The Zeitgeist: March 14, 2025

Today's Edition: H Mart, Cake and Baby Apps

March 14, 2025

Good morning. This week, SXSW lit up Austin, and Team Confidant was on the ground to experience the brand activations and events firsthand. Check out our recap below.

Also, Happy Pi Day to all who celebrate. While we never miss a chance to enjoy a food holiday, we also took a deeper dive into how pi plays a role in everyday life - powering everything from car engine design and precise GPS navigation to even optimizing your pizza order. USA Today and TODAY.com rounded up the best food deals to help you celebrate.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Duke Cannon Makes First ‘UN-NIL’ Deal with Iowa State Mascot

Men’s grooming brand Duke Cannon dives into the billion-dollar NIL game by sponsoring Iowa State University’s mascot, Cy the Cardinal, and the anonymous man under the suit.

By TL Stanley | Adweek

Clorox tests emotional response to cleaning for new brand platform

A study testing how consumers’ emotional response to cleaning compares to feel-good activities is driving Clorox’s “Clean Feels Good” campaign.

By Jessica Deyo | Marketing Dive

Also, Calm x TaskRabbit’s Daylight Savings partnership, Pizza Hut’s Pi Day charcuterie board, Panera’s “Pot of Gold” bread bowl and Claussen’s “Just The Brine” pickle juice for St. Patrick's Day and Capri Sun’s glow in the dark pouch for the total lunar eclipse.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

The Pandemic Pivots That Stuck

In the past five years, our relationship with food and dining has changed permanently - from who’s influencing trending dishes to how we enjoy restaurants.

By Jaya Saxena | Eater

Millennials are obsessed with baby apps. It’s turning them into weird parents.

From AI strollers to “smart socks,” gadgets for newborns are getting weird, and millennial parents can’t get enough.

By Kelli María Korducki | Business Insider

He Has All the Celebrity a Chef Could Want. He’s Still Chasing Gen Z.

Since he arrived in 1986, Jean-Georges Vongerichten has transformed the way New Yorkers dine. He’s on a mission to make them stay out late again.

By Emilia Petrarca | WSJ. Magazine

Too Many Trends!

Mob wife aesthetic, spotted-lanternfly goth, Supreme Court casual - Gen Z is fatigued with the constant influx of trends driven by consumption and are tired of struggling to keep up.

By Callie Holtermann | The New York Times

When Every Product Launch Is a Holiday

There’s a reason so many brands celebrate holidays like National Lash Day or National Fragrance Day - and he lives in North Dakota.

By Faran Krentcil | The Business of Fashion

Corporate

Southwest just killed its ‘bags fly free’ policy - and its brand too

The airline just killed its decades-old free bag policy and eroded its brand at the same time on the things that made it distinct from competitors. “It’s brand suicide.”

By Grace Snelling | Fast Company

‘I take 82-minute lunch breaks’: Gen Zs on the ways they’ve stolen time (and money) from employers

From secretly reading eBooks at their desk to going to yoga and calling the classes “doctors appointments,” Gen Z are sticking it to the man, one stolen hour at a time.

By Maddy Mussen | The Standard

American Airlines And Its CEO Offered Sensitive Response To Fatal Crash

Robert Isom is being praised for his response to the fatal crash of Flight 5342. Executives can take away from this the value of empathy and commitment in crisis management by staying visible, supporting those affected and demonstrating genuine dedication.

By Ted Reed | Forbes

Opinion: ‘Corporate social responsibility’ is a flawed concept. What we really need is ‘corporate accountability’

To avoid hollow social impact efforts like greenwashing, according to Harvard fellow Jane Hoffman, CSR must shift from responsibility to accountability, making businesses truly answerable for their societal obligations.

By Jane Hoffman | Fortune

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

How America Got Hooked on H Mart

What started as a Korean specialty market 40 years ago has grown into a billion-dollar grocery empire with a devoted fan base.

By Adam Chandler | Bloomberg

Consumer Angst Is Striking All Income Levels

Consumer spending is declining across all income levels amid weak demand and growing concerns about tariffs and inflation.

By Jinjoo Lee | The Wall Street Journal

Gen Z’s Economic Impact Soars as Workforce Entry Boosts Spending Power to Over $1 Trillion

According to a new report from Gen Z Planet, Early research on Gen Z found that while they make up about 25% of the U.S. population, their spending power was substantial.

By Arthur Zaczkiewicz | Women’s Wear Daily

Shoppers Are Paying $100 to Join This Invite-Only Fashion Club

The online fashion community Cake gives luxury shopping a major upgrade.

By Jaci Conry | Boston Magazine

Connections

Feed intelligence

TikTok’s mood music will tell teens to ‘wind down’ after 10PM

The new Family Pairing feature will interrupt teens’ feeds with a full-screen “wind down” reminder, which will play “calming music to help teens relax and be mindful of the time” if they’re still using the app after 10PM.

By Emma Roth | The Verge

Candid or branded? Advertisers are flocking to NYC street-style accounts

Brands are tapping into people’s preference for real-life style inspiration.

By Katie Hicks | Marketing Brew

A Magazine Gets a New Life - Just as Cool as Its Old Life

The art and fashion worlds convened at Rick Owens’s house in Paris to celebrate the relaunch of Karlie Kloss’s i-D magazine.

By Jacob Gallagher | The New York Times

Media Moves

  • Tom Llamas, formerly senior national correspondent and anchor at NBC News, is now anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, succeeding Lester Holt.

  • Jodi Rudoren, formerly editor in chief at The Forward, is now editorial director of newsletters at The New York Times, overseeing The Morning and DealBook among others.

  • Eleanor Terrett, formerly reporter at FOX Business Network, has left the network to co-host “Crypto In America,” a weekly podcast and newsletter.

  • Christine Wang, formerly deputy Asia Pacific editor at CNBC, is now media editor at Axios.

  • Benji Stawski, formerly editor at CNBC Select, is now content director at Daily Drop, leading content strategy and development.

  • Cassandra Cassidy, reporter at Morning Brew, is leaving the newsletter and has yet to announce her new role.

SXSW Spotlight

SXSW took over Austin this week, and we were on the ground so you didn’t have to be.

Brands are making a splash at this year’s event with activations that are taking over parking lots, music venues, restaurants and bars all over the capital city. NASA brought a VR space experience to the Austin Public Library. The Female Quotient turned the streets into open-air podcast studios. Rivian transformed an abandoned lot into an off-road test track. Indeed hit the pavement with street job interviews.

On paper, SXSW 2025 is all about AI - its impact across industries, ethical considerations and revolutionary potential. But according to those we spoke with, SXSW is all about creation - how brands want to be perceived beyond the confines of social media and online presence, through storytelling and emotionally resonant brand experiences.

Austin and SXSW continue to be the ultimate stage for brands and creatives to loosen up and make their mark. We can’t wait to see what the rest of the conference brings.

Thanks for reading.

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