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Strange(r) Coordinates: Aydan Sarikaya
If you’ve worked with territorial over the last three years, you’ve experienced our signature flavor. For 2025, we’re truly kicking things up: joining us to explain what’s changing is Aydan Sarikaya.
Check out Aydan’s GoodReads profile
Topher’s gardening podcast, Clippings
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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 and follow us on LinkedIn
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Show art & design by Chris Allen
Editing by Steph George
Marketing by Billy Silverman
Episode music by Blue Dot Sessions
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Transcript
Hello everyone, and welcome to Strange Coordinates, a show where we use
Speaker:brands as compass points to lead us
Speaker:to I'm Topher
Speaker:And I am Robert Balog.
Speaker:Topher and I found an ad agency called Territorial.
Speaker:where we help brands find their place in the world.
Speaker:But we are not the only people in the world who love brands.
Speaker:And on this show, stranger coordinates, we focus on a specific
Speaker:theme and bring a traveling
Speaker:companion along with us on the
Speaker:journey.
Speaker:And so the theme
Speaker:our discussion today is announcements.
Speaker:the beginning of the year.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:it's a time when a lot of
Speaker:brands are feeling that sort
Speaker:of year, new you type
Speaker:energy.
Speaker:And so we thought it would be fun to talk about
Speaker:big
Speaker:Things like changes at the company, new hires, those types of
Speaker:things.
Speaker:we're not going to explore this Joining our
Speaker:today is a multidisciplinary business strategist who is unlocking new
Speaker:sources of value for Fortune 500 companies and their customers.
Speaker:So she's worked with clients, including the NBA, Moderna, L'Oreal, Mars
Speaker:Wrigley, Tiffany, lots of head haters there, lots of, lots of big ones.
Speaker:Um, we're really excited to have her here today.
Speaker:Please welcome Aydan Sarakaya.
Speaker:Sarkaya.
Speaker:Hi guys.
Speaker:hello.
Speaker:what's up?
Speaker:Glad to
Speaker:be here.
Speaker:Really exciting.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:glad to
Speaker:to
Speaker:have you here as well.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Thanks for joining us.
Speaker:You're, you're, you're existing in a place of sunlight and Topher and
Speaker:I are existing in shadow apparently.
Speaker:I would like to point out
Speaker:that we have somehow all managed to match each other's color palette.
Speaker:We look
Speaker:almost like Peter,
Speaker:Paul and Mary.
Speaker:Like a bit of a folk trio from, yeah, like a, like a neo folk trio, I
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I was
Speaker:like, can I be the one that does puppet ventriloquism?
Speaker:Is that it?
Speaker:Who does the puppet
Speaker:that that's not the, that's not, different, different,
Speaker:like, Ed Sullivan act, huh?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Are you thinking of Puff the Magic Dragon, the song by Peter, Paul and Mary?
Speaker:Alright, cool.
Speaker:Which is not about weed at
Speaker:all.
Speaker:It's certainly definitely not about
Speaker:Him
Speaker:and Jackie
Speaker:Paper,
Speaker:huh?
Speaker:Who's Jackie Paper?
Speaker:Little Jackie Paper
Speaker:is the subject of the song.
Speaker:Little Jackie Paper loved that
Speaker:rascal
Speaker:No?
Speaker:Holy
Speaker:crap.
Speaker:I didn't know that that was it.
Speaker:I didn't
Speaker:actually, I don't think I clocked that lyric.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:So is Jackie paper just like the, the rolling paper?
Speaker:I think he's also like the dude,
Speaker:and the dude
Speaker:who
Speaker:like loves to smoke marijuana then one day decides
Speaker:marijuana feels bad
Speaker:about it.
Speaker:And so I always
Speaker:thought it was interesting how they kind of
Speaker:like,
Speaker:Entwined a sense of
Speaker:youthfulness with drug use, and kind of were like, they're the
Speaker:same.
Speaker:And like, you know, if you let go of your childhood in a sense, you're
Speaker:also letting go of being high.
Speaker:Which, yeah, I mean, honestly
Speaker:explains a lot
Speaker:about the boomers, I think.
Speaker:Yeah!
Speaker:the last
Speaker:couple of
Speaker:decades make a whole lot of sense now.
Speaker:Yeah, we used to sing that song at an elementary school assembly, sing along
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Where did he live?
Speaker:A
Speaker:land called
Speaker:Hanalee or something
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Which is crazy, because I don't remember any of the lyrics, but I do remember
Speaker:having that included as part of our assembly, like, sing along song.
Speaker:That's fun.
Speaker:Yeah, I
Speaker:mean, that's how you know
Speaker:you grew up in the Pacific
Speaker:Northwest.
Speaker:I
Speaker:would say so.
Speaker:have mashed
Speaker:together with the Disney film Pete's Dragon.
Speaker:And so now I can't untangle that song with Pete's Dragon,
Speaker:which is a very different vibe.
Speaker:But I always think of Pete's Dragon as the same guy.
Speaker:Like maybe like Puff went then got in this crazy adventure, which was set
Speaker:in the Pacific Northwest, wasn't it?
Speaker:I think
Speaker:don't really
Speaker:have
Speaker:much
Speaker:of a recall
Speaker:on
Speaker:we're seeing a
Speaker:generation gap, so
Speaker:we have a, we have
Speaker:have much more important things to get to.
Speaker:What was the theme of this dragons?
Speaker:I forget.
Speaker:Is the theme of this episode dragons?
Speaker:Uh, perfect.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:I don't, so
Speaker:I was going to say I didn't prep dragons, but that's
Speaker:okay.
Speaker:I can hang.
Speaker:we're all about,
Speaker:uh, we're all about kind of being light on our feet here.
Speaker:Um, well, we
Speaker:so glad to have
Speaker:you on this show during this episode, especially where
Speaker:we want to talk about, um,
Speaker:announcements.
Speaker:Um, it's not a coincidence.
Speaker:This is not just a
Speaker:scheduling,
Speaker:happenstance.
