Festival Day 3

Day 3 was definitely one of the busiest and craziest yet. I got there early, grabbed a juice from Instacart, and wandered around the tents. I made it to the Creator’s Rooftop early and ended up catching part of the Kai Cenat x State Farm talk—which was super cool and intresting!

Talk 1: Bethenny & Pookie – Borrowing Community is the New Ad Spend

This talk with Stephanie from MCo Beauty, Bethenny Frankel, and Campbell Puckett (Pookie) was all about how brands aren’t just buying ad space anymore, but instead they’re borrowing trust from creators and their communities. One of my favorite lines from the talk was, “You wouldn’t burst into someone’s house and yell buy makeup, so don’t do that in someone’s feed either.” The main point takeaways were to always be authentic, let creators do their thing, and know that the best content doesn’t look overly planned.

Talk 2: Hello Sunshine x ELF with Reese Witherspoon – Joy Is Rebellion

The room was full because everyone wanted to hear Reese talk, so I watched from the basement, but it was still so good. Reese announced a new Gen Z brand called Sunny, and talked about how women need to tell their own stories instead of letting outdated media do it for them. The whole thing felt really current and smart.

Talk 3: Unilever – SASSY Session

This was in the same spot as the awards show, which was cool. They broke down what makes a brand desirable using a framework called SASSY, which stands for being essentially emotional, sensory, and relatable. She gave us examples of campaigns that demonstrate this, like The Dove x Crumbl and Vaseline.

Talk 4: 7 Marketing Sins with Fernando Machado

Probably one of the most helpful talks. He went through the biggest marketing mistakes—like changing things too fast, playing it safe, and copying other campaigns. His main point was that effective marketing requires guts, patience, and a trustworthy team.

Talk 5: Boom or Bust? Workshop on Brand Backlash

This one was about how backlash isn't always a bad thing and can actually help brands stay relevant. They shared case studies where sticking to your values led to growth even when things got messy. It wasn’t what I expected, but it made a lot of sense and was a very interesting workshop.

We ended the day at the awards show again and grabbed dinner in town. Definitely one of the most jam-packed but rewarding days so far.

Watch my DIML here! ^