Good morning 👋🏼 This week we’re taking a look at three creative marketing moments that made the world a little brighter these past few weeks—and what we can lean from them.

And a quick, sincere thanks to all of the new peeps (almost 200!?) who’ve joined us since last week. We’re still in the super early stages of whatever this is, and I want to keep sharing what I’m learning along the way—so I’ve tacked on a section at the end of the email where I’ll give you a peek under the hood (I think I used that car reference correctly?)

Vroom vroom. Let’s go.

🎧 And JuliYAHt

We have officially graduated from YAS to YAHs—let me explYahn.

If you haven’t heard of Jodie Langel, you might have heard her Yahs Yahs. A clip of her coaching a student through a particularly tricky section of “I’d Rather Be Me” from Mean Girls at the Texas Thespians conference has gone mega viral (260m+ views on TikTok alone!!)

It’s impYahssible to say exactly why the Yahs caught on like they did, but if I had to gYahess, here’s my three cents:

1. The “early adopters” (first video viewers) were entertained by the seemingly silly vocal exercise that was…surprisingly effective

2. This type of video, where a student makes a discovery or breakthrough in real-time, is deeply satisfying to our innate human desire to watch young people succeed and grow

3. As the sound from the video started gaining traction and thousands of users and influencers started hopping on the trend (either lip-syncing or doing the actual exercise themselves), Jodie leaned IN—embracing the fun.

All of which led to countless collaborations, including one this past week with the cast of &Juliet (that I absolutely adored.)

This reminds me of another bit that was born from a simple, sweet, silly moment—yes, I am speaking of “holding space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity.”

🥡 The Takeaway: Don’t take yourself so seriously. It takes just a little bit of levity to go from deep cringe to a viral bit. Leaning in gives you leverage, and what often follows are previously gate-kept doors swinging wide open.

📺 Chalamaking Me Crazy

This weekend, Timothée Chalamet is both host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live. It’s the culmination of an incredible PR campaign for the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, that he stars in.

His press tour was…wild. He popped up in places that, on-the-surface, seemed counterintuitive to the primary target audience for a movie about the most famous folk artist of all time.

Here’s just a few highlights:

• Made a sweetly sincere cameo in a Brittany Broski video

• Dropped into a University of Minnesota marching band practice

• Stopped by ESPN’s College Game Day where he really held his own

• Sat down with podcaster Theo Von for a hilariously frank conversation

• Spent a nearly an hour geeking out with Nardwaur in a Santa Monica record shop

If you haven’t hear of one (or more) of these, that’s the point. The outside-the-norm strategy has helped the movie gross over $60m worldwide since it’s Christmas release.

🥡 The Takeaway: Reaching new audiences isn’t rocket science—it’s bold and brave creativity. If you’re doing something because “that just the way it’s always been done” maybe there’s a more engaging, inclusive, interesting, or fun opportunity waiting in the wings. Take the time to find out where new eyes are, and go there.

INTERMISSYAHN

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👠 The Devil Wears Puns

Okay. I was wrong—traditional theatre marketing isn’t dead (yet.)

Whilst scrolling through the mysterious land of LinkedIn, I came across a post showcasing an ad on the London Tube (pictured above) that completely knocked my heels off.

It would’ve been easy to just throw up some show art or a generic press quote—but the team at Dewynters really did Miranda Priestly proud with this one.

In case it wasn’t clear: THIS IS AN AD FOR A MUSICAL—The Devil Wears Prada is currently running in London’s West End. But, it doesn’t scream THIS IS AN AD FOR A MUSICAL (unlike me who just screamed that via text, twice 👍🏼)

Being aware of the real-world context in which your marketing exists is essential, and for my money, this is the gold standard from here on out.

🥡 The Takeaway: The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. It entertains, educates, or inspires us—and by making something that makes someone do a double take and smile, you’ve created a tiny magic moment that leaves a lasting impression.

🛠️ Work-Work

Starting this newsletter has kind of felt like what it was like to adopt Penny. I didn’t grow up with dogs, so it was a whole new experience for me. Teaching her to walk on a leash and pee outside were…challenging to say the least.

But it’s been helpful for me to remember those normal growing pains as I’ve started to get The Fourth Wall off the ground. And I find it helpful as a creator (and consumer) to write (and read) about what some of the most interesting discoveries have been. So…

1. I was (still am) terrified of being “too niche”—but the content that’s gotten the most engagement and led to the most growth (in the number of subscribers) has been ULTRA niche. For one, my most recent theatre marketing icks video.

2. Speaking of videos, I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to repurpose content—turning what I write here each week into, primarly, short-form vidoes and LinkedIn posts. It’s a fun challenge and one I’m actually enjoying quite a bit.

3. As to be expected, I’m still figuring out what stories I want to tell here every week. It’s a strange alchemy of what I think would be the most valubale, what’s doable week to week (the TikTok article was a string of very late nights), and what do I enjoy thinking and writing about.

Which is a solid segue into a quick poll question for those of you who are still reading. I’d love to get a gauge on what you’ve found most valuable and what you’d like to see more of in the future!

Thanks for reading all the way—it really does mean a lot to me.

If you haven’t already, stay awhile and subscribe.

And if you feel inclined, please share this with a friend or co-worker. It the best way for us to grow organically.

I appreciate you! See you next week!