team
A cloud of curious minds.
Curiosity Lab is a flexible cloud of strategists, creatives, designers, behavioural thinkers, technologists, data specialists and AI explorers.
We bring together the right people for the right challenge. Combining different perspectives, shared curiosity and a drive to create work that moves people and brands forward.
Founder Dennis van Aalst orchestrates the cloud: connecting talent, sharpening direction and turning curiosity into creative impact.
About Dennis
“Discovering what moves people to move people.” As a brand and communications strategist at FCB Amsterdam and McCann Amsterdam, Dennis is unapologetically curious by profession. About people. About behaviour. About what they feel, think and do. And why.
He brings that understanding of people together with a deep understanding of brands. Because only when you truly understand people can you make brands relevant to their everyday lives. His strength lies in turning sharp insights into ideas that move people and make brands stronger. In doing so, he combines human intelligence with artificial intelligence — not as a replacement for human creativity, but as a way to amplify it.
He took his first steps in advertising at FHV/BBDO, then known as the Ministry of Advertising. He later worked at DDB, Boomerang/Publicis Groupe and Havas Lemz for both national and international brands. At Boomerang, he founded BUREAU1835. He also worked independently through his own Curiosity Lab: unleashing human creativity, amplified by AI.
He was part of the team behind Sweetie, the secret project for Terre des Hommes and one of the most awarded Dutch campaigns of all time. Its accolades include 15 Cannes Lions, including the Grand Prix for Good and 13 Gold Lions, three D&AD Pencils, the ADCN Grand Prix, three Golden Lamps, SpinAwards, a SAN Accent, a Dutch Design Award and a Tomorrow Award. He also contributed to Make Friends Across Religions, which was honoured by the United Nations with the Global Business & Interfaith Peace Medal. As a strategic advisor to LetsHeal, the creative force behind these projects, he remains involved with this independent think tank for high-impact creative interventions.
He also created the first radio programme about advertising. He wrote the Jezelfhulpboek, named an NPO Radio 2 Aanrader, which later led to the daily radio features Help Jezelf Service and Het Nieuwe Normaal Journaal. And then there was his hobby that got slightly out of hand: stand-up comedy. He performed on television in BNNVARA Comedy Club Katendrecht and Pauw, appeared on Radio Veronica, and was a finalist at both the Utrecht Cabaret Festival and the Leeuwarder Cabaret Festival.
As a member of the VIA Nederland Taskforce Consumer Insights, he is a guest contributor to MarketingTribune, writing for the biweekly Inside Insights series, in which he interviews industry peers about finding, refining and unlocking the value of sharp insights. Within the DDMA Creative Committee, he focuses on data-driven creativity for high-impact campaigns. And as co-founder and publisher of Postcast Stories, he creates space for unexpected stories — for a change.