Hi friends,

Hope your Friday is off to a good start! This week, I share the Studs x Shake Shack collab, plus news about recovering consumer spending, a week of impressive fundraises and M&As, headlined by Mars’ acquisition of Kellanova for $35.9B, among other consumer news.

As I continue to iterate on the right format, I’ve added a section called “Featured Story” which goes over major consumer news (if any). I’ve also shortened the news section to focus on the headline, in efforts to keep every issue under 1000 words.

Wishing you a great end to your week, and a restful weekend ahead!

ACTIVATION OF THE WEEK

Studs x Shake Shack: ShackBurger Earrings

What it is: Studs, an innovative ear piercing studio, is strategically aligning itself with popular food brands to enhance its market presence and engage a broader audience. By collaborating with viral culinary brands like Glace, which featured a giveaway of an exclusive hot chocolate, and Shake Shack, featuring its iconic ShackBurger-inspired earrings, Studs merges the realms of fashion and food culture.

My take: I always admire creative ways to generate buzz and unconventional partnerships that leverage the cultural relevance of both industries. Especially if the brands suspect they may have a shared audience, why not? At scale, one of the hardest things to do is generate enough top-of-funnel awareness and traffic in a way that is cost effective and doesn’t deteriorate in effectiveness with increased spend. And collaborations / partnerships are a great way to do that.

Source: Modern Retail