WEEKLY TRENDS REPORT
Pictured: Edited image using Gemini
THIS WEEK’S FORECAST
FOR YOUR INFO
TikTok trends
Phonk is infecting the airwaves. We welcome our new overlords.
Did you know the class of 2020 never had a graduation?
ICYMI
For Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, they released special icons for all 1000+ pocket monsters. And they announced a new game after 5 years
Someone bet nearly $100,000 that aliens will be confirmed by December 2026. We’ve got enough on our plate this year, please don’t visit!
Phrase of the week
“The most manly drink, now for the girls”. Energy drinks have changed their target audience from gaming bros to wellness girlies.
Digi updates
TikTok and Insta are using AI to promote lookalike products under people’s videos. The end of the gatekeep.
This week’s dates & microtrends
Snapchat announces The Snappys, its first ever creator awards show. Cementing its status as more than a social app for tweens and teens.
Tea of the week
The red carpet is full of wig wearing celebs Wig tech is changing the hair industry. Are beard wigs next?
What we’re loving
It only took 144 years! The Sagrada Familia is officially finished.
Expect to see Ryan Gosling in more random places like Jeopardy to promote his upcoming film. We didn’t get paid to promote it, so no free shoutout!
Established trends
Almost the real deal. Psuedo-biopics are so hot right now
The great cosmetic undoing is here. The worked upon are asking for the undo button.
Insight of the week
The résumé isn’t important anymore. We just sent a picture of our lovely smile.
On our radar
How to Make A Killing – 13 March
Arirang – 20 March
James Blake: Trying times – 13 March
Pokémon Pokopia – 5 March
Weekly doses of cute
Marques Johnson’s final dunk, Berklee’s 24-hour challenge, dog jeep and we love Browt
Rising trend
The rise in ADHD diagnosis amongst middle-aged women
The future
How parents in China are using AI tutors to teach their kids.
Stats of the week
ChatGPT uninstalls surged by 295% after their deal with the Pentagon. Now they’re penta-gone from our phone!
54% of US teens use AI in their schoolwork.
But 26% think it will have a negative impact on society over the next 20 years.
Ones to watch
A sneak peak at God of War’s TV adaptation, Scary Movie makes a return, Scream 7 tops the box office and Backrooms is teased
TREND TRACKING
How some of the trends we’ve identified have evolved in recent months
Club Temple
A club collective in Taiwan has been throwing raves at Buddhist, Daoist and folk temples. Taiwan has more temples per capita than any other country, so plenty of potential venues. Temple owners welcome the new nightly residents with open arms, bringing lots of energy and 熱鬧(liveliness) is integral to appeasing the local deities. While reports from the US/UK say dance floors have become a sea of screens, photographs from the temple raves show something surprising, no screens in sight See you at the next one, we’re in need of a good headbang.
Ski Girlies!
Ski instructors have noticed an uptick of skiing for show as influencers or “ski girlies” have started invading the snowy pistes. It was always an aspirational hobby/sport but with the uptick of beauty brands like Rhode or Skims offering ski products, it’s become an aesthetic feed filler. Influencers are reshaping the skiing experience. They’re riding gondolas to the top for cute photoshoots while resorts offer them all-inclusive packages. With the amount of cash ski girlies infuse into the mountains, it’s not going to go away anytime soon. It’s all stupid, sexy Flanders fault!
Cute Coffins!
Trend: Panopticontent & Bad influence
A meditation space in Tokyo is offering customers the ability to lie in a closed or open coffin for relaxation. Options for entertainment in the coffin range from healing music, watching videos, or simply for sleep. With the creator, Mikako Fuse, saying, “I have seen many people who have participated in Grave Tokyo’s coffin experience that have reduced or alleviated their thoughts of death. Before choosing a death that cannot be reversed, I want them to experience a death that can be reversed.” Lying in a coffin is a unique experience that no one truly gets to experience, but now we can! We already pre-ordered the Supreme Casket
Trend: The horror of it
Trend: Dance recession
Image: Supreme
Weber Forecast Insight
People are catching flights and feelings for adorable zoo creatures, booking travel to visit the latest viral animal and boosting the local area with much needed tourism. These moments can be flash in the pan but if supported properly by fans, brands and local businesses, these animals can become proper stars. Pandas can’t have all the fame.
