ISSUE 02
Cultural Fluency: The Path to Purpose-Driven Impact
As you stroll through malls during Ramadan, you may spot several popular global brands making a surface-level effort to acknowledge the holiday season with mannequins dressed in their Ramadan collection. Although these gestures toward cultural relevance are a positive start, brands must strive to achieve cultural fluency by going deeper and connecting with their intended audience more intentionally.
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What is Cultural Fluency?
A culturally fluent brand aligns well with social and cultural values; it promotes trends, traditions, and issues that shape and support the local behavior of the demographic at hand. It converses this fluency through a creative output that abides by its brand image and story.
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Why is this important for brands?
Communicating with Relevance
Being culturally fluent allows brands to develop communication strategies with social sensitivity and awareness. This involves being attuned to the cultural cues, norms, and societal expectations and adjusting their messaging accordingly. Communication built on cultural fluency exhibits empathy, respect, and consideration of the local community and its perspectives.
Identifying New Opportunities
By engaging curiously in meaningful conversations with the community, brands can uncover new market opportunities and niches specific to certain demographics. Within a community exist distinct subcultures and behaviors, and diving deep into the community can unveil unmet needs and in turn opportunities for new product offerings.
Loyalty and Advocacy?
Brands that authentically understand their customers' cultures, values, and interests are more likely to earn their trust, loyalty, and advocacy. This is reflected in a study by MAGNA and #twitter, which concluded that a brand's cultural involvement accounts for 25% of a consumer's purchasing decision, alongside other factors such as price, quality, and brand perception. In addition, a report by Accenture found that 41% of consumers have shifted their purchases to brands that align with their values and beliefs. The study also found that younger consumers, in particular, expect and want brands to be culturally relevant, aligning with cultural events, promoting trends, and supporting social issues. Cultural fluency is no longer a "nice-to-have" but a "must-have" for brands that want to stay relevant and competitive.?
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How can brands become more culturally relevant?
Although dressing mannequins in a Ramadan collection is plausible, a superior strategy would be to emphasize the cultural principles and sentimental connections that become more pronounced during Ramadan. A brand can consider starting its process with immersive research that helps identify opportunities before the design phase, or hiring a local photographer to document the products in use by the target audience in their everyday life, or develop a collection in collaboration with a local pattern-designer that reflects the narrative of Ramadan, and generally team with local talents to assist with visuals, content, production, and storytelling. Alaa Balkhy , a cultural consultant, creative strategist, a friend and client of Twothirds, has compiled a list of Arab creatives that can be found here.
To be culturally relevant, brands must invest in understanding their target audience's cultures and values and tailor their marketing messages and strategies accordingly. Brands must also intentionally engage in culturally relevant conversations, selecting the right moments and channels to connect with their audience. In addition, brands must demonstrate their commitment to social and environmental issues that matter to their customers, aligning their actions with their values.
Our branding process at Twothirds prioritizes tailoring brand strategies to suit the intended audience. We conduct thorough market research and engage with the target audience to develop branding strategies that foster genuine loyalty toward our brands. Some of our notable successes include ?Al Balad, Jeddah Historic District, for the Ministry of Culture in Saudi Arabia, where we paid close attention to cultural nuances. We created a complete visual identity that celebrated the culture's Hejazi heritage and unique aesthetics in a way that resonated with the community.
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In Summary
Cultural fluency has become a critical factor for brands seeking to build customer trust, loyalty, and advocacy. Brands that invest in understanding their customers' cultures and values, and demonstrate a commitment to social and environmental issues, are more likely to succeed in today's competitive and socially conscious marketplace.
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To enhance your cultural fluency through brand strategies and brand development, feel free to get in touch with us at: [email protected].
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Follow us on Instagram; where you'll find some of our work and our seasonal greetings, tagged as #twothirdsgreetings, which always incorporate cultural events that we love to celebrate.
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