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Content Creation · MS elective · 3 credit hours · 16 sessions

Cultural Trend Integration

Brands that stay relevant survive; those that don’t, fade. This course teaches “Agile Marketing”—the ability to spot, analyze, and integrate cultural trends in real-time. Students will learn to distinguish between a fleeting fad and a shift in the zeitgeist, mastering the art of “Newsjacking” and meme culture while navigating the risks of cultural appropriation and tone-deafness.

§ 01 By the end you can
  1. Utilize trend-spotting tools (Google Trends, TikTok Creative Center, Reddit)
  2. Distinguish between Fads, Micro-Trends, and Macro-Cultural Shifts
  3. Execute "Newsjacking" strategies safely and effectively
  4. Analyze the risks of "Cringe" and Cultural Appropriation
  5. Develop an agile content workflow for rapid response marketing
§ 02 Sixteen sessions

The whole semester.

  1. 01The Speed of Culture: Internet Time
  2. 02Trend Spotting Tools & Methodologies
  3. 03Fads vs. Trends vs. Shifts
  4. 04Agile Marketing Workflows
  5. 05Case Study: Wendy's & Duolingo
  6. 06The Nostalgia Cycle (Y2K, 90s)
  7. 07Gen Z & Alpha Cultural Markers
  8. 08 · MidtermMidterm Examination
  9. 09Meme Culture & Brand Literacy
  10. 10Niche Aesthetics (Corecore, Cottagecore)
  11. 11Newsjacking: Timing is Everything
  12. 12Ethics: Appropriation vs. Appreciation
  13. 13Music Trends & Audio Virality
  14. 14Crisis: When Trend Integration Fails
  15. 15Predictive Analytics for Trends
  16. 16Final Project: The Trend-Based Campaign Pitch

Midterm around session 8. Final project briefed at session 8 or 9 and developed in stages until the juries.

§ 03 Final project

Final Project: The Trend-Based Campaign Pitch

How it’s judged

Recommended reading
  1. Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson
  2. Non-Obvious: How to Think Different, Curate Ideas & Predict The Future by Rohit Bhargava
  3. The Context Marketing Revolution by Mathew Sweezey
  4. Youth Culture in Global Cinema (Contextual reading)
  5. Newsjacking by David Meerman Scott
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