Screw healthy. Pass the Shirley Temple.
Better-for-you is out. Soda is in. Plus: It's Holiday in September, and fashion is a sports fanatic.
Morning,
Here’s me succumbing to the millennial urge to ask: ‘How is it almost October?’.
If you only read one thing in this letter I recco: all of CULTURE and SODA IS ABOUT TO POP.
As always, the lens of this letter is a best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What I’m dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands.
Let’s dive in!
CULTURE
CAN WE JUST ALL BE FRIENDS -> Feed Me -> Digital Native // People are lonely. The number of people with less than 1 close friend has nearly tripled to 20% in 30 years. That’s alarming. Brands want to help.
Bumble long ago added BFF offshoot and is making cafes for meet-ups.
Howbout raised $8M, tackling the issue of ‘finding the time’.
Pie is making IRL events easier and adding with an ‘enterprise’ option to tackle making friends at work.
Friend.com is an always-on, AI friend you connect with via a pendant worn around the neck that can react to your day-to-day life, offer companionship, and, as shown in the video, occasionally ‘roast you’.
MOVEMENT IN THE MOVIE THEATRE BIZ // Movie theatres are getting $2.2B upgrade—better sound, arcades, and bowling. But they need to think bigger. Cosm are making theatres that feel like the Sphere showing sports. And the soon-to-be Netflix Theatre is adding immersive IRL experiences.
CHRISTMAS HAS COME EARLY // People used to get upset when we talked Holiday before Thanksgiving but times have changed. Retailers are eager to get ahead this year! Happy December y’all.
USPS is upgrading to their Operation Santa mission through a partnership with Toy-R-Us.
Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Best Buy have already started ‘prep for the holiday messaging’.
Pinterest and Anthro opened R2 of their Holiday House on September 18th (this was last year’s) offering an immersive holiday decor shopping experience.
Tock’s sharing data says that holiday dining is going to be big this year and reservations are being made earlier (literally earlier like 4-6pm but also in advance).
And of course, the advent calendars are already being teased. Here’s some beauty ones for 2024 and the themes are full size and, no shock, fragrance. Bark is also out with theirs for your fur pups too.
F&B
SODA ABOUT TO POP -> Snaxshot // 1) This is the power of social listening. Not only do a lot of N.A drinkers I know love Shirley Temples but also, nostalgia is real 2)
says the BFY (better-for-you) era is over. And that feels even more important. The Goopification of everything is behind us.NUTTY ABOUT NUTTY BUTTER -> LinkInBio // If you listened to the pod this week, we talked about this but I can’t write about it better than
did. It’s essential reading. Keywords: Unhinged, Brave, Gen-Alpha humor, Lore, Don’t cancel the pilot, and Trust your team.WISPY CLOUDS ARE IN -> Snaxshot // Brooklyn Beckham launched a hot sauce line. Two things stand out. 1) The glass forms are giving spirits. They “don’t want to be confined to your fridge or pantry.” 2) The brand is very wispy. This is a big trend lately in food, mostly dinner party invites but think we’ll see more of it. Take Zara for example.
BRANDS WANT MOMS // In August, GrubHub launched a campaign called Special Delivery, featuring moms with their favorites delivered directly to the hospital. Loved it. Hospital sushi is a common tale. But this week Burger King UK launched their latest iteration of Foodfillment. Guess what it features? Moms eating Burger King as their first postpartum meal. Likely I’m the only one that noticed?
DRUGS
POUCH IS A 3 LETTER POUCH // I almost don’t want to give this brand airtime but here we are. Tucker Carlson, super-fan-turned-super-enemy of Zyn, launched a rival brand: Alp. The 1950s branding is giving trad-wife, which feels ominously on brand.
SILVERS, ALPHAS & ZS
SUNNEI STRUTS SILVERS DOWN THE RUNWAY // To mark their 10th anniversary, Milanese brand Sunnei cast only over 50 in their latest runway show. Needless to say, I love it.
