Bringing Real Life Emotions and Behaviours Online with Tanya Ponømareva
Tanya Ponømareva is an award-winning creative director based in Amsterdam. Her career spans continents, global leading agencies, and social tech start-ups.
With a background in geopolitics and creative writing, she approaches every project with curiosity and conviction, making work that resonates deeply and connects with people.
Known for her culture-focused, provocative, and activist-driven perspective, Tanya has worked with global brands like Adobe, PepsiCo, JBL, Amazon Prime, Heineken, PON, Dior, and platforms like TikTok, Meta, and Snap.
Her expertise extends across film, print, AR, virtual worlds, and social-first campaigns, continually pushing creative boundaries. Tanya has earned her place in the industry with multiple awards from The One Show, New York Festival, Cannes Lions, Lovies, Webbies, D&AD, Epica, and Eurobest. She has also served on juries for Dubai Lynx, ADCN, D&AD, and Cannes Lions.
Her sharp creative instincts, ability to lead diverse teams, and knack for balancing cultural insight with modern formats define her as a standout leader.
LBB> What’s the most significant development or trend shaping the social space right now?
Tanya> Social media is shifting from blindly chasing virality to long-term world-building. The constant churn of microtrends has made audiences sceptical of brands that hop from one moment to the next without a real identity.
The ones building genuine connections aren’t just reacting to trends; they are establishing cohesive brand languages, distinctive storytelling formats, and ongoing narratives that extend beyond the algorithm’s demands.
LBB> Every platform functions so differently – and the way they function evolves over time and there’s a lot of fun to be had on social, from shoppable livestreams to AI filters – so where are you finding the most satisfying or exciting creative opportunities right now?
Tanya> The most exciting thing about social is how it allows people to express emotions with radical honesty – things they wouldn’t have openly shared before. It is about radical intimacy, where platforms make it normal to vent, overshare, or joke about struggles in ways that feel deeply human.
The best brands mirror this, bringing real-life emotions and behaviours online rather than acting like corporations. Ryanair gets it. It behaves like that mean friend who roasts you but somehow gets away with it, really disliking you in real life and carrying the same energy onto TikTok.
Instead of fake friendliness, it leans into brutal honesty, sarcasm, and unhinged humour, making it weirdly likeable.
LBB> Social media is a space for brands to be a bit more human – but how do you walk the line between personable and twee? How does this impact how a brand builds its long-term relationship with its community?
Tanya> Being relatable doesn’t mean chasing gen z trends or overexplaining every joke, it means having a distinct POV, self-awareness, and knowing when to hold back. The best brands don’t try to be funny for the sake of it; they let their tone emerge naturally from their world.
CeraVe’s campaign is a perfect example. Instead of forcing engagement, it let controlled confusion drive conversation. The more a brand tries to act human, the less human it feels. It’s about knowing when to speak and when to let the audience fill in the blanks.
LBB> What does ‘craft’ mean to you in a social context?
Tanya> Craft in social is about creating something that feels native, yet unmistakably branded. It is the finest balancing act. The best-crafted social content understands how a single visual cue, a recurring colour palette, or a specific pacing technique can make something instantly recognisable.
It’s why Bottega Veneta doesn’t need a logo to be iconic, or why Balenciaga’s surreal, distorted aesthetic makes its posts feel cohesive even when they seem chaotic. Social craft is about knowing what to refine and what to leave raw.
LBB> How do you ensure the brand’s social-first presence is cohesive and resonant across these touchpoints?
Tanya> Being cohesive does not mean recycling the same content on different channels, it’s about maintaining hidden visual and tonal cues that anchor the brand’s world.
Burberry’s rain-soaked storytelling makes its world unmistakable, whether it’s a TikTok post or a YouTube campaign.
Duolingo’s Owl (RIP) ensured brand consistency not through format but through character, carrying the same chaotic personality across platforms.
A brand’s world should be instantly recognisable, no matter where someone enters it.
LBB> Social media has been accused of driving polarisation and spreading misinformation, while others call it the marketplace of ideas. Whether or not that’s the whole truth, it is certainly shaping discourse and is one of the key venues for culture warish behaviour. What’s your take on the role of social media in society and what responsibilities do brands and individuals working in social have?
Tanya> Social media is a marketplace of ideas but also a battleground for attention, where discourse is shaped by what the algorithm amplifies, not necessarily what is most valuable.
While it’s a space for discovery and connection, it also rewards extremes, making it harder for nuance to survive. Brands that engage with culture need to be hyper-aware of this.
Those that blindly chase engagement risk becoming part of the noise, while those that offer something meaningful or humorous to the conversation stand out.
LBB> What are the biggest missteps you see brands making most regularly on social media?
Tanya> Brands fail when they confuse attention with impact.
The most common mistakes are chasing every viral trend without a clear POV, forcing an inauthentic tone, or trying too hard to manufacture moments instead of letting culture do the work. The best brands know when to insert themselves into the conversation and when to step back.
Social is about earning relevance, not demanding it.
LBB> Inevitable AI question! How are you applying AI in your day-to-day role and what have been your key insights/observations about the best way to approach it in the campaigns you’ve worked on (feel free to share examples)?
Tanya> AI is at its best when it challenges human creative output, not replaces it.
Right now, it is most useful for rapid prototyping, audience analysis, research, insight development, and formats, but the best creative work still comes from human instinct, observation, and craft. AI can generate thousands of variations of an ad, but if every brand uses the same tools, the result is visual homogeneity.
The smartest brands use AI to augment their vision, not define it.
LBB> Thinking longer term, where do you see the biggest risks and opportunities when it comes to AI in social?
Tanya> The opportunity is AI’s ability to predict cultural shifts before they happen, helping brands move from reactive to proactive storytelling. The risk is that it erodes originality, if every brand relies on AI-generated copy, visuals, and ideas, everything starts to look the same. The challenge isn’t just adopting AI, it’s making sure it doesn’t strip a brand of its identity in the process.
LBB> When you’re not working, what social platforms and content do you personally enjoy engaging with and why? What creators, influencers, and social communities do you really love?
Tanya> I spend a lot of time on Substack, where deep-dive cultural analysis happens without the distractions of algorithmic churn. On TikTok, I’m drawn to format-bending, experimental content, the kind that feels like it could only exist there. The most interesting creators aren’t just chasing trends, they are reshaping how we experience storytelling across all social platforms, including gaming.
LBB> What advice would you give to people who are looking to get into social, whether as creatives, strategists, or producers, especially in an era where social-first brand building is key to long-term success?
Tanya> The best way to study social is to be an active observer, not just scrolling, but paying attention to how conversations unfold, what gets traction, and why people engage. Read comment sections, track memes, and study the hidden mechanics that make content work. The best strategists aren’t just good at TikTok, they understand the deeper rhythms of internet culture, narrative structure, and instinctive online behaviour.
