The Marketing Bestie Podcast with zoeunlimited - if side character syndrome was a person

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

How did a “MISTAKE” in branding delay Zara Larsson’s success for 15 years?Want to grow on social like Zara? Try Reka for FREE at https://taap.it/rekaBreaking down 5 key success factors in Zara Larsson's rebrand as your marketing bestie🫶🏻 Thank you Reka for sponsoring✍🏻FREE EMAIL LIST https://tapx.it/stanzoeunlimitedLearn & Grow with me.💖 Instagram: https://tapthe.link/zoeunlimitedig💜 TikTok: https://tapthe.link/zoeunlimitedtiktok🖤 Listen on Apple & Spotify: https://tapthe.link/zoeunlimitedapple https://tapthe.link/zoeunlimitedspotify🪭 All my outfits https://tapthe.link/zoeunlimitedltk👩🏻‍💻 LinkedIn https://tapthe.link/zoeunlimitedlinkedin🛒 Amazon Essentials https://tapthe.link/zoeunlimited👉use code ZOEUNLIMITED for 10% off ALL travels on Klook https://t.ly/aA76T📧 Business inquiries: [e-mail] //🕙Timestamps: 0:00 Intro3:56 Zara 1.05:28 Zara 2.05:47 factor 17:17 factor 29:40 factor 310:30 factor 412:02 factor 513:40 Branding Warning

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Zara. Larson! It's so generic. What is this? Who the hell is Zara Larson? I can't name five Zara Larson songs. It's background noise for an Uber ride or Planet Fitness. You know who Zara Larson is?

No. Who's that? If there was someone cursed from fame, it must be Zara Larson. debuting since 10, been in music for over 15 years, over 12 billion streams, and owns the pretty privilege that mainstream pop culture favors. But somehow, barely anyone knew who she was for over 15 years. Perfectly serviceable music for the office cafeteria or the gym or the Uber, but it is disposable. A curse of bad branding. Oh my god, like the label, they don't know shit!

When I was at Zara Larson's at Spotify, I made two huge mistakes. First, I know, who she was until she began singing her platinum record songs. Second, I thought she was just a dancer who could maybe sing a little. Again, Ron. Girl had incredible vocals. And yes, it was both my mistake in judgment and a branding issue. Yeah, but you're also in this weird situation where I think a lot of people know your music, but they're not, they don't really know it's you.

As your marketing bestie, who graduated top 1% UCLA business economics, with a background in marketing, we are going to explore how a shift in brand. Finally unlocked Zara Larson's success after 15 years of trying, despite having the talent, work ethic, and looks. I've been on every stage. Like, I have been outside of an IKEA, like parking lot, five people in the crowd, every mall, schools, high schools, elementary schools, colleges. Like, if there was a stage and an opportunity to perform, hey, it's what I do. And how you can take things from her story and apply them to your dreams. I could master class in marketing.

Night's sun is going viral. However, there is a small caveat I will mention in the end that she should watch out for because no brand is impeccable. I have beef with Zara Larson. As you know, branding is not just about putting your name on a t-shirt or a lingerie line. It is how your future college, future boss, future boyfriend sees you. And yes, you have one. Creating this series to analyze pop culture icons from a marketing perspective and thought my notes might be helpful to you.

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To keep our community small to ambitious people who want to understand public, culture through a smarter branding perspective. Please do not subscribe if you do not want to expand your mind. So here's how Zara Larson expanded her way out of the child star curse. Let's take it back to Zara 1.0 had a 15-year head start than most people in music. At just 10, she won the Swedish version of Got Talent and charted at the official Swedish singles for six consecutive weeks with her competition song. Then was immediately put on Swedish reality TV. Seems like she She set her life at 10, right? Not really.

A curse began following Zara in the long road of going global. At first, it was just not receiving any off-ear of contract. From Disney, Universal Sony, and Warner. No worries, there's YouTube. The views were flowing in and her singles were picking up traction. Multiple music videos over 500 million, 900 million views, racking up over 12 billion streams today. But something weird began to happen. The streams climbed, but she,

was left behind. A voice without a face, lost in the generic pop girl black hole. But you've seen the trend. No. And even her most viral song, ignored her as the main artist. That's supporting actress of pop music.

