I need your help: brand burn book š
This is our special place to talk about what works, what doesn't, what we want to see more and less of from America's true rulers: brands.
Contrary to the subject line/title of this letter (you can only fit so much in a sentence!) Iām not reaching out to ask you to talk shit about brands (though Iām not saying you canāt do that if you so pleaseā¦), but I would really love your help. Yes, you!
Iām planning to share more about my new job (!) and the backstory early next week, but the TLDR is that I am running a few brands in the beauty, personal care and wellness category. Iām focused on one business in particular. Hint: itās a #2 body care best seller at Sephora... š®
There is a lot that works about the brand that I will leave as is. Thereās also a lot that I want to change off the bat.
I was catching up with the lovely
at a sunny coffee shop in Venice last week, and I was commiserating that there are so few examples of brands that go from zero to hero on socialā in other words, brands that are successful on their owned & operated channels that donāt have that āØ illusive brand magic sparkle āØ stink all over them from Day 1. Itās rare to see someone turn a sinkingā or even just average!ā ship around, much less without a huge budget. This is my goal, I donāt know how to set about it.I thought Iād turn to you.
What do you like? What do you want to see more or less of from brands? What sucks? Whatās good? What makes you want to buy stuff and what turns you off? Do you love those cursed brand reels with biased product reviews? Do you love an aesthetic grid? What influencers do you trust? Do you trust anyone at all? How do you decide what and where and how you buy something?
Here are a few of my thoughts below:
First, I want to say that I am very interested in brands taking things OFFLINE. Data shows that people increasingly want to put down their phones and touch grass (or at the very least, they know they should). I donāt think anyone does this well YET, exceptā¦
Outdoor Voices, while headed for bankruptcy, really made āDoing Thingsā happenā you had to show up to group runs or events to get special merch drops (like the Doing Things blue hat). This was so core to their ethos, it was perfect.
I see things like brands popping up at bakeries more often. This invite from Rachel Antonoff x LāAppartment 4F strikes me asā¦ not very aesthetic, but it will likely be a packed eventā¦
I love when brands collaborate with/sponsor classes from Sky Ting.
I love Crown Affair on social. (Friends of the letter! š¤)
I think Roxana at Tache does a really good job. (So far probably all you can tell is that mint green/celadon is my favorite color so I like brands that use it.š )
Dieux puts out brand magic. Marta is almost always the force behind brands that do well and crush it with creators.
I like Ghiaās emails.
DS & Durga have fun with their emails and you can tell.
Iām not a huge fan of Kate McLeod personally (one person there was randomly rude to me when I connected with them about selling their products years ago and I canāt really let it goā my bad) but their products seem to sell very well, even if their online presence isnāt that different or interesting. At the end of the day, good product matters more than anything Iām writing here.
I still like whatever Ty Haney touches. I got the pleasure of getting to know some of the Joggy team at Thingtesting, they were angelic. Iām just seeing they got rid of ALL their body care productsā anyone know how or why or when that happened? [Editors note: I just got to the bottom of this after relentless sleuthing and according to Ty Haney in the brandās chat group on TYB, theyāre doing a few March Madness partnerships and canāt have cannabinoids on the site in order to be fully compliantā¦ so guess theyāre coming back?]
SIDIA has that brand magic stink on them. There are whole threads about it in
ās Substack chats. (Speaking of, Dorsey is a perfect brand to me, but Iām focusing on consumables here.) That said: while I admire the brand, I have never purchased. I think itās easy to subscribe to something thatās pretty but you never buyā¦ I want to find the magic in between where you love and use the products and the content complements that experience.Soft Services I donāt follow on social, but when I see their stuff Iām happy. I willingly subscribe to their texts because they donāt spam me. I re-order my favorite products semi-regularly, like the buffing bar.
I like and have always liked Bathing Cultureās tone and visual identity.
My friend Lisa at Experiment Beauty does a really good job of launching products and building community. (I hate that buzzword, but here itās true.)
Flamingo Estate could basically put out a rock or a turd at this point and people would find it stunning, beautiful, etc. That said: are you guys actually buying Flamingo? I always want to but never do add to cart, itās a little pricy for me. For ex, Iād love to buy this or this, but the pricing is justā¦ this is why Americans are in debt.
I mean, I really liked my own shit.
My favorite was when Leila included that pic of Brad Pitt wearing Y2K sunglasses as he glimpsed a brighter & more sustainable future. (As with my newsletter now, talking about how all of this got made FAR outperformed the engagement with the actual end product. Go figure. You guys like the process more than the product. Thereās something to that, but since in my current role Iām inheriting a business someone else founded & grew, it feels funkier to post myself doing behind the scenes stuff.)
Iād be eternally grateful if you weighed in in the comments. If you have tangible ideas or intros to creators you admire, I will send the heck out of some body care products to you. If you just have your two cents to offer, that is still amazing and Iām thrilled to get into the weeds with you. ā„ļø I am going to start my very first Substack chatā¦ eek! Scary!
Excited for you on you new chapter! Loved reading this and feeling inspired, as I'm focused on getting out of the box in my workstream rn.
Here are my thoughts for you to noodle on:
1. Would love to see brands rewarding loyal customers who are actually paying for their products over and over again. Iām sick of seeing the most popular IT girls on Instagram/TikTok being the only ones to get the instagram-worthy branded deliveries when a new product launches. Send unboxing experiences to REAL, paying customers. Even better if you do it as a surprise!
2. Sticking on the loyalty piece, Iād love to see brands increase their gamification. Loyalty leaderboards, badges, etc. that all result in mini gifts, early access, in-person events, etc.
3. Build in the open with your real customers. Recruit 5, 10, 20 loyal, paying customers (maybe people who have jobs in design, product, beauty, etc.) to come to an inspiring off-site location to iterate with. Do IDIās, focus groups, and ideation sessions. Film it! Then when you launch a new product, make the announcement of the new product tied to community building and show the BTS.
4. Partnerships IRL! You referred to this a bit already, but if I were leading these innovative efforts, I would determine what other brands these customers are loyal to and do a partnership with them. Do some research and then explore opportunities to make customers feel even more connected to your brand, and another they are loyal to.
I have some thoughts on experiencing brands and how I spend my money. Iām a true creature of habit, with sensitive skin, so if Iām considering a new product I need to meet it in person.
I wonāt name names, but in 2019, I went to a skincare product launch event in LA. The event was held inside a jewelry store that offers free piercings with purchase. At this point, Iād been following the founder for years, even before she launched the brand. I was a fan. We drove out from the valley to West Hollywood, stood in line, but when we got in I didnāt even touch the skincare. The POS was confusing. Plus, I could tell the product had a grainy texture from the photos, but there werenāt any sinks for hand washing.
There was a short line of people waiting to take photos with the founder, but a short while later she standing around, on her phone. She came off cold. If she just gave me a smile and a āthanks for coming,ā I wouldāve spent $35 on her brand. Instead, my sister and I spent hundreds of dollars getting multiple piercings each.
Emily Weiss presented herself completely differently at Glossierās LA launch event back in 2014. The brand still had really indie vibes, no lines around the block, nothing. I was actually the first one to arrive, but by the time Emily walked in, there was a small crowd. She did a lap around the room and spent at least 30 min doing product demos and hanging out.
I shopped Glossier for the next decade, but since the reformulation happened I feel conned.