The Marketing Bestie Podcast with zoeunlimited - nothing is cringe if you’re “pretty”

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

the step by step rebrand that SAVED the summer i turned prettyHow did the summer i turned pretty go from cringe to iconic?✨Unlock nostalgic romantic branding 🩰💕✨ get the Belly ballet flats https://tapx.it/bellacristina with 【bfzoe】for EXTRA (limited time) discounts FOR OUR COMMUNITY ONLY (11/13 – 12/2) (online only)(seriously, I pushed so hard for this; can't find a better deal anywhere else online)✨Use code 【bfzoe】✨🩰Belly & Bella Hadid Ballet Satin (Cristina):https://tapx.it/bellacristina🩰Belly Ballet Sneakerina Yancy https://tapx.it/bellayancy🩰Knit Ballet Margot Mary-Jane (in 19 colors!) https://taap.it/balletmaryjaneVIVAIA sustainable shoes https://tapx.it/vivaiacollections[bfzoe] for BETTER-than-site discounts : •⁠ ⁠1 pair – 10% off •⁠ ⁠⁠ 2 pairs – 20% off •⁠ ⁠⁠3 pairs – 25% off •⁠ ⁠⁠4 pairs – 30% offThank you Vivaia for sponsoring!🌷✍🏻FREE EMAIL LIST https://tapx.it/stanzoeunlimitedHow did the summer i turned pretty go from cringe to iconic?✨Unlock nostalgic romantic branding 🩰💕✨ get the Belly ballet flats https://tapx.it/bellacristina with 【bfzoe】for EXTRA (limited time) discounts FOR OUR COMMUNITY ONLY (11/13 – 12/2) (online only)(seriously, I pushed so hard for this; can't find a better deal anywhere else online)✨Use code 【bfzoe】✨🩰Belly & Bella Hadid Ballet Satin (Cristina):https://tapx.it/bellacristina🩰Belly Ballet Sneakerina Yancy https://tapx.it/bellayancy🩰Knit Ballet Margot Mary-Jane (in 19 colors!) https://taap.it/balletmaryjaneVIVAIA sustainable shoes https://tapx.it/vivaiacollections[bfzoe] for BETTER-than-site discounts : •⁠ ⁠1 pair – 10% off •⁠ ⁠⁠ 2 pairs – 20% off •⁠ ⁠⁠3 pairs – 25% off •⁠ ⁠⁠4 pairs – 30% offThank you Vivaia 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📸My gear: (Sony A7Siii) [ZOEUNLIMITED15] https://tapx.it/lensrental 📧 Business inquiries: [e-mail] //🕙Timestamps: 0:00 Intro2:43 The Summer I Turned Pretty 1.0 4:08 Marketing Secret 15:48 Marketing Secret 28:28 Marketing Secret 311:47 BONUS (key!!)

Okay, when I sell my business, I want the best tax and investment advice. I want to help my kids, and I want to give back to the community. Ooh, then it's the vacation of a lifetime. I wonder if my head of office has a forever setting. An IG Private Wealth advisor creates the clarity you need with plans that harmonize your business, your family, and your dreams. Get financial advice that puts you at the center. Find your advisor at IG Private Wealth.com.

This episode is brought to you by Tellus Online Security. Oh, tax season is the worst. You mean hack season? Sorry, what? Yeah, cybercriminals love tax forms. But I've got Tellus Online Security. It helps protect against identity theft and financial fraud so I can stress less during tax season or any season.

Plan started just $12 a month. Learn more at tellus.com slash online security. No one can prevent all cybercrime or identity theft. Conditions apply. In communities across Canada, hourly Amazon employees can grow their skills and their paycheck by enrolling in free skills training programs for in-demand fields. Learn more at aboutamazon.ca. Is it cringe or is it arch? How did the summer I turn pretty?

The cringiest, weirdest, dumbest show. Pretty, please. This is a terrible show. Do you guys know that? Get not just more crazy. by 70 million viewers. This is the big. Beating Euphoria, Emily and Paris,

and the White Lotus seasons one, two, and three combined. What the hell? Nothing is a coincidence. It's all marketing. As your marketing bestie, who graduated top 1% UCLA business economics with the background in marketing, we're going to explore what are the three marketing secrets

that can turn cringe into iconic. Like Amazon's number one title in 140 countries and Taylor Swift Olivia Rodriguez involved iconic. Each strategy gets more powerful and I'll even share a bonus secret weapon at the end that will blow everything out the water. But most importantly, how can you take info from the story and apply them to your dreams? Because branding is not just slapping your name on a poster. It's how your future client, future boss, future boyfriend sees you. And yes, you have one. If the summer I turned pretty can come back from being one of the cringiest

to the hottest show with a cultish fandom. I feel sick actually, I feel like I'm gonna go up. Oh my god. Oh my god. That requires an official warning. For fans to quote unquote act normal online, that Delta Airline and F1 are fan-girling over. Are you Team Comrade or Jeremiah?

