Today, our culture moves faster than most of us can keep up with. I felt “way behind” when I woke up to realize a frenzy around covfefe had gone viral–in fact, FOMO took over and I had to know what it was all about. It’s times like this, when all of America is tuned in, and there may be an opportunity for brands and retailers to get involved in the conversation with people, with shoppers and get top of mind in this cluttered world.
In the case of covfefe, Adweek noted several creatives who branded covfefe on things from candy to cars. While covfefe was not real there are many other cultural moments where brands have seamlessly played into moments that all of America is buzzing about. Back in 2013, brands including Oreo, Tide and Duracell hopped at the chance to chat about the Super Bowl Blackout on social media with clever posts. In 2014, at the Grammy’s, Arby’s flayed by capitalizing on Pharrell’s fashion choice for the night (a hat that looked familiar to them). And recently, Ikea connected with fashionistas everywhere by associating with the new Balenciaga bag, which looks similar to their iconic blue bag but costs $2,144 more. They had fun with it and even put out a clever fashion inspired ad for their $0.99 bag.
Given that people interact with culture via their devices more often than they step foot into a store, it’s important for brands and retailers to find those out-of-store connections to culture and use them as a catalyst to change consumers into shoppers.
Image Source: Twitter
