~Vibes~
Are trends no longer trendy?
Happy Super Bowl Sundayyyyy. đ Iâm making the brownies, wbu? And donât forget about the most important part of the game: the Puppy Bowl. đ¶
đ Michelle
~Vibes~
If culture is the fabric of society, trends are the threads that weave it together and the loom that keeps capitalism humming. But supposedly trends are dead and vibes are alive. So either someone GENIUS in the trend department is making âvibesâ happen, or we might have actually hit peak trends.
đ Letâs take a look.
Iâve been noticing a lot of articles lately talking about ~Vibes~ lately and the decline in trends, like Vogue Businessâs âMicro-Trends are dead. Long live the vibeâ, The Guardianâs âItâs game over for factsâ: how vibes came to rule everything from pop to politicsâ, and part of FastCompanyâs âThe biggest branding trends coming in 2025â.
So of course I had to see whatâs up, given my obvious obsession with trends. Per Google Trends, search interest for âvibesâ is on the rise and it started to see a big uptick in 2016, reaching a climax over the past 2ish years.
Is there really a difference between vibes and trends?
According to Vogue Business, ââA vibe communicates without direct signalling, whereas a trend often relies on explicit markers. Trends are mainstream and product-driven; vibes are niche, personal and culturally expressive,â says fashion journalist AshantĂ©a Austin on the new aesthetic landscape. âThey are immersive and encompass everything from behaviours and music to food and hobbies.ââ
Essentially vibes are a mood and trends are a moment. Brat girl summer, Y2K revival, and Pink Pilates Princess are all vibes whereas Rococo outfits, sea nails, and Barbiecore are all trends.
Unless, trends start to take off and grow into something more. I made this chart a few years ago but I still think itâs pretty accurate. Perhaps youâd plot âvibesâ around the Cultural Trend line?
So what audience really cares about vibes? Letâs turn to the platform of vibes: Pinterest.
According to Pinterest Trends, W18-24 are the biggest audience searching for vibes on their platform, followed by W25-34.
This is a snapshot of their vibes. I donât hate it! Lol to the đ
This is what my vibes are (just type âmy vibesâ into Pinterest). NGL, I really love this.
Anyways, here are some reasons why we might have hit peak trends:
People are exhausted of trying to keep up with whatâs in style, whatâs cool, whatâs new. There are much bigger fish/problems to fry/worry about.
The rise of realizing that all of the crap we are buying is ruining the planet
It is a natural human behavior to, as they say, buck the trend.
People in marketing and media like making new terms up and really Vibes are just Trends in disguise.
Maybe everyone is having an epiphany that the coolest thing you can do is be yourself?
So how are vibes influencing culture? Theyâve made their mark on fashion, branding, and music:
According to Depop, âIn response to fleeting micro-trends, we are forecasting a return to timeless, adaptable pieces that embrace sustainability, authenticity, and individual style through the lens of personal discovery and self expression.
âThe trend cycle has existed for decades,â says Depopâs Trend Spokesperson, Agus Panzoni. âWhat was old is always new. As consumers recalibrate after years of whiplash from fleeting micro-aesthetics, we're witnessing a shift toward âfundamental dressingâ and a focus on durable, versatile pieces that form the building blocks of personal style. This reflects a growing consumer awareness of sustainability and a desire for authentic, high-quality fashion.ââ
How vibes are impacting branding:
Per FastCoâs interview with Emily Heyward (cofounder of renowned branding agency Red Antler), âBrands today feel tremendous pressure to keep up with the ever-changing cultural landscape, and end up scrambling to jump on the latest trend, meme, and viral moments, saturating their communications with slang, emojis, and forced attempts to sound relatable. But this constant barrage of noise is backfiringâconsumers are not just savvier than ever, theyâre increasingly fatigued by the relentless push for attention. The brands that succeed next year will resist the urge to ride every bandwagon. Theyâll move away from the chaos of trend-chasing, and instead focus on creating thoughtful, intentional interactions that make sense for them and them alone.â
How vibes are impacting music:
The Guardian highlights that âIn music, genre is now less important than mood. Spotify, which dominates modern listening, has made a business decision to organise songs by emotional resonance, having calculated that playlists catering to every mood and moment â âindie folk playlist to give my brain a big warm hugâ, âhigh-energy songs for winter runsâ â keep our attention longer than old-school record rack cataloguing. Vibe-based playlists strip out signposting by tribe or taste, and organise songs to soundtrack your moods, as if your life was a movie. You can have music to get you in the mood to go out, or to calm you after a bad day.â
So are trends really dead? Yes and no.
