The intersection of commerce and culture:
Meet PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS: the social media account that everyone is talking about.
Hi PBT! Introduce yourself to the readers:
PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS is a media company covering the hottest news at the intersection of consumerism, creativity, and culture. Think: campaigns, partnerships, and launches, with a focus on indie brands.
What are things you look for in a good brand campaign or collaboration?
The most successful campaigns and collaborations are those that are culturally relevant. This means they leverage their platform or product - and in collaborations, those of their partners - to engage with or build on topics, themes, or conversations that resonate with their category or target audience.
A great example of a brand that consistently achieves cultural relevance is SKIMS, a brand that constantly delivers successful campaigns back to back. How do they do it? SKIMS knows their audience inside and out - what artists they’re listening to, what TV shows they’re binge-watching, and which athletes they’re following in every league possible. When it comes to their campaigns, they identify the talent that is at the forefront of these insights and match them to collections that make sense for each. This is essentially how they win, time after time: Nicola Coughlan during the height of the Bridgerton craze, WNBA rookies right before the start of the season, Lana Del Rey for Valentine’s Day, and the list goes on.
Aside from SKIMS, we consider the following factors when judging (at least in our heads!) the strength of a particular campaign or collaboration:
POINT OF VIEW:
Is the brand (or brands) communicating a distinct point of view that clearly articulates their perspective or positioning within the consumer landscape and broader pop culture?
EXECUTION:
Are they doing so in a way that feels innovative and thoughtful, or does it feel rushed and half-hearted? Does the medium make sense for the brand and what they are trying to convey?
AMPLIFICATION:
How do they leverage their communities to amplify these projects post-launch? In what ways do the brands work together after the collaboration goes live to spread awareness?
In your opinion, what are the 5 best brand campaigns or collaborations this year?
#5: Summer Fridays + LAX
In celebration of their Jet Lag Overnight Eye Serum release, Summer Fridays launched an out-of-home (OOH) campaign at LAX, highlighting their viral Jet Lag Mask with placements on digital billboards and TSA bins.
It's uncommon for an indie brand to invest in large-scale airport placements, but that's exactly what Summer Fridays did with this campaign, making a splash at LAX this year. The surprise element, combined with unexpected placements in TSA bins, transformed the campaign into a physical landmark actively photographed and shared by their community on social media.
#4: Seed + Swehl
After Molly Baz’s Times Square billboard with Swehl was taken down for being “indecent,” Seed gave up their own ad space and teamed up with Molly and Swehl to reinstate the placement.
Seed's powerful response epitomizes a brand engaging in a culturally relevant conversation with their audience and executing it disruptively. They used OOH placements to convey a message larger than their products and amplified it further on social media. This collaboration will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most impactful advertising moments of the year.
#3: Vacation + Erewhon
While Erewhon is best known for their celebrity smoothies, they recently partnered with Vacation on the "Vacation Sunscreen Smoothie," a branded smoothie featuring Coconut Soft Serve, Tahitian Vanilla, Banana, and other tropical ingredients.
Erewhon’s celebrity smoothies always go viral, but partnering with a brand for the first time was a huge moment for both Erewhon and Vacation. This move not only reaffirmed Erewhon’s innovative approach to collaborations but also solidified Vacation’s reputation as an unexpectedly delightful brand that keeps consumers on their toes, not that they needed any help in this department!
#2: Supergoop + Sabrina Carpenter
Supergoop’s Glowscreen sunscreen was featured throughout the music video for Sabrina Carpenter’s hit single, "Espresso."
Product placements in music videos are not a novel concept, but indie brands are finally starting to embrace this marketing channel (see: Glossier’s You perfume in Fletcher's "Pretending" music video). Supergoop got the opportunity of a lifetime by partnering with Sabrina Carpenter, arguably the most talked-about celebrity of the moment. Featuring their product in the music video for her song, which would later become the song of the summer and year, was an unparalleled opportunity for brand awareness, especially to an audience like Sabrina’s that aligns perfectly with the brand.
#1: Julie + Alfred
Julie collaborated with the trendy LA coffee shop Alfred’s to create a custom-branded coffee sleeve.
While it may seem like a simple execution, the brilliance of this collaboration lies in Julie's strategic choice to partner with such a popular coffee chain. With their branded sleeve, they transformed an ordinary coffee cup into a portable billboard featured in the hands of numerous notable celebrities and influencers such as Hillary Duff and Alix Earle, among others.
What inspired you to start PBT?
Everyone always says this, but we truly mean it when we say we did not expect PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS to grow the way it has since we started our page at the end of last year. As individuals working day jobs in marketing and advertising, we began the Instagram account purely for ourselves as a means to document all the creative work we loved in the consumer space. It evolved into a digital history textbook of everything interesting in consumer culture, something we could look back on as documentation of what was cool at each point in time.
As our page gained momentum, we realized the impact of PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS extends far beyond ourselves. We were providing a platform for brands that don’t typically receive the spotlight for their marketing and advertising efforts, while also shining a light on the creatives behind the work. That’s what continues to drive us to this day.
Where do you see PBT in 1 year? In 5 years?
In the short term, we are laser-focused on becoming the go-to source for consumer and creative news. Within the next year, our goal is for every consumer founder and brand team to read our content daily, whether they work in social, partnerships, influencer marketing, or events, among others. Oh, and next year, we’ll be at Cannes - just you wait and see. (If any brand wants to chat, have your people email our people… aka us!)
Long term, we aim to expand our presence beyond social media and Substack and explore new formats like audio and video to showcase our content in more engaging ways and better connect with our audience. We also want to host thought leadership-focused events and conferences, and collaborate with experiential brands to bring our favorite consumer brands to our audience in unexpected ways.
Who are some people or brands you look to for inspiration?
Many people inspire us, but Kerry Diamond, Jen Atkin, Marta Freedman, and Julie Schott immediately come to mind. Their brands—from Cherry Bombe to Air Milkshake, Ouai, and all of Julie Schott’s ventures—are shaping culture in numerous ways: breaking societal taboos, promoting inclusion in traditionally exclusive industries, and much more. Individually and collectively, these women have paved the way for brands like ours and many others to exist. For that, we are incredibly grateful.
We also must mention that they supported us when we had only hundreds of followers, which speaks volumes about who they are and their influence on us as mentors, expanders, and leaders. We will always look up to them and to many others who inspire us.