A shipment of trends has arrived!
AI Podcasts, Car Washes, & Raw Milk
Another Year Wrapped
If your friends’ Instagram stories haven’t informed you yet, it’s Spotify Wrapped season! Since 2016, Spotify’s end-of-year campaign has become a cultural event celebrating individuality and quirkiness in our music preferences and listening habits. Although some feel the results, like Taylor Swift as your #1, are getting repetitive.
To counter this feeling, Spotify partnered with Google’s NotebookLM, to recap your music habits like you’re the topic of discussion for two AI hosts that analyze your listening stats and narrate insights on your favorite songs, artists, and genres. The collaboration comes as AI podcast tools like NotebookLM gain traction, making tasks like studying and learning new languages more engaging. Marketers should take note of the rising preference towards personalized, interactive content.
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I Think I’ll Take My Milk Raw
If we did a Weird Trends Wrapped for 2024, raw milk might be at the top of the list. Raw milk has risen from obscurity to the poster child of conservative nostalgia, aligning with the “Trump 2.0 aesthetic” we explored recently. Promoted by influencers like Gwyneth Paltrow and Hannah Neeleman (owner of Ballerina Farm, with 22 million Instagram followers), this unpasteurized dairy trend taps into the same longing for “simpler times” and countercultural movement towards self-sufficiency and authenticity. While critics debate the health claims and risks of the movement, it’s been successful nonetheless by leveraging nostalgia and wholesome aesthetics in a growing world of homemade foods, gingham aprons, and high-end cowboy boots.
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The Christmas Tune We Needed
Loss Is Not Infinite, a quirky Christmas charity single created by the UK band God Colony, captures the absurdity of modern life, referencing 15-minute city conspiracies, “enlightened” taxi drivers, and other hallmarks of today’s viral misinformation culture. Paired with a chaotic music video featuring a disheveled Mr. Blobby roaming Liverpool, the track channels humor and cultural commentary to support a recovery centre for men overcoming addiction. The song’s resonance reflects how conspiracy theories have become pervasive in the cultural conversation, fueled by societal mistrust and the growth of internet sub-cultures. This reflects the growing consumer appetite for content that acknowledges modern anxieties with creativity and humor, fostering more authentic connections.
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TikTok of the Week
Personalization Gets Weird
Picking up on what we talked about above, this week, people are poking fun at the absurdity of Spotify’s AI-generated titles to try to describe genre moments you had throughout the months like “Boujee Clean Rap Lo-Fi Hip Hop” and “Sweater Weather Girl Power Strut Pop”. Despite the attempts at personalization, people feel like this year's Spotify Wrapped is basically just confirming the flaws in their AI recommendations, which Spotify haters say keeps you trapped in the same genre void.
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Das Auto Wash
Destination BC cleverly targeted German travelers, a key demographic known for their love of cars and reliance on car washes due to home-washing bans. Partnering with Zulu Alpha Kilo, they transformed a standard car wash in Hamburg, Germany, into an immersive journey through Northern BC’s natural wonders, featuring projections of the Northern Lights, rainforest storm simulations, and volcanic wind drying. This innovative activation seamlessly combined cultural insights with sensory storytelling, inspiring travel to British Columbia and highlighting the potential of experiential marketing to create lasting brand connections.
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Heading for Bluer Skies
Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is quickly emerging as a popular alternative to X (formerly Twitter) and Meta’s Threads, now boasting 24 million users. Offering transparency through its open-source network and empowering users with advanced customization options, Bluesky has attracted those frustrated with X’s policies under Elon Musk’s leadership. The platform has snowballed, reaching 6 new users per second. For marketers, Bluesky presents an opportunity to engage with early adopters in a community-focused environment, but brands should tread carefully and focus on building organic connections.
You can learn more in the quick guide linked in the source below.
Image: NewsNation
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Word of the Week
Chat – used to acknowledge a group of people, usually your friends.
So next time you’re looking for a gender-neutral greeting to replace your overused “Hey folks,” just say, “What up chat?”.
🔎 Stay tuned for next week’s Fun Truck Delivery
