Think the supermarket category is stale? Lidl is proving you wrong
Plus: Heinz has made a mess and Gen-Z wants vibes not drinks.
Morning,
Hoping this finds you and your families safe.
If you only read one thing in this letter I recco: LIDL FUN.
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.
CULTURE
NO DENYING IT -> The Hustle // Given the awful news coming out of Florida, this feels timely. Zillow will now offer climate risk data to its for-sale listings. The tool will include climate scores, maps, and data on flood, wildfire, heat, wind, and air quality risks — things that 80%+ of homebuyers say they’re considering. More brands will play here.
CALL HER HARRIS // Call Her Daddy, Alex Copper’s, podcast got Kamala Harris on this week. Lots of people dismiss Copper. But for this to be the first stop on a media blitz truly says something about the size of her audience.
CAN THE MET MEET THE MOMENT? The Met Gala announced its 2025 theme: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”. The co-chairs are ASAP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, LeBron James, and Colman Domingo. The internet is concerned this is a ‘first-class ticket to appropriation station’. But if they pull it off it will be amazing.
BRANDS ARE PATRONS // Tumblr put out a state of community report this week. The good nuggets: 1) Brands are putting out too much content. Eg. Wimbledon’s 1,000 pieces in 14 days = too much. 2) 1/3 of Zs (30%) have joined a digital community. Many join multiple. 3) 85% of people said “high-quality content and discussions” were the most important thing about online communities. 4) “Brands are not participants in communities, they’re patrons.” This was the best insight by far.
had a great letter about Keith, the social lead/community manager at Sonos who’s been bravely showing up in Reddit threads to discuss the product updates everyone is upset about. Reddit loves Keith. And he’s giving a live masterclass on what to do if your brand is in the hot seat.F&B
LIDL FUN -> Ideas We Love // Supermarket Lidl released an ad featuring Martine McCutcheon doing a cover of Gina G’s Ooh Ahh…Just a Little Bit. For millennials in the UK/Europe, this hits. Love how ‘lo-fi’ the campaign is—super relevant stylistically. Clever, funny, and well cast. Also reminds me of these two guys who the internet also adores.
HEINOUS WEEK FOR HEINZ // Heinz had not one but two campaigns hit the fan this week. The first omitted a black father in a family pic, playing into some very negative stereotypes. And then this one. A lot of people on LinkedIn are suggesting AI would have spotted these issues. I don’t think that’s the solution here.
PUTTING THE MOUNTAIN BACK IN DEW -> The Hustle // Pepsi missed the memo last week about Big Soda being back. They rebranded Mountain Dew to make it look ‘healthier’. My take? Fans of this brand do not need or want this brand to be healthy. They should be leaning into what people do like about them versus trying to be someone they are not.
DRUGS
DRINKING THE VIBES -> AfterSchool // Huge claps for
Lewis getting her first NYT article. “While young people are very much rethinking their relationship to booze (and are not knocking back their mom’s Meoimi), interest in the modern wine bar — which more than one Gen Zer described to me as a much-needed “third place” — is on the rise nationally.” Why? They like the vibes. Gen Z, they are just like us.THE ANTIDOTE IS WINNING -> Feed Me // L’Antidote is the N/A wine of the moment. Sales are an outpacing of their standard Beaujolais production “by almost nine times.”
CIGARS ARE OK TOO // Aime Leon Dore had Davide Baroncini smoking a cigar on Instagram. Times are a-changing. Smoking is back. Not because of the smoking, but this truly puts Ghiaia Cashmere on the map.
SILVERS, ALPHAS & ZS
SILVER TSUNAMI IS COMING // I loved this episode My First Million. It’s all about the opportunities for services and businesses targeting Silvers. This sector could be bigger than AI.
BOY SHOULD YOU BE PAYING ATTENTION -> AfterSchool // 70% of Gen Z men aged 18 to 27 use skin-care products. They are learning it on TikTok—obviously.
WEIGHT LOSS < LONGEVITY // GLP’1s aren’t significant because of weight loss. It’s really about longevity. Silvers are going to live longer and that’s huge.
RETAIL
RESALE FOR THE WIN -> AfterSchool -> As Seen On // Resale is big right now. 5 things: 1) “[Gen Z-ers] will pay to get the best deals before others (the RealReal is doing this) 2) Timed drops are still big 2) Consumers want to feel like they are “winning” with a deal 3) Resale is growing 7X faster than standard retail industry 4) Phia is now in beta and coming for this space.
