The Best One Yet - 💍 “Man-gagement Rings” — Zales’ dude ring trend. Amazon’s Return-To-Work. Chili’s triple-dipper turnaround.

Episode Date: September 18, 2024

Amazon is requiring 5-day return to office for everyone… and it reminds us of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.The new trend in the jewelry industry? Men’s engagement rings… It’s the “Rinse & Repeat” strategy.Chili’s is the fastest-growing casual restaurant chain in America… because every second counts.Plus, Fax Machines are making a comeback, thanks to the Chairman of Snapchat.$EAT $SIG $AMZN—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, Soviche, Wednesday, September 18th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. Here's the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, I tell you had a solo dining adventure the other day. That's right? You sat at the bar and talked to the bartender, right? I know. Ma was on a business trip, so we missed our date night, which I was sad about. But I did learn how to make a better Nogroni. My talking to the bartender. You went to the spruce, right? I want to get the burger at spruce. Every... Actually, half of the bar was solo dining. I should point that out. That was the restaurant mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article about solo dining. What are the odds? But Jack, three stories for today's show. What do we got on the pod?

For our first story, Yetis, Amazon just told employees to return to office five days a week. It's like the pandemic never even happened. But there's a bigger Amazon story here that reminds us of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. For our second story, it's Chili's. This restaurant chain is enjoying record, high popularity. Chilies. And it's all thanks to the Emmy Award winning TV show, The Bear. And our third and final story is the newest trend in jewelry, men's engagement rings. The man engagement ring. It is part of a new strategy we call rinse and repeat. And it's part of a new

trend you and I missed out on apparently. My ring fingers half naked right now. Talk to our wives. I think there's a discussion that needs to be had this Sunday, Jack. But yet is before we hit that Wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix. I mean, no one is doing this mix. Love the mix. Yeties, we've told you about the anti-digital movement, aka the analog renaissance.

Vinyl records, pagers, even dumb phones are all so hot right now. But this story is the wildest of them all. Because the newest analog surge is the fax machine. We repeat, the fax machine may be having a moment right now. You're going to have to add a fax number to that business card you don't even have. In fact, the one person who's trying to push the fax machine back into relevance is the last person you'd expect. Because the chairman of Snapchat doesn't email you. He faxes you. That's right. The leader of an app with disappearing digital messages relies on a physical fax machine

for messaging. So if you need to contact the chairman of Snapchat, you're going to need a landline, a fax machine, and a 10-digit fax number. You're also going to need someone 20 years older than you to show you how to use that fax machine in the first place. Did it go through? Can I get confirmation that it went through? No one has any idea. I would have to call my friend's mom to make sure they got the homework fax to them, Jack. But if you are able to send that fax, the chair of Snapchat will notice it. But Jack, this leads to the big question, why is this legendary tech guy a fax guy? First, faxes are more secure than emails. Yeah, which is true. That's true. That's a true. Second, faxes get people's attention. It's also true. There's no spam in faxes. But the third reason why the

fax machine is making a comeback what is it jack fax machines just make that cool sound if you call them by accident if you know you know and if you don't know yeah de-dardee do dee do dee shh jack let's sit our three stories let's fax them in baby 15 years before this song two boys from the northeast met in the dorm they had an idea to cause a cultural storm it's the best one yet but the best is the norm jack nick that's it i don't even think they need to practice 50% That's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know because we're ready to go.

We can't wait no more. So just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story. Amazon CEO thinks that Amazon is losing its mojo. So he just ordered a full return to office. That was the big headline.

But there's a more interesting story that Amazon has too many managers. And we'll explain it using the New England. Patriots. Yet he's Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon, just published a fax. I mean, a letter. And the name of his letter to his company was strengthening our culture and our teams. But he buried the lead. Because all workers must get their butts back into the office five days a week, starting January 2nd, 2025 at Amazon. This was a huge announcement. This is a huge change from the current Amazon setup. is minimum three days a week in the office. Now, according to Andy Jassy, work from home hybrid,

that experiment, it failed. So he's returning everyone back to the pre-pandemic situation, which is five days a week. Your butts are in the office. He's bringing back assigned desks at all the U.S. offices. You are going to be in the back right and you're going to like it. I haven't had an assigned desk since 2019. I've you're next to someone who's a loud breather. There's nothing you can do about it, Jack. Now, our first thought with Amazon's big return to office mandate, does this give cover to other companies to do the same thing? Our second thought with this Amazon return to office mandate is, is this an alternative to layoffs? Because the cheapest way to reduce a headcount at a company is to announce something unpopular.

