The Demure Trend: When Brands Join the Conversation
The demure trend has taken social media by storm, with creators highlighting "demure" behaviours like wearing “minimal” makeup, cleaning up after yourself at the gym and anything in between. But as brands jump on the bandwagon to capitalize on the trends’ popularity, where do we draw the line between trendsetting and authenticity?
The Birth of the Demure Trend
Originating from the creator, Jools’ take on everyday behaviours, the demure trend quickly gained traction, with users worldwide sharing their own interpretations of what it means to be "demure." Its relatability and lightheartedness have made it an instant hit on social media platforms.
Creator Jools Lebron sparked this trend by sarcastically talking about her demure makeup for work. She has made multiple videos before this with other demure scenarios and behaviours, but this one took off!
Brands Joining the Conversation
As with any popular trend, brands have started to incorporate the demure trend into their marketing strategies, seeking to connect with their audience on a more relatable level. While some brands manage to successfully integrate the trend into their messaging, others struggle to find an authentic connection. Brands chimed in on the trend, like Sephora did by promoting demure behaviours when testing products in-store, which is VERY smart and witty.
Creator and Sephora employee, Sequoia, nailed this trend (Sephora better be giving her a raise or major bonus).
Chris Appleton and Patrick Ta jumped on the bandwagon VERY quickly and hired Jools to help them promote either themselves or their brands. While it’s smart of them to jump on this trend quickly, as trends die out very quickly, especially when they are so fast to grow, like the demure trend; users can’t help but feel a sense of in-authenticity, as they are using something that everyone was able to find relatable to capitalise on themselves and sell their products.
Patrick Ta jumped on the demure trend and booked Jools quickly to showcase his products.
Chris Appleton also booked Jools in person to create fun videos about hair - his expertise!
The Fine Line Between Trendy and Authentic
Where’s the line between jumping on trends and being authentic? While we are a social media agency, being the people behind the brand prompting them to jump on trends — we agree that if not done tastefully, can leave users feeling like it is inauthentic. In our opinion, Chris Appleton’s collaboration with Jools felt more natural, while Patrick Ta’s felt more forced as there was very obvious product placement.
Successful Brand Trend Integration
The key in incorporating trends into your social media strategy as a brand should always go back to the user and whether or not this will help them relate to you MORE as a brand, or not. Always keep general consumers and more importantly, your target audience in mind!
A smart way to do so is by leading with 1 individual, like the Sephora employee and creator, Sequoia. This allows users to relate to a person, rather than a brand, which is much easier. This is where Chris Appleton made the right call here in not including many of his products in his collaboration with Jools.
The moral of the story — be strategic about why and how you join a trend. Don’t just do it, because it’s a trend! We ALWAYS say, consumers are much smarter than you think.
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