The hottest Brands Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Culture Topics

The Campa Cola Edition

Why is this interesting? • 1085 implied HN points • 19 Feb 26
💼 Business Brands
  1. Nostalgia gives revived local brands a built-in advantage because consumers already understand and trust them. That makes it much easier to win buyers than starting a new brand from scratch.
  2. When a local brand is backed by a powerful retailer, it can use low prices, preferential shelf space, and deep distribution to dominate daily purchase channels. That systems-level muscle multiplies the effect of nostalgia in ways global firms struggle to match.
  3. As geopolitical fragmentation and rising local confidence reshape markets, belonging and local identity can trump global scale. This doesn't doom giants like Coca-Cola, but it ends the automatic assumption that the biggest players will always win.

"Like Trader Joe's on Ayahuasca"

Snaxshot • 739 implied HN points • 12 Aug 24
🍲 Food & Drink Brands
  1. Gen Z is moving away from traditional recipes and ingredients. They like to remix old favorites with new, exciting flavors and trends.
  2. There's a rising trend of niche and locally sourced water brands. Many consumers are now interested in hyper-local options rather than exotic imported waters.
  3. Food brands are finding success by unbundling popular classics. This gives consumers new and fun ways to enjoy familiar products.

We hate brands. We love marketing.

The Social Juice • 127 implied HN points • 27 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Brands
  1. People mostly passively scroll feeds and don’t come with intent, so every view forces creators and brands to re-earn permission through creative hooks and purposeful content, making social platforms exhausting but hard to leave.
  2. Old media is losing influence while creator-driven new media wins distribution but borrows traditional aesthetics to claim authority, which fuels layoffs, acquisitions, diluted standards, and more competition.
  3. Brands are widely mistrusted even as marketing becomes culturally loved; big agencies are consolidating and selling security with CRMs and AI, driving job churn, and brands often step into public roles without fixing the underlying problems.

10 menswear brands we're watching in 2024

sprezza • 727 implied HN points • 10 Jan 24
🪞 Fashion & Beauty Brands
  1. The list showcases 10 menswear brands to watch in 2024, including established and up-and-coming names.
  2. The brands on the list offer high-quality products, unique storytelling, and top-tier creativity.
  3. Each brand brings something special, like Scandinavian classics, reinterpretation of traditional silhouettes, and innovative designs.
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Ideastorm #10

Market Sentiment • 569 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
💰 Finance Brands
  1. Investing in companies with many trademarks relative to their valuation has consistently outperformed the market for 50 years.
  2. Political leanings of fund managers influence their investment decisions during presidential elections.
  3. Consider risk-adjusted returns, like the Sharpe ratio, when evaluating market-beating portfolios like Motley Fool's.

Fit Talk with GQ's Yang-Yi Goh

sprezza • 353 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🪞 Fashion & Beauty Brands
  1. Yang-Yi Goh embraces a genreless style by blending different aesthetics.
  2. The internet has played a significant role in breaking down traditional fashion boundaries.
  3. Yang-Yi Goh's fashion sense is influenced by a mix of preppy style and various subcultures.

The Case for Apple Brandy

Cocktails With Suderman • 479 implied HN points • 27 Oct 23
🍲 Food & Drink Brands
  1. Apple brandy is a versatile and underrated liquor for home bartenders.
  2. Apple brandy can be used as a substitute or partner in various cocktails to enhance flavors.
  3. American apple brandy like Laird's Straight Apple Brandy is recommended for beginners due to its affordability and quality.

Comparing the Names of Various Retro Computers

Goto 10: The Newsletter for Atari Enthusiasts • 117 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Brands
  1. Product naming can be challenging even today, as seen in the variety of names given to retro computers.
  2. Using numbers was a common naming convention for retro computers, such as Apple II, Commodore 64, and Atari 520ST.
  3. The name of a product plays a significant role in its success and recognition, with memorable names like Atari and Amiga standing out.

Problems at Coca-Cola (KO)

The Bear Cave • 1026 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
💼 Business Brands
  1. Coca-Cola is facing new challenges in advertising and cultural relevance.
  2. Upstart brands like Prime and Celsius are growing rapidly and taking market share.
  3. Coca-Cola's failure to innovate has made room for newer brands to succeed, especially with younger generations.

