Three trends from different cultural domains, each with concrete actions for marketers and brand builders.
music
Hip-Hop’s Curator Steps to the Front
Jay-Z will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show in February 2027, performing himself for the first time after years of curating the slot from behind the scenes. The tastemaker is stepping out as the act.
Why it matters for brands
The people who curate culture are increasingly becoming the stars of it, a cue that the curator role itself now carries star power.
What brands can do
- Give your brand’s curatorial point of view a public face.
- Let the taste you shape become part of the brand story.
- Treat curation as a stage, not just a back room.
art
Design Looks Beyond the Human User
Architects and designers are starting to drop the human user as the only measure, designing for ecology and non-human life, with coverage around UC Berkeley’s AI-assisted ecological building. Design is decentring the human.
Why it matters for brands
Audiences and clients are rewarding design that serves more than human convenience, a shift in what counts as responsible and advanced.
What brands can do
- Design for more than the human user where it genuinely fits.
- Let ecological thinking shape form, not just messaging.
- Treat non-human needs as a real brief, not decoration.
music
Immersive Concert-Docs as Prestige Format
David Bowie’s ‘Stage’, an immersive concert experience by filmmaker Brett Morgen, world-premiered at the Berlin Film Festival as cinema-as-installation. The concert film is becoming a prestige, immersive event.
Why it matters for brands
The line between film, concert and installation is dissolving into one premium experience, a template for brands building cultural moments.
What brands can do
- Blend film, performance and space into one experience.
- Design cultural moments to be entered, not just watched.
- Treat an archive or catalogue as material for a live, immersive event.
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