By Association

2023 is fully underway and this week we discuss the following topics: 

Now that we've both watched The Menu, conversation leads to the power struggle between the hospitality worker and the hosted when it comes to fine dining. Both having enjoyed the theatre, thrill and premise of the film, we left watching with many questions to answer on the story itself but also what was being truly shown to the viewer themselves.  

Colossal Biosciences, a biotechnology start-up that promises to resurrect woolly mammoths, is now the first “de-extinction unicorn,” with a valuation said to be over a $1 billion before bringing back a single lost species. We get our head around if this is something truly ethical and if it really makes sense. 

Our final topic is how M&M'S have announced a pause on the use of its "spokes-candies," replacing them with actress Maya Ruldoph. The change comes after a year of outrage from conservative pundits over tweaks to the iconic characters. We talk representation in a brand that has such a mass, wide audience to serve in it's branding and advertising. Looking forward to the first new showcase to see how this shift turns out at The Superbowl later this month. 

While Emma is on the slopes skiing, Maurice talks to Neil Schambra Stevens, owner of Mercury Jam Coaching, focusing on well-being and productivity at work. Neil draws on over nearly 30 years of C-level marketing experience with Fortune 500 brands, such as Levi's, Converse, Lenovo, Vans, and Polaroid.

In the conversation we talk about Jacinda Ardern's resignation as prime minister of New Zealand, and how her strong, kind, empathetic leadership style really resonates, and is an inspiration for many around the world. We discuss Neils career path, and how he became a coach, discussing the observations he see in the various coaching sessions with creatives.

Have a listen and make sure to check out Mercury Jam and see if Neil can support you in your growth.

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This week, Netflix have released a new 6 part docuseries together with Harry & Meghan covering the inside story with content led by the couple themselves on their courtship, journey and exit from royal life. We share thoughts on their complex journey (from episodes we've seen so far) and why it matters most for them, given both of their pasts and potential futures to do so in their own words and with full control. 

Dyson have released The Dyson Zone; noise cancelling headphones that also purify the air you breathe when wearing them. A step too far in the wrong direction or a display of how this innovative brand can aid health services? At $949 and releasing soon in the US, we discuss if we would buy ourselves and where in the world we see this selling best. 

Balenciaga's Creative Director, Demna Gvasalia publicly apologised for his involvement in what he called a 'wrong artistic choice of concept' over their latest controversial campaign. Are we impressed? Do we accept his apology? 

As Christmas adverts kick-in we discuss the relationship between authentic, valuable advertising and how it links to commercial business needs this time of year. Led from a interest in the repetitive strategy Dutch supermarkets continue to take, we suggest this is an even deeper copy-culture than we initially thought.  

The Miami work trip cut us short on recording for a little while, but now we’re BACK. This episode begins with a round-up of what’s happened since we last shared a recording; citizenM Miami, house moves and lifestyle changes (AKA out excuses for not recording) followed by three key news topics that don’t include Elon - can you believe it?

Topic 1: Soho House founder Nick Jones has stepped down as CEO to work on more of the creative community elements of the brand following his prostate cancer diagnosis and recovery. Something we applaud him for that builds more curiosity over what will become of a brand expanding to new properties and locations with exclusive membership elements, at such high speed. 

Topic 2: Balenciaga has released controversial ads for their latest campaign that sexualised children. We’re looking into their response and reaction in suing the creatives who worked on the campaign for $25 million. As we know from experience, every brand campaign worked internally or externally will have a tier of checks, discussion and approvals - how and why are Balenciaga blaming anyone but themselves? Outrageous.

Topic 3: Kanye West appeared on Infowars last week wearing a black face covering mask/suit (also Balenciaga, also outrageous). During the interview, Kanye spoke of Hitler and how he brought positive things to the world. It’s another odd take and display on something so negative in this world on such a large scale, what is up with him at the moment? It feels as though it’s never-ending. We’re certainly not impressed. Kanye’s claims that Hitler invented the microphone and highway systems are simply not true. We’re miffed. 

Twitter is fully under Elon's wrath of change. The movements include cutting employees as well as those who 'parody' him using the channel itself. With 3700 employees cut last week at Twitter, a desperate measure for the social media platform reportedly losing $4M a day. 

The Metaverse is turning into a pretty bad bet. With less excitement around it's advances and opportunity, shares have dropped 73% in the past year. With Meta's market value now down to $600BN are investors the only ones worried about Meta's future? In line with conversation around the recession, one of our listeners asked “Do media words of fear of recession actually help create said recession?” for key discussion. 

