Cultural Strategy Battle School - iStrategyLabs

CULTURAL STRATEGY
Breakout creative always wins.
APR, 2015 — Eric Shutt

What we’ll cover. What is Cultural Strategy?
Cultural Branding in Practice
How to Apply Cultural Strategy at ISL

TOO MUCH STUFF.
With so many options to choose from, people
are looking for an emotional diﬀerentiator.
Walker Buying In, p.7
PARADOX OF CHOICE

“LAGOON”, 1999.
CULTURAL BRAND: CORONA
Cultural Value: Hard work vs. leisure break
Cultural Tension: Work / life balance
Populist World: Mexican beach, spring break
Social disruption: Forget work, relax!
Brand Myth: “Miles away from ordinary”

Sociocultural model for market(ing) innovation.
Cultural Brand Strategy is the link between strategy and creative. It follows
strategic principles that positions brands to perform cultural ‘myths’, resolve
social anxieties, and guide brands towards becoming cultural icons.
ISL is best positioned w/in Agency world to deliver on this. It’s what people
come to us for already, they just don’t know it :)
WHAT IS CULTURAL STRATEGY?

Forget benefits and costs.
Cultural Strategy side-steps conventional value propositions,
functional / category benefits, and mind-share marketing.
Cultural Branding is based on self expression and powerful shared
‘myths’ that drive self identity and resolve cultural contradictions.
“Viewing Strategy as a set of [demographic and value] abstractions
leads managers to focus attention on matters that will only trivially
affect the Brand, while leaving the most important strategic questions
to fate and hunches…
Cultural branding requires strategic direction that pushes commercial
artists toward creating the right kind of story for the brand and
rules out inappropriate stories - Holt, HBBI, P.64
HOW IT’S DIFFERENT

Cultural Brand Strategy isn’t just academic theory.
To test the theory, the authors created Amalgamated — a marketing
agency dedicated to applying Cultural Branding principles in practice.
AMALGAMATED AGENCY

CULTURAL BRANDING
OFTEN “SNUCK IN” BY CREATIVES.
Not explicitly outlined in any existing brand positioning
statement or conventional marketing vision.

Many of the examples we’ll look at today we’re created to be powerful messages, but without the explicit
Brand guidance to perform that exact myth -- they were stumbled upon successfully by ‘rogue’ creatives.
Cultural Strategy gives us a framework to intentionally identify and create powerful Brand stories and
myths that purposefully target a speciﬁc audience and message -- and continue to extend and adapt
stories to shift with relevant social trends while staying true to the core Brand story.
Today we’ll look at:
-- How to map myth markets
-- Identify and navigate cultural and social disruptions to evolve a Brand story.
-- Understand insider and core audience targeting -- and who to ignore.
-- How to compose a Cultural Strategy and advance Brand Myths.
HOW WE CREATE IT

Identify the cultural contradiction & myth.
Embody the Brand’s role in our culture.
Speak from the Populist World.
Exercise populist authority with populist authenticity, charismatic
aesthetic, cultural credibility, literacy, and ﬁdelity.
Target and resolve the cultural contradiction.
Position the Brand to resolve collective anxieties. Target Insiders and
Followers from within the Populist World Myth.
Link Strategy to Creative.
Employ a ‘charismatic esthetic’ with a distinctive, competing style of
the populist world.
THE CULTURAL BRIEF

Create + advance iconic myth.
CULTURAL BRANDING

ICONS DOMINATE OUR WORLD.
CULTURAL ICONS
We attach individual and collective meaning to diﬀerent icons.

SYMBOLS AND IDEAS.
CULTURAL VALUES
What society deems most important at a speciﬁc time.

THE POWER OF STORY AND IDEOLOGY.
Iconic Brands become a symbol of self-expression in a ‘populist world’.
The American Dream (Nike) [Michael Jordan, Title IX girls sports]
‘Frontier Rebellion & Masculinity’ (Jack Daniels, Marlboro)
‘Morning in America’ (Ronald Reagan)
Driving is fun (Volkswagen)
CULTURAL & IDENTITY MYTH

A SIMPLE STORY THAT RESOLVES CULTURAL CONTRADICTIONS;
NECESSARY FOR ICONIC STATUS.
IDENTITY MYTH

MORNING IN AMERICA, 1984
Cultural Value: Global strength, power.
Cultural Tension: Cold war, global economic competition.
Populist World: New frontier & Mainstreet USA.
Social disruption: Overcome collective challenges.
Brand Myth: “It’s morning in America”

SIGNS OF HOPE AND CHANGE, 2008

PLACES WHERE ACTIONS ARE DRIVEN BY INTRINSIC VALUES, WHICH SERVE AS
THE CULTURAL RAW MATERIAL FROM WHICH IDENTITY MYTHS ARE CONSTRUCTED.
POPULIST WORLD

