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GOOD THINKING
Evolving Fan Culture and Brand Interactions
This chapter examines the evolution of fan culture, focusing on the intersection of consumer creativity and brand collaboration. It highlights how brands are now engaging consumers through innovative campaigns and interactive experiences, urging companies to adapt to consumer-driven narratives while protecting their intellectual property.
We’re back with another episode of GOOD SIGNS—a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up.
Again, we’re not calling these trends. That’s way too heavy for a month’s worth of content. These are signals, patterns, counter-trends. Stuff that’s emerging, continuing, sticking out, or simply, what we’re finding interesting in the last month.
Enjoy! And let us know what you think.
Skip to the bits you fancy.
1.
ACCESSIBLE HERITAGE // Heritage and collectibles are getting experiential. And more accessible. The story still matters, but the circle that wants a piece is widening. And how we buy these coveted products in changing too. Auctions streaming, car shows that rival Coachella, and fractional tokens let anyone buy a piece of whatever pie they want. If the trove is sealed, today’s buyer will look for a brand willing to unseal one. And make it entertaining.
Places it’s showing up:
* Christie’s $87.7MM jewels sale pulls in first-time bidders chasing Mughal lore.
* Pebble Beach’s “Cannes of cars” lets visitors check out the best. And post about it.
* Robinhood tokens offer slices of SpaceX and OpenAI pre-IPO.
* Gap archive drops and J.Crew’s ’90s revivals.
* Whatnot live card breaks deal luck and wins in real-time.
Pendulum swing → Private WhatsApp founder circles and private CMO-only dinners are rising. As some doors open, some are closing harder.
2.
IP PLAY // Fan fiction has moved to into brands. Consumers are remix logos, menus, and jingles—then spread the mashups wider than any ad buy can reach. Join the party or let the party start without you.
Places it’s showing up:
* Starbucks' ‘Secret Menu’ and Taco Bell ‘Fan Style’ let your ideas take over.
* KFC × Uniqlo × Luckin name-mash goes viral as “Can you marry me?”
* Jet2Holidays’ jingle turns into an airport catch-phrase and viral meme.
* Skøda co-creation with grafitti for the Tour De Femmes.
Pendulum swing → Curated lens are loved. Ibiza’s Jondal or Grand Cayman’s Palm Heights invite you in but on their terms. You live inside their edit. And you love it.
3.
LIVE BUT OFF // When every phone, watch or wearable can listen, silence feels like service. No-camera zones, traceless payments, and ‘closed rooms’ all point to a future of no-go-zones. While the appetite for live events has never been bigger, we’ll want the good ones to be offline.
Places it’s showing up:
* Tyler asks for “no cameras, please” so his fans won’t become memes.
* Cannes CMOs’ camera-free rooms keep talk between peers.
* Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat moves payments over Bluetooth. No internet, no trail.
* Bee bracelet records chats for you, and lets you search them. The convenience will likely outweigh the fears.
Pendulum swing → Wimbledon fires off 373 posts in a week, and it worked. And they snooped on people’s convos and everyone loved it.
4.
SUBSTACK’S THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS // The sharpest B2B (and many B2C) moves are happening in newsletters, not boardrooms. Writers run paid surveys, bundle SaaS trials, and launch job boards. These ‘influencers’ are giving the people what they want and the brands what they can’t find anywhere else.
Places it’s showing up:
* Emily Sundberg GLP-1 survey sells insights we crave and the ad slot.
* Subscriber polls by Rachel Karten , Ochuko Akpovbovbo , and Kate Whalen surface signals Ipos could.
* Lenny’s $10K AI-tool bundle makes a newsletter is better than any paid Google ad.
* Substack job boards are making LinkedIn look inefficient. And proving it missed the moment.
Pendulum swing → Face-to-face will matter more than ever. As AI influencers, and AI twins (this is the influencer I mention on the pod using it, much to the distain of her followers), take off, the world becomes somewhere you don’t fully trust. Human handshakes will matter more than ever.
5.
BUILT BY ME // One-size-fits-all is hitting rock bottom. People are DIYing apps in an afternoon, and text-to-video is getting so easy your kid can make a top tier production in a day. But it’s not just tech that’s getting this ‘build my own’ mindset. Health care is too. The commonality is: I’m the expert on me. I know what’s best. And I can do it myself.
Places it’s showing up:
* MenstruAI pads & Mira jingle put lab-grade tests in the bathroom.
* Healthcare desires are changing. What we want to bundle is shifting.
* Showrunner lets subscribers script and star in their own series.
Pendulum swing → Expertise still matters. Hotels are offering classes with Venus Williams and Olympic cyclists. We still love experts. We just want to pick them.
The four letters referenced in this episode:
* P&G made 'yassified condoms'. Oh, wait, it's shampoo.
* Taco Bell wants to make your tacos famous
* Cash App made a mini-movie with Timothée Chalamet
* Mira Fertility made the best ad—of all time?
ABOUT
Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless and proactive positioning.
Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +15K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands |Follow her on Substack
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ingoodco.substack.com
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