Wellness retail company Goop have launched their "Ridiculous but Awesome Gift Guide" just in time for the holiday-retail season kick-off. Items are famously over-priced and wellness wonder-workers, only this year the collection includes a $75 blend of free-range goat, horse, chicken, and cow manure, “lovingly tended by” the gardeners at Flamingo Estate in LA. Conversation turns to celebrity founded/promoted brands as we ask if Gwyneth Paltrow and the team at Goop are laughing at consumers or simply feeding their needs to the nth degree. 

Cher (78) has a new boyfriend, 36 year old music executive, Alexander Edwards. Are we all for this new eloping, is there anything wrong in this at all? 

A $30 million lottery jackpot winner collected his winnings in a disguise fancy-dress outfit to keep the news from his wife and child, claiming he was worried the winnings would make them lazy. What would we do if we were to win and how do we feel about secrecy around money and wealth? 

The drama around Ye's brand partnership downfall and Elon's new take on Twitter continues, and so do we. Ye is ousted by Sketchers before a partnership even started & Elon had fun with a sink on his first day in the new workplace. We couldn't resist commenting.

Other than that, we took on two Q&A responses we had from people within the same industry: 

Our friend and colleague at citizenM, Sikko Baltus was interested to know our take on Taylor Swift's backlash following her new music video portrayal of "Fat" when stepping onto a bathroom scale. There was divided opinion on this from her fanbase, we took a swift look into her main audience and how this will have impacted them - the divide in support and backlash and ask maybe how this could have been done differently to still raise awareness and tell her personal story, but with less potential damage overall. 

Secondly, Paddy Smith from a social media agency we work together with at citizenM, Born Social asked "Is high fashion (Balenciaga in particular focus) a social experiment? From this suggestion, we share our own perceptions of high fashion, trends & societal shifts in "what is luxury" overall. Balenciaga at main focus, mentions of Vetements in a similar vein and if we are part of the loyal following these brands have gathered. 

Adidas, Balenciaga & Gap have all severed ties with “Ye” (Kanye West) following his antisemitic remarks and showcases online and in live interviews. We discuss why it took Adidas so long to make the cut and how Ye's actions have cost him his billionaire status. Not to mention how much further this may lead in the fashion industry and develop in public perception overall. 

Twitter are freezing their employee’s stock accounts ahead of the $44bn deal with Elon Musk. We're looking out for October 28th when the deal is set to be secured and eager to finally discover where Elon will take the social media platform. We have our own guesses, let's just hope we're right. 

Rishi Sunak is the new UK Prime Minister. After Liz Truss left the position and Boris Johnson backed-out from re-running, does the UK have a better future in sight?

Kanye West has agreed to buy Parler, a conservative social media platform following Instagram & Twitter banning him from using their platforms last week over antisemitic posts. What do we know/need to know about Parler? It's one of many right-wing-friendly social media platforms to emerge in the Donald Trump era. We question what entertainment or debatable content stream could ever trickle from a social media platform that welcomes an audience with merely one political belief and ideology alongside others far more open and unbiased.  

Netflix will charge $6.99 a month for a new ad-supported subscription starting November 3rd in the U.S. If this isn't something we'd invest in, we ask why? 

Apple's new AR/VR headset will include iris scanning biometrics to switch user accounts and authenticate payments just like the iPhone. Retailing at more than double the cost of Mark Zuckerberg's Meta headset, will Apple lead against the creator of the metaverse experience on immersive hardware? 

Liz Truss’ ‘trickle-down economics’ is dead. Faith in UK politics falls again, with the nation feeling more de ja vu. As well as this, there's an obvious comparison and lack of trust in Truss from the past of UK female political personalities. 

Elon Musk is abandoning his legal battle to back out of buying Twitter and now offering to go through with his original $44 billion (€44 billion) bid for the social media platform. He tweeted “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app” without further explanation and this has got us thinking about the potential shift in the Western world for more of a Weibo/WeChat shift in how we use technology. What excites us about this and how far could it really go with Elon at helm? 

Kanye West returned to Twitter after being banned for nearly two years, welcomed back with a tweet from Elon to only be suspended from both Twitter & Instagram accounts after Kanye shared multiple anti-semitic posts across both platforms. The world is noticing a downward spiral in Kanye's ever-public displays of adversity, wearing a "White Lives Matter" t-shirt to his Paris Fashion Week show most recently. Kanye is set to leave his Gap Yeezy & Adidas partnerships once the contract ends in 2026 after accusing them of stealing his designs, too. Is Kanye suffering? This does feel like something we've seen before. 

Meta have launched VR goggles. The 'Meta Quest Pro' is said to be the most cutting-edge headset introducing eye tracking and mixed reality for $1,499. We discuss what can the world of Meta offer with this kind of hardware outside of gaming?