tldr: Monzo’s book of money pop-up shows how fintechs are rewriting the rules of what a bank can be. By making finance feel cultural, social, and worth lining up for, Monzo proved that the future of trust in money is built through experiences as much as interest rates.

It was the morning of thursday 4 september when I spotted a post by AJ Coyne, Monzo’s marketing VP. The hot coral branding did its job of stopping me in my feed tracks and I found myself heading to Soho at lunchtime to see what the fuss was about.

There it was, the “book nook,” a coral emblazoned two-day pop-up that had drawn a queue snaking around the block. Wait time? Forty minutes to an hour. What were people waiting for?

A tote bag of goodies: a personalised book of money published by Penguin, a branded pad and pen, a Monzo book as a bar of Tony’s chocolate, and free coffee inside. But there was more to it than merch.

This wasn’t your typical bank branch. It felt closer to a hype drop. Music, books stacked like sneakers, a barista and a Soho address that signalled cultural relevance. It was finance recoded as lifestyle.

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So why is this interesting and why did I go?

Most banks traditionally would have wanted you to think about things like stability, compliance, security and reliability. While all those may still be true and important, Monzo wants you to think about something very different. Their book of money launch in Soho was not a corporate activation. It was a deliberate attempt to reposition the bank from a utility provider to a cultural player. More Spotify and less like an old and stuffy high street bank.

The pop-up itself felt closer to a design bookshop like Magma or a streetwear drop from Supreme or Palace than a financial brand event. There were stacks of books, hot coral accents, a DJ blasting out music, a barista serving free coffee and a Soho address. People were not coming to sign forms. They were coming to experience an idea: that money could be accessible, creative, and even enjoyable to talk about.

Why the placemaking mattered

Soho is not known as a place for banks. It is instead the beating heart of London’s cultural launches. It’s much more known for its bustling streetwear and sneaker drop culture with queues around the block for example, every Thursday for Supreme’s latest drop. By choosing Soho, Monzo placed itself in that same cultural background. A financial brand inserting itself into the logic of a streetwear drop was a deliberate and smart positioning shift.

From hot coral to hard cover

Monzo has always traded on taste and visual identity is key there. The hot coral debit card was a status signal in itself, spotted in bars and cafés like a badge of belonging. The book of money extends that trajectory. A card you carry in your pocket becomes a book you can hold in your hand. Both are symbols of identity as much as tools of utility.

Banks issue statements. Monzo published a book. The difference matters. Publishing a physical volume reframes the brand as more than a service provider. It positions them as a cultural authority on how people should think about money. In a world where financial literacy is a barrier and an opportunity, the book is education, trust building and marketing. It’s also a tangible bridge from digital to physical, giving Monzo tradition as well as novelty.

The cultural context

Monzo’s move sits within a wider trend of finance brands behaving like cultural brands.

• Klarna partners with fashion houses to make “pay later” part of style, not just commerce.

• Coinbase experimented with NFTs as cultural currency and doing their own pop up ‘trucks’ in NYC

• Cash App sponsors hip-hop festivals and leans into rap culture.

The common thread is clear: finance is not just a utility. It is a stage for cultural relevance. Monzo’s Soho pop-up is another case study to add.

The tension

The risk is that this could feel like a quick hype blip. A two day splash and then reverting back to BAU. Money is a serious subject and education is needed from an early age. Why isn’t this taught in schools as a subject?

Turning it into a Soho moment could be dismissed as gimmick if it is not backed by deeper product innovation, deeper education and real consumer benefit. How is the book of money going to continue this over the months and years to come.

Legacy banks still dominate trust when it comes to mortgages, pensions, and savings. Monzo must prove that cultural capital can coexist with financial credibility.

The sensory shift

To me it was fresh, exciting, different, more cultural, more of an event. But it was only there for two days. What if this was a permanent fixture on the high street? What would they do there? They have an opportunity to become a hub for financial literacy but not in an old skool preachy way but with talks, workshops and mixers. It could also be a free drop in space for startups. All of it is purely educational and not salesy but heavy on culture. A bit like the vibe of The School of Life does but for money. And guess what that all does? Strengthens the brand, increases trust, affinity and loyalty.