SYMBOLS ACQUIRE MEANING.
AUTHENTICITY / INDIVIDUALITY + BELONGING / COLLECTIVISM
WALKER, BUYING IN
THE DESIRE CODE

DISRUPT AND RESOLVE A CULTURAL CONFLICT TO SPARK ACTION.
“Iconic Brands are valued because customers look to the Brand
to perform myths that resolve acute anxieties in their lives.”
CULTURAL OPPORTUNITY & ACTIVISM

WHAT CULTURAL MYTH IS RIPE TO REDEFINE?
Iconic Brands are ‘Cultural Activists’
SOCIAL DISRUPTION

WHAT CENTRAL TENSION DOES THE BRAND MYTH PROVOKE?
WHAT ANSWER DOES THE IDEOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITY PROVIDE?
WHAT CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS RESOLVE THE CONFLICT?
IDEOLOGY FLASHPOINTS

“IF YOU LET ME PLAY” - 1995

THE CENTRAL STORY OF A BRAND.
BRAND MYTH

CULTURAL BRAND: AMERICAN APPAREL
Cultural Value: Underground mystique, worker beneﬁts.
Cultural Tension: Status through consumption
Populist World: LA warehouse scene
Social disruption: Cultural boundaries
Brand Myth: Insider, personal narrative
COAUTHORING THE MYTH.

Cultural Literacy: Ability to authentically, legitimately read and
interpret cultural cues and codes.
Cultural Fidelity: Willingness to reject a broad social group group
or category in favor of taking a principled stand for your in-group.
CULTURAL LITERACY & FIDELITY

Cultural Authority: A brand asset based on the nation’s collective
expectations that the brand can and should author a particular kind of story.
Political Authority: Timeless associations positioned around a central
concept, regardless of context.
CULTURAL & POLITICAL AUTHORITY

HOW DOES THE BRAND PUSH CULTURAL BOUNDARIES?
CULTURAL LEADERSHIP

WHAT ONE WORD DOES THE BRAND OWN?
Cadillacs were once so highly thought of that the phrase "the Cadillac of X"
was coined, meaning that a particular brand was better than everything
else in its category.The Cadillac of lawn mowers. The Cadillac of strollers.
The Cadillac of dish washers. The Cadillac of Christmas trees.
....
Compared to Cadillac's 47% decline since 1984, Mercedes is up 350% and
BMW is up 379%. And both brands outsell Cadillac by a wide margin.
Al Reis, AdAge.com, 2/16/15
BRAND WORD

“HILLTOP” - 1971
Cultural Value: Peace, understanding, equality.
Cultural Tension: Vietnam, civil rights.
Populist World: Agrarian utopia
Social disruption: Transcend social boundaries.
Brand Myth: “Buy the world a coke, and keep it company.”
CULTURAL BRAND: COKE

“AUTO SHOW” 1949
Cultural Value: Consistent improvement.
Cultural Tension: Showy
Populist World: Show room
Social disruption: Engineering
Brand Myth: “Because that’s what we do”
CULTURAL BRAND: VOLKSWAGEN

Cultural Value: Individuality
Cultural Tension: ‘Good life’ conformist.
Populist World: Bohemian art world.
Social disruption: Smart & creative.
Brand Myth: “Be unique”

CAPPUCCINO GIRL - 1994
Cultural Value: Independence & Entrepreneurship
Cultural Tension: Yuppy creatives settling for
boring jobs in new work utopia.
Populist World: Free agent frontier.
Social disruption: Choose your own path.
Brand Myth: “Pleasure of driving” escape

MILKY WAY, 1999
Cultural Value: Independence & Entrepreneurship
Cultural Tension: Yuppy creatives settling for boring jobs in new work utopia.
Populist World: Free agent frontier.
Social disruption: Choose your own path.
Brand Myth: “Pleasure of driving” escape.

SPEED RACER, 1996
Cultural Value: DIY / Tinkering
Cultural Tension: Uniformity
Populist World: Speed Racer / Track
Social disruption: Build your own car
Brand Myth: “Underdog can win’

TREE, 2000
Cultural Value: Go big or go home.
Cultural Tension: Too much hype.
Populist World: Suburbs
Social disruption: Don’t buy in.
Brand Myth: “Ignore the hype”

CO-AUTHORING THE MYTH WITH EXTREME
SPORTS ‘INSIDERS’ OF ALL KINDS.
Cultural Value: Limits, Strength.
Cultural Tension: Individual limits.
Populist World: Obscure extreme sports.
Social disruption: Achieve your potential.
Brand Myth: “Gives you wings”
CULTURAL BRAND: RED BULL

Execute cultural brand strategy.
HOW TO DO IT

NATIONAL IDEOLOGY, CULTURAL
CONTRADICTION, AND POPULIST WORLD.
Brands need to both:
1) Target the right social contradiction.
2) Perform the right myth, in the right way.
3 COMPONENTS

CREATE A CULTURAL STRATEGY
Holt: How Brands Become Icons, p. 140 -- Fig 6-1
1 . Map the category’s cultural orthodoxy.
2 . Identify the social
disruption
3. Find the ideological
opportunity
4. Collect appropriate source material
5. Apply cultural
tactics
6. Craft Cultural
Strategy

