💄 Barbie's marketing budget, stockist contact list, TikTok's new ad library

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👇 Today we're covering

• 📓 Resource roundup

• 🗞️ Skim the headlines

• 💻 URL event: Group business coaching with Fable founder Sophie Doyle

but first in case you missed it…

Director Greta Gerwig just made history as Barbie scored the biggest opening weekend for film directed by a woman. The movie made US$155 million in ticket sales across the US and Canada—that’s more than every Marvel film released this year–and hit $377 million in global ticket sales. It probably has something to do with the $150 million marketing budget, which was higher than the budget to produce the entire movie ($145 million).

A good chunk of that marketing spend has gone into brand partnerships. It feels like everyone’s been dropping Barbie collabs over the last month.

Candle brand Homesick saw a 90% boost in website traffic on the launch day of their Barbie Dreamhouse scented candle, and beauty brand NYX's Y2K Barbie flip phone mirror quickly sold out in Ulta stores and on the brand’s website.

We’ve also seen collabs with OPI, Little Words Project, Funboy, MeUndies, Stony Clover Lane, Glasshouse Fragrances, Tangle Teezer, Swoon, and so many others. Next week, we’re sharing some goss about how these Barbie deals are secured and structured.

• $10,000 grants are up for grabs to 20 small business owners who have Venmo business accounts. 🔗 Tell me more

• TikTok just dropped a library of all ads shown by brands in Europe and the UK. You can now snoop a brand’s ad creative, a summary of targeting parameters, campaign duration, and the number of users their ad reached. 🔗 Tell me more

• Black female founders with a beauty biz created for Black consumers have a shot at winning $100,000 from Aveeno. Applications close 13 August. 🔗 Tell me more

• This thread rounds up the 8 AI Chrome extensions you need to save time in your biz. 🔗 Tell me more

• Kickstart your content strategy with these 10 evergreen video ideas by recent Female Founder World podcast guest Jera Bean. 🔗 Tell me more

• Are you just getting started raising money for your biz? Here’s a list of all of the folks that lead pre-seed fundraises (meaning they invest in very, very early companies). 🔗 Tell me more

• Black female founders can apply for a $5,000 cash grant and mentorship from Pepper, the lingerie brand by Jaclyn Fu that’s sold over 1 million bras. 🔗 Tell me more

• Your social media team needs this new AI-powered image and video creation tool from Microsoft. 🔗 Tell me more

• Irish founders, this one’s for you: Enter this competition to win one of five €10,000 grants plus business coaching. 🔗 Tell me more

• 🔒 Looking for stockists? Download a contact list of over 140 cute independent boutiques across the United States (Business Bestie members only). 🔗 Tell me more

THREADS: Are we already getting over Threads? After hitting more than $100 million downloads within a week of launching, the number of daily active users on Threads dropped down to 13 million, a 70% decline from its highest point on 7 July. Meanwhile Twitter has around 200 million daily active users.

REVIEWS: Yenno those products that seem to mysteriously have thousands of 5-star reviews? Apparently 30-40% of online reviews are fake, and now new rules being discussed by the US Federal Trade Commission would fine the brands $50,000 per fake review for each time a consumer sees the review.

TIKTOK: There are two big TikTok announcements this week. First, the app’s planning to introduce a big ecommerce business that will take on Amazon, Shein, and Temu and manage the storage, logistics, sales, and marketing of Chinese products to US customers. 👀

They’ve also added a new feature: text posts, likely in an effort to compete with Threads and Twitter. Now when you open the the camera icon on TikTok, you can choose from photo, video or text. Select the text option, and you’ll land on the text creation page, where you can type out the content of your post.

MONEY: Biden had big plans to wipe out $500B in student debt in the US, but the supreme court rejected the plan. If you don’t have student debt why does this matter for your business? Analysts are already starting to map out the effects on consumer spending, with big retailers bracing for a slump.

Organic baby food company, Bobbie, founded by Laura Modi, just closed their series C fundraising round of $70M.

CELEBS: Kim Kardashian is in talks to buy back 20% of her beauty company, SKKN, which is currently valued at $1 billion. Kim previously sold her shares to Coty, the folks that own fragrance and beauty brands like Vera Wang and Katy Perry to Burberry and Gucci, and the entire Kylie Jenner brand portfolio.

Meanwhile, Snoop Dogg started an ice cream business called Dr Bombay Ice Cream and Cher is launching a gelato brand called…🥁 Cherlato.

UPS: Staff at UPS, a major postal service in the United States, have been threatening to strike, but a tentative new deal that includes $30B in pay and benefits looks to have resolved the tension. Phew, because we do not have time for that.

FOOD & BEV: Haus, the non-alcoholic aperitif brand that really started the movement is back. The brand shut down last year after VC funding dried up, but they’ve recently found a buyer, The Naked Market. Although Haus’ co-founder, Helena Price Hambrecht, won’t be a part of this new chapter, she told Techcrunch she’s excited to see what the new owners do with the company.

LAUNCHES:

• Shelby Wild, the founder of hair care brand Playa launched a new affordable hair biz called California Naturals.

• Crown Affair, the hair brand by Dianna Cohen, launched The Calming Scalp Serum 

• Superfood biz Golde by Trinity Mouzon Wofford launched Yuzu Matcha 

• Cocokind landed in all Ulta Beauty stores

• Fishwife launched Sardines with Preserved Lemon and Sardines with Hot Pepper

URL Event: Group Business Coaching with Fable Founder Sophie Doyle

🕒 Tuesday, 8 August, 7-7:30pm ET

We've got a live Q&A with Sophie Doyle, the Sydney-based founder of The Fable, who sells $4.5 million worth of silk shirts a year.

Sophie started her fashion business as a burnt out marketing exec who knew she needed a change. She sold her car for $7,000 to get started on the business, and has grown it now to 6-figures in revenue.

Join this Female Founder World Group Business Coaching call to chat with Sophie about the strategic partnerships that are powering her business’s growth, her email marketing strategy that’s driving sales, and how to cut through as a fashion brand in 2023.

🎧 Latest podcast episode: How founders should show up on social media with Jera Bean