These social accounts make us better at our jobs

0:07This episode of Stylish is brought to you by ANZ Business Start Right. Worry less about the what-ifs and focus on what's next.

0:20Hello and welcome back to our first episode of 2026. I'm so excited. Happy New Year. We definitely missed you guys over the break. Rhea, I actually did miss you over the break as well. I know. At one point in the holiday period, Mads was like, is this the longest we've gone without seeing each other? I was like, no, doll. I literally went almost a month without seeing you. But it felt like forever and it was only two or so weeks. Yeah, I think it's because it's the festive break and we're like usually both kind of in and around Melbourne, but we both sort of went to the opposite ends of Victoria and then you went to Brisbane and stayed at the Carlisle.

0:56I did. I did have to fight it out for a sun lounge. Quite literally. That's a story time for another day. I got to have this TikTok of 6am at the Carlisle and it was just like a gate open when like cattle run out together. It was just watching all these people with towels. No joke, Mads. It was a simulation. Like I also, no way in hell was I getting up at 6am, even with the time difference, because Brisbane is one hour behind. So we were getting up pretty early. Louis was down there most days lining up and he would just text me. Yeah, obviously. What's a husband for other than to line up and wait for a sunbed?

1:27Hey, hey, husbands are also good for getting our champagnes at the bar, which Ray constantly tells me, no, no, we don't get up. That's why I got a husband for us. Yeah, no, Lou's very good at that. But look, it wasn't that bad. I think TikTok definitely like dramatizes it. If you've never been there before and it's the first time you're experiencing it, Mads, soon to go. Yeah. Soon to go, famously for your R. Do you want to explain why? I was with Renee, one of Mads' good friends at the Carlisle as well. We were having a cocktail pool side and we decided that for Maddie's hens, we're going to the Carlisle.

1:58Maddie doesn't have a partner at the moment. Sorry to tell everyone that. 2026 has started off with Maddie being single. But anyway, we've pre-planned your hens and we're going to the car lull. Yeah, and Renee and Ree sent me a text of them poolside going, can't wait for the hens. And I said, listen, guys, don't have a boyfriend, let alone a fiancé or a wedding date. And Renee just replied, mere details. Doesn't matter. It's irrelevant. Anyway, it was a great holiday. I love it there. I've been there a few times. It can be frustrating if you can't get a pool bed. But truth be told, it didn't bother us that much.

2:28We just sat with our books, scrolled on our phones and dipped in the pool. We were good. What a good way to start the year. And, Rhi, I'm so excited because this is like our first full year of the Friday fortnightly ep. We were laughing because we feel like we've been doing this for ages, probably because we were having all these conversations offline and now we have them on mics. But we haven't done that many episodes of this. So I'm so excited for more of this this year. The feedback's been so lovely. The DMs have been so sweet. So you know this is our corner of stylish where we deep dive a little further into campaigns and marketing.

3:01but I'm excited for this because it feels like we're doing like a little bit different. We're doing a little bit more rapid fire. Yeah, it's a bit of a bumper episode. So we've got a few things that we want to talk about. But before we get into it, Mads, you're kicking off 2026 with your word of the week. What is it? Yeah, I do this every time I have a swap or word of the week. Fun fact about me, I always will write down what it's going to be. And then I usually change the minute I get in the chair. I do this all the time. Yeah, I know. But I think it's because like, there's always like 10 little things floating around in my brain.

3:29I change my swap entirely for Wednesday's ep and I was like, I want to talk about the Starface pimple patches. So there you go. There's a bonus swap. They're bloody epic and they're now at Mecca. I don't have to stockpile in America anymore. Off you go. Okay. So of all of the words of the week that I was ever going to introduce or accounts to introduce to our audience, I never thought one would be someone who has an affinity and affection for beer. But my word of the week is schooner scorer. What? It's a TikTok Instagram account where he's that guy that goes, 60 seconds here, schooner scorer. I'm going to show you my favorite beer and then rates it out of 10.

4:00Okay, I remember. I actually have seen him in the flesh do this. Very jealous of that. He came to Australia last year. I saw him at the Builders Arms. He's in Sydney right now and he's coming to Melbourne and I'm willing to bet going to have a massive Australian Open kind of campaign. How I actually came across Scroonerscora was that he had been in New York, visited my friend Andy Lee's pub Old Mates. Your friend Andy Lee? Yeah, I also, sorry Andy for not answering the call on the podcast. That was a fucking name drop if I remember. Yeah, I was looking like, your friend Andy Lee. Well, if I said Andy, people would be like, who the fuck's Andy?

