When pre-sales opened, they sold out in minutes.

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That’s the difference between experiential marketing as a tactic and experiential marketing as a culture-building strategy. And if you’re a brand trying to connect with Black or Gen-Z audiences, understanding this difference isn’t optional anymore. It’s everything.

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Cardi B, the kitchen beautician, has given us a product we don’t have to blend

After years of hair damage, Cardi B reached for her kitchen (and fridge). Grow Good Beauty starts with a home-grown hair mask made from egg, avocado, and olive oil, the same DIY recipes she’d been using on herself long before there was a brand. Those “kitchen masks” went viral, and Grow Good is the professionalised version: the same ethos, now backed by Fiberlace, a proprietary plant-based complex engineered to fortify the hair shaft and reduce breakage.

What caught our eye is the price point. Products sit between $12.99 and $14.99, aligned squarely with drugstore shelves and accessible to the fans who watched her do it from scratch. When artists launch beauty brands, the default move is premium, such as Cécred by Beyoncé, which went straight to luxury positioning. Cardi went the other way.

Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley walk into a sequel

L’Oréal Paris is sponsoring The Devil Wears Prada 2, and they stepped inside the movie to announce its upcoming launch. The brand debuted a custom spot during the 98th Academy Awards, featuring Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley reimagining the sharp, fashion-first world of the franchise. The tone mirrors the film. The beauty messaging lands inside a cultural moment that the audience already cares about.

It’s a smart bit of brand positioning. L’Oréal Paris has long leaned on confidence and glamour, and the Prada universe is essentially a mood board for both. Rather than interrupting the Oscars with a straightforward product ad, they used the film’s world as the creative brief. The campaign extends beyond the broadcast too, with activations running throughout the film’s May release window.

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Each patch #PacksAPunch

Topicals launched their Faded Dark Spot Patches at Sephora and turned a retail milestone into a campaign, inviting their community to win exclusive prizes at their booth all weekend long.

The hashtag did the heavy lifting: three words that doubled as a product promise and a call to action.

The process is the content

Kai Collective’s docuseries Working Hours puts the founder front and centre, and in episode three, Snow Vuong of Plygrnd Ldn walks us through her journey and the creation of a bespoke grill. No polished campaign imagery. Just craft, on camera, in full. The making of the thing becomes the thing worth watching.

If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know. And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @thebrandingblackbook.

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SheaMoisture stages a press conference

SheaMoisture didn’t launch a product. They called an investigation.

The Silk Press Conference was a social edutainment mock press conference starring influential beauty icons, culture movers, and one particularly sceptical investigator: Law Roach. The format is smart because it earns attention before it asks for anything. By the time the product is revealed, you’ve already been entertained.

Law Roach’s involvement was personal as much as it was professional. Saturday nights, pressing combs, kitchen rituals before church. That’s cultural context you can’t manufacture. The brand understood that and built around it rather than over it.

The cast did the same work. Four women, four lifestyles, all routes leading to the same product.

REFY’s Skin Base has launched after two years in development

Two years of development, one of their most requested products, and REFY didn’t rush it. Skin Base is a skincare-first, Korean-formulated tint with buildable coverage, 18 shades, a 100% shade match guarantee, developed alongside their own testers and available to pre-order now.

IKEA UK hosts Maghrib during Ramadan

This one is simple. And that’s exactly why it works.

IKEA UK noticed that Maghrib, the prayer that marks the end of the fast during Ramadan, falls right in the middle of commuting hours this year. So they built a pop-up Iftar space. Somewhere to stop, sit down, and break your fast before getting back on the train.

Just a table, food, and an understanding that sometimes the most useful thing a brand can do is get out of the way and let people be people.

Community marketing gets talked about constantly and executed badly just as often. This is what it actually looks like: a brand reading the moment, responding to a real need, and creating something that means something to the people it’s for.

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The thread across all of it this week is intentionality in casting influencers and creator talent. Each brand went looking for the person who made the campaign make sense, not just the person who would make people look.

And that’s exactly why they al landed so well

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If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know. And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @thebrandingblackbook.

Today’s consumers don’t just evaluate what a brand sells; they evaluate what it stands for, how it behaves under pressure and whether its public commitments hold up against its actions. That shift has collapsed the wall between corporate and consumer PR, giving rise to what’s now being called the corpsumer approach.

For businesses, this means investor-facing announcements and consumer-friendly messaging can no longer run on separate tracks. Audiences are too informed, and the platforms too interconnected, for that disconnect to go unnoticed. Instead, companies must maintain a seamless narrative across all touchpoints, one that consistently reflects their values, ethics and social impact.

For PR professionals and business leaders, it’s both a challenge and a real opportunity. Media, investors and customers alike now expect transparency, authenticity and ethical leadership, particularly when global events shift public sentiment overnight.

The brands getting it right aren’t just communicating more, they’re communicating better.

Aligning PR with global events

With the rise of digitalisation, travel and multi-platform news outlets, the world is more connected than ever. Global events, such as ongoing wars, genocides, social justice campaigns or economic shifts, heavily influence how businesses are perceived. Companies that take a considered approach and engage meaningfully with these global stories can build stronger relationships with their audiences and media and enhance brand loyalty.

During social justice movements, companies must ensure their internal policies align with their public stance. Simply posting about diversity and inclusion is no longer enough; media and consumers genuinely want to believe in the businesses, products and services they support, expecting action on issues such as equitable hiring practices and diversity initiatives.

For example, Topicals, a Black-owned skincare brand, encountered discrimination during an international brand trip for a product launch.

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From Arsenal’s new digital launch to The Ordinary going against the grain, here’s what’s worth paying attention to.

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Rhode stays one step ahead

Rhode has made a habit of identifying cultural momentum before it peaks.

For their spring blush and peptide lip tint launch, they tapped rising actress Sarah Pidgeon, a move that puts them one step ahead of the internet conversation rather than reacting to it.

It’s quick, considered and built for the scroll. Pidgeon’s rising profile fits a pattern Rhode’s marketing team has been running for a while now: find the talent with traction, move before everyone else does, and let the timing do the talking.

Apple knows how to move with culture

Apple took a similar approach with the MacBook Air M5 launch, building its campaign around the unmistakable sound of Fela Kuti.

Afrobeat in a global tech rollout is a creative choice that signals something, and it’s one we haven’t really seen at this scale before.

Apple’s campaigns have always leaned on cultural touch points to reflect their audience back to themselves, right before asking them to buy the next shiny thing. But reaching for Fela specifically, an artist whose music carries weight, history and a very particular kind of cool, suggests their cultural antenna is pointing somewhere new.

