The underground marketing playbook

This week, The BrandFathers break down the rise of clipping culture: how kids are making real money chopping up content and what brands need to do about it.

We also touch on Glossier’s new passport program, why it’s working, and what other industries could borrow from this ultra-Instagrammable strategy.

Clipping Cultures Meteoric Rise

What Happened: Whop launched a rewards program that allows influencers to pay users for clipping content from creators like Druski. With over 29,000 people joining Druski’s Whop in less than one week, this isn’t just fan service — it’s a full-blown economy.

The Fathers Take: The OG of this strategy? Andrew Tate. His army of affiliates flooded TikTok with content to drive traffic to his course, making him the most Googled man on Earth in 2020. Now, Whop is institutionalizing this model with software, dashboards, and bounties for views.

This will change how brands do social.

Instead of paying an agency $25K/mo to create content, what if you gave your video library to 1,000 kids, offered $100 for every 10K views, and let the internet go to work?

This is UGC 2.0: scaled, incentivized, and automated.

Expect to see the NBA, YouTube creators, and even mid-tier athletes start testing this immediately.

Glossier Passport

What Happened: Glossier launched the “Glossier Passport.” Shoppers get a physical booklet with collectible stickers from each retail location, plus a polaroid-style photo printout to paste inside. The program spans all U.S. and UK stores and is designed to gamify store visits. No discounts, just vibes.

The Fathers Take: This is Glossier playing the brand game like pros. The passport taps into a few powerful levers:

• It’s collectible

• It’s cute

• It’s made to be shared

This isn’t a points program — it’s a personality booster. Glossier knows their customers want moments and memories, not coupons and QR codes.

But here’s the real takeaway: Loyalty doesn’t have to mean discounts.

It can mean identity, ritual, and story.

Could your brand offer something memorable in exchange for loyalty? A cool passport, a secret keychain, or even a monthly experience like what CAMP stores do with their in-store Frozen shows (covered in the full pod)?

PLTFRM

As always, big thanks to PLTFRM.com — the behind-the-scenes MVP for brands trying to win at retail.

Whether you’re getting into stores for the first time or already doing $500M in sales, PLTFRM helps you accelerate sell-through, secure better shelf space, and build a real retail strategy.

Final Sermon

Marketing is shifting from campaigns to ecosystems.

Whether it’s Glossier’s passport or Whop’s clip bounties, the smartest brands aren’t shouting louder, they’re building systems that incentivize fans to do the shouting for them.

Make it easy to participate, and the internet will do the rest.

We broke it all down in depth here:

Blessings,

The BrandFathers