Brand Social Trend Report: Q1 2024
Self deprecation, April Fools' Month, a looming election, and more.
It’s officially Q2, which means it’s time for my Q1 2024 brand social trend report. I love making these. Social moves fast, so it’s fun to recap what popped in the past three months and which trends might just stick around. If this is your first time receiving one of these reports, welcome. You can find my Q4 2023 report here and my very first brand social trend report here. These are paid newsletters that arrive in your inbox at the end of every quarter.
What I like about these is that they are the perfect counterpart to the more macro trend reports you’ll receive from platforms, agencies, etc. These are trends that my peers and I are noticing, not what we’re told we should care about right now. There is no mention of AI in this report because, well, it’s not really top of mind for most social professionals I know. It’s a little bit of science and a whole lot of gut. Kind of how I approach social strategy in general. Here’s what is in this quarter’s report:
Using self deprecation to build loyalty
April Fools’ Day is now April Fools’ Month
Plushies > mascots
43% of Duolingo’s TikToks in February were carousel photo posts
Consumer founders are joining Substack
Paparazzi shots as marketing levers
Triptych videos
Brands are building “lofi worlds”
Clever ways around trademarks and copyrights
LinkedInfluencers
And so much more!!!
Before we get into it, the very first Link in Bio Happy Hour is happening in Brooklyn on April 11th! I am co-hosting it with my good friend Kelly Gordon from Creative People—we’ve known each other since we were 15 and now she’s one of the best social media recruiters out there. There will be drinks, bites, and phone pinky dent comparisons. Space is limited and you must RSVP to attend. Can’t wait to meet you all!
Self Deprecating Brands
We’ve moved beyond self aware brands into self deprecating brands. It makes sense. As you let your audience in, build inside jokes, and gain a rapport—the next step is to make fun of yourself.
Reformation turned a TikTok of someone saying to “cancel the Reformation silk floral dress” into a song here.
CAVA (my client) partnered with Nolita Dirtbag to make memes about their bowls—even referring to them as “slop” like their customers often (lovingly) do.
Aura Bora published negative reviews of their flavors—elevating comments that describe their flavors like playdoh or cold mouthwash or wood varnish or sunscreen. They then photoshopped fake cans of those flavors. Someone commented “😂😂😂😂 Self aware brands are best. And I like how I imagine suntan lotion would taste!”
April Fools’ Month
April Fools’ Day is now April Fools’ Month. To get ahead of other buzzy announcements on April 1, brands have started teasing (and straight up posting) their April Fools’ Day products ahead of the actual day that, you know, the whole stunt is built around. Just look at this timeline:
air up® posted their first April Fools’ Day content on March 26th
Sour Patch Kids posted their first April Fools’ Day content on March 27th
sweetgreen posted their first April Fools’ Day content on March 29th
The comments on these early posts seem more confused than excited. “Is this pre April fools post ? 😅”, “The social media team scheduled the April fools post a bit early…”, and “lol it’s not April fools day yet y’all!”.
My take on it all? Too many brands asking “What are we doing for April Fools’ Day?”, not enough brands asking “Do people even like April Fools’ Day?”. I also fear brands will notice how early it started this year and try and get ahead of it all next year—I can see the March 15th April Fools’ Day teaser already. Let’s not. April Fools’ Day is more than enough, we don’t need April Fools’ Month.
Stuffed Animals Are The New Mascots
This trend is contributed by Zaria Parvez, Senior Global Social Media Manager at Duolingo
Pou—the OG unhinged plushie—is what inspired Duolingo’s most viral video to date at 57.6M views.
Plushie content works because it highlights a tension: how can something so cute be in so much distress? Of course there are also some even more not-so-brand-safe versions like plushie Garfield!
Plushies are also a social media manager’s best friend: I can now create content in a pinch (especially when I don’t feel like lugging out an entire mascot suit) and it still goes viral.
Most importantly, it helped Duolingo engage in “speaking” audios that weren’t possible because the big mascot suit can only have so many emotions. Now, we find a speaking audio, create some makeshift outfits for the plushies out of construction paper—and bam! Admittedly, the first to make inanimate objects act out in a way that mimics how we’d play with our stuffed animals growing up is @sylvaniandrama.
