June 7 2024 singer Charli XCX released her new hit new album, brat.
The colour was lime green, the font was Arial, and the aesthetic was independent party girl with a side of womanhood and individual style.
Gen Z & Brat Summer
First there was hot girl summer, then healed girl summer, then sad girl autumn, and then witch bitch autumn. But thanks to Charli XCX Gen Z is about to do a collective viral TikTok dance into brat summer - and they’re bringing Gen X along with them for the ride.
Kamala Harris & Brat Summer
When Joe Biden announced on July 21 that he would be dropping out of the 2024 US presidential election race against trump he formally endorsed VP Kamala Harris to be the democratic nominee - and Charli XCX endorsed her soon after with one simple tweet: kamala IS brat.
In response Kamala HQ (the Harris campaign’s official Twitter page) changed its cover photo to ‘brat green’ - and used Charli’s song 365 as the sound for a now viral TikTok video.
Marketing & Pop Culture
When they get it right political campaigns can be a masterclass in leveraging popular culture and marketing to tap into a target audience.
Getting it right typically means speaking their language - and this means doing your research.
The Kamala camp’s understanding of what brat represents is a reminder that if you want your marketing strategy to pop off you'll need to do your pop culture research. Charli XCX explained on TikTok that brat is basically “that girl who’s a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, who feels herself, but then also maybe has a breakdown, but kind of parties through it with a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra.”
Think 2024 it-girl and Kanye’s now much-loved ex Julia Fox, OG Chloë Sevigny, or new icons like Hari Nef, Emma Chamberlain - and now, Kamala Harris.
Brat As A Brand Strategy
Thanks to this new recruit brat is set to be so much more than just a fad. It's being described as the cultural movement capturing Gen Z's signature attitude towards work, life and play. So if your content needs to speak to young people who identify with brat’s smudged makeup aesthetic, get ready to embrace brushing off mistakes, humorously raising the bar for platonic, professional and intimate relationships, and wearing individuality as a badge of honour.
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