Speaker:And in
Speaker:fact, it might be a little bit of a
Speaker:A little
Speaker:leisure demand, A little bit of uh, people
Speaker:say
Speaker:de Maine?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:What's a logurtive main.
Speaker:A little, a little
Speaker:sleight of
Speaker:hand.
Speaker:A little trickery.
Speaker:Ah,
Speaker:There's some intention behind these two things.
Speaker:That's correct.
Speaker:So is there, um, Is there in your mind a reason why you might be here
Speaker:to talk about big announcements?
Speaker:What,
Speaker:uh,
Speaker:want to share
Speaker:Well, there is a bit of big news, um, very, very excitingly.
Speaker:Um, I have joined the Territorial Team as the, yeah, as a third
Speaker:partner to Topher and Robert.
Speaker:So the duo has become the trio.
Speaker:Heh,
Speaker:It's true.
Speaker:And it feels more balanced to be
Speaker:honest
Speaker:all
Speaker:not more balance.
Speaker:It's gotta Well, does it when we're all in beige,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:has
Speaker:to.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Seriously.
Speaker:We're we're also a
Speaker:graded scale here too.
Speaker:I'm, I'm the lightest.
Speaker:And then you're kind of in between Topher and I.
Speaker:Is.
Speaker:is, is probably
Speaker:dispositionally the same as well, but
Speaker:Yeah, I'm the sulky
Speaker:one, right?
Speaker:no, you're definitely not the
Speaker:one.
Speaker:one.
Speaker:That is for
Speaker:sure.
Speaker:yeah, I mean, I
Speaker:don't, we're just super excited
Speaker:to, to have you here and
Speaker:I think I
Speaker:would, you
Speaker:know, we, this has been a long time in coming and this
Speaker:is a moment for us that we're excited to
Speaker:share things
Speaker:uh,
Speaker:to everybody.
Speaker:I'd love for you
Speaker:to
Speaker:just kind
Speaker:of like, you know, maybe from your point of view, talk about
Speaker:what led you to, you know, the
Speaker:point
Speaker:where you wanted
Speaker:Territorial.
Speaker:Yeah, I think that's a great question and There's so much history in it.
Speaker:So the three of us actually were, uh, introduced by a former boss of mine and
Speaker:actually have had the pleasure to, uh, work on a couple of projects together,
Speaker:which is really, really awesome.
Speaker:So Topher and I had met a number of years ago and had actually delivered
Speaker:against Moderna together and then also met Robert shortly thereafter.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:I guess you could say I was always a fan.
Speaker:Um, I feel like when you find people.
Speaker:Yeah, thanks.
Speaker:That's very sweet.
Speaker:When you find people that you mesh really well with both in work, but then
Speaker:also kind of with their brains, the way that they think, how they operate.
Speaker:Um, I think it's really special.
Speaker:And I think over my professional career, I've come to realize how important it is.
Speaker:To keep those people close because it's not every day that you find people that
Speaker:you can actually deliver incredible work with, but also have fun doing it.
Speaker:Um, find it as a meeting of the minds, but also a bit of challenge in it as well.
Speaker:So, um, it was pretty incredible that we came together 2024, I would say
Speaker:is kind of the making of this trio.
Speaker:The opportunity arose and the three of us took the jump.
Speaker:I think it's also exciting to leave a more traditional, larger scale organization
Speaker:behind and get your hands dirty in something a little bit smaller, a little
Speaker:bit more boutique, I guess we could say.
Speaker:So it's been a really exciting challenge.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm
Speaker:like, you know, we've talked about
Speaker:this a
Speaker:little
Speaker:between us, but, you even like at the
Speaker:like personal level and
Speaker:level, like you said, transitioning from, you've worked in some much
Speaker:larger companies, you've seen a lot of different ways that
Speaker:agencies work
Speaker:with
Speaker:some of the biggest brands in the world.
Speaker:Um, so you have all of that
Speaker:experience, like just as a human being, um, what was it that kind of put
Speaker:you in the place where you wanted to
Speaker:tackle things, you know, in
Speaker:the
Speaker:way that Territorial takes things on or
Speaker:sort of like get involved as a,
Speaker:as a
Speaker:partner
Speaker:in, you know, building and growing a,
Speaker:It's great.
Speaker:No matter where we are in life, relationships are kind of the key
Speaker:connector between all of us, and I think that in my most successful projects
Speaker:and my most successful organizations, it was the people who were able to
Speaker:keep the humanity in the work itself.
Speaker:So whether it's direct connections with your employees or direct connections
Speaker:to your clients, getting to know them on a real human level, kind of key.
Speaker:And I think what was really exciting is that.
Speaker:With the three of us, it's that much more intimate.
Speaker:It is that much more direct.
Speaker:There is no space for any sort of veil in terms of who we are.
Speaker:It is the full person.
Speaker:If you're challenged that day, you can say, I'm challenged and I need
Speaker:my other two, uh, to step in for me.
Speaker:I've actually was just sharing with a friend over the weekend that It's a kind
Speaker:of support structure to be in a trio that you don't really find in a workplace.
Speaker:And I think we try to do that through the traditional structures of a boss.
Speaker:And then, um, you know, the junior below, but to actually have people who
Speaker:are supporting you that are equal to you and have equal say and equal decisions.
Speaker:It's, it's just a really, really special place to be in and
Speaker:often not even something that we feel in our relationships.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Because it's a duo.
Speaker:It might be something that we feel in a friend group.
Speaker:So, uh, that transformation has been really, really eye opening.
Speaker:And honestly, it's made me a lot less stressed.
Speaker:Yeah, totally.
Speaker:I fully, fully agree with you too.
Speaker:I think there's also like, there's this, we tend to, think In polarities so much,
Speaker:I like what you're saying about like
Speaker:the superior and the subordinate.
Speaker:And we feel that somehow being positioned between a superior and
Speaker:superior and a subordinate will balance us and like there is something really
Speaker:great about a collection of peers.
Speaker:And we've talked a lot about how what's really exciting is not just how we
Speaker:compliment each other, but like are areas of overlap and I think There's a
Speaker:temptation even in personal relationships to go all in on one or the other.
Speaker:Like I gotta be exactly like my partner or we have to be total opposites.
