Dear Brands, Think Before You Trend

Should brands follow viral trends?

Lately, I've been seeing more and more brands hop onto viral trends – sometimes cleverly, other times... questionably.

Take the recent “Landon is not welcome here” wave, which came out of a very public breakup between two influencers. Within hours, brands, from coffee shops to airlines, had joined in. Some posted signs. Others made TikToks. None of them had anything to do with the original story. But the trend was moving, and they wanted in.

I’ve also seen (as I’m sure most of us have), serious institutions - corporate brands, law firms, healthcare providers, B2B tech brands, posting TikTok dances or lip-syncs. And while I appreciate agility, many of these efforts felt disconnected from who the brand actually is. They earned a few views, sure. But did they build any meaningful resonance? Did they say anything we’d remember a week later?

During the global #Barbenheimer trend, a Dubai café introduced a pink Barbie shake and a black “Oppenheimer” burger. The stunt drew social media attention but also criticism for trivializing a sensitive topic. It’s a reminder that global trends don't always translate meaningfully—or tastefully—into local campaigns.

In this attention economy, the pressure to appear “in the know” is real. Trends move fast. But brands need to move with intention, not panic.

I’m all for trendjacking and newsjacking, in fact I think we often miss out – when they’re relevant. But on the flipside, it usually only works when you find a way to belong in the conversation.

Jumping into a viral moment isn’t inherently wrong. When done well and in alignment with a brand’s tone, message, and audience, it can be clever and culturally relevant. But too often, what we see is a reaction, not a strategy.

And Gen Z (who these stunts are usually aimed at) in particular, is incredibly good at detecting the difference. They are less convinced by a brand’s ability to hop on trends and more likely to become loyal customers based on their “wokeness” – aka alignment with their values, political and moral views, long-term goals.

In fact, research shows Gen Z places minimal value on trendiness alone—only 8% cite “being on trend” as important, compared to 46% for reasonable pricing and 39% for quality This goes to show that chasing viral culture without substance rarely translates into brand credibility.

They don’t just notice when a brand shows up. They pay attention to how and why.

Here are a few brands from our region who distinguished between cultural relevance and trendjacking.  

Anghami, the region’s homegrown streaming platform, has repeatedly tapped into culturally relevant moments. When Arab nostalgia surged online, Anghami responded with curated playlists celebrating 90s–2000s music icons, packaged with witty titles that resonated with a millennial and Gen Z audience. It was on-trend, but more importantly, on-brand. As an avid consumer of the platform, it spoke to me and I enjoyed it.

When a TikTok video falsely claimed regional milk brands were unsafe, Almarai responded swiftly with fact-based content. They used the same platform—not for clout, but for clarity. Their move neutralized the trend and, in doing so, reinforced trust in their quality-first reputation. I think one of the anchored future missions of brands will have to do with combating ‘misinformation’ as it seems, everyone on TikTok is self-funding license to give advice.

Nike’s campaign introducing the Pro Hijab was a case study in cultural fluency. Rather than reacting to a passing trend, they anticipated and aligned with a wider cultural shift toward inclusive representation. It wasn’t a social media moment; it was a brand stance that earned long-term relevance.

So, in conclusion, before you post that reel or mimic that meme…

Ask the harder question: Is this helping us build the brand we’re trying to become?If the answer is unclear, it might be better to sit it out.

Because not every moment is yours to own.And four minutes of attention isn’t worth eroding the trust you’ve spent years building.

I'm all for creativity. I'm all for brands being culturally fluent.

But there's a difference between relevance and reaction, and clarity is what separates the two.