Issue #005: Brand deals done right (& wrong)... A Monday Swimwear -v- Tarte Cosmetics case-study
PLUS news summaries re: TikTok ban update, Pickleball scams, the Olympics, & Cannes Lions.
EDITOR’S NOTE <3
Hello from Türkiye… what a special place. It’s no wonder that this land has been cherished by so many people over so many centuries. By the way, happy official start of summer (in the northern hemisphere)! In full celebration of summer, today’s deep dive will cover a case study of my favorite bikini brand, Monday Swimwear.
PS If you are new, you can learn more about my business story by clicking here.
👀 WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THIS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER »
Extra, extra, read all about it! The ScrollSavvy Newsletter features the latest in business, law & the creator economy… pulling back the curtains showing BTS of my business… sharing savvy tips to help you not get screwed… & creating community thru common personal interests.
🎧 PLAYLIST THIS WEEK »
I. haven’t “curated” it, so it’s best on shuffle… new songs coming next week & will update on your Spotify app automatically :)
💭 MOOD THIS WEEK »
My Istanbul jewelry stack… Nomination bracelets are making a big comeback, judging by how many people in the South of France, Istanbul & Turkish coast I’ve seen wearing them (guys & girls).
Istanbul has so many interesting chapters in its culture, from the ancient Greeks & Romans in Constantinople, to the Ottoman Turks, to the modern day Turkish Republic.
Views from the tiny streets of Alaçatı.
Find someone who looks at you like you are the view.
HEADLINES »
Just the tip… (of the iceberg, get your head out of the gutter)
💸 IN BUSINESS »
The summer of sports (in case you couldn’t tell by now).
Between the French Open, the Paris Olympics, and the European Cup, all eyes are on sports this summer. But why aren’t brands capitalizing on this, & why are we not seeing more “road to Paris” content from “up & coming” Olympic athletes?
Instead we are seeing the typical commercial-style posts from US Olympic athletes, like surfer / gold medalist, Carissa Moore, and her patriotic collab with Hurley, gymnast Simone Biles partnerships with Visa & apparel brand, Athleta, & tennis star Coco Gauff with New Balance.
One thing to note is that all of these brand deals are with pros who are already well-established in their careers, aside from the Olympics. It leads me to believe there’s a lot of missed opportunities for brands to sponsor other Olympic athletes that could create content to document their journey in the final hours leading up to the games.
Well, if you’re wondering why you’re not seeing more content creator / Olympic athletes post about their journeys, I just learned that there is a very strict rule around sponsored posts / apparel / etc. during the actual Olympic Games (see: Rule 40) & up to 90 days prior to the games.
This official guide claims that these advertising rules are established to give all athletes from around the world a fair chance, despite how much personal wealth and/or sponsorships they have… but to me, it just sounds like a monopoly for the “official Olympic partners” to capitalize on the advertising, keywords, & content (which we know will be generic, boring, and not give us the full story on “undiscovered” athletes). It’s doing a disservice to athletes, fans / potential fans & other brands. Imagine you were a little girl watching some obscure sport like curling on TikTok because you witnessed a creators’ journey to the games, & got interested in the random sport (no offense to curlers)? With today’s social media, that kind of content could change lives - beyond just the athletes’ bank accounts. It’s not cheap to pursue Olympic dreams.
Looks like the Pickleball craze is here to stay.
The Picklr, an indoor pickleball franchise, just raised $9M in total funding after its Series B round, at a valuation of $59M. The company already sold 300 franchises & has 92 more opening locations under contract across the US.
📜 IN LAW »
Pickleball Swindler: Somehow, there’s already been a $50M Pickleball scam.
Apparently this guy founded a pickleball apparel company back in 2009, and has been scamming investors ever since. Over the course of the last 15 years, he’s issued promissory notes (think of it like a contract securing your investment, in exchange for returning your money plus interest on a certain date) on average of $25,000 at 12% interest in 18 months… but they went unpaid. He said he needed the money for his apparel company to expand to include nets, paddle, and target colleges & universities.
TikTok ban update.
This week, TikTok submitted a brief (aka argument) against the bi-partisan (aka supported by both sides of Congress) ban on TikTok.
Here’s a summary of TikTok’s main arguments:
1) US Government not acting in good faith. The company submitted 100+ pages in support of its argument that the ban is arbitrary & an overreach, including “years of failed negotiations with the federal government that it says show [they were] not operating in good faith.” (Washington Post).
One of these documents was a 100+ page national security agreement it offered the government, including a “kill switch the government could deploy if they believed the app remained a threat.” (Id.)
The Biden administration declined the offer but refused to specify why. This is not how good faith negotiations work. This is refusing to negotiate, at all.
