Movement marketing, Digital Studio M&As, and F* airballs
Unpack how marketing has evolved into movements, some creator economy predictions, GenAI animation studios and lots of headlines!
Thanks for joining me for this week’s jumbo edition of Fellow Kids—your go-to guide for decoding the elusive and fragmented attention of Gen Z and Gen Alpha! I went on a deep dive through trade and industry news and then spiraled a bit in an existential “what’s next”…oh and some fun trends and headlines.
🎯 Culture or Movement Marketing
I read this terrific LinkedIn piece “From Movies to Movements: What Recent Theatrical Hits Taught Us About Demand Creation” and it got me thinking about how marketing has evolved from a ‘call to action’ into an immersive story and culture building experience - let’s just call it “movement marketing”.
Yes, Nike’s Just Do It and Dove’s Real Beauty walked so Barbie could run. But to make it more difficult- those culture making campaigns did not have to deliver the deeply immersive and individualized extensions in the way social and digital first audiences expect NOW. It is the baseline.
This goes beyond being contextual and cutesy on a billboard, beautiful art and definitely goes beyond a CTA (cause that would be cringe). The participation has to be self motivated and allow for subtle entry points and meme-ification. Creating a brand story and trust that allows for adaptation is really where things cook.
I highly recommend reading the terrific breakdown from Chris Colombo which integrates licensing media and the broader impact of partnership, but from a content marketing pov, I wanted to share some thoughts on a more grassroots litmus test for social-first campaign build:
1. Identify Cultural Touchpoints
What is the universal truth for the audience you’re trying to reach? For example -
Barbie → is about women redefining themselves beyond patriarchy
Inside Out 2 → is about emotional wellbeing and self acceptance
Start here. These are the truths that will make people feel seen and heard. The expression of these values and truths will show up through partnerships, trailers, teasers, art, social. But starting from an audience / universal truth or values is the root of a movement.
2. Social is 1:1, not a Campaign Portfolio.
Your brand's social feed isn’t a dumping ground or aggregator of the campaign. It’s a dialogue and narrative. Equal parts sharing as well as listening. The best campaigns earn their reach—not by asking for engagement but by offering ingredients for remixing, role-play, and reinterpretation. For example -
Wicked → consistent green + pink to build a memetic aesthetic
Minecraft’s Chicken Jockey → listening to the fandom, integrating it into the film and then led to a circular online and film going experience
Those two examples aren’t even social ‘posts’, but they are social driven creative decisions
But for a social post example - a HUGE shoutout to Loewe who know how to create as a member of the online community and continue to lead with social-first creative direction - they are deeply connecting with GenZ (will do a deep dive on them in a more meaningful way in a future newsletter)*
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3. Sum of many ‘niches’ is broad.
Your broad audience is just the sum of overlapping micro-obsessions. For example - The Thunderbolts campaign re-imagined which ‘niche’ communities could be engaged around a Marvel title. They broke things down to serve each of these segments (very over simplified here):
A24-inspired teaser to surprise and delight film lovers
Florence Pugh centric action sequences to engage female audiences & her fanbase
David Harbour comedy and Sebastian Stan thirst energy for respective fanbases and reengage Marvel OGs
Creator partnerships (Rizzler- Marvel cred, David Suh- star/talent sell + film crowd) and SOOO many more to hit precise fandoms
They didn’t just go wide with action or comedy, but they dove deep within individual subsets of those groupings.
*and to be clear, I am not involved in marketing this title in any way at Disney - notes are only out of my personal admiration for the campaign
4. Measure cultural impact (this is the long game), NOT just conversion
All brands aspire for ‘cultural resonance’ but few properly calibrate their metrics to reward this outcome. I get it - metrics like views or click-throughs are what keep marketing and agencies on the payroll, but there is more to it! Marketing is essential and beyond integral to franchise efforts. Marketing must be “treated as a strategic growth engine, not a last-mile expense”
For example - Netflix lives and breathes “culture” and earned marketing- which paired with their on platform algorithm is a secret sauce. They (probably) spend less than competitors on a $ for $ basis, but punch way above their weight in resonance.
🔁 Digital Studio Era is upon us!
YouTube & Digital media vet Matt Gielen predicts that “we will not be dominated by “Creators” or “Influencers” or “Celebrities”, but instead creators and companies that become Digital Media Studios that make long-form, YouTube (*personal note: I’d also add ‘social first’, creator led, ) content. These companies will become the leaders and rival traditional media studios for attention and revenue” - and whew, he couldn’t have been more accurate. It is really exciting to see it play out in real time:
Whalar Group secures investment from Marc Benioff and Neal H. Moritz
$100M+ investment in Dude Perfect from Highmount Capital
Pocketwatch.tv adds Super Simple Songs and ChuChuTV (and they have the multi-platform distro deal too)
Why does this matter? James Creech outlines what this means for the Creator Economy. And zooming out further - Creators and these digital first studios are the startups of the entertainment business.
