Unseen Unknown

Self-care and wellness are everywhere around us. From cereal boxes to the makeup counter to furniture rental, CBD sticks, mobile apps and coffee - a new mindset about how to be… but also how to consume, has settled in. 

As second nature as this may all seem right now, the concept of self-care actually comes from a very radical and politically charged place in recent American history. 

In this episode of Unseen Unknown, we speak with New York Times journalist and editor Aisha Harris about the connected history of politics, race, gender and identity that underpins the self-care space today, and how it’s many interpretations reflect our American culture.

The history or self-care and wellness is deep and rich, stemming from the civil rights movement, Black and LGBT communities, the hippie wellness movement of the 1960s, and then going mainstream with a new political resurgence after the 2016 election.

We also speak with founder Jerome Nichols of The Butters, a self-care beauty brand and cult favorite that signals a new approach in the space among upstarts looking to bring self-care back to its communal roots through very intentional branding and user experiences. 

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode and further reading:

• A History of Self-Care (Slate)
• ‘Self-care’: how a radical feminist idea was stripped of politics for the mass market (The Guardian)
• You Feel Like Shit: An Interactive Self-Care Guide
• Post-election, Minorities Are Taking Self-Defense Classes In Droves (Slate)
• Inside the $2,000-a-Month, Invite-Only Fitness Clubs (Elemental)
• How Self-Care Became So Much Work (Harvard Business Review)
• Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination (University of Minnesota Press)
• Understanding the radical history of self-care is essential to practicing it successfully (Hello Giggles)
• The Dark Truths Behind Our Obsession With Self-Care (Vice)
• Where Group Prayer Meets Group Fitness (New York Times)

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There is no doubt that right now we are living through the most consequential time of our generation to-date. Today’s social and political climate begs the big question, ‘Who are we, really?’ 

As BLM, societal tensions and the added pressure of a pandemic force us to take a candid look at ourselves, the clues to answering that question lie in our online and offline spaces.

Author and sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom joins us for an intimate discussion on how the mechanics of the internet, social media, digital marketing and real-life institutions amass power along racial and gender lines, and what they tell us about the American identity. 

We discuss how certain cultural narratives create our understanding of ourselves and others, how consumption is becoming increasingly political, how inequality manifests in our digital realms, and the role that brands play in the larger discussion.

We also discuss how things like Instagram filters, memes, the technology disruption cycle and platform economics accelerate our notions of race, gender and class even more efficiently than their irl counterparts. 

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode and further reading:

• Upending Stereotypes of Black Womanhood with “Thick” (The Daily Show)
• Hear To Slay: The Black Feminist Podcast Of Your Dreams (Luminary)
• Feminist and Sociology Professor Tressie McMillan Cottom (PBS/ Amanpour & Co.)
• The Coded Language of For-Profit Colleges (The Atlantic)
• What does it mean to be a ‘Karen’? Karens explain (The Guardian)
• When Luxury Stores Decorate Their Riot Barricades With Protest Art (New York Times)
• Does the U.S. Still Have a ‘Middle Class’? (The Atlantic)

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When Steven Galanis and his cofounders launched Cameo in 2016, they noticed two things happening in the celebrity landscape: 1) fame itself has blown up, with more celebrities existing than in any other time in history, and 2) that these celebrities collectively enjoy more fame than their counterparts in the past. The overall mass of celebrity is increasing, and Cameo was built as a marketplace to give that celebrity mass more efficiency in reaching its fan base, and of course, monetizing it. 

As Cameo approaches its millionth video made, the company has unlocked an enormous well of unmet demand, and become one of the fastest growing marketplaces in the US.

In this episode, we speak with Cameo’s cofounder Steven Galanis about the cultural drivers that make a company like this possible during a time like now, and how he made some very specific decisions in positioning and branding that have started to pay off.

We also speak with sociologist and author Chris Rojek about how the nature of celebrity culture has changed over recent years, spawning the modern lifestyle influencer and a culture of self-disclosure that provides this new figure with their audience. 

We also discuss Rojek’s research on parasocial relationships and “presumed intimacy” in order to understand what is happening in the space and the emotional layer of celebrity-fan relationships that drives our behavior. 

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode and further reading:

• How Cameo Turned D-List Celebs Into a Monetization Machine (Marker) 
• Cameo Is Weirder Than Anyone Expected (The Atlantic)
• Fame Attack (Chris Rojek)
• The Belle Gibson scandal: The rise of lifestyle gurus as micro-celebrities in low-trust societies (CityLibrary, University of London)
• Miquela, the Uncanny CGI Virtual Influencer, Signs With CAA (Variety)
• The a16z Maretplace 100 (Andreessen Horowitz)

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Brands are facing the fact that loneliness has become a part of our identities, crisis or not. But you can’t talk about loneliness without talking about the meaning of rituals first. 

