Well, the first quarter of this year has certainly flown by! I hope that spring is springing wherever you are, and that despite the general insanity of the world these days you're staying engaged, hydrated, and ready to defend human rights / critical thinking / democracy / the pursuit of happiness.
This issue of The Pour is a delightfully mixed bag: personal reflections, a feminist rant, a charming new brick & mortar brand, and incisive thoughts on luxury from one of the best in the biz. I hope you'll find something useful and interesting below, and please do let me know what piques your interest.
We're off and running on several exciting projects here at Cider, so the next few months should keep us busy and on our toes! That said, we're always keen to chat with folks who are wrestling with a gnarly strategic question.
If that's you, please drop us a line.
Cheers,
Laura
In February I attended my second Ladies Who Strategize retreat in Mexico, and can confirm this will absolutely be an annual tradition. But lest you think it was all chitchat and tequila*, I wanted to share a few key takeaways from the experience that can inform anyone else who thinks for a living:
A well-designed container is central to the efficacy of an experience. Those of us who run workshops know this, but the retreat proved this out in so many ways. Assigned seating at dinner on the first night to ensure new friendships. Non-cheesy ice breaker questions to help us get to know each other. Plentiful snacks, water & coffee during trainings. Clear, proactive communications by the LWS hosts before, during, and after the retreat. We had richer conversations, more vulnerable personal connections, and greater personal development because of this well-designed experience.
We're all vibecoders now. Unsurprisingly, AI was a part of nearly every training and conversation we had at the retreat. We are all in a non-monogamous relationship with Claude. And none of us feels bad about it. It feels like the end of 2025 was a bit of a tipping point: we no longer sheepishly or apologetically admit that the robot helped us put together that brief or that proposal. We're sharing best practices, killer prompts, and even markdown files.
*Reader, do not be concerned, there was plenty of chitchat and tequila. And tres leches cake. And ripe mangoes and avocados.
On a recent scroll through my Instagram feed, my thumbed stopped on a reel that resonated with me so deeply. Namely, the opening line in which the influencer stated:
“I'm convinced that marketing is currently being rebranded as ‘growth’ and ‘go-to-market’ so that boys will do it too."
Amen, sister!
I've observed this in industry discourse, but also specifically in job titles (see here, here, and here). Ok, so you're going to swap a CMO for a Chief Growth Officer, but…wasn't marketing sort of about growth to begin with?
The video continued:
“Historically, marketing has never been taken that seriously…[but] now that anyone can vibe code with AI, the biggest bottleneck is distribution. How can you make people care? Essentially: marketing.”
My personal experience with this happened back in 2014. During a job interview, a (very obnoxious) start-up founder laughed at me for not know what ‘growth hacking’ was.
Turns out, it's just marketing.
Another recent Instagram find**: The Village Confectionery. This delightful new brand is a good ol' fashioned, brick-and-mortar candy shop in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Founder Kate Bolger, a former film producer, has put her storytelling skills to charming use in a new arena, sharing Wes Anderson-esque BTS snippets as she prepares to open her doors this spring.
And while the visual identity is balanced, retro, and clean, it's a great reminder than in this case, the most distinctive aspect of The Village Confectionery's brand is its quick-cut video editing style, and a voiceover tone that somehow blends Nora Ephron, Carrie Bradshaw, and Felicity Porter.
Now I just need to make a pilgrimage up to Sleepy Hollow sometime to see it in person!
**Lest you think I am cutting edge and original, I'm can share that Kate's savvy has paid off and she's now got a cool 45K followers, earning coverage on Today and in other outlets.
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