Substack is the new flagship
Substack isn’t just for indie writers anymore–brands are treating it like a digital storefront for storytelling.
Who’s in: Madewell, Rare Beauty, American Eagle, The RealReal, Bandcamp, Tory Burch–even Billboard. Some tap founder voices (Clare V.), others bring in known writers (like Casey Lewis for AE).
Why it works:
High-intent, opt-in readers
Long-form storytelling that builds brand depth
A feedback loop for tone, values, and voice
What it’s not:
No promo blasts–Substack bans traditional email marketing
No built-in monetization (yet), so it’s a brand play, not a sales one
Operator takeaways:
Treat it like your brand’s editorial layer–not a product feed
Give it a clear POV (founder, creative director, or trusted writer)
Use it to test narrative tone and deepen loyalty with superfans
Forget blogs. This is the new way to own your story.
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The web is going zero-human
OpenAI’s browser is coming–and it’s not here to rival Chrome. It’s built for AI agents that complete tasks across the internet without a user clicking a thing.
🧠 Why it matters: If ChatGPT becomes the front door of the internet, web traffic becomes bot traffic. Your site, your UX, your affiliate funnel–none of it matters unless it serves an AI.
What’s happening:
Built by ex-Chrome engineers, launching soon (Reuters)
Google’s AI Overviews already tanking clickthroughs–Commercetools saw 20% drop
DTC brands targeting Gen Z are seeing similar hits in both paid and organic
What smart brands are doing:
Replacing SEO bloat with thematic landing pages (Kendra Scott)
Securing brand mentions in trusted media to influence LLMs
Restructuring sites for both bot parsing and human browsing
Measuring “Share of Model” (how often you show up in AI answers)
Operator takeaway: SEO isn’t dead–but it’s not performance-first anymore.
It’s infrastructure. If your brand isn’t visible to AI, you’re out of the journey entirely.