Your ATTN Please || Thursday, 5 June

Well, the Trump/Elon breakup is X-official.

Musk has gone public with his newfound disdain for his ex—I mean the President—calling Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill a “pork-filled, disgusting abomination.” Clearly, after months of bromance, the two are in the process of disentangling their personal brands from each other. But the real question is, who will win the breakup?

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

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• Jony Lee, our expert short-form strategist

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Bring your questions and we will bring everything we've learnt spending thousands of hours on Instagram. We're not gatekeeping anything, so get ready!

Friday 13 June | 8:30–10:00am NZT | $49

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARKETING TODAY?

TikTok lets us own our FYP, Brands get nailed for using trending sounds & Elon calls out Trump

TikTok is (finally) giving us more control over our For You Page.

Thank you, daddy TikTok, for a crumb of agency over what I see on my own damn phone lol. TikTok is now expanding its "Manage Topics” feature, which lets you customise how often content within the platform's top ten categories show up in your feed. These include topics like travel, humour, or creative arts. According to The Verge, here's how you can try out this new and improved feature:

“To personalize the topics in your feed, head to your settings and select Content preferences > Manage topics. You can also access the option by tapping the Share button on a post in your For You feed, hitting Why this video > Adjust your For You > Manage Topics. From there, you can move a slider beneath each topic, indicating how often you want to see related videos, and hit Save.” You’re welcome.

Unlicensed trending sounds could have rights holders coming for your brand.

In October 2024, Sony brought down the rains of hell (a $140 million dollar statutory damage lawsuit) on Marriott for allegedly using over 900 Sony songs on social media without proper permission. It was never disclosed whether the companies reached an out-of-court settlement. Either way, according to Marketing Brew, music labels are cracking down on copyright enforcement.

The Marriott case highlights the importance of using cleared music for brands. Take the track “Funny Song,” which is so popular that it generates more than $1 million a year across TikTok and YouTube. According to Jesse Korwin, CRO of its licensor, Slipstream, music libraries like Slipstream can provide content creators with audio that is cleared for usage across multiple platforms.

Elon and Trump break up.

During Pride Month!? (sorry). We all saw this coming though, right? In an explosive X post, Elon publicly criticised his former bestie, calling his congressional spending bill a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled, disgusting abomination” (someone’s been brushing up on their adjectives, purrrr.) I, for one, am sat with popcorn ready for this public fall out.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

DEEP DIVE

Should brands build culture? Community? Or cult?

It’s getting harder to define why people buy from brands, and even harder to keep them coming back.

We live in a world where brand-building advice comes at you like a meme page with ADHD. And there are three words that get thrown around like confetti at a marketing offsite: Culture. Community. Cult.

Each one promises connection, loyalty, and that elusive edge. That is, the ability to matter in a market that forgets faster than it buys. But are they the answer? Or just more buzzwords in the never-ending dictionary of marketing jargon?

1. Culture says: be part of the conversation even if it’s not about you

It’s about relevance. Understanding the zeitgeist and reflecting it back in ways that make people feel seen. It’s why brands suddenly speak in memes. It’s why everyone launched a collab with Crocs. It’s why you saw 400 godforsaken versions of “girl dinner.”

But just "vibing" with culture doesn't guarantee conversion. You might get attention, but that doesn’t mean people actually care. Culture is fluid, and when you build your brand entirely on borrowed moments, you risk becoming a one-hit-wonder with no staying power.

Culture can get you in the room. But it probably won’t make people stay.

2. Community says: we’re with the warm fuzzies (and the cold truths)

“Build a community” is the new “start a podcast.” Everyone’s doing it. Few are doing it well (no shade.) The idea is seductive: create a space where people don’t just buy your product but identify with the people around it. Let them contribute, create, connect. Turn your customers into advocates.

But community isn’t a growth hack. It’s a commitment. It takes time, consistency, and a genuine reason to gather. People can tell the difference between a real sense of belonging and a Discord server you forgot to moderate.

Community without a cause is just a comments section.

3. Cult says: this is the dream (and the danger)

This is the most seductive “C” of all. Cult brands. Cult followings. The stuff of case studies and founder memoirs. When people talk about “cult-like marketing,” they mean intense brand devotion. Apple fans lining up overnight. Supreme drops crashing the internet. Glossier turning customers into co-creators.

But real life cults are manipulative by design. If your strategy hinges on exclusivity, over-identification, and emotional dependency, don’t be surprised when it stops scaling or starts backfiring.

A cult is intoxicating. That’s like, literally their whole thing … that is, until the vibe turns. And it almost always does.

So… which C is the right one then?

Here’s the honest answer: none of them are The Way.

Culture is fleeting. Community is fragile. Cult is risky. And yet all of them matter.

Today’s buyers want to feel something. But the system that delivers the story is often disconnected from the people inside it. Founders say, “Build the product and they will come.” Marketers say, “Build cult-like marketing and they will buy.” But most of the time? Neither are right.

People don’t follow brands because of one big emotional hook.

They follow because of small, repeated trust signals over time. The story and the system need to align. You can’t fake community. You can’t tweet your way into a culture. You can’t manufacture a cult and call it loyalty.

We don’t need new letters. We need better intentions. Because the best brands don’t chase culture, community, or cults. They create consistency, coherence, and care.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

TREND PLUG

I want to punch you in the face

Words have power. They hold weight.

That's why there's a real oomph to it when you tell someone you wanna punch them in the face - even when you don't actually plan on doing it. In a 2024 episode of the Not Gonna Lie podcast, host Kylie Kelce (a mother of 4) sent a blunt message to people who talk about how "magical" pregnancy is:

"I want to punch you in the face. I'm not going to, but I want to."

TikTokers have now picked up on Kelce's soundbite and realised its potential - and just how punchable some people are. Many are going the same route as Kelce by using the sound when talking about pregnancy and/or raising newborn babies, but the clip also works for... well, any situation that makes you ball your fists in rage.

Whether someone's trying to tell you what your baby wants or you're rolling your eyes at a reality show villain, all of us have a reason to want to punch someone in the face. But alas, we live in a civil society and must show restraint.

How you can jump on this trend:

Take this sound, film yourself lip syncing with the audio and add some context with your onscreen text.

A few ideas to get you started

• When the co-worker who only talks to you when they need you to do something starts walking over

• When your boss calls out the team for something you had no part in, but locks eyes with you for an uncomfortably long time

• When there's a "free food in the kitchen" announcement and everyone looks in your direction

-Devin Pike, Copywriter

TODAY ON THE YAP PODCAST

Want even more “YAP”ing? Check out the full podcast here.

ASK THE EDITOR

I've been posting about my social media marketing business on TikTok, but how do I grow my account faster? - Sam

Hey Sam!

If you want to grow your account faster, you should try to create as much content as you can. Especially if you're only posting a few times a week, that's really not enough to get your content out there.

Think about it this way. The more people see you, the more familiar you'll become. And, as you post more, you'll start creating better content. You'll slowly build an audience of people who like what you have to say. Eventually, you'll reach a tipping point where your growth speeds up as your videos get better.

Just make sure you are creating content people actually want to watch, which means you can't just talk about what you're selling. Instead, try out a few different content styles and see what works for your audience. The more you post, the faster you'll figure that out!

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

Not going viral yet?

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.

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