We engineer stories to be effective
We make your youtube, video and audio content more effective, creating stories that audiences seek out & find interesting.
We build formats that are talked about, drive revenue and thrive across mediums.
We work with clients & collaborators that:
Need their message to break through and drive action
Want to build sustainable content engines, not one-offs
Are ready to test hypotheses and iterate based on results
Our process is based on years of experience at diverse brands, broadcasters, and publishers.
Challenging some common assumptions
"Attention spans are decreasing" The data tells a different story. With properly engineered insights and compelling storytelling, audiences will stay engaged for extended periods. Success comes from understanding the fundamental truths of human attention and motivation - creating moments that make people want to keep watching, learning & sharing.
"Social metrics are just vanity numbers" YouTube represents the largest dataset of mass human attention ever created. By analysing how audiences engage with content in your space, it is possible to understand what truly resonates and why. You can then make creative decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.
"There is no formula for creative success" While creativity can't be reduced to a recipe, there are clear principles that lead to repeatable success. It's about applying rigorous methodology alongside creative exploration - testing hypotheses, learning from audience response, and refining based on what works. We’re not the only ones to figure this out, we take inspiration from the masters - Pixar, Raymond Loewy, Blumhouse, to name a few.
Our process
We find stories worth telling inside your organisation and turn them into formats people actually want to engage with. It's a process that's both playful and rigorous.
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Through deep research, immersion and workshops we explore the world of attention to understand what truly resonates with audiences.
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By analysing insights gathered through research, we develop clear hypotheses with you about what will drive meaningful engagement, identifying the core appeals and opportunities that will shape our approach.
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We craft formats in video and audio which are specifically designed to be ‘sticky’, naturally pr'able and drive new revenue streams for your business.
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We take a rigorous, testing-based approach to implementation, measuring impact and gathering feedback to continuously refine and improve the effectiveness of our work.
We’ll collaborate with you to develop:
Proven formats that engage your target audience
Content that drives measurable outcomes
Narrative frameworks you can build upon
A clear understanding of what works and why
We remove subjectivity of what success looks like, helping to define and refine strong performing assets with the data and evidence to show that they work.
Audience first • Longform • Editorial • Insightful
• Thoughtful • Repeatable formats
WE CREATE
Testimonials
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"Our bold, new campaign is shifting perceptions of the work we do. I’m delighted with the response."
Sarah Weir - CEO - The Design Council
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"Ashley helped to stimulate new ways of thinking. His work moved on the thinking in the way we communicated to customers."
Neil Lewis - Marks & Spencer
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"Thank you so much for facilitating. It has been amazing. I was blown away by the creativity and the diversity of profiles and people here. Hearing perspectives beyond our own is incredibly helpful.
Global technology firm
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"Definitely one of our most successful ever trailers, both creatively and more importantly in terms of driving sales through paid social.
Ella Lewis Collins - The British Museum
We are curious
We aren't just thinkers and strategists - we're builders and makers at heart. From launching successful businesses to producing award-winning content, we combine strategic insight with hands-on execution.
Ashley Pollak
Throughout my career, I've harnessed creativity to solve complex challenges across diverse industries: from producing documentaries for the BBC, story campaigns for lastminute.com, M&S and the British Museum to launching a garden delivery startup in 4 days during lockdown, I've developed a proven approach to making ideas work.
Creative Director
Sophie Whippy
“I make shit happen" – helping to bring creative visions to life. I've delivered productions for Jimmy Choo, Folk Social and Vetsak. I also founded and scaled one of East London's first yoga studios into a thriving business with multiple studios and global retreats, developing expertise in business management, production, casting and education.
Managing Director
We draw on the expertise of our network to deliver. Our consultants include veteran marketing leaders, award-winning writers and producers, behavioural science specialists, and business founders who've scaled and exited successful businesses.
We’re a group of smart, passionate people working as peers. Built on trust and candor — we work collaboratively with you to identify and solve problems, creatively.
The Tediophobes
Example projects
lastminute.com
Turning a competition into a campaign about living more spontaneously.
Results - 80,000 unique page views, 35,960 votes cast.
The Socrates of San Francisco
Producing a story about a forgotten 60s adman who changed the world for the flagship BBC Radio 4 show ‘Archive on 4’.
Audience - 1m + live, now on BBC Sounds.
The British Museum
Cinema ad and social campaign for the first modern art exhibition at the most visited UK visitor attraction.
Results - "Definitely one of our most successful ever trailers, both creatively and more importantly in terms of driving sales through paid social”
Ella Lewis Collins, Marketing Manager
