Latest / Open Tabs / 🎧 Why the internet loves “lore”

Transcript

🎧 Why the internet loves “lore” · Open Tabs

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, welcome to OpenTabs,
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_02: our twice-weekly conversation where we talk about things taking up space
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: in our tabs, our feeds, and our brains.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Melissa.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Megan.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Hi.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: Happy Thursday.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll just jump into it.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: First thing,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: not such a surprise if you've been listening because we've talked about this word
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: a lot, but Sprout Social.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Named Lore, the 2026 Social Media Word of the Year, which is not surprising.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked about it a lot.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Any quick thoughts at the top?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: Melissa, I think you might
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: be muted.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if you don't know, Lore pretty much means, you know, backstory.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: And like, Context, internet mythology, I think is a good word for it.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: So basically like history, having a history online specifically.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: Me, send Melissa the invite.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: And interesting,
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: a lot of brands, it's like, would you say it's like in line with Nostalgia, Megan?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Or do you think they're two distinctly different things?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think nostalgia can be part of lore,
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: but I think this is more aligned with main character syndrome
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: and main character energy.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that this is kind of an evolution of that,
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: of this idea of that you are kind of the main protagonist of your life and
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: then your backstory is like your lore.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that has been such a theme this year that we've seen brands adopt,
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: but I think it comes from more of the personal branding side of the internet.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Can you guys hear me now?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I promise I was actually talking.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: I
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: was saying that I feel like Laura really deserved this honor for
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: the word of the year.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, but I feel like I interrupted your flow, Megan.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure where you were talking about.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Go for it.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: What were the other words, Emma?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: Honorable mentions are Slop, Niche, Maxing, Unhinged, Episodic,
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: and Polyester.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Maxing was Dictionary.com's Word of the Year,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: which we talked about yesterday in Radar Report and how that's very much tied
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: to optimization culture, but also the masculinization of the word aesthetic.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's a suffix that you can put onto anything that kind of relates to a vibe or
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: a general world instead of just like that one thing.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that all of the different platforms are coming out with their declarations
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: for Word of the Year.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's always so interesting.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is funny.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's interesting that two of them,
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Slop and Polyester,
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: are pushing back against, like,
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: low-quality AI because Polyester is now an insult that people use online
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: to call something, like, cheap or fake.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: They use Polyester, which, as, like...
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't heard that before.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Had you guys heard that in regular life?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's in comments.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen it a lot in comment sections.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I've seen somebody use it in a video,
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: but I definitely see it in comment sections hurled as an insult.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's really funny.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: And they, in the article, credit...
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Some of the lore rides to The Backrooms,
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: which has a very extensive lore on YouTube, Discord, Reddit, the internet at large.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously was like one of the major movies of this year.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I think people enjoy going down a rabbit hole.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like...
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: I do.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: I was just going to say.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like there's something to...
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, depth of things.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's tied to, obviously, escapism.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think, like, books offer this.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's, like, the library concept.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's, like, history.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's, like, I don't know.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: I just started reading the new Akatar book, also.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: I finally was able...
