How are modern brands navigating the fine line between digital world-building, authentic community engagement, and the rapid rise of AI?

This edition of Four Corners saw a panel of agency founders, researchers, producers, and strategists, joined by Kesang Ball. Co-founder of travel platform Trippin and branding agency All Corners, Ed Gillett, Researcher at Onroad Agency, journalist (BBC, The Guardian), and author of Party Line, Kevin Cheung, Netil resident and freelance production manager (working with Nike, Burberry, McLaren, and Aston Martin) and Janneke Geerts, Business Director at Porter Rocha.

The panel explored how user-led platforms foster authentic community compared to corporate spaces that degrade through commercialisation. Debating if brands truly enrich culture, panelists cited Nike After Dark and Notting Hill Carnival to stress the necessity of non-transactional support. Addressing AI's rise, the discussion contrasted collaborative prototyping with hype-cycle critiques, asserting that human taste, nuance, and physical craft remain the ultimate premium.

Watch back here.