Cultural Relevance is Relative

Cultural Relevance is Relative

I often joke and have even written, about the fact that the only thing people can talk about anymore is the weather. By the way, did you notice how hot it is this summer?

Back in the 1900s, and more specifically 30 years ago in 1994, Seinfeld was the most-watched show in a television season that many TV experts say was one of the last great years of network television.

In the 1994–95 season, Jerry and company averaged nearly 20 million viewers each week. Fast forward 4 years later, yada, yada, yada, the finale of Seinfeld was watched by 76 million people.

The 90’s Fab Four: Kramer, George, Elaine and Jerry

This was before technology impacted the way we watch TV. Devices like TiVos and DVRs weren’t commonplace until the late 1990s. If you ran into someone on the street in the 90s and asked if they watched last night’s episode, there was a pretty good chance they would say yes.

Full disclosure: Seinfeld is on my Mount Rushmore of Greatest TV Shows of All Time, but this blog isn’t about the show about nothing. It’s about cultural relevance. In the good old days of Must-See TV that included Friends, ER, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Roseanne, and Full House, if you were on a hit show, you were culturally relevant. Today, not so much.

For the 2023 season, the most-watched scripted series on network television was something called “Tracker” with 10 million viewers. I’ve never watched it, and the only reason I know about it is because it aired its premiere after the Super Bowl. If you want to know more about Tracker, ask your dad.

Tracker star Justin Hartley amassed 10 million viewers

Now, I know you’re going to say nobody watches broadcast TV and everyone is streaming. Well, good luck finding viewership numbers for Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. According to Nielsen, the most-streamed show last year was the old cable legal dramedy, “Suits,” which racked up 57.7 billion total minutes watched in 2023?—?whatever that means.

Today, cultural relevance is relative, and we must recognize that when it comes to building our authority and influence.

Everyone always talks about growing their audience or customer base, but as I wrote in my book “Good Listen” a couple of years ago, it all starts with a community. Audience vs. community: What’s the difference? Well, there’s a big one. An audience passively consumes entertainment and information. A community actively engages with it.

Focus on how you can make the biggest impact in your community. Just look at people who have done it.

Steve Jobs built Apple for nerds who wanted an alternative to PCs. He grew that into a global brand that has revolutionized not only personal computing but also phones, music, and shopping.

Joe Rogan started his podcast talking to his comedian friends and MMA fighters, appealing to a certain audience. That blew up and led to him having intimate conversations with everyone from Elon Musk to Anthony Bourdain to Edward Snowden.

Phil Knight sold shoes out of his car to runners who were looking for a high-quality alternative to Adidas and Puma. Nike began as a company that served a niche running community but expanded into basketball, football, and soccer, becoming synonymous with greatness that appealed to the masses.

Growing up in the 80s, if you asked a child, an adult, or a senior citizen who the biggest star was, you’d probably get 3 or 4 answers, like Sylvester Stallone, Madonna, or Bill Cosby (trust me, he was). If you ask a child, an adult, or a senior citizen today who the biggest star is, you’d probably get 3 to 400 answers. There are stars on TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube that you’ve probably never heard of like Addison Rae, Ninja, or Markiplier. But they’re HUGE.

Don’t get stuck on clicks, downloads, likes, and views. Identify YOUR community. If your community responds, it grows and will bring others along with it.

Now it’s your turn to reflect on your OWN cultural relevance.

Who is your core community? How can you better serve and engage with them?

Remember, it’s not about reaching everyone?—?it’s about deeply connecting with those who matter most to your mission or message.


Steven Eisenpreis

Writer at Own Blog

2 个月

Nice article,Monk!

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