People will quit. Mm-hmm. No more Cupcake Fridays. We're out of here, baby. And you don't have to pay them severance if they quit voluntarily. Well, it's basically like what they did to Milton by moving him into the basement with his red stapler. But yet is Amazon.

mandating a full return to office five days a week, just like pre-pandemic for all employees, that was a big, clickable headline. But Nick and I read the whole letter, and there was a bigger issue that he spent most the letter talking about. That issue, Amazon has too many managers. Yep, the CEO of Amazon said that return to office will improve innovation, collaboration, brainstorming, but removing managers will improve speed. Yep, Jassy said that Amazon has become too bureaucratic.

What was that great example we heard from a buddy of ours? He said that they have pre-meetings for pre-meetings for the decision meetings. And everyone knows what that's all about. And that's not even including the post-meeting after the follow-up meeting. True, the recap meeting. Well, that's after the pre-discussion after the post, Jack. So, Andy Jassy is demanding an increased ratio of individual contributors to managers by 15%. Now, besties, if that last thing that Jack said means nothing to you,

Well, we've got the perfect New England Patriots analogy to explain all of it. Hut, hut. On to hike. Break. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon? Tom Brady is an individual contributor. Bill Belichack is a manager. Yeties, Amazon wants to increase the individual contributor ratio.

So, Jack, let's explain what exactly does that ratio mean. Nick, an individual contributor is a person whose job it is, is to do the core thing of the company. Like Tom Brady, for example. Exactly. Tom Brady's job was to throw the ball, score touchdowns, win football games, not cheat, although occasionally cheat, and he was an individual contributor. Managers, on the other hand, they don't do the core function of the company. They manage people who do the core function of the company. Like Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick didn't score points. As the coach, he managed Tom Brady and 10 other offensive players to score points. So Nick and I actually calculated the Patriots individual contributor to manager ratio, didn't we, Nick?

We did, we did. The Patriots have 53 players on the roster and 32 coaches, which means the individual contributor ratio of the New England Patriots is almost two to one, individual contributors to managers. So with this new announcement from Amazon, if they were a football team, they'd have to add more players or reduce the number of coaches in order to increase their individual contributor ratio by 15%. Yeties. Nick and I like to use the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick example because there's a perception out there that managers are superior to individual contributors. I mean, look, we went to business school, so we're totally aware of that manager issue. Like, generally managers get paid more. They're more likely to have an office and they're more likely to feel powerful because they're managers. Yeah, they got a name on their desk. Probably carved into granite too. But Jack and I are also individual contributors, and we believe you shouldn't underestimate an individual contributor.

Look at Amazon. They want more Tom Brady's and fewer Bill Belchacks. For our second story, Chili's restaurant is having a renaissance, but it's all thanks to two specific dishes. Chili's is lowering prices and boosting profits. What? And it reminds us of the bear. I love this story. This was a day in marketing history. In 1997, Chili's changed the jingle for Forever. Pushing flat. I want my baby back, baby, back, baby back, baby back. Chili.

Baby back. Baby back. I want my baby back. Chillies baby back real. Today, Chili's is a $3 billion publicly traded company trading under the stock ticker EAT, Eat. That's a great ticker symbol for a restaurant company. But from 2010 to 2020, Chili's was getting smoked while you were eating assay bowls and juice

cleanses for dinner. Chili's was closing restaurants. every year because Olive Garden beat him to the table. And yet, in 2024, so far, Chili's has been enjoying a comeback. Wall Street calls Chili's an anomaly in the industry because the stock is up 140% in the past 12 months. Chili's is like the top performing casual restaurant stock in the entire market right now. And it's got nothing to do with those baby back ribs that those lovely men were singing about. It's got nothing to do with adding another piece of flare to your uniform either. It's got everything to do with the Big Mac killer that Chili's launched this year.

Chili's launched a Big Mac killer and it is eating up McDonald's like your lovely Aunt Debbie. Yeties, we've told you that Americans want value during this period of inflation. We actually called this last summer hot value summer. Because the $18 Big Mac value meal, it went viral for the wrong reasons. On the other hand, Chili's new Big Smasher value meal went viral for all the right reasons. When Chili's launched the Big Smasher burger, they positioned it as a direct competitor to the Big Mac. So this Big Smasher burger from Chili's, Jack,

described to me. What are we looking at? What are we smelling? Like a Big Mac, it's a double beef burger with fries and soda included in the Valley Meal, plus all you can eat chips and salsa. All right. So, Jack, this Chili's burger is the same food as a Big Mac, but also more food plus restaurant service, and they're doing it at a lower price?

Yes. And that single Big Mac killing Chili's dish, it drove 60% of Chili's incredible growth last quarter. That is a huge percentage of growth. But yet is Jack and I got curious? And there's another Chili's dish driving the other 40% of their corporate growth. It's the triple dipper. The triple dipper. Motsarola sticks, fried egg rolls, wings for 17 bucks. That went viral on TikTok as another form of value meal. Three appetizers for 17 bucks. Pretty good deal. So Chili's has even said in their press releases that they are specifically targeting McDonald's customers with these two dishes. They said that they're taking aim at American fast food.

