You’re Invited

In the world of tastemakers and trendsetters, an invitation from Partiful is the only invitation that matters. Founded in 2020 with the tagline, ‘Facebook events for hot people,’ it has served to plug the recent gap that has developed in the world of online party-planning. In the past, people would be able to add all of their friends on Facebook to an event, but as more and more people let their Facebook accounts fall to the wayside, there hasn’t been a way to plan events outside of sending messages to chats. 

Enter Partiful, which allows hosts to post a mini discussion board, a collaborative photo album, polls, bill splitting, and more. More than that, the app allows for personalisation, with cover photos and emojis, bringing back that pre-Internet DIY feel that Gen Z covets. It also taps into their love of sharing and posting, with all invitees able to post in a shared photo album of the event, keeping the moment private, but staying connected and organic. 

Marketers need to be prepared for more apps like this to disrupt the digital world. With social media hours steadily declining, and people wanting to experience more in the real world (with 55% of Miillennials say they’re spending more on events, and Gen Z being two times more likely to go clubbing than any other generation), consumers want more points of connection and to live in the moment. Partiful has managed to walk the thin line between Gen Z’s reliance on technology, and their need to live authentically in the moment. Will your brand be able to marry these two disparate ideas for this contrarian generation? 

For brands, it should be clear that people are looking for ways to make personal changes to their lives in service to the environment and the community, without any small print. As opposed to other operations, which are rife with greenwashing and brands not taking accountability for their climate impact, the work done by Too Good To Go is quantifiably good for the environment. How can your brand offer more honest and true opportunities for people to change their impact on the world around them? 

Back To The Future?

Vinyl records have been having an absolute moment in pop culture right now. From new pressing plants being opened to sales hitting highs they’ve not seen since the 1990’s, to Taylor Swift selling one out of every twenty-five vinyl records across America this past year, it’s clear that the paradigm of music listening is about to shift, in a huge way. While many places espouse Gen Z’s love of nostalgia as the reason behind vinyl’s sudden return, we actually think it goes much deeper than that, and spans across all generations. 

In 2024, fan culture is the only culture that matters – we saw that with how Spotify Wrapped tapped their artists to thank fans personally for streaming songs through the year. With merchandise sales seeing a +6 YOY growth, and 21% of fans buying merchandise during a concert, it’s clear that fans want the ability to show off their fan love, support their favourite artist directly, and form a community with other fans. More and more artists are going down this community route, whether it’s Taylor Swift’s friendship bracelet trend, or BTS’ organised fanclub. 64% of people surveyed by Amazon say their fandom is a defining part of their identity, and nearly half (48%) say their fandom helps them make sense of the world. Brands have to understand that tapping into fan culture and fan loyalty is the best way to convert fan love into brand love. 

Community aside, the online world has transitioned increasingly to ephemeral, non-permanent media, and people are starting to push back. After artists like Joni Mitchell removed their music from Spotify, making it impossible to access for anyone without a physical copy of her works, consumers started making an effort to purchase physical media. BASE reported that the value of the U.K. home entertainment category rose 10.6% overall year on year, and BluRay saw a 20% growth for the full year 2022, which is only growing in interest as artists and musicians push for more physical media to be sold. Marketers need to grab this burgeoning trend, as more and more generations become disillusioned with the streaming service model and pivot back to the world of physical media. 

The Importance of Being Absurdly Earnest

As the festive season is now over, we are able to look back and see what sorts of trends made themselves known in the various ad spots that launched across the period. Two key themes that we managed to pick out might seem obvious, but we think that when coupled with trends around comedy, fashion, and mental health, this could be the way forward for marketers into the future. 

The first theme was absurdism. Consumers are increasingly comfortable with marketing campaigns, and by engaging six hundred people in a parody of a special-ops for one person’s birthday, Coca-Cola absolutely leaned into this surreal experience. This trend will absolutely continue on into 2024, with the success of films like Barbie playing with absurdism and weirdness, inane TikTok humour making waves, and songs like Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Nonsense’ highlighting just how viable the market is for weird, zany, and above all, fun marketing. 

The second theme is earnestness. Many people on social media have called 2024 the ‘death of cringe’, where people have gone beyond the need for feeling ‘cringed out’ by interests – tell someone you love them, build your model railway, wholeheartedly embrace everything you love. As the world pivots more toward acceptance and radical self-love, so too do ads and marketing. No more will disparaging, side-eyed put-downs be popular, but instead a warm, inclusive and embracing system.