Hi all,
We’re back with another edition of GOOD SIGNS—a monthly round-up of 4 letters, looking at what’s bubbling up.
Again, these aren’t 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.
01:00 — CULT WHITE COATS // The new status symbol isn’t who does your hair—it’s who does your bloodwork. Medical credibility has become the luxury signal of the moment. Doctors are now a brand asset.
Places it’s showing up:
* AG1 is signing NIL deals with doctors to build trust beyond the influencer set.
* Lanserhof raised $110M by centering its “doctor-led” longevity model.
* Canyon Ranch and Hotel del Coronado are turning clinical care into lifestyle design.
* Dr. Levine has become a household name.
Pendulum swing → AI is flattening the hierarchy. Platforms like Counsel and Fountain Life’s Zori AI use doctors purely as validators for machine-made diagnoses.
2.
05:41 — COLLAB HANGOVER // The culture of slapping logos together has hit the wall. And the fringes are cringing. The power move now is editing, not endlessly co-branding.
Places it’s showing up:
* Le Creuset’s meme-ification and limited-time fatigue.
* Wicked’s 90-plus tie-ins and the growing ick for gluttonous licensing.
* “Anti-update” energy around J.Press. Keep the soul. Skip the twist.
* Campbell’s x Cynthia Rowley reads odd, saved only by a clear donation mechanic.
Pendulum swing → Smart world-building still plays. Adidas’s “Believe That” awards and Augustinus Bader x Dua show extensions that deepen the story rather than dilute it.
3.
19:08 — POLISH IS POWER // Soft skills are surging. From finishing schools for founders to AI-free dining halls, polish has become a performance differentiator. It’s not about manners for manners’ sake—it’s social fluency as a trust-building tool in a noisy, automated economy.
Places it’s showing up:
* High Point University’s etiquette dinners as career prep.
* Alpha Schools selling “agency” as luxury education.
* Slow Ventures’ etiquette bootcamps for non-B-school AI founders.
* Allison Stadd 🥁 ’s excellent piece on life skills they don’t teach with $200K degrees.
Pendulum swing → No human involvement is being sold as a selling point. Meta’s “just give us your credit card” automation offers everything without any ‘human intelligence.’
4.
25:40 — THE MEMORY METRIC // The next wave of brand experience isn’t about virality. It’s recall. The most powerful marketing now lives as lived experience: something you can tell a story about, not just scroll past. Memories are becoming a business model.
Places it’s showing up:
* Moda Operandi’s gifting site is selling memory-making experiences.
* Malbon and Birdie Houses blending leisure, lodging, and lore.
* Damdam’s Explorations travel program as IRL brand immersion.
Pendulum swing → Memory building takes time, yet we’re addicted to immediacy. Instant resale offerings, AI shopping tools, and even healthcare shifting from ‘reactive to recommended’ shows how we’re not just in a hurry, we want you to read our minds and bodies. (This section deserves a whole separate podcast, honestly, we start to unpack it, but the implications are huge.)
5.
36:35 — CRAVING CONNECTION // The power base has shifted from public platforms to private proximity. Influence is now measured in closeness. Not clout. The best brands and communities feel more like group chats than comment sections.
Places it’s showing up:
* Offball’s The Chat is using WhatsApp to make athletes feel like besties.
* HoYoverse measures success in cosplay density and fan edit velocity, not just revenue
* MSCHF is predicting that smaller experience will matter more than mass reactions.
Pendulum swing → But connection is getting calibrated. Instagram’s editable algorithm, Priceline’s “dead zone” predictions, phone-free bars, and the rise of “Bricking” show that while we might want togetherness, we want guardrails too.
The letters referenced in this episode:
* The Ordinary is deeply confused.
* Moda Operandi is crazy. But onto something.
* Campbell’s x Cynthia Rowley wasn’t on my bingo card.
* Adidas has already won the Super Bowl
That’s all, folx.
-Chris
If you read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.
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