A brief overview of what is currently trending in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
Cynthia: Erivo protected Arianna Grande from a fan during the Wicked: For Good premiere.
Epstein: As new information arises from emails between Epstein and Maxwell, users are wanting answers from President Donald Trump.
Northern Lights: were able to be seen last night and the night prior in the U.S., flooding feeds with beautiful pictures and also memes from those who missed them.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
Spectacle-Driven < Community-Led
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What It Is: Wicked returns with its highly anticipated sequel, Wicked: For Good, hitting theaters November 21. Last year’s campaign was a cultural takeover, feeds flooded with brand partnerships, interview promo, and massive activations that mirrored Barbie’s marketing playbook along with average user and brand posts referencing the film. This year, while we still see big-name collaborations like Dunkin’, the approach feels more scaled back and intentionally social-first, empowering fans and creators to lead the conversation through organic trends and interactive content and a lack of content from brands wanting to get in on the hype. The shift reflects a move from 2024’s spectacle-driven strategy to 2025’s community-led storytelling, leveraging platforms and creators to keep momentum alive beyond the initial hype and after it had become oversaturated in feeds last year.
Brand Takeaway: With this shift, brands can see that success isn’t about scale and spend but about sparking authentic engagement. While Wicked’s first release dominated and oversaturated feeds, the sequel’s community-led approach created space for real conversation and connection among fans. This proves that UGC and creator partnerships build deeper relationships than polished posts alone and that more is not always better. Smaller, well-timed activations can still deliver big wins.
Examples: 1 | 2 | 3
A recap of what you might have missed while not online
Friday afternoon: The Devil Wears Prada 2 trailer teaser has been dropped.
Saturday: Meta Is Retiring Its Like and Comment Buttons for Third-Party Websites.
Sunday: Kris Jenner celebrated her 70th birthday and Kim gave us a BTS look.
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