Emily Singer on ‘Blanding,’ the worst DTC tactics, and what brands shouldn't do on Instagram

The first thing you should know about Emily Singer is that she has a separate Instagram account just for following brands. Dozens of brands. Maybe hundreds of brands.

Well, okay, that’s only partially true. “I do,” Singer, Alma senior marketing manager by day, brand geek and Chips + Dips newsletter proprietor by night, says with a laugh. “But I don’t really use it anymore.” Still, appreciate the exercise for a moment: If for years you surrounded yourself with a never-ending feed of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand transmissions, imagine the level of expertise you’d develop on how brands think, breathe, and behave, too.

From her home in Brooklyn, Singer discusses the types of DTC marketing tactics that really impress her, how brands should and should not show up on Instagram, and why this new intersection of brands becoming media companies—and media companies becoming brands—is a phenomenon that’s maybe not built to last. “The reality of the situation is that media companies rarely make money,” she says. “They're not impressively profitable. [But] you can make a good amount of money by selling products.”

(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)... (READ MORE).