No. 10: In 2024, Sporty Spice would be the It Girl 🏀⚽️🏈🎾

plus, Etsy's anti-Amazon campaign, MySpace for Gen Z, and tourism drama

Welcome to Volume 10 of my newsletter, Brandiose!

Also! My Future of Fashion series launches on Friday. It’ll be a 6 part series rolling out sporadically this summer featuring trends within the fashion space with a special interview each week. Stay tuned!!

🧲 OBSESSION OF THE WEEK

Etsy’s new campaign and 4 categories of products

I love this new campaign from Etsy called “Keep Commerce Human.” They are a company who has always been focused on handmade products that you can’t find anywhere else, but the reality is, the site has become a bit of a cluster in recent years and has become kind of similar to Amazon.

Which hasn’t been good for business: their stock is down 32%, sales have slowed 3.7%, and they had to do layoff 11% of their team in December. So, clearly a new strategy was in oder.

The new campaign is accompanied by strategic product updates. The site will now have 4 categories: “made by", “designed by”, “handpicked by” and “sourced by”.

Of the new positioning, CEO Josh Silverman says “I feel like there’s a race to the bottom in terms of commoditized commerce right now and almost everyone in e-commerce is playing that race. They’re selling the exact same product and they’re trying to sell it to you for 2 cents cheaper, or ship it two hours faster.”

Etsy doesn’t want play that game — smart.

🍿 BRAND NEWS

Athletic Brewing cofounders Bill Shufelt & John Walker

• NA Beer Company Athletic Brewing just raised $50 million to meet demand, expand into new retailers, and generally continue their domination of the category (they currently control 19% and are valued at $800 million)

• Baked by Melissa and Claussen’s Pickles launched Pickle Cupcakes, and as a lover of both of these foods, find this deeply offensive

• My brand obsession Heaven Mayhem just announced their newest launch: vintage watches. I’m going to need them all

• A sequel to The Devil Wears Prada is in the works, and I cannot contain my excitement because I always felt that there was more to that story!!!

• Deux x DeuxMoi just launched a new limited edition collab called ANON PLS (disclosure: I’m an investor in Deux) and I think it’s another genius branding move for Deux to cement themselves deeper into pop culture

• There’s a new app called Noplace that Gen Zs are loving — which is kind of like a MySpace meets Twitter (profiles & text based updates). It seems like Gen Z’s are craving some level of simplicity on social so this will be fun to watch

• Heinz x Kate Spade launched a collab a few weeks ago, with a bunch of ketchup packet merch, keychains, purses, shoes, etc. I really don’t know who is going to buy these things, and it may be taking the whole food and fashion thing a bit far

• Louis Vuitton x Timberland, under Pharrell’s creative direction, are releasing a line of limited edition Timberland boots embossed with the LV logo. They’re subtle, but I don’t know who the target is. I will probably be wrong.

LV x Timberland’s new collab

🎯 DEEP DIVE: SPORTS AREN’T JUST FOR THE BOYS ANYMORE

Zendaya is the face of tenniscore

Context

I’m calling 2024 the year that sports became that girl. Seriously, it feels like sports are everywhere in global culture right now, and as a former sports un-enthusiast, I am moving a little bit towards mildly curious territory. Me writing this newsletter is proof enough.

*authors note: for those who don’t understand the headline of this article, it’s a Spice Girls reference. As a 90’s gal, the official rank order of the Spice Girls was: Baby Spice, Posh Spice, Ginger Spice, then a tie for Sporty and Scary. But I think the rules of 2024 are different, and Scary would most definitely need to be rebranded to Bratty or something.

Why Now?

• an Olympic year: Olympic years tend to build excitement, get everyone’s competitive gears going, and lead to some fun brand partnerships. This year is no exception — plus, Paris.

• health is wealth: as Americans become more health conscious, they are picking up new, interesting ways to stay active that don’t involve hitting the gym. Leisurely activities like golf, pickleball, tennis, and hot girl walks all fall in that camp. The share of U.S. adults who say they’ve participated in sports at least once per week is on the rise across all genders and generations (per Morning Consult).

• post COVID era: similar to the above, people all over the world are seeking out novel experiences that they used to perhaps take for granted. Beyond travel and concerts, both of which have reached new heights in terms of consumer spending, sports are a way to build connection and create community.

• the Tayvis effect: no, really. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wildly public romance has put the NFL on the map for millions of Swifties who literally had never watched a football game in their life. Don’t believe me? Reports say that Taylor Swift has made the NFL $331 million in brand value (feels low TBH). Plus, approximately 50% of Gen Z adults have interacted with the NFL (50%) and NBA (48%) last month, up 8 and 12 % from January 2023 (per Morning Consult).

• fashion girlies: we’re also seeing fashion influence sports in a big way. Brands like Sporty & Rich, Alo, Varley, Splits59, and even Wilson and Prince have created entire collections around trends like tenniscore. Every gal owns a tennis skirt, even if she doesn’t own a tennis racket.

