News & Blog

There’s nothing soft about kindness. In fact, it’s the opposite of being “nice.” Kindness speaks hard truths, defends values, and earns trust—something today’s brands can’t fake, fabricate, or focus group. In a world where audiences are watching what you do, not just what you say, being kind—and not just liked—is the only real strategy for long-term credibility. So, is your brand being kind, or just nice?

Planning a political campaign is like planning a wedding—every single day, for a month straight. And the whole country is invited. The stakes are high, the teams are big, and there's no room for error. From storytelling to timing, Jordan Ray shares what elections can teach us about communicating with impact. 

Silence is a losing strategy in the Canada-U.S. trade war. Canadian brands that are speaking up—like Chapman’s Ice Cream—are winning big as consumers rally behind local products. But the smartest businesses aren’t just riding the wave; they’re using this moment to reshape their future and seize new market opportunities. The question is: will you?

Imagine this marketing scenario: you’ve been asked  to create a campaign to reach a target audience in an industry with which you have no connection–and you have no budget to do it. I can tell you from experience–that’s a daunting marketing mission. But I can also tell you it’s not impossible, either. Find out how you can do it in five steps.

Toronto, Ontario, January 23, 2025 – Curious Public is proud to announce that applications are now open for the third annual James Bullbrook Memorial Scholarship, a $500 USD award to be used towards a session at Camp Woodward PA this summer. The scholarship honours the late James Bullbrook—a beloved colleague, friend, and father—by celebrating his support for skateboarding and his enduring impact on the community.

Solo Stove’s “Snoop Goes Smokeless” campaign lit up social media but left the brand in the red—a lesson non-profits can’t afford to ignore. Are you chasing numbers that look good on paper but miss the mark? Learn how shifting your focus can drive real results.

The decision-makers are changing, and with them, so is the way they consume information. As boomers exit, Gen X and millennials are taking the reins, bringing new habits and media preferences. Is your organization prepared to adapt its strategy and capture their attention-and their money?

Is there an opportunity for journalists and communications professionals to work together to build trust with their audiences?

Curious Public Executive Consultant in Leadership Strategy and Media Training Jeff Keay recaps the key insights we heard from veteran communicators in our latest episode of Comms In Question.

After years of navigating challenges and hardships, people are ready to hope again. Jordan Ray talks about how we're seeing a shift toward joy and optimism from pop culture to politics. But for hope to resonate, it must be earned. Acknowledging our struggles allows us to embrace hope with authenticity and meaning.

Is Comms creative? And if it is, how do we make Comms professionals MORE creative?

Curious Public Senior Writer Shannon Currie recaps the top takeaways from our latest episode of Comms In Question: Why you're a 'creative', and why that's more important than ever.

In a world of extremes, it can be hard to find your balance. From erratic weather, to polarized opinions, we're caught in a whirlwind that leaves us either overwhelmed or shut down. The middle is missing. In weather, housing, politics, and most importantly, within ourselves. That's why there's another "middle" you should know about: the Window of Tolerance. A psychological sweet spot where stress is manageable, creativity flows, and connections thrive. For stressed communications professionals, operating outside this window is all too common, leading to burnout and disconnection. Join Kristen Gross, Sr. Writer and Consultant at Curious Public as she explores three practices to help navigate the turbulent waters of modern life by rediscovering the power of resilience.

“Received and understood” became a catchphrase of the day in our most recent episode of Comms In Question: How internal comms can drive external results. Shanon Curries captures the key insights panelists shared when it comes to a successful internal communications strategy.

Toronto, Ontario, February 22, 2024 – Curious Public, a leading public affairs firm in the GTHA, announced its partnership with Summer Music Society, a volunteer music education and events program in Port Elgin which will receive pro bono communications and marketing services as part of the firm’s commitment to giving back to the community.

