Each and every week the Square Holes team are deep in the bowels of a number of projects, working to mine all of the insights that we can to help grow businesses and support thriving cities.

Businesses and organisations use these insights to innovate their offerings, move into new markets, track their impact, and hone their products and output. Each week we will be sharing a broad insight that we have learnt for you to use in your own work.

Let us know what you find valuable!

Ewa: When new trends meet old systems

Two stories in this week’s Economist caught my attention for a reason that has little to do with what they are actually about.

The first looks at why fatal fentanyl overdoses are relatively uncommon in Italy. One theory is that the country’s criminal networks have kept the drug out, seeing it as too risky and potentially damaging to existing drug markets. There is no definitive proof of a Mafia agreement, but investigators believe the existing system may have acted as a barrier to a new and highly disruptive product.

The second looks at AI in politics. Australia and Canada have some of the highest rates of AI-written parliamentary speeches among the legislatures analysed. Here, the story is almost the reverse: rather than an established institution keeping a new technology out, AI is finding its way into the institution through the people already inside it.

New trends (like synthetic opioids or generative AI) don’t spread evenly or independently. They have to make their way through the systems that already exist – and those systems can be surprisingly powerful in determining what takes hold.

Mahalia: Leather together

This past weekend was the 42nd annual Folsom Leather Street Fair, held in San Francisco in the SOMA district. Leather culture in the US was born out of a desire for community and protocol from gay army servicemen who were dishonourably discharged due to their sexuality during the Second World War. Now boasting numbers between 400,000 and 500,000 from across the globe, Folsom is a connecting point for people on the outliers of society to meet, play and relish in living their truest selves out loud in public. The event has also donated over $7 million to LGBTQIA+ charities since its inception in 1984. While the event has remained controversial to ‘normal’ society, it has endured as a space of radical acceptance and belonging.

Dylan: Familiar is powerful

I’ve been rewatching How I Met Your Mother and was reminded of Barney Stinson’s firm belief that “new is always better.” It reminded me of an article I wrote a few years ago questioning whether the same thinking holds true in advertising. Marketers spend far more time with their campaigns than consumers do, so what feels tired internally may only just be starting to become familiar externally. Sometimes the temptation to continually refresh and reinvent can work against the repetition needed to build recognition and memory. Perhaps the lesson is that new can be exciting, but familiar can be powerful.

Square Holes is a cultural insight studio.

We design mixed method explorations of people and culture beyond the category,  uncovering the patterns, tensions and shifts shaping behaviour to inform strategy, inspire innovation and enable confident decisions. Our studio model brings together the right mix of thinkers, researchers and specialists for each exploration. If you’re navigating change, entering a new market, or seeking deeper understanding of people and culture, let’s start a conversation >