Foreword
It’s been a slow week on the Tok in terms of sheer quantity of major trends, but what has lacked in quantity, has been made up for in quality. Trends like guys showing up the new minions movie in suits, and vogue models suddenly coming out of the trenches on TikTok have led to an extremely interesting week of trends on the platform. As a brand these ongoings may seem odd, if not sometimes completely not understandable, so join us as we explore how brands can integrate, and gain a grasp about the culture, content, and trends going on in the world of TikTok this week!
Audio Based Trends
Most trends are based around sounds. What we mean specifically by audio based trends are trends that pertain to specific lyrics or wording within sound. This is when the action or meaning behind the trend is correlated with the lines spoken. These are usually the most prolific of trends on TikTok so let’s dive in.
Ew this is so cringe.… guilty
92.1k videos on the sound
Many if not most trends on TikTok will be built from outside cultural sources and this is the case with the ew this is cringe, guilty trend. SNL did a skit a few weeks ago with Kim Kardashian acting as Judge Judy, where she decided on the finalities of a case with the line, “Ew this is so cringe… guilty.” TikTok users have applied the inherently funny audio in a different fashion to actions within their own life that they think are extremely cringey, yet they regardless. This is just yet another look at the self deprecating humor ever present on TikTok.
Brand application: Brands will want to apply this to similar company situations where the brand does something that the brand manager would jokingly find cringey, but still act on in actuality.
Examples:
Vogue
24.2k videos on the sound
After being relentlessly bad mouthed, Drake’s new album is now finding it’s moment on TikTok and specifically the line from one song saying “B*tch don’t tell me that you model, if you ain’t been in Vogue.” This line has users ready to show off their Vogue looks. The trend started out with models who had actually been in Vogue, posting their photos from the magazine, but has made its way down to regular users. The trend is a simple before and after format where a user starts off the video simply looking at the camera, and when Drake says “Vogue” it cuts to attractive photos of themselves.
Brand application: Brands will want to replicate the trend with a brand representative or mascot getting ready for work with the trend.
Examples:
Chrissy wake up
174.1k videos on the sound
The audio for this trend reads, “Chrissy wake up, I don’t like this” in a distorted tone. Users are applying the line to times in their life when they are in extremely awkward situations and don’t want to be there. Something about the line is extremely catchy and this combined with the wide applicability to awkward personal life moments, means that users have used the sound pretty prolifically on the platform.
Brand application: Brands will want to apply the trend to times in their business when something is going wrong either with internal operations or dealing with customers. Additionally this can be used sarcastically at other brands, referencing not liking a competitor.
Examples:
Just close your eyes
39.7k videos on the sound
With this format, users are prefacing the video with something they don’t want to see, or something they don’t want others to see. It’s usually a menial thing that they don’t want to think about the implications of. One might have just left on vacation and wonder if they left the oven on, or find their partner scrolling through instagram models, but whatever it may be, they want to gloss over it and not think about it. As such the audio for this trends sings, “just close your eyes” and as such in the videos are closing their eyes to the things they just don’t want to see.
Brand application: Brands will want to joke about ongoings within their office or store that they just don’t want to see on the daily.
Examples:
Interactive Trends
This should be somewhat self explanatory but interactive trends are trends that involve users interacting with others to create videos. Often the hilarity or interest generated by working with loved ones or peers creates incredible laughs or simply fun times. Most importantly though, authenticity shows through with interactive trends as most often they are truly authentic.
Minions
73.2k videos on the sound
You may have already heard about this trend as it hit the news this week as the new Minions movie coming out. If you are unfamiliar, minions are the little yellow fellows from the Despicable Me movies and as of July 1st, they got their own film. If anything, this movie has become an entire internet meme. The minions are hilarious for all ages, but because they are designed to entertain little kids, there is an inherent comedy to users having an aggressive love for them. As such, users on TikTok started a trend where they took the movie very seriously; showing up to the theaters in large friend groups all dressed in suits. The preparations took time and coordination, but more than anything, the energy these groups brought to theaters was absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately movie theaters have had to ban the trend, as these suited groups have more often than not brought a little too much energy to the theater, even being seen moshing at pivotal moments in the film. But with that being said, the trend has set off a cultural movement for the minions, and suffice it to say it has been incredibly successful for the franchise as they have amassed over $200 million in box office sales opening week.
