GOOD THINKING

Chris Danton & Kirsten Ludwig | IN GOOD CO

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. 2D AGO

    Is AI making brands more human?

    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. 02:53 — THE ART OF PERCEPTION // There’s a lot of anti-AI sentiment. But it is sure doing a damn good job at making people appreciate things most had forgotten to care about. Is it pushing brands and consumers to value humanity? * Marie Dollé says we’re moving from creating to validating. Do we think this is where we exact greatness? My gut instinct says: probably not * Jasmine Bina says we’re breaking a lot of unspoken contracts. * Spotify begins what will surely be an avalanche of “real” certifications. But where’s the line? And will they work? Did “Organic” help much? B-Corp? The list of reasons against this approach working is a mile long. * Matt Klein’s fascinating survey on AI says that Americans now default to “This is fake” six times more often than they default to “This is real.” Trust collapse isn’t imminent. We’re swimming in it. The messy middle is making us question everything. Pendulum Swing → Huo Qubing, a Chinese war epic produced by a 20-person team in 48 hours on $3,000 in compute, racked up hundreds of millions of views. There’s an appetite for AI-gen’d content, so long as you bring a perspective. 2. 19:16 — A BODY OF EXPERIENCE // The bar for brand experience is moving from “looked good” to “made me feel something.” The best examples are physical, sensory, and emotional. The metric brands should be tracking is: “it made me put my phone down.” * Neko Health turned a check-up into a beautifully memorable end-to-end physical brand experience, from space to staff to report. It was emotional. * Veuve x Yinka Ilori’s Chasing the Sun was five minutes, one room, both of us near tears. * Morioka Shoten sells one book a week and designs the entire room to make you feel the story. Pendulum Swing → People still want the “shot.” We saw it time and time again at Salone/Milan Design Week. The camera still eats first (for now). 3. 28:33 — GATHERING IS THE NEW MEDIA BUY // The clearest community signal is not “build a community” in the abstract. It’s hosting something people want to show up for. And who you are gathering is half of the value-add. * Dinner for One Hundred expanding from pop-up dinners, singles nights, young-and-old gatherings, and garden parties into its own restaurant/pub. * Mama’s Night Market, Resy’s up-and-coming chef program, live tuna carving, and “gays eating garlic bread in the park” are all pulling wild turnout. * Marimekko’s Salone activation turned the restaurant collab into the event itself. Not a logo slapped on a dinner. A gathering where both brands added value. * Nadine @ The Stanza says that the new currency in hospitality is the other guests. Pendulum Swing → Logging off is in. While you could argue that the above is a form of it. There’s still a performance in the above. The gathering is made for capture. But many are opting for untaped and 100% private. 4. 37:42 — OPERATING SYSTEM // Health is moving beyond “issues”. This is more than just “preventative.” Health is becoming ambient. Where everything is tracked, scanned, logged, and monitored on-going, and the adjustments are more regular. Places it’s showing up: * Neko Health keeps score of your moles for you. And tracks correlations for your “biological age.” * Eight Sleep Pregnancy mode auto adjustment and Barrière lactose patches. * M&S’s Nutrient-Dense line and Chrono-Nutrition products in Japan. Pendulum Swing → Nonnamaxxing and trusting your instincts is returning. 5. 43:34 — NEW PLAYERS // The appetite for sport isn’t crumbling, but the format is changing. Clips, niches, amateur leagues, women’s sports, new operators. Legacy players aren’t losing because people stopped caring. They’re losing because they keep judging the new behavior instead of building for it. Places it’s showing up: * Golf’s rebrand is accelerating, and now women make up nearly 30% of players and 60% of new golfers. And smaller brands are meeting the moment. * Ultramarathon participation is surging, and brands like Mount to Coast are targeting the niche. * Gymshark is moving into gyms. The line between apparel and operator has blurred before. But this time it makes sense. Pendulum Swing → ESPN has lost 40% of its cable subscribers over the past decade. From 100M households down to 60M. The biggest sports brand in the world is struggling to compete. The appetite for sport isn’t crumbling, but it is changing. And legacy players aren’t evolving quick enough. Letters and episodes referenced: * Old Navy is a secret athleisure giant * QVC walked (and went bankrupt), so WhatNot could run * Gucci was odd & Veuve and Dior wowed * Ganni has gone wrong * Milan Design Week unpacked * L.L.Bean has fully logged off. And many others have too. 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

