Spritz Society successfully used influencer collaborations for rapid growth. However, this strategy caused them to lose focus on their core brand proposition, becoming known as an "influencer collab brand." This highlights the risk that over-reliance on partnerships can prevent a company from defining and marketing its own hero product effectively.

T3's journey with Sephora shows that retail relationships are dynamic. After a successful launch, they were removed from brick-and-mortar stores for nearly a decade, surviving on online sales. They later returned to shelves by introducing new, innovative products. This illustrates that losing shelf space isn't final and can be regained with fresh offerings.

Instead of leasing dedicated locations, Joan Barnes ran early Gymboree classes in church halls and community centers. This asset-light model minimized upfront capital and risk, enabling rapid, bootstrapped expansion before franchising.

When a brand name becomes a generic verb (e.g., "a Zoom meeting"), it creates immense awareness but can also trap the brand in its initial product category. This makes educating the market about a broader portfolio of offerings a significant challenge, turning the brand's greatest strength into a double-edged sword.

Focusing solely on direct-to-consumer (DTC) or wholesale is a failed strategy. Nike's retreat from wholesale and Allbirds' late entry into physical retail both backfired. A balanced, multi-channel presence is now a non-negotiable for consumer brands to meet customer expectations.

The profit multiplier model, which licenses intellectual property, carries a significant risk of brand damage. When licensees release low-quality products, customers blame the original brand owner (e.g., Google for a bad Android phone), not the third-party manufacturer, tarnishing the core reputation.

Despite appearing successful, Gymboree's model was flawed. The revenue share from each location was too small to cover the extensive corporate support needed, creating a cash-burning cycle that required selling more franchises just to stay afloat.

Large brands are falling into the trap of "small brand envy," trying to replicate the playbooks of agile D2C startups. This is a flawed strategy, as the tactics required to maintain market leadership are fundamentally different from those used for initial growth.

To fix its broken model, Gymboree created stores with play centers in the back. This transformed low-margin classes into a powerful lead-generation engine, driving parents through a high-margin apparel "gift shop" twice per visit.