FRESH MINDS #005
January 2025
Congratulations all - if you’re reading this newsletter, it means two things:
You’re clearly a very cool supporter of Juniors
We’ve almost survived the bleak midwinter (January)
We’re buzzing off the back of our first Juniors meet-up this month. We chatted, vented, shared tips and resources, gossiped, laughed, and generally had a very wholesome time.
We’re in peak plotting and scheming era, so this year, expect to see us not only in your inboxes, but slowly popping up with more meet-ups, events and partnerships.
Our little community / elite force / (communal noun tbc) of Juniors is slowly growing mightier, so please keep reading and supporting, and reaching out to us with suggestions and questions!
In the meantime, enjoy a smorgasboard of Junior POVs and observations below!
Stay hydrated queens,
A&Z
For me, temporal landmarks like New Year’s are simply moments that allow us to draw a line between who we were and who we aspire to become. However, doesn‘t the real strategy lie in actively seeking more of these fresh-start moments throughout the year? Anniversaries, birthdays, or personal milestones can all act as catalysts for change…
— Emma, Junior Strategist
“Tap(ing) into other people’s audiences could be a way to fast track creating connections and cultivating a new community.”
Barbie-fying briefs very much feels to be the future of modern marketing.
In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, an era where ‘buying’ reach is no longer as straightforward as it once was, and with more and more people avoiding advertising via subscriptions and technology like ad-blockers, the only way to engage them, is on their terms and by impacting them at various points during their daily routine.
The approach taken by Barbie and Wicked relies on a multi-faceted campaign, rolling out over an extended period, using a range of content from initial teasers to full-blown reveals.
It relies on a clever blend of traditional and non-traditional touchpoints, on and offline, connecting and galvanising communities. And most importantly finding fans and enabling them to play their crucial part of carrying the campaign forward.
But let’s not underestimate the challenge in being able to successfully pull off an approach like this.
Whether it’s capturing and holding the attention of audiences over many months, or energising a fan base to become a media channel.
Both Wicked and Barbie had the distinct advantage of being established ‘franchises’ long-standing and well-loved with a built in community to begin with. Trying to do this as a consumer brand will be more challenging unless there’s a superfan base baked in.
However, finding the right partners, like-minded collaborations, influencers, endorsers and ways to tap into other people’s audiences, could be a way to fast track creating connections and cultivating a new community.
- Edie
I think the overwhelmingly negative reaction from Adland to Jaguar's rebrand is indicative of how this industry is still dominated by straight, middle-aged white men.
I’ve scrolled through so many opinions and thought pieces on LinkedIn, as well as read Mark Ritson’s take on it (which read as more of an emotional rant than a constructive review and personally, wasn’t a fan of how he described Chinese EVs as being ‘soulless’) - let’s just say that those who loved the Jaguar rebrand were those outside of the ‘straight, middle-aged white men’ category, which unfortunately wasn’t a lot.
The rebrand has also been described as ‘woke’ and I have a hunch that it’s about the diverse mix of talent in the accompanying ad that dropped. There’s definitely something to say about the wider adversity against having people of colour hero a campaign.Might I remind you of the backlash on Boots’ Christmas ad?
Nobody asked, but what do I think of this whole ordeal? I don’t care for cars and don’t think I ever will, but a brand’s gotta do what they've gotta do - they have to go where the money’s at and I don’t think it’s with our armchair critics. Countless studies and trend reports have shown that luxury spending is now and will be with Gen Zs and Millennials for the foreseeable future, so it’s time to start speaking their language, even if it means upsetting the OGs.
At the same time, Jaguar has initiated so much discourse and engagement from this ‘controversial’ rebrand to the point that even my own non-car fan friends are talking about it. As said on Glee, “a bad reputation is better than no reputation at all”.
- Ally Azizi, Junior Strategist
All social media content has to be short form.
The time of long attention spans are gone. People want quick fix entertainment.
Right?
Not necessarily.
As so often the case with broad-brush statements around Social, it depends.
Let’s take a break from the darker themes regarding TikTok, and consider one of the last trends that went viral before circumstances surrounding TikTok changed.
The trend had people share their funny stories and how they unravel in the most unthinkable ways: from a person with 5lb potato salad who ended up becoming a local legend, to a girl who ended up in hospital because she was too embarrassed to admit she had wrapped herself in a coffee mixture for the dream of a snatched waist.... all matched with the image of Pepe Muppet, visualising the emotion of the experience and the choir version of ‘Like a Prayer’ as a sarcastic veil. (Try to explain that sentence to a Victorian child)
The sound now has >300k videos, the majority of which participating in this trend, and each Tiktok achieving millions of likes. Most have up to 30 slides!
This trend is a beautiful display of how attention span isn’t dead and people are willing to read.
The key is great storytelling which this trend perfectly displays.
This is a great insight that can inform comms strategies. It is something we’ve known all along and still proves to be relevant. Whilst there’s still a preference for short form content, as long as it is delivered right, people are happy to engage with longer content – as long as it's worth their time.
- Zoë Mann (Junior Strategist)
Thanks for supporting FRESH MINDS
Have some POVs to share? Check out the next month’s prompts HERE.
We’d love to hear your feedback: freshminds2024@gmail.com