4:33Of course, of course. No, I was just being a bitch then, sorry. Okay, well, if we're really fucking autocorrecting, then Andy Lee and Rebecca Harding, his fucking wife-to-be and different. But anyway, look, I'll be honest. Bex sent it to me and I was like, hot. It was really where it started. But then I kind of became obsessed with Scroonascora because this guy was working a finance job. He's now made this like his full-time job, travels to different pubs, different countries. And I just think from a marketing standpoint, beer brands are catching on. Establishments are catching on. I think it's like kind of genius because he's working with the likes of Land Rover.

5:10He's working with different beer brands. I wouldn't at all be surprised if this started integrating into him taking equity in a beer brand. But I just think what he's doing is genius. The way that he's like hitting the zeitgeist and remaining relevant whilst being able to adapt to individual countries and cultures. I'm obsessed with it. And he's like really tapping into different audiences. Like, you know, Duke, the golden retriever that's in New York. Like he did a like video with him. I'm like, this is like clever. You're doing it with like sporting stars. You're doing it with Tom Holland. You're doing it with like, you know, in the Swiss Alps.

5:45Like it's kind of amazing. So yeah, go off Schooner Scorer. I was having dinner with a friend mid last year at the Builders Arms in Fitzroy and was sitting outside and we were watching him film with someone else and I didn't know who he was at the time and then I was like I'm going to make it my mission to find out who this person is because he was so shameless about it which like I love yeah but I was like this is almost someone who's doing it for a living uh then I found his video and I sent it to my friend Brad who I was having dinner with and I was like we literally watched this happen and we're in the background like staring one I'm so jealous when he comes to Melbourne I'm like schooner scorer hit me up I know some great pubs in Melbourne otherwise I'll take you to Albertson don't you Like, hit me up.

6:25She's trying to get a date out of this. Really good marketing strategy. Yeah, okay. Anyway, I've got a government trailer if you want to film him. No, that is not why. Look, I'd probably take him. Where would I take him? Where would we take him? To a pub. Yeah. What pub would you pick? Probably the Rising Sun. Yeah, I think a good choice. Or the Orang. Yeah, Orang is good. I'm surprised he hasn't been to either of those. Yeah. All right, enough about that. But so as I said, we've got a bit of a bumper New Year's episode. I also love saying bumper. We'll be sharing our ins and outs for brand and marketing in 2026.

6:57This feels like very on theme at the moment. I'm seeing a lot of these lists. I did think they would die this year, but they haven't. And I'm not mad about it because I am happy to be sharing our ins and outs. Yeah. And I love that there's like such a diverse array of ins and outs. And ironically, we are going to talk about trends and what, you know, we think is in and out. But this is kind of a mainstay or I feel like this has been going on for quite a few years now. I love that you've got like Miss Double Bay doing like satire ones, like Aperol Spritz being out or like, you know, not wearing a shirt while you're running.

7:25But then there's like, you know, fantastic career accounts talking about like what should be your ins and outs, you know, as the corporate girls. Absolutely. So we'll be touching more on that later. We're also going to be discussing the accounts we're following closely this year to keep up with all things brand and marketing. We have so many of these and we have recommended quite a few over the last 12 months, but these are our top two accounts that we will be locking into for 2026. And finally, we'll be sharing how we're setting our career goals this year, new year, new energy. We've got some really good insights and tips, tricks, hacks for you guys to also, you know, set up your year for success in the workplace.

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9:45As mentioned, we love an ins and outs. As much as I love the satire ones, we are going to be a little bit more serious here at Stylish. So when we were debating whether to talk about this or not, I actually pitched this segment for us to cover and I was like, how do we do the outs without it being a neg? and I think what's important as always with anything is like it's contextual right it doesn't mean it's a blanket rule everything is not black and white so that's actually one of my ends for 2026 is that it's not always yes or no deep or shallow like there is an in between there's gray babe yeah sit in the gray 50 shades of it girly oh oh okay yeah that took a turn I didn't expect it I did.

10:23Rhi why don't you kick us off what's one of your ins for 2026? Okay so I actually did what you did for the swap. I had an initial in written down. And then this morning I had a strategy meeting with our research agency, Starburst Insights, and we're planning the year ahead in terms of the key areas we want to focus on for market research. And we had a really good conversation. We're just kind of bouncing around what we're seeing on social trends wise. And one thing that I raised and something that I know you're into as well is posting more on close Friends. Yes. Posting on Close Friends isn't my in for 2026.

10:58Shame. Shame. But what it did inspire this idea for me and one of my ins is I think VIP experiences for brands are back. Yep. And we are going to see more and more brands really lean in to servicing either that 1 % customer, so whether they're top spenders or creating little sub communities where people feel really, really important and they feel like they're being rewarded for being part of that community. Can I give you an example of who I think has done this really well and where I think an out of it is? Because I feel like almost every in and out there's almost like a layered in or out element to it.

