The Power of Play – How Curiosity, Risk, and Creativity Keep Your Brand Alive

Somewhere along the way, we forgot how to play.

When we’re kids, play is how we learn everything – curiosity, problem-solving, risk-taking, resilience. It’s how we make sense of the world. Then we grow up, swap crayons for KPIs, and start overthinking every idea before it’s even out of our mouths.

But the truth is, play isn’t childish – it’s a design philosophy. And it’s one that the world’s most resilient, memorable, and human brands all share.

1. Curiosity: The spark that starts everything

Jean Piaget once said that play is how intelligence experiments. That line has always stuck with me, because it’s the foundation of creativity. In design and marketing, curiosity is what keeps ideas alive. It’s what stops brands from sounding like everyone else.

When I dive into a project, I don’t jump straight to visuals. I begin with words. I map out keywords, phrases, fragments of feeling. Then I launch into what we used to call “blue-sky thinking” at school – no boundaries, no right or wrong, just possibilities. From that open space I start to hone in on the essence of the brand and what makes it resonate.

Because it’s in that “what-if” terrain – the unpolished, wide-open zone – that fresh ideas are born and brands begin to stand apart.

2. Risk: The fuel for originality

Playing it safe is how brands slowly fade out of relevance. Risk doesn’t mean reckless – it means refusing to settle. It’s testing, remixing, and creating space to surprise people.

I see this a lot through Noise & Waves – a creative offshoot of my brand that celebrates design, music, and scene culture. It’s a playground for visual experimentation – where ideas collide, evolve, and sometimes explode into something unexpected.

It’s not about polished perfection; it’s about creative chemistry. That’s where the pulse of a brand really lives – in those messy, instinctive moments before the idea is sanitised by too many opinions.

Every great campaign has a bit of rebellion baked in. A willingness to try, fail, and rebuild until it feels alive. That’s not chaos – that’s progress.

3. Connection: Play builds belonging

We don’t remember ads – we remember how they made us feel. That’s what play does so well. It invites people in. It creates emotion through participation.

Take Heinz. When asked to draw ketchup, almost everyone drew the same bottle – red, with that little white top and distinctive label. That’s not just branding; it’s collective play. Heinz didn’t just market ketchup – they became the idea of ketchup.

The most successful brands don’t tell people what to think; they give them something to feel part of. Play gives people ownership of your story.

4. Adaptability: The long game of creative survival

The brands that play, pivot. The ones that don’t, panic.

Play builds flexibility – it teaches us to test, evolve, and move with our audience instead of trying to control them. Whether it’s adapting tone, exploring new platforms, or experimenting with visual storytelling, play keeps things fresh. It keeps brands human.

Because creativity without curiosity becomes formula. And marketing without play becomes noise.

The takeaway

Play isn’t a luxury – it’s a survival strategy. It’s how your brand stays curious, relevant, and emotionally resonant in a world that’s always changing.

So go ahead. Ask “what if?” more often. Try the weird thing. Explore without a finish line. Because in the end, the brands that thrive aren’t the ones that play to win – they’re the ones that never stop playing.