Category: News

The Comeback No One Saw Coming (Except Them!)

Once roasted for avocado toast, side parts, and general “cringe,” this generation is back and setting the cultural standards again. Think reboots like Dawson’s Creek, the resurgence of bootcut jeans, and viral TikTok remixes bridging generations and Gen Z is cheering them on.

For brands, the takeaway is don’t ignore millennial influence, please!. Their tastes, behaviors, and cultural signals aren’t just nostalgia and they’re powerful tools for building relevance across industries, from parenting and music to fashion and consumer goods.

Joy is the New Inve$tment Strategy

Welcome to the rise of the emotional ROI economy. Consumers are spending not just for utility, but for delight. Have you seen an influx of conversations around blind boxes, charm culture, and small collectibles? This is what we’re talking about! Jaimee and Hayley are calling this one the funve$tment economy which is a strategic approach where people budget for joy, surprise, and small-scale excitement alongside more conventional saving.

Brands can tap into this trend by creating moments of surprise and delight. This can look like limited releases, gamified experiences, and collectible campaigns that resonate with your audience on an emotional level.

Creators ARE the Strategy

Creators are no longer just content producers. They’re building entire ecosystems with micro communities, and multimillion-dollar empires. Jaimee and Hayley highlighted how brands are now leveraging creator-led content, tools, and niche communities to amplify reach and engagement and the biggest opportunity lies in recognizing individual perspective as currency.

For marketers, the lesson is to partner with creators who bring authentic POVs and dedicated fandoms. They’re the ones shaping culture, influencing behavior, and driving attention in ways traditional campaigns can’t do.

TL;DR: Brands that observe culture, move quickly, and embrace new behaviors will dominate Q4.

Keen to learn more? Download the full report for even deeper insights or watch the livestream on YouTube to see Jaimee and Hayley in action. We may be biased but their personalities really shine on camera 🤩

Welcome to the grand finale of our Day Trading Attention Book Club! This September, we kicked off something brand new LIVE on Linkedin. All month long we went deep with a behind the scenes guide to what is actually working for brands right now.

If that sounds like something you’d like to see…💝🤲here’s a beautifully packaged deck just for you with all of the insights we presented LIVE!

If you’re a brand marketer, keep scrolling for the TL;DR, and consider this your cheat sheet for what’s working in the wild world of social media today. 🤳🌎🚀

Follow Attention (It’s Really That Simple)

Stop overthinking platforms and trends. Whether it’s long-form video, short-form clips, TikTok, Instagram, or even emerging platforms… the key is following where people are paying attention

Our SVP, VaynerConsulting, Meredith Montana says, “I feel like a marketer can just feel like, what are we doing? Where are we going? But really, it’s just about understanding where consumer attention is and why that’s happening.”

For brands, this means don’t get stuck chasing what worked last year. Start by mapping where your audience actually spends time, see what’s resonating, and go from there. 

And like Gary keeps saying 🥁 …test with your organic content THEN scale what works. 

Experiment Like a Scientist

Content is data, and every post is an experiment. Nick, Meredith, and Raghav (yes! The guy who helped write the book!) shared tons of examples of how second chances, third chances, and the tiniest of tweaks can turn an underperforming piece of content into an overperforming one.

Take Gary’s content strategy… he’ll post the same video with slightly different hooks, captions, or formats to see what resonates. With these subtle changes, we get rapid insights that guide bigger creative bets.

For brands, that means:

🔁Don’t be precious about your assets. Repost, remix, and reformat.

📊Track the data: what hook, caption, or format drives the best engagement?

🧑‍💻Test across channels. TikTok version vs. Instagram vs. YouTube Shorts? See what sticks and scale.

Volume + Variety = MASSIVE Opportunity

Meredith and Raghav stressed that more content means more chances for your team to learn. One shoot can become ten pieces of content and each can be tested in a slightly different way.

