Meme Team

Sonia Baschez
  • 5.0 (21)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

Meme Team dissects the marketing strategies creating breakout cultural moments. Host Sonia Baschez breaks down real campaigns, cultural moments, and marketing trends with other marketers. If you care about positioning, storytelling, or why the algorithm is acting weird again, this one's for you.

  1. 5d ago

    When Your Differentiator Stops Working: Meta, Bumble, Obama & the FAA

    Zuckerberg published a 6,500-word manifesto calling for open, democratized AI the same week Meta was defending itself in six active monopoly lawsuits. Bumble scrapped the women-message-first rule, which was literally the brand. Obama launched a book podcast on an audio platform and somehow it's one of the smarter marketing moves of the year. Jonathan K. Lowe joined me to talk through all of it, plus the FAA quietly solving a hiring crisis by recruiting video gamers. Timestamps  0:00 Zuckerberg's AI manifesto vs. Meta's monopoly problem 23:48 Bumble drops women-message-first (and what the Southwest comparison reveals about brand strategy) 42:00 Obama's Audible book podcast and why celebrity co-signs beat institutions now 54:00 The FAA is hiring gamers as air traffic controllers 1:03:00 Key takeaways About Jonathan K. Lowe Jonathan is the founder and CEO of Salt Foundry, a fractional CMO collective, and author of "Keeping People Interested: How Leaders Use Marketing to Capture and Sustain Attention."

    When Your Differentiator Stops Working: Meta, Bumble, Obama & the FAA

  2. Aug 10

    Fans deserve better: Disney, Vinyl, Flock, BTS

    Spider-Man Brand New Day just hit $1 billion, and Disney's CEO is already publicly attaching Avengers Doomsday to that momentum. That's a bold bet with a lot riding on it. Sonia Baschez and journalist Shannon Miller look at the gap between brands that genuinely show up for fans and brands that just extract from them, from Disney's new TikTok creator deal to vinyl labels charging $40 for incomplete pressings to Flock Safety's police camera cover-up. Timestamps  00:00 Disney, Josh DeMaro, and the TikTok IP deal 24:00 The Vinyl Trap: why your record probably has missing tracks 41:55 Flock Safety and the police surveillance scandal 55:47 BTS Ari Dang World Tour and how K-pop does fan activations right About Shannon Miller Shannon is a journalist and former managing editor at AdWeek covering the creator economy. She co-authored "A Miscellany of Weird and Wonderful Facts" with Jess Severis and writes her own newsletter. Follow her on Threads and Instagram @ShannonL_Miller.

    Fans deserve better: Disney, Vinyl, Flock, BTS

  3. Jul 30

    The End of Mid: Zendaya, Nolan, + Marvel

    Zendaya's press tour for The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is generating more coverage than either studio's marketing budget combined. Christopher Nolan crossed $650M without a traditional campaign, the IMAX CEO is sitting on the biggest missed opportunity in entertainment, and Marvel Doomsday is locked into a same-day release against Dune 3, which is a position nobody should want to be in. This week Sonia Baschez is joined by Christina Garnett for her seventh appearance on the show. Timestamps  0:00 Intro 0:48 Zendaya's fashion campaign: Law Roach, Schiaparelli, Mathieu Mirano wings look, and the plot Easter eggs 18:24 The Odyssey vs. Moana 2, Christopher Nolan at $650M, and the IMAX CEO fumbling in real time 29:55 Marvel Doomsday vs. Dune 3: same release date, missing female characters, why Doomsday deserves to lose 34:38 Fan conventions as marketing real estate: Hall H, Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider, Fanatics Fest, Coachella as the influencer Olympics 47:00 Hades Town beats Hamilton's opening pro-shot record, Apple TV acquisition, and making theater accessible 1:00:00 World Cup lessons: monocultural moments, Scottish fans in Boston, Cape Verde's goalkeeper to MLS, FIFA leaving money on the table 1:10:00 Brand identity: Coca-Cola's successful rebrand addition vs. Cracker Barrel and Red Lobster alienating their base About Christina Garnett Christina is the author of Transforming Customer Brand Relationships and Pocket CCO. She's a fractional chief community officer who helps brands turn customer loyalty into a real business asset. This is her seventh time on the show.

