Neither demure nor mindful, but authentic, timely and accessible: how to make instant trends work for you
Wondering how to go viral? Don’t bother – instead, find a way to connect to a trend in a way that’s authentic.
The gold standard we’ve seen recently is the much-adored cucumber salad trend, which supermarkets quickly leveraged with playful precision.
As millions of users began sharing their versions of the simple homemade salad, supermarkets leapt at the opportunity – utilising products they already sold – to roll out pre-sliced cucumbers in convenient containers.
So, what can we learn from this?
Be authentic
By offering a product they already sell, the supermarkets were able to maintain authenticity and not deviate from their key offering.
Add value
Through tweaking an existing product – pre-slicing the cucumbers they already had available – supermarkets made it easier for their audience to participate in the trend, whilst driving sales and relevance.
Timing is everything
Landing pre-cut cucumbers on shelves within days of the trend going viral ensured supermarkets could instantly benefit. They knew that waiting weeks or months would mean the trend had moved on, so they acted quickly to capitalise on the opportunity.
When trend chasing goes wrong
On the flip side, not every attempt to piggyback a trend is successful. Let’s recall the flood of companies plastering “very demure, very mindful” onto every EDM or social media caption, and how this reinforced the importance of authenticity in marketing.
If a trend doesn’t fit your brand’s voice, values, audience, or key messages – it’s better to sit it out rather than force a connection that doesn’t exist. Consumers, especially younger demographics, can easily spot inauthentic attempts to be “on trend” which ultimately damage credibility.
