CHAPTER ONE: GROUND RULES

‍

Before brainstorming specific ideas for how to take your brand offline, I’d start by reflecting on the era of loud activations, overly branded pop-ups, and influencer-centered initiatives, and jotting down your vision for the era of experiences and products you’d like to see the world move towards.

This past decade has been largely defined by experiences, retail stores, cafes, and products that people photograph and rave about on social media but rarely enjoy in real life. As we move towards The Great Exhaustion, I suspect that a lot more people will be longing for products and experiences that are human, collective, and provide intrinsic value rather than status points and bragging rights. Here are a couple of ground rules I’d follow to make sure that whatever I create breaks the habit of creating “shareable” moments and products towards the ones people enjoy and want to come back for.

‍‍

‍Strike a balance between working with people with a sizable audience and people with a loyal community. ‍

The former gets eyes on your brand, the latter attracts the cool crowd and gives you street credit. A good example of this on a small level is Cake Zine - an independent print magazine that explores society through sweets-themed issues and launch events. Every issue and event they put together truly takes a whole village of designers, writers, and creatives which makes everything they do feel deeply human and entices new people to participate.

A good example of this on a large scale is Miu Miu’s runway and creative campaigns. They use an abundance of huge mainstream talent like Gigi Hadid, Sydney Sweeney, and Emma Chamberlain to bring brand awareness into the masses but also incorporate an abundance of edgier talent like Ethel Cain and Mia Goth which scores cool points for them among creatives.

‍

‍

‍

Prioritize having a good time and creating memorable experiences over photo ops and elements engineered for sharing on social media.

If you’ve ever been to an influencer event or a brand dinner, you know that everyone wants to leave early because no one enjoys being there. It’s all way too sanitized and awkward. But if the word on the street is that your brand throws the best parties with the funnest people in Manhattan, you wouldn’t be able to keep people out. I haven’t been to one of Courreges' afterparties personally but I know that their creative director Nicolas Di Felice is part of the rave scene and likes to get the fashion week guests out to the outskirts of Paris to party in places that have personal value to him. Highsnobiety’s afterparties in Soho during 2023 NYFW also looked really fun or at the very least, that’s where everyone I know wanted to be.

‍

No excessive branding.

Unless you are a graphic designer, I wouldn’t go overboard with branding. Make it nice, cohesive and pay attention to detail but don’t go full 2018 DTC. Saie does a good job at making tasteful nods to their brand in their IRL initiatives without overdoing it.

‍

‍

Don’t just jump onto what’s trending, make an effort to define your own core community and DNA.

I get the impression that way too many brands are jumping into sports, literature, OOH, and blogging because that is what’s trending and not because it fits their brand. You will see an industry leader, like Glossier work with Adgile on truck-side OOH advertising, and the next thing you know, Topicals, Ghia, and Brightland are also doing it. You will see small brands, like Minted, build local momentum through a running club, and the next thing you know every VC-backed health supplement is throwing money at runners too. Invest the time you spend looking at what everyone else is doing into figuring out what you and your customers want to do.

‍

CHAPTER TWO: LONG LIVE PRINT

‍

I saw a thread on Twitter (it’s gone now) outlining an opportunity to make a print magazine for the new generation full of exclusive content, print-only coupons, and cool collectibles, and for the first time I felt excited about the idea of it. I think this is what The Drunken Canal did well - the newspaper was fun and full of local jokes and gossip, and picking up an issue felt like picking up an artifact that represented a very specific point in time.

I find that when brands dabble in print, what they end up creating is essentially giant ad spreads that look more like spam mail you would find in your mailbox than something you’d buy at a newspaper stand. I picked up a copy of Hommegirls x Adidas newspaper last summer in hopes that it could be something I can cut up for inspo or hang above my desk, just to flip through some really questionable quotes and Adidas ads.

At the same time, I respect initiatives like Playground magazine by Studio Playground that contain real interviews, commissioned essays, and impeccable design choices. It’s a real object that people want to own and a tangible way for their community to support their work. They published a great BTS of making it if you want to replicate something like this, and if you are leaning towards a newspaper, most brands use Newspaper Club.

If you don’t have the resources to make a full print issue of your own, I’d rather work with someone, like Cake Zine or Byline that put out a glorified mailer. Or walk into one of the locations on their stock lists and flip through all other zines and magazines on the shelf before you find something that fits your project goals and your brand.

‍

CHAPTER THREE: NOOO DON’T JUST HOST A SOHO POP UP

‍

This one is tricky. It can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $8,000 per day to rent out a storefront for a popup in Soho depending on location and square footage, plus whatever it takes for you to set up shop - furniture, decor, packaging, security, and more. If you have this kind of money to drop on essentially brand marketing and the kind of momentum to get people to line up at the door, by all means go for it. Instagram brands, like Djerf Avenue and Dairy Boy all popped up in the same location in Nolita last summer (21 Spring St) and it went really well for both of them. If you use Shopify, they also have a great location in Soho, right next to Sporty and Rich and Warby Parker, that they let their merchants use for pop ups.

Trevor Gorji at Fugazi has some interesting thoughts about retail that I tend to agree with -  they hosted an LA popup but ultimately decided to commit to a permanent location on Canal St in NYC. Their number one goal for the retail location isn’t so much to drive revenue as it is to create a physical representation of the brand that people can discover on foot and a place where people can hang out.

