At the end of the year, people around the world start to feel reminiscent and nostalgic about what has come and gone. To make that process even easier, Tracksuit nicely wrapped up all the brands, trends and pop culture moments of 2024 for us.
Come December, rather than looking forward to Christmas and the upcoming summer season, people are getting excited for Spotify Wrapped.
A viral and highly successful annual marketing campaign sees Spotify compile personalised data based on user activity and makes it shareable across social media.
Even I took to social media to share my Spotify Wrapped results – which I will not share to the NZ Marketing online audience in order to avoid criticism on my lack of taste in music.
But rather than popular music, brand tracking platform Tracksuit shares another version of Wrapped – this time looking at the biggest brand and pop culture moments of 2024.
Collating data from over 20,000 clients across New Zealand, Australia, United States, United Kingdom and Canada, Tracksuit reveals the top moments brand and culture intertwined.
Overall, the Olympics took the top brand moment for 2024 – having been around since 776BC, it has long held our awareness and attention since.
This unified sporting event took the top spot across the UK, the US, Australia and NZ and the generations, from Z to Baby Boomers.
What followed was the wave of weight-loss drug Ozempic, the rise of Temu came third, then the Stanley Cup craze and the return of the Victoria Secret’s fashion show.
Surprisingly, Charli XCX’s ‘brat’ album release came in sixth as the top brand moment for 2024.
“At Tracksuit, our chronically online bubble thought Charli XCX’s brat album was going to claim the top spot. Although brat summer was listed as the biggest pop culture moment by ten per cent of Gen Z, it barely made a ripple amongst the general population — pulling in only two per cent of votes overall,” says Tracksuit’s Head of Marketing, Mikayla Hopkins.
When it comes to a pop culture moment it is no surprise that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romantic relationship is what came in first. Catapulted by the fact that Swift has just wrapped up one of the highest grossing tours and Kelce’s team winning for the second time in a row at the Superbowl.
For those who love a little drama, the Kendrick vs Drake beef came in second – producing over nine solo diss tricks and close to billions in streams and views.
In third is the Oasis reunion, proving that nostalgia does indeed sell.
What follows is the very demure, very mindful trend, sporting event The Euros and the popularity of Simone Biles during the Olympics.
“These results spotlight how living in a digital world impacts the content we are delivered and consume. Social media algorithms have created echo chambers that make it difficult to reach mass audiences, but easier than ever to reach highly engaged communities,” adds Hopkins.
“For brands, this has made capitalising on relevant pop-culture moments more important than ever, as these echo chambers can be used to build communities of brand advocates who are passionate and feel personal connections to specific businesses and products.”
To get full access into what Tracksuit determined was the biggest moments of 2024 via region, age and gender, read more here.