The future signal.

If a bank can launch a book in Soho, what else could Monzo do? Start their own magazine? Run their own media brands, host cultural festivals, a startup investment fund or collaborate with design institutions? All of the above? The real signal is that financial brands are starting to compete not just on rates and products, but on taste, on style, in culture. Trust will increasingly be built through relevance and resonance, not only through regulation.

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The Litman’s Lens View

Monzo’s book of money pop-up was more than a launch. It was a positioning masterclass and statement of intent: that the future of banking belongs to brands that can operate as cultural platforms. The Soho ‘shop’ made money feel less intimidating and scary and more tangible, creative, and even shareable. The move underlines a truth about modern finance: cultural capital is as important as financial capital. The banks that understand this will not just manage transactions. They will shape how we experience money itself.

PS. I still have my Mondo card!

Pepsi isn’t just launching a new soda.

It’s rewriting the rules of its own brand survival.

Their latest move, a prebiotic cola, isn’t about flavour innovation. It’s about cultural adaptation. It’s about using the word cola more in their fight against Coke. In a world where everything is being recoded as wellness, even the most indulgent products are being quietly rebranded with purpose.

Fizzy drinks, once the poster child for sugar, is suddenly being reframed as a gut-health flex, with Poppi originally leading the way and now showing Pepsi how it’s done.

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the redemption loop

Indulgence → Backlash → Reinvention → Health Halo → Cool Again

We’re living through the great reframing of legacy snacks and drinks.

Cereal with protein. Candy with collagen. Soda with prebiotic fiber.

It’s not just about changing the product.

It’s about changing how we feel about it. (And drastically decreasing the sugar levels from 41g to 5g helps too).

what’s in the can

• 30 calories

• 5g cane sugar (vs. ~41g in classic Pepsi)

• 3g prebiotic fiber (from acacia)

• No artificial sweeteners

• Flavours: Original Cola and Cherry Vanilla

• Launching online in late 2025, retail in 2026

It’s not trying to out-kale your green juice.

It’s trying to sit in your fridge without the guilt.

Erase the guilt. Add the fiber. Keep the vibe.

from wellness bait to brand bait

Pepsi’s $1.65B acquisition of Poppi wasn’t just a business deal.

It was a fast-track tutorial in how to keep Pepsi culturally relevant. And this is the next step of that journey.

Poppi was the lab. Pepsi is the factory.

The startup built the vibe. The giant is scaling the system.

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what pepsi learned from poppi:

• Health is a hook, not the story

  Poppi made gut health playful, not preachy. Pepsi is now doing the same.

• Design drives distribution

  Poppi’s can design made it a fridge flex. Pepsi’s new cans follow suit - clean, confident, camera-ready. (I still prefer the Poppi can aesthetic though).

• Flavour is retention

  Health draws you in. Nostalgia they hope keeps you coming back.

• Start small, scale smart

  Pepsi’s launching DTC-first, mimicking the indie playbook before retail rollout.

• Lifestyle > lab coats

  This isn’t about medical proof. It’s about cultural permission.

the gut play in context:

• 2019 — Olipop launches with prebiotics

• 2021 — Poppi hits TikTok virality with “Be Gut Happy”

• 2024 — Functional soda category grows 300% YoY

• 2025 (Q2) — PepsiCo acquires Poppi for $1.65B

• 2025 (Q4) — Pepsi launches its first-ever prebiotic cola

everyone’s doing it - with fiber

Pepsi’s not alone. The era of functional ‘junk food’ is fully underway:

• Coca-Cola Plus (Japan) adds dietary fiber to cola

• Kraft Mac & Cheese tests hidden vegetable blends

• Starburst Gummies launch

• Pop-Tarts with protein currently in R&D

• McDonald’s explores gut-health snackables (WSJ, June 2025)

what could go wrong

Not everyone will buy it - literally or figuratively.

Wellness purists may scoff at a functional drink from Big Soda.

