Glamour Magazine kept seeing the same request show up again and again ahead of its December cover.
Put Nicolandria on the cover.
Nicolandria — the fan-favorite couple that emerged from Love Island Season 7 — has dominated feeds, comment sections, and cultural conversations since last summer. Individually, both Olandria Carthen and Nic Vansteenberghe have been on the rise. Together, their fandom is unmistakable.
So Glamour moved fast.
They put Nicolandria on the cover of their December issue — in what the editorial team described as record time to pull off a cover.
As Glamour Editorial Director Sam Barry explained:
“You asked, we answered. This cover is different — not just because Nicolandria has taken over our feeds — but because our readers unanimously asked for this. We read your comments, we saw #Glamourlandria become a trending topic after our Women of the Year Awards, and the Glamour team delivered this cover in record time, with all the festive flourish we could muster.”
The momentum didn’t stop there.
Last week, Olandria appeared at the Golden Globes — where she was mentioned the sixth-most online across all awards-show conversations. More than many nominees and winners.
The next day, she was in Paris for the Bridgerton Season 4 premiere.
Netflix posted Olandria on the red carpet across its social channels — in some cases before publishing images of the show’s stars. The platform even updated its X bio to read “Bridgertonlandria,” a small but telling signal that the brand was paying attention and willing to move at the speed of fandom.
None of this was accidental.
What it really shows is this: brands are making fast, intentional pivots to give audiences what they’ve already made clear they want.
In this case, it’s Olandria — whose fans have repeatedly shown that when she (and Nic) partner with a brand, they show up, engage, and buy.
But Nicolandria fans aren’t unique.
For a while now, consumers across categories have been communicating — loudly and clearly — what they expect from brands.
They want to know what brands stand for, and how those values show up in practice.
They want more authentic representation in marketing and imagery.
They want brands to support their communities — not just show up to extract value.
They want differences acknowledged and designed for, not ignored.
And they want brands to stand firm when it’s uncomfortable — not disappear when pressure shows up.
Some brands are listening — and it’s paying off.
Glamour and Netflix are doing it with Nicolandria, moving at the speed of fandom.
Gap did it when they featured the band Katseye, responding to where culture and attention were already flowing.
Costco did it by standing by its values instead of retreating under pressure.
Walmart did it by introducing sensory-friendly hours, designing for real differences in how people experience retail.
Ralph Lauren did it through co-created collections with Native American designers — building with the community, not borrowing from it.
In every case, the signal wasn’t subtle — the brands simply chose to act on it.
Brands that stay in tune with their customers — and evolve alongside them — earn deeper engagement and loyalty.
Brands that don’t?
Consumers engage less, buy less, and move on faster.
The real work isn’t chasing every cultural moment.
It’s knowing when what you’re producing needs to evolve to meet your customers’ needs, desires, and habits — and when it’s working precisely because it’s grounded in deep customer intimacy.
That discernment is what separates relevance from regression.
Word on the Street
The American Marketing Association just released its 2026 Future Trends in Marketing report.
I spoke with Bennie F. Johnson about what the data reveals — and what it means for brands navigating a rapidly shifting landscape.
You can listen to our conversation on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
If you want the Cliff Notes version of the implications for growth, I break it down here:
Why marketing to the general market is slowing brand growth in 2026
Talk soon,
Sonia