The Details

Olympic Gold Medalist & Gymnast Sunisa Lee for SKIMS

• If SKIMS says you’re cool, you’re cool. They recently announced a partnership and exclusive collection with Team USA ahead of the Olympics. They are also the official Underwear Partner of the WBNA announced in a buzzy campaign with players like Candace Parker and Cameron Brink. Last year, they launched a campaign featuring NFL players like Nick Bosa).

• For the second year, Wimbledon enlisted influencer Morgan Riddle, who is the girlfriend of player Taylor Fritz, to create content as host of “Wimbledon Threads” for a BTS look at what happens there. It feels pretty bold for a typically gatekept event to give such a look behind close doors, but the strategy seems to be working.

• Sunisa Lee also teamed up with clothing brand LoveShackFancy to promote their “Americana Capsule Collection” — this girl is on fire and we love to see it

• Serena Williams launched Wyn Beauty earlier this year, with the slogan “makeup to move in” and a tennis/neon green brand color that feels very Brat Summer

• Electrolytes — long associated with Gatorade and hangovers — are the hottest new beauty ingredient, per Business of Fashion. Brands like U Beauty, Drunk Elephant, and Face Gym are putting ingredients in their face washes and other products

• Olympian Ilona Maher launched Gen Z-focused beauty brand Medalist Skin this month, with the slogan “we put skincare into sport mode.” TBH, I think they need some branding help but the concept is interesting

• Blank Street Coffee is launching the “Blank Street Athletics Association” which is a series of pickleball and padel clubs in London and NYC this summer. I think it’s a great example of a brand launching an exclusive “club” and building community in the process. Plus, when your drink matches your paddle?! Iconic.

“Blank Street Athletics Association” = A+ example of an approachable, on-brand “members only” club

Hot Take 🌶️

MMK X Ellesse via Vogue

As I said up there, I’m by no means a sports fanatic. BUT I recognize a trend when I see one and, like all things business, respect the hustle of both the athletic franchises and the brands who are getting in on the action.

Here are some takeaways for brands who want to get their head in the game:

1. find your angle: not every brand should have a place in every sport. If I were a brand looking for a potential collab or activation around a sport, I would create a Venn Diagram between the attributes and values of my brand and those of the sport I’m trying to. There should be overlap, and that’s the space you want to activate in. For example, I don’t foresee a Merit Beauty and NFL collab anytime soon… but I totally see them creating a post-tennis refresh kit.

2. keep it real: when you figure out how you as a brand are going to activate, you want to create products and experiences that feel like they should exist regardless of the sport connection. Your brand is still your brand, and quality and customer experience reign supreme, especially for customers who aren’t already sports fans.

3. leverage history: one of the coolest things about sports is that there is a ton of historical context. There are callbacks and secret references that feel very if-you-know-you-know (I never know, which is how I know). This is a goldmine for brand storytelling. As a marketer, I would enlist an expert on the sport to help me understand where the opportunities are to do something completely different and perhaps insidery. This works especially well for beauty and fashion brands who need to tell a story to really stand out.

4. promote with passion: sports are full of emotion — the wins and losses bring people together. Your promotion strategy should echo those sentiments and really get at the heart of the sport you’re trying to partner with. Whether it’s golf claps, the wave, or an iconic chant, you’ll want to make sure you capture the energy and vibe of a particular group of fans.

Last week, 100% of you loved Ben & Jerry’s progressive ad campaign.

✨ MUSINGS

TLDR; operating at a LOSS!!

• If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I’m a Sweetgreen STAN. Like, I eat it 3x a week sometimes (their balsamic is the GOAT) and I don’t tolerate Sweetgreen slander. Lately, many people in the circles I run in have been complaining about the quality decline in their salads and bowls, to which I always say — ‘they’re trying their best’ (I assume). So when I read that for every $15 Sweetgreen makes in revenue, they incur $17.50 in expenses, I genuinely felt for them. THEY’RE TRYING THEIR BEST.

• Speaking of crazy facts about food, I’m not sure if you’ve seen the memes going around about the Hailey Bieber Erewhon smoothie… but I was personally shocked (and felt a little victimized) by the smoothie’s sugar content. Guys, it has 80 grams. Which is 10x that of a Krispy Kreme donut. How is this positioned as healthy?!?!?

80 freaking grams!!!

🎲 ONE LAST THING

:(

If there’s one unexpected headline I’ve been reading about this summer, it’s that in the face of peak global tourism (European summers are so essential that Gen Z is willing to go broke for them), local citizens are lashing out. Apparently, there was a protest in Barcelona this weekend where locals were spraying tourists with water guns in an effort to show they are not welcome in their country. Japan has also cracked down on tourism.

I don’t love this! I understand why citizens are frustrated that their local spots feel a bit overrun — and Airbnbs are increasing the cost of living year round, which is a real concern that I don’t have a good answer to, isn’t the fault of casual travelers, and needs to be solved on a macro level.

Philosophically speaking, we live in a global society, and travel is an essential part of what makes us feel more connected. If social media is fake, immersing ourselves in other cultures is the way we combat this.

An important nuance, of course, is how we show up to these countries as tourists. The trope of the drunk American screaming in the middle of the town square is real. So, I ask — when you’re galavanting across the globe this summer, please don’t be that guy or gal.

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have a great week.

- Sabena