Arsenal goes digital, and Tems is their opening act

Arsenal launched The Link-Up, a show hosted by Bukayo Saka, and they’ve officially joined the ‘TV showification’ ( we hate this word) of social media. With Tems as the debut guest, it sits at the intersection of football, music and culture, timed to the club’s new app rollout.

But this isn’t Tems’ first appearance at a major sporting moment. The Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer joined the San Diego FC ownership group ahead of their 2025 MLS expansion season, becoming the first African woman to hold an ownership stake in a professional US team. Before that, she performed at Aston Martin’s F1 car launch in February last year.

Arsenal’s move is deliberate. Saka is one of the most commercially appealing players in world football right now, and pairing him with one of the most globally recognisable African artists signals something worth noting. It’s a positioning play, one that extends the club’s cultural reach into markets and audiences that a match highlight reel never will.

Soft Life Ski lets the experience speak

Soft Life Ski, if you haven’t come across it, is the culture-focused ski festival bringing Black and diverse communities to the mountains. Think premium ski trip, DJs, beautiful aesthetics, like a big group of friends who finally left the group chat and actually booked the trip.

For their latest campaign, they brought UK-based creators, including Khaoswithkez, along for the experience and let the trip become the content. The slopes are the backdrop, the creators are the story, and the community builds itself around the footage.

It’s the kind of campaign that keeps working after it’s published. The content has already been reposted across socials ahead of SLS26 LAAX and SLS26 Hemsedal, which is exactly the point.

Very exciting to see more high-production social ads come out of the UK.

REFY makes the audience part of the creative

REFY takes it a step further by making the audience part of the creative. Inviting their community to “call in” with complexion concerns alongside creator Audrey, co-host of the Receipts Podcast, reframes the product launch as a conversation rather than an announcement. Most importantly, it positions REFY as a brand that listens, which, increasingly, is the most powerful thing a beauty brand can be.

The Ordinary holds its ground

And then there’s The Ordinary, which did the opposite of all of this and still came out ahead. While the rest of the industry chases trends, The Ordinary launched a campaign calling out agency marketing culture directly, doubling down on science-led skincare and clinical transparency instead.

It’s a reminder that brand identity, held with enough conviction, as they have for years, is its own kind of cultural statement. You don’t have to chase the conversation if you’ve built something people already trust.

Under Armour trades the ad for the story

With Full Access, Under Armour hands the narrative to creator Rakai and the Clover Boys, building an episodic road-trip series designed for social, not a single ad spot. It’s less about a campaign moment and more about sustained entertainment built around the brand. The format is patient in a way most sportswear marketing isn’t.

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The brief is the same: content, community, experience and culture aren’t add-ons anymore, they must be baked into the infrastructure of the brands, especially when they show up online.

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If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know. And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @The Branding BlackBook.

F1’s “All To Drive For” puts Damson Idris in the driver’s seat

Formula 1 has a new face, and the sport is not pretending otherwise.

“All To Drive For” follows the momentum of Damson Idris’ F1 film with Brad Pitt, and casting Idris as its lead feels like a continuation of the same strategy. F1 knows its audience is shifting.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali put it plainly, saying Idris “shares our vision to grow” the sport and that together they will “push the boundaries of how we reach fans.” Idris himself said he has “always been drawn to spaces where culture, performance, and precision meet,” describing F1 as sitting right at the centre of that.

His appointment is clearly a deliberate move to represent and bring a new generation and demographic into a sport that has historically struggled to reflect the people watching it.

MAC enters Sephora US

More than 40 years after its founding, MAC Cosmetics is entering Sephora’s US stores, and the move says as much about where the beauty industry is heading as it does about MAC itself.

Entering Sephora puts MAC alongside the brands that define how a new generation shops for makeup, such as Danessa Myricks, One Size and Huda Beauty.

The ‘I wear MAC’ campaign features creators like Quenlin Blackwell, people who have already built mass followings and genuine influence in the beauty and social media space. It is a deliberate choice to let the audience see themselves in the brand before they ever pick up a product.

Estée Lauder President and CEO Stéphane de La Faverie framed the wider strategy plainly last year, saying the company wants “to be the first to capture where consumers are” and can no longer afford to focus on “too few critical markets, channels, products and consumers.”

The question now is whether MAC can hold its own against the challenger brands it is now shelved beside. Same playing field. Same consumer. Will the legacy carry weight, or has its time passed?

Nalas Baby and Paw Patrol is a collab that makes complete sense

Nalas Baby UK has officially announced a long-term partnership with Paw Patrol, with the Strawberry Springs range launching in stores nationwide from tomorrow.

On paper, this is a brand extension. In reality, it’s evidence that knowing your audience and meeting them exactly where they are is the way to go forward. Nalas Baby has always understood that parents and children are not separate consumers; they are the same household. Paw Patrol is one of the most recognisable shows in children’s entertainment globally (alongside Miss Rachel, Cocomelon, Bluey etc). Together, the fit is obvious. Which is exactly what a good partnership should feel like.

Corteiz and New Era honour grime

Corteiz and New Era have collaborated on a cap design in honour of grime, shot by Gabriel Moses.

For a lot of people in the UK, especially in London, grime is not aesthetic. It is architecture. It provided the scaffolding for an entire generation, building an ecosystem of British music, fashion, and culture largely from the ground up, with very little corporate institutional support behind it.

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Across this week, the thread is the same. The brands and partnerships landing hardest are the ones built on genuine cultural understanding. The audience can tell the difference. We always could.

If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know. And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @The Branding BlackBook .

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The OVO Meal lands at the Golden Arches

Every era of McDonald’s celebrity collabs tells you something about where culture is. Travis Scott gave us chaos energy and sold-out Cactus Jack merch. And now Drake, one of the most commercially savvy artists alive, brings the OVO Meal to the menu 🍟.

Now… it is definitely just a cash grab, as most McDonald’s partnerships are. Never seen Drake eat a Big Mac or even reference it in a song, as he does everything else, even hotel rooms (Missoni Suite at the Hotel Byblos in Saint-Tropez, France).

But the bigger question is, what does the OVO Meal actually say about where Drake is in his cultural cycle? Post-Kendrick, he’s been in rebuilding mode. Partnering with McDonald’s is a move that prioritises mass reach over cool points, and that’s a calculated choice.

FLO poses for True Religion

“We came up tearing pics of our favourite R&B girl groups out of magazines... Now we’re the women on the pages.”

