Are You Brat? How a Meme Created an Empowerment Movement
Barbie is exuberantly pink, Brat is unbothered grunge, and Rat girls are… well, snacking, scurrying women. But what ties these trends together? The unstoppable tides of women empowerment and the vibrance of summer. And next up? Brace yourself for an entire Brat Season. Setting itself apart from its predecessors, embodying Brat isn't just a passing trend but an identity that deeply planted itself into our culture; it's more than just fashion or style. Are you Brat? Should your brand care about Brat? Let’s dive in.
To truly grasp the essence of what 'Brat' means, we need to look at its originator – Charli XCX herself. She dared to stay authentic and real - not only for herself but also in solidarity with her LGBTQ+ fan base and her legion of super fans uniting under 'Charli's Angels.' Her sincerity paid off – her illuminatingly simple yet bold approach towards creating her album (Arial font against a Chartreuse green cover) triumphed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 list, making it Charli XCX’s highest-selling US album to date.
For Charli XCX, the idea behind ‘Brat’ was far beyond just music; it embodied an avatar that resonated with the chronically online generation embracing global unity as opposed to being created within confined silos, isolated from the world. 'Brat' personifies the brazenly unbothered girl anxiously awaiting liberation. As this persona took form, she called upon her community for active participation, which led them to co-create content alongside their beloved music diva.
Brat began to permeate culture itself by making Brat something relatable, meme-able, and memorable.
Charli XCX blurred the lines between pop culture and politics when she tweeted, 'Kamala is Brat.' The young, tech-savvy team surrounding Kamala Harris - who was well aware of what 'Brat' signifies - quickly took note. This tweet served as a crucial link that catapulted Charli and Kamala past the algorithmic noise, garnering a whopping 54.3M views on X (formally known as Twitter). Charli managed to market 'within the context' of a societal moment - a movement of females diversifying their stance in media. Lustrous images like Hot Girl Summer, Barbie-girls, and Swifties had unintentionally marginalised a set of girls and women until 'Brat' sprung up as their platform for cultural recognition. Brat girls aspire to have an influential voice outside conventional norms; they revel in wearing their grungy tanks without giving two hoots about societal judgment.
Seizing upon user-generated content (UGC), 'Brat Summer' catalysed an internet-wide cultural shift with #brat featuring in over 1.1 million TikTok posts. As advertisers are ramping up spend to capture gen z's attention - estimated at $219.8 billion in 2024 - Charli’s team astutely rode this organic social wave by introducing the 'Brat Generator' further mobilizing fans to steer discussions, creating countless UGC moments that cemented Brat's status within pop culture.
So, what lessons can brands glean from 'Brat'? By transforming an aspect into a relatable persona and enabling fans to co-create content, brands can stimulate organic growth while forging deeper brand loyalty. Brat unequivocally demonstrates that harnessing social networks can provide efficient promotional strategies - the key takeaway is this: audacious risks like those undertaken with 'Brat Summer' can diffuse across cultures via social media, foster robust co-creator communities, and establish platforms for women to express themselves uninhibitedly forming a connected and networked web of new social-first behaviours.
