Cultural Relevance Happens on Camera

Hello. When I was 14 years old, I begged my parents for a specific T-shirt. This Fiorucci T-shirt, not because it was better quality, not because it was more comfortable, not because I knew anything about fashion or branding. I wanted it because it meant something. This T-shirt had the Fiorucci angels on it. They stood for freedom, they stood for youth and a little bit of rebellious and joy. And at my school, that T-shirt signaled confidence. It signaled that you were part of something. And when I finally got it, nothing about me changed, but how I felt changed. The way I walked, the way I felt, the way I stood and the way I smiled. And that moment taught me something that I didn't yet have words for at that time. We buy products to feel part of culture. And brands become icons when they understand how to do this. And this is what my keynote is all about. We tell ourselves we are rational. We tell ourselves we compare specs. We evaluate features and we optimize value. But fact is that 85% of everything we do every single day is irrational. If decisions were rational, no one would pay more for bottled water or get tattoos or logos on their bodies or pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a bag. But people do. Because brands are not economic decisions. They're social signals. Every purchase says something about who am I, and even more powerfully, who am I not? So let's zoom out a bit. Before marketing, before commerce, before capitalism, before video, there were tribes. And survival depended on belonging. Belonging meant protection. Belonging meant survival. Belonging meant identity. And that wiring biologically never left us. Today, instead of tribal paint, we wear logos. Instead of campfire rituals, we attend brand launches. And instead of clan symbols, we display brands to signal belonging. So with brands, we signal that we belong to something. And as humans, we are biologically and socially wired for that belonging. We want to belong to something culturally. But what is culture? So culture is a little bit like explaining water to a fish. It's how we do things around here. And its omnipresence in our lives that makes it very difficult to comprehend and subsequently hard to define. Think about what you had for breakfast this morning. If you're from the US, the chances are you had eggs and coffee for breakfast. If you are from China, chances are you had dumplings and noodles for breakfast. I woke up in Copenhagen this morning and I had porridge with my two children. And each of these societies, have its own program for what is considered normal breakfast. And it's all these characteristics that we can't see that make up culture. And culture defines what is admirable. Culture defines what is beloved. Culture defines what is cool. And culture defines what is outdated. And also, culture defines what's now irrelevant. And culture defines what's uncool. I mean, a Tesla owner didn't woke up suddenly one morning to think, okay, this car is probably not the coolest brand anymore. No, it was Elon Musk and culture that defined what is now uncool when it comes to Tesla. So we all, of course, have our own opinions. But all those opinions are strongly influenced by culture. Some aspects of culture move really fast. And sometimes culture moves in subtle, slow and emotional ways. But fact is, if you want to get people to move, there is no vehicle more powerful or more influential than that of culture. It's contagious. And whether we are aware of it or not, this influence is happening around us all the time, every day. For years, Bose was considered the trusted category leader in consumer audio. But when Beats by Dr. Dre came to the market, it rapidly took over Bose's standing. Was Beats a better product than Bose? Sonically speaking, probably not. But Beats was a symbol, a signal, that told the world whom you were. And people, remember, people walked around with Beats headphones like cultural artifacts. So culture moves beyond a brand having the sharpest racer or the fastest car. Culture supersedes all these product differentiators because it doesn't revolve around what the product is. Culture focuses on who we are. And for brands, culture is more important now than ever because of our phones. We simply carry culture in our pockets and we are constantly exposed to ideas, trends, opinions, aesthetics and communities. And we're seeing what others wear, what others think, what others value and create all day, every day. So culture is not something we occasionally step into. No, it's continuous, it's immediate and it's always influential. And it's influencing us. We fear being without our phones or being separated from it because we fear being left out of culture. And today, culture is increasingly video native. Culture used to be interpreted, but now it's performed on camera. Think TikTok logic, live formats, low-fi authenticity. And cultural relevance really happens on camera. It's a way of thinking about what works natively in the format. Social media and particularly video creates scale and speed. The 6-7 meme started with this young boy screaming 6-7 at a basketball game. And this is not a meme that would have transported well on a picture. The video format allowed it to spread like a wildfire. And it spread rapidly across TikTok and Instagram reels, turning it into a cultural language. And why? And this is what I call the cultural circle or the cultural engine. First, people see something. And then they want to participate and be part of it. And then the platform rewards that participation and that interaction. And