That quote from FLO’s campaign with True Religion is gold. And it works because it represents the perfect full-circle moment. It’s the specific, tactile nostalgia of growing up as a Black girl obsessed with R&B, with style, with women who looked like us being unapologetically themselves.

True Religion has been in a quiet brand renaissance for a while now. The denim label that was everywhere in the early 2000s has been reclaiming its cultural real estate, and partnering with FLO, the group that has been carrying the torch for classic R&B with a Gen Z edge, is a genuinely smart move. It speaks to the communities that kept True Religion alive in between its mainstream moments.

Amina Muaddi SS26

Amina Muaddi campaigns always feel like a reset, and Spring Summer 26 collection is no different. While luxury as a whole has been scrambling to rethink its relationship with accessibility, virality, and cultural relevance, Muaddi holds the line on her own terms. Her brand has always understood that the most powerful luxury lives in desire.

The shoe is the thing.

The craft is the thing.

SS26 is a collection for women who want to be noticed, not only by the click-clack of their heel, but by how gorgeous it looks adorned on their perfectly manicured feet.

Amina Muaddi campaigns always represent a beautiful reset. And that’s exactly what her SS26 collection feels like. Right now, we’ve seen luxury being forced to rethink its relationship with accessibility, virality and cultural relevance.

Muaddi continues to hold the line on her own terms.

Samuel L. Jackson returns to Adidas Originals

They brought him back. And honestly? Good.

Samuel L. Jackson for Adidas Originals isn’t a new idea, but it’s a good one that still works, because Jackson is one of those rare cultural figures who has never lost their cool. He’s been famous longer than some of his fans have been alive, and he still commands a room like it’s day one.

For Adidas Originals specifically, this makes sense. The Originals line is about heritage; it’s the part of Adidas that gets to live in its roots rather than chasing the next drop. Jackson embodies exactly that, timeless and uncompromising.

Blue Therapy comes to Netflix: Relationship TV gets a new address

If you’ve been on Black British social media in the last few years, you already know Blue Therapy. The confessional relationship show has been part of the ‘plantain’ conversation for a while now, real (maybe) couples, real(ish) conversations, real discomfort (true). And now it’s landing on Netflix.

This is a big deal, it’s a signal that Black British content is being taken seriously as a global export. The kind of intimate, community-rooted storytelling that Blue Therapy does has always had an audience; Netflix is just finally putting infrastructure behind it. And so many of us love watching toxic, chaotic relationships on our screens, so there’s no doubt this will do well.

For brands watching: the communities that have been watching Blue Therapy since the beginning are vocal and chronically online. Any brand partnership that comes out of this needs to understand the audience first, or risk looking like they showed up after all the work was done.

The British uniform, perfectly timed

Leave it to Burberry to find Eva Apio at exactly the right moment. The model has been one of the most talked-about faces in fashion for many seasons, and her appearance in Burberry’s social campaign feels less like a casting choice and more like an inevitability.

The timing is almost too perfect. It has, genuinely, been raining for over 40 days and 40 nights across the UK, and Burberry shows up with Eva, in the perfect British uniform.

Burberry exists beautifully, in context. And right now, the context is grey skies and great coats, which, for the record, is peak Britain. Eva delivers it with the kind of effortless beauty that makes you wonder why anyone ever fights the rain instead of just dressing for it.

That’s your Blackbook Weekly. See you next week. 🖤

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And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @The Branding BlackBook .

Ramboistalking (Rambo): “Was there ever a time you met someone who made you feel broke 💰”

Central Cee: “Obviously Drake”

This is the question that went global for Rambo.

Complex picked it up. So did Billboard and Hot 97. His NBA Flag interview with Gunna did the same.

These are the moments that look effortless, spontaneous even. But they’re not. They’re the result of years spent understanding how the creator economy works, building media relationships before having any leverage, and navigating a market structure that treats UK creators fundamentally differently from their American counterparts. Rambo, aka Ramon Dawkins, has worked with everyone from Rolling Loud, Spotify, Arsenal FC and Footlocker, presenting at events like GRM Gala 2025, City Splash and brand activations across London.

For brands looking to work with creators or marketers trying to understand how cultural influence actually compounds, his journey offers a case study in strategic relationship building, distribution strategy and how to tap into all markets through culture.

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It’s been built slowly. Deliberately. With care.

And now it’s time to make it give you more.

What’s changing

Recently, The Branding Blackbook introduced paid subscriptions. This isn’t about paywalling everything or suddenly gatekeeping or trying to sell a course. The free tier will continue to exist, and it’ll still be valuable. But the work that takes the most time, research and in-depth conversations with our creator community, will now live within a subscription.

Here’s why

This platform takes time and a growing team.

Together we:

• track down creators and strategists for interviews

• break down campaigns with enough depth to actually be useful

• write educational content that doesn’t just skim the surface

• document what’s rarely said out loud about creative careers, the messy, unglamorous parts

• And re-purpose it for various platforms to be accessible to others, such as on, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Paid subscriptions mean we can protect the time it takes to do this properly. This stays independent, focused and worth your attention.

What stays free

The free tier is a real, standalone offering for people who want to follow the thinking without committing financially.

You’ll still get:

• Building in public posts that document how The Branding Blackbook is evolving

• Weekly round-ups of marketing campaigns that you need to know about

• Selected, curated essays and POVs on branding, marketing and culture

• Previews of new The Blackbook features

• Full access to replies and comments

If you want to stay curious, learn in public, and follow along, you can.

What’s behind the paywall

Paid subscribers get the full articles. That means:

Backstage Access (£7/month or £75/year):

• Full creator interviews and The Blackbook features

• Campaign and brand breakdowns with real context (what worked, what didn’t and why)

• “WTF is…” educational posts that go deeper than definitions, we’ll be providing case studies and frameworks for you to steal for your own brand or career.

• How to pitch, win clients and grow without losing your voice or selling out.

Which tier is right for you?

Stay free if:
You want to follow the journey, stay curious and see how The Branding Blackbook takes shape. You’re happy with occasional deep dives and you don’t need the full library.

Go Backstage Access if:
You’re a creator, brand owner, strategist or marketer who wants to understand how brands and campaigns actually work, not just be inspired by them. You want breakdowns and education that helps you do your job better.

And most of all, you want to build your own personal playbook.

What this means for the community

Paid subscriptions change the relationship. In a good way.

When you pay for something, you’re not a passive audience or consumer, you’re a stakeholder. You have a right to expect quality, consistency and respect for your time. That accountability matters. It makes the work better. It makes us better.