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: I had downloaded it yesterday.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then I was finally able to start reading it this morning.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys read the series?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Are you like big Akatar fans?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm familiar with it because of social media.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Same.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, same.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's fun.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very fun fandom.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm proud to be a part of and I love it.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: But it's interesting because so Akatar itself,
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: A Court of Thorns and Roses is like the first book in what was a series of six.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And now I think this is the seventh book that's come out with like There's
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: a second part to it coming out in January.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: And beyond ACOTAR,
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: there's also the entire Throne of Glass series,
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: which is like seven books in and of itself.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: You can see them all behind me.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's another series in it that's three of them called Crescent Moon
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: or Crescent Sun or something that I haven't tackled yet,
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: but A lot of people were saying in the Sarah Moss,
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Jay Moss,
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: world building,
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: to really fully understand these new ACOTAR books,
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: you really need to read... Oh, Crescent City.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, it's Crescent City.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: You need to read Crescent City.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, shoot, okay.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I do read a lot.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: I have a lot of the influencers I follow.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: We are always breaking this down.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: There's like huge whiteboards of explanation of it because she is jumping between worlds, right?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like there's,
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: in Throne of Glass,
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: there's like,
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: what she's looking up at the sky and she sees like,
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: you know, there's like an allusion to the Fae of Throne of Glass.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, so we started reading it last night and it was so, or no, sorry, this morning.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: At 5 a.m. when I was first woken up by one of my kids.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of reminded me,
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Megan, of like, I feel like it brought to mind conversations we've had with you.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it also reminds me a little bit of Taylor Swift,
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: where she starts this off where she's like, this is a two-part series.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I had a scene that I wanted to share with you guys about Asriel,
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: who's one of the characters that I think was a secondary character and now is going
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: to be raised up to a more major character.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, I didn't have a spot for this random scene that I wrote.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just going to share with you at the beginning.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're going to go into this.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then this just demanded a two part series.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: And to read it in full, you really need to understand like it's kind of like.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: A full almost deconstruction of a linear book kind of series.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like she's taking things.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: She's moving it out of order.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: She's slotting things in here.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: She's following this like female intuition of just like whatever.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's so interesting because it's reminding me of this like I went to
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: an author book talk like two or three weeks ago of this woman, Dr. Shafat.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think I talked to you guys about it, Dr. Shefali.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I mentioned in our conversation that when she did this,
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: it's Raising Conscious Sons,
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: and then it has a second book that's Raising Conscious Daughters.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, everything the publisher said was, don't do that.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Do one book at a time.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Make it one book or whatever.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, I'm sorry.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't agree with what they said, so I'm doing it my way.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, all of these things were like, Informing this experience.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think that there's about to be more of a disruption of classic publishing.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that as Sarah J. Moss,
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: who is probably this generation's now J.K.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Rowling, that has the benefits of social media that she can wield.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: She can do anything.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: She could release stuff on her Instagram and it would be So I'm really excited
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: to see this, like, to be in this, like, experience.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm like, this feels like beyond anything I've ever experienced before.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I'm sorry.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: I know that was, I was not expecting to keep going, but wanted to share all those.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is making me think of the newest Beatles movies.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: They're doing Beatles biopics.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: But what I find interesting about this Sprout Social thing is, like,
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I agree that this is definitely a word that we used a lot,
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: but how does this actually translate to social media strategy?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how are you supposed to actually adapt lore into...
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Your social media strategy.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like one way I've seen that start to happen is Duolingo.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you guys saw that they released a TV show called Duo TV
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: and it's basically taking the characters from the Duolingo app.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: What can't they do?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, are they opening a fast food chain next?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Are they flying airplanes?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: There's going to be Duolingo straight to... Yeah, it's so interesting.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so they've taken the characters from the app,
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: which I've only very vaguely played with,
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: and they've cast them in this series where they work at
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: a convenience store together,
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: and they have their same kind of attitudes that they have within the app translated
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: to deepen the lore.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I thought that was a very interesting way to take some lore building that
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: the brand has already done and get content out of it.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Whether that's going to actually help Duolingo's bottom line,
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure, but I think it's very cool.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's interesting.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: This is more personal brand, but I follow, have you guys seen Angelo David on TikTok?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: His family filmed everything on their little camcorder.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: I have seen him, yes.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Since he was a baby?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Since he's a baby.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: And he has been posting one-minute clips of his family videos.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: He has gotten one of his videos got 87.2 million views
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: and he has documented his entire childhood via like one minute clips starting
