With just 7% of communication being attributed to spoken words, and the remainder down to body language and tone of voice, it’s easy to see why communicating online has been described as cold and impersonal. Emoticons, emoji and stickers are helping make digital communication a bit more human.

O-Mighty is a Singapore-based fashion brand that’s superimposed internet memes and emojis onto leggings, slippers and swimwear. The brand’s site looks like it was made in the '90s with glittery GIFs forming an eyesore of a background. Are digital-born aesthetics entering the physical world?

With international fashion brands making competition on the Australian high street even more intense, a new generation of home-grown brands are building fiercely loyal style tribes both online and off. But can these emerging fashion cults fend off global competition?

Internet memes were once relegated to the depths of 4chan and Reddit. As memetic content surfaces in the mainstream, brands are looking to incorporate memes into their own ads. But can the spontaneous, bottom-up spirit that makes them so potent really be bottled and sold?

For years ‘authenticity’ was the holy grail of marketers and product innovators worldwide. But now, the Tumblr generation are redefining authenticity. In this mashed-up, copy-morph culture a new generation of consumers are calling bullshit on the old-school authenticity claim. And if ‘authenticity’ is passé, then what does it mean to be ‘genuinely phoney’?

Since 2011, Dolls Kill’s candy-coloured rebellious clothing has proved a hit with the Tumblr set, with sales reaching $7.5 million in 2013. But how has this brand managed to sell ‘bad acid trip’-inspired miniskirts by the bucket-load without any traditional marketing?

The hipster is defined as the embodiment of Postmodern Irony. But it's not the only group striving for leadership over pop culture; New Sincerity has been singled out as another ideology contender. Is there really a 'battle of the principles'? And how are adverts reflecting this?

For today's youth, neo-tribalism is the new clique. Leaving blind conformity behind, these fast-moving, flexible cultures are a cocktail of affiliations and references, always shifting and reforming. But if everyone can be whoever they like, how do you know who’s in or out?