Thom Browne won the Grammys

Plus: Google is beating OpenAI on brand, and do-good is going bad

Morning,

Loved sharing my thoughts with Terry on the ‘Silver Bowl’. It’s a topic I’m obsessed with and brands are catching on!

Also, I’m coming to NYC on April 2nd for a trends talk at Brands & Culture. Grab a ticket!

And let’s connect! Join me for a 1-day GOOD THINKING exploration trip? A meet-up?Same at Salone Mobile the following week? Email me. More to come.

If you only read one thing in this letter I recco: THOM WON THE GRAMMYS or BRAND STILL MATTERS.

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

COMMENT GOLDMINE // The comment section is always a brand goldmine. But Substackers are finding actual gold. Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack makes $5M/yr. The content is free. The comment section is what people pay for. And she’s not alone;

Culture Study

’s comments are the main attraction, too. YouTube is also watching. Their new ‘community’ feature lets fans chat with each other. As

Matt Klein

said: “See audiences not as passive recipients, but as active co-producers.”

CLOSET FULL OF COSTUMES -> AfterSchool // People are all in on gathering. Fans of Rebecca Yarros are doing it in droves. And costumes. Onyx Storm, the third installment of Yarros’ trilogy, the Empyrean, has sold over 12M copies. Big Night Shop predicted that theme and dress-up parties would be bigger in 2025. And they were right.

TO THE LIBRARY WE GO //

Emily Sundberg

reported that JCrew partnered with literary Substack

Buffy's

on an “IRL book club during NYFW.” It sold out in minutes. Emily was spot on (as always): this is a “great signaler for other brands trying to figure out what their next event should be besides a dinner.”

DADS DADDING TOGETHER // There’s a new stroller club growing in Brooklyn—just for Dads. Brooklyn Stroll Club has over 400 NY dads in their community. The urge to gather is growing. Humans want to be with humans.

F&B

SPILL THE COLLAB EARLY -> Dhane Scotti // DJ Mustard is partnering with Heinz on a limited edition mustard—fun. With Kendrick Lamar headlining the Super Bowl, the timing is right. But the product won’t be available until later this year—madness. Big players have to start moving more quickly. Culture moves fast. You have to do the same. (Related but not: This American Heart Association series is great.)

HYPE MART // Japanese convenience store Family Mart has hired Nigo as their creative director. Nigo will oversee the next generation of stores, new product categories, and brand campaigns.

Snaxshot

called this ‘hypebeast grocery’ trend ages ago—as always, she’s right on the money. I’m excited to watch this.

DRUGS & BOOZE

LOB WINS // Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl spot is great. 1) It positions the product as covetable, 2) It positions the customer as aspirational, 3) It’s funny, 4) It throws in pickleball, 5) And it shows Silvers in a relevant way: sexy, sporty, smart. Top marks.

SILVERS, ALPHAS & ZS

YOUTHFUL SKIN // Alpha skincare brands are multiplying. A new one, Erly, is taking a more sophisticated route to stand out in a now somewhat crowded market. Bubble is still the biggest player, but Evereden, Gryt, Your Skin Stuff, Indu, Btwn, Rile are all vying for this audience too. Things are heating up.

CARE BLOCKS // The city of Bogota is battling the caregiver crisis. They are introducing ‘care blocks’ where caregivers gather—and thrive. Each care block offers assistance with caring, laundry, classes, workouts, self-care, therapy, and more. As our population ages, we’ll see the private sector watching this model.

RETAIL

THOM WON THE GRAMMYS // Doechii’s performance at the Grammy’s was truly iconic, and the carpet-to-performance-to-trophy Thom Browne outfits were the stuff of legend. The brand reaped rewards, with search increasing 233%. Nothing’s better than two disruptors finding each other and everyone else falling in love.

TRYING IS GOING VIRAL //

Casey Lewis

did a great deep dive on virtual try-on services tackling returns. Doji, Google, Vybe, and others allow you to see products on yourself before you buy. We’ll soon see the death of e-comm photography. You’ll shop within AI platforms, not on a brand’s site, with a fully personalized experience.

BLAME GAME // Benetton is closing a lot of locations. They’re blaming fast fashion. My take? They didn’t evolve. The product or the brand. Alex Mill proves people will invest in staples. Abercrombie’s proves that any good rebrand starts with a good product roadmap. These lessons make Madewell’s latest denim campaign worrying and Gap’s GapVintage release encouraging.

TECH

COPY YOUR TRADE WORK -> UserMag // Dub, a new fintech app blowing up. It has over 800K downloads. The app creates ‘mirrors’ of famous people’s portfolios and allows you to copy their thinking. The founder claims Index Funds are propped up by PR, and the average investor should have access to a hedge-fund-like experience. I’m nervous.

FINDING BUT NOT FOUND -> AfterSchool // Plot is a new AI tool that helps brands surface relevant UGC content. Useful for brands. But the irony is that Google couldn’t find Plot. Trusty ChatGPT did, though. I did happen upon this business with the same name that helps you forecast the worth of your new build/plot—love a rabbit hole.

BRAND STILL MATTERS // Of course Evan Ross Katz would swoop in to make the first relatable AI ad I’ve seen. And simultaneously plug the next season of White Lotus. In the ad, Evan uses Google’s Gemini to create a custom travel itinerary. Actionable and relatable—smart. OpenAI needs a better brand team stat.

SPORT

SUPPLEMENT PARTNER // AG1 is now the ‘Official Supplement Partner’ to England’s Rugby team. First, we had ‘Official Non-Alc’ partners; now we’re onto supplements. The interest in athlete wellness and longevity is going strength-to-strength. If your brand isn’t tracking longevity, it truly might die.

WASTED OR WONDERFUL? // The Waste Management Open has become golf’s hottest ticket. The organizers built a stadium around one of the holes, and the fans love it. Many other tournaments are envious of the turnout. But last year, it got too rowdy. If they can pull it off without a hitch this year, I’m betting every Open will have a version. Golf’s evolving, even if some don’t like it.

WELLNESS & BEAUTY

F*CK THE GYM // Freaks of Nature, the ‘hi-tech, nature skincare’ line has a fun new campaign: ‘F*ck The Gym, Go Outside.’ I love it when a do-good brand is a little bad. And I like the photography.

HARDCORE SKINCARE -> AfterSchool // Jenny Evans is hot on peptides. Gen-Z agrees. Rather than ‘fixing things’ with Botox, they are getting serious about regenerative skincare—topical and injected. I don’t see Botox going the way of filler, but it might be moving into ‘last resort’ territory.

TRAVEL

THE PARENT TRAP // Last year in the UK, nearly 1/2 a million fines were issued for kids skipping school days. Many parents said the fines were nothing compared to the cost savings on traveling outside of school holidays. This is an insight you can use.

FUN FOR THE WEEK

• Beyoncé is going on tour. Brands should start planning now.

• Hyrox is being held at the Grand Palais in Paris. Wow, what a venue! Told you so.

• Fun posts? Kerase. Chamberlain Coffee. Meller. Jacquemus. Ritz. Miu Miu

• Spring Break parties are back. I can introduce you to the all-stars of Spring Break.

• Sephora is putting vending machines on campuses. Smart.

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.