then everybody suddenly sees it and culture scales itself and gets viral. And it comes back. And it continues in a loop of constant amplification. This is what happened with Labubu. And for those of you who don't know Labubu, they are these furry little collectibles, monsters made by a Chinese company called Pop Mart. And I think Labubu are a master class in building cultural relevance driven by TikTok virality, celebrity endorsement and street style appeal. And why? First, people see it on celebrities like Dua Lipa, Rihanna and here Lisa from Blackpink. And then everybody starts seeing it. Everybody feel like they want to be part of this little club. And then culture scales itself. A very recent example that took place two weeks ago was the collaboration between Swatch and Audemars Piguet. So, Swatch is a fairly approachable brand selling watches at around 50 to 200 US dollars. And Audemars Piguet sells watches that start at around 30,000 US dollars. And one of the most expensive watches ever sold was around 5 million US dollars. So, Audemars Piguet historically belongs to a very untouchable category of luxury. And Audemars Piguet turned Swatch into a luxury brand. And the brand became a TikTok native luxury object. And virality is not created by the product here or the product features. No, it's created by other people who want to be part of it and who want it desperately. In just two weeks, almost 16,000 videos were created around the partnership. And this is where it gets interesting. Because as I said, Audemars Piguet belongs to a very untouchable category of luxury. And Swatch made the whole thing work through cultural dissonance. So, you have elite and mass, you have luxury and you have plastic. And the contrast is exactly what works on and what the algorithm loves. Especially on TikTok, where cultural tension spreads quite quickly and quicker than product information. And the most interesting thing here is that the most viral videos were not about the product or the design of the watch or the mechanic behind it. No, the most viral videos were about people camping outside Swatch stores to get a watch. It was about people fighting to get their hands on it. Or the fact that it was sold out. Or Audemars Piguet... Collectors crying about this partnership. And this means that people are not buying ownership. Because product is not what people seem to care about here. No, people are buying participation. And they are buying access to culture. And the strongest emotion behind this launch is not desire. It's the fear of missing the moment. It's the fear of not being able to participate. And that's how the culture engine sort of scales itself. Those who understand the dynamics of culture are more likely to have influence. While those who do not are always influenced by those who do. The ones who lead culture and who contribute to the cultural discourse tend to be more successful than those who merely follow trends. And I think you can play with culture on three levels. First, and at the most basic level, brands are present in culture. Presence is simply showing up on video. Most companies today are actually here. They're doing webinars, product demos, thought leadership, maybe even LinkedIn video. And there is nothing wrong with this. I think this is the basic level and many brands need to do this. Take an example like Salesforce. They produce a lot of really high quality, content like events and keynotes, customer stories. And you can see their setup here, which is very professional. It's very polished. It's consistent and it's valuable. But it's not really culture. It's broadcasting. And video is treated as a channel, not as a behavior. And at this level, you're visible, yes, but you're not necessarily culturally relevant. Then at the next level, you have participation. And at this stage, things start to change. Now the brand enters the conversation. Here, brands don't just publish videos. They start speaking the language of the platform. But participation still means that the energy started somewhere else. A great example is Duolingo. They show up on TikTok using trends, humor, memes, and even making a little bit fun of themselves. They react. They adapt. They move fast. They're not controlling the message, but they're participating. And they're doing it really well, I think. And at this level, you're not just present now. You're part of the conversation. For many years, I was responsible for the LEGO brand. And LEGO has become an iconic brand by joining culture on many dimensions. LEGO is participating in culture. For example, by tapping into cultural fandoms like Star Wars or engaging in partnerships with other strong cultural brands like Nike. And LEGO is also doing this on video. For example, jumping on TikTok trends. Here you can see an example on pet cams. And they use humor and self-awareness. And here you can see that LEGO doesn't just post about products. LEGO joins culture. And LEGO speaks the language of the platform to be culturally relevant. Then there is the rarest level. This is about shaping. This is when culture moves because you moved. This is when language changed because you spoke. And this is when behavior shifts because you acted. You're no longer reacting to culture. You are creating culture. This is when your videos don't just perform. They spread. They get copied. They get remixed and reenacted. And they become part of culture itself. Before Airbnb, travel meant staying in a hotel. And after Airbnb, it meant living in someone's world. Airbnb turned strangers into hosts, homes into destinations, and trust into currency. And