Sydney Sweeney, Topicality & Rock Radio’s Lost Edge

Any time I can include Sydney Sweeney in a RockTernative piece, I will.

Sure, it’s good for SEO, but there’s a powerful reminder here.

Many at Radio have forgotten the lost art of, or the importance of, topicality.

I’m not talking about ripping and reading today’s headlines or reviewing last night’s hottest new show on Netflix. That’s not being topical. That’s not creating. That’s clinging to the backs of others.

What I’m getting at is being in the moment and creating your own topical victories.

We are witnessing two master classes in very effective uses of topicality.

1. American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans ads
2. Astronomer hiring Gwyneth Paltrow as a temporary spokesperson

Both Brilliant. Both CMOs will be getting big job offers.

While much of today’s content has gravitated towards being more evergreen for revenue longevity, the right topicality is a flamethrower that can:

• Be urgent and cut through
• Go viral
• Drive traffic
• Help build brands & be its own strategy

American Eagle/Sydney Sweeney:

Just last month, American Eagle was a classic mall brand — but now it feels modern, young, and cool again.

They would have released new Fall or back-to-school jeans anyway, but by being topical and attaching themselves to the latest “it girl,” they upped the ante and repositioned competitors into the “blah, blah, blah, jeans” category.

This campaign smashes all the boxes above. And if not for this genius move, sadly, a lot of girls would be rolling into Fall with forgettable denim.

Astronomer/Gwyneth Paltrow:

Equal parts humor and irony. 100% brilliant. Up until the infamous Coldplay concert, had anyone heard of this company? I would have guessed they wrote horoscopes that no one reads.

Astronomer took the affair heard ‘round the galaxy, added a connected celebrity, and used it to remind clients the brand can be trusted and to educate everyone else about what the company does.

Astronomer could have gone quiet, and hoped business didn’t collapse or that they didn’t become a perennial meme.

But they didn’t.

Astronomer was bold. Owned the moment in a classic way. And now everyone knows they aren’t peddling horoscopes or trying to predict lotto numbers.

Back when I started in Active Rock Radio, the PD (Bob Richards) held daily meetings on topicality: 

• What does our audience care about today and tomorrow?
• What’s happening in the city this week, next week, next month?
• What does the morning show need to be zeroed in on and prepared for?
• Where does the street team need to be (outside of sales appearances)?

There are some that still use topicality as a primary weapon, but its importance is missing in many meetings and has fallen off priority lists.

This can be attributed to syndication, voice tracking and the elimination of so many jobs and street teamers at many clusters. But that’s not enough for everyone to be let off the hook.

• If you run a company full of empty clusters, it’s now your job to make sure brands are plugged in or they’ll become out of touch and forgettable.
• If you’re a content creator and talent — live, local, national or tracked — there’s no reason you can’t be topical and truly tapped into what your audience cares about.
• If you’re a digital marketer and your main focus is how to make the register to win banner look good or the sales-based social posts tighter, a recalibration is needed

Don’t ever lose sight of core brand messages, but the audience will positively react to the right topical efforts.

It’s not about budgets.

From big budgets to peanuts. Being topically effective is an art form and can be its own strategy.

Do we want to be in the moment and part of the larger conversation or not? 

• How’d the brand handle Ozzy’s passing?
• Bad weather in the city, do something with it.
• NFL is starting up, what’s the game plan?
• Back to school, what’s in the backpack?

Topicality. Carpe diem. Zeitgeist stuff. It matters.

RockTernative used to own these kinds of moments. Howard crashing the VMAs, the local show becoming Mayor for a day, staying live on-air until the team finally won. That immediacy made a brand feel alive.

So yeah, I found a way to write about American Eagle, Sydney Sweeney, and Gwyneth Paltrow and make it make sense for Rock radio. It’ll probably pull more eyeballs than another post about dayparting strategies.

Whatchya got on deck tomorrow?

Chase the moment. Own it.

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Keith Cunningham

Keith Cunningham is a music industry and Rock/Alternative columnist for Barrett Media and the founder of Black Box Group, a modern-modeled creative & strategic consultancy built for brands that need strategies with teeth. He’s the former Master of Mayhem at 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles for over a decade, a nationwide consultant, and has been repeatedly voted one of America’s top Program Directors and strategic thinkers. Keith has built his career by taking multi-million-dollar brands from worst to first and leading Marconi & Gracie award winners along the way. A data nerd with a rock-and-roll heart, he is an advisory council member for St. Jude fundraising, a fantasy football champion, and lover of his daughters & dogs. Reach him at keithblackboxgroup@gmail.com or on LinkedIn or X.