Speaker:And like in reality, it really works where there's both, where
Speaker:you have areas of autonomy, but you also have places utterly in sync.
Speaker:And I think it's going to make, you know, our business super strong
Speaker:because we have an alignment on a lot of stuff, but we also compliment each
Speaker:other in places where we're not as.
Speaker:Maybe we're not as proficient as, as the other person might be in
Speaker:that, and that being able to step in like that is so useful to us and
Speaker:useful
Speaker:serve as
Speaker:It's also incredible too, because it gives you.
Speaker:What we're all looking for, right?
Speaker:Which is ultimately we want to have comfort and belong, but I think,
Speaker:and we share this very much is the interest in learning and growing.
Speaker:And so when you have that overlap, you have your space for comfort and support.
Speaker:And in the areas that you don't have the overlap are the
Speaker:areas for growth and learning.
Speaker:Um, so right there with you, Robert.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:I
Speaker:think
Speaker:it's interesting about kind of, you know,
Speaker:like.
Speaker:Uh,
Speaker:people can
Speaker:answer that question,
Speaker:Nate.
Speaker:Like,
Speaker:what,
Speaker:what, what, you know,
Speaker:what, were you looking for and blah,
Speaker:blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:You
Speaker:can answer that anyways.
Speaker:And it was interesting to hear you kind of speak first
Speaker:emotionally and like relationally where you were at in terms of
Speaker:like the type of partnership you were looking
Speaker:for
Speaker:in a workplace.
Speaker:And I, that brought
Speaker:me to be thinking about kind
Speaker:of
Speaker:rather than
Speaker:what are our business goals from like a revenue
Speaker:perspective
Speaker:for next
Speaker:and a little bit, like
Speaker:I
Speaker:was following
Speaker:along with you and thinking, you know, the other dimension that you're
Speaker:talking
Speaker:about is also how
Speaker:being a more supported and
Speaker:scalable
Speaker:and
Speaker:multidimensional team means that we can have better and different
Speaker:relationships with our partners
Speaker:as
Speaker:well.
Speaker:Um, which has always been a major factor for
Speaker:us in terms
Speaker:of like how
Speaker:we just want to
Speaker:grow the company.
Speaker:Like from day one, we're like, we don't want to
Speaker:do this if we're not having a good time.
Speaker:And that doesn't mean that every day at
Speaker:every moment
Speaker:positive.
Speaker:You have to
Speaker:go through difficult things.
Speaker:You have to challenge yourself.
Speaker:You have to work
Speaker:through,
Speaker:you
Speaker:know,
Speaker:uh, difficult situations.
Speaker:But, you know, it's all in service of good relationships with people we
Speaker:think are really fascinating and doing
Speaker:things.
Speaker:you know, I think
Speaker:it's interesting to think
Speaker:about
Speaker:how broadening our team and honing exactly in on how support ourselves
Speaker:each other and show up for each other means that we're able to extend
Speaker:that to the other people in our world as well, the partners on our
Speaker:That's exactly the business relationship that started to illuminate itself.
Speaker:To me, is that this idea of constant care?
Speaker:Everybody's doing the same thing, regardless of what side, whether they're
Speaker:in the agency, or they're at the brand, or they're trying to get the next job,
Speaker:or they're going through the next life stage, or whatever it might be, we're
Speaker:all dealing with the same thing, just in a different client environment.
Speaker:So why not?
Speaker:support and assist each other and getting the next level of whatever it is we
Speaker:need to achieve, whether it's helping a client get their promotion within their
Speaker:organization or gain the recognition that they're looking for within the industry
Speaker:based off of the work that's delivered.
Speaker:I think those are those successes are the success of all of the people around them
Speaker:because we are made up by our communities.
Speaker:I'm curious.
Speaker:question
Speaker:Aydan.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:speaking of our,
Speaker:like, relationships
Speaker:I
Speaker:was what's
Speaker:one lovely or interesting thing that you've learned
Speaker:about
Speaker:Robert
Speaker:What the
Speaker:hell?
Speaker:That
Speaker:Folks in our territorial universe, meaning like our clients, our like partners,
Speaker:um,
Speaker:listeners of the podcast, um, what's one thing, uh, that they wouldn't
Speaker:know
Speaker:Robert is a huge cook.
Speaker:He's a fantastic cook and he has endless knowledge about food in ways
Speaker:that I consider myself a foodie, but maybe that just means I like to eat.
Speaker:Robert knows about cooking, knows about traditional recipes, whether
Speaker:it's Italian something or cured meats is coming to mind right now, but you
Speaker:just, you, you
Speaker:know it all.
Speaker:You're setting up for Christmas Eve, aren't you?
Speaker:I am, I am.
Speaker:You're a great
Speaker:was epic.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, that's very nice of you to say.
Speaker:Thank
Speaker:you.
Speaker:He doesn't just have a spice
Speaker:rack.
Speaker:has a
Speaker:spice
Speaker:shelf
Speaker:it's
Speaker:floor to yeah.
Speaker:Top.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:that's, that's largely due to the pandemic where it was nothing else to
Speaker:do besides just label spice bottles
Speaker:and
Speaker:collect, collect
Speaker:so.
Speaker:Wow, a stitch in
Speaker:time serves nine a great it's a great little statement.
Speaker:And I
Speaker:think it ladders up to
Speaker:what Aidan's
Speaker:saying, that
Speaker:like, you know, that is all a component of Robert the Entertainer,
Speaker:who is, has boundless hospitality and you
Speaker:know, you'll
Speaker:never leave Robert's house with a hungry
Speaker:stomach
Speaker:or I thought
Speaker:this
Speaker:episode was about I don, what
Speaker:the
Speaker:hell?
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:we
Speaker:could ask about each other too.
Speaker:I
Speaker:just thought she
Speaker:has,
Speaker:she
Speaker:has insights about us.
Speaker:She
Speaker:has insights about us.
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:same question, Aydan, about Topher.
Speaker:What, uh, what new things have revealed themselves,
Speaker:you about This
Speaker:This is a good one.
Speaker:This is a good one.