Old-school cola fans might miss the sugar. Some may see this as greenwashing through fiber.

The sugar reduction is real. The fiber is functional.

But perception is the real active ingredient.

Does this also achieve some halo effect from Poppi?

Poppi has already faced scrutiny over inflated health claims.

Functional doesn’t always mean factual, but in consumer culture, story > science.

the remix era is just getting started

If this lands, don’t expect it to stop with cola.

Next up? Functional legacy spin-offs:

• Mountain Dew + adaptogens

• Pepsi Zero+ with nootropics

• Lay’s with plant protein

• Tropicana with collagen

Plus then also:

influencer collabs, gut-fluencer TikToks, and fridge friendly shelf placement designed for social.

If it works? It’s a new operating system for legacy brands.

litman’s lens view:

Pepsi didn’t just reduce sugar. It cleaned up the story. It now has a single point of difference. And if this is a big success, it puts the pressure more on Coke to follow suit.

It’s not selling a drink. It’s selling cultural relevance.

And in 2025, that might be the most functional ingredient of all.

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Football is full of record-breaking deals. But this one feels different.

Manchester City’s £1 billion deal with Puma isn’t just the biggest in Premier League history - it’s a statement of intent. A cultural alliance. A geopolitical hedge. And maybe even a strategic distraction.

Because if you’re a club facing 115 charges for breaching financial rules, there are two ways to respond: lawyer up and level up your commercial game so convincingly that people start questioning the charges instead of your dominance.

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this isn’t just a kit deal

On paper, it’s a £100 million-a-year contract, locking Puma into the City Football Group for the next decade. But under the surface, it’s much more. It spans merchandising, women’s and youth teams, and global extensions across CFG clubs in Spain, Australia, India, and the US.

This is about global distribution, cultural adjacency, and owning a share of whatever football becomes next.

City haven’t just built a team, they’ve built a fully integrated media and lifestyle ecosystem. And Puma wants in.

From lifestyle drops to retro collabs, City’s kits perform on the street as much as they do on the pitch. Their third kit alone - a 90s-inspired design dropped by Puma last season, sold out in hours, becoming a staple on TikTok and in Berlin cafés.

This isn’t just sportswear, it’s socialwear too.

As Puma’s CEO Arthur Hoeld put it:

“Trophies are a perfect stage for our performance products, and commercial success were exceptional.”

And he’s not wrong. Since 2019, the partnership has included a Treble-winning season, four consecutive Premier League titles, domestic cups for the men’s and women’s teams, and youth squad dominance. City didn’t just give Puma visibility, they gave them a dynasty.

a billion pound vote of confidence

The timing is no coincidence. City are still under investigation for one of the most significant alleged financial misconduct cases in football history. Puma could have waited for a verdict. Instead, they doubled down - making a £1 billion declaration that says: we think they’ll be just fine.

That’s a powerful form of brand positioning. Because this deal isn’t just about visibility. It’s about belief. It’s a bet that City will remain dominant, unpunished, and culturally relevant, whatever happens.

As one Redditor put it:

“Puma just spent a billion to say: We trust Pep more than the Premier League.”

And internally, the confidence is clear.

City CEO Ferran Soriano said:

“We joined forces with PUMA with the ambition to challenge ourselves and go beyond the expectations. We have achieved this and more over the last six seasons.”

power play, not just brand play

For Puma, this is an aggressive strategic move to challenge the Adidas–Nike duopoly. But it’s also a soft power alignment.

City’s ownership, backed by Abu Dhabi’s royal family, has long used sport as a vehicle for global legitimacy. Partnering with Puma, a German brand, brings a layer of European polish to that strategy. The optics matter.

The commercial footprint backs it up. Together, City and Puma have launched kits in the metaverse with Roblox, invited fans to co-design future kits using AI, and rolled out new City Stores in Manchester Arndale, Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi, and a four-month pop-up at Rockefeller Center in New York. This isn’t just a brand partnership, it’s global retail choreography.

It may also be a hedge on the future of football itself. As clubs push toward direct-to-fan models and expand globally, Puma is buying into the infrastructure of football’s next format, not just its current form.