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Visit vw.ca to learn more. SUVW, German engineered for all. Become Genzi's literal obsession, got a Grammy's nomination, and most importantly, finally getting the respect she deserves for her artistry. It all began with a daughter. with a dolphin and perhaps a little economics saving her. Okay!

Zara 2.0. I absolutely love geeking out on a good rebrand and Zara Larson's rebrand should be studied in a marketing class. Why is that? Well, let's break down her rebrand into five key success factors. Each, especially the last, is essential to her seemingly overnight success. First, visual brand. Whoever makes this picture my f***le profile, Stop! Stop it!

This is what's gonna happen, okay? This... Oh my god! In the digital age, no matter if the product is audio or visual, a brand needs a visual identity. And this was crucial to Sabrina Carpenter going from just another forgotten Disney child to trendsetter. The same to Zara Larson, being a faceless, generic pop girl to a mood board,

starting with colors. We know Taylor Swift for red, Olivia Rodrigo for purple, Sabrina Carpenter for Baby Blue. It's such a simple, but powerful branding technique. For Zara, she tried the Neutral's Clean Girl aesthetic, the grunge look,

and began experimenting with a more muted version of her current sexy aesthetic since 2023. Girl did them all, but none seemed to stand out for her until, starting from the dolphin meme incident we will talk about. A beautiful brush of golden yellow begins to

dominate her visuals, brushed into her iconic eye makeup in her golden hair and tan, in her aggressively neon Y2K outfits. And this will be really important when we go into her endorsements and brand launches. Because now the association with yellow will remind anyone of her. And her team very quickly capitalizes this by turning the yellow hippiscus flower into almost a meme. So eye-catching on every single one of her prior albums, making them on brand.

And it's even in her profile picture. She's completely in it for the joke, which brings up the second rebrand success factor. Memeification. Can you explain? What's going on with dolphins and symphony? When I first saw her aesthetic, I thought, but Y2K is so over. And I was wrong again. The key is repackaging, not just repeating a trend.

And the absolute genius is turning cringe into the fuel that brought all 15 years of hard work into the spotlight. The lore of the meme was, around 2023 to 2024, out of nowhere. TikTokers began pairing Zara Larson's son, Symphony, with the most unfortunate events. Like, quote, I just threw up twice and nearly fainted in the bathtub from my period, or showing someone's ash urn, or using a calculator. Most of the time with this overly colorful, overly positive dolphin animation that basically saved Zara Larson's music career. The symphony trend was very strange to me.

Because, sure, the trend is like a jet two holiday. It's laughing at the extreme positivity that's almost a bit cringe. But it revived this 2017 song that nobody came. Fares for, a win is a win. I actually went back to watch the symphony music video and, oh gosh, it was a very emotional, serious and sad video. And even worse, as one of Zara Larson's most popular songs, she's not even credited as the artist, but as a forgotten feature, even though she sang the whole damn thing.

The smart thing that Zara Larson and her team did was to no longer just have a fleeting viral TikTok moment. Just like how in the past her song would blow up to a billion streams, then be forgotten. Then be forgotten. They were in it for the joke this time. And from it created a whole new brand essence that will define her future. Which kind of reminds me of how Doja created this entire album, leaning in on the joke that she was possessed, which charted Billboard or Haley Bieber being in on the joke, that she's an alleged stalker in her Vogue interview. I really just use them for a lot of the simple stuff,

like surfing anonymously, commenting, stalking, viewing girls' pages, making multiple accounts, you know, that kind of thing. That is how conversations are created. That is how pop culture is created. Zora Larson didn't rise because of a perfectly timed pop era. The internet accidentally reintroduced her to a new generation. One that yearns for third, viral nostalgia, which is the brand thesis she's been missing and searching for for 15 years.

