Brands are making their way to Substack (but with one major caveat), the event your favorite creators are dying to go to + your favorite pop star's favorite journalist
What would it take for you to subscribe to a brand on Substack? 👀
In February of 2025, trend expert and Substack darling Rachel Karten, of the “Link In Bio” blog, wrote an article titled: “Here Come the Brands” (tap here to read).
In this article, she starts it off by saying how she got her first consulting inquiry ever from a brand for…you guessed it, Substack.
Does this mark a shift of brands adopting this emerging, text-first platform? And will the Substack audience accept it? Let’s discuss, coconuts 🥥 ⬇️
Today’s Friday Trend Report (the FTR) will be about:
The emergence of brands on Substack
The event your favorite creators are dying to get an invite to
Your favorite pop star’s favorite journalist
Why these topics matter if you are a creator, marketer, artist or brand owner:
The emergence of brands on a platform can muddy the waters of authenticity but it can also mean new money for the creators who were early adopters. Here is how to best position yourself to land those new brand deals.
This event just opened it’s doors to creators. It is a whose-whose of the marketing world. Here is why it should be on your radar for the future and how to get an invite.
Everyone pays attention to the actual stars but my favorite people to follow are the ones behind the scenes, moving the needle. Here is one journalist that your favorite pop star is dying to get noticed by.
The first topic will be free to all and the last two topics will be behind a pay-wall. If you love marketing and pop culture as much as I do, you can become a paying member of my best-selling Substack for $9-a-month.
Brands Coming to Substack:
Emily Sundberg, from the popular “Feed Me” Substack, predicted that, “more brands will come to Substack this year”. What caught her eye ahead of this prediction was a new Substack profile that popped up in her feed called, “TheRealGirl” — an offshoot of the The RealReal luxury resell brand.
TheRealGirl’s first Substack post was on February 7th, 2025 and it already received 194 likes for their first post. Substack engagement almost operates like dog years.
100 likes on a post on Substack feels equivalent to 1,000 likes on Instagram.
Sundberg had a few suggestions for brand’s that could live on Substack in an organic way. One included Celsius launching a newsletter that showcases the daily routines of normal people with busy jobs. Or Bravo could launch a chat-based newsletter where they recap episodes of the Bravo shows with a different Bravo-lebirty. Users could pay to be included in the chat feature to get the live updates from the Bravo-lebrity as the show is airing. I would personally pay to be a part of this but more specifically if it is Bravo stars covering shows they are not a part of. It feels like the Avengers universe when those crossovers happen.
“Not your typical email marketing”
Karten proclaims that a brand’s Substack must NOT operate like your typical, promotional email: think those emails that read “50% off" or “You left items in your cart!” in the subject line.
Instead, a brand’s Substack must operate more like a friend adding to the cultural conversation than a sales man that begs you to try their perfume at a kiosk in the mall.
On Substack’s content guidelines page, they say:
The brand that inspired this post was American Eagle. They launched their Substack newsletter earlier this week, titled “Off The Cuff”.
But they did something brilliant. Instead of having an anonymous employee write the first newsletter, they collaborated with established and longtime Substacker, Casey Lewis of the “After School” blog.
Casey Lewis is a Lifestyle & Culture Substacker with 74,000+ subscribers. She currently ranks at #24 on the charts of “Culture” charts of Substack.
Brands already know they might be overstaying their welcome by jumping on to a platform that has been seen as a solace away from the overly-branded apps like Instagram and TikTok. But by having a long-standing and beloved Substacker guest edit your first blog post, you are showing the audience that you are not just here to talk over them. But rather you are here to listen and to use your brand resources to amplify the voices within.
Here are a few more brands I could see thriving on Substack and what they would do:
Patagonia:
🧭 Newsletter Title: "Field Notes from the Future"
📩 Concept: Serialized dispatches from environmental activists, climbers, and sustainable design pioneers. Could include short essays, photos, and even voice notes from people in remote areas tackling climate challenges. Instead of pushing gear, it builds Patagonia’s reputation as a media brand with a mission, not just a catalog with a conscience.Erewhon:
🥥 Newsletter Title: "Cosmic Aisle: Inside the Wellness Matrix"
📩 Concept: A highly stylized, slightly surreal newsletter unpacking health trends, Moon Juice recipes, celebrity sightings at the tonic bar, and first-person essays on the LA wellness industrial complex. It could read like The Cut meets Goop with a dash of satire—giving Erewhon its own ironic yet aspirational media ecosystem.Glossier:
🧴 Newsletter Title: "Skin Deep: Stories Behind the Glow"
📩 Concept: A weekly series spotlighting beauty rituals from around the world, Gen Z skincare diaries, and interviews with creatives on confidence and self-image. Think less “5% off serums” and more “how a DJ in Berlin gets ready for a night out.” It leans into the cool-girl community journal vibe Glossier once owned, but with more intention.
As for creators who are actively using Substack, continue to work to build your unique voice and perspective. As more brands come over to the app, they are going to be hungry to work with creators who are familiar with what feels like the wild west. Maybe even come up with a concept now on your profile that you could easily integrate branded products into.
Substack is growing but has way less users than your typical platform and it truly takes time to grow on here. That is something that a lot of TikTokers won’t be willing to compete with since they have grown accustomed to immediate (but surface level) gratification. Now is your window to build out your name on Substack so that you are the right person, at the right place at the right time when the brands come knocking.