2) This bill goes against prior First Amendment case law.
A common theme in TikTok’s brief was that the government was not being specific enough when it would reject the company’s attempt to settle or avoid the ban. “In First Amendment cases, judges have traditionally called for the government to pursue its goals with the ‘least restrictive’ impact on Americans’ speech.” (Id.)
A ban-or-sale bill is certainly not the “least restrictive,” when the 1 year “arbitrary” timeline will almost certainly guarantee a ban of the app that has connected Americans to other nations in a way like never before.
3) Contradictions in the US government’s argument.
The US government cites “national security” as the main reason for the ban-or-sale bill, but this law would “turn the U.S. app into an ‘island’ where American users would be walled off from videos created outside their national borders and have an ‘experience detached from the rest of the global internet,’” which is exactly what the US criticizes China for. (Id).
4) Unconstitutional “cherry-picking” application of laws.
TikTok claims that the US law “suffer[s] from a ‘fatal’ constitutional flaw: it singles out TikTok by name” while affording other foreign-controlled apps a review process, which is a “unique, two-tiered system of speech regulation.” (Id.)
The earliest presidential debate in American history takes place this week.
Trump & President Biden show-down this Thursday for a re-match, and this time it’s coming way earlier in election season than ever before. Regardless of what you think you know, or who you are voting for, it’s important to watch our potential leaders show their communication, negotiation, & presentation skills. If they get heated, or can’t answer simple questions, how can we expect them to advocate for us on the international stage at such a pivotal point in history?
🤳🏽 IN SOCIAL MEDIA »
Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity
For those of you unaware (like I was prior to the news of this), Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the annual celebration of “ingenuity in advertising, branding, marketing campaigns & marketing messages.” (Variety)
At this years’ awards, AI & Content Creators apparently “shaped the conversation” (Vogue)
The conversations at Cannes surrounded the question of who is really responsible for creating a Cannes-worthy campaign: the brands, or the creators? “In a world where creators hold the keys to super fans, brands are obliged to come t terms with the idea that they’re not the main draw.” (Id.)
“At this year’s Cannes Lions, creators were simply everywhere. Here’s a sample: TikTokers Tinx and Jake Shane, and musicians John Legend and Janelle Monáe at Spotify Beach; snowboarder Chloe Kim, NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird, and NFL player Joe Burrow at Sport Beach; and Paris Hilton DJing at Meta Beach.” (Id.)
FEATURE »
📸 BRAND TIPS DONE RIGHT & WRONG »
This week’s feature is short & sweet <3 ft. a comparison between 2 of the brand trips I’ve watched most closely over the years, for very different reasons…
👀 BRAND TRIPS DONE RIGHT » MONDAY SWIMWEAR
If you have been spending any time on Instagram over the last 5 years, you know about Monday Swimwear. Not only is it one of my favorite bikini companies (as someone who spends 75% of their life in beach attire) but also it is founded by 2 of my favorite creators (Devin Brugman / Tash Oakley).
I don’t know why, but even though they post the typical-influencer-aspirational-type of content, there’s something about their personal brands that still seems relatable. Maybe it’s the fact they are 2 best friends who started a bikini brand together & turned it from a blog to a massive success. Maybe it’s the fact they don’t only speak about body positivity, but exemplify it in their cutting-edge bikini brand. Maybe it’s the fact they seem to take really good care of their employees and team over at Monday…
I’ve noticed over time that the brand uses the same models in each of their product and campaign shoots, bringing consistency to both their socials and their site. Though their models vary in size, look, ethnicity, style, shape, they all look absolutely incredible and confident in their swimsuits.
For those of you who don’t know, Monday was one of the first brands to sell different “cuts” of the same fabric, enabling customers to mix & match tops & bottoms that are most flattering for their figures. Plus, each item depicts images of several different models & body types wearing the suits, giving you a realistic (yet still idealistic) image of how you’d rock it. Being someone who is a bit “top heavy” (if you know what I mean), it was super helpful to 1) know that their suits are supportive for bodies like mine and 2) narrow down which pieces would look best on me.
Brand trip breakdown…
This past week or so, I noticed that Monday started teasing their new collection, the Ibiza collection, at the same time the influencer-founders started posting on their Instagram about the villa they rented in Ibiza.
This made me feel a few emotions:
1) immediate FOMO for not being in Ibiza wearing their swimsuits with their team;
2) pride and support for the BFF founders that found a way to creatively tie in their travels to their business and marketing campaigns;
3) excitement to see the new collection.
They started posting BTS stories & posts about their low-key brand trip & it looked like they were genuinely having the best time on an organic trip with their friends. You wouldn’t even realize it was a “brand trip” unless you knew where to look: all the models in matching outfits, sanctioned by the brand & their select sponsors; subtle branding on their accessories & menus, & trip-specific hashtags.
