HAPPENSTANCE AIMS TO MAKE LUCK HAPPEN FOR BRANDS

Renowned agency leaders Toby Talbot and Lucinda Sherborne have launched Happenstance, a new creative studio in Auckland, New Zealand, aiming to help brands move beyond conventional marketing. Combining strategy, creativity and orchestration, the venture seeks to create ideas that deliver meaningful impact in an increasingly AI-driven marketing landscape.

In a marketing environment increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence, automation and an overwhelming volume of content, two prominent creative industry leaders are betting on a different approach to building brands. Toby Talbot and Lucinda Sherborne have joined hands to launch Happenstance, a new creative studio founded on the belief that brands need to do more than simply hope for success.

Positioned around the philosophy of ‘making luck happen’, Happenstance aims to help brands create opportunities for meaningful and disproportionate impact through the combination of strategic thinking, creative ideas and effective execution.

“Brands are putting more and more into the world, but too little of it changes what happens next,” says Talbot. He describes much of the conventional approach as ‘cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-it luck’, arguing that businesses deserve better odds when investing in marketing and communications.

The launch comes at a time when marketing departments across the world are rapidly integrating AI into strategy, workflows, content production and commerce. While these technologies have made it easier to generate content at unprecedented speed and scale, they have also created a challenge: producing more does not necessarily translate into greater influence.

According to Talbot, the growing emphasis on output, automation and fragmented marketing activities risks reducing the number of ideas that genuinely influence consumer behaviour.

“AI makes it easier to produce more, faster. But the result is more output, automation and fragmentation, with fewer ideas capable of changing what people notice, feel, remember, choose or do. Presence isn’t impact,” he observes.

Happenstance seeks to address this gap by bringing senior-level strategy, creativity and orchestration together under one creative framework. Rather than measuring success simply through the volume of campaigns or the visibility of brands, the studio intends to focus on ideas that create tangible changes in how people perceive, engage with and respond to businesses.

For Sherborne, the starting point is evidence-based thinking that connects business objectives with people’s everyday experiences and the wider cultural environment.

“Made luck starts with evidence, not instinct alone,” she says. The approach involves understanding what businesses are communicating, how consumers live and behave, and the broader brand, media and cultural contexts. The objective is to uncover a meaningful insight that provides brands with a distinctive opportunity to connect with audiences.

Sherborne believes the fundamental question for any creative intervention should be what needs to change in people’s minds or behaviour, and what idea can bring about that change. She also emphasises the importance of involving relevant partners early in the process to ensure that creative ideas extend beyond conventional paid media plans.

The founders bring considerable industry experience to the new venture. Talbot is among Australasia’s recognised and award-winning creative leaders, while Sherborne is regarded as one of New Zealand’s leading strategic thinkers.

Their professional partnership has previously delivered significant work at Colenso BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB. Having worked together across these established agencies, they now intend to apply their collective experience through a more focused and integrated creative model.

Importantly, both founders will remain directly involved in every project, ensuring senior-level attention from strategic development to creative delivery.

As AI continues to reshape the marketing industry, Happenstance represents a timely argument that technology alone cannot build influential brands. In a world where content is increasingly abundant, the real competitive advantage may lie in creating fewer, stronger ideas that make people think, feel and act differently.