Brand application: Brands don’t have an exact application for this trend, but they should look towards how the studio advertised this movie and integrated with the culture before
Examples:
Simple Format Trends
This section is a little bit of a catch all for trends that are somewhat nonspecific. They happen on a weekly basis, but with these one generally finds that the trend has a simple audio behind it and creators will utilize a text format on screen to showcase a message. Often these trends tend to be based upon a relatability factor where users will talk about an experience from their own life with extremely relatable undertones that other users can get a good self deprecating laugh at.
Door portal
373k videos on the sound
Before and after trends for users getting ready have forever been a staple on TikTok, and this week is no different. This version of the before and after change features users mirroring the camera as if they are pushing it through their door into a reflected dimension where they are perfectly put together. The videos here tend to stray more towards being thirst traps than not, but they definitely vary and there is a lot of room for interpretation here.
Brand application: Brands will want to replicate the trend with a brand representative or mascot getting ready for work with the trend.
Examples:
Case Study
This week we want to bring you a highlight coming from what could either be defined as a personal or brand page. A user named “Strawberry milk mob” has had a very interesting strategy for TikTok, which has led her to absolutely taking over for you pages. The page was originally created for the creator, Georgia’s, swimsuit line. She makes and sells bikinis online and this was a way for her to promote it. For months she was creating videos about the products, and even about her personal life but nothing much has stuck. Her videos were getting a thousand views here and there but it wasn’t resulting in anything major. That being said, for around the last two weeks or so Georgia has taken a new strategy. Currently, she is posting upwards of 6 times a day, about her every thought. Each video is about an experience in her life that she tries to make relatable to the audience, and often they are incredibly self deprecating and funny. Alongside this she always posts one video a day highlighting her bikini of the day, but even this integrates with the style of the others. With this new strategy she has amassed over 100k followers in these last two weeks, but more so, she has played the TikTok algorithm to create a very engaged and dedicated audience. By posting so frequently she shows up on the fyp of her target demo often, and these high touch points on a platform where this usually isn’t seen, has been an attention draw for the audience. What Georgia has managed to to here is extraordinarily interesting and might be an optimal strategy for other brands with the bandwidth to take.
Time Capsule - Prior Week Trends Still Growing
I take the top off
97.3k videos on the sound
When Gunna recorded his song “Top Off” he probably never realized that the clip of him recording the song with all his buddies around him never would have surfaced. But it did. And from that users have replicated the initial video with their friends acting like they too are in the studio singing “Top Off.” Users are taking the most random objects possible to use as their microphone, and structuring each parody of the video to be more absurd than the last. It’s another interactive trend that can lead to a great time with friends and is thus why it continues to take off. I would like to also note, that I found this trend at 4 thousand videos around a week and a half ago (something I wouldn’t define as a trend), and I wrote it down noting that it wasn’t there yet, but that this with be huge. I was right, so yeah, take that algorithm.
Brand application: Brands will want to have employees or staff do this in a work environment. This absurd trend placement aligns well with the most random places users are replicating the trend such as McDonalds and random bathrooms.
Examples:
Carwash
117.3k videos on the sound
Summer interactive videos are continuing strong this week as the carwash trend has users parodying 2000’s commercials and internet clips of girls seductively washing cars. In these sarcastic remedies, guys and girls alike are doing a comedically bad job of being seductive while washing their car at the local wash. The videos draw hilarity from the general absurdity of recreating something like this in public which is then compounded by the bad acting. Users are having a great time with friends making these videos at their hometown carwash and we just hope they were actually able to clean the car at some point.
Brand application: Most brands likely won’t find application for this, however if you are a car brand or carwash, simply recreating it with staff in the absurd manners portrayed should suffice nicely.
Examples: