Trendsettrs: Kara Sutton
An interview with Always Friday Founder and Who What Wear, Womaness Alum
đ Review of the week from Heather: âThis newsletter is so impressive and I look forward to reading it every week! You are a great writer and have such an eye for interesting topics! Youâre doinâ it!!!â
Trendsettrs: Kara
Trendsettrs is a Pollinatr column about marketers blazing their own trails. Theyâll share tactical advice from the front lines that will help you be smarter at your job.
Meet Kara!
Kara and I met each other while working at Mediahub years ago. She was in LA and I was in Boston. One fateful day we were put on the Netflix pitch together because we both had entertainment backgrounds. At 26 years old we were in the pitch room presenting our ideas to Netflix. The next ~3 years that ensued were some of the most creative, fun, and crazy years at work weâve ever had. Netflixâs brief was always: âWe want the craziest idea you can think ofâ.
We started out as a small and mighty team of four and grew the business from three projects to the largest account at the agency. We helped launch some of Netflixâs most iconic shows like Stranger Things and The Crown. We made yam lube for Grace and Frankie, we hacked adblockers for Black Mirror, and we lit money on fire like Pablo Escobar for Narcos.
Kara is a magnetic person. Her orbit is strong and anyone who is inside of it is inspired by her drive, creativity, and DGAF attitude about what other people think. She does not subscribe to the rules of societyâat the height of hustle culture she told me it was stupid and oft reminds me that life is our oyster.
Kara went on to work at Clique Media Group and helped launch Who What Wear and JoyLab at Target, then moved to Womaness, a menopause brand, where she challenged convention through powerful branding and marketing. Around 6 years ago she launched her own creative brand strategy firm, Always Friday. Sheâs also a mom of 3 and manages the ebb and flow of kids and work like a boss.
Our convo is below, which covers:
đ How to build ideas with buzz
đ¸ Tactical advice for planning killer event activations
đ đźââď¸ Not wasting an espresso martini discussing nap schedules
Michelle: Tell me about yourself / something you're most proud of?
Kara: Iâve worked in marketing and branding for over 15 years and have had the pleasure of working with brands like CBS, Netflix, Target, & PatrĂłn as well as a handful of start-ups and retail and hospitality projects. I started Always Friday (a brand strategy agency) six years ago with the idea that I wanted to work on brands and with people with âFriday energyâ. There is just a certain state of flow you can reach when you work with people that are passionate and enjoy the work. Fridays feel different.
Iâm most proud of is the creative work I did on Narcos. Netflix was one of those magical clients that was game to play and let me do airport creative that alluded to drug smuggling and piles of fake burned cash in bus shelters.
Another bright spot is my work for a womanâs health brand called Womaness (at ULTA & Target). I focused on rebranding the way we think about menopause (with a brand platform called Menopositivity) and found ways to break the stigma around something that half the population will experience. This involved a sculpture made from 300 gold bullet vibrators. Itâs a challenge to find ways to talk about vaginal dryness but lord knows I will try.
I started Always Friday, my brand agency, 6 years ago. Always Friday came about because I love to work but I like the projects and people to have âFriday energyâ â essentially good vibes. There is just a certain state of flow you can reach when you have passionate people who are enjoying the work. Fridays feel different.
Michelle: What's been your "red thread" throughout your career?
Kara: Iâve always followed what Iâm passionate about or challenged by. If it feels impossible, it gets me really excited and the ideas just flow.
Michelle: Give me a hot take! I know you have a lot ;)
Kara: I find it funny that even vegetables need good PR. Remember how cool kale was? Remember when there was not a menu anywhere that didnât include brussels? Cauliflower basically ran for president for a minute there. I find it fascinating. I worked on branding for avocados (technically a fruit) but couldnât believe I was working on ways to make avocados more popular. The KPI was literally to drive awareness and sales of avocados. đĽ
Michelle: Can you share some tactical advice for planning killer event activations?
Kara: Events need built in moments of engagement or thoughtful programming that bring the brand to life. The days of just doing an event built for Instagram with cool back drops (like the Museum of Ice Cream) feel very over.
People want to connect and meet a new person or make a memory. The brand needs to come to life in a unique way. It doesnât need to be over the top either, sometimes smart and simple is better.
I like to create moments that make people bond with the stranger next to them over. For example, cheeky cocktail names (a spicy marg called The Hot Flash for a menopause client was a hit).
I also like moments that a guest can take home and enjoy (Polaroids with branded frames for a London fashion launch) or a station where you can personalize something (I worked with Tecovas and we used a real cattle brand for on-site initials on bags).