And you know what? It's working, isn't it, Jack? Sales at existing Chili's this summer jumped 14% this year compared to last summer. Sit down, stand up, and try to scooch into that bench again, because it's kind of hard to scooch in to the... Don't touch underneath. There's going to be nasty stuff on it. There's going to be gum under there. I definitely get a free run.

refill on your drink. So Jack and I were wondering, how is Chili's pulling this off out of nowhere after years of struggling? And we discovered a takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Chili's? Every second counts. Yet he's, how is Chili's lowering prices and boosting profits at the same time? Well, it actually reminds us of a lesson we learned watching The Bear. Every second counts. That's a mantra from the Bear, a show about a restaurant that won 11 Emmys this past Sunday. Every second counts. It is a philosophy of high performing teams, efficiency, attention to detail, and zero waste. Chili's took advantage of every second last quarter by reducing food costs by two percentage points as a percent of sales. And since every second counts, Chili's reduced

wages as a percentage of sales last quarter as well. Both of those things resulted in higher profits, despite freaky low prices of those value meals we told you about. So, Bessies, Chili's, it's no longer a chain defined by baby back ribs, Chili's is now defined as a better deal than fast food. And it's winning. Yes, it is. Because like Chef Carmen from the bear, Chili's is making every second count. Yes, chef. Heard chef.

Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story. The hottest new trend in the jewelry industry is engagement rings for men. So we're going to manisplain to you the engagement ring trend. This is exactly what we're going to. to do. That is last year, Jack and I warned you about the proposal plummet. The engagement derangement. The dearth of I-dos because in 2023, we saw a drop in wedding proposals that affected the entire jewelry industry. Here's the data. In 2020, people stopped dating during the pandemic.

And since it takes three and a half years typically before you propose to someone, 2020 had no proposals. You weren't getting down on one knee. You were getting down on zero knees, Jack. The proposal pipeline was wiped out by the pandemic. So for Cignet Jewelers, the largest jewelry retailer in the world, that was an existential problem because 50% of their sales are wedding-related. Every kiss begins with Kay. He went to Jared, Zales the Diamond store. All those brands are owned by Cignet Jewelers. But here's the update. Last week, Cignaut stock surged by 20% because engagements are back, baby. They're back, baby. Signette is now expecting to snap their six-quarter streak of Sinking sales.

Because people are popping the question again. Pipeline is back. Yes. But yet is, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about this story. There was one surprise winner of this engagement ring resurgence that no one is really talking about. Dude rings. Dude rings. Yeah, these, the engagement ring is traditionally just for women.

Yeah. But they're increasingly being worn by men. Bessies, we're not just talking same-sex couples. We're talking any sex couples. We're seeing an entire fellowship of the male engagement ring. Ed Sheeran, Ryan Reynolds, Michael Boubley. They're all men who are rocking engagement rings before they're getting married. Sales of the male engagement ring are growing twice as fast as sales of women's engagement rings. Honestly, Jack, I'm shocked Ryan Reynolds hasn't launched a men's engagement ring startup yet. True, because Vogue magazine's viral article last month was all about the

man engagement ring. Or is Jack and I actually call this the man engagement ring? That's what we call it. Now, we know what you're thinking to the guys out there. What do these rings look like? Well, Jack and I jumped in T-boy style and we sleuthed 500 man-gagement ring options online. And what do we see, Jack? Most of them are more subtle than women's engagement rings. There isn't a giant rock sticking out of it. You're not going to have a big solitaire on that thing. It's more of a band with a bunch of diamonds around it or one or two diamonds. Not that different than a wedding band, to be honest. And then once you get hitched at the altar, your spouse slides a wedding band, right next to your man-gagement ring. Two rings to rule them all.

And if you're about to go on a bachelor party, nothing says you're taken quite like a man-gagement ring. My precious. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone in any industry? The jewelry industry just discovered their rinse and repeat. Yeties, Jack and I have come across some brilliant sales tactics that can magically boost your revenue. Our favorite example is when shampoo executives updated the directions

on the bottle. They said lather the shampoo into your wet hair, rinse it out, and repeat. Repeat. Reince and repeat. Adding that one word, repeat, boosted shampoo sales more than anything else they could have probably done. It's the best trick a marketer ever sold. Because you ended up buying twice as much shampoo and conditioner because the label said, rinse and repeat, rinse and then use the product the second time. Use it twice as much as you've been using it. Well, the jewelry industry has the potential now to double their sales simply by adding men's to their ring lineup. For a century, jewelry companies only sold to half of the market, even though 100% of us have ring fingers. 50% of the market was women, but 100% of us could have been

