Open Tabs

Today’s topics: Why so many influencers are making the jump into real estate, and how Poppy is turning social media into its newest recruiting tool.

Timestamps:

🏡 0:00 - The influencer-to-real-estate-agent pipeline. We break down why creators, celebrities, and former athletes are moving into real estate, why influencer skills translate surprisingly well to selling houses, and how the creator playbook is changing the way agents market themselves.

* Celebrities and influencers are getting into real estate - The Atlantic

🥤 16:19 - Poppy is hiring on social. Poppy is looking for Gen Z talent for its culture team, but instead of relying solely on traditional job postings, they’re taking the recruiting process directly to social media [where they’re ideal candidates are already scrolling] by partnering with content creator Kitty Murphy to document what being on their culture team would look like.

* Poppi wants its next employees to come from social media - Fast Company

Have a great weekend!

Today’s topics: Callaway and Good Good Golf are facing backlash over a brand collab that went very wrong, Lovesac learned the hard way that snarky brand responses don’t always land, and we’re asking whether brands should be focusing less on being funny and more on being useful.

Timestamps:

⛳ 0:00 - When a brand collab goes very wrong. We break down the viral Callaway and Good Good Golf ad that depicted violence against a woman, why the concept raised bigger questions about the culture of the golf creator space, and what happens when a brand’s partnership strategy doesn’t match the values of the audience it’s trying to reach.

The original ad that was posted:

Callaway’s statement:

🛋️ 16:34 - Lovesac’s $10K couch problem. A comedian’s viral TikTok called out the surprisingly un-luxurious experience of assembling a $7,000+ couch, and Lovesac’s attempt to clap back only made the situation worse. We dig into why brands need to understand their “permission structure” on social and why not every customer complaint is an opportunity for a joke.

💡 22:49 - Is utility the new brand personality? From Costco and Amazon to Nordstrom’s legendary customer service, we’re talking about why consumers may be less interested in brands trying to be funny and more interested in brands making their lives easier. Plus, what happens when marketing teams are expected to sell around problems that the product team isn’t fixing?

We’ll see ya next time!

Today's topics: TikTok is trying to make Substack happen [and Substack users are not exactly thrilled], YouTube is paying creators millions to keep their content away from Netflix, and Kim Kardashian is executive producing a new reality show about baseball moms.

Timestamps:

📝 0:00 - TikTok made a Substack. We break down TikTok’s new The Creator's Cut by TikTok LIVE, why the reception has been so cold, and what TikTok could have done to actually make the move feel native to Substack.

📺 10:48 - YouTube vs. Netflix. YouTube is reportedly paying top creators millions to stay exclusive as Netflix continues to expand into creator-led content. It feels like YouTube is on defense when they should be on offense.

* YouTube Offers Creators Millions to Not Work With Netflix, Bloomberg

⚾ 21:04 - Baseball moms are getting the Dance Moms treatment. Kim Kardashian is executive producing Team Moms: Baseball, and we dig into the rise of competitive youth sports, sports-mom creators, and why this feels like a cultural trend that’s about to get much bigger.

* Kim Kardashian to Executive Produce New Sports Reality Show 'Team Moms: Baseball', Yahoo

Today’s topics: Young people are finding new ways to use Instagram without being beholden to the algorithm, and the Savannah Bananas are turning baseball into a fandom-first entertainment machine, complete with celebrity cameos and social media stars.

Timestamps:

📱 0:00 - We unpack “ghost posting,” the Gen Z habit of posting to Instagram and immediately archiving content and then unarchiving to create a curated mood board without worrying about likes, engagement, or being perceived. We talk about whether Instagram has become too optimized for creators and brands, the return of the platform’s original photo-album energy, and why people are increasingly looking for ways to use social media on their own terms.

* Is the grid dead? How young people are changing the feed - Dazed

⚾ 17:20 - Are the Savannah Bananas becoming the new celebrity press stop? We break down Kristen Bell’s surprise performance at a Banana Ball game, why the moment resonated with both kids and nostalgic parents, and what makes the Savannah Bananas such a compelling case study in community-first strategy.

Today’s topics: The backlash against filming in public is growing as people push back on being unwilling extras in someone else’s content, and Hinge turns its love stories into audiobooks for this year’s No Ordinary Love campaign.

