HOW BRANDS MAKE BORING INDUSTRIES DESIRABLE

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Categories where shoppers once bought whatever was cheapest or on the shelf leave more room for a brand to change how the whole category feels. Jolie positions its filtered showerhead against skincare rather than plumbing, while Scrub Daddy's smiling face doubles as the sponge's grip and its social personality. Making a commodity feel premium, designing it to be left out, or turning its use into a ritual gives buyers a reason to care which brand they pick in a category where that choice barely mattered.