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‘80s beauty is making a resurgence, trucker hats — to reiterate — are back, Target announces new designer collabs with Sandy Liang and Rachel Comey, ready-to-drink cocktails aspire to be the new White Claw, Frank Ocean launches a luxury brand, and…
BRANDS ARE ALREADY MARKETING TO GENERATION ALPHA
“The next generation of kids are going to have very similar tastes to that of their millennial parents when it comes to brands, unlike Gen Z.” In early 2020, The Cut asked, “Will the millennial aesthetic ever end?” Now we have our answer. vox
THE CURIOUS INSTAGRAM SUBULTURE OF ‘OUTFITGRID’
The Instagram account — wherein “people compete to see whose carefully composed photo of their wardrobe will be declared that day’s winner” — has 777,000 followers, 75% of whom are male, and most which are aged 18 to 24. wsj
The comment section on each Outfitgrid post is a digital town square where streetwear-addicted young men who collect Jordans and love Yohji Yamamoto clothing can shower fire emojis on the winner and ask fellow followers if they can identify the model of Balenciaga sneakers in a shot.
MEET THE “GENUINFLUENCERS” WHO DON’T WANT TO SELL YOU ANYTHING
“Brands are banking on an emerging crop of so-called ‘genuinfluencers,’ who are more interested in using their platform to share advice and information rather than sell products,” they write, though at the end of the day, I would argue, it is about selling stuff. Everything is!* voguebusiness
Micro influencers are the tier where brands are focusing most, because it is the segment where brands will find most of the genuinfluencers. They are not trying to appeal to a massive audience necessarily, but rather speak about the subjects that truly matter to them.
*Speaking of capitalism, did you see that new Teen Vogue op-ed about socialism? Brietbart sure did.
TEXT MEMES ARE TAKING OVER INSTAGRAM
“It’s like Twitter, but for Instagram. It’s like a blog where you’re airing personal thoughts and feelings.” nyt // Related: Now smily emojis mean different things to different people (I loved this quote: “I told my best friend if I ever send her the laughing emoji, she needs to know that I need help. Call 911. I am in danger.") wsj
INSTANT COFFEE BRANDS BREW RAPID GEN-Z GROWTH
Maybe there’s a larger takeaway here — like that Gen Z is impatient and used to instant everything, always, and it has begun to shape even their morning routines — or maybe it’s not that deep and they just have bad taste in coffee. pymnts
One last thought: