ts by unnoticed, unless the claim is extreme, and we simply consume it without processing it. We scroll, then we forget. That is the contradiction at the center of contemporary marketing today. In a sea of ambient salesmanship, taste is making a quiet return, via newsletters, private channels and editorial context. When influencing becomes stale When done well, influencer content still performs, but it doesn’t always signal something real. An item becoming overexposed can also quickly signal the end of its popularity. Take, for example, Drunk Elephant’s rise to TikTok fame with Sephora Kids, a trend of young girls, particularly those in Generation Alpha, becoming heavily interested in skincare and beauty products. This negatively impacted brand perception among adult consumers, and sales are now down 65 per cent, year-over-year (YoY). The bulk of creators today are unlikely to achieve the status of true cultural arbiters. In fact, I’d argue that the fast fame many TikTokers have achieved in the past five years will disappear just as quickly as it arrived without a sharp partnership strategy in place. Brands, for the most part, are fine with this. Unilever announced that it is shifting 50 per cent of its total advertising spend towards influencer marketing. This is because the UK company’s performance numbers are justifiable, and the arena is less murky than pouring money into an automated mix of performance advertising. But while influence can create volume, it’s less effective when it comes to tastemaking and developing a real point of view for a brand. One reason may be that the bulk of the ‘influencers’ will gain visibility only by catering to what gets clicked and what goes viral. That’s why even influencers with the most distinctive editing styles keep go-to formats like hauls and ‘get ready with mes’ (GRWMs) in their content mix. Platform incentives have decoupled influence from taste. A new editorial layer Against this backdrop of being “over the influencer”, a new signal is gaining traction; one that is slower, smaller and harder to copy. This is where true tastemaking is happening today. Newsletters and Substacks Persona-driven destinations where aspiration is dimensionalized – these are today’s tastemakers. While product recommendations feature heavily in top Substacks and newsletters like Magasin, Perfectly Imperfect and Blackbird Spyplane, they’re often paired with witty, personable perspectives. Audiences trust a perspective that goes beyond the mere aesthetic, and because publications are supported by subscription instead of just brand deals or affiliate dollars, the audience-writer connection feels deeper. Crucially, these aren’t creator spinoffs. Many top influencers fail to carry their audiences over to newsletters. Writing requires perspective, not just presence. Additionally, with monetization powered by subscription, not just affiliate links, these newsletters foster a different kind of loyalty. Audiences are buying into a completely rounded out point of view. Brands are slowly exploring newsletter projects, from Nike quietly launching a Substack celebrating great sports writing to exclusive dating and networking app Raya doing the same for travel content. Retailers and brands as publishers Retailers like Ssense anchor their product in aspirational editorial and shareable memes. Their content, ranging from long-form interviews to thoughtfully written essays, stages a worldview that contextualizes their assortment. The product is downstream of the story, not the other way around. In a marketplace defined by overexposure, context becomes brand protection. While many brands have attempted to live by the credo that “every brand must be a media brand”, players like Canadian fashion retailer Ssense have managed to achieve this in a way that feels relevant to their assortment and offer. Another example can be seen with Spanish luxury fashion brand Loewe’s social strategy, particularly its approach to TikTok. While Loewe is activating dozens of influencer partnerships on TikTok, the partnerships aren’t focused on unboxings or product benefits. In fact, the strategy just focuses on kitting out emergent creators (the more absurd and viral the better) in full Loewe attire. Private channels The only thing cooler than being on the feed is retreating from it. There are smaller, quieter zones of access and recommendations as well, from brands launching Close Friends lists on Instagram for intimate reveals, to invitation-only Instagram broadcast channels and private Discords. These spaces feel selective because they’re not trying to reach everyone; instead of performance, they filter. For example, New York-based skincare brand 4AM Skin uses its curated Close Friends list to tease forthcoming launches and invite customers to exclusive events, making them feel just as special as an influencer. A return to form: But not to nostalgia We are not seeing a return to the era of magazines – the historical guardians of tastemaking. We are seeing a reversion to the core idea that taste needs context, that recommendation, to mean something, has to come from a worldview, which must be built. The tools of distribution are now available to everyone. Yet, that hasn’t created more perspective, just more content. The brands and individuals who do have perspective are accruing real authority. Many are building large, profitable media businesses around that trust. The top writers on Substack in fashion, beauty and interiors are now pulling in six-figure incomes annually. Not from brand deals, but from audiences paying to hear how they think. The retail opportunity isn’t to replace influencers. It’s to dimensionalize your total influencer and performance marketing mix. Here’s how to start: Partner with writers and curators, not just creators: This could mean collaborating with newsletter writers, Substack essayists, niche Discord owners or pseudonymous feed curators. Value their context-building as much as their conversions. Diversify the surface area of recommendation: The main feed is saturated. Explore distribution in private channels: Instagram’s Close Friends lists, broadcast channels, or even product drops via email that feel like 1:1 correspondence, not a sales push. Bring back clienteling! Create content that assumes the audience is smart: Assume your customer has taste; they’re just looking for help making sense of it. The brands that win now are those that make orientation feel personal, not prescriptive. Different channels and content have differing objectives; not everything is an aggressive growth channel. Measure cultural alignment, not just campaign performance: Track what kind of content creates brand resonance, not just clicks. That means paying attention to what people save, forward, screenshot and reference. If your marketing is memorable, not just measurable, you’re doing it right. This story first appeared in the September 2025 issue of Inside Retail US magazine.