To become the backbone of a super talented but storyless brand, Cyber Y2K Scandinavian Barbie is born and she is unapologetically maximalist. The visual elements remind me a bit of Chaparone. Zara and Chappel are not artists to be just living in your Spotify or on the radio. They are a spectacle to be seen. The makeup, the gem, the pastel eye shadow, the little cropped outfits with neon yellows, the super colorful shoes and the dances.

She is made for the stage because A, yes, she can definitely sing live. B, she's an incredible dancer. C, she gives you a full suite of Y2K elements and the memes, which ties into. Fourth, mood creation. With the viral nostalgia, there's finally a visual world people can believe in. And like Sabrina Carpenter, the fan on stage moments are viral engines to start a positive cycle for more people to rediscover her. and most importantly, tying her face, her looks, her talents.

With the music, they are already so familiar with, timing also could not be more helpful because recession could actually be in certain artist's favors. There is a pattern here. The economic recession from 1973 to 1975 coincides with the rise of disco, the two recessions from 1980 to 1982, with 10.8% unemployment was timed with the birth of house music. And as for 2008, we have Lady Gaga and Katie Perry.

As for 2020, the BBC stated that, quote, the average tempo of 2020's top 20 best-selling songs is a pulse-clicking 122 beats per minute, the highest it's ever been since 2009. What do people need in times of hardship? Escapism. Lucky for Zara Larson. Her 15-year catalog of music contains songs that are mostly upbeat and can be reinterpreted as positive. Now tied in with the new yellow that speaks warmth, optimism, youthful pop energy, summer, reminder of the good times. You have yourself a rise of demand. And the supply,

aka her music, has just been waiting there the last 15 years, which brings us to our last branding success factor before the warning. Fifth, association. A brand is everything something is associated with. And what is Zara Larson associated with so far? Yes, Pink Panthers collab as the internet girlies, but also the yellow of Nordic summer, Beachy Energy, Midnight Sun, which creates this down to earth some goddess vibe with aspirational value. I would have guessed that skims would be such a perfect brand to be associated with. Due to its pop culture relevancy with all the rising eight girls and rightfully aligns with our hot girl branding.

But, girl beat me to it. Zarr already launched her own Scandinavian underwear and apparel brand, Maine Rose. The surprising thing though is that Scandinavian minimalism is the opposite of Dolphin Fever Dream maximalism. I am quite surprised that they didn't focus on the key brand color of yellow, as a collab with skims would have certainly done, but picked mostly neutrals with pink. I'd assume it's based on market research on the top selling colors, which makes sense from a revenue perspective. Although this means she's essentially running two brand personalities simultaneously. Midnight Sun Zara is maximalist's silly rainbow chaotic internet girl,

and main role Zara is sleek, scandy, sophisticated, and controlled. Is it a B. big branding red flag? Not really. She explicitly said, quote, my music is about me, but I want main roles to be something that can thrive and live outside of me. Meaning she is consciously building a brand that won't collapse if her music era changes. Hence, not a branding mistake, but brand maturity. I love that she's playing the longer game than most pop girls her age. Which brings us to our final branding warning. How sustainable is this meme-driven brand?

Yes? She's doing splits, serving looks, entertaining the crowd. But is the crowd here for her or just a fleeting viral moment? As I always say, a brand cannot be built in one day. The trickiest part is having consistency, but also not repeat something to the point of fatigue. I find this to be completely and utterly disturbing. How to do that? A lore engine.

Like how Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift always leave Easter eggs between songs and albums, the stories need to do. to start connecting. From the dolphins to butterflies to summers, hint, the Midnight Sun itself is under-exploited as mythology. A brand is not just a staple stack of random flyers, it's a thick book of a never-ending story. But just like for Sabrina Carpenter, I have deep respect for Zara Larson's perseverance for over the last 15 years. And perhaps, being hidden from fame before all the elements of success are ready is a blessing, not a curse. As a Monterey lived by, No effort goes to waste.

If you want to understand pub culture through a smarter branding perspective, follow the pod for more. Give it a five-star review. It's free and will help the show help you. This is your marketing bestie Zoe Unlimited. Episodes are available on all podcast networks, Apple, Spotify, YouTube. And if you didn't hate this episode, you might not hate these other two I made just for you.