GOOD THINKING

Chris Danton & Kirsten Ludwig | IN GOOD CO
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Economía y empresa
  • Cada semana

This podcast will dive a little deeper into bit of our weekly GOOD THINKING letter. Not a recap or a reading, just chatting more, unpacking, giving more insights—the fun stuff. Like the letter, the lens 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. ingoodco.substack.com

  1. hace 1 día

    Brand love or trust? Bobbie says trust.

    We are so excited for this one. We first met Kim Chappell and Michelle Blaser at SXSW in Austin this year. We did a panel on trust and personal brand at Soho House. And pretty much immediately said we have to do this again. So here we are. Kim Chappell is the Chief Brand Officer of Bobbie, the mom-founded, mom-led organic infant formula company. She’s also, by pretty universal agreement, the OG LinkedIn mom. Michelle Blaser is a brand marketer (Duolingo, Epic Games) who’s now out on her own, writing The Pollinatr and one of the biggest voices on LinkedIn. She also happens to be a Bobbie mom. These ladies have not just helped build some of your favorite, most referenced brands, but they’ve also built personal brands that lots of people envy. And we get into how they did all of the above. We chat trust, cringe, sallying forth, building up your team, building a group of internet besties, and so much more. If you are building a brand, leading a team, posting on LinkedIn, or are still working up the nerve to, this one is for you. Enjoy! Meet Kim Chappell Kim Chappell is the Chief Brand Officer of Bobbie. She joined the company in the co-founder's San Francisco basement in 2020 and launched and built the brand into the fastest growing infant formula company in the US since the 80's. Under Kim's leadership, Bobbie has been a 3x recipient of Fast Company's Brands That Matter and a 2024 Shorty Award winner for Best Small Brand. She was named a 2026 Most Innovative CMO by Business Insider, a 2025 Forbes 50 Most Entrepreneurial CMO, a 2025 AdWeek Creative 100, and Shorty's Brand Marketer of the Year. She is a mom of three who lives in Austin, Texas. Meet Michelle Blaser Michelle Blaser is the author of The Pollinatr, the newsletter for strategists who want to stay ahead of culture. After 15 years working with culture-first brands like Duolingo, Netflix, and Epic Games, she’s built a reputation as the strategist’s strategist: spotting signals, connecting the dots, and translating insights into actionable strategies. She now helps companies and executives build influence where it counts: LinkedIn. She hails from Texas and lives with her husband and two boys in Raleigh, NC. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 00:00 — THE BAND’S BACK TOGETHER // Internet friends are real friends. 04:02 — A $500 ASK // Kim’s whole LinkedIn thing started with one email to her CFO about shipping breast milk. 06:56 — LEADERS SET THE CULTURE // Why LinkedIn is a fun group of virtual coworkers who have your back, and why leaders should overshare on purpose. 08:53 — THE DAD GAP // It’s not all mom talk. Two-thirds of dads say culture doesn’t see them. Brands should be paying attention. 12:41 — YOUR PERSONAL BRAND IS RECRUITING // Post about the duality and the top talent comes to you. Go do your own PR. 17:38 — TRUST OR LOVE // Both landed on trust. Love follows. 18:59 — THE RECALL WEEKEND // A competitor’s recall, and Bobbie’s no-strings response. 21:16 — HAVING HATERS IS A GOOD SIGN // If you’re not in the arena, so I don’t care what you think. 22:49 — THE TRUST BATTERY // Charge it every single day so it’s there when you actually need it. 25:19 — CLIMB CRINGE MOUNTAIN // Go where it’s uncomfortable. 37:27 — SUBSTACK IS MY LIVING ROOM // LinkedIn is a stage (and a water cooler). Substack is where the real you shows up. 40:45 — WRITE FROM THE HEART // Kim on AI slop, quality over volume, and typos as proof of humanity. 44:48 — DO THE DAMN THING // The final word: share the mess, just start, make what you’d want to read. Huge thanks to Kim and Michelle for coming on. Follow them. You’ll have some new besties, too. ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

  2. 19 ago

    Is the establishment cool again? Yes, but...

