How to understand trends vs. movements
Advice from our friends at UTA
quick summary ⚡️
An interview with Matt Feniger, whose team at UTA produces the must-read trends and insights report
Cultural gems for your to-read list, including how AI is supporting local journalism and a necessary piece on the sandwich generation
Gen Zs are looking to “comfort creators” for support
the value of tapping into cultural movements over trends
There are trends, and there are movements.
That’s what we took away from catching up with
, a marketing executive at UTA who is on the team that produces the IQ Quarterly, a trends and insights report about cultural shifts that are relevant to talent, platforms, and brands.The Fall 2024 report came out this month and felt like it revolved around a return to simpler times. Whether it’s the desire to go “back to basics” in everyday life or attend impactful, in-person gatherings, the themes in the report are so much more than passing trends.
Below, Matt smartly explains trends and movements, and also shares how to think about what actionable takeaways you can find in the report.
If you’re like us, this will have you ready to brainstorm your big 2025 moments.
On the expertise of the IQ team
UTA’s marketing department is in a unique and valuable position, sitting at the nexus of a talent agency that touches all facets of entertainment (e.g., movies, music, gaming, podcasts, creators, etc.) and the brands eager to infiltrate it. This access and expertise, coupled with a healthy media diet and a culture-curation mindset, fuels the insights around content, consumers, and culture that comprise the IQ Quarterly reports.
On movements vs. trends
A perspective I take when approaching these insights is one of movements versus trends. A movement is strategic, longer term, and evolves, whereas a trend is typically topical, timely, and either ends or can occasionally evolve. A brand can tactically plan into a movement but must act quickly on a trend.
Most TikTok-born “-cores” are trends, although some signal a more significant contextual clue. Take “cottagecore,” which went viral in 2020 and romanticized a rustic, pastoral aesthetic. While one might first consider it a fashion-focused trend, it also had lifestyle implications—such as gardening, baking, foraging, and knitting—that were emblematic of a desirable slower pace of life that came at the mandated halt of the pandemic and then solidified into a newfound personal value for many. Its effects continue to reverberate, and its ethos resurfaces in one of the trends in this issue, “Back to Basic.”
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[Read our deep dives about some of the people driving the cottagecore trend: Ballerina Farm and Nell Diamond.]
On the Fall 2024 issue
Most of the insights in this issue of IQ Quarterly are movements or part of larger ones. This edition’s thematic undertone reveals consumer interests and activities swimming against the current of rapid modernization to explore life’s simpler pleasures. This is perhaps most obvious in “Back to Basics,” commending a slower pace of life through tactile careers, homesteading, and underconsumption, or “Tween Turnaround,” celebrating the simplicity and levity of the tween years. But it is also present in “Comedic Timing’s” confirmation of laughter as the best medicine and “All the Jazz’s” revelation of a return to old-world leisurely pursuits.
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On taking action after reading
There is a wealth of ways for brands to act upon these movements, both big and small—from partnering with comedic talent for campaigns or sponsoring their comedy shows to hosting activations at jazz clubs or wine bars to educating consumption-conscious consumers on the different use cases of its product(s). Some might say this is simple positioning, but consumers engage with brands in the context of their lives, their feeds, and their entertainment habits. It’s this cultural context that dictates brand resonance.
more of UTA IQ’s quarterly report here
don’t miss matt on substack - he’s launching a newsletter very soon!
💎cultural gems💎
The cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week:
OPENAI, MICROSOFT FUND $10M LENFEST INSTITUTE AI LOCAL NEWS PROJECT, axios
“OpenAI and its minority owner Microsoft are funding a $10 million AI collaborative and fellowship program operated by the Lenfest Institute, a non-profit that supports local journalism.
The deal will fund an AI collaborative and fellowship program for five U.S. metro news organizations to start, including Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Long Island Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times.”
Tease: We’ll be in your inbox tomorrow with the next installment of Megan Collins’ series on AI. Paid subscribers will have access to the full piece.
THE ELECTION HAS TAKEN OVER TIKTOK, nytimes
We’re less than two weeks away from Election Day. As if any of us could forget!
“To better understand the election content that’s reaching [TikTok’s] 170 million American users, The New York Times watched hundreds of videos from creators across the political spectrum.
What emerged was not a single type of video. Everyday Americans, news outlets and political operatives have been trying to crack TikTok’s algorithm with a range of videos, including bombastic debate clips, songs made from speech snippets, comedic impersonations and solo diatribes.”
THE SANDWICH GENERATION IS STRESSED OUT, LOW ON MONEY AND SHORT ON TIME, wsj
“People are having children later, and they are living longer, often with care-intensive conditions such as dementia. That means many are taking care of elderly parents when their own kids are still young and require more intensive parenting—and for longer stretches of their lives than previous generations of sandwiched caregivers.”
ANDREW GARFIELD GETS VULNERABLE ABOUT GRIEF, WITH SUPPORT FROM ELMO, nbc news
“They showed that it’s okay to miss someone you love, and it can be helpful to celebrate the memories you had with them that brought happiness and joy.”
COOL SHINY CULTURE, substack
Congratulations to friends of MTD and cultural insights geniuses, Megan Collins and
, on the launch of their Substack, ! Guarantee you will walk away smarter.seeking comfort on social media
Comfort creator is a nebulous term that isn’t about a specific genre but the role the creator plays in the viewer’s habits.
Notably, comfort creators are one of the first parasocial roles in this new digital landscape.