Why brands should stop chasing virality and start building meaning
Ads get clicks. Culture gets remembered. And brands that truly resonate culturally grow 6x faster. In an era of generated content and algorithmic mimicry, culture reverence – deep respect and participation in culture – is not just an option. It’s the future.
Everything looks fine, but means nothing
You scroll through your feed and feel a déjà vu: the same session, the same sound, the same poses. Brands copy each other faster than TikTok introduces new features. And everything seems fine - there are reach, likes, something is happening. But less and less of it stays in your head, and even less in your heart.
It’s not an aesthetic problem. It’s a problem of meaning.
As Antonio Gary Jr. wrote:
„Social media has amplified performative simulators. Everyone follows because what’s working becomes shorthand for what’s relevant. But it’s flattened culture and leaves little room for original signals.”
In other words: we imitate because it works. But by doing so, we stop creating something that truly matters.
What exactly is this culture relevance?
It’s not just being "in the moment." It’s the understanding that a brand is actively engaged in culture – not just observing from the sidelines. It’s choosing to create something that resonates socially, emotionally, and aesthetically. It’s a commitment to acknowledging what’s happening around us instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.
Culture reverence means:
- being a participant – not just present,
- taking ownership – not just following trends,
- listening – not just targeting,
- creating meaning – not just gaining reach.
"6× faster": Redefine relevance before it's too late
According to the Kantar and WARC report "The Power of Cultural Relevance," brands with high cultural relevance grow up to six times faster than their competitors. This is not a metaphor. These are hard facts.
Cultural relevance works because:
- 78% of consumers claim they would buy a product if its ad felt personally relevant,
- 56% say the same about an ad that resonates culturally,
- Brands that meet both criteria grow 6x faster.
Source: Kantar / WARC / TikTok, 2024
Source: Kantar / WARC / TikTok, 2024
What to do? Three strategic moves for brands that want to act culturally – not just look trendy.
1. Redefine relevance
Change the question from "Does it click?" to "Does it make sense for the people we really want to move?"Cultural relevance isn't about being "on trend," it's about being in the right place – where your audience's life is actually happening. This means understanding their contexts, experiences, and cultural codes. Sometimes it will be meme language, other times it will be a story of generational trauma. True relevance isn't about aesthetics, it's about resonance.
2. Escape the mimic trap
Instead of chasing the same sounds, filters, and formats - create your own signal.Culture needs authorship, not just execution. Instead of copying virals that are already fading, create something others will want to imitate. It could be a new tone of voice, an unconventional form of content (like raw newsletters, visual diaries, ambient experiences), or a bold narrative that goes beyond the algorithm.
3. Adopt the culture matrix
Before you launch a campaign, ask: Is this just a reaction to a trend, or a real contribution to the conversation?
Use a simple thinking model:
- Axis 1: from reactivity to creativity
- Axis 2: from conventional format to unconventional format.
Operate where relevant insights meet a form that surprises. It doesn't have to be Barbie right away, but it must be something people will remember, not just see.
Examples? Here you go!
Oatly - masters and victims of culture
They built a brand on defiance against industrial dairy. They were loud, controversial, and creative. They didn’t just do focus groups for their marketing campaigns – they tracked cultural signals. They became the voice of a generation aware of climate change.
But then - an investment from a fund linked to Trump and tropical deforestation. A cultural mismatch. Suddenly - silence. The brand lost its moral backbone. It hasn't recovered since.
Culture reverence is not a campaign. It’s a contract and accountability of the brand to its audience.
On Running – Swiss precision with soul
In Q1 2025, On achieved a 43% year-over-year revenue growth – the best-selling premium shoes globally, surpassing Nike and Adidas. Additionally, a gross margin of 62.1% marked a brand record. This dynamic growth shows that the brand doesn't just live through sales – it thrives on cultural resonance, which generates sustainable demand. According to HypeAuditor, from March 2024 to March 2025, ON gained 949 000 followers on Instagram, oreaching an engagement rate of 4.7% (average for the category <2%). Interestingly, 90% of the content comes from actual runners' activities – the "runner’s journal" – with no overt advertising, but full authenticity. Although the heart of the brand is the CloudTec technology, the Right To Run program financial grants and support for marginalized communities) made the biggest impact. Between 2021 and 2024, they donated 2.5 million CHF and 35,000 pairs of shoes to 85 organizations without PR communication – because action-driven culture, not marketing, is the key here.
How to do it?
1. Redefiniuj relevance
It’s not about “am I up to date?” but “does it matter to my people?” Don’t start with the trend book. Start with gaps in the narrative. What is left unsaid, unaddressed, or silenced in your category? Culture moves where there’s friction, not where everything already looks perfect. Instead of trying to “be trendy,” start a conversation that hasn’t had a space yet.
2. Build the Sensory of Culture
A brand that doesn’t listen will never speak interestingly. Create a system for constant listening:
- Substacks as micro-windows into culture (e.g., Culture Study, High Tea, Future Dust),
- Creators as antennas (those who feel shifts before they’re named)
- TikTok, Discord, memosphere – as micro-laboratories of emotions and language
- Conversations: not just focus groups, but intimate meetings, community dinners, shadowing everyday life
This isn’t R&D. It’s R&C – Research & Culture. You’re not testing the product. You’re uncovering what resonates.
3. Get Cultural Complementation
Not every brand needs its own cultural lab - but every brand should have access to cultural grounding. Instead of another "creative agency," find a partner who:
- understands the mechanics of culture (and doesn’t confuse it with aesthetics)
- can read the signs (and knows when not to copy)
- asks the questions no one has asked you yet
You don’t choose these partners based on post rates. You choose them based on their ability to build collective thinking.
4. Strategy That Knows the Context
- Use the 4C model – but treat it with a cultural lens:
- Company – What do we really do (and does the world need it)?
- Customer – How is their identity, rituals, and language changing?
- Culture – What resonates beyond the marketing bubble?
- Competition – Where is there aesthetic boredom, and where can we bring something unique?
You don’t operate in a vacuum. Your brand doesn’t exist "in the feed." It exists in the world.
5. Design That Speaks
Design cannot be just "pretty." It must be relevant. It's not about being "fresh," but about being understandable to the people you want to move.
6. Communication that feels
Not USP. Not a claim. A story.
- Who are we when the lights go out?
- What hurts us?
- What do we long for?
Brands that win culturally don't build "personas." They build relationships with personalities.
- Liquid Death doesn't talk about the ingredients of water. It talks about rebellion against boredom.
- Notion isn't just an app. It's a space for thinking.
- Ministerstwo Dobrego Mydła doesn't sell cosmetics. It gives humanity in a package.
And finally: the question that remains
Does your brand say something truly worth saying, or does it just repeat what gets clicks?
Because today, culture is not strategy. It’s a test for existence.