    We’re back with another edition of GOOD SIGNS — a monthly round-up of 5 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up. These aren’t trends (yet!). These are signals, patterns, counter-trends. Stuff that’s emerging, continuing, sticking out, or simply what we’re finding interesting in the last month. This week, we have an exciting development: our first sponsor! This month’s episodes are sponsored by The Keva Dine Agency. Keva actually placed Kirsten in a job years ago, so she can vouch firsthand. She’s the recruiter CEOs and CMOs call when culture fit matters as much as the resume. If you’re hiring, or you’re thinking about your next move, Keva’s who you call before you post the job. Enjoy! And let us know what you think in the comments. Skip to the bits you fancy 1. 04:24 — LESS IS BECOMING MORE // For years, especially recently, more has been the default. More speed, more growth, more choice, more output. But as things speed up at scale, many are seeing a strategic advantage in a slower, or periodically slow, approach. Places it’s showing up: * Sézane is looking to slow down and grow up. Proving that speed is a choice. * The sprint is not new to tech, but rest is. Founders are building in rest as work gets faster. * Ditto, a dating app, skips swiping and sends 1 curated single match every Wednesday at 7pm. Pendulum Swing → Google shows what happens when more means more layers. Jeff Dean had a ChatGPT-like bot years ago, but bureaucracy stifled it. Lean frontier labs are shipping while bigger organizations ask, refine, second-guess, and ultimately struggle in a consensus swamp. 2. 23:36 — TRACKING TO TREATING // We spent the last decade giving people more information. Data was coming out of our eyeballs, driving every decision. But as our ability to collect infinite amounts of data has increased, an alternative take on tech is also emerging: actually just being of service. Places it’s showing up: * Bobbie launched The Feeding Concierge for new moms’ feeding questions: a 24/7 bespoke AI agent, expert-led virtual circles, and 1:1 consultations. * In the first wave of trackers, the goal was just to get data. Now, MyFitnessPal has introduced an AI nutrition coach to actually help you use what you’ve tracked for long-term benefit. * Dumbo Health, a sleep-focused platform, is offering physician interpretation and hardware. Not just scores. Pendulum Swing → Sometimes the product should just do the job. So many brands pitch flashy AI creative tools, but the time-saving, tedious-work-reducing AI tools are what teams love most. 3. 32:22 — MADE IN CHINA, WANTED IN CHINA // China’s homegrown brands aren’t simply cheaper alternatives to Western options. They’re winning on performance, cultural fluency, and just coolness. And netizens are deliberately making them a first choice. Places it’s showing up: * At the Nike ACG Chongli 168 Ultra Trail, 58% of the shoes worn were Kailas Fugas. * In China, Adidas rebranded its TERREX outdoor line as Shanchuanli, which is softer, less rugged, and more attuned to the market. * Pane, a Shanghai-based sneaker brand, did a nice-looking collab with Head. Pendulum Swing → Maybe it is less about local and more about global appetite. BYD, the Chinese car brand, is gaining speed in the EU and the US. Perception is changing globally. 4. 40:51 — EASY DENSITY // Wellness has spent years asking consumers to optimize and add another thing to the routine. That said, shortcuts aren’t new. But what they are for is. GLP-1s have increased our need for nutrient density. And players are emerging to meet the moment easily. Places it’s showing up: * PlantChi is a nutritional seasoning, a food topper to get the density up in whatever you’re making. * GLP-1 users struggle to get protein from smaller meals. Clare launched an all-in-one nutritional supplement to tackle it. * In LA, protein water is the rage. Plainspeak is a new entrant. Nutra is another. Pendulum Swing → Sneakies is sneaking a “full serving” of fruits and vegetables per bag. But that full serving is 5 spinach leaves and half an apple. What counts as dense hasn’t been properly codified. 5. 47:48 — INSTITUTIONS ARE COOL AGAIN // After years of chasing internet-native, emerging, cool challenger brands as a default collaborator set, we are swinging the other way. Suddenly the establishment is interesting again. Places it’s showing up: * Aritzia and The Juilliard School launched a back-to-school collection. And Bode with Yale School of Music. * Dancer and choreographer Kyle Abraham performed his latest piece in the NYT’s offices. * Greenrow revamped the NY Botanical Garden’s historic Stone Cottage. Pendulum Swing → Generally, we know that trust in institutions is at an all-time low. The arts (I consider the Botanical Gardens art) seem to be the one area where that’s not true. But if we’re just looking at the letters for a swing, we can see that “old guard” brands, like AARP, are still not getting how to be relevant to their audience. Letters referenced: * Gap is teaching marketing. * Aritzia made back-to-school dance-worthy * Beefeater makes sobriety a pleasure * Aman needs a new media consultant * Sézane is slowing down. On purpose. Hallelujah. ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

  3. 12 ago

    The sans-demic is over

    Last year at Paradigms, out in the Moroccan desert, I met Chris and Will from Studio DRAMA, a type design studio. They make custom typefaces for brands, and they’ve done it for Heinz, KFC, and Michelob Ultra. Like most people at Paradigms, they are also genuinely rad people. We get into why niching down was great for them, why every tech brand looks the same (but shouldn’t), an optimistic take on AI, and we learn many, many new words. There are lessons in here for studios, freelancers, and a side of brand many CMOs overlook. Enjoy! Meet Studio DRAMA Chris Nott and Will Richardson are the co-founders of Studio DRAMA, the world’s first custom type foundry. William leads the studio’s creative vision. Building brands through distinctive typographic storytelling that challenges category conventions and amplifies identity at every scale. Under his direction, Studio DRAMA has developed award-winning custom typefaces for global names such as KFC, BBH and Snickers. Chris leads the studio’s creative practice. Shaping brand identities through distinctive, typographic systems that bring strategy and storytelling into perfect alignment. Chris has overseen the creation of bespoke typefaces for global brands including Mozilla, Heinz and Vogue. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 04:16 — A BRAND-LED TYPE FOUNDRY // Not a foundry, not an agency, somewhere in between. 08:52 — THE BRAVERY TO NICHE // For a year, they were everything to everyone. Learning to say no is what changed the business. 15:16 — MONTHS, NOT YEARS // Busting the myth that custom type takes two years and +$2M. 18:01 — THE SANS-DEMIC // How every brand ended up speaking in the same generic sans. 21:40 — TOUCH TYPE, NOT LOGO // Brands are scared to touch the logo. Type is the thing they can actually own. 23:36 — WHAT BRANDS GET WRONG // Why type design shouldn’t come at the end. 26:41 — WHO NEEDS A CUSTOM TYPEFACE? // Their answer: if you can make something distinctive and memorable, why wouldn’t you? 30:10 — THE NANDO’S EFFECT // Spot a sliver of a letter around the corner and you already know it’s Nando’s. 33:25 — TYPE AND LOGOS // The logo-font approach VS redrawing the wordmark and the typeface together so the whole system finally connects. 37:00 — SCRITALIC // The new word they had to invent to describe what they were even making. 38:42 — THE OPTIMIST’S CASE FOR AI // Where AI has a role. And a big upside for smaller studios. 42:50 — AI CAN’T DO THE CRAFT // It’s great at generic sans. Get ready to have to be different. And need humans for it. 44:28 — DRAMA WISDOM // The best advice for going out on your own. 49:14 — QUICK FIRE // Three things every brand should do, and the typographic elephant in the room. Huge thanks to Chris and Will for coming on. It was so good to finally sit down with them. See their work at studio-drama.com. Follow along on Instagram. ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