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: from his infancy to an adult.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: And now he released most of the content and now he is interviewing his family members.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: To get their reactions to the clips that go viral.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: I see you cringing, Melissa.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think it's cringy.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: He obviously was a kid who loved it.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you like it.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: You like it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: I like it.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: And it's very, people love it in the comments.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: People feel very parasocial.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I love the idea of somebody stepping into that and claiming it as their own.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that is actually a really interesting example, Em,
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: to point out of like,
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: as long as he seems healthy, I have no, I don't have, I mean, it's just.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's an adult now, and he has said he got permission from his brother, his parents.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no, I know,
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: but I just,
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm just still processing this idea of like, Brad, like,
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: But maybe,
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: the
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: years where his parents, had they been publishing it since he was a kid?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's just his family home videos, and he just started to publish them himself.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, he was publishing stuff that they had taken privately.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, sorry.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: I thought you were saying his parents have been posting him, like, one-minute clips of him.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then now, as an adult, he's taking over.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, sorry.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's where my cringe was coming from.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: But I do say,
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: I still stand by what I was saying,
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: which is I like the idea of someone claiming that and being like,
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: okay, stepping into it.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean,
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think that
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: there feels like a dimension shift with media
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: and how people consume I think you're spot on, Megan,
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: with this idea of like different ways into a world is really fascinating for people.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think it feels like, again,
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: it feels like it was, again,
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: I
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: always love like, I mean, this isn't, this isn't really like a cultural curve.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's just more of like a timing of history,
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: but it's just like the, like, you know, you guys have been in Disney World, right?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Where you go in the golf ball in Epcot Center and it's the history of communication
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: and it's like so old now,
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: but have you ever, have you, Have you ever been in that ride, Megan?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever done that?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, I've never been to Disney World.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the iconic golf ball in Epcot?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so the ride inside it is like,
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: I forget what it's called,
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: but it was sponsored by AT&T for the longest time, and I don't know if it still is.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: But it's through the history of communication,
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: and it goes through the caveman era, and then it's like, You would love it.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's very old now,
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: and it needs to be updated,
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: but they won't update it because
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: apparently of all the Disney adults
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: that love
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: the nostalgia of it, which is a whole other thing.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Did I send you that?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Do we talk about it on here, Emma?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I might have sent it to you as a gem.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: It is pretty funny.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's breaking down the Disney adult.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: What we've talked about on here,
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: but it was an actual article that went with it, and it was the Disney adult.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Why...
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like, some of the parks have, like, have not evolved.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's because of the nostalgia that the Disney adults like for it.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, there was a huge, there was a ton of discords.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it was a New York bag or, like, One of those or something.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: And everyone was just annoyed at the Disney adults.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: But then everyone was like, well, the Disney adults are funding all of this.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, but the park was always originally for children.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, well, actually, Disney evolved that from the beginning.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: So there was a lot of conversation around it.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, going back to the ride, it goes through the history of communication.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: I, it's like,
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: and then it inevitably hits the internet and it's like the internet and then you end
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: the ride.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, it now feels like we're on the next part of this.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And like,
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: what does this sort of like web like communication as opposed to like linear
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: or like whatever, like, what does this feel like?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And, and it's like, This idea of parasocial relationships, it's this other dimension.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's not one-dimensional,
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: it's not two-dimensional now,
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: it's three-dimensional,
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: four-dimensional of how we exist and how we live and how we function
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: and how we consume.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really wild.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like this book series in particular, it's similar to me with...
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: The Great American Movie,
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Ready Player One,
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: where I just like,
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: it just makes me visualize like such a different,
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: it's like dimensions of stuff as opposed to,
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: again, I pick up a book, I complete it and I read it.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: Or going to the library,
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: you like take out one thing, go from start to finish, left to right, you know?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's just very,
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: and then you think of like the,
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: like how YouTube was always the place where creators graduate.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's now the Hollywoodification of YouTube.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's so many YouTubers on Netflix.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're like, well, wait, everything's going back around again.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or even if you think of Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop,
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: she was at the height of...
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: She got an Academy Award for Shakespeare in Love when she was so young.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: She's at the height of ageless celebrity, okay?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: And she's shilling things on the internet.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: No judgment.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: But it's just this sort of creating circles of things, I guess.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't feel like...
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: It feels like when I was a kid and it was like, oh my god, the ultimate is fame and fandom.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: But that's not it anymore.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: There's more to the story.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: It feels like prestige is kind of crumbling,
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think,
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: is kind of what
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: you're getting at.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: Pursuit of...