A real world #client 😉 example is Jimmy John’s. A viral pickle sandwich trend started from social chatter and became their top-performing limited-time offer. They even partnered with Snooki for a Halloween “Pickle Witch” campaign, all informed by social insights.

Our Chief Content Officer, Nick Miaritis, (Omelette King as we like to call him)had a great reminder for brands and creators in session 3: “Make sure the idea engine of what you do is constantly revving and don’t give up too early. I posted fifty or sixty times, getting a few thousand views, and then one post blew up with fifteen million views. That changed my creative life forever. One post can change everything, so keep experimenting.” 🍳😉IYKYK.

Look at every piece of content not as a one-off, but as a starting point.

Good Ideas Can Come From Anywhere

Ideation is a team sport. Meredith explained how the collaborative environment at Vayner leads to unexpected hits. 

Everyone from junior team members to executives shares creative ideas and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Some of the most effective campaigns started from comments, DMs, or small fan interactions.

Make the Long Game Your Strategy

Attention is a marathon, not a sprint. Raghav said it best: “Building a brand, or even a personal brand, is about consistent investment over time.”

For brands, this means:

🤳Commit to always-on, organic social.

🧠Keep learning from the content you post.

🚀Scale what works, and don’t fear volume.

It’s NOT about chasing virality. You need to be building a system that moves at the speed of attention.

Made It To the End and Want 5 Actionable Steps for Your Brand?

Write these down! Copy & paste to your SMM in Slack! 👇

1. Follow Attention: Map where your audience spends time and what content they engage with. Treat it like your compass. 
2. Test Everything: Just like rewearing your favorite shirt to the office, don’t be afraid to recycle content and make it new. Repurpose, remix, and reformat content across platforms to see what resonates. 
3. Think in Volume: One content shoot = multiple pieces of creative. Maximize your content by creating variations and testing them across platforms. 
4. Open Ideation: Encourage ideas from all corners of your team and even from your audience. Some of your biggest wins might come from unexpected places.

Commit for the Long Game: Attention isn’t instant. It’s earned. Stay consistent, keep experimenting, and invest in learning from every post.

Are you a marketer who wants to collaborate with us? Our Chief Business Officer, Kaylen McNamara hosts some pretty epic Capes as Consulting sessions  🤝 Connect With Us

Are you chronically online and want to work for us? 💡 Apply here

Shoptalk confirmed what we already know: attention thrives where culture lives.

I just got back to NYC after an energizing few days in Chicago where I attended my first Shoptalk. We hosted brand marketers on a Chez Vayner Chicago River Cruise, listened to brilliant minds from MCo Beauty, Papa Johns, Coach, Fabletics, and SoulCycle on panels, and watched our CEO, Gary Vaynerchuk, drop all the insights in his keynote speech.

One thing was clear: consumer behavior is evolving faster than ever!

Here are the 4 biggest takeaways that every marketer needs to have on their radar:

The Multi-Screen Shopping Sensation Is Here 📱📺

Ever sit down to watch TV and catch yourself scrolling your phone at the same time? You and a whopping 95% of consumers are multitasking while watching TV, and nearly a third are actively shopping on their phones while doing it.

During the panel with Wayne Purboo (VP, Amazon Shopping Video, Amazon Ads), Tony Marlow (CMO, LG Ad Solutions), and Jordan Rost (Head of Ad Marketing, Roku), the consensus was clear: brands need to embrace this dual-screen mindset with shoppable TV, interactive overlays, and content that feels less like an interruption and more like an invitation.

The brands winning right now? They’re creating frictionless experiences that meet consumers exactly where they are and across every screen. 👏

Community-First Marketing Is the New Flex 🤝

Consumer favorited brands are the ones engaging with their audiences, vs speaking to them; creating fun and innovative ways to show up in culture and in feed. They understand that marketing isn’t about pushing messages, but rather, creating experiences that people want to be part of.

