Gwenyth's Goop Kitchen Empire & Chaos Packaging

60% YOY growth and sunscreen in a whipped cream canister

Author

Sammi Cohen
October 26, 2024

Business, Economy & Culture:

  • Ice Cream Tubs of Tampons and Sunscreen from a Whipped Cream Can: Welcome to ‘Chaos Packaging’ (wsj)

    Companies are resorting to surprising packaging options for their products in order to stand out in today’s saturated CPG space. This article credits Michael Miraflor with naming the trend ‘chaos packaging’. In short, startup-y CPG brands are developing packaging that has the ability to generate attention and media value from the packaging itself. A very successful case study of this has been Vacation’s Classic Whip sunscreen, which generates 5 million views a week on TikTok during the summer months.

  • Gwenyth’s Beauty Makeover (puck) 

    Rachel Strugatz has covered Goop in multiple Puck articles (all of them equally fascinating and entertaining to read). In this article, she covers the company’s recent layoffs and newfound attention on their beauty lines. My favorite takeaway from the article is hearing about the massive success of Goop Kitchen (they’re allegedly delivering 60% year-over-year revenue growth).

  • Home Sales are on Track for their Worst Year since 2005 (wsj)

    Sales of existing homes in the U.S. are on track for the worst year since 1995—for the second year in a row.  Home prices and mortgage rates remain high, so potential home buyers are waiting it out. The upside: for the buyers who are able to jump into the market now, there is less competition and more room to negotiate.

  • The New Netflix Movie Strategy: Make Better Movies (bloomberg)

    Netflix is still trying to prove that they’re capable of making good movies. Dan Lin took over as Netflix’s film chairman earlier this year, and he’s eager to reset the public perception of the studio. He’s told business partners that they push for overhauling their movie program starts with developing more projects in-house and being more selective.

  • These Boots Were Out of Style. Then Gen Z Found Them. (wsj)

    Gen Z has “discovered” Frye boots, and over the last few months, the shoes have developed “‘grail-like’ status”. Sales of women’s Frye boots are up 96% from October 2023 to October 2024. Searches for “Frye Boots” are up 277% in the last six months on Depop. These Frye boots play in well with the whole western fashion trend that’s been popular this year.

  • The Debrief | How Dupe Culture is Challenging Traditional Luxury (bof)

    A growing number of direct-to-consumer brands are disrupting the luxury market by offering high-quality alternatives at more affordable prices. As traditional luxury brands focus on the ultra-wealthy and fast fashion dominates the budget market, these “dupe” brands cater to middle-class consumers who feel priced out of luxury but still want value for their money.

  • What selling a bra looks like in 2024 (vogue business)

    Last week, the Victoria Secret Fashion show came back after a multi-year hiatus, which spawned many conversations about the past, present and future of bra shopping. In 2023, US bra sales reached $9.2 billion, per consumer behavior market research firm Circana. Consumers today care about comfort, quality and product performance, and bra brands that champion these attributes have the best chance of winning market share.

  • The Print Magazine Revival of 2024 (bloomberg)

    This year is the year of the print magazine’s revival (but with a much smaller market than in its heyday). A key shift has happened: magazines are considered a luxury. The people who pay for these magazines are largely the same people who buy expensive clothing and book luxury hotel stays; advertisers of these products all the more interested in reaching this demographic via print.

  • Retail Space is Going Fast and Pushing Out Local Shops (wsj)

    Retail space is in high demand, leading to increased rents and the displacement of small businesses by larger chains. Landlords are giving priority to national tenants with higher credit ratings, making it difficult for small businesses to compete. Despite the challenges, some small businesses are finding ways to survive by negotiating with landlords or securing financing from alternative sources.

  • 'An act of desperation': Why The Container Store needed a lifeline from Beyond Inc. (modern retail)

    Beyond Inc. agreed to invest $40 million in The Container Store. Beyond Inc. was formerly Overstock, and this is the same company that bought the Bed, Bath & Beyond Name out of bankruptcy in 2023.

  • SiriusXM Media’s Lizzie Collins on the power of podcasts for influencers (the current)

    More people are listening to podcasts that ever before, and these listeners are young (66% of US listeners ages 13-24 listen to podcasts) and 84% of them listen to dive deeper into topics that they’re interested in. As the influencer ecosystem becomes more cutthroat and competitive than ever, creators will have to lean into multiple forms of media (podcasting, longer form content) in order to form deeper connections with their audience.

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