🎥 The Sidemen are making movie posters on Instagram

YouTube videos are the new movies

I was going through the Sidemen's Instagram profile, catching up on the latest from one of the world's biggest YouTuber groups, and I noticed something new and interesting.

If you look at the most recent Sidemen Instagram posts, they are creating what are essentially movie posters to advertise their latest YouTube videos.

Contrast that with the actual videos on YouTube, which have thumbnails in the classic "YouTuber" style you see from folks like Mr. Beast.

I'd be interested to learn why the Sidemen have made this creative choice.

I haven't seen any other creators use Instagram as a way to frame their YouTube videos like movie posters.

But it made me realize that the Sidemen are operating like a real media brand.

They treat their weekly content formats--one to two hour long episodes called Sidemen Sundays--with the same seriousness that a film studio would treat the launch of a new movie.

The Sidemen are a full blown modern media brand, not just a cute group of YouTubers.

They are beginning to operate like a Viacom, with their YouTube content, their Netflix Show "Inside," and their premium content platform "Side+."

They are also beginning to operate like a P&G, with their vodka brand, fast food restaurant, and breakfast cereal.

The Sidemen are architecting an empire in real-time: part Viacom, part P&G, part Marvel Studios with memes.

What we’re watching is the future of media in the form of creator-led universes built around IP, audience, and product.

That’s the blueprint we help build at PWR House, ecosystems where content drives culture and commerce.

🎧 Dove Hacks Podcast Culture Via Y2K

How can big brands jump with style into the podcast game?

I've seen hundreds of brands sponsor podcasts, but they're usually boring ad reads lazily recited by the podcast hosts.

This new Dove campaign idea grabs my attention because it's an innovative way to work with podcasts and is based on Y2K culture.

Dove taps into the insight that Millennial women who grew up in the early 2000s lived through an era of especially toxic beauty standards, which led to Millennial women having the lowest body confidence of any generation.

And so they're launching a series of podcasts called "Why2K" throughout the month of July to help people reclaim their body confidence.

It's not an original podcast created by Dove but it's Dove partnering with three large podcasters to sponsor three different episodes related to body confidence.

I haven't seen a brand tie together separate podcasts into one overarching series and insert themselves natively.

Dove strategically picked three podcasts (How to Fail, Happy Place, and A Millennial Mind), each led by charismatic hosts who are good people to trust with emotional, reflective conversations about self-image.

🎯 This campaign works because it doesn’t just buy attention, it buys context. Dove isn’t shouting over the podcast but inserting itself within the conversation natively.

It’s a smart evolution in brand storytelling on podcasts. When done right, this kind of approach helps builds affinity and relevance.

Podcasts are a way to go deeper into long-form conversations about hot cultural topics and Dove has developed a shrewd new approach to brand - podcast integrations.

👑 Why Has The Gstaad Guy Launched A Podcast?

Expanding your business as a creator

The most ambitious creators today don't just want to make content, they want to build their own business empires.

At PWR House, we work with creators who want to scale beyond content into brands, products, and IP.

And I'm super impressed by what The Gstaad Guy is doing. 👇

"The Gstaad Guy" is a comedy creator known for making satirical videos of the lifestyles of the ultra-wealthy, playing characters like Colton and Constance while using the catchphrase "à la poubelle."

After building a significant following on social media, what did he do next?

1. He launched his own charm bracelet collection called Poubel.
2. He launched his own line of rosé called Palais Constance.

But he hasn't stopped there.

Last month, he launched The Gstaad Guy podcast...!

Step by step, the Gstaad Guy is expanding his creator empire across products and content. He's becoming another example of a creator with the ambition to build their own billion-dollar holding company.

Having your own podcast gives you the opportunity to build deeper relationships with your audience.

Hosting a podcast transitions you from entertainer to thought leader, showcases your personality, and builds even more inventory for your brand partners.

Podcasts propelled the careers of people like Joe Rogan, Harry Stebbings, Steven Bartlett, and even Logan Paul.

For Gstaad Guy, there's a clear strategy around his podcast and his target audience.

