Holly Trantham

Recently, I have become obsessed with “Pack my Stanley” videos, but not because I own a Stanley tumbler or have any desire to “pack” it with custom ice cubes and snack accouterments before plunking it down in my also-nonexistent car. (Do I also find their popularity ethically dubious in the face of our ever-growing consumer waste? Sure!) No, I’m obsessed with them because they are a prime example of user-generated content finding its organic audience.

Remember when every brand seemed to be having a “brat summer?” I’m being a little facetious — I enjoyed the chartreuse memes and apple dances as much as anyone. But in recent years, the concept of timeliness in a content marketing calendar has become less about utility and more about jumping on trends for the sake of relevancy. Don’t get me wrong: there’s a time and place for incorporating memes and internet discourse into your content strategy. Staying “with it” is important.

The other day, I came across this tongue-in-cheek post while idly scrolling: “Spotify should send a halftime report. Tell me in July what my Wrapped is looking like and how much work I have left to do to turn this thing around.” Considering I’d just jokingly voiced how embarrassing my Wrapped was going to look this year after the hundreds of minutes I’ve spent clicking the replay button on Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” that post was a total read.