Brand therapy for the chronically online and terminally curious.
Welcome back to The Hotline; the no-filter advice column for founders, marketers, and brand builders who know that sometimes the smartest questions are the ones you’re procrastinating on asking.
We tackle the unspoken, the awkward, and the “wait, am I the only one who doesn’t get this?” moments of brand life with equal parts strategy, sarcasm, and satire.
Drop your next existential brand crisis here. Until then, let’s get into it.
Q: What do I post if I haven’t launched yet? – (Leila K., London – Wellness)
Dear Leila,
Here’s the thing – you’re not waiting to launch, you’re waiting to be interesting. And my guess is that you already are.
Pre-launch is when most brands go dark, waiting for “the big reveal.” But the smart ones build curiosity early. You don’t need finished products to start telling a story; you just need something people can relate to. Think of it as building context before you build commerce.
Post the process, the thinking, the inspiration, the problem you’re obsessed with solving. Take people behind the curtain, but make it deliberate, not diary-like. Start cultivating intrigue.
The rule of thumb: every post should build one of three things; familiarity, credibility, or anticipation. Show what you stand for. Show what you’re learning. Tease what’s coming.
If you treat your audience like collaborators rather than spectators, they’ll feel like they helped build the thing, and chances are, they’ll show up ready to buy it.
Your brand doesn’t start at launch. It starts the second someone cares.
Love, P.O.
Q: Is it weird if I use ChatGPT for everything? — (Riley M., Melbourne — Creative agency)
Dear Riley,
Not weird. But potentially lazy.
AI is like caffeine; incredible in small doses, disastrous when you start depending on it for oxygen. The problem isn’t using ChatGPT; it’s outsourcing your curiosity, creativity and critical thinking to it. (The three C’s ai hasn’t yet nailed).
AI can summarise ideas, amplify them, even refine them, but it can’t originate your worldview. If your brand voice sounds like the internet’s group chat, it’s because you’ve stopped filtering your own perspective through the machine.
Use it as a mirror, not a mouthpiece. Feed it your opinions, references, contradictions, and see what it spits back. Edit ruthlessly. Inject tone, taste, and texture only a human with cultural awareness can add. And never rely on it to do the critical thinking for you.
AI should save you time, not strip your POV.
Love, P.O.
Q: Is it normal to obsess over my follower count like it’s a blood pressure reading? — (Zara L., Auckland — Kids brand)
Dear Zara,
Yes. Unfortunately, yes. But let’s unpack why.
The dopamine loop of watching numbers tick up is a side effect of running your business in public. Every new follower feels like proof you’re doing something right, until it starts feeling like proof you’re not doing enough.
Here’s the thing: followers aren’t customers. They’re voyeurs. Some will convert, most will lurk. And that’s fine. The goal isn’t to have the biggest audience; it’s to have the most responsive one.
If your follower count dictates your confidence, your brand’s power lives outside of you. I suggest you start by measuring different metrics; replies, saves, click-throughs, sales, DMs. Those tell you who’s listening, not just looking.
Numbers measure reach. Community measures resonance. One grows your ego; the other grows your business.
Love, P.O.
Why Subscribe?
If these answers made you rethink even one part of your brand strategy, our next paid version of The Hotline will hit like a shot of espresso for your decision-making. Inside the subscriber edition:
- Deeper dives with brand examples, scripts, and frameworks you can actually steal
- Behind-the-scenes breakdowns of how we solve these problems with real clients
- Live subscriber Q&As where we go beyond the column and workshop your exact scenario
Continue reading on our Substack, Public Opinion.
