Morning,
This week on the pod we did things a little differently—still experimenting to find the best value.
More topics. More fun.
But, as always, this pod dives into the biggest trends, shifts, and brands of today.
This week:
Walmart's wellness strategy and repositioning
Barbie-fication of movies
The gap between Gap’s great marketing and its experience
NueCo’s questionable claims
Why Louis Vuitton’s scaffolding trick feels new again
The enormous potential for Yeti and some potential pitfalls
Enjoy!
And for those of you who are interested in GOOD THINKING SEOUL: scroll. More details below.
-Chris
GOOD TAKES
02:58 // WALMART’S REPOSTIONING
Walmart's repositioning. Aisle by aisle, they are turning into a mass-scale shoppy shop. Using a health halo, stocking brands like Poppi and Culture Pop, they are emerging from their Budget-era into an Aspirational-For-Everybody-era. And it seems to be working. Walmart is growing more popular with customers making $100k+. Profits were up 8.2% last quarter. Households making 6-figures accounted for 75% of those gains. They haven’t left affordability behind; they’ve just been upping the quality. And good thing, because with Temu’s rise and Amazon Haul’s arrival, bargain basement is getting busy.
09:05 // BARBIE-FICATION OF MOVIES
Of course, we touched on Wicked’s wicked packaging error but quickly segued to the bigger picture. Mattel is giving Wicked the full Barbie treatment. Merch has always been a thing, especially with kids’ films but these movie roll-outs are bigger than ever. This list isn’t complete, but here’s a list of things I’ve seen out there:
Naturally, Ariana’s beauty brand, r.e.m., launched Wicked sets.
Starbucks is making Glinda’s Pink Potion and Elphaba’s Cold Brew.
Beis came out with a new product just for the occasion.
St. Pancras station has a Wicked Christmas tree.
Each premiere had a theme, LA’s was a ball.
More? SharkFlex, Hilton, Rebecca Minkoff, Cambridge Satchel, Beekman 1802, Challenged Athletes, Betty Crocker and—of course—Universal Studios all have collabs.
18:07 // THE GAP AT GAP
It’s no secret that I, and just about everyone have been loving Gap’s marketing lately. But, my most recent visit to the store left me confused. There’s a gaping hole between the brand experience I’m having online and what’s happening IRL. We look back at what happened when brands like K-Mart and JCPenney ran into similar issues—not a news flash: the outcomes weren’t great.
28:17 // NUE CO’S CLAIMS
Naturally, we couldn’t stop ourselves from discussing Nue Co’s alcoholism claims.
33:55 // LV’S OLD NEW TRICKS
Louis Vuitton's scaffolding of it’s NYC flagship is getting a ton of love online. The funny thing is, they’ve done this before. Many time. But the times are giving it a new lens, and a new audience. With the popularly of larger than life CGI on social, this old trick feels like it’s new to anyone that’s hasn’t seen it before. For brands that have a history of pulling off spectacular experience like this, like LV or Nike, this is a fun time to flex their old muscles.
39:02 // Yeti’s enormous potential
Yeti’s on a retail expansion spree. They could easily become the new Bass Pro Shop. But as brands shift from wholesalers to retailers, there are tons of things to consider. We chat about the biggest opportunities and the potential pitfalls they want to look out for as they make this internal and external culture shift.
PS. If you prefer Apple, Spotify, or YouTube you can listen there too.
Want to come to Seoul, have an experience, and leave feeling more inspired than you have for all of 2024?
If the answer is a F*CK YES. Keep reading.
First, let me explain how I’m thinking about these trips. and then we can get into specifics on Seoul
THE MANIFESTO
Do you ever wish you could work travel with that friend who has that map?
The map with all the best places.
The friend who always has a suitcase of finds from trips.
And references you’ve missed.
The friend who likes wonderful woo-woo stuff you’d never try on your own. Who delivers you the option of new perspectives? Strange yes. Memorable always.
The friend who loves to eat at all the best spots.
Who forever has a list of the coolest new stores, pop-ups, and experiences.
That person you tap when you need to know what to do to stay relevant.
The friend who be you’re go-to if you wanted to travel somewhere and walk away transformed.
Revived.
Reinvigorated.
Well, you’re invited. We’re that friend.
These aren’t guided tours with a tour group where you stop at all the ‘hits’.
Expect work and life-changing discovery.
A cultural relevancy journey.
Fun meets work.
This is a trip for people looking to lead across category.
And understand where culture is going.
Before not after.
So, want to come to Seoul?
GOOD THINKING SEOUL
WHO & HOW MANY
We are keeping this tight. 5 spots total. First come, first serve.
THE WHENS
Dec 5th - Confirm your place with full payment
Dec 10th - Provide your flight arrival and departure for coordination
Dec 11th - Itinerary shared but expect additions
Dec 15th - Selection of experiences for bookings/reservations
Jan 6th - Arrivals
Jan 7-11th - The trip, the experience, the magic.
Jan 12th - We go home. Inspired. Wired. With endless stories.
WHAT TO EXPECT
RETAIL EXPERIENCES // Luxury and high-street store experiences that have a reputation for being different, cool, or doing something new.
PRODUCT HUNTS // We’ll stop at pharmacies, supermarkets, and boutiques to find things we’ve never seen before.
CULINARY ADVENTURES // Coffee shops, tea houses, restaurants, hole-in-the-walls, cocktail bars, and natural wine spots, we’ll do it all.
WELLNESS AND WOO // Spiritual experiences, fitness things, massages, or skin analysis. We’ll try all the things Seoul has to offer.
UNIQUELY AWESOME SHIT // We try not to hit ‘cliche experiences but think of pop-ups or fun things like color analysis. Places we think will be true experiences. No tourist traps are the goal.
CROSS CATEGORY WONDER // Many of you will work in retail, F&B, or tech. The goal here is to get us out of our bubbles and learn from things we don’t have a chance to do on the regular.
A MEMORY // Yes you’ll walk away with endless stories and discoveries but within a month of the trip, we’ll provide a recap of things we saw. This can also be tailor-made for teams and specific industries, just inquire.
NOTES
While we’re very pro not-drinking, this trip will involve alcohol consumption opportunities.
Food preferences can be shared and we’ll try to make considerations but culinary adventure is a piece of this.
We will do everything in our power to make this off-the-walls fantastic. But as mentioned this is not a tour. If there’s a miss, we’ll learn from it.
WANT IN?
Reply to hello@weareingoodco.com by Dec 5th with the subject ‘Good Thinking in Seoul’.
We can’t wait to have you.
CAN’T MAKE IT?
No worries, for 2025 we are planning: Milan, LA, Copenhagen, and Tokyo. Email me what interests you.
Interested? Hit the reply.
Milan will likely be next, during Salone Mobile. April 8th-13th window. Send an email with the subject ‘Good Thinking in Milan’ if you are specifically interested in that one as it will be booked in the year new year.
That’s all, folx.
-Chris
If you read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.
Share this post