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🪩 Volume 140 | June 10, 2026

 

Guys I would be lying if I said every. single. platform. wasn’t pissing me the F off lately. 

 

Engagement has taken one hell of a beating, and I’m doing all the things, so just in case you’re also like, “WHY IS NOTHING WORKING?!” I too am screaming into the void. 

 

I’m at the point where I’m hitting send on posts on LinkedIn and just being like, if it gets no likes, it’s okay, I know my kids are proud of me!!! (??????) 

 

The GOOD news is we’ve built up a super fun crew of business owners in SSSC (Summer Strategy Social Club) and today is the last day to join for the full 12 weeks of fun and like, I’d hate for you to have FOMO. 

 

 

 

Collab culture is upon us and executed SO well in the consumer space. It’s at least once a week I come across one and think… You know what, hell yeah! 

 

Dagne Dover x Lola Blankets - the colors MATCH.

Stoney Clover x Dunkin - will ALWAYS be iconic; still really mad I missed out on their initial launch. DID score a koozie from a local Dunkin thanks to a dear friend.

Love Shack Fancy x PINK - one of the more perfect collabs I’ve ever seen.

Dagne Dover x Flamingo Travel Razor Bundle - I’m holding myself back from buying this. PINK!!!!

Saalt x Hanky Panky - you’ll have to look for yourself!

Taco Bell x Doritos - (a doritos locos taco still slaps sometimes, ok)

GoPro x RedBull - because like, duh. It’s a whole culture. 

 

And listen, I’m just a girl!!! Can’t imagine what the dudes are seeing, too! 

 

 

Up and down, left, right and sideways, brand collaborations are an EASY way to broaden your audience. Not saying it’s not a ton of work, but when done well, you totally open up an opportunity to increase reach. 

 

 

Surely we all have a pipedream of being a household name, or damn close to it. But you don’t have to be a household name to successfully execute on a brand collab. Here’s how we’ve seen it play out—for brands we love and clients alike. 

 

Hosted pop-ups and “crawls”; community events are EVERYTHING for local brick-and-mortar brands. Small town or not, locals want to support locals and have their “faves.” If you’re a fitness studio, this could look like a quarterly “market” that pops up on a Saturday during all of the classes, for members to peruse before and after. My local Burn Boot Camp does this SO well (and if you haven’t studied Burn’s community strategy, it’s worth a hard look. They are the MASTERS of this in the fitness space. 

 

The BEST use cases here have, in my mind, always been workshops or mini-programs of some variety. A founder-focused marketing agency x a LinkedIn expert to help founders grow their LinkedIn presence. A CFO firm x an HR firm to talk about “right times to hire” or even the compliance side of what it looks like to hire/fire/all the in between. An ops consultant and a business-exit strategist to talk about the most important systems to have in place prior to selling your business. 

 

SPONSORSHIPS. I’ve been to MANY a conference or event where I’ve seen more indie-product brands dropping their products in swag bags or having pop-ups at the event, co-branding their product to the events. Candles, clothing companies, notebooks, etc. And when done well (and if your product is AMAZING), you get buyers on the other side of it. 

 

And I surely don’t need to do product-based above $500K because, well, I gave you a badass look at what’s possible above, yeah??! 

 

 

I literally have a call this Thursday with their head of brand, and I told her I wanted to interview her for Funnel Cake, so you WILL be getting the inside scoop next week. If you don’t know: this is a chip product created by the girl who founded SmartSweets, and the marketing (and butter yellow branding) are PROVING to be all that and a bag of chips. Pun intended. They just had Chad Michael Murray star in an upcoming commercial???? And I cackled so hard at this BTS reel. Seems like they’ve recruited some great talent on socials, too… one to watch!

 

 

At first I was confused, and then I saw them, and I get it. I want the entire line. I think it’s a VERY clever launch, well timed with summer, and I just don’t know many products like it. Who will make the first of the dupes???

 

 

and I think I fell in love with origin stories all over again. The last line, “Support your local ranchers and farmers. and when you need a little more, we're here to help.” SOBS. I mean, who can really AFFORD to support local ranchers with the cost of meat right now, but I WILL be continuing my subscription because we love a protein that doesn’t wreak havoc on the gut, right girlies?

 

Til the next cake drop,

 

🍰 Lauren