The Risk of Being Relevant
9 in 10 Gen Z'ers think brands saying "bestie" is cringe.
We believe not all brands should try and hop on new trends.
Marketers were told that to survive in today’s culture, they must keep up. Keep up with the trends, the memes, and the moments commanding attention.
Seen most recently with “brat summer” and the “demure” trend, the race to be first to engage and go “viral” has become the centerpiece of youth-focused marketing.
But the hunt for momentary relevance is dangerous; a slippery slope that not only risks looking old or outdated but imposes a serious long-term side effect.
Coca-Cola and Oreo are now “besties”
Brand ‘besties’ Oreo & Coca-Cola unite to create fizzy, limited-edition treats (The Drum)
Last week, Coca-Cola launched a limited-edition collaboration with Oreo, fusing the brands’ products to yield a Coke-flavored cookie and an Oreo-flavored Coke.
The campaign copy centers around the brands as “besties” - and invites their “besties around the world to join us in celebrating new products, great experiences, and unexpected moments of connection”.
What do Gen Z’ers have to say about the use of words like “bestie” in marketing?
Gen Z thinks brands saying “bestie” is cringe, not cool - a sentiment validated by nearly 9 in 10 Gen Z’ers in our latest poll.
And yet while many Gen Z’ers do not support the use of “bestie” by brands, the purpose of this analysis is not to call out Coca-Cola or Oreo for this campaign. One of the Gen Z’ers who responded “cool” to this poll said:
“I can see it from both perspectives. These companies are trying to embrace trends and become more relatable. I think when companies use lingo like that it reminds me that there are actual people that work at that company. Sometimes it might be cringe but i honestly like that they try to match the gen-z tone and style and really try to help us feel like we’re friends not just consumers!"
Perhaps, even if cringe, it humanizes the brands and makes them more “authentic”.
Cringeworthy or cool, the use of terms like “bestie” and the attempt to stay relevant with language, trends, and memes has a potent side effect: they land your brand in the Great Brand Soup.
The Great Brand Soup 🍵
When brands try and stay “relevant”, using in-the-moment trends, language, and moments to appear culturally in tune and perhaps even “go viral”, they join what our Director of Strategy calls the Great Brand Soup; the indistinguishable blending of brands all playing off of the same trends, language and cultural moments.
Once in the Soup, it is nearly impossible to escape. Losing sight of the exit signs, the focus narrows to two simple choices: stay “relevant” or fall behind.
However, some brands need to do this. In the last 24/Z, we explored how the death of a brand today is caused by the absence of any conversation at all.
For newer, emerging brands or even boring, outdated, and functional brands, this strategy may work well.
But what does a brand like Coca-Cola, a brand #1 in the Q1 2024 CPG Brand Ranking Report, and a brand steeped in history, legacy, and nostalgia, stand to gain from using language like this? And what does it stand to lose?
The risk goes beyond being "cringe” for an ill-fated attempt at Gen Z lingo.
The risk is falling into the Great Brand Soup; becoming one among many instead of a one of one.
The risk is a growing dependency on virality and trend cycles, the constant pursuit of ever-fleeting attention, leaving little energy or time for consistency.
Magnetic Brands possess two vital elements - Popularity and Consistency.
Popularity (the Y-axis above) can surge by jumping on trends.
tldr; Popularity = how much attention there is around a brand
But Consistency (the X-axis above) becomes harder and harder to achieve.
tldr; Consistency = how regular or stable that attention is around the brand
What do brands risk in the hunt for Relevance?
They risk losing out on being Magnetic.
Additional reading materials:
Why brands are still trying to be funny and chronically online — even in ‘late stage social media’ (Digiday)
If Every Brand Is Funny Online, Is Anything Funny? (NYT)
The word ‘viral’ has lost its meaning (Washington Post)