What's Next, Now: August 2023
This month, our crystal ball predicts a hot Barbie summer, a crackdown on kids’ social media use, the growing influence of sports betting, and more.
We couldn’t write our August trend report without talking about the biggest trend of the summer — all things pink. With an estimated marketing budget of $150 million (more than the $145 million used to make the movie itself!), the Barbie team went out painting the globe pink. From pink frozen yogurt at Pinkberry to Barbie-branded pink Crocs, pink furniture fit for your Barbie Dreamhouse sold at Joybird, and even a pink Xbox console, Barbie racked up partnerships with every brand willing to add a little pink to their products. And it paid off — the Barbie movie hit more than $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide and became Warner Bros.’ highest grossing movie of all time in the domestic box office.
While the marketing campaign targeted consumers across demographics, women were the driving force behind the movie’s success — and some of the biggest economic and cultural moments of the summer. Women and girls sold out hotels, filled bars and restaurants, and patronized local businesses while following Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s tours, generating billions for local economies.
Women were also the focus of the sports world this summer, with 3.8 million people tuning into the U.S. Women’s National Team’s (USWNT) World Cup matches, despite some occurring in the dead of night. And that’s not to mention the ubiquity of girl trends taking over the internet right now — girl dinner, hot girl walks, tomato girls, clean girls, and even girl math.
Media has taken to calling this season the summer of the female dollar. But have girls and women actually gained influence this summer, or are brands finally just waking up to the power women have over our economy and popular culture? An oft-cited statistic states 85% of purchases are made or influenced by women. Girls have been powering popular culture for decades — what would The Beatles be without their crowds of young female fans? And girl trends are nothing new, either — 2023’s tomato girl is just a new version of 2019’s VSCO girl and 2014’s Tumblr girl.
But some things are changing — women are making more money. Median weekly earnings for women have climbed 28% over the last five years, and women are expected to control over $30 trillion in financial assets by the end of the decade. Brands that aren’t recognizing the economic and cultural power of women are already playing catch up and will only get further from the finish line.