Evolution, culture and behaviour.
Why we buy what we buy, and why we do what we do.
John Wood is a brand strategist who applies evolutionary thinking to advertising, culture and human behaviour.
About
Our brains evolved for a world of predators, tribes and scarce resources. They now spend their days choosing between ketchups, scrolling past adverts and deciding who to trust. Most of the instincts that kept our ancestors alive are still running the show. They're just pointed at different things.
I've spent 30 years in brand and marketing strategy, and I run JC Strategy, a UK consultancy working with consumer and business-to-business brands. Alongside that work, I write about the evolutionary roots of how we think, feel, and buy, and why the answers are often stranger and more useful than textbook explanations.
The book
Hair-Brained
Hair is never just hair. It signals faith, gender, status, rebellion, age and identity.
We spend a remarkable amount of time, money and anxiety on something that's mostly dead protein. As a strategist who applies evolutionary thinking to culture, I want to know why.
Hair-Brained follows hair through religion, art, gender, fashion and photography, the beard, hair loss and the future of hair. Every chapter pairs my own view with a second voice from an expert in that field.
Coming in 2027.
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Read
Darwin, Ideas and Advertising
A blog about evolution, behaviour and the business of persuasion. Why we love brands, fear strangers, follow crowds and judge books by their covers, and what that means for anyone trying to change what people think or do.
SubscribeWork with me
Through JC Strategy, I help brands understand the people they're trying to reach and turn that understanding into positioning, messaging and creative strategy that works.
www.jcstrategy.co.ukTalks and interviews
I speak and write about evolutionary psychology, behavioural science and branding for marketing audiences and general readers alike. For talks, podcasts or commissioned articles, get in touch.