🤳 Last week, we explored how some brands use shock value to cut through the noise. Today, we’re looking at the ones relying on relatability rather than controversy, and whether they’re compromising their identity to trendiness.

Scroll through Instagram and you’ll start to notice that every Reel sounds the same. It’s not just independent creators or everyday users — it’s brands, from bakeries and restaurants all the way to real estate conglomerates and fertility clinics. Businesses are no longer leading with their products or services; they’re leading with personality. The message? We’re cool, just like you.

This is the new reality of marketing: Viral sounds aren’t just a creative choice anymore — they’re table stakes. The shift toward viral humor and carbon-copy sketches isn’t new, but its overwhelming prevalence is raising an obvious question: If everyone’s trying to stand out, who’s actually doing it?

Where and why did the shift originate? Instead of leaning into shock value marketing to cut through the noise of AI-generated content, some brands are taking what appears to be a more organic approach on social media — short, viral sketches. The reasoning is straightforward: younger generations value authenticity, spontaneity, and unpolished content, Mohamed Galal, marketing expert and chairman of TSM Management, told EnterpriseAM.

Asked whether legacy brands risk alienating their existing customer base by chasing trends, Galal offered a blunt blow: “That original customer base is done for. Consumers grow up until they’re no longer your consumers.” Why this type of outreach? “Brands are now targeting an entirely new segment of customers, and those segments only react to social media,” he added.

Marketing isn’t art — it’s a commercial function with one objective: driving revenue. And survival isn’t a one-time pivot, it’s a continuous process. Influencer marketing has already lost much of its shine, founder and lead consultant at Toolbox Marketing Consulting Nader Elhamy tells us. Once the go-to strategy for every marketing department, it’s now left a sour taste in consumers’ mouths. Influencer marketing started as a way to generate engagement and build credibility, which quickly eroded once influencers stopped being selective with their collaborations and started parroting PR lines for a substantial paycheck.

In short: authenticity sells. But how long until consumers tire of their favorite brands’ pandering to trends? If that’s all a brand has to offer, that’s when the sketches lose their novelty, and the strategy collapses. Striking a balance between riding the rising wave and not washing out is as pivotal as it is difficult. One brand that’s been able to achieve it is Salé Sucré, which has managed to employ the aforementioned social media skits while maintaining its mature, professional visual and tonal identity that has earned it its consumer base. The same could be said for La Poire, whose similar approach “didn’t just generate novelty, [but also] multiplied engagement rates and brand relevancy among younger age groups,” Elhamy tells us.

Elhamy’s advice? Survive, adapt, but don’t let it come at the cost of your brand’s identity. “The real [way] to stand out has always been in sticking to the basics,” Elhamy says. “Use your communication to answer the core question: Why should the consumer choose me over competitors? When that answer isn’t clear, no strategy, tactic or execution can generate effective results,” he adds. “When brands excel at the basics and use technology thoughtfully to build lovable, relevant narratives, they don’t need to chase attention. They earn it.”

Tags: