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This is number 26 of Accidental Insights, which means it’s turning one. It’s a celebration!

The aim was to write an English newsletter for marketers in Stockholm. Predominantly aimed towards those who might not have time to dig into granular newsletters on strategy and culture. And instead, provide a digest of everything you need to know right now, inspired by classic lifestyle magazines covering everything that matters: marketing science, industry intel, business trends, consumer behaviour, cultural tensions, and some city gossip.

Thus far, it has worked out well. The newsletter has readers way beyond the Nordics, attracts a wide range of professionals, and the aim is to figure out how to make it even better over the forthcoming 52 weeks.

Enough with self-indulging nostalgia, and let’s head to what matters: the insights.

INSIGHT DOWNLOAD

The most interesting things I’ve read, seen, thought about, or debated the last two weeks. High and low.

THE NEW ROMANTIC. Valentine’s might be over, but romance is here to stay. Silks, satins, soft color hues, lace, delicate floral prints, and bows were all over the spring runway through brands like Saint Laurent, Chloé, Chanel, and Erdem. Paper argues 2026 is the year of romantic gothic in fashion and film. Numéro argues instead that after the goth era, romanticism is taking over, including the reopening of Paris Musée de la Vie romantique. Bridgerton’s latest season is claimed to be incredibly romantic, and Wuthering Heights has its fair share of love and intimacy. A24 is opening a wedding chapel in Vegas to promote Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s “The Drama”. Search traffic for “romantic” is up on Google, and “dark romance”, “soft romantic outfits,” and “romantic moody bedroom” are up on Pinterest. Cosmopolitan believes there is an impressive lineup of romance movies coming in 2026, and Bruno Mars just released his new album Romantic. Wanna indulge in some old school romanticism? Kungliga Operan in Stockholm is showing both Madama Butterfly and Romeo and Juliet this spring.

Bridgerton. (L to R) Yerin Ha as Sophie Beckett, Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton in episode 401 of Bridgerton. Cr. Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2025

(Bridgerton excerpt from Netflix)

THE LIVE EFFECT. We live in the era of physical live experiences, right? But also the era of fragmentation and division. According to Stockholm Live’s report “The Goosebumps Effect”, Swedes believe that societal fellowship is on the decline, but the solution is live events. Why? A stunning 89% believe that live experiences can strengthen togetherness in volatile times, and 85% believe they can create togetherness among people from different cultures. 77% experience greater togetherness after physical events, while only 2% do so after digital ones. The numbers tell the same story. The global live concert market is projected to grow to $40.65 billion by 2032 (from $23.64 billion in 2024) at an 8.8% compound annual growth rate. In Sweden, the number of live events is up ≈68% since 2019.

Smart brands are catching up and are constantly raising the bar for physical experiences. Some recent examples include: this insane tactile pop-up by Bottega Veneta, a Skims trampoline bra (sic!) in a mall, Tony’s Chocolonely Valentine mystery pop-up, YSL’s immersive beauty playground, Zara and Butterbear’s immersive campus, and Loewe’s labyrinth of ultra-thin paper. Time to level up your physical strategy.

ANALOG BUT DIGITAL. Gen Z’s love for everything analog is taking a digital turn. They are moving beyond analog bags, books, and vinyl records into digital objects from an era less connected. They are switching from iPhones to iPods and starting to get down with DVDs because they are suffering from subscription fatigue and content scattered across platforms. Hence, they see physical media ownership as a form of cultural rebellion.

HORIZONTAL HITS. Horizontal video is back. Streamers have replaced the vertical-video star and are outpacing their TikTok counterparts. Apparently, they provide authenticity in the AI age, and long-form video formats offer many different clips to feed to algorithms. Competition for horizontal viewers is fierce, and Netflix is stepping up its competitiveness by entering its advertising era. Podcasts, as we know them now, are all about video. Latest in line are the guys at How Long Gone, blessing us with a brand new horizontal video podcast on YouTube. Apple is also trying to catch up by adding a video feature to its podcast app. If you love huge horizontal screens, fast cars and live in the US, good for you, Apple TV is bringing F1 to IMAX cinemas. McDonald’s is adapting fast and launching a horizontal breakfast.

DEADLY BRANDING. Brands are now investing in the afterlife. Liquid Death and Spotify have launched an “Eternal Playlist Urn” so you can take music with you into eternity. Supreme just launched a casket that sold out immediately.

PEAK CAROLYN? Love Story is this spring’s big success series and has made Carolyn Bessette Kennedy the most referenced style icon on TikTok. After School calls it a CBK mania, and guys in New York have started to dress like JFK Jr. I see a lot of these posts mocking everyone copying Carolyn’s style. A friend and long-time CBK fan texted me that she was irritated that a “private niche interest now has become mainstream and all over the place”. Will the most timelessly dressed person ever soon feel very dated due to too much hype?

