Social media trend jacking is lazy.

Many marketers may disagree, but trend jacking is lazy — and will not help brands to grow. At least in 2026.

Now I know that tactic used to be all the rage in 2015, and I used to recommend it too. But now, in the era of content overload, it does not make sense anymore.

Open your social feeds on any given day and you will see the same picture all over again. Just with a thousand different lines and logos slapped on it. The most recent example: the two climbers with the flag on top of the Empire State Building.

Once you have seen the third variation of the same thing, you just scroll past it. No matter how smart, witty, on-brand the variations may be, and how hard the social teams had to fight to get them through 5 layers of approval.

Yeah, I know all the arguments about the value of real-time communication, being close to cultural moments to become more relevant, yada yada. I have written stuff like this in Social Playbooks myself. There was a time where it seemed to make sense, but that is pretty much over now.

The smart thing to do right now as a brand in social sounds simple and boring, but is really hard to do.

Be consistent — in the brand core, not the formats or campaigns. Keep your point of view, your audience and your stories steady, while the surface and format move.

Be distinctive — in something a prompt can’t fake. Colours, looks, memes get cloned by lunch. Personality, beliefs, protagonists and a real POV don’t.

Be focused — in your channels, activities, production. AI makes it tempting to dial up output volume and see what sticks. But in a sea of AI slop sameness, the unique, meaningful ideas have a much higher chance to stand out and do something for your brand.

After all, people remember the story of the climbers with the flag, not what any brand has written on that. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was your story they would be talking about?

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First published on LinkedIn, 10.07.2026.