Brands talk a big game about the being "in culture." But they're chasing the wro
By Mikeblack · May 30, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Brands talk a big game about the being "in culture." But they're chasing the wrong definition of culture
"Culture" is the shared way of life of a group of people
It encompasses the collective beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and passion points of a specific group
For example:
The culture of Gen Z = the collective beliefs of Gen Z
Or even more precise, the collective beliefs of Gen Zers who live healthy lifestyles
Or Gen Zers who love gaming
Or Gen Zers who identify as Patriotic Americans who love country music and the NFL
It gets even more nuanced when you consider Gen Zers who are Hispanic or Black or Asian because they expect a level of being seen and heard that’s respectful of their heritage …
Treat them as “average” and you get average results
Imagine launching your brand in Italy or Russia and not conforming to the norms of that culture
That’s what it’s like if you view the American culture through a homogenous lens
Culture is NOT social media.
It's not TikTok trends
Culture can manifest through these things, but the origin is shared beliefs, values, values, customs, behaviors and passion points of a specfic identity group
The way you know you're winning #culture is based on whether the culture you're trying to win says you're winning or not
It's based on cultural relevance
Not showing up in trends
If you measure based on how you're playing into trends, you're measuring activity over achievement
You need to measure it as an expression of love and loyalty of a specific cultural group vs your competitors
Most brands continually get this wrong and as a result, invest in activities and messages that don't move the needle on cultural relevance
Too many CMOs claim victory in culture without having hard evidence to show it's moving relevance and purchase intent for their brands
True cultural relevance starts in your measurement tools
If you’re not debating your cultural relevance KPIs every quarter, something ain’t right
#culturalintelligence