Innovating for good, Airbnb's mid-life crisis and Coca-Cola's new AI ad tool 🧃

Weekly Exhale

The death of REN skincare doesn’t matter much at first glance. One influencer’s post-mortem was simple: “I don’t use it. I don’t recommend it. I kind of have no interest in it.”

But I’ve always had a soft spot for REN. It played a small and important role in my story. When I founded an advertising agency, every tiny detail had to be cooler and smarter than anything else around. When it came time to accessorise the washrooms, a friend recommended REN. They said it would speak to our environmental credentials. That was enough for me. I set up a standing order.

Like the agency, REN was acquired. The founders moved on. REN scaled to over a billion in revenue. So when I heard it was being shuttered, I felt a strange mix of nostalgia and schadenfreude.

Earlier this year, Unilever lifer Fernando Fernandez—known as “the haircare guy”—took the reins. He was clear: The big blue ‘U’ would double down on premium beauty. Despite this, REN was quietly put up for sale. No buyers came. It ended with just 120 words on the corporate site and a photo of a product range that had seen better days. They might as well have posted a branded headstone. RIP REN, aged 25. Cause of death: Disinterest.

Holding companies acquiring cool brands and draining them of cachet isn’t a new story. Conglomerates overpay for the buzz of something new, only to find it collapses under the weight of mass distribution and margin goals. REN’s demise isn’t shocking. What’s striking is how Unilever is struggling to pursue a strategy.

REN landed just as the world shifted to social-led discovery. Fernandez’s pledge to increase investment in social media is at least a decade late and several billion short. They also put a glow tonic in every beauty box and advent calendar, sampling it like a snack. Prestige is a careful balance between scale and scarcity. Between presence and perception.

Worst of all, REN got slathered in purpose mayonnaise.

Unilever once believed in doing better by doing good. But somewhere along the line, sandwich condiments started saving the world. And the idea lost credibility. REN, ironically, should have thrived. It was one of the first clean and conscious beauty brands. But Unilever’s focus was off. Ask someone what made REN sustainable, and they’ll mention the recyclable spring in the pump. But ask them about the ingredients and you'll get blank stares. “They’ve gone so far down the sustainability route,” one influencer noted, “they’ve done themselves a disservice on efficacy.”

So, aside from its cameo in my washrooms, REN is a marker. A casualty of a food company that doesn’t want to be one. Which is a dereliction of duty. Consumer product companies are built on the promise that brands endure.

And behind every brand that dies are teams and agencies that gave it their best years. Who believed in it. Who fought to keep it relevant. And whose final chapter is closed in just 120 words.

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My mum died on a Friday morning in late October, surrounded by people who loved her.

On the drive back from her home, my mind drifted to the conversation I’d need to have with my seven-year-old son. I wasn’t sure he’d understand what death meant.

Dazed by grief, I remembered that episode of Sesame Street—the one where Big Bird learns Mr. Hooper isn’t coming back. The creators made a choice not to replace the actor. They wrote the truth into the show. Big Bird draws a picture for Mr. Hooper. And when he tries to hand it over, the adults gently explain: “He died. He’s not coming back. That’s what dying means.”

Sesame Street began as a radical experiment, part media, part teaching, part civil rights. Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett wanted to close the education gap in a deeply unequal America. At one point, a study showed that for just five dollars a head, Sesame Street could provide meaningful early childhood intervention.

They did the work. Tested everything. Pacing. Music. Framing. Even the slow, meditative credits (“Sunny day…”) were designed to ease kids out of the action. A little like my drive home from Mum’s that day.

So it stopped me in my tracks to learn that Sesame Street has a venture capital arm—Sesame Ventures—and that it just posted record-breaking returns.

Their first fund, launched with Collaborative Fund in 2016 (the year after Unilever acquired REN), has already returned 2.6x in actual cash, with a total portfolio value of 5.3x. A top-decile fund. Possibly top one per cent. At the time, no one thought it would go anywhere. It was described as strategic, which is VC-speak for things that lose money.

Yet Sesame Ventures has flipped the script. The money-making is real.

They’ve backed learning toys, online schools, and even FDA-approved media to treat amblyopia—“lazy eye.” Half the fund belongs to Sesame Workshop, which means half the returns go back into research and education.