Speaker:I was gonna say just like the sheer volume of athletic prowess that you have, but I
Speaker:feel like you wear that on your sleeve.
Speaker:So I don't think that's a mystery to many people that Topher is like a trail runner
Speaker:and doing all sorts of exercise classes.
Speaker:Um, but I, I actually think that, um, your element of
Speaker:gardening is, uh, was new to me.
Speaker:And that actually, I think you started your gardening
Speaker:podcast during the pandemic.
Speaker:So it was kind of.
Speaker:Before we started working together on territorial.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:natural
Speaker:cultivator.
Speaker:He's a natural
Speaker:natural grower.
Speaker:It's pretty amazing.
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:um, yeah, yeah,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:It's funny that this or these are both kind of
Speaker:like little
Speaker:pandemic, uh, things, things
Speaker:that
Speaker:like
Speaker:pandemic projects, uh, were
Speaker:things that showed,
Speaker:uh, elements of our true.
Speaker:nature.
Speaker:it's
Speaker:true.
Speaker:Back to
Speaker:basics, you know, some ways.
Speaker:Well, yeah, but they had their,
Speaker:I mean, pun not intended, but they had their roots in, in
Speaker:our, you know, earlier lives.
Speaker:I'm sure.
Speaker:Like
Speaker:Totally.
Speaker:I
Speaker:I, my grandfather was an amazing cook.
Speaker:Um, and you know, being from an Italian family, you just kind of like food is the,
Speaker:is the topic.
Speaker:Food is the sort,
Speaker:is the topic of
Speaker:every conversation
Speaker:What else is
Speaker:is the underlying topic of every argument.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:And I'm sure you
Speaker:had,
Speaker:coming from New Mexico, you had a connection to the, you know, natural
Speaker:world that spurned uh, spurred this,
Speaker:attention to gardens.
Speaker:Yeah, my mom was
Speaker:a big
Speaker:is.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So she's actually
Speaker:on the podcast, too.
Speaker:uh,
Speaker:Quite a bit
Speaker:that the
Speaker:podcast is
Speaker:out, but
Speaker:there's
Speaker:only one only one
Speaker:of it, but it's a delightful season.
Speaker:My mom's on it a fair bit.
Speaker:She actually was a master gardener and volunteered on,
Speaker:like, gardener hotline for a while
Speaker:That's
Speaker:just new information flooding my brain
Speaker:now.
Speaker:There's a master gardener hotline.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:you can call him at any time.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:pruning tips.
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:give you
Speaker:Uh,
Speaker:You can be like,
Speaker:this the right time to prune my,
Speaker:hedges?
Speaker:Uh, what is this pest that I
Speaker:see
Speaker:growing on my
Speaker:squash?
Speaker:You're Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker:yeah,
Speaker:this is available to anyone?
Speaker:Just
Speaker:It's local, too, so I
Speaker:think
Speaker:it's
Speaker:like people
Speaker:with
Speaker:knowledge of
Speaker:your bioregion.
Speaker:That's incredible.
Speaker:would have
Speaker:saved my Fig tree and my olive
Speaker:Fig
Speaker:tree's gone?
Speaker:Mm hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That fucker just like
Speaker:Aww.
Speaker:You know what?
Speaker:We
Speaker:It's just so fickle.
Speaker:Yeah, one tantrum too many.
Speaker:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker:This
Speaker:was like, no more leaves.
Speaker:So we were just like raising a stick in our house and that
Speaker:just felt like really weird.
Speaker:It just felt like Like a Tim Burton kind of vibe going on, which is
Speaker:like, has its
Speaker:own charms.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:we've gotten, we've gotten
Speaker:ourselves to your scary skeleton But,
Speaker:I, I, I curious,
Speaker:I don, if you
Speaker:would
Speaker:be willing to talk a little bit about one of the things we've
Speaker:talked, you know, we, you were introduced to you as a multidisciplinary business
Speaker:strategist,
Speaker:and
Speaker:true.
Speaker:Um, but you know, when we, have a think about kind of
Speaker:like where that's going to come
Speaker:together, One of the things we talked about
Speaker:is this
Speaker:delivery and how that idea we feel like it's underutilized in
Speaker:the industry
Speaker:right now and that actually
Speaker:when you say that, you know,
Speaker:it can tend to, sound fairly tactical,
Speaker:but,
Speaker:I
Speaker:don't know, do you want to,
Speaker:know, in some of these conversations you've had some
Speaker:really interesting insights about, like, all the different layers
Speaker:that that can be
Speaker:how that could ladder up
Speaker:to the territorial experience in
Speaker:general.
Speaker:riff on some of
Speaker:that?
Speaker:Yeah, sure.
Speaker:So I'm coming from my most recent position was in a client service role.
Speaker:So you can view that as kind of a bit of account management, client relationship
Speaker:management, leading your internal team, kind of being that person who connects
Speaker:your client to your organization.
Speaker:Um, and, and a few of my roles prior to that were also, um,
Speaker:pretty exclusively in that space.
Speaker:And I don't know if it's just, Strong client services, people that I've
Speaker:met over my time, or if it's, you know, part of kind of our natural
Speaker:skill set that we bring to bear.
Speaker:But this idea of delivery and delivery and organization and connection between
Speaker:client and team is critically important.
Speaker:obviously there's all the reasons why delivery as a practice is really important
Speaker:when you're thinking about delivering on budget and timelines and things like that.
Speaker:And that's not, not anything I would argue with.
Speaker:I think it is.
Speaker:Completely, um, invaluable to every business.
Speaker:but what's also really interesting and part of client service is that.
Speaker:You're selling relationships.
Speaker:A lot of professional services and a lot of work that we do is delivery
Speaker:focused work, but ultimately we are selling the relationships.
Speaker:Do the people on the client side believe that we can accomplish the
Speaker:work that they are looking for?
Speaker:Do they want to work with us?
Speaker:Do they want to work with these people on the other side?
Speaker:And client services and a lot of, uh, organizations that tend to be a
Speaker:little bit more matrix or really that first Pass after your salespeople.
