"Culture is how people connect. And as brands work to be seen as relevant, to build relationships with their communities, and to ride the visibility wave of trending topics, engaging in culture feels like a natural way to get in front of consumers. The problem? Not every brand gets it right. Even though participating in, and especially shaping culture, can be powerful when done well, the way brands show up doesn't always deliver the impact they intend."
"The Oakland History Museum offers another example. The team jumped in on the viral "six-seven" trend sweeping Gen Alpha in 2025 (apparently it was its most requested video for them to make), in a manner that was 100 percent true to the brand. And perhaps the most iconic example of this comes from Oreo's "You can still dunk in the dark" Tweet, during the infamous blackout during the 2013 Super Bowl blackout."
Brands increasingly use cultural participation to engage ideal customers because culture is how people connect. Engaging in culture helps brands appear relevant, build relationships with communities, and gain visibility through trending topics. Successful cultural moments align with brand identity and timing, as shown by timely responses to celebrity moments, museum content that matches audience trends, and Oreo's Super Bowl Tweet. Cultural fluency requires authenticity and avoidance of posturing. When brands force relevance or act inauthentically, cultural participation fails to deliver intended impact despite its potential power when executed properly.
Read at Forbes
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]