Parisian Auras and Flava Flav

An athlete’s ‘aura’ is more important than winning gold in Paris.

At least that’s what you’d be forgiven for thinking if you look at the Olympians garnering the most attention online.

From a pistol shooter giving off nonchalant Dad vibes to an Italian gymnast lounging on huge wheels of cheese and even Flava Flav supporting a water polo team, something feels different this year.

Let’s dig into why this is important…

Auramaxxing

This is a term that was being used before the Olympics, but it has become mainstream in the last few weeks.

As this article in The Cut tells us, ‘aura-maxxing’ is being used in a broader way than before. If older generations used the word, ‘cool’ liberally across various aspects of their lives, then the same is true for younger people and ‘aura’ right now.

And, like the most popular internet language, ‘-maxxing’ has great versatility in that it can be added to the end of almost any noun, seriously or ironically.

Be More Brat

If possessing a strong aura is being unapologetically yourself, then it has a connection to a trend so big that it’s even being used by Presidential candidates: Brat.

While that might signal its death knell (see: the previous UK Prime Minister and his Sambas debacle), there is plenty of evidence that this iconic green tone; this praise of all things bold and messy, will hang around beyond the northern hemisphere summer.

Main Character Energy

The Wall Street Journal describes the modern meaning of aura by saying, “The concept has been reclaimed from its ancient mythological roots by Gen Z… to describe a person who oozes an elusive form of je-ne-sais-quoi charm.”

This is definitely an extension of the main character energy trend that rose to popularity in the last year, where people wanted a term to for celebrating small moments of joy. It feels like one of the few social media trends that’s here to stay.

Why does this matter for marketers?

Should every brand immediately start talking about auras, brat behaviour and main character energy? No.

But if your audience (and, ideally, your brand) already celebrates these attitudes, then it is a no brainer to reflect that in your communications, either directly or indirectly.