Laura Mulcahy, Head of Cultural Practice, TRA
Culture can be overwhelming. Social trends can move from ‘trending’ to ‘tired’ quickly, sometimes overnight. And we’re all hyper-aware if we’re missing a reference everyone else seems to know and inadvertently putting our foot in it by not being ‘in the know’.
In the early days of social media, we could be (dangerously or blissfully) unaware of the nuances we were missing. There was less chance of coming across the historical, cultural or social context of a word you think is cool, an outfit that is stylish, or a film you’d watch incessantly. However as social media has matured however, and within the context of the entire internet, the bar for understanding every aspect of culture and nuanced meaning becomes higher.
For brand marketers, what used to seem like a straightforward formula - ‘our brand’ x ‘trend’ = attention - is no longer a sure thing. By the time a meme has been worn thin by the internet’s sub-clicks, it’s meaning has often been pulled in a million different ways. So, when a brand hooks onto that meme or fad, it moves from an organic creation to considered content, often changing its relevance.
To ‘know’ culture, brands should spend more time focusing on the meanings and context behind the latest trend, than they do on the trend itself.
How? Using a cultural framework that allows marketers to build up a database over time, so they can compare the past and present, and anticipate the future.
There are 3 scales of cultural shifts:
- A signal – single moments in time, classified as familiar, emerging or dominant.
- A micro current – a series of signals over a year + that share similar characteristics and meanings.
- A macro current – a group of micro currents that speak to a larger shift in culture spanning anywhere from 5-10+ years.
Whether it’s a viral trend on the internet, a comment from a participant in an interview, or a statistic emerging from a quant survey, any new ‘signal’ we come across marketers need to always ask the same, simple question… is this familiar, emerging or dominant in culture?
Let’s take a recent trend: Brat Summer. There are elements about Brat Summer that are noisy signals, but there are deeper currents at play that reveal the context behind the music (and its audience).
Signal: Brat summer
CharliXCX’s green Brat Summer wiped out the pink haze left from last year’s Barbie blockbuster. The lime green meme creator was a tempting viral wave to hop on – it was also the right fit for some brands. But, it may be wiser for brands to ponder why that album has resonated with so many? The lyric, “I think about it all the time, that I might run out of time”, comes packaged in a club anthem that ponders motherhood. This dichotomy is what brands should pay attention to if they want to understand the cultural context of young women today, support them, vouch for them and be a brand that reflects their hopes, fears and dreams.
Micro shift: ‘Girlhood’ extended
This extended era of pre-commitment brings with it a reframing of language and aesthetics associated with being a ‘girl’. We’ve had Hot Girl Walk, Hot Girl Summer, Girl Math, Tomato Girls and ‘Girly’ girls. Globally, given how many women are living this extended girlhood, its likely to only continue. Each ‘girl’ trend is a another expression of the whiplash young women experience between the ‘girl’ they feel they are and that ‘woman’ they are supposed to be.
Macro shift: Motherhood delayed
Beyond the hectic aesthetics of the green and black created by CharliXCX lies the fact that Gen Z and Millennial women will spend (on average) an additional 10 more years outside of marriage and kids, compared to their mothers. For Australian women, “in 1975, less than 20 per cent of births were to mothers who were between 30 and 39 years old, but now nearly 60 per cent of births are to mothers in this age group” (Australian Bureau of Statistics). That’s a lot longer for women to think, stretch, push, learn, fall, punch, aspire, lead, disappoint, win, lose and experiment... outside of marriage and motherhood.
If marketers simply relate Brat Summer to ‘young people’, their brands are missing an opportunity to connect that signal across others that reveal the macro and micro shifts important for their brand. They need to set up a process of analysing cultural shifts so it becomes second nature within the team.
If a brand is agile and willing to make mistakes and respond in real-time, they’re a step ahead of the game – a brand that is already ‘in the know’ with their audience. But,what if they aren’t? That brand needs to now go beyond the sea of trends. They need to read and anticipate culture. In other words: Take the long view.
For brand marketers, unpacking trends against a basic cultural framework will help them go below the surface of noisy signals to truly understand an audience. It’s how brand marketers will gain context that can inspire relevant comms, tone of voice and products.
‘Culture’ is a conversation that should be taking place all the time, not just when the internet gets loud.