I mean obviously Team Conrad. Team Conrad. That this person watched 27 times, you yourself can create a killer brand. The show got so popular to the point that Miss Lulaton herself became pop culture's new favorite It Girl. Um, yes, Miss Miu, making waves in fashion like Miss Bella Hadid. That even I got influenced. Yes, I got more.

more than one pair. But first, let's go back to the pre-glowup. Free email list below for additional marketing knowledge. The summer I turned pretty 1.0 is an American coming-of-age romantic novel turned TV series, where the main character, Belly, insane name, a shy girl played by Lilithun goes on a family vacation beach home every summer. But the summer she turns 16, she had a miraculous glow-up, which is just taking the glasses and breaks this off.

But every single male specimen begins to be completely in love with her, especially two hot brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah, who she also happens to grow up with. If this is screaming 2000s core to you, it is. Because the first book was written by Jenny Hahn in 2009. We were all fetuses in 2009. And the plot cannot get more cliche. I literally cannot believe that neither one of my parents had a childhood

best friend with two very handsome sons that I could have a whirlwind summer romance with and then eventually marry what's wrong with them why don't they love me quiet girl gets hot one summer two brothers fighting over her a beach house and fairyland the secondhand embarrassment is oozing out the screen does any of this land in the 2020s well let's begin with marketing secret number one the romantic rebrand of cringe. As some may describe, the show was poorly written, badly acted. You ruined everything.

I'll never trust you again. Cheezier than the non-plastic Spanish blue cheese. So everyone who's watching the summer I turn pretty, why is this season so cringe? It's so bad. But guess what? That does not matter. Like Addison raised cringe to iconic rebranding case,

the ones who can own cringe will win. end of the day. It worked out in the show's favor because of reverse psychology marketing. People hate watch it out of curiosity, but end uphooked because it feels safe and nostalgic. It didn't try to be cool. And that made it emotionally honest, giving viewers permission to feel. The show embraced sincerity, pastel Taylor Swift, first love, in an era where everything is supposed to be, ironic, deep, out of touch, luxurious, dark, dystopian, or highly intellectual. In a sense, cringe is just vulnerability that hasn't gone viral yet.

If you have a business idea or a personal style you want to try out, the cringe you've been avoiding might be your superpower. And the romanticized cringe is tied to. Marketing secret number two. Nostalgia The summer I Turn Pretty doesn't sell a story. It sells a feeling you thought you outgrewed. It's marketed like a time capsule.

Pre-iphone summers, crushes that mattered, and soundtracks that healed. It's the revival of the Love Triangle Gap. There really hasn't been one that spoke as much girlhood since the Twilight Gossip Girl era. Hence, supply, demand. Had the show come out in the 2010s, it might have actually been out-competed. And unlike Euphoria or The Idol, the Summer I Turned Pretty feels safe. There is no trauma porn, no dark realism, just longing, awkwardness, and... soft light, the fantasy of safety, a nostalgic feeling. Like a soft feminine silhouette in

bowls, laces, and soft fabric like satin and Lola's ballerina sneakers, like Sabrina Carpenter's big blowout, and vintage color grading that blew her up through her nostalgic visual and audio branding. Speaking of which, the visual, pastel-coded nostalgia marketing of the show, is also a hack for Lola Town's own, a girl visual branding. Lola perfectly balances chicness with a secret weapon. From Mu-Mu to carpet-ready gowns, she somehow still kept her girl next door softness. How?

Well, almost everything she wears is surprisingly accessible. Vintage Levi's sundress is ballerina sneakers from Mavilla that would have cost it thousands from Louis Vuitton and Prada. Remember, to become a style icon, you need a style that can be repeated by the girls. And this look is so repeatable. In fact, I've been wearing my Vavia sneakers almost every day since I've been wearing. They got them months ago and got my best friend a matching pair. Because they're so cute and romantic and so comfortable.

But because Lola and Bella wore them, they are almost never in stock. And of course, I have to tell you, not only are they back in stock right now, even better, I begged Vavi if they could give us an exclusive deal. So listen carefully. You, only you, get a better than sight, Black Friday discount.

