Nostalgia Fatigue, Vibe-y Content, and Weird Inspirations
Is Amazon acquiring TikTok? Is storytelling dead?
Hi nerds,
As I dive deep into research for my next brand analysis (spoiler: it's Etsy and their "Keep Commerce Human" campaign relaunch - stay tuned), I've accumulated a treasure trove of fascinating finds.
From weird brand moves to emerging artists, I've curated a mix of content that's equal parts inspiring and distracting. Whether you're looking for a creative spark or just a brief escape from your to-do list, I've got you covered.
So, grab your beverage of choice, and let's explore this digital rabbit hole together. Who knows? You might just stumble upon your next big idea or at least an interesting conversation starter for your next Zoom call.
In today’s list:
Weird brand ideas I’m loving
Trends on education
Content fatigue...? What happens when people get tired of the same generic video content
Legacy brands getting a shakeup (including rumors of Amazon acquiring TikTok?)
🧠 Brands Getting Delightfully Weird
🍕 Pizza Hut's ResZAmes:
Pizza Hut launched a campaign where they were asking people to send in their CVs, printing these CVs on pizza boxes and delivering them to potential employers. It's a bold move that has nothing to do with selling more pizza and everything to do with serving up a slice of hope (and fun!) to job seekers. This campaign gets extra points for addressing a real pain point and a cultural moment with an unexpected twist.
📱Soren Iverson's UX Fever Dreams:
If you haven't fallen down the rabbit hole of Iverson's reimagined app interfaces, prepare to lose an hour of your life. From dueling for flight upgrades to Instagram closing shop at night, these concepts are equal parts hilarious and terrifying. (Tell me which one made you LOL IRL) The real gold? The comments section, which is basically a free focus group for any brand brave enough to dive in.
🦶Stomping Into Weirdness:
Speaking of Iverson, he's part of the team behind Stompers, a social step-tracking app. In a sea of startups that all look like they were spawned from the same minimalist design lab, it's refreshing to see an app embrace its inner weird. In the app, you can design your own character, pick up items along the way, and even sabotage your friends! Can your Fitbit do that?!
🚌 The Great Education Shakeup
🏫 Homeschooling Goes Mainstream:
Death to Stock's recent video essay on the rise of homeschooling and "unschooling" has me thinking about the ripple effects. How will this shift impact work-life balance, gender roles, and our very definition of education? As someone with a toddler who’s growing up too fast—I have more questions.
Legacy Brands: The Remix
☕ Starbucks' Community Coffee House 2.0:
The coffee giant is supposedly returning to its roots as a community hub. I'm cautiously optimistic. I want something UNEXPECTED, not a minor tweak—but that’s just me
📦 Amazon's World Domination Tour Continues:
Between whispers of a TikTok acquisition, Amazon seems determined to be the Internet. At this rate, we'll all be living in Prime-world by 2030.
☑️ Nike's New CEO: The Intern Who Could:
In a plot twist worthy of a feel-good sports movie, Nike's new CEO started as a Nike intern in 1988. Millennials and Gen Z could never.
🤤 Content Fatigue...? Or Why I Want More Print Media Lately
🍿 Reboots, remakes, sequels - are we sick of them yet?
The current obsession with nostalgia in entertainment is rooted in the continuous (re)manufacture of memory for profit - aka, nostalgia-baiting. At the rate it's going, we're approaching peak nostalgia fatigue. If you’re a brand who’s just thinking of jumping on the trend, you might already be late to the game. Step it up.
📷 Video fatigue?
Here's a screenshot of a screenshot from Rachel Karten's Link in Bio newsletter about why photo posts still matter in a world that's made its pivot to video:
Rachel interviewed Emily Keegin - the paragraph in bold is the question she posed
🤯 'Branding Amongst Brainrot"
This video essay from @eugbrandstrat posits, "People don't need stories any more... Sometimes a vibe is enough. People always say that storytelling is the most important part of branding and marketing. In the new media landscape, you're often not given the luxury of time to tell a story." This utterly breaks my heart, but I absolutely get what he’s saying. I want to get out from under the firehose!!!
@eugbrandstratWe don't have time for stories any more ❌. Part 5 in my post-millennial trends series: how the fragmented media landscape has caused a shift from 'brand as story' to 'brand as mosaic', and how you need to set up to respond to a culture that feels like you're being blasted by a firehose. #branding #marketing #brandidentity #brandstrategy #contentmarketing
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📰 MORE PRINT MEDIA, PLEASE!
If you read my Neighbor brand restrategy deep dive, I suggested making a Neighbor Gazette. I still stand by this. Especially after reading this Inc. article that says, “In 2023, direct mail advertising had the highest return on investment compared to other ad campaign mediums, including email and paid search. And increased privacy restrictions have made it harder—and therefore more expensive—for brands to see payoff from paid social campaigns.”
Between the endless stream of reboots, drowning in video, and the supposed death of storytelling, it feels like we're caught in a cultural riptide of recycled ideas and shrinking attention spans. A cultural blandness where everything is in sans serif.
Which leads me to my next point…
Emerging Artists to Expand Your Thinking
Let's face it: the influencer-brand partnership scene is oversaturated. How many times do I have to watch vibe-y ASMR-y unboxing videos?!
So as a challenge to myself (and to my readers), I'm spotlighting artists with unique perspectives who could help brands convey ideas in fresh, thought-provoking ways.
Or you know, brands aside—I just love what art does to my brain.
Here are three artists who create things that don’t feel like it was conceived by an AI trained exclusively on TikTok trends...
Nhu Xuan Hua — This Paris-raised artist with Vietnamese roots is unpacking heritage, memory, and trauma through digitally-altered family photos. Her book "Tropism, Consequences of a Displaced Memory" is a visual exploration of cultural identity that's both personal and universal.
Imaginary collab: Fly By Jing? Rufai Zakari — Turning trash into treasure, this Ghanaian artist creates vibrant works from recycled plastics and synthetic materials. Zakari's art is a colorful call-to-action on issues like industrialization, consumerism, and climate change.
Imaginary collab: Patagonia or Girlfriend Collective? Eglė Davidavičė — With her animated short "The One Who Knows," this Lithuanian director offers an intimate look at the bittersweet experience of girlhood.
Imaginary collab: Billie Razors or Starface?
As you can tell: I’m just EXHAUSTED with the firehose of templated, generic content that’s always pandering to the LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR of audiences.
I have a radical proposition: What if—and hear me out—brands actually got to know their audience? Like, really know them, beyond their click habits and purchase history.
And then, instead of generic content, what if brands create things that speak SPECIFICALLY to the quirks of their audience? What if social media teams were measured less in views and likes and shares and virality, but in genuine human connection and—gasp—actual new ideas!
A girl can dream.
Here's my rallying cry to all you brands out there: Bring back storytelling! Not for the algorithms, not for the metrics, but for the sake of our collective humanity. :)
Anyyyyyhow. That's all for this week's tab dump.
Until next time, may your browser history be ever intriguing and your creative well never run dry,
Arriane