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what this deal really means

This deal redefines what a kit partnership can be. Puma isn’t buying fabric, it’s buying access to audience, infrastructure, and brand IP. They’re embedding in the day-to-day culture of a club that produces viral content, dominates leagues, and influences taste far beyond the pitch.

In an age where footballers are creators, clubs are publishers, and kits are social assets, Puma’s move marks a new blueprint for sport–brand alliances.

And for Manchester City, it’s a signal: whatever you think of the 115 charges, we’ve already moved on.

City didn’t just sell kit space - they sold cultural bandwidth.

what this signals

Football sponsorship is now power branding. Clubs are platforms. Partnerships are geopolitical. And Puma just bought itself a front-row seat to the most compelling and controversial team of the modern era.

This isn’t just a commercial alliance. It’s a case study in how sport, culture, capital, and narrative now move as one.

Even the materials tell a story: since 2024, all City replica shirts are made using RE:FIBRE - Puma’s recycling innovation that repurposes factory off-cuts and pre-loved clothing. Sustainability even is now a shared brand language.

👁️ see what matters

subscribe to Litman’s Lens for more cultural signals in sport, tech, fashion, and brand strategy

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In just a few years, Blank Street has built what many brands dream of: a product that’s everywhere and a look that fits perfectly into the social feed. What started as a Brooklyn cart is now a $500 million chain with over 90 locations globally. But its growth hasn’t come from perfecting coffee. It’s come from something more cultural , designing drinks that travel through TikTok, not taste.

Blank Street didn’t just build cafés. It built a lifestyle that performs on camera, in hand, and on social.

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matcha is the medium

Blank Street began as a coffee brand. But coffee alone wasn’t going to break through. What really took off was flavoured matcha — brightly coloured, syrup-laced, and engineered for the algorithm. Strawberry shortcake, cookies and cream, blueberry matcha - drinks built not just for sipping, but for the flex.

As co-founder Issam Freiha told The Wall Street Journal,

“Matcha is amazing for mixology. It’s something we can build way crazier, amazing flavors. We’ve barely scratched the surface.”

Today, matcha makes up about 50% of Blank Street’s business. That’s not a pivot. That’s a platform shift. The company isn’t selling caffeine. It’s selling culture in a cup.

every drink has a persona

What sets Blank Street apart isn’t the quality of its espresso shots or the artistry of its baristas. It’s the way the product looks, feels, and flexes online. As one Gen Z customer put it, “You’re not just getting matcha. You’re getting a vibe.”

The brand’s creative director told WSJ that every drink has a persona, complete with mood boards, music taste, and cultural references. The Aries latte? “Someone who hangs out in McCarren Park and listens to Charli XCX.” The cookies-and-cream matcha? “A Lower East Side Dimes Square boy.”

This isn’t just clever branding. It’s a taste engine, churning out character-driven drinks that give consumers something to perform with - and identify through.

design that fits the feed

Blank Street didn’t overcomplicate things. Its stores are minimalist, its pricing is slightly lower than Starbucks, and its interface - both physical and digital, is frictionless.

There’s an invite-only membership ($22/month for up to 14 drinks) that caused an online frenzy and got gamified on TikTok.

It’s scarcity meets routine meets shareability. And it works.

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the new starbucks? or a new model entirely?

Starbucks built global ubiquity through consistency and lifestyle marketing. But its menu is bloated, and its stores have become background noise.

Blank Street flipped the script. It’s smaller, more nimble, and fully optimised for cultural velocity rather than café heritage.

It doesn’t need to be better than Starbucks. It just needs to be more now.

While Starbucks sells familiarity, Blank Street sells discovery. While Starbucks built loyalty through routine, Blank Street builds identity through novelty. In many ways, Starbucks is infrastructure. Blank Street is internet culture.

seeing what matters

In a world of overstimulated feeds, brands that look good in-hand, and even better on camera will win.

Blank Street understood that the modern café is a content platform. It didn’t fight for taste elitism. It engineered desirability. And it made matcha a signal.