Timestamps:

* 📱 0:00 - We unpack the growing backlash against filming in public, from Pilates studios banning phones to “no influencer” signs and no-phone concerts. We debate consent, privacy, and the increasingly blurry line between being in public and being content, plus whether people are starting to actively opt out of the internet.

* The Meaning of Consent in the Age of Content - Vogue

* 💕 16:30 - Hinge is turning its annual “No Ordinary Love” stories into audiobooks on Spotify and Libby. We talk about why this is such a smart example of a brand being selective about where it shows up, how Hinge is tapping into the current romance and audiobook boom, and whether the campaign can actually deliver on the romantic promise it’s selling.

* The story behind Hinge’s first audiobook campaign - Marketing Brew

See ya next week!

Today's topics: Gen Z is finally leaving the house [yay!] for a "summer of outside" and Netflix planted an actor inside a house-shaped billboard on Sunset Boulevard to promote its new horror movie, a cool stunt that we think could have been cooler.

Timestamps:

🌞 0:00 - Gen Z is breaking out of their pandemic funk, and we dig into why this summer feels different: more drinking, more spontaneous plans, more IRL socializing. We debate whether this is a genuine social reawakening or a marketing-driven trend, talk about the “One Night Only” singles screenings, and get into the growing backlash to being “extremely online,” with some people now treating being offline as aspirational rather than embarrassing.

* 2026 is Gen Z’s breakout summer - Vox

🏠 18:42 - Netflix paid an actor to live inside a house-shaped billboard on Sunset Boulevard for 3 days to promote its film “The Last House”. We break down whether the stunt actually worked, why it seemed to land harder with marketers than with general audiences, what Netflix could have done to make it more of a moment [a live Netflix stream from inside the billboard + bringing MrBeast in], and why out of home advertising is having a real comeback this summer [hint: it’s because Gen Z is outside].

* Can Netflix save a summer slump with a stunt on Sunset Boulevard? - NY Times

This was a bit of a free-range episode, so enjoy our tangent-filled conversation! Here’s what we covered today: A lo-fi Instagram show following an NYU grad's friends running mundane errands around NYC has us thinking about the internet's hunger for unproduced, human content, Olivia Rodrigo's surprise $25 Brooklyn show (box office only, no online sales), and a fun-yet-messy public spat between infamous internet scammer Caroline Calloway and the Good Noticing podcast got us talking about why we love low-stakes internet drama.

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 - We dig into "Errands," a viral lo-fi Instagram show that follows an NYU film grad's friends doing actual chores (mailing packages, installing an AC unit) with no celebrities, no sponsorships, and barely any production value.

* Errands Are Boring. He Makes Them Fun., NY Times

🎤 7:54 - Olivia Rodrigo's same-day-announced $25 surprise concert in Brooklyn (tickets sold in person only) got us talking about why Gen Zs need more spontaneity in their lives and Melissa Blum reminisces about living in NYC in the 2000s.

💬 24:41 - Caroline Calloway calls out the hosts of the Good Noticing podcast in a public rant, and we break down why this kind of low-stakes, messy internet drama feels increasingly rare now that most creators are guarding a personal brand.

Lastly, quick question:

See ya next week!

Today's topics: Reddit is adding native video and a "spoken Reddit" text-to-speech feature to grab back the audience that's been ripping off viral posts for TikTok, MySpace's owners insist a relaunch is coming (eventually), and OpenAI's first-ever influencer brand trip read more like an ad for a Hudson Valley hotel than for ChatGPT.

Timestamps:

* 🎥 0:00 - …

Today's topics: Meta is working to combat the “creepy” reputation that their smart glasses have and why [some] lifestyle influencers are ditching luxury hauls for low-stakes rage bait like $130 DoorDash orders.

Timestamps:

* 🕶️ 0:00 - Weeks after we called out Meta's glasses branding problem, activist groups have plastered anti-surveillance ads across New …

Today’s topics: what a new USC Annenberg study reveals about Gen Z’s relationship with live sports, and why brands are ditching mega-influencers for regular people with a few hundred followers.

Timestamps:

🏟️ 0:00 - A new USC Annenberg and ACC study finds that nearly 80% of Gen Z only goes to live sporting events for celebrity sightings, concerts, and br…