Speaker:We are the ones that are getting passed kind of those main decision maker
Speaker:clients, a lot of the, um, higher ups.
Speaker:And we're responsible for cultivating and curating those relationships,
Speaker:which ultimately means making friends.
Speaker:and so what's really great about territorial is obviously we're not
Speaker:as matrixed of an organization, but we do have people who play in these
Speaker:different pieces and one of the areas that I think the two of you.
Speaker:That got me excited when the two of you were talking about how far territorials
Speaker:come as how you show up for clients, but I also viewed it as an area of opportunity
Speaker:for us to kind of continue to curate.
Speaker:What is that territorial feel?
Speaker:How do we ensure that, you know, when people, our clients are working with
Speaker:creatives on our team, they still feel like it's part of territorial,
Speaker:even if it's not directly a Robert or a Topher on that particular call.
Speaker:so this is an area, I think we've already started to make a lot of strides.
Speaker:In and I think it's going to be an exciting one, especially as we continue to
Speaker:kind of scale and grow our own business.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:this is, you know, this is something that actually when one of
Speaker:our
Speaker:conversations, I think Robert like the territorial UX.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And
Speaker:think that's kind of an interesting way to think about
Speaker:kind of like taking the lens UX interface
Speaker:design, and type
Speaker:of
Speaker:and bringing it into relationships,
Speaker:processes.
Speaker:and ways of working
Speaker:that are kind of like, you know, more geared towards like
Speaker:creative and obviously type of, uh,
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, we, it has been a part of our thinking from, from very early on.
Speaker:Like we're all, we're always concerned about the journey that
Speaker:the client is as a, as a user of us.
Speaker:Like, we, we want to make sure that it's a clear journey from.
Speaker:First meeting delivery of the product
Speaker:system that we build for them or deploying the communications
Speaker:that we, that we make for them.
Speaker:So we've, we've always been talking about it.
Speaker:And I'm really excited.
Speaker:We have a, of expert practitioner to
Speaker:help
Speaker:that
Speaker:as faithful listeners of our podcast, now we have a
Speaker:second
Speaker:segment in our stranger coordinates
Speaker:episodes called
Speaker:off Brand, where
Speaker:we do
Speaker:quiz.
Speaker:Usually that's something that either
Speaker:Robert or I prepare
Speaker:and
Speaker:ask, uh, our guest.
Speaker:But
Speaker:since you're
Speaker:the newest member of the Territorial
Speaker:team, the honors go
Speaker:to you, Aydan.
Speaker:Uh, we asked you to write a few questions about yourself
Speaker:that can
Speaker:hopefully help us
Speaker:to get to
Speaker:know you a little bit better.
Speaker:Um, please do.
Speaker:We've been very
Speaker:careful not to learn what, uh, the content of those questions are.
Speaker:and so, uh, Robert and I will
Speaker:taking
Speaker:this quiz about Ida and Sarakaya,
Speaker:And we're not over.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:no one wins
Speaker:a
Speaker:a prize.
Speaker:You're
Speaker:not competing.
Speaker:every
Speaker:time,
Speaker:every time, and you know this from listening, but every time we introduce
Speaker:this quiz, I feel compelled in some way to make sure that in this case, myself and
Speaker:Tover
Speaker:know that there are no stakes,
Speaker:Which only de motivates
Speaker:me, by
Speaker:the
Speaker:way.
Speaker:I'm like, well, cares then?
Speaker:Give me a free personal pan pizza at
Speaker:the end
Speaker:of
Speaker:this.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:I hate to say it,
Speaker:but I think the stakes were on me this time to come up with the questions.
Speaker:I felt a lot of pressure.
Speaker:Um, So, yeah, well, let's get into them and you will see how I did
Speaker:it kind of off of this first one.
Speaker:So, I also wanted to bring in the theme of brands.
Speaker:So, these questions have an essence of Idon, but they're also focused on things
Speaker:and brands that are kind of related to interests or experiences that I've had.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:We'll see.
Speaker:Okay, so here we go.
Speaker:There are not going to be multiple choice, but if you need hints, I can give hints.
Speaker:Um, so let's go.
Speaker:Okay, so last summer was coined Book Girl Summer, um, in many places, some of
Speaker:them including Vogue, uh, and it was a time when we saw the rise of book talk.
Speaker:Um, Miu Miu also did a summer reads pop up, uh, where they were
Speaker:holding up a series of pop up shops around the world where they were
Speaker:distributing feminist literature.
Speaker:And anyone can stand in line and essentially get their package of books.
Speaker:And obviously there was a whole social media component to that.
Speaker:And, and a bunch of content creators went, um, so as you guys know, I'm a big
Speaker:reader, um, and having a crossover of books and fashion is actually pretty cool.
Speaker:And last year.
Speaker:wasn't necessarily the first time we've seen it, but it was one of the
Speaker:first times where we, there were so many different shows that were really
Speaker:reference, referencing literature of old.
Speaker:So last year in February, Tom Brown closed New York fashion week
Speaker:to what famous narrative poem?
Speaker:now, see, this is
Speaker:me on the spot.
Speaker:My
Speaker:I can
Speaker:give a hint.
Speaker:just, like being removed from my grasp as we speak.
Speaker:Cause I can't remember
Speaker:what
Speaker:the hell this is.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Um, can
Speaker:you give me a hint?
Speaker:Is it an American poet
Speaker:Yeah, give us a little bit of a
Speaker:genre
Speaker:So the poem is about a bird.
Speaker:Oh, The
Speaker:Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
Speaker:Yes, correct.
Speaker:Ding ding.
Speaker:Um, so
Speaker:poem about a bird.
Speaker:What's, what's
Speaker:it's pretty incredible if you look at the clothes too.
Speaker:Like it really had this like very dramatic feel to it.
Speaker:Kind of like bird esque shapes.
Speaker:Um, but I personally love the, that's kind of highbrow, highbrow,
Speaker:but I love the idea of book talk and kind of the lowbrow, highbrow,
Speaker:we've seen a resurgence in romance novels and like exclusive bookstores
Speaker:just for romance novels coming out.
