It’s easy to dismiss pop culture as fluff. Distraction. Lowbrow entertainment. Kid stuff, even. And sure, that case can be made. But pop culture also has an incredible impact on culture, business and, of course, consumerism.

For marketers or business owners looking to expand their audience, it can be incredibly valuable to be tuned into pop culture when building marketing campaigns.

How pop culture affects your business

There are the obvious ways that pop culture drives consumerism — like product placements and influencer endorsements of products, brands and businesses. We see the impact celebrities have on fashion; how movies can drive sales of specific car or food brands; or how music can boost clothing sales.  

But that’s not where it ends. Trends spurred by movies, books, TV shows, music, celebrities and social media can reach across industries and impact your seemingly “unrelated” business. 

Pop culture impacts:

• The kinds of content or messaging people are apt to engage with – or ignore
• The sources they trust
• The language they use
• How they search for products and services
• How they shop 
• And of, course, what they value enough to spend money on

Pop culture’s influence on consumer behavior shouldn’t be underestimated — but it can be harnessed.

Caring about pop culture =  caring about your consumers

You should care about what your consumers care about — or at least, you should know what it is they care about. Showing that you are listening, watching and engaging in the same experiences and trends that your audience is interested in can help you stay relevant, increase brand trust and build affinity.

Like nostalgia-based marketing strategies, marketing campaigns that reference or riff on pop culture can play to people’s emotions or existing love for the reference. And anytime you are aware of what your audience is interested in, you are better able to create customized brand experiences for them. 

How to integrate pop culture in marketing

At a base level, you should be aware of major trends in pop culture when developing your marketing campaigns. 

But if you want to go deeper, and harness the power of pop culture, there are ways to incorporate pop culture into your campaigns. This can range from hopping on a viral meme trend as part of your social media strategy, launching a partnership with a hot brand or influencer, or making references in messaging/ad copy to beloved movies, music or TV shows.

Before you do, however, you should run through a few basic checks:

1. Does the audience for this reference align with my current consumers OR help me expand my consumer base?
2. Is this reference relevant to my product/service/business? (If not, is it broad enough to still work?)
3. Is it appropriate for my audience or could it be considered offensive?
4. How long will this reference/trend be around for? If it’s likely short-lived, is it big enough to still be worth it? 

Make no mistake, staying on top of trends is work. As advertising week puts it, “To stay culturally relevant, brands need to constantly seek out, and even actively create, these pop culture references that spark hype and resonate with the brand and its audience.”

By no means should you jump on every trend or try to reference all the latest shows, movies and songs that are popular at the moment. (In fact, forcing your way into trends and references could backfire.) Instead, consider what could happen if you added just a splash of pop culture to your next campaign – then, “watch what happens live.” 😉