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The images of Panera Breads new Croissant Clutch could be straight out of a fashion magazine. Highlighted against a warm, glowing orange-and-brown background, the accessory looks out of place in its web store alongside the companys Mac N Cheese Pillow and Just Baked onesie. The fast-casual chains newest handbagwhat it calls carb coutureis an insulated clutch thats reminiscent of a croissant in both shape and fabrication, with pleats to evoke the buttery breakfast foods flaky layers. According to Panera, its also the best possible way to carry around its new menu item, a melted, crispy croissant toasted sandwich, without it getting, well, too melty. It does not say, however, whether the clutch is washable, which suggests a wipeable, insulated to-go box would actually be the better lunch box for a toasted sandwich. But neither fashion nor marketing were ever much about practicality. We are always exploring new ways to connect with our guests, from craveable meals to playful expressions of our brandincluding this unique fusion of food, function, and fashion, said Mark Shambura, Panera Breads chief marketing officer. [Photo: Panera] An attempted internet sensation redux With the Panera Bread Croissant Clutch, the company seems to be reattempting the success of the Panera BAGuette marketing campaign two years agowhich went viral on TikTok and sold out. Twice. But while the clutch bag became available to customers on April 30, there hasnt been as much of an overwhelming response compared to Paneras first take on haute couture. The 2023 BAGuette was also a clutch, although in a classic baguette shape with an embossed P in a repeat pattern. Some described the style as a dupe of Fendis iconic baguette bag, which couldve been key to its viral success. Panera told Fast Company its BAGuette bag garnered close to 3.5 billion impressions overall. Some BAGuettes are still available on eBay, all marked well over the original price of $39.50 (prices range from about $70 to $225). The BAGuettes virality drove many users to bemoan the limited stock. One Tiktok user talked about the bag in the context of Kylie Jenner merchandise drops. I have truly never been so sad about missing a release of something, she said. Panera announced the BAGuette after its baguette sandwiches proved popular among customers, which became a menu item in January 2023. Similarly, the new Croissant Toast Sandwiches, available in two varieties, are the inspiration behind the new clutch. With this launch, our goal is to spark conversation and drive brand awareness by creating a bold cultural moment, said Shambura. Following the viral success of our BAGuette bag, which sold outtwicewere excited to see how fans embrace this next chapter of carb couture. Panera is certainly not the first to try to capture that elusive viral cultural niche. TikTok marketing, spending aperitif TikTok Made Me Buy It continues to be a catch-all phrase for viral marketing content on social media, and a sentiment that played a role in the major success of the BAGuette. Viral content takes off quickly and drives consumer spending, encouraging brands to try to stay ahead of the cultural curve. Some brands have made being unhinged their entire marketing strategy. Others have invested in killing offthen reincarnatingtheir icons. Panera has chosen a different route altogether. Its understandable why Panera Bread would want to recapture that internet magic. After all, whats an investment in a run of $40 bags compared to billions of impressions? However, we have yet to see whether the success of the BAGuette will rub off on the Croissant Clutch. Customers eagerly ate up the BAGuette, but theres one question remaining: Are there any crumbs left?
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E-Commerce
In recent years, the FDA has approved dozens of gene and cell therapies that can potentially cure rare diseases like sickle cell disease and spinal muscular atrophy. But many patients still can’t access these treatments because insurers have refused to cover them. That reluctance is understandable, unfortunately. Widespread use of these multimillion-dollar therapies would bankrupt many health insurers. But the solution isn’t to deny lifesaving drugs to patients. Rather, it is to deploy creative financing solutions that deliver these therapies to sick Americans without collapsing the insurance system. The sickle cell dilemma Consider, for instance, the dilemma posed by sickle cell disease. About 100,000 Americans suffer from the condition, in which a genetic defect causes red blood cells to become crescent-shaped and impede circulation, leading to severe pain and shortened lifespans. Two therapies approved by the FDA show great promise, but are each priced above $2 million, reflecting the decades of research and development costs required to bring them to market and the relatively small patient population. Shockingly, $2 million may not be out of line, given the number of lives to be saved and the years of suffering to be averted, not to mention the improvements in workforce productivity for patients and their caregivers, and cost-avoidance of chronic disease management for sickle cell disease in the future. Curing the condition once and for all could actually save money in the long run, compared to managing the disease year after year and only slowing, not stopping, the patient’s decline. Even the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, which argues that many pharmaceuticals are wildly overpriced, has concluded that these treatments would “achieve common thresholds for cost-effectiveness” at a price exceeding $2 million. Yet few insurers can afford the up-front cost of these cutting-edge therapies. Commercial insurance companies would similarly struggle to afford the treatments for dozens or hundreds of patients in their risk pools state by state. Simply