Out of Scope Issue 14: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss
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Out of Scope Issue 14: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss
This week’s non-required thinking on reputation, business, and culture
This week, we learn a new term for a “basic” rebrand, reflect on the un-cancellation of a girlboss, underline the importance of internal comms, and consider the latest uber-wealthy divorce announcement. (For extra context on this week’s subject line, catch up on this TikTok trend.)
📡 ON OUR RADAR
The roaring ‘20s...of ad spend. Marketers are expected to spend 15% more this year on advertising than last year, with digital advertising getting an ever-larger slice. This is not exactly surprising, as budgets bounce back from pandemic-related cuts and marketers need to reach consumers who are eager to get out of the home, but it does mean we’re likely to see more creative approaches to grabbing attention.
Fallout from the botched Super League continues. Manchester United fans stormed the pitch before an important match against Liverpool, causing it to be postponed, to protest the club’s American owners. While this could have been an opportunity for the owners to leverage action communication to amend their reputation among fans, so far, we’ve seen no action at all. It’s clear that apologies won’t cut it.
Millennials beware, we’ve got another rebrand for you. Gen X-ers seem to be the generation in control of who gets called cheugy (pronounced chew-gee), but for the most part it seems to be landing squarely on those who indulge in the more “basic” luxuries. Do the terms Rae Dunn, chevron, #girlboss, or “I did a thing'' mean anything to you? If so, you’re probably cheugy. With nicknames from video game generation, to millennials, to cheugy... why won’t they just let us live, laugh, love in peace?
NFTs are everywhere these days - but for the people who’ve been memed, they’re one of the few ways they can take control of their viral images. Disaster Girl consulted Bad Luck Brian before putting her meme on the market and plans to use the proceeds from the auction to pay off student loans and donate to charity.
From girlboss to cancelled, and back again in just a year — how? Away co-founder and newly appointed CEO, Jen Rubio, bounced back quickly from 2019’s scandal, which exposed the company culture as toxic. Despite stagnant sales, the pandemic may have helped speed this redemption arc — Away had significant furloughs and layoffs in 2020 — leaving little room for institutional memory. This gave Rubio the space to acknowledge the company’s culture challenges, and then refocus efforts on improving Away’s post-pandemic growth prospects.
Following a CPSC warning users to stop using the Tread+ in April, Peloton is finally recalling their treadmills and offering customers a full refund. We’re a little surprised at this one since Peloton called the commission’s warning “inaccurate and misleading,” but when you’ve got one of the biggest exercise brands in the world, it makes sense that you’d need to bend to the pressure sometimes.
Will & Kate, next in line for the British throne, are going vlogging. The couple’s new YouTube channel aims to showcase a more relatable, fun side to the pair… which doesn’t quite fit the historic royal precedent of appearing aloof, distant, and utterly unrelatable.
🏆 REPUTATION FAIL OF THE WEEK: Basecamp
Last week Basecamp CEO, Jason Fried, publicly announced a ban on “societal and political discussions” before communicating the announcement to employees. After a heated internal meeting on the policy change this week, a third of their employees have taken severance packages and their head of strategy has resigned.
This is a great case study in why internal communications matters. While Basecamp’s founders have spent much time becoming leaders publicly (they’ve written 5 management books), the story we’re seeing in the press is that they’ve failed to meaningfully establish the company culture that they tout. Though they have been updating their blog with internal communication efforts, it reads ‘too little too late.’ It will be interesting to see how much comms, internal and external, can help the company bounce back.
💡ON OUR MINDS
APP STORE DUES: ANTI-COMPETITIVE OR THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS?
Apple is in the news with several lawsuits and charges for anti-competitive behavior over its App Store policies and charges, spearheaded by Spotify in the European Union and Epic Games in the US.
Both cases have the potential to fundamentally change how the App Store operates; it currently charges app developers as much as 30 percent of each sale (from coins for game upgrades to real-world objects) made within the store, allegedly earmarked for operating costs to protect against malware and scams.
Some companies have dug their heels in to avoid the 30% charge - Spotify Premium and audiobooks from Audible are not available for purchase in-app.
Is it a monopoly? Or a necessary toll? Gatekeeping the App Store has helped keep Apple products relatively safe, but keeps smaller players from making big profits. All eyes are on the Justice Department as the company dukes it out with developers.
For a big tech company, Apple has managed to avoid the regulatory controversies that have plagued its competitors, from Microsoft in the 1990s to Facebook today. Will this be the end of that trend?
DIVORCE: THE NEW END OF EMPIRE?
In case you missed it - Bill and Melinda Gates are getting divorced.
Uber-wealthy tech scions are today’s modern American Royalty - Zuckerberg, Bezos, Gates, etc. - and similarly, the end of any marriage in their ranks leads to world-changing ripple effects.
We’ve learned from the Bezos divorce what happens when even a quarter of an unimaginably large fortune is put into the hands of someone who believes that kind of money isn’t meant to live in one person’s hands, giving away $6 billion in 2020 alone.
Melinda Gates, however, has a history of philanthropy and public appearances in contrast to Mackenzie Scott (philanthropist and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos), who has always taken a more behind-the-scenes spot. Will the future of the Gates fortune look much different than it does now?
Important to note, however, is the almost certain presence of a prenuptial agreement… the Gates married in 1994, 19 years after Bill co-founded Microsoft. Melinda likely will not see half of their nearly $150 billion fortune, but the sum she winds up with is still sure to be a show-stopping number, so she will have the means to establish a brand of her own.
In any case, the divorce entails a massive communications effort for the pair and their ventures. It’s clear that this will be a case of money and power separating with greater repercussions than just the separation of two individuals after 27 years.
We’ll see you here next week! 👋
HL
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The fine print:
This newsletter brought to you by the presidential funhouse photo, featuring tiny Carters and giant Bidens.
