Eternal Youth & The Kiehl's Breakup

we're all looking for youth and "free" skincare products

May 25, 2024

FIRST (!!!) OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER ISSUE

And we’re live, baby! After talking about this for the better part of a year, welcome to the first edition of the Social Currency newsletter. In this newsletter, I’ll take deeper dives into topics in the business/marketing/pop culture realm (but won’t fit or don’t make sense for me to put into a little social media video). The process of building this platform has given me a new level of energy and excitement that I haven’t felt in a long time (I think some may call this feeling fulfillment?!) Thank you so much for following along on this journey with me. xx Sammi

Articles of the Week

The wellness industry is worth nearly $500 billion in the US and $2 trillion globally. 82% of American consumers now say wellness is a top priority in their everyday lives. The wellness market is doubling down on rich customers with exclusive, luxury, hyper personalized offerings (i.e.- $75 Pilates classes, $200,000 facelifts). I remember reading this article about Bryan Johnson last year and I was blown away with how much he spent on chasing longevity (spoiler alert: $2 million annually). We’ve seen a meteoric rise in the “health and wellness” influencer space with influencers such as Andrew Huberman skyrocketing in popularity.

Last week, Equinox switched out beloved Kiehl’s products for products from another brand: Grown Alchemist. Many people ran to TikTok to share their frustrations with this switch; some people even claimed that the unlimited Kiehl’s products were the primary reason for their $300/month Equinox membership. People love free stuff - and even though these Kiehl products were by no means “free”, people still loved feeling like they were using these luxury products at the gym.

Lowe and On are collaborating on a new capsule collection. In a novel branding decision, they’ve decided to combine their logos (vs. having them side-by-side or separated as most collaborations do). The result is unique — I definitely can still see the “On” part of the logo, but I honestly find it harder to see the “L” in the visual.

Alice Walton (of the Walmart dynasty) is worth an estimated $84 billion and is the second richest woman in the world (Loreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers takes the top spot). What does she do with her spare time and billions of net worth? She buys LOTS of art (in 2011, she opened a $50 million museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, and she also bought a $44 million Georgie O’Keefe in 2014.)

This was the tech scandal of the week, so I’d be remiss if I left this one off…Last year, Sam Altman approached about using her voice for the ChatGPT 4.0 system, and at that time, she declined. Two days before the release of the demo, Sam went to Scarlett again and asked her to reconsider. Before Scarlett had a chance to connect with Sam, the demo was released with an eerily similar voice to Scarlett’s. With the ensuing drama, OpenAI took disabled the voice. PSA: If you haven’t seen the movie ‘Her’, you need to put it on your must-watch list now.

Bumble has acquired Geneva, an online platform built around forming real-world groups and clubs. The “dating” part of dating apps seems to be a bit of a sinking ship at the moment, so Bumble stated that the “friendships” part of the platform would be a bigger focus for the year ahead.

I think we are ALL looking for ways that we can simplify our lives by using AI. Here are some of the highlights on how to better prompt and communicate with ChatGPT: 1) tell the chatbot that it’s an expert, 2) encourage the chatbot to “do better”, and 3) ask the AI to suggest prompts.

Gen Z Sentiment

Prof G Analysis

This table above is certainly depressing but not exactly surprising given the skyrocketing costs of college education and home prices. Seeing the disparity between the generations helps to provide some context around the overall pessimism felt by younger millennials/Gen Z.

Retrograde Supply Co, Faire.com

Biz Deep Dive: Faire

Faire has completely changed the game for small business owners across the US, yet their company name isn’t a household name (yet). Faire operates a wholesale marketplace between retailers and independent brands— think artisans and small businesses selling all sorts of products ranging from home goods to food/beverages to jewelry. Honestly, many of the types of products that sell well on Faire are the types of products that you’d buy at the cute little gift shop in your local town/city for a friend’s birthday.

When small businesses list their products on Faire, they are able to be shopped by retailers across the US. One of the biggest concerns for small business owners is expanding their e-commerce footprint, and Faire’s marketplace helps to give small business access to these new potential customers without having to invest in their e-commerce themselves. As Faire onboards more retailers and brands onto the platform, the marketplace becomes more valuable to both sides (hello network effects!).

As a small business owner myself (I have a side-hustle matcha concentrate company that I run on the side so I’ve listed my matcha products with Faire in the past), I love that Faire enables small businesses to scale faster. There are many upsides to retailers that join Faire as well, such as the net 60-day payment terms. As an added bonus, brands don’t have to worry about the risk of non-payment since Faire guarantees the order.

Faire’s referral loop; Source: YC Continuity

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