ISSUE #05

Next week I'm off camping in the northern wilds of Saskatchewan. I likely won't get an issue out for next week. I hope enough is here for you to chew on for a few extra days. Thanks and enjoy the last few days of July.

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Fit in to stand out - or something like that.

Yesterday I went with my son and father-in-law to see the NASCAR race at the local speedway, or should I say the TWO-DAY NASCAR PINTY'S EVENT SERIES LELAND FASTENERS TWIN 125 AT THE SUTHERLAND AUTOMOTIVE SPEEDWAY. I don't really pay attention much to auto racing, but the point was just to go and hang out, eat a hot dog, and watch some fast (and loud) cars together.

I'm also not much of a public events kind of person. Carnivals, street fairs, etc. aren't really my thing. One thing I do love though, is seeing cultures or experiences that are different from my daily life. It's fascinating to me to see groups of people in their element doing different things, dressing differently, and saying different words and phrases. I get a kick out of being a fish out of water from time to time.

The whole time I should've been watching the race, I was looking out over the crowd asking myself, "Now why did that person do that? Why'd they say that, and what does it mean?".

It's funny - I'm talking about racing culture like it's an Indigenous tribe from the Amazon, when the rack track is a 10 min drive north of my home.

But maybe that's what is interesting to me. In the city I live in, in the region I was born and raised in there are cultures, scenes, tribes (use whatever word you want) that are foreign to me. Auction marts, hobby clubs, nightclubs, libraries, sports teams, art galleries you name it - these sub-cultures are all around us.

Part of becoming an adult is maybe choosing what sub-cultures matter to you and which ones don't. I do think it's a healthy thing to be reminded that the way you personally think/dress/talk isn't the only thing out there. As a marketer, or a person building and selling a product I think it's also a necessity.

The way we sell/promote/connect now often is digital. The reach we can achieve is honestly breathtaking or mind-num. But the downside of digital to me is that there seems to me to be a sanitizing, or continual narrowing of the scope of what connecting online looks like. More and more I find myself experiencing a deja-vu-like echo chamber online. The algorithms know what we want, analytics shows us what works and what doesn't, and there's only so much you can do on a screen. Everything starts to converge to a samey-same sludge of content. I don't think this is likely to change, and I'm not betting on AI improving things.

Despite the hurdles though, I think we should always make an effort to see how our brand and our products fit within real life and real culture. Like branding, culture is nebulous, vague, and always shifting. But it's also real — and it drives, informs, and motivates people in fascinating ways.

Good branding is a conversation with culture. You matter as a brand when you find relevance to people through the lens of culture and values. Why a brand shifts or changes over time is often in response to a shift or change in culture.

Big companies and brands have to do this in the macro - and through their size and budget they have a gravitational pull in culture. They not only can converse with culture, but they can often also make culture. The downside of working in the macro is that you're trying to be unique and 'authentic' while also trying to appeal to as many people as possible. That's a challenge in its own right.

Small brands instead need to be expert listeners - they need to find the groups of people that are a good culture fit for their brand, and they need to work within that space to earn attention and build affinity. When you listen, you can start to see the path to a real personality - a personality that can fit in with — and more importantly, matter to — the group you aim to connect with.