Toronto, Ontario, January 25, 2024 – Curious Public announced today that applications are open for its second annual James Bullbrook Memorial Scholarship; a $500 US award to be used towards a skateboarding session at Camp Woodward PA, in honour of our late friend and colleague, James Bullbrook. 

In our most recent episode of Comms In Question, Anne Marie Aikins asked panelists to talk about the government issues, personnel scandals and emergency response missteps that had Canadian communicators scrambling this year. Shannon Currie captures the top three things Marketing and Communications professionals need to do ahead of a crisis.

Good storytellers drive market success. But if you’re working on a big, multi-year project with thousands of people and lots of moving parts, or even if you’re part of a big corporate organization, it can be easy to feel like you and your work are disconnected from what your colleagues are doing. You may find yourself halfway through the project asking, “How did I get here?” And, “WHY are we here anyway?”

That was the advice given to professional communicators by Sarah Petrevan, VP of Sustainability for the Cement Association of Canada, in our most recent episode of Comms In Question: Greenwashing is ending. Are companies ready? Lloyd Rang hosted our webinar and asked our panel of experts for their insights into Comms professionals’ role in reducing ‘greenwashing.’

I spoke to Tracey about how she has led our agency’s initiative, UPLIFT, which gives no-cost marketing and communications support to Canadian nonprofits. But we also talked about why our work matters, and how words can drive good or be weaponized for political gain.

It's been ten years since torrential rains submerged a commuter GO train on the Don Valley tracks, trapping 1,400 GO customers for hours. Former Metrolinx crisis communications and media spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins shares lessons from that night and how a trauma-informed approach to your crisis communications can save your customers, staff, and reputation when things go wrong.

Last month, the Provincial and Federal governments recently got the chance to strike out a day on their calendars that was no doubt circled in red – Budget day. 

Over the last week, both Ontario’s Finance Minister, Peter Bethlenfalvy and Canada’s Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland delivered their government’s budget, which is less of an exercise in explaining dollars and cents and more of a communications exercise in delivering the story of how each government envisions our future. 

Whose stories are you telling? And how are you telling them ethically? Senior writer and consultant Shannon Currie, recaps what our panel of leading experts had to say on ethical storytelling that every comms professional needs to hear.

Toronto, Ontario, February 14, 2023 – Curious Public Content and Insights announced today that it has entered into formal referral agreements with four more leading, independent firms who can help bring unique skills to support Curious Public’s growing roster of global clients.

January 26 is an important day. One year ago, James, our friend and colleague of many years passed away. When loss touches us, it kicks off “the year of firsts.” The first birthday without them. The first Christmas. On the last day of this year of firsts, our Curious Public team is putting its love and energy for James into a new “first”: The James Bullbrook Memorial Scholarship. We wanted to do something that honours James for how we got to know him best: as a devoted dad. 

To borrow the author's phrase, "This year has been quite the decade." Curious Public's President and Narrative Lead, Lloyd Rang, gives us his Comms/Marketing Insights and upcoming trends on a year in review.

Somewhere in Adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, there are folks who look like they’ve just crawled out of a flaming dumpster after writing a corporate statement about the Kanye West/Adidas saga. This blog post is about the work they did.

In 2020, Lynda wrote on her Uplift application that the Scarborough Women’s Centre is “the little engine that could.” With modest resources, SWC was helping 3000 marginalized women become economically and emotionally independent for future success, free from violence, poverty, and isolation each year.

Last week, Lynda sat down with Curious Public’s Kristen Gross to talk about SWC, Uplift, and what’s changed for the organization since being part of the program.

We’re excited to announce our 4th annual Uplift program. If you are a non-profit or NGO in the Greater Toronto or Metro Vancouver area helping your community, we want to help you – at no cost!

Following a rebranding exercise, Lloyd Rang Communications is now Curious Public!

Memorising lines isn't the challenge, it's keeping spontaneity alive on the eigth iteration of the same show. Shannon Currie highlights, counter-intuitively, how your organization can actually foster creativity by following a set framework in the form of a narrative for your brand.

