Trends, branding, and Product Placement, Oh My!

Who actually determines the trends?

Alright, so we have our influencers but how do they know which partnerships to take? I mean, do they just take the money and run or do they actually like the products they are promoting? It honestly depends on the influencer. Most like to think that influencers really do enjoy these products but, in all honesty, they might just be using it because it's something free. However, a big indicator is how trendy the brand is. But what makes a brand trendy?

Trends tend to make circles, we see reprises in trends throughout years. Think about it like this: we are currently seeing a plethora of trends being repeated right now but I think the biggest are the trends from the late 90's and early 2000's. We are loving the oversized jeans, Uggs, baby tees, loud patterns and colors, etc. I think we are loving this trend for a few reasons (and I didn't do any research on this, I'm just speculating). First, I think the push towards thrifting and finding more sustainable ways to buy clothing has caused us to fall in love with old trends once again. For example, oversized, off-the-shoulder t-shirts were super trendy in the early 2000's (especially if they had an Ed Hardy design on them). I'm thinking, we find shirts like this that someone got rid of because they weren't trendy anymore, and because we are nostalgic for that time or we tried it on and it was so flattering but kind of out dated, we bought it and wore it in a way that's new and interesting so it became trendy again. According to the London School of Design and Markerting, trends come from cultural influences, technological advances, and consumer behavior.

I also think about Uggs. Everyone loves their Tazman slippers but in the 2000's I was wearing my Ugg boots that went clear up to my mid-calves. So, while we embrace the old trends, we add modern twists to create a new trend. Another one is the "flared leggings" trend. I remember when this trend first popped up about 2 or so years ago, I saw a Tik Tok post about how people were calling yoga pants "flared leggings". Because when they were trending in the 2000's, they were known as "yoga pants". I remember pairing yoga pants with a nice, colorful shirt (probably covered in sequins and sparkles) from Justice and my zebra-print Bobs. This just to say, trends are circling. I feel like fashion is so diverse right now, every time period is being recreated in some shape or form. The 70's is another popular generation with flare jeans and body suits. Now, to transfer from this very long tangent, a brand's ability to keep up with trends in a fun and creative way makes it popular.

Lip gloss is trending right now. We no longer want that dry matte look and we want more than just the 2020, Emma Chamberlain Carmex chapstick look. We want smooth, light, creamy, shiny lip gloss that isn't sticky and layers well on top of lip stick. No worries, there's only a million lip gloss brands. However, we cannot simply buy any lip gloss, we need Summer Fridays or Linege. Nothing else will do. These brands don't even have glitter in them. Victoria's Secret lip gloss has glitter, there's probably a million beatiful lip gloss brands at any makeup store, the popular brands don't even have a lip gloss wand, they're just a tube. Plus, they're wildly expensive. However, I think the packaging is a big part as to why they're popular. The tubes are sleek and brightly colored. Summer Friday's has a nice, bold logo but Linege is a bit smaller. I've tried both, the lip gloss is great but there really needs to be more product for how much they charge.

Starbucks is similar in this. They have remained popular year after year and they've adjusted their logo like a million times. You just don't see Dunkin' remaining that popular after its boom in 2020. However, I think Emma Chamberlain contributed to their popularity. I do love a good donut hole. Dunkin' has amazing donut holes, I get a bag and lose count of how many I've eaten...anyways. Some brands become popular or get a boost in popularity becuase of celebrity endorsements or influencer deals. It's kind of a catch-22, the brand can make the influencer popular and the influencer can make the brand popular. The brands make the products and its up to the consumers to determine what's "in" or "out".

Sometimes influencer deals don't look like an influencer talking about a product. Sometimes it's an influencer just having a product with branding on it in a photo or video. This has become increasingly popular with influencers who make videos with prewritten sketches. It allows them to interact with the product in a way that draws in viewers because it seems like a regular video but then the product is revealed they have gained enough viewing time to gain revenue, draw viewers in to see the end of the sketch, and show off the product.

Overall, trends are fun to follow but they change so quick, it's hard to determine what will stay and what will go. Which brings me to my topic for the next post: trends and fast fashion. But until then, best wishes,

Livi