Is He the Biggest Scammer in NYC?
news from the seedy world of NYC restaurant investment, a look at Loewe's TikTok, and how to write better copy
GM everyone. I just got back from a very relaxing weekend upstate in the Catskills. I stayed at Hotel Lilien, an impeccably decorated boutique hotel. I am going to write more about that later this week.
But in the meantime there is so much news I want to discuss so let’s jump right into it:
Ashwin Deshmukh, one of the owner’s of the East Village’s Superiority Burger and investor in Jean’s, may be one of the city’s biggest scammers according to the New York Times. Allegedly, the well-connected downtown socialite and businessman has a history of taking investors money for dubious ventures and not returning any profits, leaving a trail of Uncut Gems style debt along the way. I’ve actually interacted with Deshmukh on one occasion when I said I didn’t love the food at Jean’s. This story is pretty incredible and shows the levels of brazen scam alive and well in NYC. Deshmukh even scammed Oalty out of $250,000 for a new website (when the brand was valued at $200M), which goes to show even massive corporations can be fooled by grifters with connections and a popping Instagram account. Trust no one.
Phoebe Philo, designer of Phoebe Philo, has given her first interview in over 10 years to the Times. The reclusive designer (Celine, Chloe) returned to the fashion world last Fall with her self-named collection of classic womenswear and quiet luxury staples (average bag cost around $5,000) In the interview, Philo speaks as to why her clothes are less of a communication vessel and serve as really great clothes. I love the brands output and think she’s a genius. The brands tactic of releasing exclusively online and making less than anticipated demand is less a strategy of generating scarcity, is a result of her putting her own money on the line with her upstart venture (LVMH has a minority stake) Go read the interview.
Loewe has partnered with TikTok creator Izzi to bring
life into their short form video strategy. She did a fun edit with a viral clip of paramedics dropping a patient, quick cut into her spinning around seamlessly with a Loewe bag. I personally thought this was fun, but it looks like the brand deleted it. She also did a series on the production of one of their bags. We are seeing more brands ditch their traditional playbook and partnering with creators to program fun, viral ready content for social media. While this is great for quick clicks, does it translate to sales and does it hurt the brand? For example, Phoebe Philo would never exercise this tactic, and it may help her retain a level of prestige compared to brands having fun on TikTok.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserApple and Google may be teaming up to infuse AI into the iPhone. Apple has been slow to integrate AI into their product line, puzzling some investors and analysts who now say Apple’s stock performance is more like Coca Cola than their high growth tech peers. I have read before that Apple has been developing their own AI, and now that they’ve scrapped their car project to focus more on the emerging tech, would be integrating their proprietary models into features like Siri. But apparently partnering with Google may be smarter in the short-term. This partnership could be incredibly fruitful for both companies, which have lagged in stock growth compared to the AI-fueled rallies we’ve witnessed with Nvidia and Microsoft.
Want to write better copy? Read about the copywriting duo making a killing writing copy for Nike and A24. Rachel Karten (one of the best follows you can make if you work in content and social media) did an interview with copywriting studio Fonzie with incredible gems on copywriting tips and finding a brands voice. Not much to add here but go read it.
Alright have a great day everyone!
About the Writer
Jake Bell is a content marketing and creative strategist based in NYC. He specializes in content creation, branding, art direction, creative strategy, and making things cool.
To learn more about Jake visit www.jb.studio
Have a tip email me jake@jb.studio
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