    The End of Mid: Zendaya, Nolan, + Marvel

  4. Jul 16

    Authenticity Wins: Jennifer Lawrence, Christopher Nolan, Apple & Letterboxd

    Sonia sits down with Brianna Miller, to break down Jennifer Lawrence saying she hates doing press, Christopher Nolan's take on Gen Z rejecting AI slop, Apple quietly dominating the Emmy nominations, and why Netflix, Paramount, and Sony are all trying to buy Letterboxd. The big thesis: authenticity isn't optional anymore, and the brands that engineer trust without manufacturing it are winning the cultural moment. Jennifer Lawrence told Viola Davis on Variety's Actors on Actors that her biggest hindrance to acting is doing press. She dropped out of middle school and feels self conscious about how she comes across intellectually in interviews. This falls in line with celebrities opting out of traditional outlets and going direct to podcasts like Amy Poehler's show, Hot Ones, Call Her Daddy, and Chicken Shop Date. The reasons: lower stakes questions, the interviewer knows the space, their guard comes down when talking to a peer, and dual star amplification where both audiences compound reach. Emmy Rossum talked to Alex Cooper about asking for a raise on Shameless and how she got paid the same as William H. Macy. That story never would have come out with a traditional journalist. Tom Holland did press for The Odyssey and talked about being thrown into IMAX filmmaking instead of answering questions about his relationship with Zendaya. The lesson: celebrities are figuring out that if they go direct to celebrity podcasts, they control the narrative and get to talk about what they actually want to talk about. Christopher Nolan said he's never seen a more rapid wholesale dismissal of a supposedly foundational jump in technology. Gen Z's judgment of AI slop has been immediate and harsh because they grew up online and can tell the difference. Kodak's film division is thriving because young filmmakers are embracing original film technology. Project Hail Mary used a puppeteer for Rocky instead of CGI and it worked. The Odyssey built practical effects for Cyclops, the horse, the boat, and filmed in caves that have never been filmed before. Olivia Wilde paid for film herself for The Invite when the studio didn't want to, and when A24 bought it for a huge profit she got the money back. Kane Parsons and Curry Barker both came out against AI. The lesson: audiences want original stories and practical effects, and the more real you make things, the more authentic it comes across. The 2026 Emmy nominations came out: HBO got 122, Netflix got 111, and Apple TV got 81. Apple's library is way smaller than Netflix but they have a track record for choosing the correct shows. Their word of mouth is unheard of. Severance, Ted Lasso, Slow Horses, Silo, and Widow's Bay all became word of mouth shows. Apple is quietly curating itself as the sci fi and fantasy streaming platform, which fits with their brand. F1 marketed the camera they built to film cars racing. Netflix is thinking about doing channels that'll be on 24/7, which makes them regular TV. Amazon is becoming the place that creates shows from books: Off Campus, The Love Hypothesis, Lord of the Rings, Jack Reacher, Jack Ryan. The lesson: curation is a strategy, not a compromise, and one show that people feel something about is worth more than 50 average ones. Netflix, Paramount, and Sony Pictures are in talks to buy Letterboxd. The concern is that they're trying to own an organic community of 26 million users who actively discuss films and influence what people watch. Amazon bought Goodreads and the culture didn't survive intact. OpenAI bought TBPN and the trust is gone. The lesson: when you buy a community, you don't automatically buy their loyalty, and it's very easy for them to leave the platform if they feel it's no longer worth voicing their opinion. Timestamps 00:00 Jennifer Lawrence hates doing press and celebrities going direct to podcasts 20:00 Christopher Nolan on Gen Z rejecting AI slop and film division thriving 40:00 Apple quietly dominating Emmy nominations with 81 and word of mouth strategy 1:00:00 Netflix, Paramount, and Sony trying to buy Letterboxd and community trust Guest: Brianna Miller, Director of Demand Generation at Cohere Health and Adjunct Marketing Professor at UMSL

    Authenticity Wins: Jennifer Lawrence, Christopher Nolan, Apple & Letterboxd

  5. Jul 9

    When Brands Should Participate: Taylor Swift's Wedding, Trump's FIFA Call & TikTok's AI Soap Operas