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: And one thing similar to like the Gwyneth Paltrow goop,
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you've seen this week,
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Jennifer Lawrence started a hair care brand and people are like, why?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: That doesn't make any sense.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: Why was she too talked about hair?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why does she have a hair care?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because they don't know what to do.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm sure these agents in UTA and like in Hollywood are just like,
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: okay, You get this talent.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: What do you do with it?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's because I was thinking like other celebrity brands and like which ones work.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: And it's because they have more connected to the business.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: I think of like Rihanna and Fenty Beauty.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: People have always wanted to know about the makeup.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Also, that was just so over time with the receipts of it.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is an established company now, too.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't just like, I don't know, sorry, I didn't mean to.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but when it came out, it was fresh.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: It was different.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: She was very inclusive.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: Did she start with Savage X Fenty or Fenty Beauty?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: I can't remember.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: But it just felt very dynamic.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: And she was always known for her fashion, her beauty.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: And then I think of like Beyonce with her hair care brand,
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: which I feel like is
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: the only celebrity hair care brand I see people like actually talk about
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: and I see organically.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_02: Hair is like not.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: But like she has always been known for her long blonde hair.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's like her thing.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: So like I would want to know how does she maintain that length and that blonde,
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: her hair looks super healthy.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I want to use the same hair products she does.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: Think like Jennifer Lawrence.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, why?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so random.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so...
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think, well, it all goes back to lore.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then pivoting to our second story,
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: it actually connects to Sprout Social's article because one
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: of their honorable mention words was episodic.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: So serial series content, um, In multi-part brand videos or, you know, TV shows.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: And Banana Republic has recently debuted a TikTok content series trying to get
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: the attention of younger shoppers.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Because I think like Banana Republic and I think my mom or my aunt,
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not thinking like 20-something scrolling on TikTok.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: So they're trying to change that.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: And so they've started this episodic series.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's a five-part comedy called The Agency.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's similar vibes to The Office.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: And it's starring Jack Inanen.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm botching his last name probably.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: But he was a TikToker turned actor.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: He's on the FX show Adults, which has kind of been, I think, like a sleeper hit.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: The Gen Z's.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: And he stars in it as a consultant who is working with a fictional travel company.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: And, of course, everyone in the series is decked out in Banana Republic.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it's very subtle.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like, obviously, they're all dressed in Banana Republic.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: They all look great.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: But I think the product, it's not like, ooh, I love your shirt.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Where's it from?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: Banana Republic.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it's not like shoving the advertising down your throat.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so far it's done pretty well.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: The first episode reached 10 million views and the second pulled in more than 3 million.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just a five-part series.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think if it pans out, they'll probably do more.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: But it's all part of Gap Inc., which owns Banana Republic.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: They are leaning into fashion-tainment via original content where all
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: the characters just happen to be wearing their clothes.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, do you guys
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: have thoughts?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think like...
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like this...
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: So episodic brand content has really snowballed, I feel like, in the past nine months.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would agree with that.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, on the one hand, I love it.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's fun, it's creative.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: On the other,
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: to get in context of everything,
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like,
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: the Hollywood television industry is dying
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: and brands are now making episodic content.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's not Is that really what we want to be happening from a culture perspective?
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: But it's what's happening.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like Banana Republic,
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't actually watched it,
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: but it sounds like they're doing a good job of not making it a hardcore sales tool,
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: but kind of just making good content that people want to watch
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: that shows off their clothes.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: What I take issue with with this is that it takes place in a marketing setting.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that's marketing for marketers.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's like you did everything right,
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: except like You want this to be written about on Substack.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And is this really going to land with the consumer?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Do they care about what it's like to work in a marketing office or is
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: that just us marketing girlies?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is an epidemic across all industries.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: So many romance books are about writers right now.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Hollywood loves to give the Academy Award to a movie about Hollywood.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's just a lot of navel-gazing in this that I think is going to undercut
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: and undermine its actual potential success with its target audience of customers,
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: not just the discourse, you know?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like, yeah, I agree.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think Banana Republic is under the same company as Gap, right?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think Gap is making some...
