Spring always signals a reset, for wardrobes as well as brand strategies alike. But while fashion changes with the season, the brands that last are the ones that know exactly who they are before the trend cycle dictates it.
Gap's 'Better in Denim' campaign featured HYBE's global girl group Katseye. Gap choreographed a dance set to Kelis' 'Milkshake', gaining over 21 million views in three weeks and generating an estimated $19.6 million in Media Impact Value in its first week alone (Launchmetrics, 2025). The genius of it wasn't the nostalgia play or the Gen Z casting. It was alignment. The ad perfectly aligned with a relevant, trending cultural moment, successfully capturing Gap’s signature ‘casual American cool’ identity.
Moreover, Aaker (1996) argues that strong brands are anchored to a stable identity, a set of associations that remain consistent even as expressions evolve. The brands that appear 'trend-proof' aren't ignoring culture; they are intentionally curating cultural moments that reflect who they are. Cultural branding, as Holt (2004) describes it, is about choosing the right societal tensions to stand for and not just simply being present in every conversation.
The trap most brands fall into is reactive positioning. They see what's trending on TikTok and pivot, essentially diluting brand identity in the process. The brands that build lasting equity tend to operate from the inside out. Sharp (2010) reinforces this with consistent salience, built through repetition of distinctive assets across touchpoints, which is how brands can effectively enter the consideration step in the buying journey of a consumer. A logo change or a collab won't do it on its own. Staying true to the brand’s core values and capitalising on the right cultural moments is how brands stay relevant and authentic.
Earth Day 2025 offered a parallel lesson. Brands that had embedded sustainability into their core identity all year could speak to it naturally in April. Brands that treated it as an annual campaign moment were quickly called out for inauthenticity. Consumers, particularly Gen Z, whose global spending power now exceeds $360 billion (The PR Net, 2025), are remarkably good at detecting the difference. This new generation of buyers is bold in calling out any brands that are greenwashing and equally vocal about the brands that are truly sustainable.
The question to ask your brand isn't 'what's trending?' It's 'what are we already, and which trends are an honest expression of that?' That's where the longevity lives.
REFERENCES
Aaker, D.A. (1996) Building Strong Brands. New York: Free Press.
Holt, D. (2004) How Brands Become Icons. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