  4. 5 ago

    Candy shops are putting big brands to shame

    A couple of months ago, I met Danny Giacopelli in London while I was over Mc’ing Brands and Culture. Danny writes For Starters. A super fun newsletter all about starting cool businesses. Danny is a New Yorker who lives in London (at the Barbican, maybe the coolest place to live ever), and he spent years at Monocle and then ran Courier, so he’s been telling business stories his whole career. We get into the big word that is “community”, the businesses he’s obsessed with right now, the analog comeback, and his case for buying a business instead of starting one. There are lessons in here for small businesses, new media folks, and also lots of lessons that bigger brands often overlook. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/O16MoPBlM3I Meet Danny Giacopelli Danny Giacopelli is the founder of For Starters, an independent weekly newsletter for the next generation of small business owners, read by thousands around the world every Friday. He got his start hosting one of the podcast industry’s earliest business shows, The Entrepreneurs, at Monocle, then became editor of Courier, the global magazine about working on your own terms (later acquired by Mailchimp). Born and raised in New York, he’s lived in London for 16 years. And yes, his newsletter’s address just says “Barbican.” Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 02:11 — MEET FOR STARTERS // From Monocle to Courier to his own thing: the best newsletter for the next generation of small business owners. 02:58 — THE BARBICAN FLEX // His newsletter just lists “Barbican” as the address. I mean, come on. 04:36 — THE SMALL BUSINESS BUG // The best stories are the people who failed and kept going, not the ones who raised a fortune. 10:42 — BUILDING IN PUBLIC, ON PURPOSE // Danny mapped the business model from day one. Memberships, partnerships, and products and, yes, community. 13:56 — YOU CAN’T BUILD A COMMUNITY // You can only nurture one. The nicher the topic, the better. And how brands can actually buy communities but they can’t forget to feed them. 16:52 — NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS EASY // You can’t copy someone’s viral playbook, only learn their process. Legacy “5 tips to a billion” media is b******t. 20:08 — THE BUSINESSES HE LOVES // All Day Goods turning restaurant plastic into knives. Yanaa’s real-food energy pouches. Storytelling like Paynter. 24:56 — WHAT ELSE CAN A PRODUCT BE? // Milkadamia ships oat milk as dissolvable sheets instead of water. Change the format, change the business. 27:02 — THE ANALOG RENAISSANCE // Landlines, vinyl, sweet shops, bookstores. Real sales. And a big response to AI. 38:13 — BUY IT, DON’T BUILD IT // Millions of boomer businesses need a successor. Buy one. 39:33 — BUILD FOR THE SILVERS // Everyone chases Gen Z. Wealthy 65-to-70s are underserved, and every product made for them is cringe. 42:19 — TELL THE BETTER STORY // The bodega owner who came from nothing beats the Wharton-to-McKinsey grad every time. Hero’s journey, learned the hard way. 44:11 — QUICK FIRE // Three things every brand should do. The trend he’s most excited about. And what most brands get wrong. Huge thanks to Danny for coming on. Read For Starters and find him on Instagram. ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless and proactive positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

    Candy shops are putting big brands to shame

  5. 29 jul

    The pie is infinite. Act like it.

