Trending With Impact: The Role of Pop Culture in Shaping Modern Brand Narratives
This article was originally published in Anna Madill's "The Conscious Marketer" LinkedIn Newsletter on October 17, 2023.
Once upon a time, trends were driven, in part, by marketers. They were concocted in offices by Don Draper types, who had the resources to hire celebrities to endorse their products. A flashy billboard, a full-page print ad, or a well-placed TV spot alongside a quality product or service could guarantee brand love and buy-in from the masses.
Pop culture trends were strictly for magazines and daytime TV. It was a superficial pastime for homemakers or young people.
In the age of social media, marketers are no longer the trend-setters they thought they were.
The dawning of the internet gave marketers a fantastic opportunity to reach more people faster. But it also allowed people to connect and create differently. It gave people—celebrities and average citizens—the power of exposure that once seemed unimaginable.
Pop Culture Creates Community
One of the most beautiful things to come out of the internet and social media age is how it brings people together. Social media fuels the creation of inside jokes, stokes the flames of gossip, and gives devoted fans a place to revel together.
Look at how Taylor Swift’s mere presence at a Kansas City Chief game inspired Swifties to tune into a football game, some for the first time. And that even the suggestion that Taylor Swift and the Chief’s tight end may or may not be together gave his star a boost: he gained 1.3M new Instagram followers, his podcast hit number one on Apple Podcasts, and sales for his jersey increased by 400%.
Trends Offer Opportunities for Connection
Brands used to gain traction based on their proximity to celebrities. But celebrity endorsement is different now because social media made it different. Not only does it bring celebrities closer to the masses, but it allows the masses to become minor celebrities themselves.
Ocean Spray is a great example. You may remember the viral video of the guy riding his longboard, drinking a jug of cran-raspberry, and mouthing the words to a Fleetwood Mac song. The video went viral and sparked a trend: people copied the video, giving Ocean Spray free, user-generated advertising. Ocean Spray seized this opportunity to connect with a fan: when the company found out the man’s truck had broken down, they partnered with a local dealership to get him a new one—in cranberry red.
Marketing was more performative in the past. But now, connecting with consumers means meeting them where they are. If marketers can seize moments to connect deeply and relevantly with their consumers, they’ll make a more substantive impact.
Pop Culture Grants Access to Consumers’ Hearts
Social media is often a bedrock of grassroots movements, where like-minded individuals can gather to share critical information and organize into a force for change. And more and more, consumers are looking for brands to stand alongside them.
Values-driven marketing carries significant weight because consumers are more literate in PR and marketing tactics than ever. They can spot performative activism from a mile away. One-sided, glossy campaigns that toute values with no action behind them will tarnish a brand’s reputation in a flash.
But for brands who succeed, like when Patagonia's founder announced his intent to set aside all of the company's profits in a trust to fight climate change, putting company values into action can ingratiate themselves with consumers and create deeper, more meaningful connections.
Aligning with your consumers doesn’t have to be mission-driven, either. Tapping into everyday trends on the internet can give brands an authentic, human feel (like Who Gives a Crap, a sustainable toilet paper producer, uses memes, pop culture, and gossip to engage with their consumers).
Embracing Pop Culture as a Tool
As marketers, what is our new role in this landscape? How do we tap into cultural moments—big or small or accidental—to better connect with our consumers?
Take, for example, the Barbie movie phenomenon. The film’s pink palette inspired a run on anything pink, from cookware to sneakers. The decision to incorporate pink items into product lines gave brands an in with consumers and aligned their offerings with the hottest topic at hand.
Building pop culture into your own marketing strategy doesn’t have to be difficult (though having a trend-savvy staffer or two can really make a difference). Adding memes, popular TikTok audio, and inside jokes to captions can help ground your strategy squarely in the here and now on the internet.
But the most significant step in embracing pop culture as a marketing tool is the most difficult: surrendering.
What would happen if marketers didn’t drive the conversation but became an active participant? We talk a lot about “riding the pop culture wave.” Rather than trying to wrangle pop culture in, learn to spot an opening and dive in.
