In This Post
Microtrends are everywhere – from ‘brat summer’ to ‘demure fall’ – and they’re not just fleeting memes. This post dives into how these niche cultural flashes shape what we buy, wear and share.
In the age of TikTok speak, trends colour the way that we categorize our seasons. In the wake of “brat summer,” we’re heading into “demure fall.” And by we, I mean the internet collective that determines the microtrend of the moment: millennials and Gen Zs on social media. But how did “brat” and “demure” gain traction as former internet-speak microtrends, catapulting into real-world cultural touchstones that influence our language, purchases and aesthetics?
This post is our cheat sheet to microtrends in marketing: what they are, how they spread, when they go from “it” to ick, and how brands can tap into them without losing the plot. We’ve also zoomed in on how these microtrends play out for food and beverage brands in a separate deep dive.
Very demure, very mindful: how microtrends start on social media
The “demure” microtrend (TLDR: calling things “demure” that may or may not actually be demure) originated with Jools Lebron’s (@joolieanie on TikTok) viral video, in which she satirically intones that her thick eye makeup for work is very demure, very mindful.
“It opens up the possibility of what demure means,” Lebron said of her description.
The descriptive sound bite became a TikTok trend that has taken the internet by storm, with content creators and brands leveraging the trend’s virality to engage with its audience (the majority of TikTok users are Gen Z and millennial).
The Global Fashion Agenda defines a microtrend as:
“A niche or industry specific consumer behavioural trend which is mass market ready and actionable. With a shorter life span, micro trends usually filter down from Macro Trends and provide opportunities for innovators, designers, and marketers to tap into these emerging consumer mindsets.”
The Global Fashion Agenda also highlighted the fact that people crave a strong sense of unique identity. That identity-building is the same force behind BookTok bestsellers and “it” books that become accessories. We all want to feel special, and taking on a supposedly “niche” aesthetic as a personality traits can provide texture to this sense of identity – via quirky cocktails and cowboy boots and corporate attire and indie movie references and micro skirts.
We’ve talked about the core-ification phenomenon before, exploring the rise of country-core and coquette-core, and this categorization of trends as lifestyles is inherent to the virality (and power) of current microtrends. We’ve also seen this play out in specific verticals like food and beverage, where trends like “girl dinner” and faux dinner-date shows become mini lifestyles of their own.
Microtrends differ from the subcultures of the 20th century (ie, “punk”) that were inherently political or subversive. There is one interesting unicorn to consider here, a microtrend that went macro, that became a core, that became a political player: brat.
Microtrends in Marketing
Before we explore the life cycle of “brat,” it’s important to peel back the layers of the microtrend onion.
There is a critical argument to be made for the connection between core-ification, subcultures and the birth of marketable microtrends as Alina Amin detailed in Title Mag:
“The problem lies in turning actual movements into fleeting trends without preserving their original values. Subcultures play an important role in creating a diverse understanding of society, even if their ideas do not reach the mainstream. While drawing inspiration from subcultures is acceptable, commercializing these aesthetics and labeling them “-core” diminishes their original meaning.”
In the 21st century, through the rise of the internet coupled with fast fashion and social media, microtrends have emerged as capitalistic consumption cycles. Microtrends pose a chicken or egg question: which came first, the aesthetic of the trend or its marketing?
The New York Times wrote that “a mere mood tone can be elevated to something offered as lifestyle,” ie, girls who wear red and exude “a certain Euro effortlessness . . . are called Tomato Girls, while others who prefer white are called Vanilla Girls.”
Herein lies the beauty of the microtrend: it might not have much in the way of substance, but through tapping into its aesthetic, language and *vibe*, it can be used to turn the eyes of its audience base towards a variety of products or businesses (ie, in 2024, an airline can be “demure”).
Take the “brat-ification” of . . . well, everything, this summer (even vegan hot dogs). Through the “brat” phenomenon, Charli’s fan base (known as “Charli’s Angels”) melded with followers of the “brat” aesthetic (aka, anyone with a phone not living under a rock) to create a black-hole magnetic pull of attention to everything that brat touched. When Charli tweeted that Kamala Harris IS brat, she leveraged the most powerful trend of the summer into a political stance that has had real-world effects, even if “brat” was a highly manufactured marketing campaign for her latest album. That doesn’t matter now. Polls are showing a surge of support for the Democratic party from Gen Z voters.