INFLUENCERS VS. BROADER TARGET GROUPS.
Subculture >> Mainstream Culture: “The Identity Magnet”
“Brand loyalty is the product of the social network”
KEY & CORE AUDIENCES
Holt: How Brands Become Icons, p. 140 -- Fig 6-1

HOW DO I FIT IN?
FRAMING AND ‘UNCONSCIOUS PRIMING’ HAVE AN IMPACT.
SELF IDENTITY
— Walker, Buying In

INAUTHENTIC MYTH APPROPRIATIONS FAIL.
Can’t chase trends. Need to co-author cultural myths.
CAN’T CHASE TRENDS

COMMERCIAL ARTISTS CREATE BRAND MYTHS THAT
RESONATE IN THE RIGHT WAYS WITHIN CULTURE.
CULTURAL PRODUCERS

AGENCY STAFFING FOR CULTURAL STRATEGY
Brand teams immersed in Client’s Populist Worlds are set up to succeed.
AGENCY TEAMS

BE A CULTURAL ACTIVIST!
CULTURAL ACTIVISM

TARGET MYTH-MAKERS.
INFLUENCERS

CULTURAL BRAND MANAGEMENT
Document cultural and political authority.
Identify emerging cultural contradictions.
Immerse Brand team in populist world(s).
Develop empathetic understanding of
followers’ identity projects.
Select cultural contradiction.
Compose Cultural Brief
•Myth Treatment
•Populist Authenticity
•Charismatic aesthetic
Insider Follower
Brief Brief
Cultural Knowledge Cultural Strategy

1.DEVELOP PLOT AND CHARACTERS.
2.ADAPT TO CHANGING CULTURAL VALUE. 
(WITHOUT COMPROMISING CULTURAL FIDELITY OR POLITICAL AUTHORITY).
3.SAMPLE NEW POPULAR CULTURE.
4.SPEAK FROM NEW POPULIST WORLDS.
5.PUSH THE MYTH’S BOUNDARIES.
ADVANCE THE MYTH

SOURCES
Cultural Strategy - Holt & Cameron
Using Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands
Douglas Holt & Douglas Cameron
How Brands Become Icons - Holt
The Principles of Cultural Branding
Douglas Holt
Buying In - Walker
The Secret Dialog Between What We Buy and Who We Are
Rob Walker

Brand Genealogy: Historical method for understanding how Brands create identity value.
Cultural Branding: Strategic principles that guide building brands into cultural icons.
Cultural Icon: Any symbol (person, place, thing) considered representative of a concept or ideal.
Iconic Brand: An identity Brand that approaches the identity value of a Cultural Icon.
Identity Myth: A simple story that resolves cultural contradictions; necessary for iconic status.
Identity Value: The aspect of a Brand’s value that comes from the Brand’s contribution to self-expression.
Identity Brand: A Brand whose value to customers (and thus, Brand equity), derives primarily from Identity Value (as opposed to functional beneﬁts).
Populist Worlds: Places where actions are driven by intrinsic values, which serve as the cultural raw material from which identity myths are constructed.
Cultural Literacy: Ability to authentically, legitimately read and interpret cultural cues and codes.
Cultural Fidelity: Willingness to reject a broad social group group or category in favor of taking a principled stand for your in-group.
Ritual Actions: The process by which consumers of an icon experience the icon’s identity myth.
Cultural Authority: A brand asset based on the nation’s collective expectations that the brand can and should author a particular kind of story.
Political Authority: Timeless associations positioned around a central concept, regardless of context.
GLOSSARY

CULTURAL BRAND: HARLEY DAVIDSON
Outlaw biker myth (west coast biker gangs post WWII).

Reactionary gunﬁghter myth (lower-class white males)).
Cultural tension between law & order, freedom & discipline.

Man of Action myth. New American
cultural and economic challenges (1980s).

Changing target from 45-60 y/o blue collar to
“alternative” bike messenger culture.
“The Protest Brand”
Cultural Value: Counterculture
Cultural Tension: Conformity
Populist World: Blue collar working class.
Social disruption: ‘Consumption as protest’
Brand Myth: The Protest Brand
CULTURAL BRAND: PBR

Back-to-the-land agrarian utopia.
Cultural Value: Quality
Cultural Tension: Mass production
Populist World: Farmland
Social disruption: Artisan production
Brand Myth: Community
CULTURAL BRAND: BEN & JERRYS

Cultural Value: Counterculture
Cultural Tension: Everything’s the same.
Populist World: DIY
Social disruption: Be yourself
Brand Myth: Symbol of individuality.
CULTURAL BRAND: CONVERSE

Re-appropriating consumer culture.
Cultural Value: Individuality &
consumption protest.
Cultural Tension: Brands are iconic.
Populist World: Anarchist black-block
within popular consumer culture.
Social disruption: Protest logos.
Brand Myth: Destroy capitalism.
CULTURAL BRAND: AD BUSTERS

Cultural Strategy Battle School - iStrategyLabs

Cultural Strategy Battle School - iStrategyLabs

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