Their team had to make a secret, Extra Extra Discount Code BF Zoe Only share this with people you like I'll put the discount details and style links in the description You are welcome And are you kidding

They now have the most perfect Little Knit ballet Mary Jane In 19 colors Um what the hell I am so excited for you to try them Prepare to be wowed by the romantic nostalgia Because nostalgia is a new emotional currency In branding and content and storytelling

Whoever can make people remember wins, but not without. Marketing secret number three. Emotional brand equity. It is beyond genius that the product itself, the story, is baked with so much conflict that makes it personal. Every good marketer must be a good storyteller. Why? Facts tell, but stories sell. You don't buy a house for its wood and concrete.

You buy the dream of building. a home with your loved ones. You don't buy the Vavaya for the pretty bowls, lace, satin, and Bella Hadid and Lola styling. You buy the feeling of softness, a story of girlhood. You don't watch the summer I turn pretty for a bunch of pretty teenagers. You watch to live vicariously the fantasy of girlhood to escape to a place of lightness, possibility, and heartaches. Creating a parisocial drug. Fans aren't just watching Belly choose between Conrad and Jeremiah.

Come on, round! They are projecting their own emotional history onto it. Go boy, you go! And so casual viewers become fans to stance. It's us before watching this and Mara Tere pretty finale! We have the hoodies! Oh yeah. Connie, obviously.

And we've got our snacks, we're ready to compete. We don't know what team's gonna win, but we're hoping it's our team. And if she chips us ourselves, forget it. Who either cried through the last season or screamed, would just. Which seems odd to anyone who hasn't watched it. The magic is that the summer I turned pretty nailed. It's emotional segmentation. A marketing term meaning they split the audience.

Not by age or gender, but by emotional identity. For example, you're either team Nike or Adidas, Team Apple or Android, Team Berries or CrossFit, Team K-Up group A or group B, Team Edward or Jacob. Always Team Edward, by the way. Team Conrad or Jeremiah.

Apparently, I should have answered. What's the other one? Comrade. Yeah, apparently I should have answered. Were you in trouble? I was in big trouble. Each sells a different emotional need on the consumer's identity level, and it becomes personal. Very personal.

Tribal branding is when a brand or show builds loyalty by dividing audiences into emotionally charged camps. That's what creates obsession. You're not watching the show. You're participating in it. Oh my god. I feel sick actually. I feel like I'm gonna grow up. Defending your team becomes identity work.

Hence an awkward show that was originally cringe and weird became the source of life for 70 million people by season three. The brilliance is that no matter your age, you've either waited for a Conrad, settle for a Jeremiah, or were the belly trying to figure out who you are through who loves you back. That's emotional equity branding, which is enhanced. by a deadly secret weapon.

Bonus sensory marketing. This is deteriorate on top that 10xed every marketing factor we talked about. The reverse psychology marketing, nostalgia, and emotional brand equity. The super booster is the sneaky sensory experience that makes a cringy teenage drama, the top one show of Amazon. A hack into your subconscious. We already talked about the warm-tone cinematography and nostalgic visual branding. But what about sound?

The playlist is arguably one of the smartest marketing moves of the franchise. Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Phoebe Bridgers, every track is perfectly timed to manipulate emotion. And the association with the love and girlhood-coded artists legitimizes the show. Gives it a brandy halo from the blue chip artist and lifted it to a new tier that is hard, to compete with. On top of which, because of the popularity of these artists, the organic reach of their songs will bring their fans into the show franchise, which is a very specific young female demographic that is perfectly targeted. And when each episode is over, the music lingers in your

years. Like the ghost of an ex you cannot erase. Brutal genius mind hack. You are reliving the summer feeling season after season. And that was how cringe, into a cultish fandom. For homework, take out your notes app. Think about your favorite shows of all time. What kind of marketing techniques did they use to make you care? Apply one thing you learned in this video to either your personal brand or business. How do you make people emotionally invested?

Could you create a sense of safety through elements of nostalgia? Is there something cringe that you've been scared to try that you could just full send and get some market data? Remember, everything you want is on the other side of cringe. Just look at my old videos. Full cringe. How else do you learn? But if you learn something here, follow the pod, give it a five-star review.

Guys, take advantage of the limited time of Vaya discount. I fought really hard to get you this. Free email list resources, all links are below. This is your marketing best C, Zoe Unlimited. Episodesodes are available on all podcast networks, Apple, Spotify, YouTube. And if you like this episode, I know you like these other two I made just for you. Rosen lasagna, medium power. 15 minutes.

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