11:36So one, what's out is thinking that a broadcast channel is going to be like you've created a community. That I mean. Who I think did this really well locally was Henny when they opened their Armadale store. So Henny had this like massive like kind of press influencer a night where everyone was welcomed to the store and was like treated like a queen. They did the exact same thing, shouldering either side of that with their VIP customers that came into the same cocktails to the same kind of spread. I was like, this is really putting your customer at the heart because I know as a consumer of a brand, when I see like an influencer event or a press event, I'm like, what are you doing to service me when I'm pouring all my cash into you?

12:16It's nice to feel rewarded as a customer to like emulate those events and experiences for you, the customer. I completely agree. And beyond even how much you spend for a brand, another really good example of a brand locally that I think has done this really well is Grilled. Yes. With the Raisin Cane's dupe range that they did. What are you going to say? I was like not feeling my best one Sunday and I called like six different Grilled asking if they had the sauce because I really wanted to try it. Like social media marketing worked a trait on this girl and all sold out. Yeah. I think I called a friend who's father-in-law owned Grilled.

12:52Oh, fuck. She's not dropping names left, right and centre this episode. No, I just want to highlight the extent that I went to to try and get this. No, I think that's really important to emphasise. To be known, I have paid full price at that Grilled every single time I've ever been there. I know. I know. I'm just playing. I'm just playing. Clearly, that connection hasn't really worked all that well for me. my point is with grilled beyond it being you're spending a lot of money with grilled like you are mads this menu was only available for a limited time still is charlotte in the office actually brought it in the other day and we tried a few and they were amazing i know they were so good but you had to be invited to be able to access the menu yeah and you also had to be part of like this special group so again there is that exclusivity nature to it that formo pizza is playing into it.

13:40But what I think Grilled do really well on social is create that environment where people feel like they're part of this VIP Grilled community. I think they did this best when I think Caitlin Amico actually came up with this strategy for them that she made their TikTok private. She did. And we spoke about this on our face-to-face episodes. So we're seeing a continuation of this strategy really play out into 2026. I also really, really love that it wasn't so much about pushing the product first. It was pushing the community, but subsequently it drives sales and product. 1000%. If you actually haven't listened to that face-to-face episode, Ray, that was actually my favorite of that series.

14:16Not that we're allowed to have favorites, but if we did, that would be mine. I definitely recommend listening to that one because I think she was so articulate in that strategy. And I think you're right. A lot of the time you create these strategies and it's about community, but community leads to conversion. And Lucy, our head of podcasting, made a really interesting point to me before we came into the studio. She said what I think will work really well, and I want to credit this because I think it's honestly bang on, is people, brands creating experiences that not everyone can access, but everyone can see.

14:48Yeah. And I think she's nailed it there. Yeah. Exclusively inclusive. Love. You get to see it. What's yours? What's your first in the 2026? Okay. So mine is campaigns built for conversation, not just conversion. Now, I understand right now in the current economic climate, every brand is fighting for every dollar. But much to like the perfect segue off the back of this conversation about Grilled is create community and create conversation. Conversion will follow. At the top of the pyramid, Giacomo, you think about, you know, that amazing campaign they did for the handbag. I know we've spoken about the campaign when we did our 2025, you know, awards.

15:29But I think about that whole campaign. I just wanted to talk about it. It didn't mean I went and bought the handbag. Did it make me look up the handbag and kind of go, oh, it's quite chic. And like, maybe I'm thinking about it. Is it on my wish list now? Yes. But it was the fact that there was like this, you know, massive swirl of convo around the campaign. It wasn't like I had this handbag being shoved in my face that's on every celebrity's arms while they're being papped that suddenly I feel like I have to buy it. What were the key conversations you were having with your friends about that campaign?

15:59That it was joyful and fun and that it wasn't a luxury brand taking itself so seriously. Also that she looked fucking hot. Yeah. I think he does both of those things really well. He's the ultimate storyteller. I think I've said that like five times on this podcast, but Simone is honestly one of the ultimate storytellers. We've also tried to get me to say that brand name six times off mic, so I reckon maybe don't ask me how to say it, you know? Okay. Rhi, what's one of your... Do you have another in? No, let's go in-out. Okay. All right. Give me an out. Okay. One of my outs, social trends masking under the guise of marketing in the moment or reactive marketing.

