The Debrief No. 558: Your inbox is flooded with brand emails and it’s not stopping anytime soon • Brandless (somehow) raises another $118M.

'Many email-sending brands seem to have become so obsessed with the professional gamesmanship of email marketing that they have decoupled it from the customer’s experience.'

The onslaught continues | The Atlantic

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The House View
Our opinions, analysis, criticism
On modern luxury news

The Culture Pulse: Aaliyah’s (finally) coming to Spotify.
Spaceport mixologist. How Barcelona blew a fortune and got worse. When you’ve got too many tabs open. Kasey Musgraves is about to pop off. A modern London houseboat for sale. Cereal upstart Offlimits nabs another $2.3M. The ‘Exorcist’ is coming back. An athletic coach for the mind. Masks are back. The House of Gucci trailer. What are soccer players saying behind their hands? A new surf brand with a different vibe. Is selling toilet paper online worth it? Pulisic signs a long-term deal with Puma. And Aaliyah’s full catalogue is (finally) coming to Spotify.

‘Is the office holding progress back?’
The war between the office lovers and work-from-anywhere camp wages on as over-eager bosses and corporations fight the inevitable. Seth Godin’s recent thoughts here on the value of the office today resonates well: "Some organizations dealt with enforced work-from-home by using endless Zoom meetings as a form of compliance… a high-tech way to take attendance. But others leaned into the opportunity to create nimble, task-oriented decision making and communications hubs, ones that were no longer constrained by physical proximity. The last forty years have taught us that the technology that most disrupts established industries is speed. The speed of connection to peers, to suppliers and most of all, to customers. The speed of decision making, of ignoring sunk costs and of coordinated action. The internet has pushed all of these things forward, and we’ve just discovered, the office was holding all of them back."

Inexplicably, Brandless locks up (another) $118M.
Brandless. Remember them? When we last heard from them, they were part of the infamous era of overvalued Softbank investments to undergo big issues. In their case, their CEO stepped down, and they shuttered, before coming back with less fanfare and bluster. Now, somehow, they’ve raised another $118M––with an interesting new change in direction. But it’s this passage that truly has one wondering, in the words of one Lean Luxer, "What does any of this mean???". Here we go: "The raise will enable Brandless to activate its already thriving social community by giving individuals within its community the opportunity and means to become social influencers who can advocate for their favorite products and at the same time monetize their social presence. The raise will facilitate Brandless’ path as an 'influence-as-a-service' company with 'a focus on collaboration over control, quality over packaging and people over promotion.'"

The Shaker movement gets enshrined.
It’s one of the primary design reference points for modern brands today, even if they aren't always conscious of it. And now it’s getting its very own museum. The Shaker furniture movement has been a mainstay on IG in various forms for years now, and a recent report at The FT, breaking down the museum, actually doubles very well as a brief history of Shaker furniture dating back to the 1800s. Well worth the read for those interested in both understanding the ideas behind the movement and the museum itself.

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The Ticker
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The Rowing Blazers athletes program
Is for a good cause. Rowing Blazers

Frank Ocean's new Homer jewelry brand is cool
But we'll take a new album instead, every single time. The FT

Alison Roman reviews
The new Paris Hilton cooking show. Air Mail

The latest cultural commentary at The New Yorker
From the esteemed Kyle Chayka. New Yorker

Monday's Big Briefing:

Yes, your inbox is flooded with constant emails from brands. An excellent report at The Atlantic explains what’s going on (and why the onslaught won’t end any time soon).

99designs by Vistaprint:
If you can dream it, we can design it.

Monday's Big Briefing:

Yes, your inbox is flooded with constant emails from brands. An excellent report at The Atlantic explains what’s going on (and why the onslaught won’t end any time soon).

99designs by Vistaprint: If you can dream it, we can design it.

99designs by Vistaprint:
If you can dream it, we can design it.