By Association

During the Coperni show at Paris Fashion Week, Bella Hadid walked to the middle of the runway - wearing only a G-string & holding her breasts for two men to spray her body with what appeared to be white paint. Sure, there were immediate connections to another moment in fashion history: Alexander McQueen’s SS 1999 show, when Shalom Harlow’s white dress was spray-painted by robots. It looked similar, but the result was very different. Coperni's design took about 15 minutes to create, but as the men finished spraying on the dress, a woman came to cut a slit in the sides and pulled down sleeves to make an off-the-shoulder look. As she walked away, the dress moved with her. Coperni is a highly skilled fashion house, with craftsmen and women from the same ateliers as Balenciaga and Chanel but more known for creating ready to wear runway pieces rather than couture. A blast from fashion past, but is this performative fashion week game a chase for shareable content? 

Kim Kardashian has been fined $1.26 million to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission after she broke US rules by sharing a paid post to her 331 million followers on Instagram on a crypto token company (EthereumMax) without disclosing that she was paid and how much she was paid for the promotion ($250,000). We both understand from working in branding how important upholding regulations in influencer marketing is and how this example should set a standard on a larger scale to others who rely on social media for their income. 

Tesla boss Elon Musk presented their upgraded humanoid robot 'Optimus' at the latest Tesla 2022 AI Day but critics were unimpressed. The humanoid merely waved to the audience and raised its knees in performance. We ask why would you make a robot like a human when the real value comes from creating something with technology that humans can't do. Critics are as unimpressed with this innovation as we are. Why is Elon working on this at all? 

Apple have released the iPhone 14 keeping focus on software updates rather than hardware. Apple have chosen to prioritise creators with high-spec photo and video elements at its polished-up core. We're impressed by the new iPhone's potential life-saving features; crash control and signal sighting from satellites anywhere in the world. Maurice claims wearable tech is really where the opportunity is truly at for Apple. Discussions follow of partnerships past and present for the brand and where and how this shift in brand strategy happened. 

This week, NASA purposely crashed into a (non earth threatening) asteroid for the first time. Does this give us hope for the future, or worry? 

Adobe have bought Figma for $20 billion. Will they build something better together, or is this a case of a larger player taking their key competitor off the market? With many designers outraged, Adobe stocks have plummeted following the announcement.  

Useless work meetings are wasting our time and money. $100 million a year is now lost at large companies, according to a study by a professor at the University of North Carolina asking 632 employees across 20 industries to study their weekly calendars and gauge how much time they actually spent in meetings, what they got out of them and how they responded to invitations. We quickly discover some pet-peeves from Maurice on communication in and out of the workplace and look into deeper stats revealed in this study concerning female reaction to meeting requests. 

This week we welcome Sophie Blowfield to join discussion over a mix of key UK-political topics and global news. Sophie has nearly 15 years experience in the creative brand industry working both in-house and as a consultant and worked with some of the world's largest brands and agencies, including the likes of: Charlotte Tilbury, The White Company, Apple, Google, 111SKIN, Coty and La Perla. She also co-founded La Norme in 2019, advocating inclusion and diversity in creative industries and beyond. Emma and Sophie met 10 years ago when she gave Emma her first internship in social media at Soap & Glory and have remained great friends and crossed paths both personally and professionally since then.

Topics:

The death of the Queen Elizabeth brings on peculiar (but expected) global media attention around the rest of the British Royal family in the aftermath, as well as interesting Gen-Z and brand responses. Which hits hardest for us? What are the focuses really all about? We delve deep into the monarchy and media divide to uncover what we know to be true. Megan and Harry false fired speculation is merely one part of this story, for once.

A notorious Jennifer Lawrence interview by Tonne Goodman recently released in October US Vogue reveals how the Hollywood actress has zero patience with the politically unengaged. She's quoted saying, “you have to be political, it’s too dire. Politics are killing people. I can’t fuck with people who aren’t political any more.” A discussion flows between the three of us on how political bias has affected our own views, lives and how important it is to understand and educate yourself in this impactful political era, now more than ever.

The mixed standpoints on Working From Home pops-up once more, with the news of British civil servants having their computers monitored in part of a WFH UK government crack-down asking staff to return to the office 4 days a week. Is it archaic? Furthermore, what are the real reasons for returning to the office? We're noticing more and more how larger organisations like Apple & Tesla are also forcing staff to return to the office or leave. Where do we all stand on the subjects surrounding this 'little shuffle' back to the office?

Are you working above and beyond in your job description? Gen-Z say stop. “Quiet quitting" is the new trend for people who are unhappy with their jobs spurred by a viral TikTok video. Is this anything new? Do we agree, do we partake? 

As of October, Nigeria will officially ban the use of non-native models in its advertising. Having grown up in Nigeria, Mo answers and shares wisdom from his heritage and first hand experience growing up in this country. A major step in the conversation of representation in this part of the world, but is this a step too far? 

Liz Truss has been appointed new Prime Minister of the UK, succeeding her rival Rishi Sunak with a 57.4% majority vote from within the conservative party. We'll never be impressed with a conservative government ruling but what can we learn from new perspective and position in politics from the past? 

Recommendations from Mo: Echoes, Netflix / House Of The Dragon HBO.

Recommendations from Emma: Bad Sisters, Apple TV / Archetypes by Megan Markle / The Pattern by Lisa Donovan.