Children. Community. Cash.

Because they did the work. They made the hard calls. Even when it meant teaching kids how to cope with death, lessons that last long after the credits roll.

When I told my son that Nonna wasn’t coming anymore—that there’d be no more toy shop trips, no more big black car—he didn’t say anything. He took my hand and started gathering things. Toys she’d given him. An Elmo. Some photos. Trinkets. Within twelve minutes, we had a pile in the middle of his room.

Big Bird drew a picture. My son built a shrine. Both were using physical objects to make sense of abstract emotions. And as I sat there with him, surrounded by stuff suddenly full of meaning, I realised the moment was healing me too.

Let’s face it, brands are there to keep us enchanted. To feed us sweet little lies. To tell us we’re going to look great. To let others know just how cool and smart we are. To overwhelm us and keep us chasing what’s new.

But once in a while, you’re reminded: Being fashionably good doesn’t come close to being unfashionably great.

The returns don’t suddenly end.

Instead, you feel them deeply, sitting in silence, next to a pile of Elmo toys, quietly learning how to say goodbye.

Let's rise together with every issue. ♡

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Market Movements

UK economy defies gloomy warnings, 0.7% growth | The Guardian

GDP surge gives Reeves only brief respite | Financial Times

U.S. consumer economy showing signs of strain | New York Times

Brand Beat

Coca-Cola builds AI ad tool with Adobe | Fast Company

Airbnb is having a mid-life crisis | Wired

Max goes back to being HBO Max | New York Times

Nike drops in  list of most valuable brands | Marketing Week

Alt take: 10 most valuable brands and 7 that are on the rise | Ad Age

The brandification of 'belonging' | Post-Culture

Premier Foods eyes M&A push as sales pass £1bn | The Grocer

Rimowa unveils chapter with Jay Chou, Rosé and Lewis Hamilton | LBB

System1's ad of the week is Puma | System1

Labubu: The fluffball that's become a luxury item | Zauey

How one TikTok controversy changed the Met Gala | Coco Mocoe

Grindset for girls, new wave of female-hustle podcasts | Feed Me

8 brands spotted on the must test list | Thingtesting

Bella Hadid launches Orebella in the UK | Vogue Business

NSFW TikToks are drawing attention to U.S. national parks | Fast Company

Ben & Jerry's co-founder arrested for Gaza protest | The Guardian

Lessons from Ren’s demise under Unilever | Industry.beauty

What went wrong at REN skincare? | Cosmetics Business

Starting Up

Elizabeth Holmes's partner has a blood-testing start-up | New York Times

Meet School Space, creating community hubs | Maddyness

Europe's startup scene sees an opening against Silicon Valley | Quartz

Posha, robotic-cooked meals, raises $8m led by Accel | LinkedIn

Granola, AI notetaking raises $43m at $250m | TechCrunch

Tech Tidbits

Trump lashes out over plans to ship iPhones from India | Financial Times

Meta delaying rollout of flagship model | Wall Street Journal

DEI fatigue, the AI boys club isn’t going anywhere | Sifted

Even a16z VCs say no one knows what an AI agent is | TechCrunch

The EU thinks TikTok broke its ad rules | The Verge

The day Grok told everyone about 'white genocide' | The Atlantic

Venture Vibes

Top-decile returns for Sesame Street | Collab Fund

Dick’s Sports to buy Foot Locker for $2.3bn | Wall Street Journal

Google launches AI Futures Fund | TechCrunch

Sidemen YouTube collective launch VC firm | The Times

Gen-Z run VC firm triples fund size | Tech.eu

Can Bill Ackman create a new "Berkshire Hathaway"? | Financial Times

Design Driven

Brawny's paper towel mascot is hunkier than ever | Fast Company

VHS tape distorted nostalgia prompts reflection | It's Nice That

Women's Super League's new branding is meh | Creative Review

Happiness

TikTok rolls out meditation feature to get you off the app | TechCrunch

Curiosity as a survival skill to navigate change | Big Think

4 best parenting lessons for raising happy, successful kids | CNBC

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Stay gold 🙏🏻

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