Issue #006: The Spread
Ben Affleck, Mall Brands, and the rise of the Lit Biz
Happy Saturday!
This week’s Spread contains a lot of brand + marketing ~stuff~. I didn’t intend for that to be the case, but as I was writing it was simply what I was interested in talking about. So here you have it! We’re talking about third places, Ben Affleck, the rise of the Lit Biz, The Perfect Couple, and more. While The Spread is usually a Friday send, I was delayed in writing on Thursday evening by brain fog in the form of a splitting headache. I then mistakenly tried to write while we watched Chimp Crazy last night (I literally had nightmares after) and if you’ve seen it, you’ll understand why that was not particularly productive. I haven’t recovered from what I watched but I was able to get this out to you before heading out to a very exciting event this evening. See you in the comments! xx
Really, really good reads this week:
📖 Transcendent Kingdom | Yaa Gyasi | Contemporary Romance | Finished
📖 Rainbow Black | Maggie Thrash | Literary Thriller | DEVOURED
📖 Butter | Asako Yuzuki | Literary Thriller | Currently Reading
My August reading wrap up also went live this week!
And if you missed it, here are full reviews for everything I read in June + July.
This section will be an amalgamation of products, rituals, and more - anything that I’m just really into.
The Rise of the Lit Biz
Culturally we are collectively obsessed with the idea of the lit girl. Every celebrity has a book club, brands are fully leaning in, and digital burnout has us yearning for something slower, more analog - the lit girl is the anti-girl boss, if you will. In the wake of the loneliness epidemic, people are in need of community. They’re seeking hobbies, preferably in a group setting. We desperately need a third place for engaging in activities that are not working or sleeping. Essentially, there’s a glaring need for community and enrichment. I’ve never forgotten this tidbit from a seminar on community I attended a couple years ago: brands need to create opportunities for their consumers to be in community with each other, not just fostering direct loyalty between the consumer + the brand themselves. Brands now are expected to function as a third place themselves, a matchmaking service for like-minded consumers.
So it’s no surprise that we’re seeing community focused brands popping up in the lit space. Page Break’s mission is to break down social barriers by “bringing people together for shared reading experiences”. Their one day reading retreats are an incredible idea I wish I’d had- an upcoming retreat will bring a small group of people together at an urban farm in Brooklyn to read a novella by Brazilian author Clara Drummond. They’ll follow the reading with a 5 course meal, courtesy of an NYC based Brazilian chef. They’re creating an immersive experience and providing all the things people are hungry for - community, slower living, and intentional spaces.
Lit Girl and 831 Stories are two other players in this growing space. 831 Stories is “an entertainment company with books at the foundation”, created by newsletter A Thing or Two’s founders. They focus on the romance fandom and are publishing books, hosting events, selling merch, and creating other types of content like accompanying music tracks. This is a great read on what exactly they’re setting out to do.
Lit Girl is one that I find particularly intriguing and original - beyond having wicked gorgeous branding, they recently launched their “Term 1 Syllabus” here on Substack. This reads like a true course syllabus, with reading + supplementary material all centered around “the phenomenon of fame as both a coveted prize and a monstrous burden”. The course starts this week and I am truthfully so excited to see how it takes shape.
Yes, we’re all probably in our content overconsumption era. Might as well consume the good stuff!
Watching | The Perfect Couple | Netflix
Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s popular Nantucket novel of the same name, The Perfect Couple is truly an excellent example of rich people just… doing rich people things. AKA “They’re kill people and get away with it rich”, as they so poignantly point out in the first ep. We cannot talk about this series without talking about the opening credits dance sequence. I’ve seen many a dissenting opinion on it, but I cannot lie to you: I loved it. It’s different! Fun! We should be having more fun. Also Meghann Fahy needs to be in more things, pls. I watched the entire thing in one night and have no regrets.