It also means the people here are genuinely invested. Not just skimming for quick hits or waiting for the algorithm to serve them something shiny. They’re here because they want to be. That creates a different kind of space, one where the conversations are richer, more frequent, and the work can go deeper without worrying about clogging your inbox.

We’re still for the community

I’m aware that not everyone can afford a subscription, and that’s okay. If the work is valuable to you but the price isn’t accessible right now, drop us a message on any of our platforms (Substack, Instagram and LinkedIn). We have a limited number of comped subscriptions available for students and early-career creatives.

Just let us know where you are in your journey and we can go from there.

What happens next

If you’re already a free subscriber, nothing changes unless you want it to. You’ll keep getting the free posts as usual.

If you want to upgrade, hit the button below. You’ll get immediate access to the full archive and everything that comes next.

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And if you’re on the fence, that’s fine too. Stick around on the free tier, see what resonates, and upgrade when (or if) it makes sense.

This is a long game. I’m not going anywhere.

Thanks for being here.

Kachi x

The campaigns that performed the best this week understood one thing: people don’t just want products. They want to see themselves reflected in the story.

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Byoma’s Super Bowl debut

Fast-growing skincare brand Byoma is making its Super Bowl debut with a 30-second spot airing regionally in Seattle during the third quarter.

The “Shorttime Show” campaign riffs on the online outcry sparked by Bad Bunny’s halftime show, which required on-field performers to be between 5’7” and 6 feet tall. Fans who didn’t meet the criteria flooded social media with jokes and disappointment, and Byoma capitalised off the moment.

They turned a viral conversation into an entry point into culture and group chats, all while using popular upcoming creators to do so.

Bad Bunny partners with Adidas

Bad Bunny surprised his fans by releasing his first signature sneaker, BadBo 1.0, with Adidas. The release was limited to 1,994 pairs in honour of his birthday. They are already sold out on the sneaker’s dedicated website and are appearing on resale sites for $1,000.

The social first campaign, delivered in Spanish, flips the script on what we’re told growing up. “Kids always ask us what we want to be when we grow up, as if there is only one answer. Why choose just one thing when everything is possible?” It’s a statement that we’re hearing a lot today, with the rise of the multi-hyphenate. Musicians are designers, athletes are creators, and no one’s staying in one lane anymore.

Life is fluid, and people are applying that same attitude to their careers.

Adidas nailed this perfectly.

Rhode Snow Club

Why is everyone skiing? The #1 question we’ve seen everyone ask recently. It seems like so many of our favourite brands have saved the same inspo on Pinterest, copied each other, and created the same brand moment.

And Rhode is up next.

The brand placed an experiential installation trip in Big Sky, Montana, called the Rhode Snow Club, to launch its Caffeine Reset and Peptide Lip Boost products. Snow-capped mountains, cosy merch and a full branded Rhode indulged world.

We’ll be doing a deep dive into all things experiential marketing soon, and a blueprint on why, how and when to use it for your brand, or your clients.

Central Cee launches his SYNA footwear with Nike

Central Cee partnered with PlaqueBoyMax and several creators to launch his debut footwear collaboration with Nike, at SYNA HQ.

PlaqueBoyMax has quickly become a central piece of the launch day puzzle for many athletes, creators and specifically musicians.

This activation follows a big week for Nike overall, as they also launched a collaboration with SKIMS, which Central Cee was also present at.

Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze for New Balance

New Balance linked up with Arsenal player Eberechi Eze for a campaign rooted in South London, quite literally. The ABZORB 2000 became the anchor, but the real story was on community and shared identity.

Coi Leray and her daughter for Outlander Magazine

Coi Leray features in Outlander Magazine with her daughter, a rare, intimate moment that shows a different side of the artist.

It’s a great start to the year for the magazine, as they ended 2025 with two huge features, Justin Bieber and Travis Scott, for their debut print edition.

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What ties all of these campaigns together? They didn’t try to be everything to everyone. They spoke to their people, in their language, in their spaces. The brands winning right now are the ones showing up where culture already exists.

See you next week.

And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @The Branding BlackBook .

Today, I want to tell you about the first series I’m (officially) launching: The Blackbook.

It’s a space for creators to discuss their work openly and honestly. Not the polished version, but the real one.

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Most people only ever see the final result

The campaign that “went viral.”

The collaboration that looks seamless.

The creator who appears to have blown up overnight.

What we don’t see is the painful, confusing bits in between. You know when you’re thinking “wtf am I actually doing and how did I get here”. Yeah that’s what we want to hear more of.

The imposter syndrome that shows up right before you hit send or post.

And for Black, or young (Gen Z) creators specifically, the middle often includes navigating spaces that weren’t designed with you in mind. Being visible but still excluded from decision-making. Shaping culture without receiving equivalent credit, context or compensation.

That gap, between what people see and what it actually took to get there, is where The Blackbook comes in and holds the seat steady.

What this series will do

My hope is that it becomes a space to talk honestly about the journeys behind the work. It’s especially important for those still growing in their journey, careers and businesses.

How opportunities actually came together. What it took to say yes, or to walk away. What creators learned once the work was done.

This series intentionally centres creators building within and alongside culture, while figuring out how to protect their voice and still make a living.

Why this matters

By sharing these stories, I want to make the industry feel less confusing and isolating. With this, the goal is to offer reference points instead, which don’t exist today on other platforms. To show that there are many ways to build a creative career, and none of them are as clear-cut as they look from the outside.

If you’re seeing parts of your own experience reflected, that’s the point.

Brands and strategists are welcome here, too. Really, this is for absolutely anyone who might benefit from a clearer, more raw, honest view of how culture, communications and creative work actually come together.

And who’s behind making that magic happen.

What comes next

The first story in The Blackbook has already launched, with Black In Sport, where we spoke to founder Ladi and about building and marketing their latest event.

And the next one is coming very soon. But in the meantime, I’d love to hear from you.

What part of the “middle” do you wish people talked about more? What’s a decision or moment in your own work that didn’t make it into the final story?

Leave a comment

Reply, share, or just sit with it. Either way, thanks for being here.

Kachi x

If you loved this story, you’ll find more like it over on Instagram and LinkedIn, where we spotlight the campaigns and creatives driving change across industries.

This week handed us five campaigns that did exactly that. Kinda…

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Spotify celebrates Grammy nominees with billboards in their hometowns

Spotify kicked things off by plastering baby photos of Grammy-nominated Best New Artist nominees, Olivia Dean, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, Lola Young, Alex Warren, and sombr, across their hometowns. OOH creatives have always been popular with launching albums, singles, and tours, so it’s really interesting to see Spotify do the same for Grammy nominees.

