When I was young there was a sense that the world was much bigger, by which I mean that many more parts of it seemed to be too remote to understand or experience.

For example, if a song or movie reached number one in America it might not even get a release in the UK. And even if it did, a large studio or record company had to decide to make a substantial investment in pressing records, putting out cassettes or making an actual print of a movie for distribution in another country.

A gap of three to six months between the US and UK release was common. This allowed time for the stars or bands to become available for a publicity tour, and for the US film prints to finish their first run and be repurposed for a second use in other countries.

But it wasn’t as if we missed these releases. Without the internet it was quite hard to know what was big in America. We might hear rumours of a song called Ice Ice Baby, or a film called Home Alone, but we’d have to wait, possibly months, to actually experience either of them.

While our brains are remarkably adaptable, the sheer speed of modern life is leading to feelings of overwhelm, mental fatigue, and a disconnect

As you’re probably aware, that time gap has now been reduced to basically nothing. Thanks to the internet’s global footprint, the biggest hits in all media now happen simultaneously across the world. On the surface that might seem like a good thing, with creative people now having the ability to reach a much larger audience much more easily, but there are also plenty of downsides.

On a fundamental level, while our brains are remarkably adaptable, the sheer speed of modern life is leading to feelings of overwhelm, mental fatigue, and a disconnect between the natural pace our minds prefer and the fast-moving, always-on reality in which we now exist.

But beyond that, the speed of life has attendant difficulties for advertising – an industry that thrives on, responds to, and, at its best, even dictates culture. A recent example is the TikTok creator Jools Lebron, who suggested that her followers be “demure and mindful”.

@joolieannie #fyp #demure ♬ original sound – Jools Lebron

This was all over the internet (just Google ‘demure and’ then see how many results it offers). Then, after that mighty explosion, in just two weeks it was all over. When the brands moved in, her audience moved on, and the whole trend seemed quickly tired and dated.

So if anyone was hoping to make a client seem topically relevant by basking in the reflective glow of that phrase, they would have had to move very fast. Maybe they could offer a tweet or a hastily composed Instagram post, but nothing that would require actual production, multiple sign-offs and a proper media plan.

When the brands moved in, her audience moved on, and the whole trend seemed quickly tired and dated

That becomes a bigger problem when you consider the extent to which most brands want to jump on or create a social media trend. There’s still a delightfully naïve notion that brands can somehow go ‘viral’ and achieve massive fame organically (ie: for no cost). Unfortunately, the owners of social media networks do not want that to happen because it makes brands less inclined to pay for that privilege.

With a few exceptions, if anything looks as if it might achieve virality, Mr Zuckerberg will immediately send it to the Facebook/Instagram equivalent of Siberia, never to be seen again. So the possibility of a brand being boosted by a trend is becoming vanishingly slight.

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And if that arrow is removed from advertising’s quiver, it’s just one more reason for clients to run into the open arms of Google and Facebook, where SEO and ‘proprietary technology’ will extract even more pounds and dollars from the legacy industry.

I for one am delighted at the prospect. No, I do not want the ever-shrinking industry to be weakened further. Instead I’d like us to focus on longer-term brand-building that goes beyond referencing a guy who is 6’5”, with blue eyes who works in finance (TikTok’s trend of May/June 2024).

The search for a topical buzz that is a strong match for your brand, but has yet to burn out, is a huge use of resources that would otherwise be employed to create deep strategic insights, highly crafted art direction, and a brand perspective that lasts beyond whatever Q we happen to be in.

Is there a place for a great piece of work that dovetails perfectly with something topical? Of course. Look through D&AD’s blessedly free online archive and you’ll find many, in every medium. But they are almost all cherries on the cake of strong, long-lasting brand ideas, based on brilliant strategic insights.

If we can return to marrying products with better insights and more memorable work, our clients will thank us

However, the tail is now wagging the dog, and that tail requires creatives to be abreast of all trends, in all corners of social media, just in case one of them is just right for Pringles, Audi or Ray Ban. To make this even harder, the algorithms keep us all sequestered in our own versions of TikTok et al, shut off from the interests and trends of people unlike ourselves.

Let’s see if we can change course, leaving the cherries as nice-to-haves and instead putting that effort into building a better cake. If we do that, the topical opportunities will arise naturally because they’ll fit with the expectations already laid out by a famous campaign, and therefore feel less like weakly borrowed interest.

Yes, it’s harder. Yes, it takes longer. And yes, it requires skills that are starting to atrophy in favour of the search for a slight, ephemeral hit that adds little to the strength of the brand.

But if we can return to marrying products with better insights and more memorable work, our clients will thank us. And as an attendant benefit, we can stop spending our days Googling ‘coolest trends on TikTok’ and wondering what the fuck ‘That Sounded Really Bratty’ actually means.

Based in Los Angeles, Ben Kay is a creative director and copywriter, and advertising columnist for CR; ben-kay.com; Top image: Shutterstock