GOOD THINKING

Hi all, Ready to be inspired? Us too. One chat with Carmen Graham, former Frida marketer and new CMO of Genexa, did just the thing. This episode is about challenger energy, leadership inside regulated categories, motherhood, and how trust actually gets built when the stakes are high. If you’re managing up, this episode has got tips for you. If you’re new to, or considering a new category, it has g...

Welcome to the 2026 Predictions, guest edition! In case it’s not abundantly clear, this Substack is based on my love of reading a borderline insane amount of just about everything. And nothing gives me more pleasure than reading those with perspectives as strong as my own. I asked some of those I admire and read most to share their thoughts on the year ahead. I’m genuinely humbled by the caliber o...

Welcome to Year 2 of GOOD FUTURE. Everything you should be watching in 2026. Unlike a typical issue, most of these links lead back to past GOOD THINKING issues, so you can dive deeper into each topic. It’s a rabbit-hole wonderland. Each prediction comes with a counter-prediction: the pendulum swing . These two realities will live simultaneously, sometimes appealing to the same consumer. This email...

This one’s a little different. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking to so many people who suddenly find themselves on the job market. Friends. Former colleagues. Readers. People we admire. People who are exhausted. People who didn’t think it would happen to them. December is supposed to be soft. A brain break. Instead, a lot of people are waking up to layoffs, restructures, or the quiet dre...

We’re back with the GOOD THINKING gift guide. Year 2. We went bigger! And there’s also a ton of exclusive GOOD THINKING discount codes—thanks, brands! Warning: this post is long and will get cut off. View it in a browser or the app. Categories include: CULTURE, F&B, DRUGS & BOOZE, SILVERS, ALPHAS, FASHION & RETAIL, TECH, SPORT, WELLNESS & BEAUTY, TRAVEL, and FUN FOR THE HOLIDAYS. We gave it our be...

Welcome to our top 20 brand campaigns of 2025 Not the biggest. Not the most awarded. Just the ones we loved. We break down why each one worked, what it tapped into, and what every brand should learn from it. Warning: the email will be cut off because I’ve added links to each of the campaigns. View it in the app for all 20 and hit the heart while you’re there. And drop the ones we missed in the com...

Hi all, What can 18 athleisure brands teach you about brand experience? A lot apparently. And a very clear pattern emerged: clarity is rare. But when a brand has it, you feel it instantly, and it changes everything. Whether you’re in retail or not, this episode is about the decisions that signal who you are and who you are for. Warning, due to all the pics, this one will get cut off. If you want a...

Hi all, We’re back with another edition of GOOD SIGNS—a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up. Again, these aren’t trends. That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. 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. Skip to...

This week, we chat with retail expert Michael Abata. In addition to being one of our favorite voices on LinkedIn, Michael is a lovely human and a complete brand experience / retail nerd—get ready for a lot of geeking out on this episode. One thing we both love about Michael is his love of the little, mundane things brands do. He gets in the weeds. He talks about gas stations and pop-ups with the s...

While we were in LA and NYC together, we did a LOT of retail and brand touring. And it became pretty obvious that many of the retail 101 basics are missed by most. We’ve worked with dozens of retail brands over our careers, and too often, we also end up fixing the fundamentals. We love a great big campaign, and brave brand moves, but if you’re not getting the simple things right, it might be for n...

We’re back with another edition of GOOD SIGNS—a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up. Again, these aren’t trends (yet!). That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. 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 com...

This week, we dive into a topic that’s been coming up a lot in the letter: embracing contradictions as a brand advantage. Most brands get flattened by simplification. The majority of brand guidelines sap the real out of the ‘audience’ they pretend to understand. From wellness drinkers who love wine to ultra-marathoners who stop for a smoke , this episode is a call to stop blanding yourself (and br...

If you work at a legacy brand or spend any amount of time thinking about how to reposition them, this week’s episode is for you! We chat with Matt Repicky , Chief Brands Officer at Tailored Brands, aka Men’s Wearhouse. But before you think menswear is not for you, think again. Matt’s pedigree is pretty wild (more below). He was part of the team that returned Barbie to relevance, and now he’s tackl...

Let's unpack everything from Paradigms . It’s very rare that I leave events impressed by the branding, and rarer still that every talk gave me something lasting. But this one delivered. Because I found myself compelled to add photos and quotes, this letter will get cut off. View it in the browser or the app, or you might miss gems like everyone’s favorite TikTok strategist’s hot takes on why you n...

We’re back with another edition of GOOD SIGNS—a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up. Again, we’re not calling these trends. That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. 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. 1. 0...

A light and easy one for you this week, though certainly not without its hot takes. Back-to-school means denim season. Well, it has traditionally. We discuss if that’s still the right thinking with the rise of Bama Rush. This season, denim looks different from recent years. We talk about why effort is making a comeback. And why brand risks are critical, but you need to take us on the journey. Ligh...

Hi all, We have a fun episode this week, diving into the brand content boom and made-for-social shows (drop a comment if you’ve seen the right word for these!). We get into all the examples below, talk big-picture takeaways, and more. Enjoy. Hit the timestamp to skip to the bits you fancy 03:36 — BILT / ROOMIES // This campaign is so good that it got Patrick Coffee Wall Street Journal looking into...

Very excited for this episode. If you’ve been reading here, you know we’re both obsessed with the healthcare overhaul happening right now, the opportunities in the peri/menopause space, and brand leaders who refuse to behave like the rest. So we were thrilled when Joanna Strober, CEO and co-founder of Midi Health, agreed to come on and chat. In this episode, we get into the myths that still domina...

We’re back with another episode of GOOD SIGNS—a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up. Again, we’re not calling these trends. That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. 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. Skip...

Touching on our fave things from the last month of letters. Of course, we talk about Astronomer’s crisis marketing. We also discuss Range Rover’s misunderstanding of culture versus consumer. Why Bees and wearables will make privacy a super luxury. Plus, we talk about the rise of jingle, why ‘Holistic’ means something else today, and how Claire’s can thrive in this next chapter. And a bit more. Enj...

We have such a fun episode and letter for you this week! Our friend, Yaling of @Following The Yuan, who you all know well from my countless references, agreed to do a special China edition of the newsletter and come on the pod to discuss it. As always, the lens of this letter is a best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What I’m dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetin...

We've talked a lot about bravery on this podcast—what it looks like, how it feels, and why the brands that have it are winning. But brave (or courageous) brands don’t happen without courageous leaders. And courageous teams. So we were excited to chat with Ryan Berman, host of The Courageous Podcast , and expert on brave brands and brave behaviors. We talk all about leading through uncertainty (hel...

We’re back with another episode of GOOD SIGNS—a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up. Again, we’re not calling these trends. That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. 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. Skip...

What really happened at Cannes 2025? We break down the brand experiences that mattered—and the ones that fell flat. From Pinterest’s immersive takeover to Google’s elusive events, here’s our full recap with real talk, real insights, and everything we wish brands knew. THIS WEEK’S EPISODE: * 02:01 — Pinterest brought their brand to life 88 ways when most didn’t do 1—and won. * 08:37 — Female Quotie...

In this episode, we chat with Hilary Dubin and Caroline Vasquez Huber, the founders of Jones , about how they’re re-imagining the healthcare space (spoiler: they consider themselves a wellness & beauty brand). And along the way, we get into some of our favorite topics: shame (a topic we also tackled in a recent episode with strategist and cultural futurist, Jasmine Bina ), gratitude, and vulnerabi...