    We’ve been trying to get Melissa Rosenfield on the pod for about a year. As you’ll see through the episode, she’s a lady in demand! We finally made it happen, and it was worth the wait. We met Melissa four or five years ago, and the friendship was instant. As was the admiration. Every time we run into her at Cannes or SXSW, we walk away wishing we’d gotten more Melissa time. PR can be a strange, icky business. It never has to be but it gets that rep for lots of reasons. Melissa’s approach is totally the opposite. We get into what’s changed in PR in just the last eight months, why the spray-and-pray pitch is dead, the problem with over-optimized positioning, and why “generosity is a flywheel.” If you run a brand or work in comms, this one’s for you. Enjoy! Meet Melissa Rosenfield Melissa Rosenfield is the founder of IFP Communications, a New York agency known for making heritage brands relevant again and challenger brands impossible to ignore. Before IFP, she was the Viceroy Hotel Group’s first-ever Director of Vibe. She writes In Fine Print on Substack, and has been named a PR News Top Woman in PR and a multi-year Inc. Power Partner. Find Melissa on LinkedIn, subscribe to In Fine Print, and see more at ifpcommunications.com. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 02:22 — THE WORLD’S FIRST DIRECTOR OF VIBE // Melissa’s story. From director of vibes to today. 05:18 — CALCULATED RISK, ALWAYS // Every good move is a calculated risk, and you have to let an idea sit before you kill it. 07:20 — PR’S SUBSTACK MOMENT // The talented writers went independent, and earned media feels like the early days of Instagram. 09:24 — STOP SENDING THE GENERIC PITCH // Getting 700 pitches a week. Lazy blasts do more harm than good. Be a human. 15:23 — THE HAIR TIE THAT WON THE WORLD CUP // Over-optimized positioning kills discovery. Loosen the reins and let people run with it. 22:20 — WHY GOOD PR IS SLOW // In the age of AI speed, the things that actually build a brand take time. 24:15 — STILL HERE IN 150 YEARS // A watch CMO said the only real KPI was longevity of the brand. 28:01 — NOBODY FOLLOWS A BRAND ON LINKEDIN // People follow founders, not logos. Richard Branson is the OG blueprint. 31:01 — THE C-SUITE PERSONAL BRAND DILEMMA// Building up a great exec isn’t a threat. Done right, like most things, it raises the whole ship. 34:09 — HOW TO FIX CANNES // Fewer six-figure CEO panels, more of the people actually in the weeds doing the work. 40:07 — MAKE A SEAT AT THE TABLE // Stop asking where your seat is and start creating seats for other people. 46:56 — GENEROSITY IS A FLYWHEEL // Give it away. The pie is infinite, and abundance always beats scarcity. 50:10 — EVERYBODY LOVES A COMEBACK // Take the calculated risk, and do your own PR hard in your first three years. Huge thanks to Melissa for coming on. If you need PR help. Or are starting out and want to learn the ropes from an expert, sub to her letter : ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

  6. 22 jul

    Sitting in discomfort is a superpower

    Last year at Paradigms, in Marrakesh, I had a front row seat to Nu Goteh’s talk. Nu is one of those speakers who drops so many gems that you feel a bit dizzy after the talk. He’s philosophical, funny and just really delightful to listen to. We get into learning in public, where his fearlessness comes from (Liberia, a refugee at three, a tribe of storytellers), why sitting in discomfort is the ultimate superpower. If you’re starting your career, navigating change, thinking about the future, or are a keynote speaker in the making and want some thinking from someone that does it on the regular, this one is for you. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/0GwqdrxRyE4 Meet Nu Goteh Nu Goteh is the founder of the strategy and design studio Room for Magic and co-founder of Deem Journal, a platform for design as social practice. Born in Liberia and raised in the US after arriving as a refugee at three, he spent 15 years marketing for brands like Puma, Red Bull, and Sonos before turning to work that sits at the intersection of design, culture, and dignity. He won the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for emerging designer, and he’s one of the most magnetic keynote speakers you’ll ever see. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 02:54 — WISDOM AT PARADIGMS // Chris saw Nu give one of the most soulful talks of the whole conference and knew Kirsten would love him. 04:45 — THE PERFORMANCE // Lessons on keynote speaking. The first person you need to satisfy is yourself. 08:23 — ROOM FOR MAGIC // Meaning-making meets form-making. 12:17 — LEARNING IN PUBLIC // His talks open with vulnerability, not authority. “Come along while I figure it out.” 17:49 — WHERE IT COMES FROM // Born in Liberia, a refugee at three. What his tribe taught him about storytelling, emotion, and ‘facts’. 20:14 — “WHAT’S AN INSIGHT?” // An insight is a hidden human truth. Who does it best? Comedians. 25:25 — THE WOBBLY SPEEDBOAT // The ambiguous space is the one that’s increasing in value. 28:31 — NOBODY DOES IT ALONE // A shout out to his wife, and killing the myth of the single person doing it all. 32:48 — DISCOMFORT IS THE SUPERPOWER // Sitting in discomfort is the biggest one there is. 35:43 — SHROOMS IN THE HOT TUB // His monthly practice in accepting discomfort. 44:55 — NOBODY’S COMING TO SAVE US // So step forward. The universe tends to meet you when you do. 48:23 — QUICK FIRE // Three things every brand should do. The trend that excites and scares him. And what brands keep getting wrong. Huge thanks to Nu for taking us on this one. Find him on Instagram, read Deem Journal, and see Room for Magic. ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless and proactive positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

