How to use pop culture in your marketing
Are you having a brat summer? Should you be?
Earlier this week, I caught myself saying, "It's not really the heat, it's the humidity." And that's when I knew I'd finally become ... a middle-aged Midwestern dad. In other words, I realized I am not brat.
Kamala Harris, though? She's brat. And she's having a brat summer, along with most women under 30. For those of us who aren't brat, however... prepare for a potentially confusing onslaught of lime green.
Which brings us to the topic of the day:
Can pop culture help you market your firm?
But first: What is brat?
Musician Charli XCX (who turns 32 today!) released an album called brat featuring a lime green cover with blurry ariel font. In many ways, brat summer is the antidote to the Barbies and bubble gum of 2023. In other ways, it's the same—an ode to the messy, complicated, chaotic feeling of being a woman. Think confident meets vulnerable meets whatever you want brat to be. In other words: Kamala IS brat. That’s what Charli XCX says, in any case (see second image in the carousel below).
Shortly after her anointing, the Democratic nominee leaned all the way in. This is the newly-created X (Twitter) account that handles her campaign season "rapid responses." (It’s the third image in the carousel above.) Notice anything?
In addition to co-opting the trend of the summer, Harris started a few pop culture trends of her own, including the ever present coconuts (a nod to a saying from her mother that she didn't fall out of a coconut tree) and "providing context" (the second half of that saying from her mother—that she exists in the context of what came before her).
Ok... but so what? Why do I care?
Two reasons.
Pop culture marketing is a great way to get noticed. People are talking about these things. Joining the conversation is a great way to show up in the algorithm, amplify your voice and get noticed.
Bad pop culture marketing is one of the worst, most cringey forms of marketing. Avoid it at all costs. Do not be CNN. Or Pepsi.
So, how do you do 1 and avoid 2?
How to use pop culture in your marketing
Be authentic! In other words, don't insert yourself into a conversation you know nothing about. It's the equivalent of going to a heavy metal concert... pushing your way into the moshpit... and starting to disco. So:
Step 1: Find a pop culture topic that's relevant to you. It doesn't have to be super current, it just has to be something people are interested in. This viral moment with Jake from State Farm and Donna Kelce wouldn't have worked with any other brand—State Farm already had a relationship with the Chiefs. So they capitalized on it, and it was brilliant.
Step 2: Add something to the conversation. For instance, State Farm didn't just nod to Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce, they furthered the conversation by pulling Donna Kelce and her other son (Eagles star Jason Kelce) into the mix.
But... I work in financial services.
The formula still works!
If you google Prince no will or Prince no estate plan the top hits come from law firms and financial services firms who translated the chaotic legal mess into English.
Here's a great example from the folks at Trust & Will.
And you don't have to wait for a celebrity to die. There's opportunity everywhere. Consider:
How to pay for the Olympics. Many of the elite athletes in Paris right now have day jobs. And they get a cash prize for their medals. Could you do something fun on tax planning as an Olympian that could also apply to prospective clients with 1099 income?
A tropical storm is headed for Florida. Could you create a guide for what to do if a natural disaster hits? Here's a guide I created with a client following the fires in Maui last year.
It's election season! Now would be a great time to remind folks that political contributions are NOT tax deductible, but contributions to certain 501(c)(3) activist organizations are. Pick a headline about the latest fundraising numbers and dive in with an explainer.
In each of these examples you are adding to the conversation. You're not taking advantage of a misfortune or doing a weird promotional nonsequitor. You're sharing interesting information that tells people something about who you are and your brand.
And your brand does NOT have to be brat for this strategy to work.