Just like BRAT: A lesson in branding from Charli XCX

FutureBrand Australia’s strategy director, Emma Waterman, takes a look at pop culture sensation Charli XCX’s BRAT phenomenon, and what brands can learn from it.

Last month the internet lit up in a shocking shade of acid green. Accompanying it was some low-fi type and high-octane energy. Behind it was the music mastermind Charli XCX.

The velocity at which Charli – and her sixth studio album BRAT – has taken the internet by storm is truly something else. All ears and eyes are turned towards her. If it weren’t the case already, Charli has now well and truly cemented her critical, cultural and commercial cachet.

BRAT is an ecstatic and vulnerable collection of pulsing hyperpop anthems from the 31-year-old East London songwriter. The album rollout has transcended what I’m sure even Charli could have imagined. BRAT is a noun (“that’s so BRAT”) and an adjective (“BRAT summer”), it’s a meme and a movement that has brought people across the world together.

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