The notion that brands need to infiltrate culture in order to engage audiences might seem a relatively recent concept, but Platform13 founder Leila Fataar has been working in this space for decades.

Platform13 was set up in 2017 to work with big brands, with Fataar curating a team for each project around the brand’s category and the community and culture they are trying to be a part of. A perfect example of this was established while Fataar was working with Diageo on Guinness earlier in her career, in 2016-17. Successfully marketed to rugby and pub audiences, the brand hadn’t embraced the fact that they have a huge heritage audience among Black British communities from being exported to Africa and the West Indies since the 1800s.

This insight led to a multi-platform global activation at Notting Hill Carnival with Boiler Room. It was a great success, “and it felt really natural for Guinness to be there because it’s a huge part of Caribbean culture, even though it may not have been seen as that from the business strategy”, says Fataar.

<img class=”wp-image-259431 size-full” src=”https://d12r87knhq09bn.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/09/P13_My-Guinness_Artwork_4Sheet_v03_03-2.jpg” alt=”” width=”1667″ height=”2500″ data-img-id=”259431″ /> Top: Still from global Pride film for Pinterest, directed by Mollie Mills. Above: Image from My Guinness campaign with Original Flava