In these weird times, the old way of writing creative briefs needs to shift we argue. A new emphasis on culture needs to seep in. The results will improve.

Brands keep targeting individuals and in these times of change, they need to understand the tribes their consumers are engaged with. That’s where the gold is.

Demographics are useful in some ways, but not as helpful as they used to be. Here’s what to rethink and how to better leverage them with cultural intelligence.

For Canadian, EU and Nordic brands, how they position themselves is changing. American brands are in a phase of high individualism where consumers are taking on the burden of systemic issues. This is not the same in Canada.

Consumers values are shifting. Returning to more ancient systems of how value is perceived. For brands, this means thinking about value adding and not extraction.

The downsides of synthetic data for marketing, from personas to cultural insights. It’s useful. In the right context. But not the solution, the panacea, marketers might hope for.

Times are uncertain, consumers are seeking identity anchoring and brands need to take notice. What to do?

There’s no best practices for the cultural shifts that are underway. This means significant new changes to how navigate strategy in the coming decade. Some tips to help.

You’ve probably got tons of data on your audience. Using surveys, focus groups and such. But do you have “meaning” around your audience? This is why Cultural Intelligence is so valuable for marketing today.

Culture operates in two types of time flows. Weather and climate. Brands that understand this can engage audiences in more meaningful ways.