007. On brand trips, internet speak, and "friends" of the house

Have we oversold the potential for our things to connect us? Do my purchases make me look demure or brat? And would Jonathan Anderson be my friend even if I didn't spend all my money at LOEWE?

I encountered the REFY beauty community trip to Mallorca at least 50 times last month. The general consensus (in both my Microsoft Teams chats at work and personal social feeds) was that the over the top brand trip (à la Dote Shopping [RIP] or Tarte Cosmetics) is, for the most part, out; REFY’s approach to a fully branded (and highly Instagrammable) travel experience is evidence of a new era.

Weeks later, as the internet embraced being ‘demure’ and ‘mindful’ (with a quickness I have never seen before might I add), my professional and social life was once again inundated with theories and debates — this time around big brands using trending language in a way that is, well… mindful.

Then, last week, I saw this Instagram post from SSENSE, promoting an editorial piece titled “Can Brands Have Friends?”

Have we taken the personification of and world building around brands too far? Are we so seduced by branding that we've mistaken logos for lifelines and marketing for meaningful connections?

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The REFY trip in July, which was created for and attended by real (aka non-influencer) users of the brand, was being hailed as a best-in class-model for authentic community building — a strategy said to be the way to capture the sometime fickle, ever-critical Gen Z consumer in 2024. While the trip concept is undeniably refreshing, especially for a brand born in and elevated by aspirational influencer culture, I thought its resounding praise undersold the fact that there still is (and always will be) a transactional relationship between consumer brands, talent (whether traditional celebrity, athlete, influencer or otherwise), and customers.