Athleisure, branded Finstas, secret online parties, and why great ideas fail
Issue No.02. Your monthly newsletter on brand, consumers and culture.
Hey fam, thanks for being here! Before we get started, many of you mentioned how you enjoyed the social posts. With that in mind, I’ll be dedicating the intro to these creative discoveries: everything is a cake now, politics are TikTok territory with Zaddy Coumo on the pedestal, the #slowwalk trend is good but the fails are gold. And last, my personal favorite: the cutest cocktail tutorial you’ve ever seen.
Now, welcome back to brandish issue number ✌️
brandish bites
What we’re wearing this quarantine
While fashion is slowing down and Athleisure is speeding up. We knew athleisure was on the rise, but with our extended days lounging on the couch, the industry is booming. According to Allied Market Research, the global athleisure market was valued at $155 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $257 billion in 2026 (Wired). But this industry is growing everywhere we look: we’re seeing new lines launching for men and traditional athleisure brands like Lululemon entering the tech-startup world, just this week they acquired Mirror for $500m.
But the best thing I’ve see is this Japanese Kickstarted called WFH Jammies that helps you look professional on your Zoom calls while never taking off your PJs. Take a look.
Masks are in and new fashion-forward mask brands are everywhere. But I have something better for you. Zhijun Wang, artist and fashion designer known for his mask made from a Yeezy 350 v2 that was acquired by the MoMA, just released a template for anyone to make their own haute mask at home. Take a look.
Gather around the computer screen, kids.
Online gatherings have become even more importance since the quarantine hit, and we’re seeing invite-only communities growing in every field:
Private, unfiltered and authentic content is always more fun, that’s why we made Finstas. And now, brands know this too. The rise of private groups and micro-communities on social media is focused on quality of conversations over quantity of followers and it’s becoming a common practice for user engagement (Vogue Business).
Then there’s the online parties you want to be invited to. “Dance floor” chat rooms filled with people in colorful costumes shimmying to a live-streamed DJ while sipping on drinks has been a staple of this pandemic. You can buy admission tickets from groups like clubquarantaene or get an invited to private parties directly from the DJ. This month, brandish has partnered up with Kalaman Music to get you an invite to his next party so you can experience the hype yourself. Sign up here if you’re interested and you’ll get the secret invite details soon.
Why the perfect company failed
Remember Quibi? That unicorn startup that raised $750M+ and was going to change the way we watched TV on the go. If you’re outside the Silicon Valley circles you probably haven’t. On paper, Quibi was gold: high-quality content production, easy app navigation, and all the celebrities you can imagine.
So what did they do wrong? The tl;dr was an incredible lack of audience knowledge, but specifically here are some things that just didn’t work: The app charged users a monthly fee of $4.99 (with ads) or $7.99 (without ads) which massively over estimates the willingness to pay from the same target user that’s addicted to TikTok and has it for free. Separately, Quibi didn’t allow screenshotting making organic distribution harder, specially in a world where all our conversations are happening on social. And last, the resistance to pivot amidst a world pandemic. Quibi never allowed shows to be played on televisions, so when their “on the go” audience was stuck at home, their main use case fell flat. (Vulture)
And to make matters worse, while trying to recruit influencers they actually upset them (this is why knowing how to engage influencers is so vital!) Influencers have large platforms and strong opinions. When their outreach was almost insulting, user perception dropped even more. All of this to say, you can get away with a lot with a half-baked marketing strategy but understanding your target audience is something you can’t wing.
That’s all for now, as always thanks for reading. If you found this useful or interesting please share with your friends. If you have feedback on how to make this better, I’d love to hear it :)
xx - Dani
