Many businesses seek to use trends as springboards to meaningful connections with consumers. This makes sense in our trend-driven world, but the danger of chasing a fad by mistake looms large. And it threatens to reduce a brand’s hard work to rubble, particularly if they go viral for the wrong reasons on TikTok!
What’s the difference between trends and fads? As Design Pool summarized, “According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a trend is defined as “a general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving.” On the other hand, a fad is “a style, activity, or interest that is very popular for a short period of time.”
When a brand participates in a trend that resonates with its followers, they’re evolving along with changing times. This is typically a gradual shift toward something impactful. For example – sustainability started as a trendy, niche way to relate to a small, but vocal, consumer base. This movement has grown, winning global adoption, and businesses everywhere are taking steps toward becoming carbon neutral, or even carbon negative.
A fad, on the other hand, has much less staying power – and lots of risk. Consider the #NoMakeup ‘trend’ that’s really a fad, inhabiting an on-again, off-again relationship with consumers. In a world that’s filter-obsessed, with makeup influencers everywhere, a cosmetics brand betting it all on ‘creamy natural’ would be left behind in world of bold looks from big names (think: Kardashians). But if one merely followed the conversation volume about that topic at a set point in time when it was popular, they could be fooled into doing precisely that.
Another popular fad that lacked long-term staying power, but was a huge hit is Beanie Babies – a consumer nightmare that bankrupted overly eager collectors. Conversely, a trend that felt like a fad but continues to power on and attract new players is Pokemon GO! This AR mobile game is hitting on all the right indicators, and we’ll explore what “the right indicators” are as we dig into the fad vs trend phenomenon below. It’s quite a rabbit hole to explore.
So, how can businesses distinguish between the two in the world intent on amplifying all noise equally? What should brands watch out for when pivoting to stay on trend with their consumer base – and why is this so crucial? It’s the gateway to effective advertising, especially when it comes to advertising on TikTok, the king of trend-based content. Let’s find out
But does this mean you shouldn’t try your hand at the next trend making the rounds in your category – and potentially miss a big promotional opportunity? Certainly not. If the fad on a trending app aligns with your brand voice, try it out! But wait half a beat to examine the passion powering it and conversation surrounding it – those indicators we mentioned above. It will help direct your efforts to something worthwhile that forms a true consumer connection.
Ultimately, your brand will be best served by observing for these indicators and participating in a strategic way that aligns with your brand mission – not just hoping for viral brand awareness with a random audience who will never convert.
And in the meantime, maybe create your own Wordle spin-off if that makes sense for you, as it’s a fad that seems to have legs! Reach out for a demo and we’ll show you how to use our new TikTok theme to quickly derive actionable insight that makes sense for your brand.