Each poster paired a childhood image with a short note on the artist’s journey so far. It’s nostalgic, it’s personal and it turns a global moment into something hyperlocal, reminding their own communities exactly who they helped raise.

Gabriel Moses sat down with young creatives and shared gems

Instagram continued its “Ask It Anyway” series by bringing in Gabriel Moses, one of the most respected creative directors of his generation, to share unfiltered advice for young people trying to survive in this industry.

It’s refreshing to just get the no BS version of the creative industry. Just real talk from someone who’s earned the right to give it.

IShowSpeed, Spike Lee and Ray-Ban Meta

Then there’s IShowSpeed, Spike Lee, and Ray-Ban Meta teaming up ahead of the Super Bowl to tease a new release. On paper, it’s an unlikely trio. But, as we can see, in practice, it’s bridging worlds: internet culture, cinematic legacy, and super popular consumer tech. Perfect timing, just as Speed has finished his Africa tour and ahead of the Super Bowl, which is the most-watched ad break in the world.

Topicals’ IRL community event

Topicals kept it tight and community first with Faded Fortune Fight Night, a one night gaming event in Atlanta offering luxury goods and exclusive brand perks as prizes. The RSVP was gated behind their Spottie Sphere community group chat. Just a direct line to the people who already care, and we’re seeing this strategy continue to grow in popularity over the last few years.

A$AP Rocky interns at Vogue, and Anna isn’t impressed

A$AP Rocky showed up at Vogue, not as a cover star or a guest, but as an intern. Picking up coffee. Moving packages. Cozying up to Anna Wintour. He’s turned someone’s everyday job into content.

Now, it’s not clear what he’s promoting. There’s a cameo with Doja Cat too, so maybe she’s a featured artist on his upcoming album? Or maybe he’ll be on the next cover of Vogue? We’ll have to wait and see.

Five campaigns. Five different approaches. Some worked. Some didn’t…

This week hasn’t been very interesting from brands, but we know the next few weeks will be a whirlwind of Super Bowl posts, so I know we’ll be back with more soon.

See you there <3

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If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know.

And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @The Branding BlackBook .

Here’s what caught our attention over the last few days.

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SheerLuxe was acquired by Future

SheerLuxe's 40m acquisition by Future is proof that traditional media’s distribution model is fundamentally broken.

Founded by Georgie Coleridge Cole, SheerLuxe reaches 6 million people by meeting audiences where they actually are: on TikTok, Instagram, and in their feeds. Not behind paywalls or on websites that they have to remember to visit.

While legacy outlets still optimise for print and web traffic, millions of people, especially Gen Z and Millennials, are getting their news on TikTok. Some of us open the app first thing in the morning (not recommended), on the train to work, during lunch breaks, on the way home, and before bed. Not a newspaper. Not even a news website.

And it’s easier to share a TikTok than a newspaper article.

Just look at what traditional news is up against.

Social-first news creator Dylan Page (News Daddy) has 18.2M TikTok followers, the second biggest news account on the platform after the Daily Mail. His content is vastly more engaging, and he repurposes news from traditional outlets, live reporting from social media users, and discussions in comment sections.

SheerLuxe understood this concept. Georgie built trust through social-native storytelling and platform fluidity. When Future purchased the brand, they also bought a distribution model that actually works for today and the future.

Creators aren’t just making content anymore; they’re controlling distribution in ways that traditional media can’t compete with unless they fundamentally rethink how news and culture get delivered.

Khaby Lame sells company and IP rights for nearly $1 billion

We called it a few weeks ago, creators are becoming IP owners in 2026. Now we’re watching it happen in real time.

Khaby Lame just sold his company and IP rights for nearly $1 billion.

The creator who built a global following by pointing awkwardly at the obvious, without uttering a single word, has cashed out BIG while keeping a majority equity stake. He’s also created an AI digital twin that can appear in campaigns without him being physically present… which is terrifying.

This comes on the heels of Kevin Hart inking a licensing deal with Authentic Brands Group (the company behind David Beckham and Shaquille O’Neal). ABG gets rights to the “Kevin Hart” brand. Hart becomes a shareholder and co-manages his IP across consumer products, digital platforms and live experiences.

Here’s why you need to pay attention:

1. Both deals involve Black creators selling their IP to PE-backed conglomerates, a relatively new model for all creators and media personalities.

2. Creators are being recognised as owners of valuable intellectual property. The market is starting to price creator IP the way it prices any other asset.

Jacquemus names his grandmother as brand ambassador

Simon Porte Jacquemus just announced his very first brand ambassador: his 78 year old grandmother, Liline Jacquemus (and he roasts celebrity culture while doing it).

The announcement starts with, “Before anything, there was her. The original icon.”

Then the pivot. The “ambassador commitments” escalate from sincere to satire:

“The ambassador must not remove Jacquemus pieces at home, at night, or in dreams.”

“The ambassador must not pronounce the names of other fashion houses.”

“The ambassador must smile. Always.”

Ending with: “As we should all do ;)”

He’s speaking directly to an audience exhausted by influencer marketing’s lack of authenticity and transactional nature, while being extremely online and in on the joke.

And it’s brilliant.

Wingstop UK partners with sondr to launch corn in stores

Wingstop UK launched corn. To mark it, they gave aspiring director Danyul Wilson his first-ever brand ad.

3.4M+ views, 325K+ likes, nearly 62K organic shares later, it’s one of Wingstop’s best-performing social ads to date.

The sondr team said it best: “If you want work that genuinely resonates, involve talent who actually live inside the audience you’re trying to reach. Not as a PR move. Not as a box to tick. But because it leads to stronger ideas and more meaningful outcomes.”

It’s proof that when brands actually embed emerging talent into the creative process, not just as subjects or tokens, the work outperforms and the opportunity compounds for creators.

Brands spend billions trying to understand culture, only for it to be filtered back by people standing outside of it, and that is the entire problem with how most agencies approach cultural marketing. They treat culture like a research problem to decode rather than something to co-create with the people who shape it.

Sondr and Wingstop’s model flips that. And the numbers don’t lie.

Honest Greens cracks LinkedIn marketing

Honest Greens is using LinkedIn personalities in their marketing strategy for new London locations. Creators are partnering with them to go on lunch dates with their LinkedIn followers.

Food content on TikTok is so saturated that even great restaurants struggle to break through. LinkedIn, however, has quietly transformed from a job-search platform into a space where professionals build real communities around career development, a behaviour shift they identified and capitalised on.

LinkedIn personalities have different audience dynamics than TikTok creators. Their followers feel more invested because the relationship is tied to professional identity and advice, not just entertainment.

