Tired of COVID-19 themed memes? Me too. How about some famous logos reworked to be more appropriate for the current situation at hand:
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Cat Person 🐈
As a cat person myself (surprise!), I was especially intrigued about the launch of Cat Person: a feline toy, treat, and bed startup that launched earlier this week. Aimed at de-stigmatizing “cat people”, Cat Person was founded by Lambert Wang and Jimmy Wu after receiving backing from Harry’s Labs (an incubator at the shaving company Harry’s).
I really like the branding of the company, and approve of their cat-friendly messaging. For cat owners that are looking for aesthetically pleasing cat products, Cat Person hits the nail on the head.
Just Eggs 🍳
Remember Hampton Creek? After some reshuffling of executives and focusing their offering on their flagship products, they’re back from the dead as Just Co. Armed with $200 million in funding from early 2019, they recently launched Just Eggs: a plant-based egg substitute that looks delicious.
Maybe it’s because I’m writing this in the morning, but those eggs look like the most tasty plant-based alternative on the market yet. Each bottle costs $4.99, and has the equivalent of 4 eggs in it.
Hiki 😅
HIKI is the first product line launched from the Arfa Collective: a “new consumer goods company that develops personal care brands based on close relationships with the people who use them”. They’ve raised ~$7 million from Forerunner Ventures to work on various consumer products.
The Hiki product line includes skincare products focused on dealing with sweat for all body types. This includes body wash, deodorant, body wipes, and more.
While I’m not sure how their value proposition differentiates them from established players, I’m a huge fan of their color scheme. P&G take note!
News I’m Following 👀
😈 Have you heard of “the Napster of Things”? You’ve probably seen it. As meme culture grows, more and more print-on-demand shirt websites overstep their copyright bounds and allow creatives to sell copyrighted images on their merchandise. Some of the biggest offenders are Teepublic, Teechip, Redbubble, and more.
The old method of issuing cease and desist notices for every infringing item is no longer effective as copyright owners can’t keep up with the sheer volume of infringing items.
What’s a brand to do? Get ahead of the curve like Disney did with Baby Yoda. Ensure your merch is ready to launch at a moment’s notice if your content takes off.
🛑 J. Crew suspends the spinning off of Madewell. Madewell is J. Crew’s “crown jewel” as it’s growth and consumer base has grown substantially compared to its parent brands. Given that TPG Capital and Leonard Green spent $3 billion taking J. Crew private in 2011, the opportunity to cash in on what otherwise has been a bad investment would be an attractive move for the private equity overlords.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 had other plans.
🤑 Fast, the universal checkout start-up raises $20 million in a Series A led by Stripe. The newest round of capital is coming quick off the heals of a $2.5 million seed round this past November. The company aims to streamline the online checkout process through a universal account that allows consumers to purchase with just one click.
I’m kind of surprised something like this doesn’t already exist, however, I do think that consumers will be hesitant to fork over their credit card info to a company that removes a large chunk of the established purchase process.
Special Feature: Sweat Pants
The silver lining of COVID-19? Getting to wear whatever you want, whenever you want. Which for me (and probably most of you) means that sweatpants have taken over 90% of my outfits.
In honor of the ubiquitous comfort-wear, I decided to scrap our regular brand study programming to dive into a brief “culture study” of the sweatpant.
The first pair of sweatpants was developed in the 1920s by Émile Camuset, the founder of Le Coq Sportif. The first version was a simple knitted gray jersey pant that was designed for athletes to stretch and run comfortably. She named them “sweatpants” because of their ability to absorb the athlete’s sweat. Creative.
By the 1930s, they began appearing on professional athletes and at the Olympics. The sweatpant had become the defacto workout pant, but remained strictly workout attire until the 70s and 80s.
In 1976 sweatpants had their limelight moment in the hit movie series Rocky, which spurred on a new wave of health and fitness in popular culture. This pushed sweatpants from niche sports attire to the more modern leisurewear movement. Jane Fonda’s workout videos also helped mainstream sweatpants for daily use.
The tracksuit also helped out sweatpants rise to dominance: as hip hop and rap broke out in the music industry, many rappers at the forefront of the movement work tracksuits. Since tracksuits are really just glorified sweatpants, early adopters latched onto the new trend and brought the look forward.
LuLulemon pioneered the athleisure revolution in the 90s, with premium price yoga pants and casual wear. This was really the beginning of where we are today.
As I’ve mentioned in previous editions of Intangible, athleisure is now something the affluent wear; the ability to wear whatever you want whenever you want signals financial stability. This trend was also popularized with the rise of Silicon Valley and the brogrammer millionaire.
Donald Glover even wrote a song called Sweatpants that was meant to highlight how “rich people can wear whatever they want”.
P.S: Shout out to Marcus for suggesting the sweatpants feature!
Jobs 💼
Allbirds - Product Strategy Associate, Product Development Manager (SF)
Me Undies - Customer Retention Manager (SF)
Bombas - Ecommerce Analytics Manager, Insights Associate (NYC)
Warby Parker - Retail Senior Manager (NYC)
Tonal - Director of New Business Development (SF)
Peloton - Digital Apps Product Manager (NYC)
Oura - Senior Product Manager (SF)
Curology - User Acquisition Manager (SF)
Internships 🎓
Reckitt Benckiser - MBA Marketing Intern (NYC)
Saucey - MBA Growth Marketing Intern (LA)
Shareables 😏
🍣 Ten juicy secrets about restaurants I learned working as Nobu’s Maitre D’.
😂 “Authentic, bespoke, raw” - Artisanally crafted Quilted Northern rustic weave toilet paper.
🦠 The Coronavirus piece you should read: The Atlantic lays out how the pandemic will most likely progress.
🔪 Every generation, a crime tells a new story about New York. The murder of Tessa Majors is ours.
👨🚀 An astronaut that spent a year in space shares his tips on how to cope with isolation.
💋 How Glossier turned itself into a billion-dollar beauty brand.
🌹 Love at first Zoom: How to go on a virtual first date.
📈 How Cameo turned D-list celebrities into a monetization machine.
😷 The subtle ways the Coronavirus crisis will change how we dress.
📺 This week’s oldie but goodie: How Netflix Swallowed the TV industry.
Hey! I’m Sean, a first-year MBA at the University of Michigan. Know of a new brand I should feature? Holla at me! I’d also love your feedback - feel free to shoot me a note at seansky@umich.edu.
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