Everyone Is Talking About This Marketing Trend
But what does it mean?
Gourmandise marketing is all the rage—and flooding my social timelines.
Hailey Bieber’s brand Rhode put this strat on the map. Ever since the all-American model became the face of the ‘glazed-donut skin’ trend, highlighted in articles like this piece in Glamour, her beauty brand has boomed.
“my standard when I go to bed at night is that if I'm not getting into bed looking like a glazed donut, then I'm not doing the right thing.” Bieber for Youtube.
Her marketing team have run with this yummy food imagery, extending the motif to their product images, shade names, and brand copy:
But Bieber’s influence doesn’t stop at beauty trends like ‘blueberry milk’ nails, ‘slick-backs’ or ‘glazed donut skin’ — other brands want a piece of her marketing mind too:
This Skims campaign is another successful example of appetising imagery, linking ‘waffle’ style fabric to the actual pastry:
…and Sisters & Seekers have used butter to promote a hoodie:
It’s fun, it’s playful, it works — but the real reason yummy imagery hits the mark is more sinister.
As said in this Cosmo article:
‘Little treat’ culture proves we’ve forgotten how to live simply – without turning everything into content.
While we’re constantly bombarded with Insta pictures from the super-wealthy traveling the world, or dolled-up celebs posing for the ‘glambot’ at the Met Gala, in reality the majority are hit by the cost of living crisis.
Food is the new luxury — and we’re desperate to indulge.
According to the ‘lipstick effect’, in times of economic crisis the consumer is more likely to splurge on everyday treats—such as takeout coffee or lip balm— than more costly pieces like designer handbags.
So food and ‘little treats’ have become a new status symbol, especially when the average coffee is a fiver.
High-end brands have adapted, for example Prada has opened cafes to give ordinary people a taste of luxury they could never otherwise afford.
Mid-range brands like Rhode tempt with their delicious sensory marketing to subscribe to this idea of treating yourself.
We’ve seen this treat-equals-status narrative play out before: remember when pap-style pictures of celebs with their Starbucks takeout cups were everywhere?
Soon people rushed to get a pumpkin spiced latte adjacent and post it on Instagram, showcasing their effortless cool-girl ritual. Each pose with a cup sold the story that an individual consumer could enjoy the same overpriced coffee as a multi-million pop-star.
I wonder how this trend will evolve next…
As always, thanks for reading!
My previous post:
How interesting. I'm not gonna lie, the food looks so delicious that it makes me warm up to the brand. I'm not a fan of Rhode (and most other mid celebrity brands), but the marketing is kind of genius in that aspect.