Dear Businesses, Stop Disrespecting Culture

The running joke at Advertising Week New York—that I may or may not have started—is that I am responsible for starting the pandemic for two reasons. First, historically speaking, the three major industries I've worked in have all experienced disruption while I was in them. Secondly, me standing in front of a full ad agency in New York City and telling them that they DO NOT create culture was the catalyst that threw everything out of whack due to how pervasive advertising is.

All jokes aside, one of the biggest things we've learned is how advertising, marketing, and technology as a whole have gone long past cognitive dissonance regarding the importance of understanding culture. As a matter of fact, we are now at a point where businesses outright disrespect culture through their misunderstanding and absolute cultural illiteracy.?

Granted, we've already had many conversations about the leverage of culture and how terrible that is. Leveraging culture is not sustainable if you're genuinely looking to maximize your business revenue or profits. However, at least there is some acknowledgment of the gravity culture holds. Still, too many companies exist that seem unable to see culture's import due to a general inability to attribute money directly to it. And while that may be the case, shifting one's perspective from selling products and services to influencing people to buy into a brand has been proven effective by the world's largest businesses, and those companies invest in significant cultural intelligence.

The primary example of cultural disrespect in the zeitgeist is what is happening now at The Bird. By way of illustration, I would like to point to something written in May of 2019:

My, how things can change in 3 and a half years...

Twitter has been such an interesting animal for a long time. We've seen numerous substantive cultural moments and movements facilitated by the blue bird. First, before enough people at the company understood the power this channel could wield, and later when they started hiring the people who had a better understanding of the power and subsequent responsibility in the position of being able to tool that can be used to shape culture.

Interestingly enough, the strides made by Twitter convinced other social media channels to create departments declared to address culture and community. Furthermore, TikTok talks about culture as something the channel creates—they are also a conduit; I've yet to go into their offices and yell at them thus far. Cultural intelligence and respect led to Twitter gaining budding levels of grace and good faith. Until a purported so-called "genius" who cannot comprehend concepts such as free speech or from whence the authority of the bird comes ultimately bought it.?

Now, I don't want this entry to be specifically about Twitter. Still, I often find myself using it to illustrate so many good and bad points about how culture ultimately affects a business's bottom lines. I've said it before, and I'll repeat it: the connective nature found in culture is the catalyst to community and subsequent action.

Earlier, I alluded that advertising is the most pervasive industry on this planet. Advertising is everywhere and touches everything. So consequently, if we are going to communicate with people with any regularity, our survival is based on understanding what they deem essential, and culture will always be that thing.?

In that vein, the return of #cms4b is imminent—even more so than web3, which also has many cultural tendrils flowing through it. The return will begin with a presentation for The Ad Council 's Emerging Leader's Fellowship Program and then be open to virtual and actual stages and, of course, included in client work.?As I said yesterday, I'm back to leaning into my expertise because I know what I'm talking about after 27 years in this game.?

If you want to discuss culture's importance to business, I'm easy to find, whether?here?or?elsewhere.