    51 min
  2. MAY 6

    The magic of cringe

    This week, Kirsten brings the talk she’s been giving to businesses, schools, and anyone who will listen to the pod: embracing cringe. This isn’t a keynote in a pod, it’s a discussion about something we have both lived through. Continue to live through. We talk about why cringe is a “compass pointing you toward the thing that matters”. We get into what cringe actually is (not a confidence problem), the science behind why we move away from discomfort, how to find your climbing partner for cringe mountain, and what brands can learn from all of it. A vulnerable but fun topic. Enjoy! Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 01:26 — CRINGE MOUNTAIN // What cringe actually is: not a confidence problem, but the feeling of getting vulnerable, taking the mask off, and doing something anyway. 05:00 — WHAT IT UNLOCKS // Tackling shame. And why cringe never fully goes away, it just gets easier. 08:24 — THE SCIENCE OF DISCOMFORT // The amygdala, a saber-tooth tiger, and reframing discomfort. 11:13 — EVERYBODY STARTS AT THE BOTTOM // Kirsten was mortified by her first LinkedIn post. Chris didn’t want to do the podcast. Nobody starts halfway up cringe mountain. 15:00 — BECOMING A SHERPA // How to climb with someone else and why nudging people onto the mountain means you can’t quit (a helpful incentive!) 18:34 — BRANDS ON CRINGE MOUNTAIN // The brands doing it best have climbed. 23:00 — UP ALL NIGHT EITHER WAY // You’re up all night cringing that you said the thing, or up all night cringing you didn’t. 28:31 — A CRINGE BUCKET LIST // Success, MC’ing a conference in London, perimenopause, vulnerable parenting, and the next leg of this journey. 35:15 — HATERS + THE SPOTLIGHT EFFECT // The bigger your stage, the more people poo-poo it. Also: nobody’s watching you climb out of the pool. Just begin. That’s all, folx. – Chris If you listened or read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it. PS. Find us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. 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

    42 min
  3. APR 29

    Milan Design Week unpacked

    This week, we unpack the marathon essay that was this week’s Sunday letter about Salone (Milan Design Week). We hit 15+ experiences across four days: Marimekko, Dior, Gucci, Veuve Clicquot, Hermès, IKEA, H&M x Kelly Wearstler, USM, La Double J, Marni, and more. What worked, what missed, and the formula we’d hand every brand team heading there next year. Enjoy! Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 00:01 — MILAN DESIGN WEEK // What Salone is, why Fuori is where the brand action really happens, and why this is bigger than Cannes. 05:03 — CLAUDE SAVES THE DAY // 1,000 photos, a personal crisis, and solving it with Claude Code. 09:18 — SPECTACLE FOR SPECTACLE’S SAKE // Corso Como and Gentle Monster. Beautiful for the drone, a little underwhelming in person. 14:44 — MARIMEKKO // A 45-minute walk to a hidden garden. Very worth it. 22:43 — IKEA // Meatball chupa chups, design collabs, and why the Milan public might completely change your strategy. 30:20 — THE PHOTO PROBLEM // Mosca’s pink labyrinth and guaranteeing “the shot.” 32:37 — H&M x KELLY WEARSTLER + USM x SNØHETTA // Turning furniture into the art. 38:19 — DIOR + GUCCI // One was a memory. One had unexplained soda cans. 44:10 — VEUVE x YINKA ILORI // Chasing the Sun: five minutes, one room, both of us near tears. 48:53 — HERMÈS, SKODA, NIKE // Understated and refined, formulaic but cool, artistic but not an ‘experience’. 54:14 — LA DOUBLE J + MARNI + THE BEST PARTY // A transformative gong, a two-month café takeover, and Honey Dijon confirming that partying is, in fact, not dead. 01:02:14 — THE FORMULA // Photo ops, brand ambassadors, spectacle that makes a memory, setting the course for the future and PS. Please put yourself on Google Maps. The full write up 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 PS. Find us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. And if you’d like to sponsor the pod, please reach out to hello@weareingoodco.com. Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 11m
  4. APR 22