This could be blueprint-worthy for other brands targeting professionals or building around careers and business. We’ve never seen a restaurant use LinkedIn this way. Worth watching.

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Taken together, these moments show something shifting. SheerLuxe and Khaby Lame prove that ownership of social-native platforms, creative formats and distribution are the new currency. Wingstop is proving that the way forward is by embedding its target customer into marketing. And Honest Greens is meeting audiences where community already exists.

The brands and creators cutting through are the ones that know who they’re talking to, where to find them, and why it matters. But more importantly, they’re the ones structuring deals that let them keep the money.

If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know.

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And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @ .

From Nike tapping Central Cee and Josh for callisthenics to Molly Mae and adidas teasing the launch of a new shoe collaboration, here’s what caught our attention this week.

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Nike featured Central Cee putting in work for a callisthenics session.

Nike has been leaning into the gritty, ‘underground’ side of fitness lately, and partnering with Josh, a rising creator in the fitness scene, for a callisthenics routine with Central Cee feels like a natural fit.

Very on brand for Nike, which consistently follows and matches the culture where it is.

Topicals launches Faded Dark Spot Patches, building on the success of their Faded eye patches.

Topicals knows how to create amazing visuals. The Faded eye patches already proved they understand what people actually want from skincare, targeted, effective and cute to wear. This feels like a smart next step. Welcome to the Faded Dark Spot Patches.

Ousmane Dembélé and Paul Pogba star in Adidas’ latest campaign for the Predator football boot collection.

Adidas is stacking its football roster with superstars in the culture, not just athletic credentials. Pogba and Dembélé bring the kind of personality that makes boots feel less like equipment and more like statement pieces. The Predator deserves this kind of treatment.

We’re really enjoying the attention UK and European football is getting.

Burna Boy leads Sporty’s new global “For Everybody” campaign.

Sporty’s clearly positioning itself as the platform for people who exist at the intersection of sport and culture, especially football in Africa. Burna Boy leading the charge makes sense; he’s a globally recognised African artist who performs extremely well internationally. And amazing footballers were included as well, such as Eduardo Camavinga, Nicolas Williams, and Michael Essien.

Wonder what the deal looked like…

Molly Mae teased the launch of a new shoe collaboration with adidas.

Molly Mae’s influence is undeniable at this point, whether you like it or not, and adidas knows it. Whether this lands with widespread customers, outside of Molly Mae’s audience, will depend on execution, but the tease alone is doing numbers, which is probably the whole point.

Looking forward to seeing what’s next.

D Rose announced his new family owned flower shop, Rose’s Flower Shop.

This is the kind of post-career pivot that feels genuinely wholesome and kinda makes sense. It’s a quick win.

Rose’s Flower Shop isn’t trying to be a lifestyle brand, rap career, or a streetwear collab, which is typical for athletes during retirement or in the off-season; it’s just D Rose doing something different with his family. Really sweet video too.

Megan Thee Stallion launched ‘Megan’s Mango Protein Refresher’ in collaboration with Dunkin.

We can tell that Dunkin understands their audience from this collab with Megan.

In recent years, she’s shown her workouts, and the Hotties love to watch and follow along. Also in line with the wellness, healthcare kick everyone’s on, including those currently following the Chinese holistic medicinal hot water and house slippers routien, Hotties want fuel that fits the lifestyle and a protein refresher at Dunkin checks that box.

The ad is playful, practical and very her.

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And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @thebrandingblackbook.

But instead of the typical celebrity brand copy-and-paste strategy, he documented the foundational stage of his journey, recording his trip to Italy on YouTube, sitting down with fashion icons like Law Roach.

Learning. Questioning. Absorbing.

The Power of Building in Public

He made his entire creative journal public. Every early sketch, every half-formed idea, every moment of “I have no idea what I’m doing”, available for anyone to see.

It’s quite literally community marketing genius (and we will be stealing some of his ideas):

1. His 21 million YouTube subscribers get to watch him pivot from streaming into an unknown territory.

2. By making his journal free, he invites his audience into the process, not just the product. We all become co-creators through this.

3. The vulnerability of being a novice again is a powerful currency with his predominantly Gen-Z following. Especially, as so many of us are building things from scratch and navigating adulthood for the first time, just like he is.

Because of all of this, Vivet already has 15k followers on Instagram, without posting a single thing.

There’s No Shame in Being a Student Again

In fact, it might be the most powerful position you can take.

The world will always reward expertise, but there’s something magnetic about watching someone genuinely learn something new.

When you’ve won every award in your field, the next move doesn’t have to be another victory lap. For Kai, it’s about being still and leaning into other passion areas and becoming a beginner all over again.

Kai could have slapped his name on some designs and coasted on his massive platform. But, instead, he chose the harder path: building in public, admitting what he doesn’t know, and inviting millions along for the ride.

The Lesson

Whatever mountain you’ve already climbed, remember, there’s honour in descending to climb a new one.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

If you loved this story, you’ll find more like it over on Instagram and LinkedIn for more.

Here’s what caught our eye this week.

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Joy Ogunbambo marks Style of Play’s one-year anniversary

Writer Ogunbambo marks Style of Play’s one-year anniversary with “Nigerian Identity Through Football,” a campaign featuring Ola Aina exploring heritage through AFCON, produced with 30&9.

This is what happens when you build with intention. Joy spent a year writing about culture, identity and the stories beneath the surface of sport, and now she’s turning that into a full campaign with a Premier League footballer, a production company and a vision that stretches across Medium, Substack, and Instagram.

Independent creators aren’t waiting for permission anymore. They’re building platforms worth partnering with.

Topicals closes funding round with Angel Reese and Rema

Skincare brand Topicals closed a funding round with investors including WNBA star Angel Reese and Nigerian singer Rema, bringing its total raised since 2020 to over $20 million.

Speaking exclusively to The Business of Beauty, founder Olamide Olowe said that she wanted to invite investors from the Topicals community. “When you think of Topicals, you think of our marketing, storytelling and products, and you think a lot about culture,” she said. “These are people who control culture.”

This isn’t just about beauty, it’s about who gets a seat at the cap table. Influence is becoming equity, and the smartest founders know it.

Corteiz’s Clint featured in The New York Times

Corteiz founder Clint was featured in The New York Times.

When legacy media validates streetwear and its ongoing new-gen resurgence, it’s acknowledging where power has shifted, away from the usual conglomerate brands and fashion houses.

The gatekeepers aren’t gone; they’re just scrambling to cover the people who bypassed them entirely. And it’s becoming increasingly difficult when the independent brands are doing as well as, if not better than, the ones who’ve had decades of institutional backing and billion-dollar budgets.

