Nike Nightmares & 13 Million Single Americans

The Nike CEO is out and post pandemic-era socialization

Author

Sammi Cohen
September 21, 2024

Business & Culture:

Emily Weiss’s Glossier, valued at ~$2 billion, is set to introduce two new fragrances this autumn, possibly in an effort to capture the interest of a major investor. Instead of simply offering a follow-up to the hugely popular Glossier You—first launched seven years ago and still a fan favorite, even becoming Sephora’s top-selling fragrance last year—the brand is taking things up a notch with two completely new perfumes slated for an early October release. To kick off this launch, Glossier is planning a lavish celebration next week to showcase its latest additions.

Nike's board announced on Thursday that CEO John Donahoe is stepping down unexpectedly, citing challenges in merchandising and a declining stock price. Elliott Hill, who previously retired from the company in 2020, will take over as CEO next month. Donahoe, who has been at the helm since January 2020, successfully steered the company through the pandemic, e-commerce expansion, and supply chain disruptions. However, he was not viewed as a visionary in the areas of innovation and marketing, and with the fierce competition from brands such as On and Hoka, they need someone who is going to make Nike shoes competitive again.

Meta revealed on Tuesday that it will implement new restrictions aimed at protecting young users. The changes include making Instagram accounts of users aged 16 and under private by default, restricting who can interact with them or tag them in posts, and filtering out certain keywords linked to cyberbullying. Additionally, content access will be set to the strictest level by default, and teens will be encouraged to limit their time on the platform. These updates are part of Meta's broader effort to create a safer online environment for younger audiences (it’s about time!)

Last year, Tucker Carlson made a light-hearted comment about his preferred nicotine-pouch brand, Zyn. Carlson, who had been an enthusiastic, albeit informal, advocate for Zyn, frequently praised the brand on various podcasts. However, the reaction from Zyn’s manufacturer rubbed him the wrong way, leading him to decide to venture into the tobacco industry himself. His new pouch brand is called Alp (hasn’t launched yet, still needs to receive FDA clearance).

Functional beverages (brand such as Poppi and Olipop) are non-alcoholic drinks designed to offer health benefits through the inclusion of biologically active ingredients—this is a booming industry. Globally, this market is valued at over $150 billion and is projected to surpass $200 billion within the next four years. Millennials are leading the charge, being twice as likely as other age groups to consume these drinks in 2023. As food anthropologist Lauren Crossland-Marr from the University of La Verne puts it, buying these beverage is “a way to signify a commitment to something like a healthy lifestyle.”

Every year, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys thousands of people about how they spend their time and compiles the results into the American Time Use Survey. The most recent findings from 2023 reveal that adults are spending significantly more time alone and much less time engaging in face-to-face conversations or group activities compared to four years ago. Instead of being a short-term disruption, the pandemic appears to have sped up a decades-long trend of decreasing social connectedness and community engagement in the US.

EssilorLuxottica is deepening its collaboration with Meta Platforms through a new long-term agreement to create multiple generations of smart eyewear, as announced in a press release on Monday. The partnership between Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company and the luxury eyewear giant began in 2019, and has since produced two versions of Ray-Ban smart glasses, according to the release. This update confirms that we can expect many more iterations of these Meta Ray-Ban glasses.

Resources I’m Reading & Thinking About

  • Mr. Beast’s Leaked Document: The 26-year-old YouTuber remains arguably the biggest name on YouTube and has managed to turn producing videos online into a $700 million business. This document provides a behind-the-scenes look at his company’s production ethos and mindset. It’s done in an off-the-cuff way (lots of spelling/grammatical errors), and people have been rightfully eager to read it to learn about the way that he runs his company.

  • Pietra: I stumbled upon this platform after reading the fantastic Rex Woodbury newsletter. This site is awesome- it is a manufacturer network to enable anyone to launch their own branded products.

Startups/New Concepts:

  • Founder of Reformation, Yael Afalo, has launched Afalo, which is a luxury clothing company. Four years ago, she sold a majority stake of Reformation to private equity (Permira) four years ago.

  • Meet the VCs who just raised $250 million to women-led startups. Rethink Impact just raised a $250 million fund, which means they’re officially the largest VC firm dedicated to funding female CEOs (this is their third fund).

  • Pinterest announced its Pinterest Inclusion Fund, an incubator program for diverse content producers who deliver content and products for underrepresented communities.

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xx Sammi

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