[Editor’s note: Drumstick also has a plushie. This also reminds me a bit of @nobodysausage—surprised no brand has gone this route TBH.]
TikTok Carousels Are Everywhere
Holy hell. So many TikTok carousels. I looked at three brands who are notoriously good at TikTok—Duolingo, Drumstick, and Scrub Daddy—to see their carousel to video ratio for February.
43% of Duolingo’s TikToks in February were carousels.
41% of Drumstick’s TikToks in February were carousels.
27% of Scrub Daddy’s TikToks in February were carousels.
Some brands are nearing 50% photo content on a video platform. Fascinating.
Not only do they perform well, but they are much easier to execute than a long, edited video. If I were a brand, I’d post them while they work.
Consumer Founders Are Joining Substack
This trend is contributed by
, author ofKatie Sturino (Megababe), Jing Gao (Fly by Jing), Melanie Masarin (Ghia), and even Bobbi Brown have joined the newsletter platform in the last few weeks. I wrote about this a bit last week, but I think the decision is two-fold:
Founders have become celebrities (Emily Weiss), and celebrities have become founders (George Clooney). Customers have the same appetite for content from founders as they do from any other influencers. And whether the above women know it or not, their Substacks could be a valuable marketing channel for their brands if executed correctly.
Founders now want to be more than just the product they're selling! After I covered it in my newsletter, Melanie responded in a note, "I can’t tell you the number of times I have been introduced as “Melanie - Melanie is Ghia!”. It makes me scared: what if Ghia fails? I will be nothing. I hope to someday get to a place where my company can live without me, and also be many other things to people."
There have always been business owners who had a personal brand outside of the one that was venture-backed and hired people, and I always think about the optics for employees in regards to where and how their leader is spending time. Just like any other writer on Substack, the winners will be the ones who can connect and deliver value to their audience—which I think the ones mentioned above do well.
Tension Between Online Presence vs IRL Presence
As legacy brands start to catch up to more nimble brands on social, we’re going to see more of a tension between their online presence and IRL presence.
For example, Gap finally did something on social worth talking about but it brought up the disconnect between how cool their campaign was and how lackluster their stores are. The tweet above brought up J.Crew too. I can’t help but agree. I love their social media—especially their mens account—but when I went into the store with my husband recently the experience (a small corner of the store with a few button downs) felt completely different than the one they were building online.
In the last trend report, I talked about how fast food ads were getting more realistic. Consumers want there to be less of a disconnect between what they see online and what they experience in person.
Brand Videos Will Keep Getting Longer
This trend is contributed by creator Oren John
Right now a lot of standout social is essentially making short, emotion-invoking films—but it’s mostly being executed by creators versus brands.
I think this rhode Reel is a great reference for where standout, produced brand social in the same vein can go. It utilizes three formats that often go viral individually in last few months.
Edited lifestyle content including the popular three horizontal videos in 9x16
Downward angle street style, as if you’re watching out of a walkup window
A narrative vlog
Teams that really understand how to do the short 6-15s viral formats that have dominated Reels recently are going to be piecing then together into longer content—basically a Mr Beast YouTube video but in Reel format. We’ll see multiple visual trends being run at once—this is a more effective canvas for brands than the ultra-short viral clips because the longer length gives them more room for product storytelling.
And Even More Brands Are Treating TikTok (And Reels!) Like TV
Related to the above trend, I think even more brands embraced TikTok and Reels like TV in Q1. I talked to Adam Faze about this at the end of last year. There were a few examples of this from brands at the time but now it feels like A LOT.
Alexis Bittar with their Margeux series.
Loewe with their spelling bee series.
Spindrift with their true crime podumockery.
Lexxola with their short film “Kiss, Kiss”.
Longer films and series with actual character development are possible on social! But just a reminder that if you’re going to do this, make sure there’s a plot or intrigue. I feel like Tommy Hilfiger attempted something similar with these videos but it fell flat.
Recently Faze launched Gymnasium with the show Boy Room—think Room Raiders for the TikTok age. While the above examples feel a bit more buttoned up, I love the more dressed down energy of Boy Room. It’s still treating TikTok and Reels like TV, but more Bravo than HBO Max. Would love to see a younger, more comedic brand do something similar.
