Cultural analysis of brand remixingfrom @eugbrandstrat

Transcript

Subcultures are dead. No, it's all about the remix. Today I wanna talk about how corefication killed subcultures, and how the future of brand is all about remix culture. It might be difficult to remember, but before the internet, subcultures are about much more than just how they looked. Yes, they were primarily identified by aesthetic, but they ran a lot deeper. It was a community based around shared values, shared perspectives, and in some cases it was about shared skill sets as well. Then the internet came through and started to flatten everything. Suddenly everything was compressed into the visual realm. We took the aesthetics out of subcultures, but we stripped them of everything else. This is how we ended up with the coreification movement. Skate core, bloke core, cottage core, everything became cosplay. Step in, step out, move on. The transition would find its most influential voices with Dimna Vasalia as Tier of Balenciaga rank its stylist, Lola Volkova. The latter who would famously say, there are no subcultures anymore. It's all about the remix. You see this ideological reflection in Balenciaga's collections. The entire world has become a reference. With other low taste brand assets being remixed through high taste production and marketing. This is an expression of the idea of brand as mame. You use your brand codes as a canvas over which the entire world can be overlaid. This kind of marketing works for a culture that feels like it's frozen in place. Because in a culture where it already feels so hard to create anything new, remixing what already exists in a new way is its own form of novelty. This kind of brand remixing is what I love about the collaboration between Troye Sivan and Gap. Because they could have just taken the easy road with the sponsorship deal. Let's take these 53 kilograms of pure sex and stick them in a bunch of better take tier 53 kilograms of pure sex, and stick them in a bunch of basics. Instead, we get something new built out of the remix of the old. They created a dance video that featured a bunch of moves from his recent singles, but they set it over a Thundercat song. So there's an anchor worst the audience to engage, something familiar, something new, and the brand shines through by acting as the canvas, while the artist shows the core product associations. Loose fitting denim styles that allow for free movement and personal expression. Pause the video tier, and go take a look through the comments of the YouTube video. This is how you leverage a fandom. Well done to the team that put this together. And thank you, Troy. If I still bad questions, you answered them.