What We Are Reading: Week of October 20th
From soda cans to diamonds, this week’s finds prove that the best marketing doesn’t shout. Instead it shapes emotion, memory, and meaning. These are the stories that caught our attention.
Hello Kitty and the Art of Staying Cute at Scale
Hello Kitty isn’t for everyone, but she’s impossible to ignore.
The bow, the blank expression, the quiet ubiquity. It’s all part of a brand that has survived every cultural mood swing for half a century.
Now 31-year-old CEO Tomokuni Tsuji is re-engineering Sanrio for the next generation. His strategy is simple: keep joy as the core product, but diversify the cast. Hello Kitty still accounts for 35 percent of sales, yet new characters like My Melody, Kuromi, and Cinnamoroll are stepping into their own spotlight.
It’s a reminder that longevity in branding doesn’t come from reinvention alone. It comes from expanding the universe without losing the tone.
Cadbury Heroes: Turning Culture into Confection
Cadbury and VCCP just turned cultural icons into chocolates for the “All Heroes, No Zeros” campaign. Queen headlines as Crunchies and Dairy Milks in a stop-motion concert that reimagines the inside of a Heroes tub as a sold-out stadium. It is playful, nostalgic, and deeply British. A remix of pop culture and comfort food.
The insight is simple: Cadbury is selling candy wrapped with collective pride. The campaign treats chocolate as symbols of national personality, where heritage meets humor. It turns a familiar product into a shared moment of recognition, using nostalgia as a soft form of unity. Every bite becomes a miniature story about community and delight.
Would you grab a bag of chocolates if it felt like a small act of pride?
🔗 Here’s the Link to VCCP's Campaign.
Olipop Just Turned a Soda Launch Into a Treasure Hunt Under the Sea
To celebrate the new SpongeBob Search for SquarePants movie, Olipop teamed up with Paramount and Intertype Studio for a limited-edition flavor called Pineapple Paradise. Instead of a single can design, they created five collectible versions of SpongeBob, each with a different expression. The cans became part of a social media treasure hunt inviting fans to “Search for SquarePants,” driving collectors to find them all and share their discoveries online.
Olipop transformed a flavor drop into a collectible experience. By turning packaging into play, the brand didn’t just join the movie’s moment — it made itself part of the storyline. The collaboration connects wellness soda culture with pop nostalgia, using design as both entertainment and engagement. Every can becomes a keepsake, and every shelf turns into a scene from Bikini Bottom.
Would you buy a soda just to collect every SpongeBob face?
🔗 Here’s the link to the story.
De Beers Finds New Light in the Desert
De Beers
De Beers and Arnold Worldwide have launched Desert Diamonds, a national campaign that uses desert color and calm emotion to restore the magic of natural stones. The films and visuals draw from sunlight, sand, and skin tones to celebrate individuality, showing that beauty shaped by nature still feels alive. Each story reflects a different shade of love and identity, positioning natural diamonds as the most personal form of luxury.
The campaign works because it trades clichés for sincerity. De Beers leans on emotional storytelling and visual restraint to remind people why the real thing still matters. In a market crowded with lab-grown sameness, meaning becomes the ultimate differentiator. Desert Diamonds doesn’t chase trend—it rebuilds desire by making authenticity feel timeless again.
Is emotional honesty the new currency of luxury?
🔗 Read the Press Release here.
