Into It

What we’re into, when we’re not making decks, chasing that illusive finish line of a to-do list, or hovering over a hot plate with our iPhones at the ready. Daisy has been circling the humble egg, which has taken on the form of high-end editorial model for this photo series by @arkadiuszszwed . Also, the internet’s fascination with food as things continues, this time with soap that looks like chocolate, or actually chocolate that looks like soap - en masse. The soap in question? A thick, shiny beige slab of your dad’s finest @loveimperialleather , courtesy of @lily_vanilli_cake   Claire is seeing the spoon as a canvas, which sounds like a joke until it becomes a full aesthetic position c/o @oterawat . Then it’s GTA but make it a @coinbase ad, where the internet once again proves it can turn a niche fixation into a viral campaign. A healthy reminder that absurdity, when properly utilised, is often the sharpest thing in the room. Greg has been spending time with creative mending, that quietly noble world where damage becomes decoration and repair is allowed to show its hand. Also on the moodboard: campaign work by @estudio.niksen and @saucony   Our in-house DJ of freaky tunes Liam is into a live @memphislk set with Judo as the backing track. Along with some techno-coloured decoration mockups coming out of @artinthemall in Bangkok.  Emma has been deep in Rosalía’s Lux tour references, including the Eva Green nod in The Dreamers. Elsewhere, she’s been happily tunnelling through the career of @nardwuar , patron saint of obscure research, physical artefacts and making other people look underprepared on camera. The artist strikes again.  And Issy, our newest addition with a penchant for high-level craft, has arrived in extremely strong form with hot glue guns blazing: an almost-too-cute-to-eat Easter lamb cake by @haileecatalano and monkey fist stools tackled with the optimism of someone not yet defeated by DIY.   A mixed bag, then. Fashion by way of egg, spoon soup by way of art, visible mending, mall futurism, archival pop references and lamb-shaped seasonal sentiment. Which is to say, our freaky lil brains are operating BAU (business as usual.) AI could never.

CASE STUDY: A little 6-month check in for our favourite North Melbourne wine bar 📝 When owner/exec chef Nagesh came to us ahead of launch, the brief was to build a channel that felt playful and human, while still sitting naturally in the world he had already created with big sibling restaurant Manze. Sibling, not spin-off energy. Our role has covered launching the channel, tone of voice and visual guidelines, organic social strategy, and lo-fi content capture. Since opening, Boire has grown a strong organic audience, built a very engaged local following and made a serious case for the sandwich as a core brand-building device. Swipe through to peep the stats 👀 🦀

When we think of our dream dinner parties (respectively), we dream big (collectively). We ask not just your typical “dead or alive, who would you have at the table?’ and the ol’ morbid classic “what is your death-row meal?”. Liam is excited to dine on croquettes and chicken schnitty, while drinking from magnums of susucaru rosato. David Lynch holds court over his love for Mazzy Star (and therefore Hope Sandoval - who is sitting diagonally opposite). No questions asked - everybody at this table is a middle seater. The table in question at Em’s dinner party is actually - in true artist fashion - an installation, conceived by @allanwexlerstudio . The table is in hysterics as Brittany Broski does spot-on impressions of Bon Iver and Julio Torres. Notes are being taken. They’ve eaten their country loaf and are tucking in to chicken pie. Em doesn’t drink much, so for this party we’re drinking chinotto (from a glass bottle). Get in.  There’s Dick (Strawbridge) over at Greg’s dinner by the Mediterranean - a setting inspired by an @akindofguise campaign. Action Bronson and Phoebe Waller-Bridge have insane chemistry, and Eliud Kopchoge is dishing tips on carb-loading, which is handy considering they’re eating fennel sausage and rosemary rigate as a main. We’re drinking big beers in tiny glasses. Claire’s gone glam. You just know that she outsourced calligraphy for placecards on her @lailacooks table. Grower champagne is flowin’. Paloma Elsesser shares what it’s really like giving an AD home tour, and how to get those cheekbones and that skin (spoiler - genetics, clean livin’ but she’s definitely still eating that cold set custard and rhubarb for dessert). David Sedaris is playing Mum, but Caleb Hearon is having none of it. Everybody pretends they have crab claws as hands. There are no inside voices over at Daisy’s table, poolside at @casa.lawa . Andrea Hernandez is deep in it with Ina Garten over a seafood tower Kris Jenner (much to Keith McNally’s chagrin) is one-upping Shaq on lessons of business acumen. Everybody has BYO’d a hangover-inducing mix of 818, whiskey sours, gibsons, and beatbox RTD’s. Mango Sticky rice to finish. Voulez-vous coucher avec moi indeed.

