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Strange Coordinates

Strange Coordinates

Hosted by territorial

BusinessMarketingSocietyCulture
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Episodes

36

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN

About the show

Strap in. We're going on a trip! Robert and Topher, cofounders of advertising agency Territorial, explore the weird, compelling, and sometimes forgotten corners of our culture through a surprising lens: the brands we all know and/or love. Every episode uses a familiar brand as a roadmap to stories you would never imagine to help you see the world in a new way. To learn more about Robert Balog & Topher Burns, and their work at Territorial, visit www.weareterritorial.com or find them on LinkedIn.

Listen to episodes

36 recent
August 11, 20261 hr 4 min

Strange(r) Coordinates: Sean Szeps

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/seanszeps/ --- 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: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorial Want to see our faces while we talk? Subscribe on YouTube:https://youtube.com/@strangecoordinates--- Show art & design by Chris Allen Editing & Video editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/ Marketing by Billy Silverman Episode music by Blue Dot Sessions

July 16, 20261 hr 6 min

Happy Accidents (ep 20)

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 category and its marketing efforts over the past several decades. ---Find Sean Szeps on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanszeps/ ---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: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorial ---Show art & design by Chris AllenEditing & Video editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/Marketing by Billy SilvermanEpisode music by Blue Dot Sessions

June 26, 20261 hr 8 min

Seeing Green (ep 19)

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 accounts for months.We also examine the 2026 liquidity landscape as Chime clashes with Venmo and Cash App , the structural similarities to our own Webby-winning campaign for healthcare disruptor Centivo , and why a tech company’s sudden choice of a serif font is the ultimate sign of a corporate identity crisis.---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: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorial---Show art & design by Chris AllenEditing & Video editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/Marketing by Billy SilvermanEpisode music by Blue Dot Sessions

June 17, 202652 min

Strange(r) Coordinates: NBZ

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 advertising, hyper-commercialization of the festival beaches, and how lean indie shops are successfully crashing a party historically dominated by legacy holding companies. Learn more about NBZ: https://www.nbzpartner.com/ --- 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: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorial Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@strangecoordinates Want to see our faces while we talk? Find Strange Coordinates on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@strangecoordinates--- Show art & design by Chris Allen Editing & Video editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/ Marketing by Billy Silverman Episode music by Blue Dot Sessions

June 9, 202654 min

Strange(r) Coordinates: Decyd

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 commercial AI outpaces R&D by over a decade. Learn more about Decyd: https://decyd.ai/ --- 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: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorial Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@strangecoordinates Want to see our faces while we talk? You can also find Strange Coordinates on YouTube: --- Show art & design by Chris Allen Editing & Video editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/ Marketing by Billy Silverman Episode music by Blue Dot Sessions

May 27, 202642 min

Strange(r) Coordinates: Laura Kaye

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/lauraaokaye/ Find Laura Kaye on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraaokaye/ Ingenius - Samsung makes fun of iPhone X: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr37mJ37WOYSamsung - Ostrich (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arpbDsa8IRU --- 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: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorial Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@strangecoordinates Want to see our faces while we talk? You can also find Strange Coordinates on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@strangecoordinates--- Show art & design by Chris Allen Editing & Video editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/ Marketing by Billy Silverman Episode music by Blue Dot Sessions

May 6, 202659 min

Thumb Kind of Wonderful (ep 18)

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 your phone, or is it using you?------ Show notes: A brief, ignoble history of the BlackBerry on Wall Street: https://www.marketplace.org/story/2011/12/13/brief-ignoble-history-blackberry-wall-street Wall Street’s ‘CrackBerry’ Withdrawal (Published 2011): https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/wall-streets-crackberry-withdrawal/ A Romance With Risk That Brought On a Panic (Published 2011): https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/a-romance-with-risk-that-brought-on-a-panic/ Clinton BlackBerry photo led to State official’s query about email account: https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/06/hillary-clinton-emails-probe-blackberry-224154 What's Behind BlackBerry Addiction: https://www.inc.com/hardware/articles/200610/blackberryaddict.html ---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.comFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorialFollow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@strangecoordinatesWant to see our faces while we talk? You can also find Strange Coordinates on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StrangeCoordinates---Show art & design by Chris AllenMarketing by Billy SilvermanEpisode music by Blue Dot SessionsEditing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/

March 26, 202623 min

Strange(r) Coordinates: Zesty Paws Shoot BTS

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 from both the territorial and Zesty Paws teams to find out what actually happens behind the monitor.---Learn more about Zesty Paws: https://zestypaws.com/---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.comFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorialFollow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@strangecoordinatesWant to see our faces while we talk? You can also find Strange Coordinates on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StrangeCoordinatesSubscribe to our newsletter: https://forms.gle/YH9y99y1d9ZVKNm28Learn about our approach to Bot-Friendly Branding: https://www.weareterritorial.com/bot-friendly-branding---CreditsShow art & design by Chris AllenEditing by Topher BurnsMarketing by Billy SilvermanEpisode music by Blue Dot Sessions

February 18, 202656 min

Branded Little Pill (ep 17)

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 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: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorial Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@strangecoordinates Want to see our faces while we talk? You can also find Strange Coordinates on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StrangeCoordinates--- Show art & design by Chris Allen Marketing by Billy Silverman Episode music by Blue Dot Sessions Video editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/

December 11, 20251 hr 12 min

Do Robots Dream of Brands? (ep 16)

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.comFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weareterritorialFollow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@strangecoordinatesSubscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StrangeCoordinates ---Show art & design by Chris AllenEditing by Steph GeorgeMarketing by Billy SilvermanEpisode music by Blue Dot SessionsVideo editing by Patrick Elmore: https://www.patrickelmore.co/

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