As society becomes more secularized and isolated, we struggle to find the self-defining connection that rituals once afforded us. The weekly gathering that separated work from rest, the rituals of birth and death, the seasonal rituals of growth and change - all of these have been fading from our identities, and perhaps accelerated out of our lives with the arrival of COVID-19.

Many tech and D2C brands have rushed in to fill the gap, but as the after-effects of crisis set in and we emerge from the collective trauma of social distancing and major economic loss, loneliness and ritual will take on radically new meanings.

In this episode, we speak with three people whose work and research has significantly impacted our understanding of loneliness and human connection today:  Sasha Sagan, daughter of Carl Sagan and author of the social history book “For Small Creatures Such As We”, Harvard social scientist Kasley Killam, and Danielle Baskin, founder of the social connection app Dialup. 

If rituals and traditions are the glue that keeps us together and protect us from disconnection, then it's important to understand how they are created, what makes them work, and how they frame our perceptions of things like time, pain and meaning.

We explore models of ritual, different frameworks for connection, and how loneliness can actually pivot our lives in surprising ways.

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• Sasha Sagan: "For Small Creatures Such As We" (Talks at Google)
• How To Find Meaning In Suffering (Scientific American)
• Finding Connection and Resilience During The Coronavirus Pandemic (Scientific American) 
• 'It's like a remote sleepover': my week meeting quarantined strangers (The Guardian)

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A lot has been said about branding and behavior at the individual or tribal level, but perhaps even more interesting is how these concepts work at the government level. How can government bodies use different psychological and branding techniques to change behaviors around work, life, and crisis situations like the one we’re living in now with COVID-19? 

Even more importantly, how can choice, perception and permission be leveraged for a more fruitful society after a crisis has passed? 

Rory Sutherland, prolific writer and author of ‘Alchemy’, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and TED Speaker whose videos have received over 6.5 million views talks to us about the psychology that is often missing from economic models, and how behavior can be profoundly changed not by punitive enforcement, but by speaking to our very human inclinations. 

Rory’s work has boldly explored human psychology and behavior for global airlines, international conglomerates and of course, governments. He calls himself an anarchist, some have called him a contrarian, and NPR has labeled him one of the leading minds in the world of branding.

In our conversation with him, we explore models of human behavior, social norms, belief systems and the nuance of what he calls America’s “gloriously optimistic consumer base”.

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• What’s The Difference Between Real and Perceived Value?
• Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life (Harper Collins)
• A Few Things Governments Could Learn From Marketers (TEDx)

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The big question: how is a brand supposed to act during a pandemic? How can CEOs and brand owners serve their users in a meaningful way while still struggling to survive themselves? It’s a difficult situation that requires sensitivity, listening and an open mind. 

In this house episode, Jean-Louis and Jasmine survey the current brand landscape for examples of companies that are doing it right. From Marriott’s open display of vulnerability to Parsley Health’s implicit giving of permission and Cameo’s smartly aligned feel-good content - the answer to this dilemma is never as simple as “We’re here for you” founder letters and reduced prices. 

To really serve your users, you have to read the room and know one thing: business may be slowing, but culture is accelerating. 

While all of us are holed away in our homes and commerce quiets down, our norms and beliefs are silently evolving in the background. Among other things, automation will change our relationship to work, a retreat to nostalgia will further the divide between Gen Y and Z, and a sense of self-sufficiency will change how we view our most intimate spaces.  

Throughout the episode we try to predict what the future may hold in a time of quarantine because, like all strategy, you can’t see your next move if you can’t envision how the world will change. 

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• The Moral Meaning of the Plague (New York Times)
• Is This the End of Influencing as We Knew It? (Vanity Fair)
• Health care workers aren’t just “heroes.” We’re also scared and exposed. (Vox)
• What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage (Marker)
• ‘You have to be hypersensitive’: As the coronavirus spreads, standard PR strategies are falling flat (Glossy)
• Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How. (Politico)

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Times of uncertainty have a way of revealing the mindset of a society, and today’s imminent threats - from COVID-19 to political instability and global warming - are revealing a mental shift that emotion-led brands are responding to. 

A new league of brands has created businesses around beautifully designed, high style, premium disaster kits and products that are suddenly relevant in a space that’s gotten very little attention in the past. Meanwhile, the world’s elite have invested in luxury bunkers, exotic real estate and indulgent doomsday plans. 

