Jacquemus does it again // This week in Brand Land
From Jacquemus' Where's Waldo to an Obama reading list parody to egg price increases; creative highs, economics lows
Hi brand nerds ;-)
I'm Arriane, a brand strategist (former community organizer, user researcher, facilitator/teacher, policy gal), and this is The Stories We Sell Ourselves, a newsletter exploring cultural criticism through the lens of brand, or brand analysis through the lens of culture - whichever makes more sense to you.
If you’re new here, I deliver a link roundup of brand moves each week and one deep dive per month. For paid subscribers (thank you for supporting my work!), you get access to more tactical analysis, trend forecasts, and brand strategy breakdowns—to be paywalled accordingly.
Brand Moves That Caught My Attention (for Longer than a Millisecond) This Week:
In a world where every brand is increasingly starting to feel like it was birthed from the same sum-weighted-average ChatGPT prompt, here are a few moves that actually made me pay attention this week:
Jacquemus' partnership with Apple is a masterclass in attention to detail. Their #ShotoniPhone campaign is deliciously maximalist - think Where's Waldo meets Severance meets French luxury, with enough tiny details to keep you hitting replay. In a sea of all the lo-fi meme-reels, watching something this meticulously orchestrated scratches a deep itch in my brain. Damn good planning, too.
Reformation is cleverly tapping into the dating dystopia zeitgeist with their latest teaser. Their screen recording-style Reel perfectly captures the modern ritual of "hard launching" a new relationship - complete with bio updates, dating app deletions, and strategic ex-blocking. The comments section is convinced it's leading to a men's line launch on 2.11. What do you think it is? (Ref’s copywriting team is always one I like to watch).
Hatch, primarily known for their baby sleep products, just showed that even minimal DTC brands can get playful. They just dropped a billboard that side-eyes the iPhone ad next to it. Classic hero-villain narrative: your phone is the bad guy, better sleep is the goal, and not texting your ex is the bonus prize.
The social strategy behind Broadway's "Oh, Mary" is a masterclass in intelligent content + naughty brand voice. As their social lead puts it: "Audiences are so much smarter than we think, but we can still teach them how to treat us. If you feed them good content, they'll eat good content." (Louder for the people in the back!!!) Must-read interview on Rachel Karten’s Link In Bio; really gave me a creative high. The post below - an Obama reading list parody - is tongue-in-cheek, wink-wink, IYKYK smart.
And because joy is necessary right now: The press tour for the movie "One of Them Days" is giving exactly what we need after a brutal news cycle. (SZA is apparently incredibly hilarious? I hate that I’m late to that info.) This clip of her with Keke Palmer and Issa Rae had me TRULY cackling out loud:
(And since we're talking SZA - she's hitting the Super Bowl stage with Kendrick Lamar. Big 2025 for her.)
Under-The-Radar: New Brand Discovery of the Week
In last week’s roundup, I started including a section where I share one new brand I’ve recently discovered, and you guys apparently really liked it.
This week’s discovery came by way of Ali Labelle:
Azur - a French independent label that's bringing Issey Miyake-esque plissé techniques to a new generation. Their brand imagery, especially the still life packaging photos, made me gasp. These are excellent at communicating artistry—every touchpoint from process videos to packaging feels SO artisanal, intentional, and elevated.
Tracking My 2025 Predictions
For those who read my Ins and Outs piece for 2025 (which nearly 200 of you shared - thank you!), I promised to keep an eye on how those predictions play out in the wild. Two interesting developments caught my eye recently:
On the micro-communities front: Cash App is showing exactly what the power of micro-communities is like. Their new documentary series follows grassroots organizations using digital financial tools to foster economic mobility. The video below has 4M views (!). If you are looking for insights on community-centric strategy, Cash App’s moves over the years make for an interesting case study.
And remember that prediction about multi-generational living becoming more mainstream? Vox's February cover just dropped with a cover that reads: “The New Empty Nesters”. They feature a deep dive on Nesterly, a platform matching older homeowners with younger renters seeking affordable housing. The concept: affordable rent in exchange for helping around the house. The subtitle reads: “Spare bedrooms are America’s next housing market.” It's fascinating to watch economic pressures reshape our living arrangements, pushing us back toward more communal models.
I’m telling you guys: Multi-generational living/narratives is THE STORY TO TAP INTO right now. Not next year, not someday, but right now. As you can tell, I’m bullish on this.
For those of you who want to read (or re-read) my 2025 trend/narrative predictions, here’s the link:
Meanwhile, In The Real Economy...
While we're over here analyzing clever brand moves, something more existential is happening in consumer land. When I named this newsletter The Stories We Sell Ourselves, it wasn't just about marketing narratives - it's about the tales we tell through our spending habits, what we'll pay for, and what we won't. Or increasingly, what we can't.
This week gave us plenty to think about on that front:
When Waffle House - yes, the chain that famously stays open during hurricanes - starts adding a 50-cent surcharge per egg, you know we're in uncharted territory. The Atlantic called it: this might be the most telling indicator yet of America's egg price crisis. (source)
But it's not just your breakfast getting more expensive. This week's tariff chaos is setting up a fascinating (and slightly terrifying) economic psychology experiment. As pricing uncertainty spreads, consumers get nervous. They shift spending, hunt for better-paying jobs, ask for raises - all of which can push prices even higher. It's like inflation inception, where just thinking about higher prices helps make them real.
For those of us in brand land, are you warming up your comms muscles? We're likely looking at a wave of price increase announcements in the coming months.
Tariff-Related Questions to Noodle On
How do you maintain your brand's personality while essentially saying "sorry, inflation"? Is there room for creativity in constraint, or do we need to accept that some messages just need to be straightforward?
For those of us working on "affordable luxury" brands - what happens when the "affordable" part starts slipping? How do we evolve positioning without losing the core promise?
How do we prepare our brands for a future where price volatility might be the norm rather than the exception? What stories do we need to start telling now?
Let's discuss in the comments - how is your brand thinking about these challenges?
And a final thought or laugh:
See you next week,
Arriane
Such a good example of contextually relevant OOH from Hatch.