CREATOR’S FREEDOM. Tracksuit and Ekimetrics have collaborated on a playbook for creator marketing, and it’s packed with exciting insights, including that when you work with creators who align with your brand values, conversion jumps 3x. However, the most interesting finding: when you give creators freedom to create, your probability of succeeding jumps up 1.7x, but 36% of marketers think giving up control feels "too risky”. A good strategy might be to start worrying more about getting results than giving up control.

USELESS UTILITY. Do you have problems with certain foods, like the fact that your iced matcha is too cold to hold in your hand in the winter? Or that dipping fries in ketchup on the go is inconvenient. Don’t worry – incredibly innovative food gadgets are here. Heinz created a “fry box with a built-in ketchup compartment to ‘make dipping effortless’”. Blank Street has made a puffer jacket for your iced matcha (sic!), turning it into a style statement as well as filling the functional purpose of keeping your hands warm if “you’re part of the rare breed that only drinks iced drinks, even in winter”. The food industry is not alone. The beauty industry is playing the same game. Rhode became viral a few years ago for its iPhone case that could hold a lip gloss. Now Daisee Beauty has launched the “lip balm phone pod,” so you can carry your lip balm directly on your phone. Do you want utilitarian gadgets but without utility? LIDL has launched a handbag designed like their trolleys in collaboration with Nik Bentel.

THE ROI OF STORYTELLING. Spotted: AI made the ancient art of telling a story the hottest gig in tech right now. Why? Because the narrative is imperative to set companies apart in the incredibly tough competition of the AI world. But also because companies desperately seek to differentiate their storytelling from the generic stories of AI models. Vanta, Miro, and others have recently posted “Head of Storytelling” job offers. Between 2024 and 2025, the number of job postings for storytellers doubled on LinkedIn. Andreessen Horowitz is going to help founders win “the narrative battle,” and the salary range for Netflix’s “director of product and technology communications” topped at $775,000. Business Insider claims that “writing words” is “the hottest job in tech right now”. This has led to a surge in demand for humanities degrees, such as majoring in English (one Anthropic co-founder majored in literature). Too hard to learn writing and just wanna get the look? Then go for “poet aesthetic”.

HORNY NORDICS. Accidental Insights has been reporting on the return of sex in advertising for a long time, but Valentine’s unleashed a wave of horny ads for Swedish mainstream brands. Burger King has (of course, together with their Danish agency partner) developed a campaign claiming that the new “Gourmet Spicy Honey & Goat Cheese” makes you horny. Natural Cycles wants “more sex, less VAT,” pushing for lowered taxes on prescription-free birth control products. Norway didn’t want to be late to the party. If you managed to get pregnant just nine months before the release of GTA VI, retailer Komplett will give you the game for free. In Älvdalen (a municipality in Northern Sweden), the Centre Party has lobbied for including sex as an activity in the municipality workers’ weekly wellness hour. However, the tide might be turning. Demna Gvasalia is facing criticism for including too much sex and too few fresh ideas in his debut Gucci show.

FIGURE SKATE OR DIE. Is figure skating finally getting its cultural edge? Gen Z thinks so. The U.S. team (called Blade Angles) has achieved TikTok fandom, redefined ambition, and taken up the fight for human rights. One TikToker explained that their appeal comes from them representing three different subgroups: “alt, gay, and from New Jersey.” The Olympic gold medalist Alyssa Liu has become a goth icon due to her style and hair, and her routine to the Pink Pantheress song Stateside blew up the internet. Illia “quadg0d” Malinin (the most hyped male figure skater before the Olympics) performs backflips in $1,100 Balmain jeans. When the ice took hold over Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm, people took the chance to go figure skating even though the local authorities demanded that people stay off the ice.

CLUBLAND NOSTALGIA. Nightclubs are slowly dying, dying so much that it might even be dying in Berlin. This doesn’t stop people from living out their clubland nostalgia. Mark Ronson’s Night People, about being a DJ in 90’s NYC, has become a certified classic (I recommend listening to the audiobook where he reads it himself, it’s on Spotify). Design Museum in London is hosting an exhibition about 80s nightclub The Blitz. During NYFW, Emily Dawn Long hosted a private party called “No One Dances Anymore,” bringing back old school club vibes. During his USB002 tour, Fred Again has brought out everyone from Tomas Bangalter to JME. But it peaked with Underworld and The Streets on stage, with Mike Skinner performing his clubland homage “Weak Become Heroes” over the legendary club classic Born Slippy. It broke the internet.