But more than that I love pop ups or better, private showrooms with a stacked guest list that are timed around industry events, like Design Week or Fashion Week. Colleen Allen’s showroom was the star of NYFW last year and I really like the one Ormaie hosted during Paris Fashion Week this year. There is something about getting the right people in the room and getting to talk them through what you make in person that sounds like a much better idea than mailing a bunch of gifts.

While fun and effective, not many young brands can afford something like that, so here are a couple of flexible, less costly alternatives that will get you in front of the right people.

‍

‍

Partner up with indie retail, cafes, and other creatives

As long as you can bring good products, vibes, and people into a small retail store, chances are, they will be happy to have you. I made a whole list of incredible indie shops that carry fashion, beauty, accessories and decor across US and Europe that should be a great starting point for the perfect partner.

‍

-> RETAIL PARTNER LIST <-

I can’t personally vouch for L'appartement 4F croissants but they do get people to come out and party. What I do know is that it was fun to be hunting for Recess cans in 2020 when they were only available online and in NYC bodegas before they got gentrified by weird CPG brands of all kinds. I really admire Alex Mill for collabing with local merchants, like The Monogram Shop and IXV Coffee when they pop up in Soul Cycle and East Hamptons. I also admire my friend Arj of Raazi Tea for hosting a chai stand every weekend in Brooklyn and Arielle Skye of Courage Bagels for turning her bike bagel deliveries into the busiest bagel shop in LA.

‍

‍

Infiltrate an existing community  

Believe it or not, running clubs aren’t the only type of club people are joining for fun.

Community-led initiatives, like Cake Zine, host incredible events and they do a great job at integrating their partners into the sugar-filled fantasy experiences they are building. Their Candy Land issue launch featured Le Monde Gourmand Cotton Candy perfume which both enhanced the event experience and gave great exposure to the brand.

Another type of club I love are chess clubs - the one that pops up in actual clubs in New York and Paris and the one that’s focused on dating in LA.

And if you do want to lean into sports, I’d look into Samantha Sugarman’s Rec.Center that hosts a whole calendar of events for people who play sports recreationally. Or host one-off sports clubs timed around industry events, like this Satisfy x Hoka run celebrating Paris Fashion Week.

‍

CHAPTER FOUR: OOH

In the past couple of years OOH ads have become something you do in hopes of people taking pictures of them and putting on social media. People went nuts when Seed landed their ad billboard space to Molly Baz after her billboard space got censored, SSENSE put up fashion insidery billboards in LA, NY and Toronto, and Julie ran OOH ads with LA and NY centric language.

‍

I can see OOH being a good investment if you are doing a timely location specific placement in high traffic areas that use “if you know you know” kind of language that makes people who know about your brand laugh and those who don’t - curious. And if you are doing OOH just to post about it on social media, you might as well just photoshop it. My only exception for OOH campaigns is if you are making millions in revenue and are getting ready to take your brand mainstream.

What I think is invasive and not effective is Julie x Alfred coffee cup sleeves and Summer Fridays LAX takeovers. Both look so expensive and for what? To get a pat on the back from other marketing girlies on Instagram? To me, things like Bloom takeover of Iconic Magazine, just feel like peak gentrification.

CHAPTER FIVE: PARTIES, TRIPS AND DINNERS PEOPLE WANT TO ATTEND

‍

If you’ve ever been to an influencer event or a brand dinner, you know that no one actually wants to be there and yet everyone is acting like they are having the best time. I also don’t think people want to watch other people indulge in expensive dinners and expensive vacations anymore. I was a little surprised to see Soft Services fly out a couple of niche influencers to Palm Heights Grand Canyon because for the longest time they seemed like the kind of brand who was above anything like that (it did look really chic, I am jealous).

I am really curious about huge luxury brands, like Hermes and Loro Piana flying niche influencers and their VIP clients to Colorado for the weekend and keeping it all lowkey. Those trips are immaculate and classy. I am also really curious how it felt to go on a Loro Piana trip after that Bloomberg expose.

‍

‍

Bringing it back to earth though, I really like what No. 29 is doing with their press trips and events. They hosted this amazing trip to the South of France with Baserange with a fabric dyeing masterclass at Bleu Pastel D'Occitanie, a tour of a weaving workshop, and a visit to a hemp farm. I feel like these types of trips give people stories to tell rather than picture-perfect memories to brag about.

A lot more brands are also asking their core talent to curate and host a dinner together with them which makes for a much more natural atmosphere. Alex Mill hosted a great-looking one with Love List and Rothy’s hosted one with Melanie Masarin.

I am a big fan of Colbo throwing a party for Paris Fashion Week with Blackbird Spyplane and Neighbor after hosting their first pop-up showroom in the city. They bring a brick-and-mortar store on the road and tap into local communities to get people in the doors.

‍

‍

I like an event that’s centered around some sort of activity. I’ve enjoyed watching Kaia Gerber’s Library Science evolve from Instagram Live chats to an event business that hosts author interviews, readings, and panels. And if you are looking for someone more approachable, Jordan Santos hosts extremely thoughtful community events focused on blind book exchanges with Seen Library. Dream Baby Press leans more into the literary New York scene but there is something to hosting writing clubs and poetry readings in weird locations, like Burger King and a boxing ring.

I am also curious about Natalie Shine’s The Big Silly Trivia Game. She just hosted one for Marc Jacobs and has a great attitude about what she is trying to build.  

Overall, people just want to have a good time, hang out with people they like, and see something or someone cool. Don’t overcomplicate.

‍