GAP IS NOW PART OF THE CULT -> Retail Diary // Cult Gaia launched a collab with the Gap this week. People seem excited.
made an interesting point that CG is more known for accessories so they could be using the collab as a gateway as it doesn’t have many accessories.MY MY, QUITE THE PURCHASE // MyTheresa bought Net-A-Porter last week. They are dismissing concerns that they would be chasing the same customers, comparing themselves to Selfridges and Harrods. Same infrastructure but differentiated assortments and customers. Not sure I agree. Bet they’ll roll up NAP and keep Mr Porter distinct.
TECH
PRETTY DAMNING -> The Information // Hindenburg Research, a noted short-selling firm, has been coming for Roblox this week. They identified dozens of groups “openly trading child pornography and soliciting sexual acts from minors.” And claims “Roblox effectively has two sets of books for counting users: one for internal business decisions…and one used by the finance team that reports higher metrics to investors.” Yikes.
AI IS CORRUPTING IMAGE SEARCH -> UserMag // Apparently if you search the phrase "baby peacock" on Google the results “are polluted with a ton of AI-generated slop.” And people think fake news is ok if “it is emblematic of the trauma and pain” people are experiencing—only slightly concerning.
META MOVIES -> The Information // “Meta Platforms on Friday unveiled a series of artificial intelligence-powered tools for generating videos, editing videos, and creating audio. The tools, called Movie Gen. to be released in 2025.
FACEBOOK GOES LOCAL -> AfterSchool // Facebook is leaning into local. Local Facebook groups, events, and marketplace. Maybe good for businesses like spas, restaurants, etc that are local-focused.
GOOGLE IS CHANGING STUDYING -> Digital Native // Google has a new AI tool, NotebookLM. It turns your documents (or website links) into 2-person conversational podcasts. For fun, this is last week’s newsletter. Pretty crazy. AI voice is big right now.
SUPPLY CHAIN FIX? -> Feed Me // Dave Clark, ex-head of Amazon's Consumer Business and ex-CEO of Flexport has launched a new company, Auger. I don’t know anything about this industry but supply chains are a mess so he’s onto something.
SPORT
PGA ISN’T THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN // There are a bunch of Alternative events launching across golf: TGL (indoor arena w/ SIM tech), Grass League (High stakes par 3)
and Good Good Desert Open. Fun time for the game. Lots of places to play as a brand.
WELLNESS & BEAUTY
MARKET MAVENS // Maven Clinic is now worth $1.7B. Initially, the brand was all about fertility & family building, but they have also expanded into menopause. They focused on getting corporate contracts which was super smart. They now serve over 2,000 clients including Amazon & Microsoft and have +15M patients. I think they could do more with their profile though. 41K followers is tiny for a player this significant.
BOUGIE SEPHORA -> Karen Hayes // Rennaï is a new beauty and self-care space, that recently launched a flagship in Montreal. I’m not sure I agree it’s a ‘never-before-seen concept’ but it does feel like a more elevated Sephora and that could perform.
TRAVEL
GAMBLING ON THE MIDDLE EAST -> Feed Me // Wynn Resorts gained the first license that allows for gambling in the UAE for its new multibillion-dollar resort. Abu Dhabi is also mapping out a casino on Yas Island—home to the Ferrari World, Warner Bros. theme parks, and Formula One Circuit. They are ramping up on tourism.
FUN FOR THE WEEK
Spirit Halloween with flip and become Spirit Christmases—honestly, smart.
Skims ‘see their campaigns as magazine covers’. Love that.
Who What Wear launched an AI-powered chatbot—this is the future of search.
AI has come to the shopping cart. People love finding deals. This could work.
Prada’s virtual flower shop pop-up looks super fun. That bubble room is v cool.
Burberry got in on the film trend. I like this Cole Palmer ASMR one best
Speaking of disposables, they are in right now. This is such a fun concept.
Two big trends coming for social: ‘Rapid response strategies’ (or headcount) and broadcast channels.
The Savannah Bananas are moving into stadiums. More sports could expand here.
This oversized printer photo booth pop-up in Paris is fun—could work for a brand.
LEGO’s Inner Peace pop-up looks nice.
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.