It was a packed room, with over 2,000 attendees at the first session on Day 2 of NRF Retail Big Show in Manhattan. Not unsurprising, considering the guest speaker was actor, producer, entrepreneur and co-founder Ryan Reynolds. Moderating this session was Adyen CFO Ethan Tandowsky.
From Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile to Wrexham A.F.C. and his creative agency Maximum Effort, Ryan has built and scaled global brands that punch far above their weight. His ventures share a common playbook: authentic storytelling, humour with purpose, and an uncanny ability to turn customers into communities.
Together they unpacked how the principles behind Ryan’s success translate to today’s retail landscape, where connection, creativity and culture drive growth more than the size of budgets. Attendees heard how Ryan built challenger brands that took on industry giants, leveraged digital media to create outsized reach, and led with authenticity to earn enduring consumer trust.
For retail leaders navigating constant disruption, Ryan’s approach offered a blueprint for building brands that resonate, scale and endure in the age of the empowered consumer.
Ryan spoke at length about building brands through authenticity and humour.
Businesses can build brand awareness through authenticity and humour by creating messages that feel human, relatable and trustworthy rather than overly polished or sales-driven. Authenticity helps audiences see a brand’s value, voice and purpose, making customers more likely to connect emotionally and remember the brand.
“When humour is used thoughtfully, it captures attention, encourages sharing, and makes interactions feel enjoyable, which can amplify reach through word-of-mouth and social media. Together, authenticity and humour signal confidence and approachability, helping brands stand out in crowded markets while fostering stronger, more loyal relationships with their audiences.”
Ryan also spoke about the importance of talking about the accidents and mistakes you have made along the way.
“It adds authenticity and connects customers to your brand than brands that only talk about their successes.”
Ryan offered the example of an advert he did for Peloton. His role was to play a husband buying a Peloton bike for his wife to measure her weight loss.
In December 2019, Peloton released the commercial that quickly went viral for the wrong reasons. Many viewers criticised it as tone‑deaf and sexist, leading to widespread mockery and a short‑term drop in Peloton’s stock price.
“It was supposed to be a humorous advert, to be funny, but naturally it didn’t land. I talk about that mistake all the time. I’m not perfect.”
Ryan spoke of the value of ‘fastvertising’ or fast advertising — a marketing communications approach built around speed, agility, and cultural responsiveness.
Instead of long production cycles, brands create and release content rapidly to respond to live cultural moments while public attention is at its peak. The goal is to earn attention rather than buy it, especially on social and digital platforms.
Within days of the Peloton backlash, Ryan and his advertising agency Maximum Effort created a response advert for his Aviation Gin featuring the same actress (Monica Ruiz) from the Peloton commercial.
The Aviation Gin advert shows the actress sitting silently at a bar with friends, clearly emotionally worn. After an uncomfortable pause, she says, “This gin is really smooth.” Her friends reassure her that she is “safe,” and they toast “to new beginnings.”
Ryan promoted the advert on social media with the caption, “Exercise bike not included.”
The commercial was produced and released in roughly 36 to 72 hours, an unusually short turnaround that made the advert feel immediate and culturally precise.
“Fastvertising reflects a media environment where audiences actively skip traditional advertising but willingly engage with brands that feel timely and culturally fluent.”
Ryan was asked how brands bridge local and global.
Ryan spoke about ‘Maximum Effort Sports’, a sports‑focused extension of Maximum Effort. Ryan owns the sports memorabilia company. Despite being global, they ‘localise’ products, like sports jerseys.
Ryan explained the company’s central idea is that sports brands win when people care, not just when teams win. Maximum Effort Sports helps build emotional connection with fans, translate local sports stories into global culture and move from statistics to storytelling.
“This philosophy is most clearly demonstrated in Reynolds’ ownership and branding of Wrexham A.F.C., where the club became a worldwide brand despite playing in the lower tiers at purchase.”
“You want consumers to have irrational affinity with your brands. United Airways is an advertising sponsor with Wexham FC, but UA doesn’t actually fly to Wrexham”.
You must learn from your failings.
“The Jason Momoa Super Bowl advert for Delta, didn’t really talk about the brand – a missed opportunity. You must feature your brand in the very message, clearly”.
“For small retailers – you don’t have the luxury to fail too many times. You must plan more carefully. You must be thoughtful about your actions and decisions”.
Ryan concluded with micro-authenticity and humour.
“When retailers make a mistake, don’t explain it, don’t offer rational reasons for it, don’t defend it… admit it and face it.”
Ryan used the example of the Astronomer PR disaster when the CEO and HR manager were filmed on ‘Kiss Cam’ at a Coldplay concert.
Reynolds was able to help produce an Astronomer advertisement extremely quickly after the PR disaster because his agency, Maximum Effort, is deliberately built for fast-turnaround, culture-driven advertising, and Astronomer made an unusually bold decision to lean into the moment rather than retreat from it.
The agency produced the advert in 24 hours by using small, senior creative teams instead of large approval chains, avoiding elaborate production setups, writing scripts designed for single-take or minimal-edit filming and prioritising earned media over TV placements.
Instead of issuing a slow, legalistic apology and waiting for the cycle to pass, Astronomer’s leadership made a decisive move: they chose to act immediately.
Maximum Effort cast ironically Gwyneth Paltrow, Coldplay’s lead singer’s ex-wife, as Astronomer’s “very temporary spokesperson” – a move that solved multiple problems at once. Paltrow is globally recognisable, she connects directly to the Coldplay moment as Chris Martin’s ex-wife. Her dry, controlled delivery suited deadpan, self-aware humour and her presence guaranteed press and social pickup without paid promotion.
Because the joke worked instantly, the ad required almost no exposition, saving writing, filming and editing time.