Brands Are Partnering with LinkedInfluencers
This trend is contributed by Jayde I. Powell, content marketer & creator
LinkedIn influencers aren't new. However, I feel many brands—especially those in the B2B space—are now catching on to the fact that the briefcase app is just as impactful a social media platform as an Instagram or TikTok. I've been noticing more #sponsored and #ad posts from thought leaders, high-profile executives, and industry experts on the platform.
I imagine these partnerships are coming to life because those brands recognize that these kinds of influencers can help amplify their brand story, products and services, and campaigns.
[Editor’s note: You can read more about this in Fast Company! I’d personally love to see paid partnership tag functionality and better disclosure on these ads.]
Y2K, Aliens, and Building “Lofi” Worlds
I saw this tweet about Xbox’s old UI and couldn’t help but think that this design language is on so many brands’ mood boards right now.
It reminds me of Experiment, a new beauty brand. And this SKIMS campaign. And STARFACE’s alien campaign with Devon Lee Carlson. And Fable comping their products into the iconic Clueless UI. And Topicals utilizing old TVs here.
This rejection of modern UI for clunky “old” UI has been bubbling up for awhile now, but I feel like we’re seeing full blown campaigns built around it now. I think it’s in response to the idea that “lofi” content works better on social. Brands that don’t want to give up production value are instead building nostalgic old “online” worlds—lofi in a different sense—to have some of that flare that an iPhone video just doesn’t have.
Pookie Went Mainstream
Yes, a few brands partnered with Campbell and Jett Puckett. But more adopted “pookie” into their vernacular, throwing it into every caption or post they could.
Peloton did it here. Wendy’s here. Panera here.
Competition for Social Media Director Roles, Smaller Teams, and More Hiring Trends
These trends are contributed by Kelly Gordon, Marketing Recruitment Manager at Creative People
Content Creators are in high demand again. They do not need to necessarily be on camera but definitely need to understand content production and be able to pick up on trends quickly/effectively.
Seeing more roles for PT/freelance social managers.
No mention at all of TikTok bans or worry that TikTok won’t exist for their brand
Not as many large social teams 😟. Seeing it land around 2-3 people total when you see “social teams”. Heyday of 5-6 individuals is not as popular after last year’s layoffs. Obviously exceptions for the big ones like Netflix, Hulu, etc but even they have all scaled back.
Massive competition for Director Level roles.
YouTube Shorts
When I spoke with Dave Jorgenson, Senior Video Producer at The Washington Post, about what he was excited about on social, YouTube Shorts was the first thing that came up. They began reposting their TikToks there and the channel immediately jumped from 6K followers to over 100K in just a few months.
Other brands are seeing success. Genuine Automotive, an auto repair shop in Austin, is getting good views on their reposted TikToks. So is Graza.
So Many Giveaways
Anyone feel like giveaways are back? Maybe they never left. But for the past few years they felt a little…cringe. But I’m seeing fun products as giveaway fodder and likeminded brands collaborate in more intentional ways.
I thought this Billie temporary tattoo giveaway was fun. BLIP and DedCool did a smart Coachella giveaway.
I think one giveaway per quarter per brand is a good cadence that won’t feel overwhelming for your audience.
Really Good VO
We’ve seen a lot of brands embrace VO-first videos. They focused on writing really fun scripts, and built video around them. Strong storytelling > visuals.
I love this video from Masienda. Could have been a classic recipe walkthrough, instead they told a story.
Jewelry brand Monica Vinader asked “Who is Monica Vinader?” and answered it with this strong video.
This Reel from JW Anderson featuring Christiane Kubrick talking about confidence is another great example.
Triptych Videos
I’ve been seeing a lot of Reels and TikToks where the 9x16 video is three stacked horizontal videos. Kind of a fun intro or element of a video, but not sure if I love it as the entire video. I believe you can stitch videos together like this in CapCut.
rhode example and Ilia example. Does this count?
Playing With Scale
This trend is contributed by Elizabeth Goodspeed, independent designer, writer & casual archivist. US editor-at-large for @itsnicethat.
