Using Cultural Cues to Propel Your Company 3.25

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New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

Using Cultural Cues to Propel Your Business 3.25.15

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What does culture have to do with growing a business?

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“Culture is context, plain and simple. It’s the filter we subconsciously subscribe to in order to process the myriad of messages we get every day. If you can unlock the cultural clues of a person or group, you immediately understand all that they value, and why. Now more than ever – in social groups and in marketing – culture matters.”

Josh Mayer, Executive Creative Director

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Unlocking Cultural Opportunities

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Analyzing Culture

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Cultural analysis can be applied in •  Ad Agencies •  PR Companies •  Brand Consultancies •  Trend Houses •  Monetized Blogs

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Analyzing Culture: What is ‘cultural evidence’ ?

9  9  

Online  pla*orms  

gaining  trac2on  

Brand  innova2ons  

capitalizing  on  mature  social  

trends  

Academic  research  

New  gadgets  and  

technological  enhancements  

Brand  collabora2ons  

Disrup2ve  crea2vity  

Construc2ve  outcomes  of  poli2cal  and  economic    tensions    

Companies  reshaping  consumer  

expecta2ons  

Koubachi enables plants to message owners when they need water or nutrients.

Microsoft and Whole Foods team up to develop an interactive grocery cart

Iceland produces the world’s first crowdsourced constitution

Shapeways enables a larger group of people to develop and sell products they design

3D Systems sell printers, software, and custom parts for printers

A Victoria’s Secret runway show features their first printed undergarment

MIT's Skylar Tibbits is developing structures that self-assemble. This is being called 4D printing

AirBNB enables travelers to avoid hotels by reserving rooms with local apartments

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Subhead  Analyzing Culture: The resources we mine for evidence

We curate and harness information from a variety of sources that can be categorized into three areas. Our evidence points include: •  ad campaigns •  new businesses •  Start-ups and apps •  Editorial and expert

opinion •  And more!

Our Sources

Content Aggregators + Social Listening

Trend Sites + Blogs

Intelligence Databases

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Gather cultural evidence through RSS and social media Identify thought leaders, media moments, new products, regulatory developments, maturing start-ups, academic papers, and ad campaigns that inform and paint the cultural landscape Dig into existing client research and/or data resources (e.g. Nielsen, Crimson-Hexagon)

Methodology & Process

MINE VALIDATE SYNTHESIZE REFINE

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Methodology & Process

MINE VALIDATE SYNTHESIZE REFINE Cluster cultural evidence Begin shaping buckets, mapping where cultural activity is gaining traction Harness trend work of cultural intelligence agencies and trend sites (e.g. Iconoculture) Begin shaping critical storytelling concepts (i.e. Kidfluence, Sheconomy, or Culture of Curation)

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Methodology & Process

MINE VALIDATE SYNTHESIZE REFINE Streamline the cultural lens What does your company positioning mean through a cultural lens? Clarify consumer context and trim down to focus on the marketing challenge and core brand assets Link priority ideas to connections planning and tactical implementation. Move non-priority ideas to appendix

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Methodology & Process

MINE VALIDATE SYNTHESIZE REFINE Identify key idea Crystallize cultural territories that tees up cultural opportunity Tell your entire story in a single sentence

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CASE STUDIES

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Example of insight territories for Zatarain’s

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Example of insight territories for Zatarain’s

Changing  American  PaleCe  

The  Rise  of  Spice  &  Southern  

The  New  “Family  Friendly”  

Collab  Society  

Cura2on  Power  

Digital  Innova2on  

Health  and  Food  Choice  

Content  Marke2ng  Changes  Food  

Niche  Foodie  Commu-­‐ni2es  

Revised  Food  

Pyramid  &  Policy  

Transparency    /  

Authen2city  

Snacking  &  Indulgence  

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Example of insight territories for Zatarain’s

Changing  American  paleCe  

The  Rise  of  Spice  &  Southern  

The  New  “Family  Friendly”  

Collab  Society  

Cura2on  Power  

Digital  Innova2on  

PRIORITIZE

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Example of insight territories for Zatarain’s

The  Rise  of  Spice  &  Southern  

Collab  Society  

Crawfish Corridors World’s Largest

Crawfish Boil

Changing  American  paleCe  

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Example of insight territories for Asheville

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The trip is but a small part of the travel experience.

Post-­‐Trip  Halo  On-­‐Site  Immersion  Pre-­‐Trip  Planning  The  Traveler’s  Experience:  

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Every stage provides marketing opportunities.

Post-­‐Trip  Halo  On-­‐Site  Immersion  Pre-­‐Trip  Planning  The  Traveler’s  Experience:  

Our  Marke2ng  Goals:  

•  Drive  Awareness  •  Drive  Conversions  •  Increase  Length  of  Stay  

•  Earn  Repeat  Visits  •  Drive  Word  of  Mouth  (Digital  &  Tradi2onal)  

•  Drive  Repeat  Visits  •  Drive  Longer  Visits  •  Fuel  Word  of  Mouth  

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Trends are reshaping how visitors experience destinations.

