Filling You In
YouTube expands carousel capabilities with music integration
Instagram shares a new Stories guide for creators
Instagram Edits introduces bilingual captions
WhatsApp tests paid partnership labels for Broadcast Channels
X launches a new in app video editor
The Place Where Your Next Big Idea Comes To Life
Who's ready for Season 3?
Before we head to Crete, catch up on everything that happened at our last Creative Retreat.
🎬 Watch Season 2 →
If you've been thinking about joining us, this is your sign to be part of the next season.
This August, we're bringing the Shams Club Creative Retreat to the hills of Crete, Greece, for four days dedicated to creativity, connection, and building what comes next.
From August 31 through September 3, we'll step away from the noise of everyday routines and create the space that is often the hardest to find: uninterrupted time to think, create, and focus on the ideas you've been wanting to bring to life.
Throughout the retreat, you'll have the opportunity to work alongside a carefully curated group of founders, entrepreneurs, and creatives while diving into workshops designed to help you gain clarity around your next steps. From refining your brand strategy and strengthening your content approach to learning how to pitch, create new revenue opportunities, and build a realistic 90 day plan, every session is designed to leave you with ideas you can actually put into action.
But growth doesn't only happen inside the workshops.
Some of the most meaningful conversations happen over shared meals, during slow mornings at the villa, or while exploring the island together. Picture long afternoons aboard a boat, swimming in the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean, sharing fresh local food, listening to great music, and soaking up the kind of conversations that only happen when everyone is fully present. Between private chef prepared meals, guided meditation sessions, golden hour dinners, and time spent wandering through Crete's charming villages, every moment is designed to balance focused work with genuine connection and inspiration.
You'll leave Crete with more than notes from a workshop. You'll leave with a clearer vision for your goals, a roadmap for your next 90 days, and a community of people who will continue cheering you on long after the retreat ends through our group chat and follow up accountability calls, keeping conversations, collaboration, and opportunities flowing well beyond your time in Greece.
Whether you're building a business, growing your personal brand, exploring a new creative direction, or simply looking for the space to reconnect with your purpose, this retreat is designed for you.
Applications for the Shams Club Creative Retreat in Crete are open until July 22.
We can't wait to create this experience with you.
The Campaigns That Turned Ordinary Moments Into Cultural Conversations
We’re noticing that the brands capturing attention today are not always the ones creating the loudest campaigns. More often, they are the ones that understand people, recognize moments worth building on, and create experiences that feel bigger than the product itself. Marketing is becoming less about delivering a message and more about creating a reason for people to engage, participate, and remember.
Here are a few campaigns that showcase how brands are finding new ways to turn attention into connection.
KitKat: Turning an Unexpected Challenge Into a Brand Moment
Sometimes the best marketing opportunities come from moments that were never part of the original plan. When KitKat faced a situation involving a missing shipment of chocolate, the brand had a choice: quietly handle the problem behind the scenes or find a way to bring people into the story.
Instead, the brand turned the unexpected situation into an interactive experience through the "Stolen KitKat Tracker," allowing consumers to follow along with the story and engage with the brand in a way that felt playful rather than promotional. What made this approach interesting was the way KitKat shifted the focus away from the product itself and toward participation. Rather than simply reminding people why they love the brand, they created a moment that gave people a reason to interact with it.
Image Credit: KitKat
The campaign worked because it tapped into something audiences naturally respond to: curiosity. People wanted to know what happened, follow the story, and feel involved. The lesson is that brands do not always need to create a perfect moment from scratch. Sometimes the strongest ideas come from recognizing the moments already happening around them and finding a creative way to invite people in.
UNIQLO: Bringing a Digital message Into the Real World
As brands continue competing for attention online, many are finding new ways to create experiences that exist beyond the screen. UNIQLO's "IS IT COLD?" campaign explored how a simple brand message could become something consumers could physically experience. Rather than relying only on traditional advertisements, the campaign brought the concept into real life through an interactive activation designed to create a memorable connection between the brand and its audience.
Image Credit: UNIQLO
Image Credit: UNIQLO
The power behind experiential marketing comes from creating moments people can feel, not just see. A consumer might scroll past hundreds of advertisements in a week, but they are far more likely to remember an unexpected interaction, a thoughtful experience, or a moment that made them stop and participate. Campaigns like this highlight a growing shift in marketing: people are not only looking for brands to communicate with them, they are looking for brands to create moments with them. The strongest experiences naturally become stories people want to share, extending the life of the campaign far beyond the original activation.
The Bigger Shift: Marketing That Invites People In
Both of these campaigns reflect a larger evolution happening across the industry. Audiences have more content available to them than ever before, making attention increasingly difficult to earn. The brands creating lasting impressions are often the ones that move beyond simply promoting a product and instead focus on building moments people genuinely want to be part of.
The future of marketing is not only about what a brand says. It is about what a brand creates, how it makes people feel, and whether it gives people a reason to participate.
Opportunities
Founder & CEO of Hue, Fahad Khawaja is hiring an Editorial Director
Lululemon is hiring a Senior Director, Global Social Media (LA)
Ben & Jerry’s is hiring a Global Creative Director (South Burlington, VT)
Orebella is hiring a Senior Social Media Manager (LA)
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