45% of Gen-Z creators surveyed by Adobe said they aspire to own a business and make money from content shared online. As this generation ditches the corporate ladder for the Instagram grid, we ask is it really that easy? 

Instagram has found its next social media platform victim: BeReal. "IG Candid" is set to become a new feature on Instagram sending users a notification at random times prompting them to take a photo that simultaneously clicks from both selfie and rear-facing cameras to expose what users are actually doing. The irony of "BeReal" Instagram copy culture advance follows suit of multiple other alternative social network takeover features: from Snapchat to Stories, adding reflective filters and trending sounds of TikTok, but to name a few. Is Instagram building a platform where other platforms are simply not needed? Is any of this fair-game in the world of ever-evolving social media. 

President Biden announced his long-awaited plan for student debt forgiveness taking us back to our own stories around student debt in The Netherlands & UK. A great move, but with some Americans still losing out. 

A report by the Law Society has looked into how future lawyers could have microchips implanted into their brains to enhance their work and productivity. Though it sounds like a Black Mirror episode, it isn't. Can this work IRL and where and how best? 

A leaked private party video of the Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin sparked rumours around her drug use. In response, an influx of women are showing their support using #solidaritywithsanna. Should Sanna partake in these events given her position? We talk responsibilities and opportunities of a very-human Prime Minister and in reflection ask if this would be addressed the same way if she were male. 

WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann’s latest big idea? To become America’s largest landlord with his latest start-up named “Flow”. Will he build and burn as before or is this an opportunity for the world’s housing crisis after all, just as its been pitched. 

Mark Zuckerberg has updated his avatar to look more human. Is this the standard of Metaverse we were expecting? 

Anthony Joshua was defeated by Oleksander Usyk in the heavyweight world championships last weekend. The aftermath brought tears of a good-spot and yet a shift in social media support.

Food delivery service, Deliveroo is set to halt in The Netherlands. With less than 1% of their takings in the country last quarter and having lost more money than the year before, it’s time to halt service. Why isn't this happening with its competitors? We look to post-pandemic affects on a recently thriving industry. 

We couldn’t stay away from Elon Musk’s movements for long - the richest man in the world sold Tesla shares worth 6.88 billion this week. If he does in fact acquire Twitter, what could his plan be?

Disney+ now has more subscribers than Netflix. With Disney+ also set to increase its cost to consumers, we ask where the real value in these services now comes from. 

In other news: Mo visited platform 9 & 3/4 and Emma’s repurposed sex toy shoes were a great purchase.

In the week where we welcome Maurice back from his holiday, we catch up together again and discuss an eclectic selection of news. 

The evolution of luxury pop-up stores/experiences. Maurice shares his experience at Louis Vuitton Résidence Éphémère Champs-Élysées while on his travels, encouraging discussion of how pop-up has evolved for brands and the consumer. 

Kansas City citizens have voted to protect abortion rights. As a traditionally 'red' conservative part of America, does this mean anti-abortion is no longer welcome within this political ideology? The Economist predicts so, that similar referendums would succeed in 41 of 50 states. 

"For Yeezy it became easy" - Maurice Ajanaku. Kanye's 9-year-old daughter, North West has illustrated for a new season of Yeezy t-shirts as her latest creative input into her father's fame and fortune. Is this exploitative, will it sell? Do we like it at all.. 

We finish on some fantastic news, the Women's Euros 2022 is won by England. "The Lionesses" have never before won the Euros since the competition began in 1984. What was different about this time? We talk brand support and allegiance, a great Dutch coach and a true passionate spirit among the team itself. 

Their friendship started at work, Hobbs London HQ in 2015. Mary joined the PR team when Emma had recently started working as Social Media Manager. Now living in different cities (Mary in London, Emma in Amsterdam) they’ve continued their brand-digital-marketing journeys separately (but together in spirit) and Mary now spends her working days securing the latest and greatest PR & brand partnership opportunities for some of the most impactful creative digital talents around. 

This week, Mary takes to the mic in discussion together over 3 feminine-focussed newsworthy stories. 

1. Rose In Good Faith have created and launched a shoe using recycled sex toys. Has brand sustainability focus gone mad or is this pretty genius? Either way, we dissect how this is an obvious PR opportunity for the brand. 

2. The UK government has removed additional NHS IVF barriers for single women and same-sex couples. We quickly move to how the patriarchy will have a lot to do with why this was ever a ‘thing’ at all, with some key takeaways and reading recommendations. 

3. TikTok creators are urging their audiences to quit hormonal birth control at a time when millions in the US have just lost abortion access. We discuss how social media increasingly creates conversations both healthy and dangerous around women’s health, childcare and motherhood.

Nike pays homage to the real women of football with a powerful partnership Nike Shox re-launch with designer Martine Rose, just in time for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Societal statements in marketing are forever our forte and love - and this campaign is pretty pivotal. 

TikTok have announced employee layoffs, in the same way other major tech companies like Google, Apple & Tesla have in-line with global economic struggles in the US & Europe. Audience reach begins to rival business cash flow in priority, but what really wins? We ask where this will likely turn next. 

BMW are now offering heated seats as a monthly subscription. Is the world going subscription mad? Do we love it? Our conversation turns to what other brands could do to increase their takings as well as giving to their customers. 

Working From Van or just travelling aimlessly? Van-life start-up, Kift promises “shared values, healthy lifestyles and a life of exploration to work, celebrate, create, share stories and laugh and cry together.” (take a breath) with their new offering. This all sounds a little too deja-WeCrashed, but could it be just what we need?