Footlocker’s European campaign

British creator fdfromthefuture, along with other basketball stars such as Ovie Soko, features in Footlocker’s European campaign “The Game Never Sleeps,” part of the retailer’s expanded 2025 NBA partnership.

The campaign ties basketball culture to street style through a social media campaign. This follow’s Footlocker’s activation during the NBA All-Star event in 2025, where the brand brought in Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum for fan experiences, and in Europe, they’re gave away away 50 limited-edition Jeff Hamilton jackets.

Liverpool FC x Tommy Hilfiger

Liverpool FC announced a landmark global partnership with Tommy Hilfiger, marking a first in world football as two cultural icons unite to define the next era of game-day style.

Football clubs aren’t just sports entities anymore, they’re lifestyle brands with global reach that fashion houses can’t afford to ignore. This partnership is proof that the lines between sport, fashion and culture have fully dissolved.

Huda Beauty refreshes REAL Easy Bake Pressed

Huda Beauty announced the launch of its renewed REAL Easy Bake Pressed powder.

In an oversaturated market, sometimes the smartest move isn’t launching something new, it’s fixing what didn’t land the first time.

Legacy brands are learning that staying relevant means actually listening when customers tell you what they need. It’s not about what’s new. It’s about what works.

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These moments show us where the industry is heading: equity over endorsements, creators as campaigns and independent platforms becoming institutions in their own right.

The rules aren’t secret anymore. The access isn’t hereditary. But you have to move like you already belong at the table, because the people who are winning already do.

If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know.

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And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @thebrandingblackbook.

I’ve worked in PR and marketing for years and have spent a lot of time around creators and brands. And I’ve seen enough campaigns go right (and wrong) to know there’s a gap in how we talk about this stuff.

The Branding Blackbook started as a newsletter for essays on marketing. Long term, I want it to become a real reference point, something you actually come back to and use for your career, journey as a creator or brand. Not just skim once and forget or save for later and never actually read.

This is the first piece my ‘Building in Public’ series. It’s about why I’m building all this in the first place and how I’m making it happen with your help.

Why build in public?

Most of what we see online is the finished version. The polished launch. The pivot framed as strategy, when sometimes it’s really about survival or just figuring it out while having no idea if it will work or not.

I wanted to do something different.

Not because I have it all figured out, I don’t. But because I think there’s value in showing the process. The trade-offs. The moments where you’re not sure if something will work but you’re doing it anyway.

Building The Branding Blackbook has meant making decisions I didn’t feel qualified to make. Choosing what to prioritise when everything feels important. Sitting with the discomfort of putting something out before it’s perfect. Hiring people just because I only have two hands and one head.

And honestly? A lot of those moments mirror what I see creators, founders and early-career marketers going through every day. Not knowing how to price your work. Second-guessing whether you belong in the room. Trying to build something meaningful while also just trying to pay astronomical rent prices.

If I’m asking other people to share their messy middles, it felt right to share mine too.

What you’ll see here

Building in Public is where I’ll document what it actually takes to build this platform.

Some of it will be tactical, decisions around structure, format, what’s working and what isn’t. Some of it will be more reflective, the internal stuff that doesn’t show up in analytics but shapes everything you do. And all the amazing successes along the way.

For example, in October 2025 we had 90 subscribers. We now have 700+. With over 4,000 community members across all our platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack and soon TikTok.)

I’m not here to present a perfect roadmap. I’m here to show what building something looks like when you’re in it, not looking back on it.

You’ll also hear more soon about ‘The Blackbook’, a series I’ve launched that centres creators and the real stories behind the campaigns we all see. ICYMI our first issue went live a few weeks ago with Black In Sport, where we spoke to founder Ladi and about building and marketing their latest event.

Why it matters

I think a lot of us are tired of the highlight reel.

We’re tired of advice that assumes you already have access, budget, or a safety net.

The truth is, most creative careers don’t follow a straight line. Most of us are figuring it out as we go. And for Black creators specifically, the path often includes navigating systems that weren’t built for you, proving yourself in ways others don’t have to and doing culturally significant work without the structural support or recognition that should come with it.

Building in public isn’t about being vulnerable for the sake of it. It’s about making the process less lonely. Less opaque. Less like you’re the only one who doesn’t have it together.

If you're building something, a platform, a creative practice, a career that doesn't fit into a neat box, I'd love to hear about it.

Drop a comment and let us know what you're working on and how people can support. Like I said, there are thousands of us in this growing community and chances are someone here has or knows something that might help.

And if you’re reading this thinking “I wish someone had shown me this part,” then you’re exactly who I’m writing for.

Thanks for being here. More soon.

Kachi x

If 2025 was the year brands tried to “keep up,” 2026 is the year they’ll be forced to genuinely participate.

Here are the cultural and community marketing shifts worth watching.

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The Rise of the Intellectual Influencer

Lifestyle content isn’t disappearing, but its cultural dominance is. The era where creators made fortunes through aesthetic content alone is fading because audiences have begun asking a different question:

What do you actually know? Why should I even listen to you?

Influence in 2026 increasingly belongs to people who have built knowledge through practice. Dermatologists explaining what actually happens to your skin. Accountants democratising finance tips for communities historically locked out. Psychologists translating research into something usable.

What separates these voices is simple, they don’t need content to survive or validate their work.

Their careers exist outside the algorithm. A psychologist doesn’t lose income by skipping an ad deal. A lifestyle creator often does. That’s where trust is shifting, toward people whose credibility formed long before their following.

Some creators already entering this space are , , , , Ibrahim Kamara, Alicia Lartey and Moyo.

Meanwhile, the internet is full of people claiming to run “the fastest-growing agency” or “seven-figure business” with zero receipts. Creators selling courses on “How to make £10,000 every month” from careers or businesses they don’t actually practice or know how to do, well. Communities are becoming more aware of this gap between performance and reality. In 2026, people will ask for proof.

This shift is fundamentally cultural. Communities want to learn from people who have done the work, not people who have only built the brand.

And only those that can show their receipts will last.

Human Content Becomes the New Premium

AI won’t disappear in 2026, but audiences are already tired of how samey everything feels. When every ad, script and concept looks like it came from the same prompt, the brand that chooses a human approach becomes instantly more interesting. We saw this at the end of last year with the unpopular McDonald’s AI Christmas Ad.

People want to feel the fingerprints of the creator. They want writing that sounds like someone thinking out loud and visuals that actually reflects culture. That’s why “talking like a normal person” has become the dominant tone here on Substack. Sh*tposting is miles better than the A.I slop we’ve been forced to accept.