He's interviewing very serious people - more serious people than you'd expect...

His podcast has only been out for a month and his first guests include:
-Former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt
-Michelin Star Chef, Daniel Humm
-Jewelry designer, Nadine Ghosn
-Editor-in-Chief of GQ, Will Welch

Gstaad Guy is positioning himself as a modern day combo of GQ, Esquire, and Monocle.

His audience already consists of affluent professionals, even some billionaires.

He's serving that audience with original short-form content, a luxury charm bracelet brand, a luxury rosé brand, and now--long-form discussions with world leaders across fashion, technology, and media.

Gstaad Guy is proving that he's not just a pretty face or a funny guy. Like Mr. Beast, he's building out a diversified holding company of products and content. He's building out his own ecosystem.

This diversifies his risk by expanding revenue streams, grows his overall cultural influence and boosts his market value when working with brands.

It's a win-win-win for The Gstaad Guy. ⛷️

🌭 Did Heinz wait too long to say MUSTAAARD?

Short term bets vs. Long term bets, Timing can be unforgiving

Back in November 2024, Kendrick Lamar released the song "tv off," which featured him yelling the lyric "MUSTAAAAAAAAARRRD," in reference to producer DJ Mustard.

It went viral and became a meme that many brands, including Heinz, started referencing in social media posts.

Heinz teased this collaboration several months ago but now the new mustard is officially releasing this month across the US.

It's a layered creative idea that includes DJ Mustard as the face of the campaign as Heinz's new "Chief Mustard Officer."

However, in internet time, seven months is an eternity. Some in internet culture argue the moment’s passed, that the meme is stale. It's a song lyric that no one really thinks about now and many people won't even get the reference at this point.

Sometimes brands place long term bets and sometimes they place short term bets. This mustard is a short term bet on a specific song lyric that might soon be forgotten, or is arguably now irrelevant.

A long term bet would be an actual relationship with Kendrick Lamar and DJ Mustard built around an actual creative concept rather than just referencing a meme, IF that's even authentic.

There's no wrong answer here in the sense that Heinz is definitely in the cultural conversation and they will probably drive decent marketing results.

The thing is, culture is fickle and there are many ways to skin a cat.

To me, Heinz is scratching at something cute but they could be building something bigger and more authentic. There's a missed opportunity here.

What do you think?

At PWR House, we help brands embed themselves within culture and getting the details of that execution right is incredibly important.

🏀 SGA, Converse, and the power of a good NBA partnership

Converse made the right bet on the right NBA player

I'm watching the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder face off against each other in the NBA Finals. I'm also paying attention to the shoes that everyone is wearing.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) leads the Thunder and was just named NBA Season MVP. If the Thunder win, SGA will become the face of the 24-25 NBA Season. And he will also help Converse sell more sneakers!

Converse is the ugly stepchild of the sneaker market but they now have a winning bet with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who first signed to the brand in 2020 as a relatively unknown young player.

Converse took a risk with SGA, who was picked 11th in the 2018 NBA draft, but they also didn't have the same leverage as Nike or Adidas. Converse had to approach collabs differently and make a bet on SGA's uniqueness and potential.

Converse made $2 Billion in revenue last year, but that's significantly smaller than Nike, Jordan or Adidas and they're much less relevant than buzzy brands like New Balance or ASICS. Converse is a brand that needs help.

Now that SGA has become a bigger star than ever, this positively affects Converse's business. While Shai's NBA career was slowly growing over the last few years, he also became Creative Director of Converse Basketball in 2024.

And right before the NBA Finals, he announced the launch of his new Converse signature shoe, the SHAI 001.

For brands that aren't Nike, picking what athletes to work with is an incredibly important mixture of art and science to accomplish your business goals. Both brands and players need to think about culture fit, commercial terms, tone and personality, mutual expectations, creative control, reputational risks, audience preferences and a million other factors.

At PWR House, we spend a lot of time helping both talent and brands make these types of decisions around collaborations and partnerships.

The sneaker landscape is now more competitive than ever and being able to find your own version of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could mean the difference between life and death for your brand.