The global marketing economy
Thoughts from Milan, new pants, marketers learning social & more
Oren here, checking in live from Expo West, where the natural foods industry convenes to endlessly sample. Headed to SXSW this weekend, and we’ll recap a bit from both next week!
If you are new here and looking for the Paris report with factories etc from Premiere Vision, you can find that here.
Related, if you are going or looking to go to Canton Fair in China May 1-5th (biggest manufacturer showcase event in the world each year) I am helping organize some events to connect people to suppliers, help navigate the area etc, fill out a quick form here if you want more info!
If you already filled out, I’m planning to send more info by Tuesday.
This week, we’re talking about global marketing, inspired by some of what was happening in Milan, and much more.
Enjoy!
The Shifting Nature of Global Marketing
So in Milan and Paris over the prior weeks we saw Thai TV stars LingOrm for Dior, Freen Sarocha a thai actress for Valentino, Byun Woo Seok, a South Korean actor for Prada, and a host of celebrities from across the globe in particularly Asia, playing a very central role in luxury brand stories. While many brands are finding 1-2 ambassadors, Versace is all in on Eastern influence, and has China’s Rosy Zhao, Korean star NingNing and Stray kid's Hyunjin (who is always pictured with Donatella and a major driver on their social).
One example I think was particularly interesting was Korean popstar Wonwoo from Seventeen who is an ambassador for Burberry— because his content included getting tea and checking out the river, basically giving localized content that's a promotion of the UK as much as anything.
Why is this so interesting? I feel what Burberry is tapping into with Wonwoo is scratching on the real potential of global ambassadors for brands. Prominent people from other countries basically become tour guides for their fans, while doing it with brand lore all around it - Burberry is a perfect fit for this, where it becomes as much photo op as it is travel content, as it is a glimpse into culture for the brand.
I think smart content is going to get dramatically more involved in ambassador engagement and more holistic content strategy like this. The main feed post may get the attention, but the travel diary, the visits, more casual content collaborations, all to a market who may not be aware of say… English or French tradition, or even in the US if one was to visit a surf brand or something adjacent to a specific lifestyle. There are massive global fanbases with more access to brands than ever, who are completely unfamiliar with the world the brands they’re learning about come from. And the content around a trip or big cultural event is significantly more organically engaging than just another sponsored post on feed.
I believe the next chapter of the brand social media era comes with
Guide content: brands functioning as advisors and entertainers for consumers, from creating tv shows, to functioning as local tour guides, to styling tips, recipe content etc. The job of media is being taken by brands, who frankly are better stewards with more obvious incentives than the shadowy economy of media publications losing money while barely paying their journalists,
Global standardization: brands will have social media accounts for each of their key regions, with content they are able to standardize across languages supplementing local creators and influence
A better understanding of local media: one of the byproducts of the TikTok “ban” was a surprising adoption of the Chinese app RedNote, and for many influencers and brands there was a big realization of how that app could be an access point to begin to sell into China
Where am I going with this? I firmly believe what brands large and small need as they consider expansion are cultural translators, people who understand a brands lore and product positioning in their home country, and the impact and nature of social media in the target market, Korea, China, the UK - to build both influencer and localized content strategy thats more than lip service or a big check to one person. This was a job prior often relegated to agencies that are increasingly out of touch with fandom, and not fast enough to properly engineer content support.
Also, importantly, a more global approach is going to start earlier in brand cycles, because with the internet... why not. International shipping, purchase and translation grows ever easier, and its about where your brand resonates, where your influence is generated, not where you’re based. Personalities and brands that are at the edge of these connections are gonna have a whole new playbook that allows them to access fandoms early wherever they are in the world, and provide more interesting content and brand story because of it.
And for global brands without a localized social or ambassador storytelling strategy… now is the time to get ahead.
New Release
When I was overseas hunting down fabric, it was to help make some interesting things for my latest Valuable Studios releases. The first item to come alive is these pants below, 100% cotton Japanese fabric, halfway between a sweat and denim (flexible and heavy) with a very unique texture sand a cut we spent way too much time on. They release officially tomorrow but go to my lists today, they are available for purchase below and they are in stock and ready to ship.
White: HERE
Black, HERE
The latest shirt, HERE.
Marketing Break
In this week’s episode of The Brandfathers, Ashwinn, Jordan and Oren discuss why marketers need to learn to create content, even if they don’t want to be creators.
From our Bookmarks
Orka - whose packaging I’ve talked about before, officially launched this week, with a, uh, interesting launch video.
Introducing Orka, the energy drink that tastes like water.
amazon.com/dp/B0CTVVQNP2
Not sure where Letterboxd stands on the content activation priority scale, but apparently I’m not casting a wide enough net
The new @cava account on @letterboxd is the perfect blend of comedy and genius and deliciousness that I needed to kick off my week.
Rare Nike W with the Total 90 campaign
Nike’s new Total 90 Campaign is Insanely hard
— Outlander Magazine (@StreetFashion01)
11:03 AM • Mar 1, 2025
Until next week.
Oren & Clayton