Speaker:Um, I just feel like books are really having a moment
Speaker:and it makes me really happy.
Speaker:What's the trashiest book,
Speaker:book you've read in the last few years?
Speaker:Like you knew it was
Speaker:trash.
Speaker:Such a good question.
Speaker:I feel like there's a few whose names I don't remember 'cause I really
Speaker:hated them, but they're on my good reads if people wanna search me Love
Speaker:Um, the, probably like the most, it wasn't trash in terms of the
Speaker:writing, it was actually written really well, but I think it was called
Speaker:divorce and it was written by a.
Speaker:Swedish author and translated into English.
Speaker:And the story itself was like really juicy.
Speaker:I felt like I was prying into somebody's life.
Speaker:Like, I wonder if it was autofiction cause it kind of felt real.
Speaker:Awesome.
Speaker:I,
Speaker:uh, on the subject of literary and
Speaker:fashion too, I just recently, there's like even an
Speaker:Instagram,
Speaker:uh, company that is selling
Speaker:bandanas and scarves
Speaker:that are all,
Speaker:um, prints pulled from, uh,
Speaker:like the famous illustrations of
Speaker:like,
Speaker:Uh,
Speaker:like,
Speaker:original book jackets for, uh, company, for, for original
Speaker:stories and stuff like
Speaker:that.
Speaker:So, like, there's, uh, yeah, it's like a, I, I just bought, like, cause they had
Speaker:them kind of
Speaker:priced
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:Oh, cool.
Speaker:And there's
Speaker:to be one day, because I haven't, we're, we're
Speaker:doing our
Speaker:beige today, but there
Speaker:every
Speaker:day
Speaker:that Robert stands out, it's because he does a little Ascot or a bandana moment.
Speaker:And I'm
Speaker:determined
Speaker:to
Speaker:into that soon
Speaker:Whoa,
Speaker:you're
Speaker:Whoa, you're going to try
Speaker:and bite
Speaker:my style?
Speaker:Can't I just have that?
Speaker:biting.
Speaker:you are, you're, I'm not accusing you
Speaker:of
Speaker:taking my beige moment
Speaker:You
Speaker:beige.
Speaker:And you
Speaker:and you can't own
Speaker:bandanas.
Speaker:Okay,
Speaker:yours is a
Speaker:a bandana then.
Speaker:Imitation is the best form of flattery, they say.
Speaker:If
Speaker:we all
Speaker:start showing up
Speaker:wearing matching
Speaker:I did receive a gift from my mother of a silk scarf recently.
Speaker:I haven't worn it yet.
Speaker:it's pretty hip.
Speaker:It's pretty hip.
Speaker:Yeah, they're chic.
Speaker:It's a good look.
Speaker:so chic.
Speaker:All
Speaker:right.
Speaker:Okay,
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Next one is switching gears a little bit.
Speaker:still in the same theme of eye on interest and brands.
Speaker:Um, so there were a couple of controversial years in global swimming
Speaker:around the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Speaker:So this is the Olympics where Michael Phelps won eight gold medals.
Speaker:He set seven world records.
Speaker:But what you might not remember is what he was wearing.
Speaker:And he was actually wearing a full length swimsuit at the time.
Speaker:He often wore kind of like the, from the waist to the ankles, but sometimes
Speaker:he wore the one with the upper body.
Speaker:During that same Olympics, 23 swimming world records were crushed
Speaker:and they were all wearing the full length swimsuits or similar styles.
Speaker:What was the material, and or, who was the company that made that swimsuit?
Speaker:Is it, so, I'm get, I forget if it's Speedo
Speaker:or not, but that would be my guess.
Speaker:And
Speaker:then
Speaker:the It is Speedo,
Speaker:ding!
Speaker:It's the shark
Speaker:skin
Speaker:type
Speaker:right?
Speaker:It
Speaker:had like little scales
Speaker:that sort of
Speaker:like
Speaker:simulated a
Speaker:shark skin material.
Speaker:It was the next generation of the shark skin.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:what it is, Robert,
Speaker:or?
Speaker:Otter skin.
Speaker:Sip.
Speaker:It was called the laser racer was the speedo version.
Speaker:So LZR and it was made up of 50 percent polyurethane.
Speaker:And so instead of doing the shark skins, which are still legal and
Speaker:where the swimsuits right before this generation that you're thinking of,
Speaker:these ones were actually so buoyant.
Speaker:That they had the swimmers almost sit on top of the water.
Speaker:And that's why everybody was breaking the world records.
Speaker:I
Speaker:was,
Speaker:uh, I knew it was going to be about
Speaker:brands and about you.
Speaker:So like, I knew we couldn't go here, but I was
Speaker:kind of hoping
Speaker:was getting to get into the
Speaker:Ryan Lochte
Speaker:debacle
Speaker:because it's
Speaker:it's
Speaker:still one of my favorite stories
Speaker:Ever.
Speaker:he getting beat up in Brazil
Speaker:No, he pretended he
Speaker:beat
Speaker:up in Brazil.
Speaker:He pretended
Speaker:he
Speaker:like,
Speaker:he was like, Oh yeah, some guys jumped us.
Speaker:Uh, but that didn't happen.
Speaker:Uh, he like made
Speaker:up
Speaker:the silly story.
Speaker:but I don't want you to tell us why we're talking
Speaker:about swimming in general.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I, uh, was a semi-professional swimmer in a past life.
Speaker:Swam all the way through college.
Speaker:Still frequent my community pool a couple of times a week.
Speaker:So
Speaker:What was
Speaker:your
Speaker:stroke?
Speaker:What was your, what were your events?
Speaker:So I swam, I take a breath because I swam middle to a long distance freestyle.
Speaker:So in college, it's like the 200 freestyle, the 500 freestyle and the mile.
Speaker:And my coach was a huge fan of double header swim meet weekends.
Speaker:So I would swim all three of those on like Friday and then swim them again
Speaker:on Sunday, which was really annoying.
Speaker:Cause then I had sprinter friends who were racing, you know, their total
Speaker:events would equal like one minute.
