Trendjacking: The Opportunity (and Risk) for Entrepreneurial Brands

🚀 When Entrepreneurial Brands move at the speed of culture, the upside is huge, but so is the risk.

In this week’s edition, Rhys Appleyard, Senior International Client Director at The Specialist Works, explores the power and pitfalls of trendjacking: from boosting reach and relevance to risking backlash when brands get the moment wrong.

Using examples from KFC and Bumble, we’ll unpack how Entrepreneurial Brands can act quickly, stay credible, and turn trends into commercial impact.

Why Trendjacking Matters Now 💥

In a media landscape where research shows cultural relevance directly influences marketing effectiveness, trendjacking has become a powerful tool, particularly for Entrepreneurial Brands trying to outmanoeuvre slower legacy competitors.

Born out of real-time social engagement in the early 2010s, trendjacking is effectively when brands jump on viral moments, trending topics, and cultural conversations to drive visibility, engagement, and relevance.

System1 has shown time and time again that emotionally resonant, culturally connected creative drives stronger brand effects, making the opportunity clear: tap into what people are already talking about, and your paid media works harder. 🚀

What’s more? Trendjacking aligns with what audiences expect from brands – those that show up in cultural conversations with wit, speed, and authenticity.

For lean UK scaleups focused on customer acquisition, this creates a big advantage:

- increased engagement signals

- more earned reach

- lower CPAs 📉

Done right, trendjacking is not just reactive. It is a smart, commercially effective way to turn cultural momentum into marketing performance. 🧠

UK Brands Getting It Right?

One of the strongest UK examples is KFC’s “FCK” apology ad, created in response to its 2018 chicken shortage crisis 🍗.  Instead of defensive PR, the brand bought full‑page print ads in The Sun and The Metro, featuring the now‑iconic “FCK” bucket and a witty, disarming apology.

By acknowledging a trending national conversation (via #KFCCrisis) through paid media, KFC regained control of the narrative and turned a reputational crisis into a brand building moment.

This is trendjacking at its best: fast, culturally aware, self aware and delivered through high‑impact paid channels. 🚀

... and those getting it wrong? ⚠️

If KFC represents best-in-class trendjacking, Bumble is a reminder how it can quickly go wrong ⚠️

The brand’s now infamous “Celibacy Is Not the Answer” 2024 OOH campaign was meant to tap into the trending conversation around the frustrations of modern dating. But instead, it ended up being widely criticised as tone deaf and dismissive of women’s agency.

Backlash spread quickly, forcing Bumble to remove the billboards and issue a public apology. In its statement on social media, the brand said plainly: “We made a mistake.”

For UK challenger brands, the lesson is clear: trendjacking without contextual understanding or brand alignment doesn’t just fall flat, in fact it actively damages brand trust. 🚨

What This Means for Entrepreneurial Brands

Entrepreneurial Brands operate lean, compete with leading category players, and rely on efficient acquisition more than anything. That is exactly what makes trendjacking such a powerful tool by:

Reducing friction in attention: You meet consumers where they already are.

Supercharging paid media: Trend aligned ads perform better in algorithmic systems built around engagement and are more likely to elicit emotion, attention and therefore action.

Building memorability fast: Perfect for brands competing against legacy competitors with larger budgets.

For Entrepreneurial Brands, that is the opportunity in a nutshell: move faster, show up smarter, and make your budget work harder. 🚀

What Three Things Should Marketers Do?

Lead with cultural insight, not opportunism: Understand why a trend resonates and whether your brand has permission to join.

Empower speed without sacrificing brand integrity: Fast approvals win the moment, but the content must stay true to your brand’s values and tone.

Amplify high-performing reactive content through paid: If an organic trendjack lands, use paid social or programmatic display to extend its lifespan before the trend cools.

For brands with ambitious growth plans and limited room for waste, trendjacking can deliver outsized gains when executed with the perfect mix of cultural intelligence, media discipline, and creative bravery.