Culture—the lifestyle, worldview, interests, and daily environments of customers—is the creative canvas for Brand Devotion. And creative teams have the tricky job of balancing the tension between capturing where culture is moving and honoring brand guidelines.
Ultimately, our goal as creatives is to nurture emotional connections with customers in ways that are authentic. Without authenticity, campaigns can fall into cringe-worthy and try-hard territory. Walking that tightrope is an ongoing dilemma for creatives. These are the fundamentals I use to gut-check creative work.
Imagine a creative team comes back from cultural research with a genuine spark, an idea full of life. Maybe it’s a visual language inspired by a subculture, real people instead of staged talent, or IYKYK nods that will bring an audience in.
Then, someone asks: “But will everyone identify with this?” Record scratch. Cue the idea getting watered down until it looks and sounds like every other campaign. And nothing like the people it was intended to reach.
But some brands tailor strategies that truly resonate with their core audience by speaking to their culture.
Here are a couple that come to mind:
A brand’s creative approach should enhance its voice and identity in ways that reflect the people it serves. When we break free of the brand echo chamber and start designing for the world our customers live in, brand interactions can evolve from simple transactions to deep, devoted relationships.
Consumers don’t want brands to lecture them. They want to buy from brands that resonate with their lived experiences. It’s all in the data.
Only 43% of consumers surveyed feel their favorite brands fit seamlessly into their cultural world. That means customers believe more than half of brands don’t culturally align with them—creating a serious opportunity.
Plus, most consumers (79%) say they’re drawn to brands that “chart their own path” in the marketplace while reflecting their customers’ cultural realities—instead of imposing outside values.
Because our brains are wired for efficiency, we’re drawn to brands that are easy to use, familiar, and help signal who we are. Brands that find smart, human ways to fold these insights into creative decisions will have an advantage.
To build the emotional bonds of devotion, brands need to start with a focus on designing experiences that belong in their customers’ lives. Here are four creative territories to help you start realizing that goal.
1. Respect the context
Are you reflecting and speaking to specific subcultures authentically through design and storytelling? Or does your brand feel like a tourist?
One path to authenticity is designing with space for subcultural co-creation. User-generated content, local artwork, or niche visual languages—incorporated with care—can be a powerful signal of a brand’s understanding of a community.
Ford of Canada’s Photo Contest for Ford Rewards did just that. Rather than generic truck ads, the brand created an annual photo contest that invites Canadian owners to submit snapshots that show how their vehicles fit into their rugged outdoor lifestyle and regional pride.
Vans, the iconic skateboarding brand, offers an open canvas for self-expression. By sponsoring local park builds, local artist-designed footwear, and concerts, the brand celebrates a spirit of creative rebellion.
2. Throw out the one-size-fits-all myth
A big mistake global creative campaigns make? Assuming a translated headline equals cultural alignment. A better path is to establish a flexible creative system that outlines core narrative and visual elements that empower local creative teams to adapt imagery, humor, and channels that reflect local culture.
In its award-winning Famous Order campaign, McDonald’s created ads featuring a variety of musicians, athletes, actors, and even fictional characters paired with their McDonald’s orders. Regional markets customized the the connection using local stars and characters to make it resonate within their unique cultures.
IKEA adapts its visual storytelling to mirror actual living conditions across different markets—think tiny-space living in Tokyo versus suburban homes in Scandinavia. Its catalogs stage realistic living spaces, and regional teams customize the tone, styling, and mix of channels to resonate with local audiences.
3. Design to connect
Aligning with seasonal, daily, or social rituals can transition marketing from focusing on a product you buy to a tradition you count on. Map your customers’ calendar so you can build creative touchpoints and the emotional connections around them.
The Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas features 24/7 programming of holiday-themed movies, including dozens of original premieres, over 10 weeks starting in mid-October. The lineup has become a winter cultural ritual that extends way beyond the brand’s initial products (greeting cards, gifts, and ornaments) but echoes its ethos of optimism, warmth, and the importance of relationships.
Trader Joe’s has built a reputation around affordability, small stores, a tiki theme (including employees in Hawaiian shirts), and a limited but ever-evolving selection. By focusing on creating a local atmosphere with hand-drawn signs, hidden stuffed-animal store mascots, and seasonal features with limited timelines, it’s become a cult favorite that keeps customers engaged.
4. Practice the art of authenticity
Today’s consumers are adept at sniffing out fakes. If your campaigns feel like a PR play rather than the expression of a core belief, they’ll tune you out. To make sure your message lands, use visuals and language that reflect your real-life product and brand experience.
The creative for Patagonia doesn’t just feature nature and outdoor exploration. It uses its public platform to voice environmental values and activism. From its legendary Don’t Buy This Jacket campaign highlighting the environmental footprint of a fleece to standing up for public lands in social media and beyond, the brand leans into sincere ideology that resonates with its customers.
When every product seems to boast the same features, specs, and price points, emotional cultural connection is really the only way your brand can set itself apart.
That doesn’t mean knee-jerk reactions to every viral trend or meme. It means finding a voice and look that signal authentic cultural alignment with your core audience. Sounds simple, right?
Here are three questions to get you started:
Does this cultural moment fit our brand or are we crashing the party?
Are we celebrating our audience’s culture or using it as a prop?
Will this idea build toward long-term Brand Devotion or just a 24-hour spike in vanity impressions?
The job of creatives isn’t just to shine up a visual identity and create snappy, click-bait language. It’s to convey brand experiences that matter in people’s real lives.
So, let me give you an assignment: Look at your next creative brief. Are you designing a message that begs for attention? Or are you creating an experience that naturally fits into your customer’s world?
Go to lacek.com/insights to read more about Brand Devotion, including the other installments of this series.
Amy Van Ert is Group Executive Creative Director of The Lacek Group, where we’ve been perfecting the art and algorithms of Brand Devotion for more than 30 years. We help world-class brands identify their highest-potential customers, engage them across channels throughout their lifecycles, personalize each relationship for optimal long-term results, and measure the true effectiveness of those efforts. The Lacek Group is a WPP Enterprise Solutions company.