Phenomena S2 E4: Belonging
Belonging is in crisis. While it is seemingly easier than ever to build connections with people - either online or IRL - we are lonelier and more fragmented than ever. When we talk about the mental health crisis, political polarisation, or how to build a meaningful workplace culture, what we're really talking about is belonging. In this episode, Eliot is joined by ReD partners Maria Cury and Mikkel Krenchel to unpack why our sense of belonging is in decline, how the sources from which we derive belonging are shifting, and what businesses need to know and consider about these changes. We are also joined by David Sikorjak, author of the recently published Fans Have More Friends, to unpack what we can learn from the sports industry about fandom and building community across the social divide. What are the priorities for businesses who want to cultivate a sense of belonging for their consumers? And how can focusing our efforts on cultural understanding help us build deeper bonds between individuals and communities?
Host: Eliot Salandy Brown
Guests: Maria Cury, Mikkel Krennchel & David Sikorjak
Belonging special series
Jacob Aarup-Andersen, former CEO of ISS Group and current Carlsberg Group CEO, on making belonging a top priority in a giant people organisation and putting the S in ESG on the leadership agenda.
Nikki Neuburger, Chief Brand Officer at lululemon, on building community from the ground-up, the importance of two-way dialogue to foster belonging among consumers, and navigating an increasingly polarised cultural landscape.
HerMoney CEO Jean Chatzky on creating judgment-free safe spaces, fostering belonging in digital communities, and the importance of leading with vulnerability and intimacy.
Sesame Workshop’s Kim Foulds and Scott Cameron on the educational benefits of belonging, balancing culturally specific and culturally agnostic content, and why Muppets are the perfect tools for learning.
Tertulia co-founder Lynda Hammes on the power of books in community-building, how to use AI to go beyond personalisation and towards belonging, and her future vision for Tertulia.
In this series of vignettes, people at ReD reflect on the spaces around them that at different moments in their lives, have impacted their sense of belonging.
What financial institutions can learn from the hidden cultures of crypto.
One Day We Arrived in Japan, a feature documentary about three families who leave Brazil in search of a better future in Japan.
What can luxury companies learn from a soft drink campaign and a Berlin nightclub about belonging?
From sci-fi novels to ancient philosophical meditations by way of classic sociological studies, our staff picks on the best books about belonging.
How can a more social and cultural understanding of mental health offer better solutions to care?
Is an overemphasis on shallow belonging contributing to a crisis of loneliness?
The feeling and function of belonging in building community in sport and music – with author David Sikorjak and musician Clyde Lawrence.
Episode 2 of our new podcast, Leading with Perspective, where Alvin Lu, CEO of Kodansha USA Publishing, speaks about how to embrace uncertainty and channel chaos as the leader of a legacy brand.
A special live episode of the ReD podcast, where ReD partners and guests explore what makes a metric meaningful as part of our special series on Authority.
Episode 2 of our new podcast, Leading with Perspective, where CEO and change management expert Mads Ryder discusses the do’s and don’ts of mobilising change within organisations.
Episode 1 of our new podcast, Leading with Perspective, where leading strategic thinker Roger Martin discusses the art of good strategy execution and the role of culture in strategic thinking.
A special edition of our podcast live from NYC as we discuss AI and its impact on the body with Vivienne Ming and Richard Newcombe.
A special edition of our podcast live from Copenhagen, Denmark, where we talk to Oluf Borbye Pedersen and Theis Brydegaard on all things gut, social eating and adherence.
A special edition of our podcast live from Paris, France, where we talk to British artist Maisie Cousins and Pernod Ricard’s head of cultural foresight Daphnée Hor about the body, perishability and the germ renaissance.
Episode 9 of season 2 of our Phenomena podcast with Sandra Cariglio and Polly Rodriguez – does sex still sell?
Is understanding young people the key to building better relationships between financial institutions and consumers?
To what extent does the metaverse mark the next paradigm shift in how we work, play, and learn as humans?
Is strategy becoming a lost art? We speak to Roger Martin, one of the most influential minds in business and a trusted strategy advisor to global CEOs on the sorry state of strategy today and what we can do about it
Big, small, and connected – do brands still matter? We unpack what the latest thinking in social science and neuroscience can tell us about the connection between people and brands.
How can a more social and cultural understanding of mental health offer better solutions to care?
Is an overemphasis on shallow belonging contributing to a crisis of loneliness?
What can we learn from the luxury industry about making sustainability sustainable?
From fashion brands to Silicon Valley giants, virtually every company is trying to make algorithms work for their business.
Check out ReD Associates Partner Millie Arora podcast interview with NYSE's Inside the ICE House.
This podcast explores which problems require interdisciplinary collaboration and how teams with radically different world views can get it right.
This podcast explores “selection bias” by interviewing a conspiracy theory debunker and a conspiracy theorist.
How should companies understand cultural signifiers in order to capture the spirit of a generation?
Eliot heads ReD Associates’ mobility/automotive practice. In this work, he leads projects that set strategic directions for how mobility and automotive companies approach the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. The projects under his leadership include a foundational study investigating the future value of driverless cars to our cities and communities, and a new approach to digital service innovation for a major automotive company. In all of his work with clients, Eliot is focused on ensuring that human needs and behavior are fully integrated into the development of new technologies.
He has lectured and run courses on automotive, corporate strategy, and executive MBAs at New York University, Columbia University, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and Duke University; and his client work was awarded the Gold Award in 2018 from the Industrial Designers Society of America (ISDA). Eliot, a British-Trinidadian, holds a Masters in Sociology from the London School of Economics.