Blackbook Weekly
Your weekly round up on campaigns in culture
Every week, we track the campaigns that reveal how brands, creators and celebrities are choosing to show up right now and here’s what caught our eye last week.
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams as 2026 Met Gala co-chairs
The Met Gala has always been about symbolism as much as fashion, but this line-up feels especially deliberate.
Three women. Three very different cultural lanes. One shared status as institutions in their own right, in completely different industries.
This isn’t just celebrity casting. It’s cultural credibility stacking. Each name brings a different audience, different era, different kind of authority.
Together, they signal a Met Gala recognising the massive cultural shift that continues to take place. ‘Regular people’ are becoming key influencers, as big as, if not bigger than, the legacy celebrities who have always had a seat at the table.
OVO partners with Marvel
Drake’s OVO announced a collaboration with Marvel. There isn’t much to say here, mainly because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, unless we’re missing something.
But much like Spotify Wrapped, Drake is everywhere. This collaboration feels less about logic and more about presence, another infinity stone added to an already stacked gauntlet.
SKIMS x The North Face
On paper, this shouldn’t work. In practice, it makes sense.
SKIMS continues to stretch what shapewear and loungewear can be, while The North Face is known for its performance and credibility in the outdoors. The result is a winter collection that sits comfortably between function and aesthetics. Which is the formula that SKIMS’ recent partnerships have followed, such as Tangle Teezer and Nike.
Bread’s Chanel flap bag giveaway
Bread giving away a Chanel flap bag filled with Bread products is playful, provocative and extremely online.
As G Herbo’s daughter once said, “67, I want Chanel,” and honestly, same. Bread clearly got the hint.
Luxury as a prop. Product as the punchline.
It taps into aspiration culture, using a recognisable luxury symbol to spotlight a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Screenshot-able. Share-able. Group-chat ready. And just like Topicals’ recent competition inviting its community to post a new lip salve for a chance to win a free trip to Thailand, West Africa or Brazil.
A24’s faux engagement announcement
A24 announcing a fake engagement in The Boston Globe to promote Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s upcoming film The Drama is exactly the kind of offline-online crossover we are so excited to see.
The campaign works because it understands that mystery still cuts through. Not everything needs to be explained immediately.
Taken together, these moments show how visibility is evolving. It’s not just about being seen. It’s about how and where you choose to appear.
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.