The brat pipeline illustrates the evolution of a microtrend (messy partying in the wake of 2023’s “clean girl” aesthetic) into a worldwide phenomenon (brat) via a smart marketing team that branded an artist’s album and image. In an interview with NY Mag, Charli XCX said that the paparazzi outfits she wears to lunch were planned a year in advance. Cultivating the aesthetic that was so specific as a microtrend (messy eyeliner, ripped tanktop) into a power vacuum took work and planning, in order to convey a just-rolled-out-of-bed, recorded-this-on-my-iPhone look and feel.
In our last blog, we talked about the Blake Lively drama, and how people crave authenticity from celebrity brands. The same could be said of microtrends. An air of artifice is off putting. But if you’re successfully able to adopt the aesthetic (get a head start with this peek at the predicted microtrends of the season), consider the influence that viewers and scrollers (aka me and you) have in terms of purchasing power as a collective.
For brands, the opportunity in microtrends in marketing is to borrow the language and vibe of a moment without pretending you invented it. When you treat a microtrend as a lens for telling your story – not a costume you’re putting on for a week – it feels like you’re in on the joke with your audience instead of awkwardly chasing it.
How to actually use microtrends in your marketing
A few simple rules can help you decide whether to jump on a microtrend – and how:
- Check the fit. Ask whether the microtrend genuinely overlaps with your audience and offering. If the vibe clashes with what you sell, skip it.
- Lead with your brand, not the trend. Use the language, sound or aesthetic to highlight something you already stand for, instead of forcing a random connection.
- Move fast, then move on. Microtrends are “of the moment” by definition. Build for a short window; don’t let a single meme swallow your entire content calendar.
- Respect the source. If a microtrend comes from a specific creator, community or subculture, acknowledge that lineage instead of treating it like free stock imagery.
Done well, microtrends in marketing can be a fun way to show your audience that you “get” their corner of the internet – without turning your brand into a parody of itself.
From “It” to ick
Jumping on the bandwagon of a microtrend is a time-sensitive marketing tactic: jump too late and you risk landing in “cheugy” territory. The fleeting nature of trends (especially those spurred from viral moments, like the “Hawk Tuah Girl”) means that their stock can rise high — before crashing. It’s important to consider the quality, quantity and messaging of the microtrend that’s gracing your FYP before creating content in its vein. To do so successfully, you either need to have your finger on the pulse to understand, tap into and leverage a microtrend in real-time, or you need to outsource to a creative agency that gets it. If you’ve watched a brand or creator go from “everywhere” to eye-roll in a matter of weeks, you’ve seen a microtrend tip into overexposure in real time.
Where Microtrends Go Next
If you’re looking to harness the power of microtrends to market your products or business, we can help you leverage trending aesthetics with authenticity that aligns with your unique brand. As a digital marketing agency in Toronto and creative agency, we help brands turn fleeting microtrends in marketing into campaigns that actually make sense long-term. Check out our range of services or get in touch to chat about your next trend-driven campaign.
FAQ
A microtrend is a “niche” trend that, in today’s day and age, is typically cultivated on the internet by a brand or influencer to push a specific product that aligns with a key aesthetic. In marketing, microtrends are the highly specific aesthetics, sounds and vibes that brands can tap into to reach a particular online niche — often through social media and influencer content.
A microtrend is a trend that usually trickles down from an overarching macrotrend (ie, Y2K fashion is a macrotrend, and low rise jeans are a microtrend). Microtrends tend to be more fleeting, or “of the moment.”
From a microtrends in marketing perspective, macrotrends help you steer your overall brand direction, while microtrends influence the specific campaigns, posts and product tweaks you try in the short term.
The “very demure, very mindful” trend originated from a viral TikTok. It’s since been used as a catchphrase to describe — well, pretty much anything, applying this viral soundbite’s global range to a variety of brands and businesses.
“Brat summer” came from the marketing campaign for Charli XCX’s latest album, “brat.” It was constructed by her team to promote the partying aesthetic behind her music.
Start by choosing microtrends that genuinely overlap with your audience and product, and use them to highlight what you already stand for instead of reinventing yourself every quarter. Treat microtrends as experiments inside a bigger brand world – not your whole identity.
