Fast Company

⁠The 2024 Brands That Matter all share a commitment to their purpose as a brand and relevance to their audience and broader culture.⁠ ⁠ 🍫 @tonyschocolonely_us made fighting exploitation in the cocoa supply chain a tasty proposition.⁠ ⁠ 🏰 Chief brand officer Asad Ayaz shredded @Disney’s family-friendly marketing blueprint to promote ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’⁠ ⁠ 🎨 @behrpaint built up its TikTok show "To DIY For" into a viral sensation buy letting DIY-ers show off their skills.⁠ ⁠ 🎬️ @UniversalPictures turned ‘Despicable Me 4’ and ‘Twisters’ into hits using organic fan enthusiasm.⁠ ⁠ 💄 @tryquinn is using celebrity voices to bring audio erotica into the mainstream.⁠ ⁠ ⁠Read the full list at the link in bio. #FCBrandAwards⁠ ⁠ [Illustration 1 (Tony's Chocolonely), 3 (Behr), 4 (Universal Pictures), 5 (Quinn): ⁠@derekbrahney and @patrikmollwing; Photo 2 (Asad Ayaz, Disney): @jennellefong]⁠

The 2024 Brands That Matter—and chief marketing officers who have played a critical role in their success—are making their mark at the intersection of business and culture.⁠ ⁠ 🥡 @doordash CMO Kofi Amoo-Gottfried helped the company's Super Bowl ad stand out on a night that's already known for ambitious ads. ⁠ ⁠ 🏈 The @NFL is putting in efforts to make flag football a popular sport—especially for high school girls.⁠ ⁠ 🗳️@cspan is turning government coverage into TikTok-ready entertainment.⁠ ⁠ 💳️ Under CMO Elizabeth Rutledge, @AmericanExpress has been positioning the credit card as a passport to a richer cultural life—and younger consumers are buying in.⁠ ⁠ 🌲 @Arcteryx built demand for its ReGear program by showing real athletes using the products made from disused outdoor gear.⁠ Read about all 120+ honorees at the link in bio. ⁠ [Illustrations 2 (NFL), 3 (C-SPAN), 5 (Arc'teryx): @derekbrahney and @patrikmollwing; Photo 1 (Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, DoorDash): @vincenttullo; Photo 4 (Elizabeth Rutledge, American Express): @evelynfreja]

Fast Company’s 2024 Brands that Matter honorees find ways to authentically connect with consumers while establishing broader cultural relevance. ⁠ ⁠ It’s never been an easy task—and establishing that connection gets even harder when constant messaging makes audiences want to tune out. But the 129 Brands That Matter honorees have cut through the din to deliver their message.⁠ ⁠ This Brands That Matter list includes 66 benchmark brands and 63 honorees in eight categories. And new in 2024, Brands That Matter is also honoring its inaugural CMOs of the Year—10 marketing professionals whose work has helped cement their brands as cultural forces and demonstrates brands at their best. ⁠ ⁠ Read more about the Brands That Matter at the link in bio. #FCBrandAwards ⁠ ⁠ [Illustration: @patrikmollwing]⁠

"Moana 2" and its $389 million holiday-weekend gross marked the highest global opening of any animated film ever. But the film also highlights a critical issue for U.S. animators.⁠ ⁠ While the Animation Guild reached a tentative deal with studios to put some guardrails around AI—two days before release of "Moana 2"—the deal reportedly offers no protections against the other major problem facing animators: jobs moving abroad, which has long been chipping away at animators’ job security. ⁠ ⁠ And the record-breaking success of "Moana 2," which was produced in Disney's Vancouver studio, could prompt Disney to shift even more work to Canada. ⁠ ⁠ To learn more about the impact on U.S. animators, click the link in bio.⁠ ⁠ [Photos: Disney]

Issa Rae may not have grown up to be a dinosaur, but we would argue she did become the GOAT 🐐 @issarae stopped into the studio to give Fast Company her split-second answers on dream jobs, bad chores and her thoughts on karaoke in Fast Cards.

