Getting Culture Right
Brands need to establish deep connections with consumers, at a level they feel the brand uniquely understands them..
“The days of general audience and general marketing are gone. People want to see themselves, and to see brands with points of view – that is what is going to connect with people.”
Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer at P&G
What is Culture?
Is the characteristics of a particular group of people, including language, religion, social habits, music, food and art.
Pop Culture
is a constant ever-changing force which is strongly influenced by society’s cultural trends, including lifestyle, food, music, media, and fashion.
Organizational Culture
is defined as the underlying beliefs, assumptions, values and ways of interacting that contribute to the unique environment of an organization.
Connections start with representation but require rich authentic cultural portrayals for people to feel included and respected
Cultural Markers
Cultural Markers are the aspects of a culture that create a feeling of belonging and identity. They can apply to any culture, whether it’s a nationality, ethnicity or even a corporate culture.
Cultural Values
Cultural Values are the “norm” of a culture. Values dictate what’s important and serve as a guide for the ideals and behavior of the community members.
Cultural Insight
Cultural Insights help us understand why people from certain communities and backgrounds think and behave in particular ways. They track, measure, highlight, and explain human psychology through a cultural lens.
Cultural Cue
Cultural Cues are phrases, nonverbal behaviors, or other idiosyncrasies that have been normalized and adopted as commonplace within a particular culture. It is common for these cues to vary across cultures and communities.
Cultural Nuance
It’s about context and authenticity, less about language Cultural Nuance accounts for the variation among cultural cues as well as the differences among cultural markers, values, and insights. This can include, but not limited to, ways of greeting or methods of eating.
Cultural Relevancy
Cultural relevancy is authenticity in messaging. It’s showcasing positive reflections, good role models and cultural values. It’s showing respect for segments and identities – cultural pride. It’s celebrations of who segments are authentically – not who we want or expect them to be.
Appropriation
The act of a culture adopting elements of another culture, insensitively. In doing so, valuable cultural practices or symbols are overly simplified, stripped of their meaning and significance, and can trigger stereotypes and feelings of cultural subjugation.
Brand Monologue
Artificially builds top down
Strategy is unilateral
Promotes one voice
Appropriates segments’ nuances
Cancels reciprocity
Homogenizes diversity
Appreciation
Using elements of a culture while honoring the source from which they came. Appreciation involves respect and value, having a genuine or authentic interest in culture, in learning about the history, the people and their perspectives.