16:36I am over brands jumping on these social trends as if they're really creative or unique when the fact of the matter is they're just copy pasting something that they saw another brand do. And then that just keeps happening and happening and happening. I'm going to give you some examples. I know which one we hated the most because I think we sent about 18 to each other going, hate, hate even more, hate it the most. The Wear Sorry sales note app. Oh, I can't. During the Black Friday and Christmas period, that was a bit of an eye roll for me. I just felt it was so disingenuous and it also was so obviously a marketing tactic that doesn't actually cut through.

17:16No. And I want to talk about what marketing in the moment actually is. generally that is responding to something culturally that's happened, something in the zeitgeist, or it could be something that takes place at the time of year. For example, the Australian Open coming up or the Winter Olympics. A lot of brands either who sponsor those events are really focusing on tapping into those cultural moments of conversations, the viewship, all of those things. This is like one of the weakest examples of doing that because it feels like a flash in the pan. It doesn't actually make sense for your brand to do this.

17:48No, you're not sorry. sorry our products are so good that it's now 30 % off like we I'm like what yeah and I'm not hating on the original brand that actually did this I don't even know who the original brand was and I think that says enough in of itself yeah but I'm just over people getting into a boardroom back quick we got to jump on this trend or quick this is the thing that we have to do because we need to market in the moment that is not marketing in the moment in my opinion so that is my out for 2026. I'll give you a couple of other just quickfire examples. Staged mistakes in businesses.

18:23So something's gone wrong and we're responding to it. And then the consumer benefits from that, for example, accidentally launched a product earlier than what it should be, an influencer revealing a product. I think there was a time and place for those executions. The consumer has become quite savvy and is now very privy to those strategies not actually being authentic. And maybe one or two of them were. I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt. I'm going to give marketers and brands the benefit of the doubt. The occasional one might have been, I just find now in 2026, this strategy isn't going to work and it feels transparent and it feels manufactured.

18:58Also low key feel the deliberate intention of trying to go viral is embarrassing. I think it's strange in 2026 brands are saying that their goal is to go viral. Yeah. Well, that is just saying you want like the conversion metric on social. To me, it's the same as me saying community, over conversion. You're looking for conversion in terms of your metric of views rather than actually building a thoughtful community that follow you on social media and align and interact with your brand. Exactly. So that's my out. Do you know what other one I want to add to the out list just of like, it's not so much social, it's probably more campaign.

19:30And shout out to Pia Manz who I believe did it first for Heaven Mayhem during Black Friday was that massive receipt wrapped around the model. Oh yeah, that was quite good. Which was great. But now I'm watching all these other brands do it. And I'm like, no, I'm a little bit over the Control C, Control V that we're seeing a lot of at the moment. That's an out in of itself. Yep. Control C, Control V, out. Done. For those of you who don't know what that is, that's copy paste. Honestly, at one point I didn't think, is that the shortcut for Control Paste, copy paste? Yes. It is on a Mac. I don't know what it is on a PC.

20:02It's been a few years in between songs. I wouldn't know. Okay. Maddie, you're out. Okay. This is, I think this is another controversial one. I mean, look, we can say things that might be controversial as long as we're being fair and reasonable. Totally. And also people are allowed to disagree with our opinion. Exactly. It's just my opinion. My out is relying on a singular team member to carry your social media. I'm sorry, unless that team member has equity, the risk that that poses to your brand if that person was to leave is substantial. Now, I'm not saying out is having like your social media manager front and center.

20:43I'm not saying you're out is having your team members in your socials. We do it here at Shameless Media. TBH do it with their team. A lot of brands do. Gem do it with their team. Like there's some great examples of it being done well. And it works and the community responds. And we, I will say just to back up with data here, anecdotal data, and obviously we get a lot of our community give us feedback in our surveys that we run. The community actually love it because they get a diversification in recommendations. They feel that there are people behind the brand that they're invested in. So there is a love factor for it.

21:15But I think what you're talking about specifically is one person singular almost being the brand advocate. Well, it becomes the face of your brand. And I want to be clear as well. This works. This strategy works. What doesn't work is the risk that is brought onto the brand if that person does not have a share or equity in the business and an incentive to stay. Because what happens, they've got you at the Achilles heel as a brand or as a brand founder that if they want to leave, you either have to pay them a shit ton of money to make them stay or you've like lost your whole social presence and your community is used to one face and one face only.

21:51Weirdly, this happened in the US and this is so random, but there was this Miami TikTok page. It was like a plastic surgeon and he had his front desk person be the one who was like fronting his socials And then that person left and it all kind of blew up into a TikTok controversy. So there is also that backlash, not just in the sense of it being between an employee and employer. It's like, how does that play out online? One thousand percent. And people start going, where's Amy? Where's my girl Amy? I want to also preface that if you're a founder, go off. Be the singular fake. Oh, yeah. I'm okay with that.