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how it looks in the bottom line.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: So let me just say,
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's like actual great business decisions,
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: but I think from like a marketing perspective, it's Isaac Mizrahi, right?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: Who's like at the front of- I think it's Zach Posen.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, Zach Posen.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Who is at Gap?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: I am not a fashion girly, so that's, yeah.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oops.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: But Zach Posen,
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think putting him into that role and then like the collaborations that have come
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: from it have- Definitely brought, again,
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: GAP does this,
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: it's like once every like five to seven years they do this like big resurgence
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: and sort of remind culture that they are there and that they are adaptable
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: and it's like a, you know, form of fast fashion.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: I have thought for a while Banana Republic has just been losing cultural equity
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: for like a while.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like it feels like, you know, we've talked about also Madewell.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like they're a little bit in that same You know,
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: even, like, out east where Em and I are from, there's an outlet, a big outlet there.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, the Banana Republic, like, shut down there.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then locally here in Moran, in Puerto Madera, we have the village.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: And the Banana Republic is still there.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: But I, like, look at it and I find myself not knowing what I'm going to get in there.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why would I go in there?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like, there's an Aritzia.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, I'm like, I'd rather go into Aritzia.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it just feels cooler.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: It feels like they have more of a point of view.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm also not going into the office all the time.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I literally went into the GoFundMe offices earlier this week and I pulled out
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: a dress, I kid you not, that is, like, 10 years old.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I wore that into the office.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I guess that's what
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: I used to go
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Banana Republic for would be like Officeware.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Also like, I mean, I always liked White House Black Market too.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like I liked that store.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where that is.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it exists anymore,
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: but it does feel like it's sort of like, who is it for and what age is it for?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when they do,
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: when it comes out,
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: when they come out with like episodic content,
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: that's clearly like, we want to reach a younger audience.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: We want to become relevant with a younger audience.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: We want to like, Humor, whatever.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't know if that's, like, the right move.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I almost wonder what I would suggest to them if I was thinking about,
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: like, what do we do with this IP?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: How do we make it relevant?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why not follow the Zach Posen model?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why not find a different creator in residence,
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: maybe a woman,
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: maybe someone of color,
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: like somebody who has a point of view,
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: who has an audience,
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: who has, like,
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: a perspective, even if it's like a creator in residence for like a year, right?
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like it doesn't necessarily have to be like for all time or whatever,
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: but bring somebody in who can breathe some fresh life into like what is sort of
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: an existing great model that has been around for so long, right?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Again, fast fashion.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, you know, Let's get some collaborations in there.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And like, let's make it, like if you own both, let's make it distinctly different.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like I would almost,
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: like what I would say,
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: it's like if they're going to do episodic content,
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: like it would be kind of funny if you were like,
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: here's the archetype for the Banana Republic people and here's the archetype
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: for Gap.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like have them interact.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I mean?
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like personify the brands somewhat, you know?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think you can have so much more fun laughing at yourself and also like,
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm feeling comfortable, again, in the receipts.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: People love things that have been around for a long time, so it's a shame to let it go.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: I agree with you.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: This feels like a half-baked idea that probably costs a decent amount of money.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't know if I could quantify the ROI,
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: and it makes me nervous for whoever is running their marketing.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think that could be interesting if they, like, had characters for each of their brands.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's Old Navy,
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta, I think,
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: are all under the Gap, Inc. Umbrella.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: And Zach Posen is creative director for all of them.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: He's, like, at the top.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like top of the umbrella creative director.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: It would be cool if they had,
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: if they were to do a series and it was like each brand personified,
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: like you were saying,
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Melissa, and watching these archetypes interact with each other.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because even think of like Jack, who they cast as the star in this.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: And like, yes, he's definitely like, A bit of a Gen Z heartthrob right now.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I haven't watched his show Adults.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: I watched one episode.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: It takes place in Queens and it's like so obvious it's filmed in Canada
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: and it was driving me crazy.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: The logistics of it, I was like, this is
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: not Queens.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like this is not Queens.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: You wouldn't be taking that train line if you lived in this neighborhood that you say you do.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, the logistics were off and it was like, I couldn't enjoy it.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: But he's like, At least from what I see, he's like not playing a
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: corporate guy
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: on the show.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: His character on the show, which he is now famous for, would not be wearing Banana Republic.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: He's very like New York hipster.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: He's wearing like a cropped vintage tee and like shorts.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: He's not like a banana.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: I know this show got canceled,
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: but not suitable for work,
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: which was about actual Gen Zs who worked in an actual office.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that would have made more sense.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: The show got canceled, so I'm sure those actors need work.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: Tap one of them.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: I also think when you guys were talking,
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: it made me realize how much Banan Republic is the workwear brand of the suite
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: of brands.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually have been following the Fifi brand, which is Danielle and her sister.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: What is acquired?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, Danielle and
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Bridget.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: I can never remember Bridget's actual name.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: They have a brand and they recently released three collections,
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: an athleisure collection, a work collection, and like a loungewear collection.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's like the three Gap Inc. Brands.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's Gap,
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: which is like a lot of loungewear,
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Banana Republic, which is workwear, and athleisure, which, you know, is athletic.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that they definitely have their bases covered culturally.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: But I think The workspace,
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: while Gen Z being new to the workplace is kind of the narrative right now,
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: I still think that they are not kind of the authority on what to wear in
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: the workplace.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I think centering them in this in a way is just like not feeling authentic
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: to like what's happening.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think maybe I would have recommended more of like
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: a generational interplay thing to happen of like...