"Do we think it’s actually gonna happen?” asks influencer Audrey Peters in a TikTok video posted shortly after news broke about an imminent TikTok ban in the U.S. ⁠ ⁠ Late last week, a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the United States by early next year or face a ban in just six weeks. As the clock ticks on the January 19 deadline, many creators like Peters are preparing for the worst. ⁠ ⁠ “Anyways, I still very much exist on another place that’s linked in my bio,” she adds. ⁠ ⁠ However, the fact that TikTok has weathered threats of a ban across two presidential administrations, means many online are calling their bluff. ⁠ ⁠ “Idk if im just delusional but i feel like nothings going to happen,” wrote one person in the comments of the video. “This happens like every year we are fine,” added another. ⁠ ⁠ However, for influencers and small businesses who rely on TikTok for income, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Click the link in bio to learn more. ⁠ ⁠ [Image: Pavlo Vakhrushev/Adobe Stock]

LinkedIn is covered in unreadable corporate garble. AI could be to blame.⁠ ⁠ A new study by AI detection startup Originality AI reveals just how thoroughly AI-assisted content has invaded LinkedIn’s feed. According to the study, more than half of long-length, English-language LinkedIn posts showed signs of AI usage. ⁠ ⁠ Sure, LinkedIn was an easy target for AI, specifically because of its now infamous professional-speak. But the company also built the problem themselves, introducing AI tools rapidly without setting up guardrails for authenticity. ⁠ ⁠ To learn how LinkedIn opened the door to AI slop, click the link in bio. ⁠ ⁠ [Illustration: Getty Images]

The fortunes of the world’s top billionaires have fared well this year. ⁠ ⁠ As of last month, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, added around $114 billion to his net worth in 2024. To put that in perspective, in the past 11 months, he has gained just shy of the GDP of Puerto Rico, which stood at $117.9 billion last year.⁠ ⁠ Only one of the world’s 12 richest people saw their fortunes drop during this time period. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault lost more than $11 billion this year.⁠ ⁠ Click the link in bio to see how much the richest people in the world’s fortunes have changed in 2024.⁠

The human body is intricately synchronized to the sun and environmental signals so that it can calibrate its internal clocks. Unfortunately, modern changes like artificial light, contrived time zones, and late-night snacking wreak havoc on our circadian rhythms.⁠ ⁠ Armed with advances in biology and technology, a circadian renaissance is reclaiming those lost rhythms. Lynne Peeples explores the transformative applications of this emerging science, sharing insights from her new book, "The Inner Clock: Living in Sync with Our Circadian Rhythms" in a new article on the Fast Company website.⁠ ⁠ Read more about Peeples' research around understanding and supporting your biological clock at the link in bio. ⁠ ⁠ [Source Photo: Pixabay]

It didn’t take long after law enforcement officials named a person of interest in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson for the campaigns to begin. ⁠ ⁠ People, angry with the state of healthcare in the U.S. or just looking to make a quick buck, quickly took to GoFundMe—a site often used to crowdfund for people who can’t afford their medical bills. In this case, however, they said they were raising money to support the suspect: Luigi Mangione, 26, who has since been arrested and charged in connection with the shooting.⁠ ⁠ But just as quickly as the campaigned appeared, GoFundMe officials starting moving to remove them. ⁠ ⁠ Read why GoFundMeis taking down these legal defense campaigns at the link in bio.⁠

Last February, OpenAI teased a powerful AI generator dubbed Sora that could create complete videos from simple text prompts. Today, Sora leaves beta and is launching to the public.⁠ ⁠ Available as part of ChatGPT subscriptions starting at $20/month, users will be able to create high definition videos up to 20 seconds long from nothing more than a text prompt. However, the capabilities and UX of Sora are both far beyond the spartan presentation of ChatGPT.⁠ ⁠ Most notably, a small pool of pilot testers will be able to upload images of people to place real humans into imaginary scenes (a feature that OpenAI says it may or may not release to the full public). ⁠ ⁠ Read about Fast Company editor @ctrlzee's experience with Sora at the link in bio.⁠ ⁠ [Images: OpenAI]

When Sephora gets behind a trend, brands that meet the moment get a big boost.⁠ ⁠ The retailer has championed the idea of “no-makeup makeup” by betting on minimalist brands like @Merit. And when brands like @oseamalibu started creating products free of toxins, Sephora set its own “clean beauty” standards.⁠ ⁠ @Sephora also has put its muscle behind BIPOC companies. In fact, it was the first company to sign the 15 Percent Pledge in 2020, committing 15% of its shelf space to Black-owned brands such as @byamicole⁠ @danessamyricksbeauty, and @patternbeauty.⁠ ⁠ But breaking into Sephora’s sphere can come with big costs. Read more about how Sephora incubates trends, and the brands that can live or die with them, at the link in bio.⁠ ⁠ [Illustration: @studio_ianus]