take notes from Lucky Generals.
Note also the use of old and young actors. These age groups are arguably the coolest because they don't walk around trying to impress anyone.
WEIRD: Beware the Penguins by Budweiser
This Bud Ice campaign from the 90s easily makes my top 3 all-time favourites. Budweiser had a simple product line extension to promote and they asked themselves, what is the weirdest way we can communicate “ice”. They chose penguins and went full mock-horror.
I believe that the best campaigns are the ones people will reference when joking around with friends. This one makes the cut. This should be our formula for all CPG product line extensions: what is the weirdest possible way to communicate our USP.
BEST: Torontonians lining up at a street festival by Mark Krzepis
This is maybe my favourite painting of all time. It’s so local, so real, so wonderful. It captures my love for this city and all the beautiful people in it. Street festivals, you will never be beat. Funny also that it plays into the trope of Toronto people lining up for things. Mark, you are the greatest.
Top Guilty Pleasures
Not all of our consumption habits can be academic. That's why we asked Sarah to give us the sources to her creativity.
Speed-cycling through new hobbies
Sometimes I feel like such a poser when I dive into hobbies I’m not any good at. (RIP my skateboarding phase 5 years ago…) Honestly though, I think we focus too much on becoming great at things, rather than doing them for the joy of doing. So what if I’m shit? I’m trying something new. Right now I’m hooked on pool, but I sense a switch to rollerskating on the horizon.
At the end of the day, the man who routinely does things he’s shit at will live a much richer life than the man who restricts himself to mastery.
The best way to break the silo of your algorithm is to peek into someone else’s. I think of my friends as some of the coolest people out there (biased), so their Pinterest boards are like treasure troves.
Snooping on your friend’s Pinterest boards is also a lovely way to get gift-giving inspo for them, because you can see exactly the clothes/jewelry/trinkets they wish they had.
This month on Slack
Over on our Slack, strategists are supporting, debating, and shitposting. Click on a link to see the full convo.
'Twas the season of trend reports, & we found a report on all those trend reports
Contributor: Ivan Chernopyatko
Google dropped their annual mega-compilation of 144 trend reports (2GB of insights from WPP, Deloitte, McKinsey, and more). Google's NotebookLM distilled it all into a deck, briefing, and video, surfacing four key themes: AI is the New Electricity, Humanity is the New Luxury, Volatility is the New Normal, and The Consumer is the Creator. Full reports and AI summaries were shared in the thread.
An 18-minute promo about making a promo. It's meta.
Contributor: PK Lawton
Timothée Chalamet's Marty Supreme promo is a fake marketing meeting where he pitches absurd ideas for promoting the film. Mark Ritson calls it a frighteningly accurate takedown of how marketing has devolved into superficial optics, tactical theatrics, and buzzword bingo while actual strategy gets lost in the noise.
From "Are you hiring?" to "Hiring!"
Contributor: Jon Crowley
Tough job market? Recent grads said, "fine, I'll do it myself." A16z data shows that as hiring rates plummeted in 2022-23, more new grads chose entrepreneurship over job hunting. Tech led the way, but 8.8% launched marketing or advertising businesses. If the industry won't hire you, apparently, you just build your own agency.