Marketers tap Wes Anderson TikTok trend to connect with young customers
A viral TikTok trend featuring Wes Anderson film-inspired content is sweeping the social media feeds of brands and users alike. The Growth Agenda reports on how the channel is being used by companies seeking connection with youth audiences.
A surge of Wes Anderson film inspired videos appearing on brand-owned social media feeds are attracting millions of views and “likes” in Australia and abroad, thanks to a viral trend sweeping TikTok and Instagram.
On April 8, a New York City-based creator, Eva Williams, 26, shared a Wes Anderson-themed video on TikTok with the caption: “The first train along the Shoreline East to Grand Central Terminal. 6:45am”.
“I was inspired because I had watched The French Dispatch just the night before and I was leaving my parents’ house after a very short visit. I wanted to stay longer but I had work and was sort of upset I didn’t get to spend more time with my family,” Ms Williams said.
“I didn’t want to be bitter about the end of the visit so to cheer myself up I decided to do a Wes Anderson mock video. It was really just to create a little joy for myself when I felt I couldn’t find any!”
Ms Williams’ creative spark is one of many that has ignited the rise of Wes Anderson film-inspired content of symmetrical compositions and bold colour palettes.
The trend has proliferated among users and, now, brands seeking to connect with audiences on their social media channels.
Ms Williams’ video, which has been viewed more than 13 million times, boosted her own following by more than 50,000: “I have grown in the past with videos but this was the most I’ve ever seen in one go,” she said.
It also connected her with brands such as eyewear company Warby Parker, with whom she partnered on Instagram and TikTok for a video that encouraged people to visit stores for eye exams.
Dr Lauren Gurrieri associate professor of marketing at RMIT University said: “TikTok is an attractive target for brands seeking to connect with youth audiences in culturally relevant ways. Specifically, they can build relevance with audiences by participating in cultural trends resonant with youth audiences.
“This is why we are seeing brands increasingly featured across the platform to connect with the lucrative Gen Z segment.”
Some brands leverage viral TikTok trends as sales-driving tactics, while others are using it as a way to communicate their brand identity to youth audiences.
Virgin Australian is one Australian company that tapped the Wes Anderson trend and ran a clip on its TikTok channel in early May.
“Our purpose is to create uplifting experiences for all, so that really guides us on the type of content and the type of trends that we feel that we can have a conversation with consumers on,” Virgin Australia chief marketing officer Libby Minogue said.
TikTok is one of a series of channels in the airline’s social media mix, which includes Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.
The airline currently posts around three pieces of content on TikTok a week, one of which recently reached more than four million views, featuring another viral trend, “Bombastic Side Eye”, which features staff smiling at the camera, before quickly switching to a “side eye” expression along with the caption “When your carry-on looks like it needs its own plane ticket”.
The airline jumped on the Wes Anderson trend and posted a video featuring its staff as part of its strategy on the platform to leverage the entertaining nature of TikTok to connect with audiences.
Ms Minogue said: “As a brand, given where Virgin sits in the market, we have the opportunity to really be part of the conversation. Rather talking to people and telling people things, we just want to be part of the conversation that we see on TikTok as a platform, and more broadly in the community.”
While the Wes Anderson-style post was not the highest performing on the airline’s channel in terms of views and likes, it has attracted 13,500 views a 10-second watch time (nearly triple the average on TikTok). Almost 60 per cent of viewers of that particular post were not already following the brand.
“If you become part of the conversation, you bring in potentially a new audience into your brand, into that world,” Ms Minogue said.
“It is an entertainment platform. And that’s why we’re part of it. Is because we want to be part of that entertaining of people through our brand.”
Meanwhile, the Ritz Paris took its Instagram followers on a Wes Anderson-inspired tour through its hotel, while Air Baltic shared its own version featuring airline staff with its 260,000 followers which attracted 1.5 million views and 743 comments.
But travel is not the only sector latching on. The Democratic Party in the US shared a video featuring Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, starting with the caption “Don’t turn the White House into a Wes Anderson film”.
While the rise in brand partnerships that celebrate the Wes Anderson style is in the midst of a viral trend, the filmmaker’s aesthetic has cultivated large online followings in homage of his work for years.
An Instagram account called Accidentally Wes Anderson, founded in 2017, now has 1.8 million followers. The account has since evolved into a website featuring travel content and a book.
In addition to the focus on pastel-hued, symmetrical architecture that is distinctly Anderson in style, the Instagram account has recently partnered with brands such as Hendricks Gen for some of its content. That video has clocked 455,777 plays since it was posted on 11 May.
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