Not all trends are created equal, and understanding their nuances can help brands make informed decisions about whether to follow, leverage, or ignore them. In the op-ed, strategy director at Keep Left, Laura Agricola explains.
Between TikTok and the always-on 24-hour news cycle, the pressure for brands to stay relevant has never been more intense.
With social media amplifying the latest craze at lightning speed, it’s tempting to feel the urge to jump on every new trend to stay competitive. However, not all trends offer the same value, and discerning which ones to follow can make or break your brand’s strategy.
So how can you work out the difference between something that’s a flash-in-the-pan trending moment or a more evergreen trend that you can leverage?
Making the distinction
There are two ways to make the distinction. The first is time-based. Think of trends as having a longer lifespan. More enduring, trends are often deeply embedded in culture. An evergreen trend, for example, is that when you feel sick, you eat chicken soup. It’s a trend we always go back to because it’s entrenched in culture. On the flipside, a trending example would be the Taiwanese drink, commonly known as
bubble tea. It’s hot right now (particularly with young people). But is it still really going to be relevant to them in 20 years? Does it have a deeper cultural meaning? Probably not.
The other way to look at it is to think about fast and slow culture. Fast culture is characterised by aesthetics, memes, pop culture, social movements and tech – anything that can shift quickly and significantly impact societal norms and behaviours. Think Stanley Cups. Now it’s a trend to have a Stanley Cup which is why sales for the brand skyrocketed from $USD75m to $USD750m in 2023. But what does that look like
in five years? The brand will need to find something more enduring than social media fame to keep the engagement with its audience going.
Slow culture, on the other hand, speaks to religion, traditions and cultural conventions regarding dress codes, and etiquette – anything that is deeply ingrained in a society’s values, traditions, and institutions. Slow culture provides a sense of continuity and stability.
For example, slow culture is sustainability. While it wasn’t a big trend 15 years ago, in that time, it has become top of mind. It’s got that enduring factor. Brands that are starting to talk about sustainability may have missed the boat in terms of being a thought leader, but it’s not completely a miss, because this is now an evergreen trend. It’s going to be around for a long time because it matters culturally to people.
Serving a purpose
Slow and fast culture both serve a purpose for brands. If chosen well, brands can be built on trends from slow culture. Long-term trends that you can look back on and see a momentum of relevancy over time will be a slower boil. Fast culture and fleeting trends, however, are good for spikes in conversation and awareness. If you want to have a quick point of view in the media or do something that’s highly engaging for your audience, you might comment on something on what’s happening in fast culture. Sure, it will get you a burst of attention but that’s it. That’s all it’s going to give you.
Choose carefully
Not every trend will work for your brand. Only the ones that make the most commercial and creative sense should be a focus – but you’ll need to figure out which. Such discernment will enable you to make informed decisions about resource allocation and which ones to follow, leverage or ignore, ensuring your efforts resonate with evolving consumer preferences rather than chasing ephemeral hype because a brand cannot live on hype alone.
You need to be very careful about what you pick and choose. If you get it wrong, the fate of the brand is in your hands.
And just how wrong can you get it? The oft-quoted example of Pepsi’s attempt to jump on the back of the Black Lives Matter movement is a hard one to beat. Choosing Kendall Jenner – a wealthy, white ‘celebrity’ – while exploiting social justice for profit has understandably gone down in history as a cautionary brand tale.
So how can you tap into fast and slow culture, trends and trending themes without blowing up your brand in the process? Here are seven questions to ask before jumping in:
- Relevance: Does the trend align with our brand values and audience interests?
- Longevity: Is the trend sustainable, or is it likely to fade quickly?
- Impact: Will adopting this trend positively influence brand perception or sales?
- Resources: Do we have the capabilities and resources to effectively capitalize on this trend?
- Competition: How are competitors reacting to or leveraging this trend?
- Risk: What are the potential risks or downsides of embracing this trend?
- Authenticity: Will our engagement with this trend come across as genuine and credible to our audience?
Laura Agricola is the Strategy Director at Keep Left.