  7. 15 jul

    Everyone's hiring a hand-painter

    We’re back with another edition of GOOD SIGNS — a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up. These aren’t trends (yet!). These are signals, patterns, counter-trends. Stuff that’s emerging, continuing, sticking out, or simply what we’re finding interesting in the last month. Enjoy! And let us know what you think in the comments. Skip to the bits you fancy 1. 02:44 — MALE ORIENTATION // Men’s health has moved out of the shadows. Much like women’s health (PCOS, peri/menopause, etc), people are openly discussing male fertility, hormones, and ED. And brands are building to meet the conversation. Places it’s showing up: * Sperm-maxxing is trending. Sperm health is being reframed as a vital sign worth tracking. * Hone sells TRT. Legacy sells at-home sperm freezing. Mojo treats ED on a mind, body, and communication model. * The manosphere pushback is getting louder. Pendulum Swing → The flip side of this is the (sad) anxiety-related underbelly. The Trinity Stack has men mixing GLP-1, growth hormone, and androgens at home. All of this sits very adjacent to look-maxxing. 2. 10:07 — CREDITING CREDITING// There’s so much talk about not appreciating humans. But there are lots of examples lately of the inverse, too. The people behind the work being applauded. Places it’s showing up: * Following in the footsteps of Dior, Marc Jacobs, and Alaïa, Balenciaga brought out their studio team at the end of their latest couture show. * Canva’s CMO worked the door at her team’s Pride party. * Yungblud pulled his producer on stage to thank her. * “Shot by” credits are creeping back onto billboards. Pendulum Swing → Meanwhile, AI isn’t killing jobs, but companies keep blaming it for the headcount they cut anyway. 3. 20:13 — ROOM WITH REACH // Corporate gatherings as gathering-content-opportunity for creators is gathering steam. Places it’s showing up: * Cannes used to be about the awards. But Instagram wouldn’t know it. Creators flocked in to make content and connections. B2B is now entertaining the masses. * Oatly’s corporate gathering was a very tasteful, made-for-the-feed affair. * Substack’s first media summit did the same. * Goop Kitchen co-hosted a low-key creator picnic in the park with Katie Stone. Pendulum Swing → With Meta glasses and every device running Granola all day, closed doors will grow faster and faster. Phoebe Bridgers phone-free concerts are just the cusp. 4. 30:59 — CANDOR CAPITAL // Founders are making candor work for them. And, honest conversation is being sought outside the comment section. Places it’s showing up: * Topicals’ founder posted about her flop and asked the audience to diagnose it. They loved being asked. * Peter Rahal, founder of David, went vulnerable with Emily Sundberg, and it worked. * Creator trust is shifting toward direct relationships: DMs, paywalled Substack comment sections and chats, group chats, and private communities. (We discussed this in particular at length in the last GOOD SIGNS) Pendulum Swing → Zuck sat for Emily Sundberg’s interview and played it safe. No candor = no payoff. 5. 40:28 — HIRING HUMAN HANDS // Commissioning handmade moments, especially live ones, is becoming the flex. Places it’s showing up: * Fred Again had a 72-year-old sign painter hand-paint his India tour poster. * I’ve been saying brands should hire sketch artists. Live drawing is about to have a moment. * Soof Flash treats garment repair like tattooing. Imperfection is the point. Pendulum Swing → The AI flood is rising. Being “AI-pilled” runs $7,449 per employee a month, and Eternal turns your bloodwork into an unnecessary podcast. Letters and pods referenced: * Oatly makes “corporate” look good * Levi’s doesn’t need a logo. Trophy-worthy. * What was Skims thinking? * LVMH wants to buy Hyrox? * Cannes hot (very hot) takes * Topicals’ founder shared a brand flop. It worked. ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 8 jul

