Making luck happen: Toby Talbot and Lucinda Sherborne launch Happenstance

AUCKLAND, Today: Luck is a wonderful thing, but Toby Talbot and Lucinda Sherborne reckon brands shouldn't have to rely on it. Their new creative studio, Happenstance, is all about making things happen deliberately.

The agency veterans have joined forces to launch a business focused on creating ideas that genuinely change what people think, feel and do, rather than simply adding more noise to an already crowded market.

“Brands are putting more and more into the world, but too little of it changes what happens next,” says Talbot. “That’s kind of 'cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-it luck'. We think brands deserve better odds.”

With AI rapidly changing how brands approach strategy, production and marketing, Talbot believes the industry's ability to create more content doesn't necessarily mean it's creating better work.

“AI makes it easier to produce more, faster,” says Talbot. “But the result is more output, automation and fragmentation, with fewer ideas capable of changing what people notice, feel, remember, choose or do. Presence isn’t impact.”

Happenstance brings senior strategy, creative thinking and specialist expertise together, with an emphasis on understanding what makes people tick before deciding how a brand should connect with them.

We’re applying judgement, taste and timing where they can make the greatest difference. That’s how we make luck happen.” – Toby Talbot, Co-founder, Happenstance

“Made luck starts with evidence, not instinct alone,” says Sherborne. “We connect what the business is telling us with how people live and behave, and the wider brand, media and cultural context to find the revelation that gives the brand a way in.”

Sherborne adds: “It’s a simple but hard question: what needs to change in people, and what idea can change it? We bring the right partners in early to help that idea take hold beyond the paid plan.”

The pair have plenty of shared history, having worked together at Colenso BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB. Both intend to remain hands-on with every project rather than build another traditional agency structure.

Happenstance's flexible model means it can lead projects, collaborate with existing agencies or work directly alongside marketing teams, bringing in specialist talent where needed while maintaining established industry relationships.

"Together we design the idea around how people actually live, so it's built to spread beyond a paid media plan. We want to work with media partners, not around them" adds Sherborne.

For Talbot, the ambition isn't to build another agency empire, but to make better use of experience, creativity and the right opportunities.

“We’re not building another scaled agency,” says Talbot. “We’re applying judgement, taste and timing where they can make the greatest difference. That’s how we make luck happen.”