Something Wild Is Happening in the Equinox Locker Room 🧴
Equinox's partnership with Grown Alchemist, Conde Nast Layoffs, the Online Luxury Playbook, Member's Only Clubs, and The Ordinary's Genius Ad Campaign
GM everyone.
Last night I was the the Carlyle for my friends graduation party. They rented out Bemelman’s (which I love). I had a perfect balance of martinis and mixed nuts.
Anyway, now I’m back at Who Do You Know HQ and we have a lot to cover today—
Equinox’s new soap is ________
The digital luxury playbook you need to read
Conde Nast’s layoffs
Some physical ads I like
and more!
NEWS
Equinox is ending their long partnership with Kiehl’s. I had heard a rumor the gym was considering stocking Aesop (which I would have been over the moon about) but instead they opted to ditch Kiehl’s and go with Grown Alchemist. GA will supply the soaps and moisturizers for in the locker room and Equinox will begin to incorporate their products into their spa experiences. This comes as the brand is putting more focus on beauty related offerings. Here’s what they said—
“Grown Alchemist isn’t just a replacement of our existing partner. Grown Alchemist is our first foray into a point of view on beauty, as Equinox moves further and further into health span, lifespan and longevity,” said Klim. “[This is] only the first of our strategic initiatives around skin as the largest organ.”
I have not actually used Grown Alchemist but I am excited to try it. I just ran last night and they still had the classic grapefruit scented body wash in the shower, which was getting really stale. I think this is a really smart partnership for GA, as it literally puts their product front and center with a consumer group with a ton of disposable income. I am really curious what Annie Kreighbaum is going to think of this and hope she talks about it on Eyewitness Beauty.
Conde Nast just laid off of some of your favorite writers. After a tense year and a half of labor negotiations with their CN union, the media conglomerate and staff finally came to an agreement. The deal gives union members more parental time off and increased wages. BUT, as a result of this, hundreds of staffers who were in employment purgatory were laid off. I actually learned a lot about this listening to Deez Links on Throwing Fits. Essentially, the labor negotiations prevented any firings, but now that its complete, they can proceed. Conde also just parted ways with their longtime Chief Revenue Officer. It definitely sucks, but now writers like Delia can go full time on Substack and create infinitely more interesting projects. Her provocative Hate Reads series lit the internet on fire, and proved that great writing that drives buzz is still possible and important.
Speaking of Conde Nast, Emily wrote an incredible piece in GQ on private members clubs in New York. She went in-depth on the elusive culture of members only clubs and their surging popularity in the city. Go read it, and if you want more tea on the business end of this I highly suggest following The Stanza.
Want to design a truly luxurious web experience? Read this playbook. The Vaan Group is a conversion focused digital experience agency, and as part of their ongoing collaboration with brand strategist Oren John, they dropped a playbook all about crafting a luxurious website. Vaan designed websites for Rhode and Tiffany, so they know what they’re talking about. Luxury retailers often have low conversion rates online, but the lifetime value of a customer is significantly higher than other tiers. Thus, crafting a unique, heavily art directed web experience that carries the same luxury and heritage as the brand themselves is crucial.
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✨ NEW SEGMENT: ADS I LIKE ✨
On yesterday’s letter I discussed Bumble’s disastrous new marketing campaign. I just saw Casey Lewis tweet they are already tearing down their out of home ads (RIP).
But in this new segment I want to break down physical ad campaigns that are incredibly well executed. Let’s get into the first one…
The Ordinary is skirting skincare ad tropes and going with radical minimalism for their new out-of-home campaign. They worked with Uncommon Creative Studio to design simplistic, sparse, and well written ads that lean into their focus on science.
The copy is witty and laid out beautifully, and it subtly pokes fun at other skincare brands that typically rely on photos of people with flawless skin. The Ordinary is conveying they are above artifice, and lean into science across their product line.
The entire campaign is a bold, refreshing spin on a beauty ad, and I think it furthers their brand equity with consumers who want something simple and effective. It also matches perfectly with the simple aesthetic on their packaging. I love this campaign!
Have any ads you’re loving? Sound off in the comments.
Alright gotta run, thanks for reading today! If you like Who Do You Know, share it with a friend or colleague or romantic partner or your parents. IDC!
BYE!
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
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Interesting that Equinox was choosing between two Australian brands.. I used to use GA yearss ago, it was good then but the brand looks to have changed a lot. No idea on how the formulations are these days. Also, The Ordinary campaign -- love.
Psa—some grown alchemist products are not great for sensitive skin. It’s what they put in the toiletry bags on Delta One which I was miraculously, inexplicably upgraded to one time and the lip balm made my lips itchy and swollen…I would patch test