The Monday Media Diet with Michelle Wiles

On Mostly Metrics, Reddit, and Beirut

Michelle Wiles (MW) is a strategist and writes Embedded Brands. Happy to have her with us this week.

Tell us about yourself.

I’m Michelle. I live in New York City and work at the Business of Fashion (BoF) where I lead our US brand consulting business, focused on delivering challenger brand strategies for fashion and beauty brands. I have always loved the idea of a brand as a moat for businesses. The best brands are able to turn something cold and functional (a company) into something creative, emotional, and magnetic.

My Substack is about how to build strong brands.

Outside of work you can probably find me at a boutique fitness class or checking out new restaurants in the city.

Describe your media diet.

I like a bit of everything.

Newswise I am partial to the Financial Times (FT). which I started reading while living in London, and continued reading when I moved back to New York because it feels less politically biased than the US publications.

I probably spend the most time on Reddit. It’s the best platform to curate your feed to your interests. If you want to learn more about finance, discuss the latest episode of a show, opine on other people’s interpersonal conflict (and who doesn’t?) - it’s there.

I like to listen to news podcasts while I get ready for work in the morning. It’s usually a mix of FT News Briefing, Wall Street Breakfast and Bloomberg Daybreak.

Speaking of audio, I think people sleep on the audio books included with Spotify premium! I listen to those when I am doing chores around the house.

On Substack - I love Mostly Metrics - especially CJ’s IPO breakdowns, Emily Sundberg’s FeedMe for the pulse on news and brands and NYC happenings, Catherine Shannon for posts that re-ground you in what matters offline.

What’s the last great book you read?

I loved ‘HBO: It’s not TV’ by Felix Gillette and John Koblin. It’s the history of HBO, but it’s also a fantastic account of how a company has been able to maintain a culture of innovation through multiple decades and acquisitions. Many companies (ad agencies, fashion brands) manage to capture the cultural zeitgeist for a time. HBO has been consistently good for decades. There is so much useful information about how to run a creatively-driven organization in that book.

What are you reading now?

I am about to finish ‘Investing in US Financial History’ which is a thorough and fascinating read for anyone interested in the development of the US financial system.

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

I don’t know if I have one... But this question is making me wonder if I should! I tend to read magazines front to back. I love advertisements. I probably spend more time looking at ads than articles, wondering how the ad was developed, if it will deliver ROI for the business, and proceed to drag whoever is nearby into a critique of said ad.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

If you have them, past diary entries and notes to self. It’s so easy to have self doubt when it feels like everyone on the internet is winning all the time and showing off their best self. Looking back on your own self is grounding. It’s a bit like traveling back in time and meeting a person you know, but who doesn’t know you. You can offer the comfort that things will work out (and you’ll end up impressing yourself).

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone?

I am going to cheat and recommend a web app. It’s a site called “The Most Dangerous Writing App” and it’s my favorite tool for writing. You set a time (say, 5 minutes) and start typing. If you stop typing for more than 3 seconds during that time, the site deletes everything you’ve written so far. It’s the only antidote to writer’s block that truly works for me, and it’s the first place I go when I have a seed of an idea that I want to sprout before I lose it. I probably owe half my articles to that site.

Plane or train?

Obviously the train is the cooler answer. It’s so much more pleasant than the tedious shuffle of airport security. That said... I actually love going to the airport (outside of snowstorm season). Airports are rich opportunities for people watching and serendipitous meetings. I also associate them with the excitement of a new trip.

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

I read an article about the valuations of sports teams which listed the Dallas Cowboys as the most valuable team in the world. As a struggling fan I couldn’t believe it. We’re not good. We haven’t been good since the 90s. But the Cowboys manage to earn more money than any team. They beat the Patriots. They beat Real Madrid.

I ended up opening about 50 tabs and reading about the history of the NFL, the Cowboys, and building a model of the revenues of every team. The Cowboys dominate across every revenue stream, and the NFL owes them for pioneering many innovations including luxury boxes, stadium sponsorship, using data to draft players (before Moneyball), NFL cheerleaders, and dedicated players for kickers and punters. The Cowboys are both a major reason the NFL is so popular, and they are the only NFL team that does not depend on the shared media rights (480M annually per team in 2024) for 50%+ of their revenue. A truly powerful brand.

This is what I tell myself when I review our losing record. But next year, you just wait… (MW)