I also think they have some very interesting marketing tactics on this one:
👠 Diet Prada x TPC: Netflix partnered with popular Instagram account Diet Prada, which often has the scoop on breaking news in fashion and beyond. They posted about the events of the show as if they were real news - the comment section is divided, but it’s a testament to how smart consumers are these days about branded content. Despite having a brand partnership tag at the top of the post, commenters were looking for #ad disclosure in the caption copy and accused Diet Prada of “deceptive marketing”. Others praised the “marketing slay”.
Be careful reading the comments until you’ve finished the show - I accidentally spoiled it for myself about 10 minutes before the killer was revealed
🧁 Magnolia Bakery x TPC: New Yorkers could drop by Magnolia Bakery for a free cupcake (“Eat these before they get tagged as evidence”). Given that the show revolves around a wedding and includes a scene where people are getting physically violent over the wedding cake itself, free cupcakes are a fun nod.
Listening | Podcast Episodes
Podcast eps that I listened to this week and think are worth your time:
🎧 “An Incredibly Well-Timed Ben Affleck Episode”
of Culture Study and Jennifer Romolini, author of my favorite memoir this year, collaborated on this podcast episode that I shouldn’t care about but which thrilled me deeply. I truly know nothing about Ben (I reviewed his extensive filmography on Wikipedia and despite its prolificness, I somehow have never seen a single thing on it) beyond his affinity for Dunkin’ and cigs. And yet, I was riveted by this ep. Felt like hanging out with friends. Genuinely would recommend.🎧 “Liquid Death’s Secret to Viral Marketing”
I’m not at all Liquid Death’s target audience, but I am fascinated by their marketing. In this episode they talk about how they tazed their haters, used Tony Hawk’s blood to paint skateboards, created a Liquid Death enema with Travis Barker, and their jet giveaway and its incredible ROI. We’ve talked about their LD x Yeti casket auction and their LD x E.L.F. collab (on Roblox! you know I love that shit!) here before.
I’ve been working hard to reduce my social media doomscrolling these days, which means I’m reading more articles and consuming more intentional content - which I LOVE. These are the things that caught my attention this week.
Some quick picks:
🦴 Our dog’s namesake is on the cover of Men’s Health UK (yes chef 🫡)
🥨 “How Snacks Took Over American Life” by
+ The Atlantic🦷 Everyone is talking about veneers lately
🎾 Coco Gauff Says People Are Doing Tenniscore Wrong (but it works)
🎀 How LoveShackFancy became a part of sorority culture
If you like this quick picks section, be sure to check out my weekly send, The Digest, a lovingly curated list of links to replace your AM social media doom scroll.
A Mall Brand & Print Media Renaissance
If there are two things I am repeatedly seeing are “back”, it’s print media + the mall brand. We already talked about how digital burnout is pushing us back to analog forms of entertainment, and this week alone that sentiment manifested in The Cut publishing a solo print magazine for the first time and the return of the infamous J.Crew print catalogue. While 63% of brands said they would be focusing on in-person activations this year, the second most popular area of investment was print media (The Cut accomplished both this week).
Similarly, it seems that mall brands are having a major resurgence right now. GAP, Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch - all are back from the brink of death (whether I think they deserve to be or not is a different story). Limited Too may be returning, and Pacsun is a favorite for Gen Alpha. So what does this mean for the future of the mall, previously labeled a consumerism relic of the past?
It’s increasingly likely that we’ll see them become a cornucopia of offerings, from “Retailtainment” to digital / phygital experiences. A true third place is not only somewhere you go to spend money or make purchases, but a somewhat commercialized version could be beneficial for consumers + brands alike.
Are we rooting for the return of the mall??
And if you need some good clicks for your weekend, here’s everything that went live this week on The Composite:
| Issue #005: The Spread | The Digest 04 | Everything I Read in August |
*There may be affiliate links in this post. If you purchase an item through these links, I’ll earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support*
Thank you so much for including Lit Girl 🍒
The whole LitBiz section has me seriously reconsidering the business proposal I created last year for a highly curated bookshop/workshop space for cookbook cooking clubs, and journaling and kid's crafts...........