We are constantly bombarded with short lives TRENDSBY With Gala AND Fashion week to TikTok dances, skin care secrets, memecoin metas and everything in between. In an age of rampant virality, a monoculture can form, even when everything feels decentralized. We all follow at least a few trends on a weekly, if not monthly, basis, and for a business, these trends can lead to big profits temporarily.

Think how Starbucks is now offering boba tea in an effort to attract Gen Z consumers or how every company from Adobe to Taco Bell is going “HE firstFollowing these trends gave both brands a temporary boost in their stock prices, but it's not yet clear what the long-term impacts will be.

Meanwhile, a vintage Hermes bag or Gibson guitar is just as timeless today as it was when they were first released over a century ago. My agency regularly participates in events such as Funny con AND consensus to stay ahead of the zeitgeist and determine which of today's trends can become timeless. Here's what you need to know about cruise trends.

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The pros and cons of trend jumping

Virality is important for both creators and brands as it is a cost-effective way to increase brand visibility and awareness. Consider last year Big Red Boot Trend by MSCHF.

At the beginning of 2023, every Instagram model wanted a pair of these huge $350 boots to look like a video game character in their photos. The attention increased the company's visibility and brand awareness, driving sales and helping it secure $8 million in funding by January 2024.

A year and a half later, the ad cycle is over and no one is talking about those impractical shoes anymore. Still, MSCHF hasn't missed a beat as it continues its streak of limited-edition releases that make it a mainstay everywhere from sneaker and art blogs to HypeBeast AND GQ. The collective's business model accounts for the transitory nature of trends and moves quickly to transition between them.

However, sometimes, a trend can be a deficiency. When school administrators at D'Youville University booked Sophia, the AI ​​robot, to deliver the commencement speech, she sparked outrage among students who started a petition to ban her. They went ahead anyway, and the stunt made the private university a joke on late-night comedy shows.

It is important to know this virality it is only temporary, whether the influence is good or bad. You need a realistic strategy to take advantage of it and then move forward.

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Riding the noise train for long distances

Like MSCHF, Marc Jacobs is a master at following trends, and by the time someone like Laundry Day or DJ Mandy goes viral, Jacobs already has those supporting the brand. Of course, branding is more the exception than the rule – when you jump on the latest TikTok dance or meme, the crowd will already be enamored with the next big thing.

Instead, it's important to understand how platforms like TikTok fuel these culture-defining movements. Understanding the mechanics of these video platforms and building a TikTok content plan gives you the best chance of recreating the same level of virality. And that plan should include more channels than just TikTok, as governments around the world consider banning the app.

You need to be where your audience is, whether it's Substack, Twitch, Geneva, Farcaster, or whatever other big channel is in your demographic. Building a community on the right platform is how you position yourself in the right place and time to ignite a viral trend. These are your biggest fans, most likely to share your posts with their social audience.

This means you need to create stellar content that is worth sharing. It should be entertaining, informative and a unique twist that people haven't seen before. You'll know you've really created a trend when you start gaining imitators, like Wendy's.

In the early days of Twitter, Wendy's stood out for its attitude and sharp quips. This made it the hallmark example of hiring public-facing company “interns.” A search for “Wendy's Twitter” Entrepreneur alone comes up with 306 articles about them over the past decade. Fast forward to today and every brand from Beyond Meat to US Department of Labor there's an angry intern raising awareness with borderline lord posts.

Of course, when everyone is doing it, it's not better, but the basic mechanics of how these accounts grow through authentic engagement with the community remains the same.

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Optimization during landing cycles

Just as people move to LA to try and make it to Hollywood, becoming famous on TikTok in 15 minutes is a common goal. But this fame is fleeting – every trend inevitably becomes fleeting, and it's what you do during those down cycles that will ultimately sustain your business. Going viral comes and goes faster than you expect, and everyone is chasing that dopamine hit when their 15 minutes of fame expires.

Those who can sustain fame usually do so by breaking boundaries. Consider Doja Cat, whose music career has skyrocketed over the past few years. Her unique style, ability to buck trends and versatility helped her earn Coachella headliner status and maintain popularity beyond her viral YouTube hits and TikTok videos.

Brands and creators who keep at it build a solid foundation that seamlessly turns virality into revenue and profits. They continue to build their core audience each time so that their chances of virality improve for the next one. At the end of the day, getting eyes on your brand is a good thing, but you need to offer real value to people looking at it if you want them to keep coming back.