Speaker:And I was in the pool for like, you know, 18, 19 minutes
Speaker:across all of those races, you
Speaker:know,
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:a
Speaker:a
Speaker:tie in between the first question and the second question.
Speaker:Have you ever read the story The Swimmer by John Cheever?
Speaker:No,
Speaker:great
Speaker:story from, um, like a 50s, 60s writer.
Speaker:And it's basically, you know, it's set in like the, post war era in the suburbs and
Speaker:like the, all the adults are alcoholics and they have parties on the weekends.
Speaker:They've neglected their kids and lives are falling
Speaker:apart.
Speaker:And this one guy who's the life of the party decides he's going
Speaker:to go home, but he's going to swim home from pool to pool to pool.
Speaker:And,
Speaker:and
Speaker:and once he dives in the pool, it becomes this kind of like
Speaker:extended metaphor for like him sort of losing connection to like.
Speaker:It's like, the things that make him vital in his life and he arrives at home
Speaker:and things are not what he expects and it's just like a super powerful, not
Speaker:really magical, realist story but it's a really amazing story about, you know,
Speaker:swimming and this sort of fun suburban lifestyle that is hiding something
Speaker:more sinister.
Speaker:So
Speaker:literature meets swimming.
Speaker:Love that.
Speaker:Love that.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Question three.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Question three.
Speaker:So you guys also are aware, and for everyone else, now you're learning,
Speaker:I'm a huge fan of the performing arts.
Speaker:And I'm super excited this year, in coming up this spring, we have
Speaker:a bunch of shows that are crossing over from the London West End.
Speaker:I am so excited to see a picture of Dorian Gray with Sarah Snook.
Speaker:My friend saw it in London, she said it's incredible.
Speaker:Um, we have a streetcar named Desire is coming, playing at a couple theaters,
Speaker:both in Manhattan, and then London.
Speaker:transferring to BAM in Brooklyn with Paul Mescal.
Speaker:Um, so Bringing back a little bit of fashion and a little bit of, uh, brands.
Speaker:So we know that there's been a lot of collabs over the years.
Speaker:A lot of fashion houses and fashion designers have done shows.
Speaker:when I was doing research, I was seeing that, um, John Paul Gaultier had
Speaker:actually done a version of Snow White in like 2014 in New York, that was like,
Speaker:really had, there was a lot of press on his costumes cause they were pretty
Speaker:dark and, you know, very, you know.
Speaker:Um, but I actually found that in 1923, there was a play called Little
Speaker:Miss Bluebird that was staged at the Lyceum Theater in New York City.
Speaker:Can you take a guess of which fashion house, uh, did the costumes?
Speaker:And I very purposely said which fashion house.
Speaker:Boom!
Speaker:Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
Speaker:Yeah!
Speaker:pretty cool to think that, uh, a theater that still stands today.
Speaker:I think it was established in like 1903 or something like that.
Speaker:Don't quote me on it.
Speaker:Um, but Chanel participated in the costume design for that show.
Speaker:what year was, what year did you say it was, 22 or something
Speaker:that?
Speaker:1923.
Speaker:When did, I, I actually just assumed that Chanel started later than that, but
Speaker:off.
Speaker:it's
Speaker:interesting because, uh,
Speaker:when
Speaker:all got together in
Speaker:Denver, um,
Speaker:last year, we also explored how the Maurice Sendak exhibit and learned
Speaker:that he was really big
Speaker:theater as well.
Speaker:And so it's interesting to hear all these different connections where the
Speaker:person who, you know, is responsible for creating and drawing where the
Speaker:wild things are also did a lot of
Speaker:dressing for
Speaker:opera.
Speaker:Um, and so hearing Chanel playing
Speaker:in
Speaker:that same similar,
Speaker:like, oh,
Speaker:theater is a really interesting place
Speaker:for other people
Speaker:visions and
Speaker:crafts to
Speaker:It also feels like what is pre the kind of collab culture that we've had over the
Speaker:past 10 years of like, you know, X by X.
Speaker:yeah, like
Speaker:that, that isn't, that isn't like new.
Speaker:People have been
Speaker:collaborating
Speaker:right.
Speaker:right.
Speaker:No
Speaker:surprise.
Speaker:what an
Speaker:incredibly thoughtful and nuanced series of questions that both revealed something
Speaker:about you and your life, but also the way your brain works, and it's super awesome.
Speaker:Yeah, very impressive.
Speaker:all together.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's definitely a new flavor of the Off Brand Quiz, and we love having it.
Speaker:And, you know, it's sort of in the spirit of today.
Speaker:We've really been playing fast and loose with the rules.
Speaker:so with that in mind, we've arrived at our omnipotent,
Speaker:omnipotent brand manager segment, which normally goes a certain way.
Speaker:But let's, let's keep the, um, iconoclasm, iconoclastic, Icona.
Speaker:Let's
Speaker:it going here
Speaker:Let's keep clasming those icons.
Speaker:class of them right up.
Speaker:Uh,
Speaker:so we say,
Speaker:you know, we ask our guests if you were to be a brand manager for any brand in
Speaker:the world, what who what brand is it?
Speaker:And what would you do?
Speaker:Let's change it up this time given the theme of today and
Speaker:the announcement we're making.
Speaker:So, um, instead of becoming the brand manager of a separate brand, let's
Speaker:think of the world of territorial.
Speaker:It's 2025.
Speaker:If you could pick any brand for us to work with, who would it
Speaker:be
Speaker:and why?
Speaker:Yeah, I, uh, was thinking a little bit about this guy.
Speaker:I love this question and I wanted to stump you guys and actually bring some new
Speaker:fodder to the conversation so that we can keep discussing even beyond the podcast.
Speaker:Um, so I think that there is something very interesting happening in the
Speaker:hospitality and entertainment space today.
Speaker:So I think there's been a lot of talk of like, is the member club.
Speaker:Oh, over.
Speaker:What's the next generation of coworking space, uh, continuing on with fashion,
Speaker:which I guess is my theme for today.
Speaker:We've seen a lot of large scale brands start opening up cafes and restaurants.
Speaker:They're also buying up real estate.
