Does brand need a rebrand? — When I see postings for Brand Director or Head of Brand roles, job descriptions often focus on the marketing channels that ‘brand’ teams tend to be responsible for: PR, organic social media, influencers, digital video — with the goal of building brand awareness and differentiation. If it’s a posting for…

The most interesting growth story in media isn’t Meta’s Threads. It’s right here on Medium. — Written media outlets have not had the best year in 2023: Washington Post, NPR, and Insider all announced layoffs. Vice had to be acquired out of bankruptcy. Buzzfeed shut down its Pulitzer-prize winning News Division and laid off 15% of staff after poor financial performance. Meta’s Twitter competitor Threads supposedly…

How the skincare brand is able out innovate billion-dollar brands — Olaplex Bond Building Treatment. SKII Facial Treatment Essence. Supergoop Suncreen. Every so often a beauty brand launches a product that becomes a cult favorite based on innovative results. What’s less common are companies with multiple new-to-the-world innovations. Innovation is hard. Doing it twice is harder. Nevertheless, cult-skincare brand Dr. Dennis…

People are intrigued by the Apple Vision Pro. The price? Not so much. — Yesterday, Apple released details about its long awaited headset: the Apple Vision Pro. Part virtual reality, part augmented reality, the headset promises a seamless connection between computing and humanity. For us at Swayable, this release is a perfect opportunity to use our persuasion testing platform to answer: what is the…

What celebrity brands can learn from the $100M+ brand — According to Bloomberg, more than 50 influencers and celebrities launched cosmetic, haircare, and skincare brands in the 3 years since March 2023. Many of these brands are attempting to make a name in skincare, from tennis star Naomi Osaka’s Kinlo Skincare, to Vanderpump Rules’ Lala Kent’s Give Them Lala, and…

Themes and takeaways from SB 2023 — Every year on the Monday post Super Bowl there is a rundown of the best ads. This year is no different. But my question is not ‘which ad was the best?’ but… what makes a Super Bowl ad good? In my opinion: A good Super Bowl ad comes down to…

Blank Street isn’t a coffee shop. It’s a thesis on the future of urban pickup and brand discovery. — I found out about Blank Street Coffee on Twitter. Specifically, NYC-based friends tweeting that they were trying the coffeeshop that had appeared seemingly out of thin air. And appear it has. After its founding in 2020, Blank Street now has north of 50 locations across NYC, London, Boston and DC…

3 steps to go viral via your customers — Recently when I went into the bathroom at work, I spotted a pink, bubble wrap makeup pouch on the counter. My mind jumped immediately to the creator of this bubble wrapper pouch, cosmetics unicorn Glossier. …

Will Apple finally buy Peloton? — Last September, CNBC analyst Jim Cramer referred to Peloton’s upcoming IPO as, “the kind of thing that will be exciting for today, tomorrow. And then I think we’re going to look back and say, ‘What were we thinking?’” Flash forward to July 2020, Peloton’s stock has more than doubled since…