Still a lot of “giant stuff" and "mini stuff" on social—see Armani for the former and Justin Timberlake for the latter. A little silly, definitely eye-catching, and leaning into the larger surrealist zeitgeist.
Clever Ways Around Trademarks and Copyrights
If Q4 2023 was all about brands tapping into Taylor Swift, then Q1 2024 is all about brands tapping into Beyoncé. They are doing it in smart, trademark-friendly ways though.
Apple TV tweeted a nod to Beyoncé’s new album with this Severance reference.
Levis changed their logo and name on Instagram.
Under Surveillance
We saw a lot of surveillance footage on social. It kind of makes me uncomfortable?
Marc Jacobs here. rhode here. The M Jewelers™ here.
Interviews Everywhere
This trend is contributed by Diane Paik, former Head of Social and Community at Harry’s and current freelance social + content strategist
I noticed that during Fashion Week (especially NYFW) fashion houses/brands brought on (humor-based) TikTok creators as their interviewers. There was Marc Jacobs x Enya and Drew. Carolina Herrera x Benton McClintock. Tinx x Tory Burch.
The interview-style videos aren't going anywhere. I wonder if the interviewer being their own personality is in response to the rise of Amelia Dimoldenberg—especially because they're not getting fashion girlies, but more comedic/personality-based creators.
Real or Cake (Bad Version)
Just a small trend, but it was fun to see brands like Xbox and Subway take the “real or cake” trend and fuck it up.
Paparazzi Shots As Marketing Levers
We saw brands build paparazzi shots into their marketing campaigns.
CeraVe did this with Michael Cera. E.l.f. x Liquid Death did this with Julia Fox.
Super Bowl Ads Got a Longer Life Thanks to Social BTS
Brands gave their Super Bowl campaigns extra life by creating just-for-social BTS moments. I loved how Dunkin’ posted Tom Brady, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck throwing a football through a donut tire. It has more views than the actual commercial.
T-Mobile also flew out Meredith Hayden to cook with Jason Momoa on the set of his Super Bowl commercial. The Instagram photo dump of it has 130K likes and the TikTok has 9.4M views.
This TikTok from Poppi announcing their commercial has more views than their actual commercial on the platform.
If I’m a brand with a Super Bowl commercial next year, I am thinking about the surrounding social content as much as the ad itself.
Reactive Sponsored Posts
This trend is contributed by
, author ofI love when a brand acts fast to tap into an existing organic bit, and I think companies are increasingly figuring out ways to structure budgets to allow them to do this. There's a TikTok comedian named @carringtonxx who looks like if Pete Davidson meets Derek Zoolander. He has an ongoing bit intended for his followers to play and pretend to respond to if they felt uncomfortable riding in an Uber alone that features incredibly jarring audio, often starting with him menacingly yelling, “Darlingggg!". This humor is not for me, but it is for a lot of people—this clip has more than 40M views.
His bit name-checks Uber specifically, but their competitor Lyft beat them to the punch to partner with Carrington, tasking him with promoting Lyft’s “Women+ Connect” feature, which connects women and nonbinary riders and drivers. The resulting video has nearly 2M views. "Not this being the best ad I’ve ever seen," says one comment. "Only using Lyft bc Carrington said so," says another. It's super weird and quite dark, but that's how the target audience—Gen Z—likes their comedy.
The Election Is Looming
It’s an election year, which means we can expect that brands will speak out in various ways. We’ve seen a little bit of this in Q1, mainly with get out the vote messaging.
Saie Beauty launched the The Every Body Campaign. Their caption read, “With 2024 elections in full swing, our reproductive freedoms are on the line. We have united 60+ brands from across the beauty and wellness industry to stand up and protect Every birthing Body. Join us as we fundraise for @sistersong_woc and head out to the polls this election season.”
Reformation collabed with Monica Lewinsky and Vote.org. The caption reads, “@monica_lewinsky and @votedotorg are here to remind you that you’ve got the power.”
Brands should start preparing for what types of policies and issues they want to speak on and act on. Last part is important there—consumers don’t want empty words or promises. They want action and commitment.
That’s it! Thanks so much for reading. Can’t wait to see some of you in New York!
I hate April fools marketing on 4.1 - having it last longer is my nightmare!