Like many teenagers, my middle and high school years were marked with repeated attempts to persuade my parents to subsidize my adoption of the latest fashion trend. (Where I grew up in France, the apparel brand Quiksilver was the gold standard for twelve year-old boys for many years, which is pretty funny to reflect on now.)
Upon seeing the outlandish price tags, I distinctly remember my father repeatedly bemoaning, "it's all branding."
My father held a lot of contradictions in his thoughts on consumerism and capitalism, but his dismissive comments taught me early on to seek where value was being added to the price of goods. There was also an implicit suggestion that we should focus our attention on the functional attributes of the goods (the quality of materials used, etc.) rather than the marketing content that goes with it.
Over the years, I’ve grown to appreciate some brands for whom I have developed a sense of trust. Ultimately, every company has a brand, whether or not they choose to invest in it. As Merriam-Webster puts it, a company is an “association of persons carrying on a commercial enterprise” whereas a brand is an “identity conceived of as something to be marketed or promoted.”
In other words, the company is where everything happens—and the brand is its outward appearance.
When we first started Keap, I confused what it meant to “build a brand” and to “build a company.” This is a common mix-up. A couple years into the project, our point of view shifted. |
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Ubiquitous direct-to-consumer brands, built on social media marketing, have tended toward a branding monoculture in order to satisfy the algorithms. (From Meet The Blands, Bloomberg)
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It’s meaningful to have a nice looking façade, but I see building a façade without a functioning home behind it as an empty endeavor. And yet with the globalization of supply chains over the past few decades, most of the companies we buy from are in fact mere façades. One could argue that the problematic success of e-commerce giants like Temu is removing the veneer, and showing us the raw reality of what we’ve been getting served (with the addition of even more blatantly manipulative and addictive inducement features).
Nowadays, many teenagers aspire to be a brand themselves or feel socially pressured to do so. It’s a tragic state of affairs that we would be motivated to work on curating an external perception of ourselves rather than growing our whole selves—and it is fully a reflection of our current social media era.
I do believe we are nearing the end of that era—especially for young people. As we enter the next stage, I am hopeful we’ll see a new generation of entrepreneurs emerge, aspiring to build great companies: whole companies that serve a purpose, and align their internal culture with their external marketing.
What are some great companies, large or small, that you have learned to love? Just send me a short reply to this email. I'd love to hear from you.
Have a great week!
— Harry from Keap, Steward-Owner |
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In other news:
- Grapefruit + Yuzu is our April Seasonal Scent through tomorrow! After Grapefruit + Yuzu, our Seasonal Scent will switch over to sunny Cotton Magnolia in May.
- Your thoughts on our seasonal letter and artwork: Let me know what you think of this year’s subscriber letter and artwork so far in this cute, very short survey.
- Mother’s Day ideas: If you are looking for a Keap gift for Mother’s Day, you can’t go wrong with a Lavender + Petals candle. You could also offer a 3, 6, or 12-candle prepaid gift subscription to create a shared seasonal ritual and a joyful reason to reach out to each other. A Scent-to-Home set is another nice way to share something fun and discuss your recipient’s olfactive preferences.
- We’re hiring! We’re looking to add a Production and Logistics Associate to the team in Kingston. If you know someone who is a great problem solver, team player, and would enjoy growing into a leader in our production studio, please pass this job posting to them!
- 2024 Photo contest results: Lastly, in case you missed it, we received a wonderful array of submissions, capturing the mood of each of our scents. I’ll leave below a recap of the charitable donations our finalists chose to make. If you’re curious why we do these sorts of things, see this past story on the topic.
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Happy 8-year Keapiversary to Anthony in Arizona, and happy 6-year Keapiversary to Lara in Wisconsin and Anthony (2 Anthonys!) in NYC! 🎂
And a warm welcome to new Keapers Deborah, Emily, Ty, and Emma! It’s great to have you on board. 🤗
As always, it brings us great joy to share how much we appreciate you for reading this newsletter, subscribing to or purchasing our candles, and all the good energy you’ve been sharing with us through the years!
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Our 2024 Mooderologist Grand Prize Winner: A Citrus Gathering (A Sumo Orange Match)
Keaper contest winnings donation recap:
Congratulations and thank you to everyone for participating and making this a success! |
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Alex getting ready for our Kai’ea pop-up in Chelsea last weekend. :)
Thanks to everyone who stopped by! |
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MORE ABOUT KEAP
Keap is a Benefit Corporation started in 2015, inspired by a philosophical question: In an always-on world, how can we reconnect with ourselves and restore our balance with nature? Made in Kingston, NY, our candles combine deep artistry with a regenerative approach that extends to the way we treat our customers, our team and other stakeholders. |
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