This shift is community-driven. People want creators who show up as humans, not content machines. They want real, relatable, messy, imperfect stories and work. In 2026, human creativity becomes a marker of value again.

Creators Start Shaping Products, Not Just Promoting Them

Brands have spent years treating creators as distribution channels. In 2026, the smartest ones will bring creators into the room before the first script or prototype exists.

Product teams will start with a different question:

What does this creator’s community actually want?

Not in theory, but based on real discourse, comments sections, such as, Reddit, TikTok or Substack. The places where inside jokes and cultural nuance show up unfiltered. Communities will quietly become the new R&D labs and the economics are kinda scary.

Look at it this way, brands currently spend millions on market research and focus groups, but a single TikTok question can generate thousands of responses in hours. Or they can simply observe a creator's comment section, where their target audience is already talking.

We’re already seeing glimpses of this with Netflix’s recent documentary on Diddy. True crime creator Stephanie Soo, from The Rotten Mango Podcast, worked on production itself, not just its promotion. In fact she barely promoted it, so far, we’ve only seen one post from her.

Creators aren’t just sitting at the edge of culture anymore, they’re embedded in it, shaping stories and products from the inside.

When audiences see themselves reflected in the decisions behind a product or piece of content, loyalty deepens. Culture becomes a co-author, not an afterthought.

Licensing Creator IP Becomes a New Revenue Model

One of the most exciting developments on the horizon is definitely brands licensing creators’ personalities, jokes, editing styles and recurring formats the same way musicians license samples. It repositions creators from faces-for-hire to owners of intellectual property.

Imagine a brand using a creator’s iconic meme format throughout a campaign or a viral character becoming the star of a supermarket TV spot. The creator doesn’t even need to appear in the content for their cultural imprint to be present. We’ve seen this with Bus Aunty Bemi, who worked with Burberry, Seventh Store, Spotify, Mac and many other brands.

This creates a new revenue stream for creators, but more importantly, it signals a new shift, brands acknowledging that the formats and languages created online have real value. Communities shape these formats. Creators give them form. Brands (might) finally pay for both, we’ll have to wait and see.

In a world where culture moves at the lightning speed of group chats, licensing becomes a way for brands to align with communities without diluting what made the format work in the first place. It’s respectful, transparent and opens a new revenue stream, in an already super saturated market.

What This Means for 2026

Culture is becoming more community-led, more human and more anchored in real, shared experiences. Audiences are more discerning. Creators are more empowered. Brands are finally realising they’re late to a conversation communities have been having for years.

2026 won’t belong to the loudest or the most polished. It will belong to those who understand people, their humour, their needs, their curiosity, their desire for real voices and real work behind the content they consume.

Let us know if you agree or if we’ve missed something?

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If you loved this story, you’ll find more like it over on Instagram and LinkedIn for more.

Here’s what caught our attention over the last few days.

Nic & Olandria on the cover of Glamour magazine

Two names. One cover.

Olandria and Nic aren’t the usual magazine cover stars, and that’s the whole point. She was selling elevators. He was modelling and “just going with the flow.” Then Love Island USA happened, #Nicolandria was born, and their lives changed overnight.

Glamour giving them their December cover, their first joint interview, and they’ve finally made it to the matching pyjama stage. Except the stage is now extremely global.

Mainstream media is not just pushing more representation in print, it’s about whose stories actually matter at scale. Reality TV to magazine cover isn’t a new path, but the speed and sincerity of it feels different this time. Especially as both Olandria and Nic have shown they’re not afraid to speak up on their platforms, like when they addressed the Instagram Live incident with Huda and Louis.

Nike Football announces Jay-Jay Okocha as Chief Flair Officer ahead of AFCON

Nike giving Jay-Jay Okocha a title before the Africa Cup of Nations isn’t subtle. It’s not supposed to be.

“Chief Flair Officer” is perfect. It’s playful, it’s specific and it taps into exactly what Okocha represented on the pitch, technical brilliance with personality. This isn’t legacy for legacy’s sake. It’s Nike leaning into African football culture at a moment when the continent’s influence on the global game has never been clearer and just in time for AFCON.

Timing matters. Relevance matters more. Nike gets both. Just do it.

Billionaire Boys Club & Topicals launch under-eye masks

Streetwear meets skincare. Again.

But this one actually makes sense and no surprise because it’s Topicals. Billionaire Boys Club partnering with Topicals for under-eye masks is the kind of collaboration that makes sense when you stop thinking in traditional categories. Both brands speak to communities that care about how they look, feel and show up.

It’s function wrapped in culture. And unlike some crossovers that feel forced, this one reads like a natural extension of what both brands already stand for, care, quality and aesthetics.

EsDeeKid and Timothée Chalamet link up for “4 Raws” remix

This is what happens when the algorithm breaks into real life.

EsDeeKid’s “4 Raws” getting a Timothée Chalamet remix is internet culture colliding with Hollywood in the most interesting way possible. No press release. No rollout strategy. Just vibes and brilliant timing.

Chalamet going from teenage heartthrob to alt streetwear character for Marty Supreme is a calculated shift. He’s method acting, sure, but he’s also clearly borrowing his cool from the right places in culture. And EsDeeKid gets the kind of co-sign money can’t manufacture.

CoppaFeel’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign

CoppaFeel has always understood that awareness without action is just noise.

Their latest campaign during Breast Cancer Awareness Month keeps the focus exactly where it needs to be, on self-checking. Not vague messaging. Not pink-washing. Just clear, practical, life-saving behaviour change wrapped in a campaign that doesn’t patronise or oversimplify.

It’s a reminder that the best health campaigns don’t just make you feel something. They make you do something.

Zoom rolls out ‘Zoom Ahead’ campaign for AI launch

Zoom announcing AI capabilities with a campaign called “Zoom Ahead” is... fine.

It does what it needs to do, position the brand as forward-thinking, tech-enabled, ready for whatever’s next. But in a moment where every tech company is sprinting toward AI, being in the race isn’t the same as leading it.

The idea is competent. The question is whether competence is enough when everyone else is saying the same thing. What do you guys think?

Taken together, these moments show how showing up is becoming more intentional. It’s not just about being visible, it’s about being legible. Whether it’s through unexpected partnerships, cultural fluency or campaigns that actually move people, the brands cutting through are the ones that know who they’re talking to and why it matters.

If you spotted a campaign we missed, let us know.

And if you’re not already part of the conversation, you know where to find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @thebrandingblackbook.