    Topicals' founder shared a brand flop. It worked.

    Over a year ago, we met Bryon Stewart at our GOOD THINKING NYC tour. And we loved him from the beginning. Bryon writes one of the best social media letters out there, Tapped In. You can rely on it for surfacing things nobody else is finding. It’s as much culture analysis as it is social trends and tactics. We wanted to get Bryon on to talk about everything brands should be thinking about when it comes to social. We’ve wanted this one to happen for ages, and it’s finally here. Enjoy! Meet Byron Byron got his start in sneaker retail back when “social strategy” barely existed as a term. From there: fashion media, then back to retail and the agency side, building social, content, and influencer strategies for Nike, Jordan, adidas, TikTok, Levi’s, Wingstop, Chipotle, and more. Today, he’s Senior Director of Social for a portfolio of heritage fashion and retail brands, and he writes Tapped In, a Substack read by 3,000+ marketers, creatives, and strategists. In short: he thinks outside the social box, and we’re better for it. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 02:11 — TAPPED IN // How Bryon got to where he is today. 03:21 — BYRON’S INTERNET // Everyone says they have their own internet. Byron actually does. And he refuses to stay in his box. Amen. 07:53 — CULTURE FIRST, SOCIAL SECOND // Social through a culture lens, not the other way around. 09:28 — SPORTS IS THE LAST UNIFIER // The Knicks might be the most unifying thing on the internet right now. Sport is the one piece of culture everyone can still rally around. 13:08 — PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE // Social commerce isn’t a trend anymore. And everyone’s still hunting for a TikTok shop person. 16:25 — ANTI-AI IS A FLEX // Right now, NOT using AI is a win. But it depends on your brand. Porsche can’t. Kalshi can. 19:37 — RETAIL CAN’T BE TRANSACTIONAL // Entertainment first, niche down, and go backwards to go forward. GAP, J.Crew, and yes, Chili’s is a heritage brand. 26:32 — THE UNTAPPED PLATFORMS // Reddit, streamers, and YouTube. 30:35 — SUBSTACK FOR BRANDS // You can’t just show up and perform there. It takes a real perspective and a dedicated team. 32:48 — COMMENTS EQUAL CONTENT // Social listening is the lowest-hanging fruit there is. Look at your own comments, and you’ll never run out of ideas. 34:09 — TRANSPARENCY IS THE FLEX // The Topicals founder didn’t hide that her brand Bread’s new launch flopped. Put your face out there. Be transparent. People become bigger fans of it. 40:02 — QUICK FIRE // Three things every brand should do. The trend Byron’s most excited about. And what brands keep getting wrong. Huge thanks to Byron for coming on. Find him on LinkedIn and subscribe to Tapped In! ABOUT Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless and proactive positioning. Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

Ver todo (100)

Calificaciones y reseñas

5
de 5
3 calificaciones

Acerca de

This podcast will dive a little deeper into bit of our weekly GOOD THINKING letter. Not a recap or a reading, just chatting more, unpacking, giving more insights—the fun stuff. Like the letter, the lens 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. ingoodco.substack.com

Información

  • Creador
    Chris Danton & Kirsten Ludwig | IN GOOD CO
  • Años de actividad
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodios
    100
  • Clasificación
    Explícito
  • Copyright
    © IN GOOD CO
  • Mostrar sitio web
    GOOD THINKING

También te podría interesar