In September, Janpieter Mels, Business Director of Branding, and Thomas Vanden Abeele, Head of Brand Strategy, attended Paradigms 2025 in Marrakech as guests of our official partner Frontify. Paradigms is a multi-day summit designed as a fully immersive brand experience where creativity and connection take centre stage. From the exclusive welcome reception on Monday, it was clear that Paradigms would offer more than a conventional conference. The event blended thought-provoking discussions with hands-on activities, allowing attendees to explore both the creative and strategic sides of branding.

Tuesday morning opened with a range of immersive experiences, reflecting the summit’s spirit of curiosity and experimentation. Attendants could choose from a hot air balloon ride over Marrakech, a quad bike adventure, a breakfast sound bath, or a sunrise yoga session. Then the focus shifted to the main stage.

How Attention to Detail Elevates Branding Beyond the Ordinary

The main sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday featured a dynamic mix of keynotes, intimate conversations, and global perspectives, all delivered in the unique Paradigms format. Nicola Ryan, VP of Design at Condé Nast, shared her approach to maintaining soul and character across a wide portfolio of magazines including GQ, Allure, Pitchfork, and Vanity Fair. Faced with a vast number of creative decisions, she highlighted the importance of structure and hierarchy in a design system—comparing it to a Michelin-star kitchen, where clear organisation and creative vision provide the foundation for innovation and experimentation.

What Challenges Arise When Designing Across Cultures and Languages?

Mina Maurice, Creative Director at 40MUSTAQEL, discussed the challenges of working across multiple brands, cultures, and languages. Based in Egypt, his studio has been experimenting with Arabic typography. Mina and his team are exploring ways to create a proper typographic identity within the Arabic script itself, emphasising cultural nuance and thoughtful design for global audiences.

On a broader scale, Tom Beckman, Chief Creative Officer at Weber Shandwick, explored how media and culture are increasingly fragmented and memefied. He noted how major events, such as the Paris Olympics, are quickly distilled in people’s minds to viral moments—like Raygunn’s missteps or the repeated victories of Turkish shooter Yusef Dikec—demonstrating that public attention can no longer be fully controlled by brands. Beckman emphasised that in today’s attention economy everyone is a creator, and every creator is a brand, highlighting the need for brands to focus strategically on moments that maximise impact.

Why Brand Strategists Are the New Curators in a Content-Saturated World

This theme resonated throughout the summit: in a world saturated with content, much of it AI-generated, brand strategists have emerged as essential curators. With so many visual tropes and sensationalist messages competing for attention, the challenge is to focus on what truly matters rather than chasing every fleeting trend. The abundance of one type of content inevitably creates scarcity elsewhere, making deliberate, thoughtful branding more crucial than ever.

Paradigms 2025 served as a vivid reminder that branding today goes beyond visuals or campaigns—it requires a deep understanding of culture, human behaviour, and how every interaction contributes to a larger story. From hands-on experiences to cutting-edge discussions on typography, attention, and creativity, the summit left the WeWantMore team inspired to approach their work with renewed curiosity, focus, and ambition.