A moment of surprise and delight is always something I look for â a flash mob with Kin where party attendees all started dancing slowly in unison, a troupe of ballet dancers on a rooftop that performed to hip hop for Old Navy. A great event activation is smart and thoughtful.
Michelle: How do you build ideas with buzz?
Kara: I always give myself and the team permission to get all bad and obvious ideas on the table out the gate:
Brainstorm all of the puns, jokes, and the very on the nose thoughts. This will lead to fresh thinking.
Go out to events and to different parts of town. People watching is where I learn the most.
Talk to strangers and meet new people. This is how I stay inspired and creative.
Michelle: Advice for working moms and keeping your identity?
Kara: Know that there will be seasons that are busier in work and seasons where your kids need you more. Very rarely will you achieve âbalanceâ. Also, make a âno talking about kidsâ policy at dinners with friends and date nights. I love my kids. You love your kids but I do not want to waste my 2 precious hours and my espresso martini on discussing nap schedule or sports teams. I would much rather hear about you and your desires or disappointments.
Michelle: What are some pros + cons of owning your own business?
Kara: The cons of owning your own business is that youâre in charge of continually generating your own revenue and maintaining or growing clients (this can be tough when YOU are your product). The pro is you can scale up or down as needed and be flexible with your schedule.
Michelle: Give me an unpopular opinion đ
Kara: Andrea Sachs shouldnât have quit.
Michelleâs thoughts re: building ideas with buzz: As Kara mentioned, getting all of the âbad ideasâ out of the way helps get you to the compelling ideas. I call that âbreaking the idea sealâ. A few other things to add to the list:
My favorite tactic in brainstorms is âyes andingâ ideas. Instead of saying âno that canât work for xyz reasonsâ try building on the idea saying âyes andâ, youâll be surprised where this gets you. (This is a common tactic in standup comedy)
Ask yourself if you were the person who saw this idea, would you actually share this idea on social organically for no reason besides that it was that compelling? If the answer is no, keep pushing yourself. Taking off the marketer hat is hard to do but imperative.
I keep a running note on my phone where I catalog ideas as they pop into my head and screenshot things I see on social that I like. The more you keep your eyes open to things that move you, the more ammo youâll have to come up with awesome ideas.
Juxtaposition is key. A gaming idea at a gaming event isnât that interesting. A gaming idea at a fashion show is. Take your brand out of its normal context and put it somewhere surprising.
My thoughts re: events: I loved this quote and could not agree more: The days of just doing an event built for Instagram with cool back drops (like the Museum of Ice Cream) feel very over. Recently there have been a lot of social clubs and restaurants launching that have no picture policies. Being present is posh and Iâm here for it. Thereâs something refreshing about an experience (whether branded or not) that is clearly curated for the attendee to enjoy in the moment. Having someone post on social about an event because THEY enjoyed the experience, vs. because they were prompted to post about it, has quite a different impact. Not all impressions are created equal.
Dinner Party Fodder
Tasty tidbits to talk about.
đ° Recipe of the week - If you are obsessed with churros like me, you should make this churro cake. 𤤠And then add a side of sour cream green chicken enchiladas and Mexican street corn and you have yourself a dinner party!
đ Article of the week - Are you in the Portal??? I freaking love Anne Helen Petersen of Culture Study. You probably know her from her iconic Millennial burnout article from a few years ago. Anyways, I need to talk to people about this!!! Letâs discuss in the chat.
đ¤ Boots of the week - loving my new Tecovas purchase.
𼚠Vibe of the week: Watch this and start the countdown to summer!!!!
đ Job of the week: Ladder is hiring for head of brand social and youâd get to work for my good friend and OG Pollinatr subscriber Philip Edsel.
đĽ Hot take of the week: Most people use LinkedIn to announce job updates. You SHOULD use LinkedIn as a living, breathing resume.
đŠđźâđť Work meme of the week: accurate
đ Lol of the week:
đ Relatable post of the week: Please and thank you!
âĄď¸ Confirmation of the week: I told you trends were out and vibes were in. NYT thinks so too.
đ Trend of the week - Daily Drills, aka Gen ZAthleisure brand, does daily drops of new products and sells out in <1 minute. Not a new way to do product releases (e.g. sneaker brands do this all the time) but itâs an interesting way to drive demand.
Whatâs everyone have going on this week? I have a bunch of fun cultural trends in the pipeline and canât wait to share with yâall! Shoot me a note with any ideas you want me to cover.
xx,
đ Michelle