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Together with

Jeanne Gang’s “Artistry in Oak” decanter cradling Gordon & MacPhail’s 85-year-old Glenlivet, Decanter No. 1 heads to Christie’s New York this November.

Welcome back, First name / friend,. 

 

Here’s what’s shaping strategy, and your next out-of-office daydream this week:

 

🛒 OpenAI turns ChatGPT into a checkout, Etsy, Shopify, Glossier now one click away
🥃 85-Year-Old Glenlivet in Jeanne Gang’s bronze-cradled decanter heads to Christie’s NY
🍸 Aman Singapore brings a tropical urban sanctuary to The Skywaters Tower, opening 2028

🧃Inside CPG’s Pre-Winter Power Struggle: CPG leans on commercial hires 

📡 What We’re Tracking: our long-running early-warning trend log gets a new home

 

 

Across very different corners of culture, VHS archivists, dawn running crews, micro-aestheticists, and community-driven travellers, the same need keeps surfacing: people want meaning they can touch, join, or name for themselves. Each subculture pushes back against the frictionless sameness of algorithmic feeds.
 

For brands, that shared impulse is a pointer to pivot from broadcasting stories to building spaces for ownership. Scarcity becomes emotional, not just economic. Belonging is designed into the product, the drop, the itinerary. 

 

As AI flattens more experiences into a single feed, the brands that thrive will be the ones that feel distinctly human, tactile, participatory, even a little imperfect.
 

CMOs may need to rethink whether their growth plans are optimised for reach, or for gravity, the pull that keeps people coming back.

 

See questions to be asking plus the full October breakdown.

 

Luxury Cottages began from a simple idea: the setting shapes the experience. Their portfolio ranges from coastal retreats to countryside estates, each vetted for design, service, and utility across both professional and family life.

 

In Hay-on-Wye, Amberwood Lodge proves the point, two serene bedrooms tucked into the hills, with a wood-fired hot tub on a private sun-deck and wide Welsh-countryside views. Equally suited to a quiet couple’s escape or a slow family week surrounded by nature.

 

 

Origin

Born from the collision of 2010s street-style blogs and suburban catalogue shoots, this look found early life in mid-tier fashion ads that staged real neighbours as models. It re-surfaced post-2020 as brands sought warmth and relatability after the studio-slick pandemic era, think celebrity cameos on porches, soda pop tours on campus lawns, faux-fur mallcore shot like an indie rom-com.
 

The Recode
 

Civic-Play Cool fuses domestic realism (driveways, dorm quads, cul-de-sacs) with pop-bright campaign theatre. The tone is neighbour-next-door but editorially lit; props feel plucked from a Sunday errand, vacuums, ice-cream cones, folding chairs, yet styled with designer ease.
 

 

Why They Resonate
 

Civic-Play Cool makes ordinary spaces feel news-making. It signals fun without exclusivity, approachable enough for a Shark vacuum ad with Sir David Beckham, stylish enough for a Sandy Liang × GAP drop, hype-worthy for Poppi’s campus tour. 

 

The aesthetic invites audiences to imagine culture happening right outside their door: a mix of hometown warmth and magazine-shot wit.

 

THE GOODS looks past the surface of commerce and culture, showing how brand decisions shape the way we live. 

 

Each week, 53,000+ brand leaders read us for clarity and signal-spotting. For organisations that want to reach this audience with substance, we welcome partnership. You can reach us here or directly by replying to this note.

…that’s all for now

 

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