    Sonia sits down with Jess Zafarris, author, etymologist, TikTok creator, and editor at large at Ragan and PR Daily, to break down Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding brand activation, FIFA's controversial red card reversal for the US Men's National Team, and TikTok's new AI generated mini drama feature. The big thesis: speed isn't enough anymore, and brands that chase every cultural moment without discernment end up looking desperate instead of relevant. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married at Madison Square Garden in front of under 1,000 guests, and NBC News called it the American Royal Wedding. Brands immediately jumped in with AI generated memes and reactive content, but most of it felt forced. The Knot put a branded moving truck outside MSG, which worked because the business alignment was obvious. American Eagle Outfitters announced their Kelce collab stock jump. But most brands used AI to generate lazy content instead of creating something thoughtful. The New York Times called them all out. Christian Dior designed both outfits but didn't announce it, and that restraint is working better than the brands that screamed for attention. The lesson: if you're going to participate in a monoculture moment, figure out what you're actually saying and whether your audience expects you to be there. We're talking about: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding at Madison Square Garden and brands using AI generated memes to participate The Knot putting a branded moving truck outside MSG, American Eagle Outfitters announcing Kelce collab stock jump, and Christian Dior designing both outfits but not announcing it The tackiness narrative: Blake Lively drama, buffet line, raffle for Chanel bag, and whether luxury brands should associate with that Two fandom problem: Taylor Swift fans versus football fans, and why trying to cater to both means you're catering to neither FIFA suspending Folarin Balogun's one match ban after Donald Trump called Gianni Infantino, Belgian Football Federation challenging the decision, and the US losing anyway FIFA doing this before for Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, and why precedent is product TikTok launching TV studios with AI doing production, mini dramas feature, and why brands were already doing serialized content themselves Horror creators like Curry Barker and Kane Pixels building audiences on YouTube and TikTok before getting studio deals, and why AI generated content can't compete YouTube demonetizing AI slop and TikTok encouraging it, and which one audiences actually want Threads hitting 500 million monthly active users, behaving more like Reddit than Twitter, and why it's a Reddit Pinterest hybrid with microblogging format Threads solving the cold start problem by letting users arrive with Instagram or Facebook linked identity, and Blue Sky behaving more like Twitter used to Whether Threads will eventually eat Facebook, and where Facebook fits when Instagram is for photos and Threads is for text based community Plus: Why soap operas got their name in the 1930s, and what that means for TikTok's AI mini dramas today Timestamps 00:00 Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding brand activation and AI generated memes 20:00 FIFA suspending Folarin Balogun's red card ban after Trump called Infantino 40:00 TikTok launching TV studios with AI mini dramas and why creators are already doing it better 1:00:00 Threads hitting 500 million users and becoming a Reddit Pinterest hybrid Guest: Jess Zafarris, author, etymologist, TikTok creator, and editor at large at Ragan and PR Daily (@uselessetymology on Instagram, @jesszafarris on TikTok, Words Unravel podcast on YouTube)

    When Brands Should Participate: Taylor Swift's Wedding, Trump's FIFA Call & TikTok's AI Soap Operas

  6. Jul 2

    What Partnerships Signal: Meta + Kylie and A24 + Google Deepmind

    Sonia sits down with Lia Napolitano, founder of Our Mutual Friend and former Apple and Oculus designer, to break down Meta's Kylie Jenner glasses partnership, Google DeepMind's $75 million investment in A24, Universal's decision to exclude influencers from The Odyssey screenings, and why a $25,000 golf cart designed by former Apple and Audi designers is selling out. The big thesis: partnerships reveal who you serve and what you're willing to sacrifice to get there. Meta ended their Ray-Ban partnership and launched Meta Glasses by Kylie Jenner the same day Snapchat announced Robert Downey Jr. as an ambassador. The commercial showed Kylie walking around her house painting her nails and accepting deliveries, but conspicuously avoided showing anything private: her relationship with Timothée Chalamet, her beauty business, her children, her family. By showing the mundane use cases, Meta accidentally highlighted the product's biggest flaw and reignited privacy concerns. The partnership is cosmetic, using a celebrity to obscure the real problem: people don't want to be surveilled by glasses that no longer have a recording light. Artist Layla Gohar collaborated with Meta on the launch event and her fans were disappointed, saying her beautiful work was being used in service of something deeply troubling. Meanwhile, Kylie's fans didn't care because her brand has never been about moral alignment. The lesson: if you're going to partner with a controversial brand, figure out what you're actually trying to say and own it, or your audience will fill in the blanks for you. Google DeepMind announced a $75 million investment in A24 and a multi-year R&D partnership to build AI filmmaking tools. Google proudly announced it, while A24 seemed defensive, emphasizing they won't let Google train on their content library. But access to filmmaking workflow, how shots are developed, how stories get greenlit, how editors work, might be worth more to AI than the final films. A24 failed to explain how this benefits artists or audiences, and fans started digging into Thrive Capital's involvement and Jared Kushner's potential board seat. The lesson: if you can't explain what you're doing and why, people will assume you're naive, complicit, or both. Universal decided not to hold word-of-mouth screenings for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, meaning no influencers, no fan bloggers, no pre-release social media flood. The world premiere is July 6th in London, critics screenings follow, then it opens July 17th. This comes after Steven Spielberg's UFO Day got destroyed when an influencer called it his best film in 20 years and professional critics used that quote to mock the movie. The lesson: scarcity is a marketing strategy, and Universal is betting that film critics will give them better reviews than influencers who feel obligated to praise everything. Julian Hoenig spent 10 years at Apple under Jony Ive creating the Apple Watch and working on Vision Pro. He teamed up with former Audi and Lamborghini designers to create the Amble One, a $25,000 luxury golf cart that goes 40 mph and is street legal in Europe and Asia. They started designing it for fun after realizing there were no nice golf carts for luxury resorts. Four years later, they're sold out for the year. The lesson: the best products come from people solving problems they actually have, with people they trust, and having fun doing it. We're talking about: Meta ending Ray-Ban partnership and launching Meta Glasses by Kylie Jenner The commercial showing mundane use cases and avoiding anything private, accidentally highlighting privacy concerns Layla Gohar collaborating with Meta on the launch event and her fans being disappointed Kenya whistleblowers revealing men filming women in inappropriate places with Meta Glasses Google DeepMind investing $75 million in A24 and A24 failing to explain how it benefits artists Universal excluding influencers from The Odyssey screenings after Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day Film critics being majority men and Universal betting on their reviews over influencers Julian Hoenig and former Audi designers creating the Amble One luxury golf cart for $25,000 Starting with luxury resorts and selling out for the year Why partnerships reveal who you serve: Meta using Kylie to obscure product problems, A24 taking a defensive posture with Google, Universal opting out of influencers, and Amble building something generative with friends Timestamps 00:00 Meta launches Meta Glasses by Kylie Jenner and the privacy problem 15:00 What Meta should have said and the design problem they need to solve 28:00 Google DeepMind invests $75 million in A24 and the backlash 45:00 Universal excludes influencers from The Odyssey screenings 58:00 Amble One luxury golf cart designed by former Apple and Audi designers

