Keep Left announces ‘strategically assembled’ strategy team

Building on its Ideas People Choose positioning, national independent PR and creative agency Keep Left has revealed a redefined, fit-for-purpose strategy team that seamlessly bridges the gap between earned and creative.

Strategy director Laura Agricola steps up to lead the team following three years with the agency as a senior brand strategist. She has more than 15 years of experience working for creative agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi in Australia and Crispin Porter + Bogusky in the US.

Says Agricola: “The strategy team has been ‘strategically assembled’ to act as Keep Left’s superpower. I come from a traditional advertising background – where creative strategy informs how to sell products, services, and brands – yet our client list also spans cultural and social institutions that are looking to inform behaviour change. This requires a broader approach.”

While building brand equity remains central to the agency’s strategy function, to create Ideas People Choose, audience attitudes and behaviours must be at the forefront of the thinking. Alongside audience sits culture, shaping and influencing the strategic output.

To this end, Agricola is joined by Harris Galloway, behavioural strategist and Zach Edwards, comms and culture strategist.

Says Agricola: “Effective strategy demands a deep understanding of exactly how brands need to show up to be chosen. Psychology and culture underpin that. They are co-dependent, yet each is a niche. I’m not interested in being an armchair expert – I want the support of brains that are always plugged in to give us a complete picture of what sits at the intersection of brand, people and culture.”

Galloway joined Keep Left in 2021 while completing a Master of Applied Psychology. He brings a deep knowledge of consumer behaviour and a passion for unpacking cognitive biases.

Says Galloway: “We’ve shifted our mindset to embrace the proposition Ideas People Choose, constantly asking, ‘Would our audience willingly choose this, or would we have to force them to pay attention?’ It’s a high bar. To reach it, we have to know the people we are talking to intimately which is where the role of Behavioural Strategist comes in.”

Edwards also joined Keep Left in 2021 as a digital planner. A true digital native, he has a firm finger on the pulse with a broad view of trends and subcultures.

Says Edwards: “Strategies immersed in culture – whether digital, physical, or social – make people move. They change how we think, feel, or behave. We all crave belonging and life experiences. Only by delving deep into what motivates our audiences, what shapes their views, and who they admire, can we craft compelling work that resonates.”

The trio works with the agency’s clients across Melbourne and Sydney with the strategy function taking on a unique role in the Keep Left model and heritage which is deeply rooted in PR.  The team seamlessly bridge the gap between PR, content, and advertising, as well as brand, people, and culture.

Adds Agricola: “Ideas need to earn their place and have the power to multiply. That means harnessing everyone in our audiences’ sphere of influence, from journalists to celebrities, government authorities and local communities. Simply bolting on earned and PR to support creative or treating them as a separate stream to advertising reduces cut-through. The strategy needs to be aligned across disciplines from the get-go which is the driving force behind the make-up of our strategy team.”