When a story makes you feel like you belong, it's a powerful thing. But it's not easy to do. Jordan Ray writes about a story that made him feel seen, and explains that to tell a powerful story, you've got to be curious first—curious enough to listen.

A lot of companies want to position themselves as “full service” agencies these days. But at best, they’re a Swiss-Army knife—a tiny pair of scissors when you need shears. As Lloyd Rang explains, that's why LRC has informal partnerships with companies who do PR, Graphic Design, Branding, and Videography. We bring them into our work because you don’t actually need to be good at everything—and if a client needs more than that, LRC finds the right partner to get the job done.

One of the best parts of working in this business is crossing paths with people who share your values. That was certainly the case when we started talking with our partner, Corporate Speech Consultants (CSC) about building some shared training offerings. Together, we developed two unique VIP learning experiences. Registration for them both is now open for September.

Graduation year is supposed to be a capstone year for students. But for the graduating class of 2021, they’ll probably watch their friends graduate from behind a screen without the kind of sendoff they deserve. Our team at LRC thinks that’s a bummer. So we decided to do something about it.

As increasing vaccination rates signal the real possibility this pandemic could finally be over, Jeff Keay looks ahead at what we'll need to do to re-engage in the post-covid world.

Writing about how movie dialogue can create the most memorable, impactful moments on-screen, James Bullbrook shares how memorable scripts don't just tell the audience what's going on—they bring us right into the moment and engage us by showing something new.

LRC and Scarborough Women’s Centre are pleased to announce their new partnership, which will begin January 2021.

Jordan Ray shares tips on how you can make a good first impression by presenting yourself and your work in the best way possible

A lot of my friends from politics still think of me as “the speechwriter.” It must be how William Shatner feels — no one talks to him about TJ Hooker, or Boston Legal or Rescue 911 or his albums or books — everyone thinks of him as Captain Kirk. It doesn’t matter what else he accomplishes in life, he’s always going to be the “to boldly go” guy. I feel for him. At the same time, it’s a darn good thing I’m not (just) a speechwriter right now. Because, frankly, there aren’t a lot of speeches being delivered to live, in-person audiences during COVID.

So what is LRC Uplift, exactly? Well, every year, we provide our communications services free of charge for one year to a local charity or non-profit.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced all of us to ask a big question about how we communicate.  Specifically, who are we communicating to, and why are we communicating?

To close the circle, we’ve put our minds to how COVID might impact how we communicate in a world where it is no longer a pressing crisis, and even further down the road, where its impact is mitigated by proven treatments and, hopefully, an effective vaccine.

Unless your job requires you to physically touch someone (a doctor, a dentist, a competitive Ukrainian folk dancer) or manipulate or build something (a bricklayer, an aircraft landing-gear maker, a bobble-head-doll assembler) or you’re in precarious work like retail or the service sector,  you probably could have been working from home decades ago.

Industry recognition for the work we do is always a great honour - and this month we're SO PROUD to accept the highest award (Platinum!!!) for our recent project with the Region of Durham. The 2019 competition included more than 6000 entries from all over the world. Of those, the judges selected our team for recognition.

Here are some samples of our award-winning work!

'Tis the season. With fiscal year-ends upon many of us and a federal election on the horizon - "advancement", fundraising and donor campaigns are in high gear. Which begs the question: with so many good and meaningful causes to donate valuable time and money to, what can advocacy groups, charities and other non-profit organizations do to rise above the digital clutter of people's daily lives in order to get them to DONATE?

What is more powerful than a compelling narrative? Arguably, nothing. It has the power to create queens and titans of industry, market leaders -- and world leaders.

PR professionals can work with their clients to find and tell their truth, but they still aren’t necessarily where they need to be. If you only connect with your audience intellectually, you aren’t being heard. That only happens when you connect with your audience emotionally. And then, you enter a kind of relationship with each other. The last presidential election proved that this relationship can withstand an extraordinary amount of stress.