    What Partnerships Signal: Meta + Kylie and A24 + Google Deepmind

  7. Jun 25

    Brands That Know Ball: Obama, Mamdani, and Norway vs. Shrek 5 and DoorDash

    Sonia sits down with Ashwin Balakrishnan to break down Obama's presidential library speech, Mayor Mamdani's Knicks championship address, Norway's Viking World Cup campaign, and why Shrek 5's trailer is getting destroyed online. The big thesis: joy-based solidarity is undersupplied in political and brand content right now, and the brands that engineer hope without manufacturing it are winning the monoculture moment. Obama said America's story isn't frozen in the past, and Mamdani used the Knicks' 0.4% comeback odds as a metaphor for fixing New York. Both speeches gave people permission to feel hope. DoorDash tried to engineer that same energy by tagging T-Pain instead of the New Zealand World Cup scorer — and when it turned out to be a planned ad, people got mad. That's the line between authentic and manufactured. Norway went the other direction. Fans started synchronized Viking rowing chants in the stands. The Football Federation leaned in, and now the team captain leads it on the field after wins. The best marketing ideas come from fans who already love you. Shrek 5's trailer dropped and the backlash was immediate. The animation lost its fairy tale quality, the character ticks are gone. A Reddit post revealed the animators who knew how to do it have mostly been pushed out of the industry. The bar for originality has never been lower. Courage has never been rarer. Convene had the N fall off their storefront during the Knicks parade. Three hours later they posted the shifted logo in Knicks colors — 67,000 views, their best post ever. Kraft built TSA-proof ranch bottles after a European tweeted about ranch and TSA posted carry-on warnings. FIFA covered up Levi's Stadium naming rights with a tarp shaped like the actual logo outline. Everybody still knew what it was. 00:00 Obama's presidential library speech: hope as forward-looking, not nostalgia 03:51 Mamdani's Knicks championship speech and the 0.4% comeback metaphor 08:00 Joy vs. rage baiting: the Monsters Inc. theory of marketing 15:00 DoorDash's T-Pain stunt and why manufactured moments backfire 18:55 Norway's World Cup Viking chant: when fans create the best marketing 19:29 Shrek 5 trailer backlash and the sea of sameness 26:07 "The bar for originality has never been lower" 29:00 The animators who knew how to do it got pushed out 34:15 Convene's logo update after the Knicks parade 36:00 Kraft's TSA-proof ranch bottles and why speed is table stakes 38:28 American Airlines puts USA jerseys on every seat for a World Cup flight 46:34 FIFA covers Levi's Stadium with a tarp shaped like the actual logo outline 53:00 "AI should be in the loop, not human in the loop" 58:00 Founder voice, yapping, and why Obama writes his own speeches Ashwin Balakrishnan is a marketing consultant who works with B2B startups on brand identity and positioning.