Spotlight: the IRL to URL content pipeline 🚰 Logging off has somehow become the new content strategy (or at least, the new niche aesthetic.) Right now, culture is obsessed with the tactile: collage, craft, junk journaling, camcorders, proof that a real person actually made the thing. In a world of AI gloss (and the inevitable slop) and digital sameness, the crowd seems to be going wild for texture, process and a human hand in frame. Our latest Spotlight, as told by @emmaregolini , dives into why making stuff by hand is suddenly the hottest thing on the internet. And with that in mind, we’re christening this content moment the IRL to URL pipeline. It’s about making something in real life, then bring it back online with a little breakdown on how it’s done. It’s time to (document yourself as you) touch grass 🙂‍↔️ #content

No ai, no trending audio, no SFX, just sweet sounds of young creatives at work 🚧 BTS from @standingroomcoffee inspired by @oatly

WWBUT: February and March came in hot, fish-forward and with a surprising amount of dehydrated chicken skin chat. At the Into It HQ, there were fishes being squished, oysters being shucked, BVC Easter egg being hunted, shrubs being drunk with intent, and the general business of eating, learning and team-lunching our way through a very full couple of months. Not every agency can say its internal R&D involves shellfish and high MSG seasoning, but then again, not every agency is us baby girl 👉👈 At @standingroomcoffee , things ticked along. Lo-fi shooting, roastery content, merch capture, clever little prop moments that included building a metal wire rig for cups. @oatly coded, caffeinated, and full tilt tasty. Over at @suupaa___ , Issue 003 of The Register is now out in the world. A true labour of taste, tinkering and teeny-tiny details. The kind of project that reminds us editorial is king and your inbox can be one of the chicest places to tell a story (provided you actually have one to tell.) @portside.melbourne kept us busy in the best way, with hi-res shooting, lo-fi shooting and a whole lot of Easter energy threaded through the mix. Plenty of beautiful fish, plenty of beautiful content, and plenty more where that came from. A special project for our friends at @monkschai , we pulled together a product and lifestyle shoot with excellent talent, and one perfect nepobaby. At @elios.place , we tackled hi-res and lo-fi in tandem. Twice the mode, twice the files, twice the opportunity to make sure the brand looks sharp at every angle. And at @manze_melbourne and @boire_melbourne , it was business as usual, with Boire now trading seven days and a new Manze menu stepping into the limelight. A couple of months of Melbourne’s best snacking.

The annual @billyvancreamy Easter side quest returns. We’ve once again teamed up with Billy Van Creamy and hidden a voucher somewhere around town that will get you a very good, very large ice-cream filled Easter egg. The catch? You’ll have to beat out tens of others and decipher/perform a series of clues to get there first. There’s a Fitzroy North pub, a peculiar drink order, a QR code, and a small (perhaps nano) journey across the city (down the road) standing between you and the prize.  Be the first to crack our little clues and you’ll be choosing your big egg flavour by the afternoon. 

Last year’s winner found the egg within 23 minutes. The clock starts now.  Clues are live now. Move accordingly people.

MECCA x Rhode with E Nolan and Hector’s Deli When Rhode landed at MECCA a few weeks back, two familiar names from the Into It universe were right there in the mix. E Nolan dressed the moment with custom embroidered shirts for the team on launch day, while Hector’s Deli kept the line well fed with blueberry lamingtons and coffee for the early risers waiting to get through the doors. We were lucky enough to help connect both brands with the MECCA team and to document it all as it unfolded on the ground. And the best part? These aren’t one-off moments. MECCA has now worked with both @enolanmelbourne and @hectors_deli multiple times, which is exactly the kind of long term relationship-building we like to see in the wild. Good ideas turning into long-term relationships ♾️

The internet continues to be a very generous place for inspiration, distractions and deeply niche obsessions. Here’s what the new Into It slack channel has been passing around lately. Daisy has been watching Zaida the Afghan Hound absolutely crush it at Westminster, the kind of coat and poise that makes every other dog look like it needs a quick brush. She’s also wondering why she can barely draw a stick figure when Maria Jesus Contreras can turn Hermès’ Lunar New Year campaign into a seamless illustration-meets-animation moment. The Babushka meme has her attention too, plus a hypnotic pot of Brandon Jew’s double chicken stock fortified with roasted crab shells that looks like it could fix most health problems. Liam has fallen deep into the world of very specific objects and ideas. A new oyster shucker has entered his life and immediately become a prized possession, while croc toast via @youbeauty2479 has fully converted him to an alt-meat lifestyle. When he’s not thinking about food, he’s finding calm in Lily Clarke’s hydrophobic sculptures and wishing he could visit a tiny, perfectly detailed miniature laundromat that feels oddly peaceful. Claire cannot stop watching water stacking videos on TikTok, which sit somewhere between wellness experiment and meditation practice. She’s also dreaming of cooler weather and the moment she can make Max Grenberg’s moon face chicken pie, planning the next dinner party around some extremely kitsch silverware displays, and revisiting the absolute chaos that is Tyra Banks’ most unhinged ANTM moments. Emma is currently in awe of Alysa Liu and the kind of calm confidence that makes winning look effortless. She’s been rewatching the behind-the-scenes footage from an Absolut Tabasco campaign that proves good advertising is half craft and half controlled chaos, bouncing around with Lexi Park’s surreal jelly sculptures for Dior Beauty, and appreciating the hypnotic rhythm of Susie Ibarra’s lithophone percussion ensemble. Sweetie, the internet is strange and wonderful little place for sweet nothings. You just have to know where to look.

