Looking for a creative stunt team? 👀
We specialize in experiential marketing
It's been a while! The last newsletter was about a month ago. Since then, I escaped to Portugal, got invited to Rome by Mercedes, and had surgery for a inguinal hernia.
Somewhere in between airports and hospital gowns, I promised myself to think long and hard about one thing: What exactly is the problem Hurae solves for brands?
A question our advisory board (rightfully) keeps throwing back at us. After plenty of back-and-forth with Cleo and Vincent, we landed.
Our niche is experiential marketing. That much is clear. And we position ourselves as a creative stunt team. We do stunts for brands—brands that want to do something radically different. Big, small, absurd, poetic, disruptive. If it breaks the pattern, we’re into it. We’ve been doing our own stunts for years. Turns out we’re also pretty damn good at doing them for others.
We specialize in experiential marketing that lives online, goes viral, and creates culture. From fake billboards and absurd TikToks to immersive experiences and shareable moments. We don’t make ads. We make stunts. Because in a world full of scrollable sameness, the only brands worth noticing are the ones that dare to jump.
Must reads 👀
A lot of clients come to Hurae because they want to stand out: “something different”. On Tiktok, Telegram, Snapchat, or just in the streets.
It's hard to explain how we at Hurae set out to fulfill that desire but a big part of it is absorbing a lot of knowledge. About artists, about life, about technology. About everything. So we read up a lot on trends and we are always happy to share that knowledge with you:
Showtime! Why Every Brand Needs a Show. In today’s internet, shows are far more than content marketing tools, they are the cargo ships of all things brand.
Hurae example: we know the importance of vlogging. Hannes has been doing it for years now and long running content formats work for brands like Parentia, Greenchef and Albert Heijn.The Wellness Club is Gen Z’s Country Club
For as long as humanity has liked to sweat, we have liked to do it together. See: the Greek palaestra, Turkish baths, the YMCA, the contemporary preponderance of workout-minded meetups. And really, all with good reason: Studies have shown that community and social connection are as important for a long, happy, healthy life as diet and exercise. In an era where digital connection remains the assumed norm for everything from professional meetings to dating, the yearning for a third place (a location for social interaction outside of home or work) has never been more present.
Hurae example: We got over 150.000 visitors at our immersive experience Smile Safari and we do a lot of community driven events for the likes of Molecule and Unicef.Can a clitoris be trained to read braille? (Yes! However, the first problem with reading braille using your clitoral glans is one of distraction by becoming immediately very turned on) 🦭
Hurae example: insights like this are awesome to get some viral news traction or to do a viral stunt. It’s a possible new way of communicating. We once communicated trough some people’s bank account while doing a money transfer for Febelfin.Influencer’s ‘Lululemon Strategy’ travel hack to find nice neighborhood sparks fierce debate. I love it.
Hurae example: finding hotspots in a city is an evergreen topic. These kind of tactics could be useful to explore for clients like Knokke-Heist.How the Internet Made In-Store Shopping Miserable
Physical stores don’t have enough staff. Now, they also don’t have enough stuff.
Hurae example: Nevertheless there are brilliant concept stores that show shopping can still be an amazing experience. Check this shop in Berlin or this one in Paris. Think about trends like the third place, how can you incorporate that.What We Lose When Our Memories Exist Entirely in Our Phones
Most of what lives in my phone is there because I forgot to delete it, making the things I’d actually like to be reminded of even more difficult to stumble across.It’s no coincidence, I think, that as paper tickets have disappeared, the merch markets for live events have boomed, or that event producers have realized many people will pay for a paper ticket printed after the fact, once they’re sure the memory is a good one.
Hurae example: make merch or paper tickets epic. Try to find ways to make people remember your event. We created a design shop for Quick at De Jamies. People could get their portrait drawn by two artists and take this memory home.Why every restaurant has the same desserts
Desserts at restaurants have gotten boring — here’s why.
Hurae example: it couldn’t be more easier to do something with this trend. Everybody is the same so be different and stand out. Martijn from Rebelle knew and made the best dessert of the past 3 years.Store in Tokyo where you pay to shoplift. Great experimental idea.
Hurae example: we are constantly chasing and creating these kind of experiences. From Smile Safari to a hackervan for Febelfin, these are the things people want.A new version of Monopoly replaces cash and math with a mobile app
No one will get stuck having to be the banker with Monopoly App Banking.
Hurae example: we are in the midst of creating a boardgame with Hurae. More news soon! Mutant also made a cool game last year.In December, the trend forecaster Sean Monahan — best known for his role in putting the term normcore on the map in 2013 and for predicting the vibe shift of 2022 — announced the arrival of a new aesthetic: He called it boom boom.
Hurae example: trends are running extremely quick. Try to catch up and filter out the ones that stick. Boom Boom is real so figure out how to win this.Finally an app that gets private photo group sharing right? Or is it just the right moment in time? Yope’s basic hook as a place to share photos and chats in private groups appears to fill a gap in the market. (I downloaded! 🌚)
Hurae example: it’s always a good idea to keep checking out apps. I still know some people who don’t want to try Tiktok and that’s how you grow old very quick. Hope could well be the perfect vehicle for your brand community.Ask any employer about attitudes to work in 2025 and they’ll tell you Gen Zs can be an absolute nightmare to work with. The current intake of 18 to 28-year-olds in the workplace have earned themselves the nickname “Gen Lay-Z” or “Gen-Zzzz” for their militant attitude towards giving the bare minimum and nothing more.
Hurae example: Well, you know what they say: work smart, not hard. 👀 It’s very stupid to label people. Try to find a fun angle to play with this
About creativity:
Great news for Hurae! The World Economic Forum calls creativity the most important skill of the 21st century and predicts that the demand for it will increase enormously in the coming years. 💙
A cardgame for aspiring creatives: idk is based on years of research on some of the world’s most innovative teams. It’s meant to help you excel when working in unfamiliar situations, facing unpleasant ideas, or just doing something you don’t know how to do yet.
Meanwhile, Sam Altman says OpenAI trained an AI model that is good at creative writing and shared an absolutely unhinged short story it wrote. 🙄
Creative Thinking and the Balanced Brain
There are a lot of misconceptions out there about creativity. For instance, there is this idea that you must be a bit mad to be creative. Yes, the research suggests that creative people are able to access divergent associations, but they are also tethered to reality. They have a rich imagination, but they can also contemplate the value of an idea and have a good sense of their audience.
Hurae - Thinking out of the box blue 👽
Most agencies think out of the box. We think out of the blue. Or out of this world. We think of anything that gets people talking about your brand. Offline & online. The best content is not necessarily created for social media, but content that gets talked about on social media. Eyes Eyes Baby!
A few last things:
Come visit our office during Ad Night! April 3rd, Hurae Brussels
We are currently planning an innovation and creativity trip to Seoul in October. We have a few clients who will join us, we still have 6 places left. If you want to join or have more info, let me know at hannes@hurae.com.
Want to get in touch?
Email us at info@hurae.com
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