Speaker:So there's something really interesting happening with both the real estate
Speaker:market and, um, brands themselves, especially as they kind of expand.
Speaker:obviously they require significant capital.
Speaker:I feel like I have to say that, like, I recognize that this is a space that's,
Speaker:you know, requires a lot of money to play in, but I think there's something really
Speaker:interesting in this pull and tug that we're experiencing in terms of, uh, social
Speaker:media and being online and connected to our phones and the digitization of our
Speaker:lives, but also these offline experiences and community gathering spaces.
Speaker:And so I gave some examples that are kind of like the highbrow examples, but there
Speaker:are so many different examples of that.
Speaker:So, It would be really, really awesome if we had the opportunity to explore
Speaker:kind of that intersection of hospitality, entertainment, community, uh, in, in 2025.
Speaker:Yeah, and like, really interesting implications when you think of brand
Speaker:and how brand plays in those spaces.
Speaker:When you have, equities, you've got experiences, you've got, um, know,
Speaker:communications, it's not just one thing.
Speaker:The many things.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:that, that gets
Speaker:And is it new brand?
Speaker:Is it extension of brand?
Speaker:Have we thought about how it manifests in this space before?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:It was kind of exciting to think about, like, how, you know, what did
Speaker:restoration hardware go through when they were kind of creating, their spaces?
Speaker:Um, I don't know.
Speaker:There's a lot there.
Speaker:It's, you know, it's interesting because I think
Speaker:there was maybe 10 years ago working on financial brands and
Speaker:others, there was always in the conversation, how do we create a space?
Speaker:Like, how do we, how
Speaker:we,
Speaker:especially for brands where the product is ephemeral, like, you know, financial
Speaker:instrument does not, you can't touch it.
Speaker:You can't see it.
Speaker:There's not, there's no interaction with it.
Speaker:So we were always looking for ways in which we could create a connection
Speaker:with the brand and, um, and, and seeing that as, and I don't think the
Speaker:industry was ready for it and seeing it now where I think you first need to
Speaker:have this sort of cultural realignment from things to experiences and,
Speaker:that sense
Speaker:of like, I want to, I want to encounter a brand, not through a
Speaker:thing I purchased, but through an experience that I have with it.
Speaker:So like the museum of ice cream and all these other things
Speaker:that started to create that.
Speaker:And, and now it's seeped into brands at large.
Speaker:And like, you're pointing out that this is a really interesting
Speaker:entertainment that's, that's like rooted in physical spaces.
Speaker:It is really exciting to see, like,
Speaker:know, Capital
Speaker:One is like talking about it nonstop, like the, their whole campaign about, the
Speaker:guy that lives at Capital One, basically in the cafe you know, haunts the bank.
Speaker:It's just, it's really interesting that, that it's become such
Speaker:a, a big, um, movement.
Speaker:It's interesting
Speaker:that you mentioned work,
Speaker:the
Speaker:same
Speaker:time
Speaker:people
Speaker:are like, I really want to hang out with people and feel
Speaker:connected and stuff like that.
Speaker:like
Speaker:almost every day I talk to is
Speaker:also like, and I still don't want to
Speaker:go
Speaker:and commute to
Speaker:work every
Speaker:day.
Speaker:Uh, and
Speaker:so it feels like There's been fundamental shifts in our
Speaker:society, not just brought on by
Speaker:revolution, but also
Speaker:by
Speaker:lockdown
Speaker:that,
Speaker:like, you can't take back.
Speaker:Like, they've been let out of box.
Speaker:figuring out how
Speaker:to
Speaker:live in that space,
Speaker:um,
Speaker:Yeah, or even I think I just read before I came on, um, that Industrious was
Speaker:just acquired by CBRE and Industrious is like a flexible office space solution.
Speaker:that also offers other things going on in their amenities.
Speaker:And I know there are a few brands that are doing this as well.
Speaker:And those are in traditional office spaces where you might have your BlackRock or
Speaker:your JP Morgan or your Pfizer and, They're doing whole hosts of community activities
Speaker:within those buildings that people who work in those buildings can attend.
Speaker:So again, you're coming back to a little bit of hospitality,
Speaker:a little bit of real estate.
Speaker:There's so many different ways that it can manifest.
Speaker:And I, I don't know that anybody's really, you know, figured out what's, what's
Speaker:the next generation of these kinds of businesses yet, but there's a lot of.
Speaker:Test and learn happening.
Speaker:That's cool.
Speaker:All
Speaker:right, let's
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:Let's put it on the list for
Speaker:2025.
Speaker:it.
Speaker:I don,
Speaker:Aydan, we're so
Speaker:grateful.
Speaker:Not
Speaker:for you to
Speaker:join us today
Speaker:to
Speaker:join us on
Speaker:our journey together.
Speaker:We're
Speaker:so happy to have you join the team.
Speaker:We're so excited to share this
Speaker:with
Speaker:everybody.
Speaker:For those
Speaker:listening
Speaker:and watching, you're only going to be seeing and hearing more from Idon.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:and,
Speaker:uh, we know that better, coming from Territorial and you'll enjoy them
Speaker:more
Speaker:of it.
Speaker:That's very sweet.
Speaker:Thanks, guys.
Speaker:that's great.
Speaker:Cause normally this is sort of like, okay, bye.
Speaker:We'll see you.
Speaker:I don't know, a couple of months from now, but.
Speaker:We'll see you in like, I don't know, five minutes at our next meeting.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:can't wait to hang
Speaker:again.
Speaker:I know,
Speaker:long.
Speaker:Farewell.
Speaker:Too bad.
Speaker:Everyone else will not be able to join
Speaker:us,
Speaker:but
Speaker:you being here to learn more about Territorial and our agency and how we
Speaker:help brands find their place in the world.
Speaker:Go to our website, which is conveniently located at www.
Speaker:weareterritorial.
Speaker:com on the World Wide Web.
Speaker:Also follow us on LinkedIn.
Speaker:That'd be really
Speaker:cool.
Speaker:All
Speaker:right.
Speaker:Thanks,
Speaker:everybody.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:so much.
Speaker:everybody.