When did disaster preparedness become so fashionable? What can these companies teach us about branding in a time of crisis?

We speak with BBC and Vox journalist Colleen Hagerty, eschatologist and end-of-world expert Phil Torres, and founders Ryan Kuhlman and Lauren Tafuri of the popular disaster kit brand Preppi to explore the different narratives and deep rooted human beliefs that make sense of this trend. 

Don’t be misled by beautiful design and luxury veneers. There’s something going on in the subtext here that can explain a meaningful shift in our cultural values.  

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• Exploring Our Endless Obsession With the End (Psychology Today) 
• Psychology Reveals the Comforts of the Apocalypse (Scientific American) 
• Most Americans are not prepared for a disaster. Now survival kits are all over Instagram. (Vox) 
• The US Town Prepping for ‘Devastating’ Disaster (BBC) 
• Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich (The New Yorker) 
• How To Think Like A Brand Strategist (including a study on Costco) (Medium)

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Brands like Ring and Billie leverage the uncertainty of our changing value systems to create new interest in old paradigms. In other words, they play with cultural constructs: arbitrary systems determined by our culture or our community, rather than a truth that stems from an immovable aspect of human nature. They prove that when constructs start to change, real brand opportunities start to emerge. 

In this house episode, Jasmine and Jean-Louis talk about some of the biggest constructs defining our lives right now, from the nuclear family and privacy to gender and personal hygiene. These are constructs in limbo, creating a new brand whitespace for smart companies to play in.

They are also constructs that affect our everyday decisions. Some may seem inconsequential, others may seem like they are fading, but don't be fooled. Many of our archaic constructs are alive and well, dictating how we move within our lives. 

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• The Nuclear Family Was A Mistake (The Atlantic) 
• How Ring Transmits Fear To American Suburbs (Vice/ Motherboard) 
• Resonate (Nancy Duarte)
• Metaphors We Live By (George Lakoff and Mark Johnson)

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The undercurrent of burnout in American society and has opened the doors to a whole new breed of D2C branding that promises to heal us from the ills of the modern world. From analyses to antidotes, our obsession with burnout is changing the way we consider products and consider ourselves.

In this episode, we speak with Emmett Shine, cofounder of Pattern Brands, and previous cofounder of the lauded branding agency Gin Lane. Emmett and his team have created some of the most powerful D2C brands of the past decade including Harry’s, Hims, Recess, Everlane and Warby Parker, and now his own sub-brands Equal Parts and Open Spaces… all, in some way or another, speaking to the larger burnout narrative.

We also speak with psychotherapist Abby Krom who has researched an emerging form of burnout among millennials called The Burden of Potential. She sees an even deeper shift in millennials and Gen Z who are negotiating the tension between wanting to achieve, and not wanting to be vulnerable. Her work explores how these conflicting needs are exhausting us emotionally and physically.

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation (Buzzfeed) 
• Releasing Yourself From the Burden of Potential (Medium) 
• The Company That Branded Your Millennial Life Is Pivoting To Burnout (Buzzfeed) 
• What Having A "Growth Mindset" Actually Means (HBR) 
• Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle (Ezra Klein Show) 
• What is burnout? (vlogbrothers) 

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We’re leaving the current age of social media and entering a new one where our symbols and our languages are changing. Any time a new age is born, the rules get harder, the audience becomes more discerning, and all of us - people, brands, identities - are separated into those that move ahead and those that are left behind.

The question now is, what is this new age that we’re walking into?

In this episode we speak with two experts on opposite sides of the spectrum in order to answer this question. 

Erin Weinger is the Vice President, Social Editorial, at Sony Pictures Television who has also worked with some of the biggest influencers and publishers in the game. Her vision of the new age of social media is a stark departure from where we are now.

We also speak with Dr. Therese Mascardo, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of the wellness community Exploring Therapy. Dr. Mascardo is in a unique position to talk about the cultural shifts happening in social because she’s both in the practice of mental health, where much of social media can be more clearly understood, and in the practice of building a social media brand… as an influencer herself.

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• The Changing Language of Luxury: Experience, Education, and Poetry (Luxury Society)
• Is social media influencing book cover design? (The Guardian)
• Americans are reading poetry again because of Instagram (Quartz)
• Instagram appeal: How social media is changing product development in beauty (Glossy)
• How To Optimize Your Apology (Freakonomics)
• Yelp Reviewers’ Authenticity Fetish Is White Supremacy in Action (Eater) 
• Dr. Gabor Mate on Attachment and Conscious Parenting (YouTube)

Learn more about Dr. Therese Mascardo and Exploring Therapy here.  

Check out our website for more brand strategy thinking, and come connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.