    Brands That Know Ball: Obama, Mamdani, and Norway vs. Shrek 5 and DoorDash

  8. Jun 17

    Why Sincerity Scales: Freddy at the World Cup, the Knicks Win, and Ferrari's PR Disaster

    Sonia Baschez sits down with Jay Kapoor, General Partner at VSC Ventures and host of the Climb podcast, to break down three viral pop culture moments from sports and marketing, and what they tell us about sincerity, brand strategy, and the shifting power dynamic between athletes and the companies that sponsor them. A German soccer fan named Freddy drove from Atlanta through Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, posted everything he saw on X, and went from zero followers to 480,000. No brand budget, no strategy, no team. Just genuine curiosity about Walmart, Buc-ee's, and the people he met along the way. That story, plus the Knicks winning the NBA Championship for the first time in 53 years, and a Ferrari/Brembo PR disaster that never had to happen. WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE: @FreddyLA7 on X started road-tripping the American South right as the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off in the US, Canada, and Mexico. He got invited to an Ella Langley show, a game with JJ Watt, and a hotel stay in Las Vegas — all because he was genuinely curious and didn't perform for the camera. We talk about why sincerity scales in ways manufactured content doesn't, what "foreign eyes defamiliarize what locals no longer notice" means for content creators and brands, and why the underdog stories from this World Cup (Cape Verde holding Spain, Curaçao equalizing Germany) are landing so hard with American audiences who love an upset. The New York Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973 and the city lost its mind in the best possible way. Jay was at Game 4, out on the streets after, and has stories. We get into Mayor Mamdani's handling of the James Dolan MSG cancellation as a comms masterclass, the Nike championship commercial directed by Josh Safdie with Billy Joel as the soundtrack (and why choosing Billy Joel over Jay-Z or Frank Sinatra was the right call), and the difference between what Nike did versus what Kalshi and Polymarket did. We also talk about why 2026 nostalgia is really nostalgia for a pre-algorithmic feed. After Charles Leclerc crashed in Monaco during the 2026 F1 season, he publicly blamed Brembo brakes. Brembo responded with "great astonishment" and directly contradicted him. Leclerc switched to his teammate Lewis Hamilton's brake setup. The internal investigation may have actually shown it wasn't Brembo's fault — but they'd already lost. We talk about what Brembo should have said in the first 24 hours, why brands should never go negative first, and how completely the power dynamic between brands and athletes has shifted. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro and Jay's opening take on the Knicks 1:20 Freddy from Germany: road-tripping the US during the 2026 World Cup 6:00 World Cup underdog stories: Cape Verde vs Spain, Curaçao vs Germany 9:07 What the World Cup means for America's image abroad 11:39 How Freddy turned wet shoes into a Walmart moment 15:05 Why sincerity scales and manufactured content doesn't 16:20 Foreign eyes defamiliarize what locals no longer notice 19:21 The Knicks win the NBA Championship for the first time in 53 years 20:48 What it felt like in New York City after the win 22:48 The West Village projector story and the NYPD 24:45 Mayor Mamdani's comms masterclass and the James Dolan MSG situation 25:37 The Nike Knicks commercial: Josh Safdie, Billy Joel, and why it worked 27:13 Why Kalshi and Polymarket got the moment wrong 37:18 Phoebe Bridgers, Yondr bags, and phones at concerts 39:19 Why people are nostalgic for 2022 (it's really about the algorithm) 43:00 Monoculture moments and what the World Cup is doing for smaller US cities 46:41 Presence over performance: the through-line of the whole episode 47:20 Preparation is what makes spontaneity possible 48:41 Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, and the Brembo brake dispute 51:43 What Brembo should have said in the first 24 hours 52:50 How athlete power has completely flipped in the last decade 54:48 Steph Curry, Under Armour, and "asset minus ET" 57:20 The difference between a product failure and a comms failure 59:00 The Monsters Inc. theory of brand marketing 1:01:36 Authenticity is one of the most counterfeited assets in marketing 1:02:35 Timothée Chalamet showed up to his own look-alike contest and came in third 1:03:08 Jay's big takeaway: create environments, not content 1:03:41 Where to find Jay and Climb ABOUT JAY KAPOOR Jay Kapoor is a General Partner at VSC Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups. He also hosts Climb, a weekly show covering founders, venture capital, and what it takes to build a company.

    Why Sincerity Scales: Freddy at the World Cup, the Knicks Win, and Ferrari's PR Disaster
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About

Meme Team dissects the marketing strategies creating breakout cultural moments. Host Sonia Baschez breaks down real campaigns, cultural moments, and marketing trends with other marketers. If you care about positioning, storytelling, or why the algorithm is acting weird again, this one's for you.

Information

  • Creator
    Sonia Baschez
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    66
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © @2026 Meme Team
  • Show Website
    Meme Team