Operating at the Speed of Culture with Simon Athlan, Global Strategy Director at Ogilvy UK
Thu Dec 11 2025
In this episode of Strategy Unscripted, Simon Athlan — Global Strategy Director at Ogilvy UK and former Senior Director of Brand Strategy at Jellyfish — shares how he helps global brands like Dove and TRESemmé find a clear path from business problem to cultural relevance. With experience across Allianz, Neutrogena, Chanel and more, Simon bridges classic brand strategy with the realities of social platforms, rapid trends and generative AI.
In this conversation, you’ll learn how he: ✅ Translates corporate business problems into sharp, human tensions that people actually care about ✅ Balances long-term brand consistency with the “lots of littles” content reality of social platforms ✅ Uses world-building and star stories to keep campaigns coherent while culture moves at speed ✅ Applies GenAI as a strategic tool (not a crutch), including treating agents as a new type of audience
🎧 For senior leaders rethinking how strategy, creativity and AI come together at scale, this episode offers practical lenses you can apply across any large organisation!
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In this episode of Strategy Unscripted, Simon Athlan — Global Strategy Director at Ogilvy UK and former Senior Director of Brand Strategy at Jellyfish — shares how he helps global brands like Dove and TRESemmé find a clear path from business problem to cultural relevance. With experience across Allianz, Neutrogena, Chanel and more, Simon bridges classic brand strategy with the realities of social platforms, rapid trends and generative AI. In this conversation, you’ll learn how he: ✅ Translates corporate business problems into sharp, human tensions that people actually care about ✅ Balances long-term brand consistency with the “lots of littles” content reality of social platforms ✅ Uses world-building and star stories to keep campaigns coherent while culture moves at speed ✅ Applies GenAI as a strategic tool (not a crutch), including treating agents as a new type of audience 🎧 For senior leaders rethinking how strategy, creativity and AI come together at scale, this episode offers practical lenses you can apply across any large organisation!