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: There should have been some Gen X and millennial representation.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I haven't actually watched the series, so maybe it's coming.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that would have been a little bit more of an interesting hook
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: for this series than just we're doing a mini series.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: I was also going to say,
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: like, I've never put brain power to the Gap suite of brands in this way.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: But I feel like my, like, I am just, like, spinning.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, my God.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what are you guys doing?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's, in the best way.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's so many.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, shoot.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Can you guys still hear and see me?
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm here to shut down.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, great.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I wonder what they talk about when it, when you start with customer journey.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because it feels like.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, okay,
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Old Navy is like the lowest price point and then Gap is a bit higher and
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: then like Banana Republic is like the most expensive.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Feels like it's sort of an age thing too of it.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like maybe it's young,
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: like you sort of shop at Old Navy when you're younger and then as you get older
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: and you get your paycheck and you get your first job,
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: you like start going into the other places, right?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then obviously there's like the athletic of it all.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, Gap had, like, Gap Fitness stuff.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's still around as much.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: They do.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, yeah.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so does Old Navy.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: So there's, like, quite a bit of overlap with a lot of what these brands are selling.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure that, like, it's all in the same...
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: the production,
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure they're all talking about it cohesively where it's like,
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: okay, this is like a cheaper product.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: This is more expensive or whatever.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: I guess what I would want to do is almost like step back though and like turn it all
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: on its head and just I would want to look at like physical locations
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: where people are shopping for these and then also like online
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: and like would it be smarter to Because I agree with you.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't know if workwear is enough of a thing anymore to make it its own identity.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: And is there a way to
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: make certain... Again,
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's loungewear, maybe it's fitness, something else or whatever.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: Create a reason for the same woman or person or individual to go to all of them.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I gotta go to Old Navy for my whatever.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Or, like, I gotta, like, the cashmere.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I, if I were Banana Republic, I would be looking at, is it Nadam, Nadam, or whatever.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: I would be looking at Quince.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I would be looking at these companies that have just, like, leaned into cashmere.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: I would be like, what can I do with cashmere?
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, make a cashmere shop.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, whatever.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: I would be...
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: I was looking at somebody like Tanks and I would be like,
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: what is it that we can make that would make her feel compelled to be like,
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: this is an amazing experience to go through this?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: She feels like somebody who Should be like,
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: they should think of her as like a top creator that they would have working with her
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: to like each of their stuff.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it just doesn't feel cool.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't feel like there's sharp or perspective.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like even when the Zach poses up at all, like I guess I'm just still not like I walk past a gap.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: I go in it probably once a month.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to be like, oh my god, there's that item.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: There's the jeans, obviously, but the boyfriend jeans.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: I would look at Good American.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'd be like, what is it that they have that is the thing that's going to get me in there?
