Why playing a greater role in culture is key to growth

Culture is abstract, ever shifting, hard to capture, and even harder to capitalise on.  

And culture matters. As Professor Marcus Collins puts it, ‘culture is the cheat code for success.’ It provides brands with the shared language to have meaningful, relevant conversations with people about the things they care about. As consumer expectations continue to rise, a brand by itself is not enough anymore, with Millennials and Gen Z especially demanding brands play a more meaningful role in their lives beyond just product or service.  


Most importantly – get it right, and culture pays. Kantar’s research has proven that brands with high cultural relevance grow six more than brands with low cultural relevance. So how do you make sure yours is one of them?  

 

The case for culture:  

The most successful brands harness aspects of culture that resonate with their audience and connect authentically to their brand. They challenge themselves to play a greater role in consumers’ lives and the world they live in. They engage with the cultural moments and figures that are piquing their interest, they champion the things they care about, and they show up in the spaces they frequent, both online and offline.  

But how do you do it, and how do you get it right?  


Clients often face three critical challenges related to culture: 

 

Challenge #1 - Culture is vast, simply put, it’s everything, everywhere, all at once.  

1. Everything: From high-level societal shifts to the green shoots of change; the new ideals, and the ugly truths.  
2. Everywhere: It’s both URL and IRL, in skate parks and schoolrooms, broadsheets and tabloids, and from chicken shops to art galleries, differing across markets. 
3. All at once: A mixture of cultures often moving in multiple directions simultaneously, requiring translation and interpretation by culturally fluent experts.

Taking in this expansive view of culture requires an always-on approach to tracking. At Kantar, we fuse AI (Artificial Intelligence) and HI (Human Intelligence) to help digest, distil and deploy culture. We eliminate cultural bias and noise with on-the-ground intel from our global network of cultural and correspondents and filter it through our specialist team whose cultural fluency enables them to interpret the data and transform insights to strategy.  

Challenge #2 – It’s hard to know what to pay attention to.

Even for a business with its ear to the ground and in an era of hyper-accelerated trends, it’s all too easy to mistake noise for significance. The real opportunity lies in understanding not just what changes, but also the cultural constants that brands can build upon. So, how do you avoid falling for a fad? Human needs, which remain broadly stable-cultural intelligence and foresight, we analyse various trends to determine what is: 

Emerging: new and gaining traction 

Evolving: shifting and adapting 

Enduring: constant and foundational 

This means we don’t over or underplay the significance of cultural signals, but rather put shifts and trends into perspective, understanding their meaning, importance and likely longevity using our foresight and strategy expertise.  

Leveraging Kantar’s Global MONITOR, our database of consumer values, attitudes and aspirations dating back over 30 years, we can analyse cultural signals within a wider, evidence-based context that helps us distinguish signal from noise, and help brands identify the right moments and pockets of culture to tap into, and how to do so with authenticity.  

We overlay cultural insight with deep understanding of human needs, and the shifting attitudes, values and behaviours tracked by Kantar Global MONITOR. This enables us to prioritise the noise from the news, guiding our client partners on the strategic steps they should take.  

 

Challenge #3 - It is tricky to track 

Investing in connecting with culture might seem like a no-brainer, but how do you prove the impact that this strategy is having on your business?  

Kantar’s proprietary measure of Cultural Vibrancy (VIBE) enables brands to assess the extent to which they are hitting the cultural mark and diagnose what’s holding them back. We’re able to unpack how Visionary, Inspiring, Bold and Vibrant brands are vs. competitors and track improvements in Cultural Vibrancy over time. In a study leveraging BrandZ and VIBE, brands with high cultural relevance grew nearly six times more than brands with low levels of Cultural Vibrance. Data from the same study showed that brands with Cultural Vibrancy are both more Different and more Meaningful than those who aren’t which explains this fantastic growth trajectory.  

Culture matters. It matters to consumers. It impacts brand growth. But it’s tricky to know where the most important opportunities are for your brand. Kantar has the tools and expertise to help you crack the cultural code, unlock growth and measure the success of your brand.  

 
* Source: Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands: 74 common brands valued in both 2006 and 2016