Make It Stop

Don’t fix things that aren’t broken.

Continuing our discussion of shifting consumer sentiment, a slow roll on certain behaviors and buzzwords is in effect. Simply put, some popular ideas and social directions just didn’t prove themselves better than their predecessors. In this three-part series, we’re noting where old is pulling ahead of new, so you can plan accordingly.

PART TWO OF THREE

1. Products vs. Ingredients

Key-wording products and positioning them to leverage on certain trending conditions, benefits, or components — “gut health,” “psilocybin,” “GLP-1s” — has distracted from scrutinizing the good ole’ ingredient list. Amplified by the conversation about chronic illness and metabolic health, people are interested in getting as close as possible to the origin and understanding of what they are putting in their bodies, whether milling their own flour or dining out. 

2. Dating Apps vs. Meet Cutes

Weary of anonymous dating apps matching up profiles and preferences, a vouched-for feature feels like a smart social standard again. People are taking risks and putting themselves in situations where they must meet organically. The rise of game nights, social clubs, and nostalgic activities sets the backdrop. Sparks are flying IRL again; we’ve got more on the dating disruption here. We started noticing these dating woes in July of 2023.

3. Influencers vs. Experts 

This one is more of a balancing act. Here, experience and substance challenge taste and opinion. We’re tracking the increasing tendency to leave issues of great import and consequence, like health, business, investing, etc. or say, how to fix the furnace, to those with earned expertise. At the same time, matters of style and viewpoint can remain appropriated to like-minded “influencers.” Think of it as Substack vs. Instagram.

4. Shopping Cart vs. Dressing Room

Murmurs (and complaints) indicate a growing appreciation for the in-person, or better yet, with others, shopping experience. Over the cold process of online ordering and returning, in all its pieces and parts, or worse yet, preordering and prepaying, the long-lost art of browsing and discovering is yearned for again. We attribute this to the growth in dining and cocktail-ing that has everyone back to tried-and-true patterns and have a hunch it will continue. 

5. Storytelling vs. Straight Selling 

The time for long narratives, tales of brand origin, and history lessons has been set aside for now (it will be back, of course). Consumers have seen behind the curtain and expect a more honest stance. Now, branding is a feeling, an offering, a personality, an aesthetic, and above all, in service to the relationship with your customer. Shorthand the lengthy sessions spent developing mission statements, vision statements, core tenets, and brand pillars to show up for your audience. Cult designer Phoebe Philo said it best:

“I don’t feel that there’s a huge amount of storytelling that needs to be done, I’m not particularly into that. Someone telling me a story isn’t going to make me like it more. It is a coat. It’s a pair of trousers. I do appreciate a level of straightforwardness.”

6.  Formula vs. Feeling 

Crafting content - the old-fashioned kind, not the new kind - is suffering from the commoditization of concepts and a little bit of conventional hooey from above point 5. Studios and networks are falling for their own formulas, such as IPs and franchises that can create a flywheel of product and profits, and the viewer suffers. Listen to  Vince Vaughn make the case on an episode of Hot Ones. We agree. Bring on the good stuff; we can take it.