CREATIVE STRATEGY STUDIO
We find what's true in culture and turn it into something a brand can own.
Trusted by
Nike / Block / Square / One Piece / Bandai Namco
Selected Work
Nike Japan
A campaign that became a global conversation.
A culturally-rooted campaign built on an insight about belonging and standing out in Japan that ignited public debate and drove meaningful change beyond advertising.
Brand Strategy • Cultural Impact • Campaign Development
HP OMEN Korea
From unknown to #1 gaming brand in Korea.
Took an unknown gaming brand to #1 market leader through deep gaming community understanding, strategic esports partnerships, and positioning rooted in how Korean gamers feel about society.
Market Entry • Gaming Strategy • Brand Development
Services
01
Insights
Before strategy, there is truth. We go into markets, communities and cultures to find it, through rigorous research, real conversations and genuine immersion. The insight that reveals what the audience actually needs, and where the brand can play a role that matters.
02
Strategy
Insight tells you what's real. Strategy tells you what to own. We define where a brand belongs in culture: what it stands for, what it can claim, what makes it impossible to ignore. The platform everything else builds on.
03
Creative
Most strategies die between the thinking and the work. We close that gap. From creative platform to campaign concepts to execution, we shape every stage until what reaches the world is as brave and true as the insight that started it.
About the Founder
Creative strategist. Former competitive gamer.
Forbes 30 Under 30.
Fifteen years across four continents at AKQA, Droga5 New York, and Wieden+Kennedy, where Thijs was Chief Strategy Officer in Tokyo and Seoul. He worked on some of the world's most iconic brands: Nike, Google, Samsung, Rimowa, Activision Blizzard, and Game of Thrones.
Now running Van De Wouw. Most recently, Square/Block brought us in over full-service agencies to lead their Japan brand strategy, creative direction, and their biggest campaign to date.
We work embedded with founders, CMOs, and in-house teams, from insight to strategy to creative direction, through to realization.
Culture from the inside out.
Based in Tokyo, working globally.
Testimonials
“Thijs worked with me at Square, on defining the brand strategy for our Japan market, and bringing to life the biggest campaign for the market the business has invested in to date.
I truly cannot say enough positive things about how much Thijs contributed to the team and the business in the time we worked together.
Thijs overdelivered at every opportunity and became a central leader for our team in Japan.
The brand strategy was so deeply rooted in a thoughtful understanding of the audience and the cultural landscape. He then built out a truly standout creative brief and platform, getting to the heart of what small business owners actually need, positioning Square to be truly breakthrough in the category.
His team also brought a new level of creative excellence to the concepting phase and led to one of the strongest creative presentations I've seen in my time at the company.
He is a multidisciplinary value add in ALL the ways."
— EVYN STANLEY, HEAD OF BRAND & CREATIVE STRATEGY @ BLOCK / SQUARE
“Thijs has a huge brain and an even bigger heart. He’s not only a greatly talented strategist but also a brilliant mentor and coach to his teams. Wherever he works will be a brighter and warmer place for it.”
— DAN HILL, GLOBAL CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER @ WIEDEN+KENNEDY