no. 43: if i had a dollar for every aesop store.
doen fundraising, new marketing moves, and the unfathomable number of aesop stores.
happy wednesday! lots to cover this week. included some highlights from london and paris with my standouts being genesis @ tate modern and eating @ le bon georges. i divided up the news this time around, so let me know if this flows better!
quick recap
tech & venture
tiktok wants to replace google. here's what that means - in this quick report, 53% of gen z say they’ve visited or ordered from a restaurant after seeing it on tiktok. unfortunately, i am in this category.
i saw an aesop every block in london - l'oréal acquired aesop in 2023. the acquisition was l'oréal's largest to date, valued at $2.5 billion, according to the nytimes. i needed to look into this further because i could not believe the number of aesop stores i passed. (dad if you are reading this let me know what you think about the aesop stores)
why does london need 15 aesop locations? 
they want pretty stores, i guess. perplexity launched comet, an ai-powered web browser - perplexity launched "comet - a browser that's “designed to be a thought partner and assistant for every aspect of your digital life: work and personal.”
whats next for doen? - dôen has scaled fast to a $100 million-plus revenue business. doen orginally launched with a raise of $480,000 from friends and family, and most recently their series a raise is reportedly in the realm of $25 million. i saw doen in almost all the major department stores in paris and london, which isn’t a surprise given their successful growth and international expansion thus far.
consumer trends
from forerunner’s latest report on the state of the consumer - tldr is consumers continue to feel pressure
📈 consumer income indicators improved
📉 consumer expense indicators faced headwinds
📉 sentiment at all-time low in april & may
younger tech startups are becoming innovative with how they are doing marketing - i have seen a couple of startups take to social media intensely lately. social strategy for ai startups? (no article link, just my thoughts)
blank street did something fun - notably, blank street created a close friends story on instagram and then invited random users to come try their drink before it launches. i think that’s fun, especially for a drink launch:
glossier, the content-driven beauty brand, is joining tiktok shop - interesting move to me. anything that’s on tiktok shop loses value to me from a brand perspective because tiktok shop is still giving temu. however, i understand this is how people are shopping these days.
brand-storming 🧃
cajal - a barcelona-based jewelry brand; i really want to get something but i must wait.
that’s all for now! byeee