I do think micro-trends are going to go away to an extent. A big part of this hinges on if TikTok ban goes through (again) in ~60 days. Why?
Because TikTokâs algorithm is very good and the alternatives are just not. When a trend starts taking off, it really takes off because itâs not about who you follow and what theyâre posting but about what people are engaging with, catapulting trends into the spotlight very quickly. Sure, there are plenty of other platforms for trends to take hold of like YouTube, Instagram, and X, but if TikTok goes away, Iâm not sure it will be as pervasive.
Trends are the lifeblood of every tech company and catnip to marketers.
Think about it: every major tech company thrives off of trends. Itâs kind of the underlying foundation of the internet. People are interested in what other people are interested in. Itâs also a business model that every tech company monetizes out the wazoo. e.g. Google Trends, Twitter Trending, Pinterest Predicts, Top 10 on Netflix, literally the entirety of TikTok, etc.
There are also real business opportunities to align with trends from a marketing perspective (read my deep dive on this topic from 5 years ago here). Itâs a great way for brands to align with culture, especially on social. Itâs also really fun!
The TLDR? Vibes are trending AND trends arenât dying. Trends are an integral part of societyâperhaps they are morphing into something a bit more amorphous, like Vibesâbut ultimately theyâll never go away.
Advice for marketers to find their vibe:
đ Make a mood board for your brand to see what visual aesthetics represent it. Pinterestâs 2025 predictions are a great starting point.
âïž Describe your brandâs design style as a vibe to figure out what words capture the essence of it.
đŻ Identify some key vibes your audience cares about and determine if thereâs a cross-section with your brand that you can lean into.
đ Stay true to your brandâs self. Embrace your brandâs inherent vibe (a la Nutter Butter) vs. jumping on another trend.
Dinner Super Bowl Party Fodder
Tasty tidbits to talk about.
đ„ Hot take of the week - Every brand has the opportunity to have a Super Bowl moment. But it doesn't have to be THE Super Bowl.
Recipes of the week - Kerbey Lane Queso (IYKYK) for the big game, but also given it is VALENTINEâS soon (aka my personal Super Bowl), Iâve got to share this life-changing Strawberry Cake recipe. đđ°
2025 Vibes - lol
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserđŻ Follow of the week - A new found obsession (thank you Philip!). Australian brand strategist Eugene Healey.
đ€ Data point of the week - The cost of a :30s spot in the Super Bowl increased from $7M to $8M this year.
â¶ïž Video of the week - A dadâs influencer video for a Loewe bag. đ€Ł So curious how/why this happened. It seems semi-planned, but either way itâs hilarious and off the wall and I love that Loewe went for it.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserđ Sermon of the week - The sermon from church last week was a banger. Even if youâre not into the whole church thing, this one was really good.
LinkedIn tip of the week - Rachel Karten interviewed me about how our team at Duolingo drove 20M impressions on LinkedIn last year. If anyone is their companyâs LinkedIn social media manager, shoot me a note!
âQuestion of the week - I am so excited about the âMarketers That Matterâ seriesâI have some seriously cool readers! Next on my list is THE Sean Choi of the Cultural Moments Encyclopedia. Post any questions that you have for him in the chat and Iâll publish his answers next week. đ„
Cheers!
Michelle