This week’s long read
INTERNET PET-JETTING
Pull out your passport. We’re going bananas for adorable zoo creatures.
Forget checking in on your friends. Have you checked in on Panchi-kun (Punch the monkey)? The innocent, baby macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo has officially been adopted by the internet after news spread (and tears shed) that he was abandoned by his mother at birth and given an IKEA orangutan plushie for companionship. (We’re not crying, you’re crying.)
Everyone and their mother (except Punch’s, clearly) is now invested in the little primate’s life. IKEA donated more stuffed animals to their unexpected brand ambassador. Google created a heartfelt animation (search ‘Punch the monkey’ for the tribute). And people around the world are making their way to Japan to extend their love and support for the internet’s new pet in person. In fact, 10,000 people reportedly visited Punch in just two days. Booking.com also shared
that U.S. travel searches to Ichikawa have increased 214% year over year.
But this isn’t the first time that baby zoo animals have captured our hearts and our wallets. Just two years ago, Moo Deng inspired makeup trends, an SNL skit, and an influx of visitors to Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo. The iconically sassy pygmy hippo was credited with quadrupling the zoo’s attendance, drawing as many as 20,000 people in one weekend. Some dedicated fans even made the trek to visit her more than once.
So, next time you pack your suitcase, what will be your travel inspiration? Still a trending television show or a sold-out tour? Perhaps you’ll consider visiting the latest internet sensation.
Image: @kaenixyz
Image: @amyscoville
Image: Travel + Leisure
Image: @chris
BRANDWATCH
Inspiring creative from around the world
Coach Fruit of the Loom HEYDUDE Raisin Bran Columbia
We haven’t seen the end of mini-charm accessories! Coach, in partnership with Penguin Random House, has created readable micro-book charms encouraging people to ‘Explore Your Story’. Tapping in to the Gen Z insight that in a fastpaced, short-form digital world, books offer reflection, identity, and connection. Big stories, tiny charms - Coach just made reading infinitely more wearable.
With some calling it lowkey revolutionary, Fruit of the Loom Japan and designer Keiji Kaneko have just dropped the Athletic Formal Suit, arriving in original packaging. The vintage-inspired collab has sold out quicker than you can say the brand’s name due to its unique innovation. Known primarily for its basics (and not fashionforward suits) the unexpected nature of the collab has gone hand-in-hand with its strong visual and social hook, causing it to go viral. On our way to the boardroom with our out-of-the-packet suits!
We love to see a celebrity endorsement that fits like a glove; or should we say like a HEYDUDE shoe! In this, frankly, hilarious collab between HEYDUDE and Lewis Capaldi it is evident in the first second both stand for comfort, authenticity and doing life your own way. By capitalising on Lewis’ humour, HEYDUDE ensures its message is extra shareable, positioning the campaign as viral from the start.
From one celebrity endorsement to another, Raisin Bran did not pull its punches when it partnered with Star Trek legend William Shatner. The vibe? Cosmic camp meets bowel honesty. Rebranding Shatner as “Will Shat” –we’ll let you come to your own conclusion on the tone of the campaign but we are picking up on notes of cheeky, confident and clarity of the product benefits – Raisin Bran is helping break the stigma through nostalgia and humour. In a weird way, we are here for it.
While most slow down for Ramadan, Columbia Hike Society instead lit up the UAE’s tallest mountain. ‘Light Your Path’, in partnership with RAK tourism, turned Jebel Jais into a glowing night-trail playground, complete with solar lights, pro athletes, and a community of hikers celebrating sundown in the coolest way possible. The event, and future events, proved that hiking isn’t just a summer hobby - it’s a year-round lifestyle and Columbia have shone a light on this… literally.
Image: @coach
Image: @koukekambara
Image: @heydude_europe
Image: Raisin Bran
Image: @columbiasportswear_me
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