Brands put on their creative caps for the 'How it started vs how it's going' trend

The social media sphere is once again taken by a new trend. This time, it's the "How it started vs How it's going" trend, which aimed to showcase how far the featured people or brands have come. Taking place on various social media platforms, the trend initially saw many relationship-related posts, where couples show a moment from when they met to a current moment where they are right now.

Over time, we see more netizens started to get creative with the trend, applying it to different contexts such as their education journey, their pets, or even their personal glow-up. With the trend going viral, brands also started to join in the hype and featured their own interpretation of the trend. 

Here are some brands we saw jumping onto the trend in Southeast Asia:

SITEX

Consumer Lifestyle IT exhibition SITEX took the chance to promote its exhibition this year, which will be going virtual due to ongoing social restrictions. In a Facebook and Instagram post, the brand also featured a crowded exhibition hall for the "how it started" segment, which is a scene we will probably not be seeing for a while. 

SK-II 

In an Instagram story, the beauty brand used the trend to assure that even though its packaging may change, its formula remains the same for 40 years.  

The Barracks Hotel

The hotel, which is situated in Sentosa, showed how artillery barracks have stood on its grounds since 1904, giving the brand its name. It added that while things have changed, the location's heritage and history lives on through the hotel.

Universal Music Singapore

Instead of showing how far the brand has come, Universal Music Singapore chose to show how far its artistes have come instead. It uploaded an album titled "How It Started vs How It's Going", and featured younger and current pictures of singers Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendes, and more. 

Visa

Another brand jumping on the trend is Visa, which struck a comparison between payment methods of the past and now. The brand also used the chance to feature a promotion it is currently holding where users of the Google Pay app can stand a chance to win cash prizes.

Subway Malaysia

Meanwhile, Subway Malaysia took a tongue-in-cheek approach to show how irresistible its sandwiches are. What started as a full sandwich ended up devoured soon.

Shopee Malaysia

eCommerce platform Shopee took the chance to promote its product offerings. It featured a red-velvet-flavoured cake for "how it started", and showed Korean pop band with the same name "Red Velvet" for its "how it's going" segment.

Southeast Asian brands are not the only one having fun with the trend; brands from all over the world are also joining in. Check out some of these social media posts the team at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE came across.

Heineken Breweries Ethiopia

Most people may be familiar with Heineken's bottle packaging now, but did you know how it used to look like? For this trend, the brewery chose to feature its old and current packaging to mark its progress since 1873. 

Kawasaki USA

Not one to lose out, automobile manufacturer Kawasaki also showed the contrast between its past and future by comparing the motorcycles it produced then and now. It also put in a little plug for its newer model, the Ninja H2R.

Taj Hotels

Similarly, Indian hotel chain Taj Hotels used the trend to document its journey since the brand started. In its post, it said the brand started as one man's vision, and has now grown to be India's "strongest" brand. 

Wizz Air

European low-cost airline Wizz Air, on the other hand, incorporated the year's happening in its version of the #HowitStarted trend. It showed its airplane soaring through the sky in 2004, and contrasted it to its airplane being on the ground in 2020. This seems to be referencing to the current state of the airline industry, where travel restrictions are still in place and airplanes are mostly grounded. 

Isn't it a little heart-warming to see how brands from all over the world have evolved over the years? We sure think so.

Let us know if you spot any other brands jumping on this trend at graceo@marketing-interactive.com!

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