✳️ If coffee became a lifestyle brand, what other everyday habits are up for reinvention? Subscribe to see what matters.

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Everyone’s scrolling, swiping and scanning. Few are truly seeing.

In a world of infinite scroll and instant commentary, attention isn’t scarce. But intention is.

We’re surrounded by noise, trends, AI and algorithms. But clarity? That’s still rare.

Welcome to Litman’s Lens. My way of cutting through the blur. A place to zoom in on the creative signals, brand behaviours, and quiet decisions that shape how the world feels, and what gets built next.

If you’re trying to make sense of modern brand expression, whether you’re building something of your own, shaping strategy, or sharpening your eye - this lens is for you.

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What is Litman’s Lens?

A signal-first editorial platform about how brands show up, how meaning gets made, and what today’s details say about tomorrow.

All filtered through a sharp personal lens, grounded in strategy, cultural fluency and an eye for design.

Who it’s for:

You’ll feel at home here if you’re part of the growing community that lives at the intersection of:

• Strategy, brand, and innovation - at agencies or on the brand side

• Design and creative direction - where taste meets systems

• Emerging tech and product thinking - with a need for cultural clarity

• Cultural analysis and early adoption - allergic to sameness, drawn to signals

Whether you’re a founder, marketer, strategist, designer, or creative leader - this is for people who don’t just chase trends but decode, remix, and act on them.

Topics of interest:

Signals and sensory design

• The visual, verbal, and visceral decisions that shape perception

  (Uniqlo, Loewe and Aesop)

Strategy through action

• Brand behaviour as strategy, not just storytelling

  (elf, Erewhon and Vacation)

• Long-term brand equity building

  (Nintendo and Lego)

Form, format and flex

• Timeless design and aesthetic codes

  (Rimowa, Leica and Muji)

• Format innovations

  (Nespresso Pods, Liquid Death, Spotify Wrapped)

• Everyday objects, collabs and drop mechanics that act as social signals

  (Merch, museum tote bags)

Creative systems in the wild

• Smart branding, packaging & creative infrastructure in the wild

  (REKT, Notion, Oatly)

It’s not about chasing trends. It’s about understanding why certain things resonate and how they endure.

How that will look:

• ✳️ Flagship essays — deep dives on brand behaviour and design intelligence

• 🔍 Visual frameworks — decoding the structure, symbolism and strategy

• 🟥 Quote cards — short, sharp, shareable insight pulls

• 📸 Signal scans — tracking what’s surfacing and why it sticks

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Why subscribe?

Whether you’re here for sharp frameworks, cultural clarity, or a smarter take on how brands behave - Litman’s Lens will help you think more critically, spot what matters faster, and build with more taste.

Launching soon:

• The Icons Series

  Brand signatures that endure

  (Rimowa, Leica, LEGO, Nintendo etc)

• Genius Moves

  Creative tactics that reshaped categories

  (Birkin waitlist, Spotify Wrapped, Apple’s white earbuds)

• Brand Signals

  Quick hits on what’s getting noticed and why it matters,

  (from packaging and platform behaviour to personality-driven flexes)

Why this even exists

I’ve spent 15+ years at the intersection of creativity, strategy, and emerging platforms, helping brands navigate what’s next.

But this isn’t just a collection of thoughts. It’s a way of seeing.

I don’t follow trends blindly. I investigate them.

I don’t chase every new thing. I study what it means.

I don’t tell people what to think. I help them see differently.

Because:

• In a landscape of sameness, discernment is a superpower

• In a culture driven by speed, I value thoughtfulness

• In a future shaped by automation, taste remains deeply human

What we choose to notice matters.

Perspective isn’t just what we see - it’s how we frame it.

LOOK CLOSER.

THINK SHARPER.

STAY CURIOUS.

CHOOSE OPTIMISM.

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What you see becomes what you believe.

What you believe shapes what you build.

Litman’s Lens

A sharper view of brands, creativity, and what’s next.

Subscribe if you’re ready to trade noise for signal - and want to see what matters.