put, the health insurance system was designed to pay for statins and surgeries, not miracle cures with seven-figure price tags. The mortgage model Giving patients widespread access to these cures will require going outside the traditional insurance system, and facilitating partnerships between manufacturers, payers, and financial institutions, including banks and private equity. For example, right now, sickle cell chronic disease-and pain-management for just one patient can cost upwards of $50,000 per year. For Medicaid, which covers about 50% of U.S. sickle cell patients, these costs could add up to $2.5 billion annually. But if banks partnered with Medicaid, they could finance sickle cell gene therapies in bulk for a discount, say $1.7 million, then Medicaid would amortize the loan over several decades, the same as mortgaging a multimillion-dollar house. At a federally subsidized interest rate of 1%, Medicaid would pay $50,000 per patient per year over 40 years. In other words, the government would effectively pay the same annual price for gene therapies that cure patients up-front as it currently spends just to manage the condition in perpetuity. But after 40 years, Medicaid would have paid off the loan. Banks get a safe, government-backed investment; manufacturers are paid quickly and can scale production; and patients enjoy decades of good health. Outcomes-based contracts The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is embarking on a voluntary program between the makers of sickle cell gene therapies and state Medicaid offices to expand access, but it is limited to contracts that take the states off the hook if a treatment doesn’t work as intended. So-called outcomes-based contracts are rife with complexities and are unlikely to lead to widespread access for sickle cell patients. Similarly, employer-sponsored health plans’ coverage of gene therapies is erratic. If private equity partnered with these health plans at publicly traded companies, the up-front cost of paying for treatment in working-age populations could be amortized over time, predictably increasing the value of the company’s shares. Consider that healthier employees lead to gains in top-line productivity and fewer chronic conditions in a company’s risk pool that could potentially lower premiums. This means a greater return for private equity, one that makes their large up-front investment worthwhile. Everyone wins Traditional insurance simply wasn’t designed for a 21st-century world where we have the tools to completely cure diseases by altering patients’ genetic code. But with regulators’ permission, financial institutions could introduce tools that reduce the long-term costs of chronic conditions, improve public health, and generate predictable financial gains.
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E-Commerce
For the first time in more than 20 years, Amazons logo got a touch-up. In fact, all of its logos got a touch-up. The small but subtle changes are part of a company-wide brand system refinement, bringing together more than 50 Amazon sub-brands across categories like pharmacy, groceries, and on-demand streaming under a single brand umbrella. Typography was key to making it all work.A pair of bespoke fonts, Amazon Logo Sans and Ember Modern, tie Amazon products and services together with a unified brand voice that has flexibility for different contexts. This is a brand thats everywhere, from cardboard boxes to music to prescriptions, and needed to adapt to convey boldness and excitement in use cases like entertainment, but trustworthiness in its healthcare divisions.[Image: Amazon]Koto Studio, the creative agency that worked on the brand system and refresh, started the endeavor by thinking of Amazons master brand logo as a type specimen, not just a mark. (Though they did plump up its arrow to give it a deeper smile.) The team refined the letterforms in the logo, which eventually became the foundation for a font.The biggest challenge was the sheer scale, Koto New York executive creative director Arthur Foliard tells Fast Company of the Amazon brand refresh. Amazons brand had become visually fragmented. Every product or service seemed to have its own logo. It was a sea of arrows with no clear system or structure.Under the new brand system, the Amazon family of sub-brands, house brands, and core services, from Amazon Basics to Amazon Kids, now have a unified logo system set in the new proprietary Amazon Logo Sans.[Image: Amazon]Ember Modern is a new version of the typeface Amazon originally designed for Kindle screen. Koto updated it with characters for 366 languages and seven weights so it can be used globally in instances like high-impact headlines or for text-heavy, long-form reading. Its a typeface designed for versatility.They also updated the companys color palette to standardize its main brand color, Smile Orange; tweak its blue to a more saturated, digital-friendly shade; and give each sub-brand its own bright, expressive color scheme. Amazon Fresh, its grocery delivery business, uses shades of green to communicate freshness, while Amazon One Medical, its primary care provider, uses a turquoise green reminiscent of scrubs.Historically, Amazon teams moved fast, spinning up businesses and logos on the fly to meet customer demand, Foliard says. That agility was great, but it sometimes led to brand fragmentation. [Image: Amazon]Going forward, the agency left the company with an automated [amazon]:name command to generate future consistent logos instantly, plus a full logo architecture to define what needs a logo and what doesnt.With its new brand system and font book, Amazon is better positioned to express its brand and sub-brands across a growing number of categories. If Alexa is the audible voice of Amazon the brand, Amazon Logo Sans and Ember Modern are the brands voice in print.
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