Airbnb didn't follow a movement around hotels. No, Airbnb created one. And when a brand changes behavior at global scale, that's not participation. That's cultural creation. Another example is Wednesday, which is a Netflix TV show. It's centered around this goth girl called Wednesday. And Netflix created buzz around this TV show through a dance on video. And Netflix is deliberately shaping culture because the content didn't stay on the platform. People recreated the dance. You have the original dance in the middle. They reenacted the scenes. The dance showed up everywhere. And at that point, it's no longer marketing. At this level, your audience doesn't just show up. They doesn't just watch your video and doesn't just watch your content. They carry it forward. Cultural impact is not a new thing. I used to be global head of marketing at De Beers, which is the world's biggest diamond producer. And here I learned that cultural impact, if done correctly, can last for years if done correctly. So before the 1940s, people didn't propose with diamonds. It simply wasn't a tradition. Then De Beers launched the campaign, A Diamond Is Forever. And the message was simple. If you want to show lasting love, give something rare, precious, and permanent. And that idea shaped behavior around the whole world. De Beers made a diamond a symbol of everlasting true love. And today, the diamond is still a cultural symbol for true love. And of course, it's also happening on video. And I will show you a video in a second, one of the early videos. And you may laugh and find it super cheeky, but at the end of the day, it shaped how I believe a diamond is a symbol of love and how you also believe a diamond is a cultural artifact of love. There are many ways to say you love her. But none lasts as long as a fine quality diamond. You may smile at this one, but A Diamond is Forever is widely considered as one of the most successful taglines of all time. And it's often cited as the most effective tagline in advertising history because it shaped culture. So there are three levels on culture. At the most basic level, you can be present in culture. And for video in particular, this is a matter of showing up. So we make videos. At the second level, you're participating. You're responding to culture. You're engaging with culture. And you're responding and you speak the language of culture. And then at the last level, you are shaping culture. You are creating culture. And people carry it forward because you become culture. Most brands today think they need more videos or better videos. No. What they actually need is to move up a level from presence to participation to shaping. And the real question we as leaders need to ask ourselves is, do you want to show up? Do you want to respond? Or do you actually want to shape culture? And now you may ask yourself, so how do I now navigate this cultural chaos? What cultural trends should I now join? Because of course you shouldn't necessarily jump on anything and any cultural change and fad happening out there. Because as brands, you also need a level of consistency and a certain level of predictability. That's also why people buy brands. But consistency on its own can be quite boring as a value proposition. You need the cultural chaos to be interesting. And how do you then do that? I can break it down into sort of three steps. First, you define your core. You define whom you are as a brand. Then you use that to take a stand. And then you use that to create cultural relevance. I will take you through these one by one. Defining your core. This is where you ask probably one of the most uncomfortable questions you can ask yourself as brands and businesses. What would the world miss? If you were gone tomorrow? This was also the starting point when we created the Lego brand strategy. What would the world actually miss if you were gone tomorrow? Who would feel something? And here I'm not thinking about mild frustration. No actual loss. And if the answer is unclear to you, you haven't defined your brand properly. If you now sit and think, well, didn't we define brand values? And. I'm sure there are other brands out there that stand for just as good quality as you. And I'm not sure that people would genuinely miss you if you went out of business tomorrow. Nike has defined its core as just do it. And this is not just a tagline. Nike's brand and the core is everything is built around this just do it value proposition. Airbnb has defined it. It's built around belonging anywhere built on the inside that a home is not a place. It can be anywhere in the world. At the second step, you need to take a stand. So you use your core as a foundation to take a stand. And this is when it becomes your compass for cultural relevancy. When a brand takes a stand, something very powerful happens. It stops being a product. It becomes a symbol. And here you can start asking yourself questions like, what do you believe? What is your worldview? And brands today really need to stand for something or they stand for nothing. Nike believes that every human body is an athlete. So Nike creates products to help people realize their best athletic self. So people can just do it. Airbnb believes in empowering everyone to belong. And finally, you use your brand as a platform for cultural relevancy. Ask questions like, where does it make sense for us to join an influence? What topics, what passion points, what influencers, what zeitgeist topics are relevant for us and fit that core that we want to stand for? Nike uses the brand to take a clear standpoint. If you have a body, you're an athlete. And