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've got to get in there.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe Old Navy should be doing cashmere.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like these places are able to get cashmere at a cheaper cost, you know?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: I also feel like there is a world where,
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: and you guys correct me if I'm wrong,
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: where, like, I think Spanx has actually done a really good job with this.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that, like, it was a void that American Apparel left of, like, basics.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: And just really good at basics.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, I'm sorry, Spanx does a great job of that.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, they see something and they, like,
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: make a really good quality version of,
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: like, And then they like run with that item in like a season and then they crush it.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I just like,
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't buy actual Spanx stuff,
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: but I buy clothes from them now and then because I know I can order online
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: and it's like reliable and it's awesome.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I just feel like there's so many smart things that are happening around this suite.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Even Athleta, I'm like, Athleta, come on.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like look at Aloe.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like how do you have items in there that, Are seasonal, fresh colors.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, Aloe comes out with, like, a palette.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, oh, my God.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I see it in town.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's this red, this vibrant red that I've seen these, like, women that I am around.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: Or there was a mauve.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I bought a bunch of the mauve stuff.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then the mauve goes out.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you can't find it.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: Or olive.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: Olive green.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're just, it feels a little, like, phoning it in, lazy.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: And they're not, they could be just working smarter, not harder.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: And, like, The fact that they have invested money in this video series just feels so out.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: To me, it's just they don't have a vision.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: They don't know what they're doing.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's interesting that Banana Republic is struggling so much
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: because I feel like Gap has done so well in this space.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: Their cat's eye music video.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: Then they partnered with Hailey Bieber on jeans and they had the happy stripes.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_02: That was a misstep.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think I was complaining on here two weeks ago about how pissed off I was about
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: the happy stripes.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_02: Situation.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's like,
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: and then Zach Posen has been dressing celebrities in Gap,
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: elevated Gap that you can't get on the website.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: But like he has Chase Infinity going down red carpets wearing like a Gap label.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: And it's this gorgeous dress that obviously you can't get in stores.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: But it's still like her in Gap standing next to Zach Posen.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it's interesting.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like Banana Republic is kind of crickets.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_02: And it's the same parent company.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: Or like Old Navy, like Old Navy owned the holidays, you know what I mean?
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they had those like big sing-along, you know, and then it was like the performance fleece.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like that era, you know, the performance fleece.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, it's nice, performance fleece.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like Old Navy was such a thing.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: And like that was the item.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: it's like they came out with the item of the season that they mass marketed
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: and it was something that like everybody wanted.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: It was an easy thing to like, it was such an ideal Christmas gift kind of thing.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe we're going to start hearing stuff.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's probably starting Monday, honestly.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's when the holiday stuff really takes off.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's like after Halloween.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: I still see Old Navy commercials and it's like filled to the brim
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: with like Love Island contestants and I think like Kiki Palmer.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: And it seems like they've crowned like Paris Hilton their like brand ambassador.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm just like, we know she's not wearing Old Navy, guys.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_02: Jennifer Lawrence would have been a better girl.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: Honestly, she would have.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: She's, like, on so many Pinterest boards of, like, basic NYC street style.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_02: It would be believable that,
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: like, she would wear an Old Navy t-shirt to, like, run to the bodega in New York.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: But Paris Hilton, I'm like, please don't lie to me and tell me Paris is wearing a t-shirt.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, you know what one of my favorite t-shirts is?
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's J.Crew Factory paper tee.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like the v-neck.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: I buy it every summer when I'm out on the North Fork.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: I go to the J.Crew factory outlet.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: I buy a bunch.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: I buy them online.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: They have got, like,
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: I swear to God,
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: I would be so curious to see their sales numbers because it's like
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: the factory store online.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: You can buy them, like, when they go on sale, it's like $5 a t-shirt.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just, like, don't.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm, like,
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: I actually find I've done a lot of the, like, Amazon, like,
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: $5 ones or,
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: like, the ones that, like, people are like, this is the best white t-shirt.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, nope.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's just the fit of the J.Crew one.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Old Navy should have that.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: Or even do an updated version of the performance fleece.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do a fresh take on it.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or the vests.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: They did a ton of vests.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: You just need a couple items that people would want to mix and match.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: That are high-low.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: Again, they should be calling somebody and going in an H&M.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think H&M does a great job with this.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, you know you're going to go in there.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: You're going to get something.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: And some of my H&M stuff I've had for years, and it's really good quality.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, who am I?
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: Never works in fashion, but I do think that we've given a lot.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you're a consumer.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: You buy it.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, I actually think you're right.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: J.Crew does a really good job of this.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think of, like, the roll neck sweater that they've had for decades.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_02: At this point, they did, like, a new push with Emma Chamberlain.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I, it's, all my friends want them.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone I see on TikTok wants one.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that was a really good example of pulling,
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: like, a legacy item and, like, tapping a
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: Gen Z shirt.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_01: And to put a fresh spin on it.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, my God.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: To that point, Emma Chamberlain with, like, Old Navy.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, could you not see, like, Paige Lorenz and what she would do with Athleta?