    Bama Rush, NIL, and student influencers

    This week, we have one of our favorite agency partners and favorite humans, Ben Varquez, to talk all things college marketing. We discuss Bama Rush, what NIL actually opened up for brands, Alphas, and what many brands get wrong when they show up on campus. Enjoy! Meet Ben Varquez Ben Varquez is the Managing Director of Youth Marketing Connection (YMC), one of the leading youth marketing agencies in the US. He’s spent 15+ years connecting brands to college students, campus ambassadors, and the next generation of consumers. We’ve worked together for over a decade, and I can personally say, you’ll never meet a better team for the job. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 04:39 — THREE WAVES // Red Bull to now. 09:13 — ALL THINGS BAMA RUSH // Bama Rush has exploded. But now it’s saturated. Now, standing out is the actual work. 11:02 — NIL CHANGED THE GAME // Student athletes can finally get paid, and that’s opened up integrated campaigns that didn’t exist before. Co-branding versus sponsored posts is where things are going. 15:33 — WHAT POPPI IS DOING RIGHT // Always-on ambassadors across hundreds of campuses. Social content layer. Pop-up moments. Brand-to-brand partnerships. And an in-house team that knows campus. 17:53 — YOU CAN’T JUST ROLL IN // Campus administrators aren’t professional marketers. Food contracts are no joke. Most brands find that out the hard way. 19:55 — THE THREE RULES // Build relationships before you show up. Do the pre-work. Don’t disappear after your pop-up. 24:55 — THE COLLEGE CALENDAR // If you want to activate in Fall, start in April. Ben walks the full year: back to school, rush, football, holiday, spring break, and more. 29:25 — WHAT KILLED SPRING BREAK // Panama City Beach was the spring break capital of America. 350,000 students. Tens of millions in brand spend. Then one city passed a law. And it all collapsed. 34:16 — BUILDING A STUDENT SUB-BRAND // If your brand can’t naturally speak to 18-25 year olds, no campus spend will fix it. Ben’s analogy: don’t build the walls until you have the foundation. 37:57 — THE ALPHAS ARE COMING // They’re building content creator careers in high school. Their parents are submitting them to agency rosters. And they’ve decided doom and gloom is out. Hope is back in. 41:30 — QUICKFIRE // Three things every brand should do. The trend Ben is most excited about. And the mistake that kills most campus programs. Thank you to Ben for coming on. Reach out to him via YMC at youthmarketing.com or find him on LinkedIn. And if you’d like to sponsor the pod, please reach out to hello@weareingoodco.com. That’s all, folx. – Chris If you listened or read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it. PS — Find us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe

    45 min
  5. APR 16

    Brand naming Rule #1: Get uncomfortable

    We’ve been name-dropping Nina Beckhardt on this podcast since its inception. Every time naming comes up, she comes up. And she kindly agreed to make it much more official and come on to discuss all things brand naming. We get into what brands get wrong with naming, how to do it right, why it’s a fantastic positioning tool, the placeholder trap, why dropping vowels doesn’t fool trademark law, AND why the right name should make you a little uncomfortable. And unsurprisingly, it goes way beyond naming. Enjoy! Meet Nina Backhardt Nina Beckhardt is the founder of The Naming Group, an LA-based naming agency that has named things you own, have tasted, and have touched. Think Chevy Sonic, Reebok footwear, hiring software, butt wipes, and everything in between. She specializes not just in individual names but in naming systems, naming architecture, and building naming practices inside major organizations. In short: she’s a powerhouse. And the partner we always turn to when tackling the hairy beast that is naming. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 03:39 — GIVE IT A JOB DESCRIPTION // Question #1: Does the name do its job? Not just “does it sound nice.” 06:01 — THE WHITE SPACE // How to find the open territory. 06:39 — LIKABLE ≠ MEMORABLE // Research from master namer Anthony Shore: the most likable taglines and names aren’t always the most memorable. The same is true for naming. 15:46 — THE TIGER IN THE WOODS // The most underestimated mistake in naming: showing the final name to a decision-maker who’s never been in the room. 17:38 — SYSTEM 1, SYSTEM 2 // Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, applied to naming. 22:58 — THE PLACEHOLDER PROBLEM // The danger of codenames. Familiarity breeds affinity. Even when it really, really shouldn’t. 27:28 — THE NAMING CRITERIA FRAMEWORK // Nina walks through the full framework on building a name that can grow and change over decades. 31:10 — VOWEL-DROPPING IS SILLY // Dropping letters is not just lazy, it might even hurt trust. And it certainly doesn’t always help with a trademark. 36:21 — AI IN NAMING // How to use AI to do naming right. If you must. 41:42 — QUICKFIRE // Poetic words and hiring people with “naming” in their title. Thank you to Nina for coming on. Reach out to her via The Naming Group, follow her on LinkedIn, and read her very excellent Substack @NamingAtScale. And if you’d like to sponsor the pod, please reach out to hello@weareingoodco.com. 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

