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The Collision of Gratitude and Commerce

Happy Friday Sippers,

How was your week?

Here in the North, our turkey leftovers are long gone (shoutout to October Thanksgiving), but the energy this week is contagious. We are currently witnessing a fascinating collision in the business world.

Yesterday, we paused to count our blessings. Today, the economy is counting on us to spend them, to the tune of a projected $9.8 billion.

It is a fascinating collision: a day of quiet gratitude followed immediately by the loudest shopping day in history. It is a mix of high emotion and high transaction. 

And it got me thinking: Why do we treat these two things as opposites?

Usually, we think of "Thanks" as a soft skill and "Sales" as a hard skill. But the best brands know that gratitude is a Strategy.

So, in honour of the holiday week, I want to revisit a concept that is the ultimate antidote to the transactional noise of Black Friday.

Think about the impact of true gratitude, that warm feeling you get when someone genuinely sees your worth. It's Gold! It's the powerful, validating sense of being seen: "I see you, and thank you."

That feeling is not passive; it's a huge emotional driver. 

And that is why, in branding, gratitude is an active, strategic force.

Most brands focus on what they want from the customer (a purchase, a click, a subscription). Strategic brands focus on what they owe the customer for their trust and time.

Here are three ways brands can transform a personal feeling into a strategic asset:

🍗1. Shift the Conversation from "Why Buy?" to "Thank You for Buying"

When a brand's communication is 90% product promotion and 10% customer recognition, the relationship is transactional. Gratitude reverses the power dynamic.

• The Conflict | Most brand communications (emails, social posts) are designed to exploit the customer relationship (pushing the next purchase).

• The Recognition Shift | Use content to explore the value of the customer's existing choice. A simple "Thank you for being here" campaign, or a personalized message celebrating a loyalty anniversary, reinforces that their patronage matters more than the next sale. This sustained validation is key to driving future consideration and is the ultimate "switching repellent."

🍗2. Gratitude as a Data Point: Recognizing Effort, Not Just Dollars

Brands often tie rewards solely to spending (the functional benefit). Strategic gratitude ties recognition to engagement (the emotional investment), showing your customer that you see their worth.

• The Old Way | "Spend $100, get 10 points."

• The Gratitude Way | "Thank you for being with us for five years," or "We see you spent 1 hour and 46 minutes a day on shorts this week, thank you for giving us a slice of that precious time." By acknowledging the non-monetary effort a customer invests (their time, their attention, their advocacy), you build a deeper emotional contract.

🍗3. Giving Thanks to the Brand Ecosystem

Gratitude must flow through the entire brand vertical, your brand ecosystem. Active recognition is the essential lubricant that keeps the whole system running smoothly.

• To Your Partners & Employees | Recognizing the people who help you deliver on your promise creates consistency. Internally at Google, we have peer-to-peer programs, but also deep recognition moments like the Gold Awards. I was incredibly humbled to receive one this year for being a "Bridge Builder." I share this not to brag, but to describe the immediate emotional shift: I felt seen. When your peers validate your specific contribution (not just the outcome but the way you work), it creates an emotional bond that a simple paycheck never could.

• To Your Community | Recognizing the creators and advocates who tell your story (the influencers, the early adopters) shows humility and trusts the consumer. Modern brands are built by the community, not just the company.

🌍The Pulse of the Market 

If you want to see what happens when gratitude turns into Commerce, take a look at the Shopify BFCM Live Globe today.

It is mesmerizing. It's a real-time visualization of the global economy connecting. But remember, as you watch those lights: every single ping on that map started with a relationship.

🍿The Commercial Break (Popcorn please) 

Since we are in the thick of the holiday ad season, I've curated the best spots of the week. Some are funny, some are tear-jerkers, and all of them are masterclasses in emotional branding.

The "Classic Holiday" Vibes:

• Macy's leans into the chaos of finding the perfect gift. 

• SNL brings the energy (and the Target red circles). 

• Jimmy Fallon brings the laughs with his Thanksgiving Monologue. 

The "Clever" Vibes:

• Google helping planning a timely getaway with AI Mode

• Publix continues their tradition of destroying us emotionally (in a good way). 

• Google Pixel winks at Love Actually while perfectly balancing tech features with human connection.

🎹My Ultimate Favourite (The Gift) 

If you only watch one, make it this one. It is a Chevy ad, and it remains the gold standard for storytelling. It's not about the product (the car); it's about the solution (keeping a memory alive). A Holiday to Remember. (Seriously, give it a try and call your Nana.)

🍷The Sip Takeaway

This weekend, as you gather with family or browse the sales, think about the relationships you prioritize. The most powerful ones aren't based on what you ask for, but the ones you willingly give to.

The final question for every brand must be: "What do I owe the customer for their belief in my brand?"

I am personally grateful for my partner M, my daughters, my family, and the colleagues and fellow brand builders I work with every day. 

And, of course, to all the Sippers who read me every week, merci

Here's to a weekend of giving thanks and seeing the worth of those around us.

See you next week,

✨The Recap (For the skimmers):

• The Power of Thanks | To build loyalty, focus on what you owe the customer for their belief in your brand, not just what you ask for.

• Recognition | Actively validate your customers to create a "switching repellent."

• Effort over Dollars | Reward the time people spend with you, not just the money.

• Watch This | The Chevy "Holiday to Remember" commercial,a masterclass in brand storytelling.