wearing rings. So the mangagint rent. It captures one of our favorite financial trick shots. Rinse and repeat. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Amazon is requiring everyone in the office every day starting January 2nd. They also want fewer managers. Because Tom Brady is an individual contributor, Bill Belichick is a manager. For our second story, Chili's, they're the fastest growing restaurant chain on Wall Street with a Big Mac killing value meal deal. Because as chef Carmen taught us, every second counts. Yeah, chef. And our third and final story, men's engagement rings. They're a trend that could be huge for the jewelry industry. The man engagement ring. It's how the jewelry industry found one of the great growth hacks of all time. Rinse

and repeat. Repeat again. Why not? But yet is this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Instagram is making accounts private by default 14s. Something they probably should have done 10 years ago. Meta also plans to stop sending notifications to minors on their phones between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. to promote sleep. And the goal of all of these new moves to make Instagram and social media less harmful to youth. Second, Harland and Wolf. You ever heard of that company? They're the shipbuilders that built the Titanic. And sadly, they're close to bankruptcy.

Amazingly, Harlan and Wolf stayed in business after the Titanic. Because remember, it was Captain Smith's Eubris, not their vessel, and definitely not Leo's fault that the ship sank. True. But they've only made one ship from their famous Belfast shipmaker. port in the last 20 years. And now this 163-year-old ship company based in Ireland is simply dying of old age. And finally, the Federal Reserve announces their interest rate policy today at 2 o'clock ending their two-day policy meeting. Everyone knows an interest rate cut is coming for the first time since the pandemic. We're just curious how much. The only question is how much? Are they going to cut

rates by a quarter percentage point or a half percentage point? And this could impact mortgages, the housing economy, credit cards, so many industries affected by this. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Vinny and Beth Hasha in lovely Long Beach, California. Last week, Nick mentioned a man, a plan, a canal, Panama. Yeah, it was a great part of the show. Did you know that's one of the great palindromes of all time? Yes, a palindrome, a word, a sentence, or a verse, even a number that is spelled the same

four words as it is backwards. Like mom and dad. Both of those are palindromes. Or if you want to kick things up a notch, like madam, race car or madam I'm adam. All of those are the same forwards and backwards. I knew about race car. I didn't know about madam I madame. I know. Now I can't get out of my head. Sonos is a good corporate palindrome too, Jack. True. And you could go a full Illuminati on them by being the same backwards as forwards as upside down and right side up. I'm trying to think of an example right now. And I think it's Sonos. Actually, I think it is Sonos. It's Sonos. It is so nos. It is so. It's so notes.

Vini and Ben, thanks for whipping that one up. And yetis, if you've got the best fact yet and want to get your voice on the pod, hit us up. There's a link in this episode

description for you to fill out of form. Or go to t-boypod.com slash shoutouts. Yeties, you look fantastic for Cevice Wednesday. And remember, the best way for you to grow to the show is to say to a buddy today, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I.

And then repeat, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. And then fax it to your buddies. Because it's the only facts we'll get today. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, baby. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. And that's how we double the show. And that's how we double the show.

Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Jack and I will see you tomorrow. Jack and I will see you tomorrow. Are you just rinsing and repeating right now? I'm just rinsing and repeating. Jack, I'm just rinsing and repeat. And before we go, a shout out to legendary Yeti Anna Hauer in the Golden Valley of Minnesota.

She just got promoted to a very high title at General Mills. Rachel thinks you're the favorite of all time. You're great. I hope that's a General Mills cereal. You know, honestly, we're going to get fact check, Jack. I hope so, too. And Tadora Lakeech in Chicago doing logistics is listening on her two brides to business school, and we're with you, Tadora.

Happy 31st anniversary to Don Don Donahue in Columbia, Tennessee, who's spending this special day with the love of his life. And Jack Krause, in St. Louis, Missouri has got the best birthday yet. Happy birthday to Diana Rec in San Diego, California, who's on a plane to a bestie's wedding right now in Italy. And Lily Yerousie is turning eight years old in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She's got two new puppies and having the best birthday of her life.

Happy birthday to David Lyons in San Francisco, who I still remember because I gave him a hug, live on stage at our San Francisco show. David, great to have you with us today. And finally, congratulations to Michael, Jordan, who finally sold his house after being on the market for 15 years. Brad Bloom and Leo Radbill, thank you for letting us know that MJ finally sold the Chicago Mansion. And congratulations, Mike. Apparently all it took was a shout-out on our show.

We'd like a commission, actually. If anyone else is trying to sell their house, just tell Jack of me and we can apparently help you to sell that thing. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the Wids. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon.