Stop chasing trends & do this instead

Cultural trends shift faster than you can blink these days.

By the time you search for them on TikTok, they’re gone. And your nanosecond attention-spanned audience is on to the next new shiny thing.

If you’re one of the many brands trying to chase down these trends as a part of your marketing strategy, you’re catching fog with a net.

I.e. it’s a waste of time.

Following the latest fleeting trend in a time where memes change by the literal hour is

1. exhausting and 2. not going to move the needle with consumers.

However, tapping into cultural moments is important for brand relevance.

Not only does it capture attention, but it also helps connect with consumers on a deeper level. And that's crucial in an oversaturated media landscape.

What you want is to create lasting cultural impact.

What defines a cultural moment for you?

JoJo Siwa’s rebrand? Drake and Kendrick's ongoing beef? Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s release from prison/ rise to fame?

2024 has been full of them.

Penn State University says it’s 'a pop culture moment or cultural moment refers to events happening instantaneously around the world and that catch the public’s attention through media content.'

The ‘zeitgeist’ is the intellectual, moral and cultural climate of an era, shaped by these defining moments.

As marketers, we want to earn our own place in the current zeitgeist.

Playing a greater role in the culture than tacking on to the back of a meme trend, if you will, with the intention of deepening our relationship with our audience.

Sometimes, these moments occur organically.

Like when Beyoncé dropped Formation, and everybody eagerly awaited to see if Red Lobster would respond to her reference (they did.) To stay relevant, marketers need to be attuned to what captivates the collective attention.

To keep their brands relevant, marketers need to stay familiar with the cultural zeitgeist. What are people interested in? What’s capturing their collective attention? What are they talking about?

According to Forbes, cultural relevance is 'connecting what you do, as a brand, to your specific audience’s culture, not what is trending in culture.'

It’s making your audience feel like your brand is a part of their lives. If you understand your audience, you’re no longer reacting. You’re helping people come up with definitions of themselves and what’s going on around them, through you.

And 'understand' goes deeper than having audience segments. Every segment has unique cultural beliefs.

Many marketers forget that 'married females, ages 45 to 54, with household incomes above $75,000' each have their own perspective on the current zeitgeist.

We are all watching different things at different times.

Prime-time programming doesn't command the same mass attention it once did. This means our attention is scattered across many moments and pieces of media.

But there are still peak moments that have become centred in monocultural status. Barbenheimer, Squid Games, The Will Smith Slap. These moments connect and unite us despite the mass fragmentation of our interests.

Social media is what connects these moments and drives them to become of cultural significance. Consumers are in the driver's seat and holding all the power in determining 'where this thing will go.'

This is where community comes into play.

A collective group of people with a common goal or interest, namely, online.

Building an authentic community is key. Understand why your community forms, what they stand for, and how your brand can support them/ their values. This is how you transform your audience into brand ambassadors.

If you do this right, it will likely lead to organic marketing and your brand's implementation into the zeitgeist.

But it has to be done in a way that feels authentic.

Charli XCX’s recent Brat marketing infiltrated the cultural zeitgeist because she made it memeable. But also because she tapped into the current zeitgeist of her community. She gave the 'weird' girls something to hold on to, and be a part of, like a shining emblem of belonging, driven through authenticity.

This isn't push marketing anymore. It's pull marketing. And how you engage the community you serve every day is much more important than the content you push out at periodic times through the year.

How your brand can achieve this:

Champion authenticity. Focus on creating genuine connections with your audience by understanding the world they currently live in. Listen to their conversations and take note of the current cultural climate and their attitudes towards that.

Create, don't react. Instead of chasing every fleeting trend in hopes of being relevant, identify and tap into significant cultural moments that align with your brand's values. Contribute to these moments in a way that feels authentic and adds value to the ongoing conversation.

Build and nurture communities. Cultivate a strong community around your brand by creating a sense of belonging and purpose for your audience. Engage with your community regularly. Share the moments with them. This will naturally encourage UGC and ensure your brand is seen as an integral part of their lives.

You don’t want to be the brand jumping on the back of the Barbie campaign by creating sh*tty memes that will die out in a weeks’ time.

You want to be the Barbie brand, creating a global shortage of pink paint.

THAT is the kind of cultural impact I’m talking about.

-Sophie, Writer