    45 min
  6. APR 8

    Brand generosity is working. Better than ever.

    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. Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 1. 00:00 — THE SOCIAL PRODUCT[ION] // More brands are building around gathering itself. Not “community” as a fluffy brand word. Actual tools, rituals, and systems for getting people together, keeping them together, and making that worth paying for. Places it’s showing up: * Rodeo, built by Hinge’s ex-CPO and COO, wants to “wrangle” scattered plans and simplify group hangs. * Posh raised $37M to become infrastructure for the people to monetize their ability to gather. * Dick’s is pulling serious revenue from GameChanger, turning youth sports stats, livestreaming, and coordination into a business of its own. Pendulum Swing → You could also just skip the coordination and build for gathering. Swig is winning because kids want somewhere to go. And brands like Princess Polly, Edikted, and Altar’d State are redesigning stores with bigger fitting rooms and hangout spaces built for content creation. Same need. Different answer. 2. 00:00 — PRESENCE IS A FLEX // In a world of booking bots and blue-light glow, actual presence is a premium. The strongest hospitality moves right now are creating conditions where you actually have to be there, pay attention, and actually enjoy the moment. Places it’s showing up: * People’s is by-referral-only bar and restaurant built as a “tonic” to bot bookings. * Chick-fil-A is rewarding people with free ice cream for putting their phones down. * Pinterest’s phone-free Coachella pop-up. Pendulum Swing → Amex’s new lounge concept, Sidecar, is built specifically for travelers with less than 90 minutes before boarding. Less “linger” and more “make the most.” 3. 00:00 — FUND THE FRINGE // Some of the most interesting businesses right now are being built in places that used to be treated as too niche, too taboo, or too specific. Turns out, many of those spaces were just too ignored. Places it’s showing up: * Polari Labs released A-balls, a solution for anal douching, and sold 1,000 units per minute in the first hour. * EYWA is building a lab-grown psilocybin supply to reduce the cost of treatment for resistant depression. * Lucille is going after Ensure’s lane with a complete nutrition shake designed specifically for seniors. Pendulum Swing → “Do what’s working” is still working. For example, we’re nowhere near peak protein. And in the pet space, “human-grade” is the new “organic.” A must-have, even if it might not mean much. 4. TRAINING DATA IS A BRAND DECISION // AI is no longer just about what the model can do. It’s about what it’s fed. Training is becoming a strategy. And a brand asset. Places it’s showing up: * Oura is building women’s health AI trained on better sources. * PharmAIcy is selling “psychotropics” for LLMs to get enlightened answers. * The truth is, the Age of Authorship means we can all build. What we build and what we build on matters more than ever. Pendulum Swing → Stagwell’s CEO is talking about AI as a way to make cheaper content and better targeting. A temporary reality at best, but a popular one. 5. 00:00 — THE GIFT SHOP // Not everything is a hard sell. Brands are building softer, stranger, more specific ways in. Not the hero product. The adjacent offer that gets you close enough to care. But still investing in what matters. Places it’s showing up: * Bilt is opening a Neighborhood Café. Not new. What is: the member’s club vibe. * Gymshark rewarded London Hyrox finishers with a jacket potato pop-up. No gym apparel in sight. * REFY launched a community hotline for product development. Pendulum Swing → April Fool’s fake products and fake collabs have become an actual joke. The comment sections wants what you are putting down. But most aren’t delivering. Except for Claude Code. Letters and episodes referenced: * Hermes tents? Yes, pls. * Welcome to the Age of Authorship * Disney is making people cry * Coach is charming everyone * Gymshark made a potato pop-up * All things Expo West! * Pets are in their biohacker era ABOUTChris 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

    47 min
  7. APR 2

    Pets are in their biohacker era

    We’re back with Fred Hart. But this time, with all things Pet Expo. Think: Human-grade food you’d happily eat, Doritos and acai bowls for dogs, and cats finally getting their due. Oh, and wolf fecal probiotics. And as a bonus, Michael Abata, our fave retail expert who also happens to work for Chewy, shared some inside expertise and questions to help guide us along. It’s a fun episode. Enjoy! Enjoy! Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy 02:37 — “HUMAN-GRADE” GIMMICK // It means the food was made in a facility that also makes human food. That’s it. Basically, it’s all just marketing. 05:30 — PROCESSING AS MARKETING // Freeze-dried, air-dried, cold-pressed, gently cooked. It’s all about how it’s made. 07:34 — 80% AUTOSHIP // Pet parents are reliable, creatures of habits. And they love a subscription. 08:38 — FORBIDDEN FLAVORS // Dorito-shaped kibble. Alfredo for cats. Acai bowls for dogs. And a bit of psychology on the side. 13:17 — PROTEIN PARADOX // Chicken and beef are the most common allergens for pets. There’s a reason. And it’s driving the rise of bison, elk, venison, and kangaroo. Though kangaroo and California aren’t friends apparently. 14:50 — CATS FINALLY GET A CHAPTER // Dog ownership has plateaued. Cat ownership keeps climbing. And brands are just now catching up. 19:52 — FOREVER YOUNG // Longevity supplements, immunity toppers, hydration powders. Pets are in their biohacker era, too. 26:58 — SHIFTS WORTH NOTING // From photography to illustration, ancestral/organ meats, and wolf fecal probiotics. Fred tried to explain it. We are still processing. If you love Fred, you’ll want to catch this episode about Expo West if you missed it. Huge thanks to Fred for the download — and for coming back. If you’re building in CPG and want the sharpest eye in the room on your brand, find Fred on LinkedIn. And reach out! chris@weareingoodco.com 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

    36 min
  8. MAR 26

    The problem isn’t AI. It’s mattering.

    This week on the pod, we unpack the letter that was eating me alive for 4 weeks. We talk about entering the Age of Authorship, what it means for you, what it means for brands, and why it’s way more impactful than the dawn of the internet, and much more akin to the creation of electricity. It’s a meaty one. Enjoy! Skip to the bits you fancy 01:20 — THE ESSAY IS BORN // Why we’re here. 04:36 — THE GENIE PORTAL // Building a peptide app opened Pandora’s box. 07:52 — THE MINDSET SHIFT // The barrier to entry went from an HBS degree and a technical co-founder to $200. But the bigger point is the mindset shift. 09:04 — THE EXISTENTIAL CRISIS HITS // Day 4 or 5. It happens to everyone. And then you get to the other side. 14:00 — NOT INTERNET. ELECTRICITY. // Claude Code isn’t a tool. It’s infrastructure that will change everything. 14:34 —MATTERING WILL BE ALL THAT MATTERS // When anyone can build anything, features aren’t a differentiator. Belonging, trust, inspiration — that’s what’s left. You need to build a brand 16:22 — TASTE VS. VISION // Taste will matter. But it won’t be the gamechanger. Vision will be. 25:01 — ABUNDANCE FATIGUE // The pendulum: we’ll crave human-scale, unscalable experiences. 36:37 — CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE // Eileen Gu on neuroplasticity. Toni Morrison on surrender. Change is coming. You get to decide what comes next. Give the full thing a read here. Want us to unpack this for your team or at your next offsite? Reply or email chris@weareingoodco.com 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

    40 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

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

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