Then, they posted this video on Instagram showcasing the collection on their models slash team members slash friends.
To me, this was a successful brand trip for 3 reasons:
It celebrated their long-time team members instead of just random influencers who have no connection to the brand.
It included people from diverse backgrounds, in terms of ethnicity, nationality, body type.
It was fun to watch - i found myself checking back every day to see them enjoy Ibiza & wear the new collection.
It worked; it made me aware of their new collection & want to buy it all (I didn’t only because I am traveling abroad).
👀 BRAND TRIPS DONE WRONG » TARTE COSMETICS
Do I need to elaborate on the Tarte drama? It’s been a little bit since their last brand trip, but let’s recap the last few years…
Tarte in Dubai - they did not prioritize diversity & got called out for only bringing one type of influencer (you know the type). Plus, you had influencers doing “get ready with me” videos using other makeup brands & doing other product placement… yikes.
Tarte in Turks & Caicos - a 2-week long trip that showcased binge drinking, & not many influencers actually using their products. There was some discrepancy about the room selection… BIPOC creators found themselves in smaller rooms with poor lighting (a necessity for getting ready AND content creation), while other white influencers, who barely post about Tarte aside from the trip, got bigger rooms in the villa.
Tarte at F1 in Miami - another diversity debacle. BIPOC creators were invited to the practice rounds (sorry if that’s not the official term), while white influencers were invited to the actual event, where there would surely be better networking opportunities.
All that to say, Tarte’s trips gain a lot of traction in terms of views, but I’m not sure it leads to conversion.
Tarte’s CEO posted too many apology videos over the years to share here. I guess it works because we’re still here talking about Tarte? But Tarte customers have been asking for more diversity (in terms of product shades & influencers) for years. So I think if you are constantly ignoring your customers’ requests, surely it can’t be good for conversion. Then again, I don’t have the data. I just know the icky feeling I get when I think of Tarte.
What do you think? Let me know in the poll below.
GOSSIP COLUMN <3
… AKA personal updates. Sit down with your favorite morning cup cuz I’ve got some tea ☕️
Türkiye is a dream… Istanbul is one of the coolest cities I’ve ever been to. There’s truly nothing like it. The skyline is so majestic, photos don’t do it justice. If I had to compare it to NYC, I’d say that the NYC skyline is pretty much just as it seems in photos. But the Istanbul skyline stretches on forever, across hills & continents. If you can make it there, it’s worth a trip. And you’re not doing it right if you don’t buy a $50 silk scarf from the Grand Baazar, just to leave & immediately find an old peddler man following you asking to buy the same exact scarf for $250 Turkish Lira (AKA less than $10 US).
Views from Neolokal in Istanbul. 
Me & one of the many cats of Alaçatı. I went to my first (well, technically second*) Michelin star restaurant this week & it was such a lovely experience. From the building’s architecture, to the perfect view of the Istanbul skyline, to the pacing of the courses & the actual culinary experience, it set the stage for my new obsession. I will be visiting Ischia (an island in Italy where my family is from) next week & I am staying nearby another Michelin star restaurant. Though it’s a splurge, I made a lunch reservation for their garden restaurant next week, because I’ll be traveling solo & I feel like it will be a lovely, expansive, date to take myself on.
*Last year, I went to Paradero in Todos Santos & it was right before their restaurant earned its spot in the Michelin guide for 2024.
Update: As this is coming a day later than usual, I’m writing this after my lunch at OD Urla near Alacati, Turkiye.
OBITUARY »
We are no longer tolerating:
Speaking English because it’s convenient, instead of trying to learn another language
Blisters on our feet from uncomfortable shoes
Costume jewelry that makes us break out in a rash instead of investing in quality pieces
CLASSIFIEDS »
I’m looking to hire someone to help me with content repurposing & tech stuff. Here are the platforms I use: FloDesk, Substack, Notion, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Linkedin, Showit, ThriveCart & soon bringing back the podcast. If you see a way you can help my business, send me a pitch at: nina@thecontractguru.com with subject line “HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP.”
PS… Got an opportunity you want to share? An event coming up? Looking to hire someone? Send a description & if it’s a fit for my audience, I will post it here in the classifieds section.
BRAIN FOREPLAY »
🍳 WEEKLY WORD SCRAMBLE »
TONSE
NNEEAARREMITD
RUUTCEL
RBAAAZ
What’s the one thing these all have in common? Answers next week.
Last week’s answers: Influencer, Photo, Brand, Manager. Theme = Influencer marketing.
THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK <3 THANK YOU FOR READING!
See you next week!
xx Nina