📈 Predictions for 2025: Toys & Trends
I did not attend the Licensing Expo in Vegas this week - BUT I did scrape LinkedIn for some insights:
Tariffs + economic downturn = projected sales dip.
Toy brands need to think broad. Success = cross-category appeal: kids + parents + fandoms (interest segments) + Collabs (of course!)
POPMART has outpaced Mattel and Hasbro.
Hot take - The next “Cocomelon” probably doesn’t exist. But the next wave of IP that will survive: “They’re thinking about shortform-first content pipelines, product development informed by data, and distribution that lives beyond just one platform. They’re not asking “how do we go viral?” They’re asking “how do we stay relevant in 18 months when kids are searching with their voice instead of typing?”
🎬 Generative AI and Animation Content
I’m sure you’ve all read the latest Google I/O announcements - spoiler alert - it’s all about doubling erm- tripling down on AI. It got me thinking about how GenAI will continue to flip the entertainment and content creation landscape upside down. A great example is Toonstar, a LA based animation studio that leverages AI and has stated that they are saving 80% production time and cutting costs by 90%. Breaking it down:
They use AI-Driven Production: Toonstar employs AI to enhance animation workflows, allowing for faster and more cost-effective content creation.
Creator Partnership: Their series StEvEn & Parker, created in partnership with TikTok influencer Parker James, garners approximately 30 million views weekly on YouTube
Multilingual Reach: AI tools facilitate multilingual dubbing, broadening the series' accessibility to a global audience.
Another example is Promise Studio Backed by Andreessen Horowitz and partnered with Google…
The takeaway? Creator led AI generations will continue to gain momentum as they outpace traditional studios by speed, volume, distribution. The only thing holding us back is the audience stigma (for now). *My prediction? Longer term and outside the industry, I don’t believe audiences will care who makes their entertainment…even if it’s from a robot.
☠ Referential Humor as a indicator of something bigger?
You can tell a lot about a generation by what makes them laugh. Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren’t a monolith- but with more chronically online folks - there is a trend toward referential humor. This TikTok creator hit the nail on the head—shared experiences are getting harder to come by, and that coupled with fragmentation (of media, distribution) and algorithm based discovery - FYP ≠ your FYP is… well… referential humor. Humor that relies on “iykyk” gives participants the illusion of a collective, and a performative sense of community.
The takeaway? In an era of niche-ification, people are craving collective experiences (and laughs)—something that can feel shared. This is evidenced in the rise of exclusive experiences and spaces like - gym culture (women in NYC spending upwards of $270 a month/memberships), mega-events like Coachella come in (even going into debt for this), and even their own mini-universe. Shared culture is a scarcity—and becoming a luxury (and commoditized).
🌀 Headlines This Week
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F**** Airball
Memes take on a life of their own. Apparently the trend started as a way to dunk on being rejected, then morphed into a nepobaby ‘reveal’ trend then morphed into this ‘humble brag’ format. Some people are confused by and honestly, misusing?. These from Suni Lee and OG nepobaby reveals - Barnes & Noble, Abercrombie, Forbes were fun.
Social Media Managers = future influencers to watch
Being a SMM is not for the faint of heart. SMM are ALWAYS on - like Zaria Parvez of Duolingo (building her personal brand), or use their personal accounts to shoutout their brands/work Beis (building more community), commiserate (cause this job is HARD), and state facts. Expect cameras turning more toward the humans that support the brands and projects they work on in the coming months - cause AI slop is coming in fast, and the only thing setting us apart are the SMM at the front lines.
Gen Z lined up IRL for... Parke?
The most coveted brand rn is Parke. But tiktok is hilarious - cause this creator recently did an expose and found the manufacturers (her deep dive multi-segment series is great too).Epic Universe looks incredible
The portal-opening videos are so cute: Mario, How to Train A Dragon!!Creator Camp > Hollywood?
Hollywood still moves slow. But creators? They’re learning by doing. “They start with an idea. They make it. They hope it brings an audience. And if it works, that audience becomes a community. And then they build from there.”Gen Z discovering TV shows mainly through social media
Another day, another reminder that social is integral. But there is still a very long way to go in level setting the industry (this video made me lol).
88% of Gen Z is open to sharing personal information with social media companies, 20 points higher than older generations, eMarketer notes.
Propaganda I’m not falling for
Matcha, Benson Boon, a 9 to 5 are just a few of the most common things that people are just ‘over’. examples here
We are SO exhausted, we can’t even put on lotion?
This is just a random article, but has become my Roman Empire. Cause I too - feel overwhelming ‘exhausted’ (though I do still lotion like a pleb). Really sums up how I feel on an existential level. Deep exhaustion to the core.
Let me leave you with this - “plot based media’ 🫠🫠🫠
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That’s it for this week! As always, reply with hot takes, links, rants, or recs - I want to hear from you.
Thanks for reading!