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_02: She's like,
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_02: you know, like,
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: let the tennis girlies, like,
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: and have her, like, even weigh in on, like, she's such a consumer of tennis stuff.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_01: Tennis is, like, all the things.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: I have to tell you guys, my mother-in-law knows I'm into tennis and golf.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: She bought me Athleta.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not kidding.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to show you right now.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: For my birthday.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: Athleta.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: And the skirt.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: And she was like, and I, again, I play tennis often, like at least two or three times a week.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm new to golf.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so this was like, I don't know if this is for tennis or golf.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think the skirts are kind of the same.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: Someone in this community tell me.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: I tried this on.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a terrible thing.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: Really cute.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it looks cute with you holding it up.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's a bummer though.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's too, it's like too long.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a little too long and it rides a little too high.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: So on my body frame, it just looks like a lot of skirt.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I mean?
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's such a cool color.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just interesting because I have,
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: I've splurged on I have like two aloe skirts that I have the mauve one and
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: then I have a black one that's like this, pleated.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then I have a bunch from Amazon that are not, you know what I mean?
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like tennis skirts you don't have to be like, Megan, I know you play tennis.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you do yet.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate the aesthetics of it.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was just going to say, though, no judgment.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: People compliment me on my Amazon.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: I have a white skirt from Amazon, and I wear it once every two or three weeks.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_01: People compliment me on me all the time.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not like I'm not a brand snob with it.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: I was actually so bummed when I tried this on because I thought it was...
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh, this is going to be so great.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, this is off.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't think...
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: People are just wearing a shorter cut.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_01: I even think if you wanted a longer style, this just isn't nailing it.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_01: I could be wrong.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to watch.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: There's a huge athletic tennis community coming after me.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: I just think how cool would it be, right?
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get a tennis girlie in there.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get a golf girlie.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: They don't even have to be as high profile as Paige Lawrence.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get a bunch of them.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then I don't know.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then you could, Old Navy with the rule talk.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many cute,
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: like there's this influencer, Mackenzie Horan, I think, who's, she's in Connecticut.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_01: She's a, she's a mom of four boys and she's pregnant with her fifth boy.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_01: And she's got that like Nantucket aesthetic.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's so cute.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: I just think like having someone like her with like Banana Republic
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: where she is doing something cute that feels like connected to her world would be,
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like one angle of this, like have her do a summer series, you know?
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I don't know.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: There's just so much more you could do.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I'm just like,
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_02: it's like storytelling the lifestyle of their ideal customer
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_02: and how it could transition between the brands.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like for your weekend basics, you're a gaff girl.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then for work, you're wearing Banana Republic.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you go to your Pilates class after work, you wear your athletic set.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like they could storytell the like journey, but it feels very like Segmented.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: That would be,
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: oh my god, Emma, Megan,
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: as she just said that,
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_01: was that not like the cool, like you could see like a vlog day in the life of it.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they should.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: You wake up, it's like you wake up in your Old Navy jammies.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: Or your, you know what?
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know what they should do with Banana Republic?
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like they should lean into like pajama,
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_01: pajamas,
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_01: like silk pajamas,
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_01: like cool,
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_01: you know the pajamas that you like wear out,
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: the ones that have like, like animals on them?
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because Banana Republic, even the name, that's where it hails from.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_01: It evokes adventure.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's from the far reaches of wherever.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, give me some silk pajamas that are sourced responsibly with some cashmere.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: You wake up in your...
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: The vlog starts.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in my pajamas from...
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_01: Banana Republic,
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_01: and then I'm getting ready,
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_01: and I work out in my Athleta, and then I do whatever in Old Navy.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: Even doing this exercise,
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: marketing department,
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_01: all of us, but it would almost show you holes where you could do something.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that, Emma, where it's almost like you could get four influencers to do it.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: You could do different people.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you could go back and forth.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_01: It could be like you wake up and you're going out of public.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you get dressed and you're going out of public for work.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then maybe it's the weekend and you're in your gap and then you do whatever.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, my God.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_01: How fun would that be?
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_01: That would be fun.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: And there's so many creators who do that.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: The office blocks are very popular.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why they haven't
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_02: yet.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: They should.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you, guys.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_02: That was actually very fun.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_02: The journey we went on with that conversation.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_02: That was fun.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you guys for taking us.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry everyone.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: No, your fresh, fresh, fresh brain for the morning.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you guys.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_02: Happy Thursday.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: One more day, a day and a half left.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: And thanks guys.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you next Tuesday.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: See you Tuesday.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.