Some 👏applaudable👏 examples:

• Papa Johns gifted free pizza to anyone named Taylor and Travis on engagement day.
• SharkNinja fans have turned protein ice cream hacks into TikTok communities.
• MCoBeauty has flipped “dupe culture” into “dupé culture” with smart collabs with folks like Bethenny Frankel and Campbell (“Pookie”) Puckett – who we had the pleasure of hosting at Chez Vayner in Cannes, ICYMI (!)

Coach has shown up courtside with the WNBA IRL, and in a URL format with digital presences through Coach x Roblox, WNBA 2K, and even on Bitmoji (where you can get your hands on a highly coveted Tabby bag 👜!)

During the panel, Kimberly Wallengren (VP Marketing, North America, Coach), Kari Cook (VP Strategy & Planning, Americas, MCoBeauty), Jenna Bromberg (CMO, Papa John’s), and Kaitlyn Beauchemin (Global CMO, Ninja, SharkNinja) shared how tapping into community and showing up in fun, unexpected ways, consumers don’t just notice, they actively participate and become brand advocates.

Organic First…Always ✨

Our CEO of VaynerMedia, Gary Vaynerchuk, brought the house down and heads nodding with one simple truth in his keynote speech: organic social is your testing ground. 

Please stop wasting GOOD media dollars on unproven BAD creative ideas. 

Test with your organic content in the wild first, and then scale what works. 

Owned → earned → paid. That’s the model.

The Unsung Heroes: Your Frontline Employees 🛍️

Turns out, some of the best insights are coming from the sales floor (and communities on organic social, ofc) Retailers like Coach (#Client:)) and Fabletics are tapping frontline employees for feedback that informs their innovation and customer experience strategy.

As Meera Bhatia (President and COO, Fabletics) and Leigh Manheim (President, North America, Coach) highlighted on the panel, the most valuable data often lives in real conversations.

Our POV🔎:

One scroll through TikTok and you’ll see consumers actively shaping how brands reinvent themselves both digitally / URL, and IRL. It’s a thrilling time to be in marketing, where authenticity meets innovation and community drives growth.

Want to partner with us? 👉 Drop us a line!

Some brands play it safe. MiraLAX plays to win. 

This March Madness, the brand took a bold and unexpected approach to launch MiraFAST, its new fast-acting constipation relief product. The strategy was to partner with #2 players in the NCAA Women’s Sweet 16 for a lighthearted yet impactful sponsorship of #2 players in the NCAA Women’s Sweet 16, proving that staying on top of #2 helps you stay #1.

Turning Tummy Troubles into Game-Day Wins

Digestive issues can derail even the best athletes, and social data showed they’re talking about it more than you’d think. That insight sparked the campaign’s big idea: celebrate the #2s—both on the court and off—by partnering with standout players like KK Arnold (UConn), Vanessa de Jesus (Duke), Ruby Whitehorn (Tennessee), and Grace Townsend (UNC). The result was a campaign that turned an everyday problem into an unexpected sports moment.

Bringing the Heat on Social

MiraLAX, Bayer, VaynerMedia, and VaynerSports teamed up to craft a campaign that thrived on social media. TikTok and Instagram Reels became the primary playing fields, where short-form, high-energy content showcased athlete partnerships, product benefits, and game-day gut check moments. A mix of humor-driven creative and performance-driven messaging made the content both relatable and shareable.

Fans (and Athletes) Ate It Up

The response was immediate. Fans loved the humor, athletes embraced the real talk about digestive health, and engagement outpaced expectations. The combination of sports culture, a universal human truth, and the perfect dose of irreverence made this campaign stand out in a sea of March Madness marketing.

How to Win With a Wild Idea

MiraLAX’s campaign proves that even regulated categories can tap into cultural moments in fresh ways. By leaning into humor, smart athlete partnerships, and a social-first approach, the brand found a way to make gut care a winning conversation during one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Keeping the Momentum Rolling

With the success of this activation, MiraLAX is already exploring new ways to bring digestive health into more unexpected spaces. Because if there’s one thing this campaign proved—it pays to embrace #2.