LONG LIVE LONGEVITY -> As Seen On //
is spot on. Americans don’t like aging. “The food we eat, the makeup and skincare we use, and the exercise we do are all increasingly marketed to us with a dose of LONGEVITY. America values youth above all else, so no one wants to get old.” I completely agree and it’s exactly this obsession is that will drive the brand disruption. We don’t want to feel old, so we don’t want ‘old people stuff’, but we’ll need ‘old people stuff’. The face of healthcare is changing.RETAIL
H&M IS THE NEW SEPHORA // H&M opened its 3rd ‘Beauty’ flagship. What’s interesting is that they aren’t just selling in-house brands. Think MAC Cosmetics, e.l.f., Kylie Cosmetics, Olaplex, Smashbox, Huda. and more. That looks a lot like a Sephora to me.
DON’T CALL IT A SHOW // Rather than having a traditional runway show, Thom Browne invited a bunch of models, celebrities, and influencers to a dinner party and had them dress in the new collection. So every guest was part of the show. So fun.
ALEX MILL SPENDS TIME ON THE INTERNET // The fashion girlies love Schostal, the 150-year-old classic pajama shop. So the timing of collab during all the fashion weeks feels good. And they are doing it in 2 drops—smart.
ZARA IS LEVELING UP // Enter ‘Zara Streaming’ a shoppable short shot by A24 Director, David Lowery, starring Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele. Flash-heavy Halloween, adorable back-to-school shoots. And a very fancy, new Lisbon location—high street brands are leaning into ‘growing up’
TECH
JONY IS OPEN FOR WORK // Ex-Chief Designer for Apple, Jony Ive is a busy man. This week he confirmed he’s working on hardware for OpenAI. And he announced a collab with Moncler this week—a modular outwear collection, complete with, unsurprisingly, a lot of matte metal, minimalist hardware.
GOULISHLY FUN -> The Hustle // “Now, during Halloween, the busiest doorbell season of the year, we’re calling on customers to keep an eye out for any ghostly activity.” Ring is running a sweepstakes for the best spook. The prize? 100K. Taking, albeit tamer, pages from the Liquid Death sweepstakes playbook.
TIKTOK IS A TECH BUNDLE // TikTok saw Only Fans’ numbers and thought ‘we need more subscriptions’. But they are continuing to come for Google. Their new TikTok Search Ads Campaign will enable US advertisers to target users on its search results page and tailor their ads to align with specific search behaviors.
SPORT
NIKE’S LEFT A HOLE IN BASKETBALL // Adidas is trying to fill its shoes. Adidas CEO, Bjørn Gulden, said North America and basketball will be central to Adidas’ strategy this coming year. Adidas has a ways to go but Nike’s about-face will take some time. They have a chance.
SPORTING FASHION // The sports fashion cross-over is reaching a fever pitch. This week alone: Off White x NY Liberty, Big Elie x Nike, Kith x NFL, Jared McCain x Uggs, Dior x live archery, Aime’s offering is sports-infused and LaBrum showed at a stadium.
WOMEN ARE BIG (SPENDING) FANS // Women’s football (soccer) is on the rise. And while many fans report that they came just to support the women, they are staying fans. And, spending a lot more money than men, “71% more on merchandise and 41% more on entertainment”. Interesting.
WELLNESS & BEAUTY
GLOSSIER’S GOT IT ON LOCK-> As Seen On // While overdone influencer PR packages have been getting a lot of bad press lately, this one seems to be getting some love. It came locked. Influencers can open it with a code they’ll be sent on 10.3.24. Meanwhile, they can tap their phones for an AR experience. Scarcity works.
FUN FOR THE WEEK
This feels like the retail apocalypse.
Bureau Benjamin x Monoprix, Coperni x Disney, the weird collabs won’t stop.
‘Moving photo’ is a thing right now. This is a different take by Jacquemus.
Levi’s is collab’ing with Beyoncé and they’ve opened House of Straus in Paris.
Substack is the home of luxury (this is not news to you if you read this letter).
French boxer brand Posterieur is a good collab opportunit.y
Eleven Madison park is opening a bar 10.10.24. The logo is rad .
Vitra Design Museum has a new exhibit there, Form Follows Motion.
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.