This week Clayton concluded a lifelong quest for the perfect trenchcoat while Oren extolled the virtues of QR codes. As a wise man once said… you never know where the internet will take you.

In this HYPER we break down the state of brand strategy in 2025, what to think about instead of a “personal brand”, details as content, and a recap of our IRL event in China.

Next week stay tuned for our China scene report from Oren’s latest trip.

Enjoy!

Brand Strategy in 2025

Having a great brand strategy used to be about good product, a clear message, and dominating a single channel.

Today the best brands are building in a revolving door of trends, expectations, and algorithm shifts. What worked six months ago doesn’t work tomorrow.

And most teams are stuck reacting instead of leading.

In Episode 5 of our video series with Air, we break down what brand strategy actually looks like in 2025—and how modern teams can lead with clarity in a world that keeps changing.

We get into:

• What it really means to own brand strategy today

• Why the creative director role has never been more complex

• How to stay culturally relevant without chasing the algorithm

• What Ana Andjelic taught us about brand-as-media

• Why brands like Craighill are winning by keeping it simple

We also built a Brand Strategy Framework—a resource to help you evaluate your brand’s foundation and find alignment across teams, channels, and creative.

One of the biggest takeaways from our interview with Ana Andjelic was this—brand strategy today isn’t just about having a great product. It’s about knowing how to operate within the algorithmic “spectacle” that now defines attention. The best brands know how to do both.

If your brand feels like it’s being pulled in too many directions, this one’s for you.

Don't start a personal brand

As endless personal content stacks up around us, there’s a better strategy to succeed in building something based on your personality online rather than just sharing opinions and your story. Enter what we refer to as a “format” a combination of a set, an activity, a branded visual style and a unique POV that feels far more like a TV show set online, than it does a “content creator”.

Examples:

Shift fashion group cutting open different products and analyzing their quality and construction.

Our friend Ken sitting at his workspace, breaking down history of garments and designer takes on different styles.

Nara making food from scratch in her kitchen (while wearing couture)

Our friend Ed telling stories about objects, his life and his brand from the setting of his gorgeous apartment.

Don’t think about how you can start making content, think about how you can start a show.

Oren breaks it down in a full length video here:

If you’re a brand or personal brand that wants to work with a group and be accountable to learning and improving at content, no matter if you’re new to it or established, the May edition of Cut30 starts next week!
https://cut30.co/

HYPER IRL

2025 for us has been a year of connecting with the HYPER community IRL. From Clayton’s meetup in London, to our event in NYC with Darkoom and Shopify, to now a big meetup all the way in China… it’s been amazing to meet so many creatives and entrepreneurs across the globe. A few things have become abundandtly clear as we do more and more events

• creatives crave community beyond online, and don’t have many options for it

• people will travel across the globe at the drop of a dime for a unique experience

• more and more people are starting global brands, studios and collectives, more than ever our businesses don’t need to be anchored to country, and are in fact better when they’re not

Below Oren has a recap of the event in China and all the details that go into a great IRL experience, we put a lot of care into this one, from the giveaways, to viral items to help videos get views.

Kitchen Sink

Amiri announcing new packaging with a video campaign. A reminder that every detail is an excuse for great content if your brand is creative.

Brands are increasingly adding Substack to their social media plans. Partnering with existing platform creators on new publications is the right way to do it. Congrats to our friend Casey and to American Eagle on their latest.

Memes as marketing is going increasingly mainstream (deep dive on this coming soon)

New for your creative toolkit - Envato InspoGen

The AI lookbooks are here. ChatGPT is excellent at modifying existing imagery into a style, and brands are taking advantage with campaigns like the claymation below.

Hyper Reports

Check out our market reports. We spend many hours researching markets, categories, and brands & products within the consumer space so you don’t have to.

• The guide to making great Merchandise — HERE — a guide to finding and producing your own merch

• Reports on Running, Golf, and Tennis — HERE — a guide to each sport, the market opportunities, and how to launch your own brand

Inquiries? Shoot us a note here: [email protected]

We’d love to chat!