PLATOON is responsible for delivering incisive, creative brand thinking through our parallel goal of cultural development. But what characterizes PLATOON is the spirit of opportunity—we believe in unlocking the potential of ideas wherever they come from, inspiring institutions and brands with a sense of the necessary and possible.

All open-minded brands and institutions have to question their understanding of the cultural status quo. Pure customer statistics do not give an understanding of the fast-paced, creative development of our societies. Therefore PLATOON provides its own Intelligence Lab to put the unique insights of its network members into account. It’s a specialist practice of socio-cultural intelligence, deconstructing the questions of culture and trends to identify the changes that matter and predict what’s next. The objective of the Intelligence Lab is to uncover unexpected findings on a macro and micro level within the whirlwind pace of cultural change. We focus on identifying the changes in the zeitgeist to synchronize with the shift and secure compelling opportunities. We can reach an understanding of the who, where, why and how of cultural developments because the artists, creatives and cultural leaders who make up the members of our vast network are the exact people driving culture and creating trends. And we do this globally: either for worldwide or regional tasks.
As such, PLATOON is uniquely placed to offer an opportunity for direct contact with a global network of creative developers. We are responsible for a wealth of modular research which we process before constructing the narrative arc. We believe that the combination of quantitative (the science) and qualitative (the art) research is essential in deconstructing the future. First, we turn to quantitative data, answering what facts and statistics are underpinning a particular trend. Then we turn to our network of experts and trendsetters, adding additional layers of insights.

We design research based on creative minds, and are driven by a great curiosity about cultural changes. We gather the people responsible for such change together in discussion groups to decipher cultural codes and synchronize a brand to a zeitgeist. We invite panelists such as artists, open-minded industry experts and creatives who speak the language of the contemporary and possess keen awareness of the fundamentals of today’s quickly-morphing manifestations. The results are conversations and debates that are revealing and enlightening, which distill deeper understanding into what lies ahead.

To bring all of these findings into effect we establish think tanks of global experts to design solutions for the future—according to the needs of the commissioning institution or brand.