“I need help with my social media, but I’m also not entirely sure what it is I need help with”. Sound familiar? If so, stop what you’re doing because we’re sending you directly to the school of hard knowcks (aka INTO IT101 series), where it’s time to re-familiarise yourself with social media lingo (beyond #FYP and #DIML) to make informed decisions on what needs your attention, what matters, and what the hell that account manager is talking about in your weekly WIPS. Think of this as a small resource for small business owners, self-appointed marketers, hospo operators and anyone trying to make sense of Instagram, TikTok and the wider multi-channel ecosystem without needing to become a full-time content manager (though we can help here if that is in fact what you do need). Swipe through to graduate with honours (and vibes). A little extra knowledge = better content and a happier internet 🤳🏽

December blurred into January, January quietly became February after what felt like 400 days, and somewhere in between, we got a little bit done! Amongst the wild ride that is December, gifts were made and delivered. We designed a mug with Liam, pulled together a breakfast package featuring some of our favourite clients, and established juicy couture as a legitimate tasting note for beverages. We touched base, and then touched grass - logging off until the new year. And what a new year it’s been thus far! Hector’s has had a very good run. The doughnut kiosk launched, the bakery stayed busy during the AO, and the team from Jack’s Dining came through for a visit that involved multiple camera, many sandwiches and mutual admiration. We spent time with the girlies from TINA, filming a bit of BTS storytelling and recipe content that leans into hands-on drinks concocting and ingredients deep dives. Watch this space. Portside opened at Prahran Market a mere two weeks prior to Christmas and immediately became everyone’s new favourite fish shop. We helped launch it into the world with PR and content that matched the care, sustainability and beauty of what was on ice. Issue 002 of The Register landed in your inboxes. An issue centred around all things fermentation; a conversation with Kayla Saito on Suupaa’s sold out dining series, and a natto lifecycle comic by Ed Atchison. Proof that email can, in fact, be more than a sales tactic. January also meant many long days at the Australian Open. Shooting with Season Fried Chicken, Suupaa, Hector’s Deli, while Melbourne queued, melted and powered through with iced matcha and a quick trip to the Mecca barbie dream house. The tennis was also on (so we are told). And threading through it all: lo-fi retainer work for Manze, Boire and Standing Room. Quiet, consistent, curios-piquing imagery, video and copywriting doing exactly what it needs to do (brand-building, audience-engaging, conversion-making content.) Two months of work, one very full-bellied team, and plenty more on the horizon 🌅

QUIET PLEASE. Team Into It is currently in play at the @australianopen , and honey this is so much more than racket and ball. We’ve been working with our friends at @hectors_deli and @suupaa___ . Rolling on lo-fi content, buzzing around PR-able moments (of which, for a tennis ball donut, there is no limit), and taking notes on the visual and literal feasts of the AO. Conditions are brutal out here at Olympic park. It’s hot, the activations are out of control, the influencers are everywhere and the dining options are relentlessly endless. How you approach this year’s AO is high-risk, but with our intel, it’s high reward. Suupaa’s onigiri? Compact, efficient, beautifully constructed. This is percentage tennis. No wasted motion, no drama. Exactly what you need to hold serve. @vicsthechefsbutcher banger? No finesse, no apologies, just a forehand slug hit at pace, straight down the middle. Speaks seamlessly to The love/hate kyrios of it all! @season_chicken_service ’s fried chicken? This is aggressive tennis. Big. Crunchy. Bold seasoning. STUN-NING packaging in form and function. This is a game of single point rally. No competition. Hector’s summer doughnut. Sweetie, this is flair! This is touch! This is fancy footwork followed by a through the crotch drop shot that has the audience gasping and queuing for more. Pure proof that gimmicky shaped food will forever have its place in this gorgeous world we call planet earth. Even more so when it’s made by the best. A wildcard entry? The AO’s house brand frappe. Unseeded. Unexpected. Undeniably good. He’s made it through to the finals and nobody has a clue how.