Post-­‐Trip  Halo  On-­‐Site  Immersion  Pre-­‐Trip  Planning  The  Traveler’s  Experience:  

•  Drive  Awareness  •  Drive  Conversions  •  Increase  Length  of  Stay  

Our  Marke2ng  Goals:  

•  Earn  Repeat  Visits  •  Drive  Word  of  Mouth  (Digital  &  Tradi2onal)  

•  Drive  Repeat  Visits  •  Drive  Longer  Visits  •  Fuel  Word  of  Mouth  

Relevant  Trends:  

•  Sneak  Peek  Immersion  

•  Journey  Management  

•  Human  Powered  •  Togetherness  Basics  •  Elevated  Engagement  

•  Digital  Autobiography  

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Trends are reshaping how visitors experience destinations.

Post-­‐Trip  Halo  On-­‐Site  Immersion  Pre-­‐Trip  Planning  The  Traveler’s  Experience:  

•  Drive  Awareness  •  Drive  Conversions  •  Increase  Length  of  Stay  

Our  Marke2ng  Goals:  

•  Earn  Repeat  Visits  •  Drive  Word  of  Mouth  (Digital  &  Tradi2onal)  

•  Drive  Repeat  Visits  •  Drive  Longer  Visits  •  Fuel  Word  of  Mouth  

Relevant  Trends:  

•  Sneak  Peek  Immersion  

•  Journey  Management  

•  Human  Powered  •  Togetherness  Basics  •  Elevated  Engagement  

•  Digital  Autobiography  

LET’S LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE

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What’s happening? •  Consumers now have access to

digital tools that enable them to easily visualize destinations before deciding to visit

•  Web experiences in particular are drawing on the fields of video games, film and TV to draw consumers in

Sneak Peek Immersion: Defining the Trend

How can we leverage? •  Enrich the planning experience

•  Provide travelers with information and content that enable them to immerse themselves

•  Consider designing pre-travel experiences to entice visitors

Digital advances are making destination visualization and pre-trip planning more vivid than ever

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Sneak Peek Immersion: Validating the Trend

Women  rely  on  broader  social  networks  to  help  

choose  vaca2on  des2na2ons  

“Whether  you're  an  intrepid  traveler  or  an  armchair  one,  virtual  online  tours  can  make  you  feel  like  you've  already  arrived.”    Evelyn  McCormack  of  Demand  Media,  in  USA  TODAY  

80%  of  diners  want  to  see  a  menu  before  they  eat  at  a  restaurant.    Constant  Contact/SinglePla*orm  survey,  January  2013  

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Sneak Peek Immersion: Examples

Facebook’s Oculus Rift allows for physical and active immersion in virtual reality. Developer YouVisit has more than 1,000 virtual tours of colleges aiming to change the way universities promote their campuses.

Google's Cultural Institute leverages HTML5 to enable visitors to discover museum exhibits, world wonders, street art, historic moments…. Many other brand sites leverage HTML5 to provide more compelling experiences across devices.

A variety of start-ups are embracing the business model of monthly subscriptions to help consumers sample products they might be interested in. Examples include Birchbox for beauty products, BarkBox for dog products and Escape Monthly for destination inspiration.

British Columbia tourism promoted itself by placing giant vending machines in key target markets.

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-  Make the website less “brochure-like” and more conversational, powered by social, catered to lifestyles of travelers

-  Develop tactics around the insight that visits to the site become more frequent as the trip nears

-  Provide a destination planning catalog that then becomes a useful app on-site

-  Create itineraries that enable prospective visitors to envision several days in Asheville

-  Create a tour powered by videos that are transmitted via beacons

-  Team up with a subscription service or consider starting your own

-  Develop an immersive tour bus that goes around the country and gives visitors a taste of the Asheville experience

-  Establish an Asheville 101 course for potential visitors to take

-  Provide influencers with round-trip tickets to explore and enjoy Asheville for 10 days

-  Empower certain organizations or individuals to create content that entices visitors

-  Send influential bloggers three backdrops, and ask them to take pictures in front of the backdrops and share photos online

Sneak Peek Immersion: Thought Starters for Asheville

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5 BEST PRACTICES

BECOME YOUR OWN CULTURE WATCHER

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Intuition Matters. So trust it.

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RSS is your Backbone

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Contextualize fast moving trends within frameworks that reflect slow shifts in values

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Establish a new browsing habit every 6 months

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Participate in the conversation of measuring culture

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Becoming Your Own Culture Watcher

1)  Intuition Matters. So trust it.

2)  RSS is your Backbone. Use Feed.ly or Hootsuite

3)  Contextualize fast moving trends within frameworks that reflect slow shifts in values

4)  Improve how you browse the web every 6 months

5)  Participate in the conversation of measuring culture

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CHEERS