THE POWER OF CULTURE BRANDS.

We are living in extraordinary times as we come out of a once in a lifetime collective reset. And as we heal, recalibrate, and seek joy, we are prioritizing experiences that get us and move us. Great retail can do this through breakthrough products that speak to our multi-hyphenated needs and superior brands that build on functional excellence and imbue it with emotional and creative meaning by tapping into the big picture power of culture. Brands that connect the dots and deliver on all these fronts are hard to displace.

Culture, the sum of artistic, social and intellectual expressions that signal the present and near future, is the lens through which we experience and shape our identities. We need culture more than ever to make sense of it all and to inspire a better way forward. As a brand, if you crack the culture code you have a window into the human condition, the most powerful insight into human-centered innovation and creativity. Brand innovation and brand-building should be this ambitious in its quest to get people. Anything else will leave you in the dreaded middle. 

Culture Cred

A brand that gets culture is one with the zeitgeist and steps ahead of the competition. Look at brands like Apple and Nike that have bet on the power of individual identity, creativity and drive, respectively, with products delivering on those drivers and creating a supporting cultural brand identity. And in the case of Nike, it expanded on its cultural DNA around social action by actively taking a stance on social issues and backing up athletes with a purpose like Colin Kapernick and Serena Williams.

Beauty brands like Fenty by Rihanna and Rare by Selena Gomez have also aced channeling culture to deliver both rigorously crafted and loved beauty products around unmet needs while also serving a contagious sense of community around inclusive beauty and mental wellbeing, respectively. And in doing so they reframed a beauty category that fed on personal insecurities and toxic definitions of beauty. That is real cultural and brand transformation.

Both Fenty and Rare also highlight the power of the celebrity creative director, harnessing their creative vision and powerful direct relationship with their followers as a source of brand strength. Perhaps the most powerful example of this dynamic permeating even luxury has been the appointment of Pharrell as menswear director for Louis Vuitton. The appointment reaffirms that big creative vision, rather than a technical command of craft, is perhaps the most important qualification to lead the next generation of lifestyle brands. And it shows how culture is the strongest way forward.

Designing A Culture System

Becoming a cultural power grand is no easy task, however. It requires designing, nurturing and protecting systems that champion human truths and an internal culture that is curious, open, creative, and like the global and multicultural marketplace, diverse. 

Being a power brand also means having a clear sense of your brand values, your role in culture at large, and fighting for those values. Look at Patagonia’s augmented equity around its unapologetic championing of the environment. Creating brand systems and a culture of meaningful engagement should be the priority of the corporate suite and of disruptors of all sizes intent on building a better and smarter way.

Unlock Your Cultural Potential

Your culture strategy begins with some serious soul searching. What are those values you care deeply about? How are you fighting for them, and making a difference for the better? Do your customers and employees share these values? If so, explore ways to turn this into a deeper form of connection and collaborations. Also, be critical and push outside comfort zones. Are there conversations you should be having that you are not? Does your team and collaborators reflect the diversity of the marketplace? All of this requires listening, reflection and refreshed brand visions to make sure you are one with culture and can harness it for growth on all levels. Resulting from this should be a clear sense of your brand culture and vision.

Culture Is Everything

Once you put culture at the center of your discovery, design and commerce plans, then explore all the creative ways to bring that energy to life, creating excitement around your brand, product and experience, including:

1. Make culture your north star. A cultural underpinning allows you to meaningfully filter and guide your actions, both internally and externally. It provides a natural guide for what is brand right and what isn’t, giving you the credibility to lean in informed and confident into socio-cultural conversations, avoiding trying too hard or cultural insensitivities.
2. Think like a house of culture. Establish partnership with artists and creators that love your product and have a creative vision that expands on what your brand is all about. Collaborate with them to make statements that spark conversations while highlighting your brand essence. The feedback coming from these exercises is also incredibly valuable.
3. Design and curate for collectors. Design around desire to generate interest and love from your consumer. Put extra design touches and unpack the creative backstory to make every key product and collection something you want to keep, the perfect investment at a time when resale, heirlooms and pieces that define their eras are the most coveted.
4. Harness curated commerce. Leverage personalization and creative storytelling to make commerce much more inspiring, personal, and addictively fun.
5. Connect more meaningfully through deeper conversations and discoveries with your consumer and collaborators. Harness smart data to understand consumer and product needs and then create narratives around culture, craft and personal recommendations to make it all more powerful and enticing.

At a point in which retail can seem transactional and just plain boring to consumers, a cultural vision can you give the exciting and creative confidence to create something extraordinary.