Hello Friends,
Here are this week's headlines:
As mass approaches lose their shine, culture is being reshaped by hyper-specific micro fandoms that prove the strongest connections come from showing up in the corners or for the few.
Breakthrough tech is rewriting what’s possible from gene-specific medicine and brain-controlled phones to inclusive sports and architecture that prints itself.
This week’s picks are all about soulful wisdom, dancing AI flowers and analog soundscapes. Tune in, lighten up, and expand your lens.
From puppy parties and pop-up discos to pub quizzes and pride-filled campaigns, these brand moves prove that joy, nostalgia, and local love still pack a serious punch.
This week’s moment in culture that made us pause.
Hope you enjoy, and as always we’d love to hear about the things you’d like us to do a deeper dive into. Simply reply to this email and let us know. We read and reply to every one ✨.
Angelique
PS: Make focus your superpower this week with these 5 brain-training playlists.
Welcome to the Micro-Fandom Era
In a fragmented, algorithm-shaped culture, mass followings are fading. Micro fandoms are rising in their place; niche, high-intensity communities built around the oddly specific. An anime side character. A vintage toaster. A football kit from 1998. In these pockets of passion, people aren’t just liking, they’re belonging.
This is Micro Fandom — a future where the most unexpected obsessions spark identity, creativity, and joy.
Micro fandoms don’t look like headline trends. They look like fans of a plush ‘gremlin’ lining up overnight to score a blind box drop. Like Unwell turning water into a wellness-era status symbol, or Heineken showing up to honour the rituals of just 2 fans. Culture now plays out in side quests, delivering pleasure in ways that are deeply personal, wildly specific, and proudly niche.
It’s about listening hard, going deep and delivering.
In a world of endless content and bottomless scrolling, what cuts through isn’t more noise. It’s specificity. The more obscure, the more obsessive. The smaller the niche, the bigger the feeling, showing brands of all sizes that it’s time to get way more personal.
Micro is where the meaning lives. And it’s where the future is headed.
The Labubu Craze
Labubu has pulled off ‘Beany Babies 2.0’, proving that if you nail the collectability-to-scarcity ratio, it’s: next stop viral. How long do you think this one is going to last?
Alex Cooper’s Unwell Water
Call Her Daddy star cracks the code by understanding her audience deeply - and speaking directly to their needs with a mass product for a niche audience.
Heineken Party for 2
To ensure that devoted, superstitious Arsenal Women’s team supporters, Amelie and Sophie, could honour their match day rituals, Heineken sent a perfect replica of their local pub to them, in Lisbon. The story of just 2 fans became one that everybody relates to.
One Man’s Fandom
When Messi joined Inter Miami, yes he brought fans, but also built an ecosystem that broke viewership records. This passion spawned niche subcultures around kits, edits, and merch showing the importance of showing up in the corners.
In 2025, the most powerful connections aren’t built for everyone, but for someone.
The more niche, the more meaningful. And for brands, that means the playbook is changing: don’t chase scale, earn trust in the corners. That’s where culture starts now.
And when people care deeply, they don’t just consume.
They create, connect, and convert.
What's your take?
The signals you’re seeing?
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Wait, What?!: Sci-fi Tech Hitting the Real World
Gene Editing in Just Six Months
In a medical first, scientists developed a tailor-made CRISPR treatment for a baby with a rare genetic disorder in under six months. This breakthrough in speed and precision signals the next horizon in hyper-personalisation.Mind-Control Computing is Coming
Apple is partnering with Synchron to develop tech that lets users control iPhones with their thoughts. Built for people with spinal injuries and ALS, it's a significant step toward brain-powered computing.Startups OneCourt, Touch2see and Field of Vision use tactile tech to help blind or partially sighted fans feel live sports in real time.
In the Swiss Alps, Tor Alva has become the world’s tallest 3D-printed tower with 30 feet of robot-crafted timber spiralling skyward. It’s the latest proof that 3D applications keep climbing, from labs to landmarks.
The Cata-Lyst:
5 Mind-Expanding Finds We’re Tuning Into
©Berklee
Stay True to What Drives You
André 3000’s recent commencement speech is a reminder to protect the spark that first inspired you. Keep going. Don’t back down. Because sharing that feeling, that truth, is what really matters. Wise words for all of us.
©DavidSzauder
Dancing Through It
David Szauder never fails to blend heart and humour in his feel-good fusion of AI and art. His latest? A whimsical tribute to resilience, where windblown flowers become disco dancers, dodging life’s struggles to the beat of the Bee Gees. We dare you to not feel amazing after this.
©RobertGarrova
Analog Escapes
Before Calm or white noise TikTok, there was Irv Teibel. His 1969 Environments albums used ocean waves, birdcalls, and city hums to rewire minds. Proof that the right sound, analog or not, can transform your state of being.
©ArielInvestments
Invest in Joy
On this episode of The Deal, Mellody Hobson shares how bold bets, sparked by Lewis Hamilton and women’s sports, reshaped her views on power, purpose, and pleasure. A masterclass in showing up fully and backing what feels good and does good.
©WebbyAwards
Enough, Already
This conversation cuts through hustle culture to ask a deeper question: What if you didn’t have to earn your worth? A gentle reminder that rest, joy, and simply being are enough and always have been.
4 Great Marketing Moves
The cost pressure is on and Uber is responding.
Uber: The Really Good Mood Machine
A weeklong celebration of everyday joy in Central London offering everything from McNuggets and Uber Credits to pop-up discos, Disney+ subscriptions and puppy parties.
Going hyper-local sparks nostalgic memories with a modern cross-generational twist.
Puma X Manchester City
An old school pub quiz mashed up with a talent show becomes the stage for a new generation kit reveal that goes viral, as seen through the fans eyes.
Chelsea Football Club X London
London’s finest locals step out with real pride in the “It’s Our House” campaign.
Pepsi X Cross-Generational Football Heroes
A mash-up of talent and technology celebrates 50 years of actively collaborating with the beautiful game to actively rewrite history.
Where Productivity & Pleasure Collide
@snaxshot
We spotted this timely meme from Andrea Hernandez this week, and it got us thinking. Would this work just as well as a spectrum of pleasure in all its forms? If yes, where would you place your brand?
See you next week 🔮 👽 🎩 🪄