that idea allows Nike to enter cultural conversations, not as an outsider, but as an authentic participant. It gives the brand permission to speak about inclusivity and about access to sports. And most recently, Nike has started entering conversations about young people's self-esteem. Especially how confidence and pressure around these topics sort of prohibit kids from entering sports. So the cultural energy already exists, but Nike steps into this conversation culturally with a very clear belief system. The same goes for Airbnb. Airbnb, as I said, believes that everyone deserves the right to belong anywhere. And that belief gives Airbnb a cultural standpoint. They believe sort of belonging is culturally challenged when that's culturally challenged. Whether it's around same-sex marriage, diversity, or accepting differences. Then the brand shows up publicly. Not to sell more nights or to sell more bookings. No, it's not a campaign for Airbnb. But Airbnb reinforces the value around the brand. When entering these conversations. It's the reason the brand exists. And that's how a brand joins culture. By standing for something bigger than the product itself. I can visualize it in a more simple way. So on one hand side, you have your brand core defined as a platform for decision -making and for taking a point of view in the world. In all the businesses I've worked for, my aim has always been to infuse brand culture into the brand. And at executive level, to make sure it's used not as a marketing tool, but as a platform for decision-making. And then on the other hand side, there is culture. Culture is moving all the time. And it's not that you need to jump on any fad just because. No, the sweet spot towards brand relevancy lies in that intersection between your brand and culture. And operating at that level is the zenith and strength of brand icons. And as brands, you have one single goal. On one hand side, stay true to whom you are. And on the other hand side, be true to culture. Let's look at another recent example, which is Rhode. Rhode is a skincare brand that somehow exploded overnight. This isn't a story about skincare. It's a story about culture. Did the world need another skincare brand in one of the most crowded categories in the world? No. The world didn't need another skincare brand when Rhode launched in 2022. Better formulas existed, cheaper options existed, and more scientific brands already existed. So logic alone cannot explain the success of Rhode. But here is the cultural insight. Before Rhode launched, social media was filled with a new beauty aesthetic around minimal makeup, effortless beauty. Rhode didn't create this trend. Rhode recognized this trend. And Hailey Bieber, who is married to Justin Bieber, wasn't just a celebrity founder. She already embodied this lifestyle. So the brand didn't feel invented. It felt natural. And people weren't discovering a company or brand. They were joining her world. And the interesting is that people didn't just buy Rhode. They really participated. Rhode became a shared ritual. People filmed their routines. They shared the textures. They copied different looks. And ownership became participation. And participation still today creates that belonging. Because sharing Rhode on social media says something about you. People post because they want to communicate that I understand this aesthetic. I belong to this moment. And the product becomes a social language for participating in culture. So Rhode launched in 2022. And last year, Rhode was sold for one billion US dollars. And Rhode proves my core idea. That people don't buy products. They buy belonging. And brands grow when they reflect who culture is becoming. And if you as a brand can create a desire for people to be part of your culture, and inspire people to belong, you will see that audiences watch and communities participate. You will see that audiences compare prices. Communities defend your brand. Because when people feel ownership, they become defenders. And when people feel like they're part of something, they don't just buy. They recruit. They advocate. They amplify. So what does this demand of us as leaders? It demands courage. It demands courage to stand for something in culture. Courage to stand for something very specific. Courage to sometimes alienate some in order to matter deeply for others. Courage to define who is this for and who is it not for. Because the moment you try to be relevant for everyone, then you stop being meaningful to anyone. And the strongest brands in the world are not the most neutral. They are the most clear, and they take a clear standpoint in culture. You cannot not have a standpoint in culture. The coolest brands out there are not the loudest. They are the ones people use to express who they are. And I think video is a great format to get that cultural relevancy. So let me go back to that 14-year-old girl wearing her Fiorucci t-shirt. What I really wanted was not a cotton t-shirt. I wanted to be part of culture. And that desire to belong, it never leaves any of us. It just evolves. Today, your customers are asking this question. They are asking the exact same questions as I was asking myself when I was younger. Does this brand represent me? Does this brand make me feel part of something culturally? And if the answer is yes, customers won't just buy from you. They will build with you. Because in the end, a brand is not what you say it is. It's what people used to say about themselves and the culture they belong to. And when you understand that, you stop marketing at people, you start belonging with them. Thank you.