Edible Cogitations

Snaxshot • 239 implied HN points • 15 May 23
🍲 Food & Drink Brands
  1. Snaxshot offers a newsletter on upcoming food and beverage trends
  2. The newsletter is read by executives in food and beverage companies worldwide
  3. Upgrade subscription for full access and exclusive content

Edible Cogitations

Snaxshot • 219 implied HN points • 24 May 23
🍲 Food & Drink Brands
  1. Snaxshot is a newsletter focused on upcoming food and beverage trends.
  2. The newsletter is curated by Andrea Hernández.
  3. Subscribing offers access to the full post archives with a 7-day free trial.

Kum & Go is dead. Long live, Kum & Go

Men Yell at Me • 144 implied HN points • 12 Jan 25
🎭️ Culture Brands
  1. Kum & Go gas stations are getting a new name after being sold to Maverik. This change is part of a rebranding effort.
  2. The new branding has been criticized for stripping away the fun and unique aspects of the Kum & Go name. Many feel it's becoming just another boring corporate brand.
  3. People are nostalgic about the old name and believe it added character to the gas station experience. There’s a sense of loss over the personality it had.

Shloop is The Sustainable Footwear Manufacturer of The Future

Warming Up to Climate Tech • 39 implied HN points • 23 May 23
🪞 Fashion & Beauty Brands
  1. Shloop manufactures sustainable footwear using algae-based materials to fight climate change.
  2. The company aims to revolutionize the footwear industry by integrating sustainable materials and advanced recycling processes.
  3. Shloop focuses on providing transparent and sustainable products to footwear brands at a fair price, offering smaller batch runs and prototyping services.

Commerce Flows vs. Capital Flows

Equal Ventures • 39 implied HN points • 02 Mar 23
💼 Business Brands
  1. The strategy of focusing solely on DTC (direct-to-consumer) is no longer a sustainable path for most brands.
  2. There's a significant mismatch between the amount of venture capital flowing into ecommerce businesses and the actual share of commerce that DNVBs (digitally native vertical brands) hold.
  3. More investment is needed in areas like brick-and-mortar retail, off-price channels, and wholesale, where the potential for economic growth far exceeds current VC interest.

Black Guck on a Duck

Brands Mean a Lot • 145 implied HN points • 15 Aug 23
🎭️ Culture Brands
  1. An analysis of a Dawn commercial raises questions about how we perceive man-made disasters
  2. The ad implies that we are desensitized to environmental disasters
  3. Consumer products are starting to leverage disasters to prove their effectiveness

Super Bowl vs Valentine vs Duolingo's death — The best of brands and marketers

The Social Juice • 26 implied HN points • 15 Feb 25
💼 Business Brands
  1. Marketing can feel really fast and crazy, especially with big events like Valentine's Day and the Super Bowl happening at the same time. It’s like a mix of excitement and chaos.
  2. Testing different email times for newsletters can help find the best way to reach more readers. It’s all about experimenting to see what works better.
  3. Investing attention in good content is important, just like spending money wisely. When you pay attention to quality, it pays off in the long run.

Hello Kitty's $80B+ Secret Sauce

SatPost by Trung Phan • 122 implied HN points • 15 Apr 23
💼 Business Brands
  1. Hello Kitty's success is attributed to its simple design, cultural relevance, and successful licensing strategies.
  2. Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty, utilized strategic business decisions to expand globally and maintain the character's appeal over time.
  3. Hello Kitty's design, rooted in Japanese gifting culture and the kawaii aesthetic, contributed to its global success and longevity.

The Platformization of Brands

Platform Papers • 19 implied HN points • 09 Nov 22
💼 Business Brands
  1. Brands are facing challenges in maintaining direct contact with consumers in the current platform era dominated by intermediaries like Amazon and Alibaba.
  2. To combat this, brands are creating their own platform offerings to establish intimate relationships with consumers and address their various needs associated with the core product.
  3. Managers transitioning to a flagship platform model must carefully plan their vision, strategic goals, and value creation processes to meet the diverse needs of consumers while relinquishing control in certain areas.