UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Why is culture fluency the
bloodstream of brands that last?
The world moves fast. Blink, and a trend dies. Miss a beat, and your brand is irrelevant. Cultural fluency isn’t just a skill—it’s survival. It’s the ability to listen, to absorb, to see the cracks forming before they split wide open. It’s not about pretending to care; it’s about understanding the bones of a culture, the marrow, the things left unsaid.
(~5-minute read)
What is cultural fluency?
It’s the difference between brands that feel alive and brands that feel like taxidermy. It’s the art of knowing when to speak and when to shut up. It’s the unspoken, the coded, the deeply ingrained nuances of human behaviour. Cultural fluency isn’t a glossary of terms or a DEI checklist—it’s sweat, research, instinct, and an ability to read between the lines of history, politics, art, and the brutal poetry of everyday life. It’s Bob Dylan’s folk anthems bleeding protest through a harmonica. It’s Gorilla Biscuits rebelling against drugs in sweat-drenched basements. It’s Doechii dodging the industry’s alligator death roll, carving a space in hip-hop with precision and raw energy.
Why does it matter?
Truth over trend: People can sniff out inauthenticity like rotting meat. Cultural fluency isn’t about keeping up with trends—it’s about understanding what’s shifting at a tectonic level and why it matters.
Emotion that cuts deep: When a brand truly understands culture, it doesn’t just sell—it connects. It lingers. It tattoos itself onto memory because it resonates at the level of lived experience.
Power moves: The ones who get it move first. They lead the conversation instead of chasing the echoes. They build movements, not moments.
When is cultural fluency essential?
Expanding into new worlds: Different cultures have different heartbeats. If you can’t feel the pulse, you have no business being there.
Speaking to the masses (without sounding like a robot): Even within a single region, cultural layers are thick and tangled. Speaking to everyone means knowing the nuances.
Not imploding when the world burns: Crisis comes for every brand. The ones who understand culture don’t just survive; they pivot, push through, and sharpen their edge.
Who benefits from it?
Your brand: Because nothing kills a brand faster than irrelevance.
Your audience: People know when they’re being pandered to. They crave something real.
Your bottom line: Cultural intelligence isn’t a trend—it’s the foundation of brands that refuse to fade.
Here’s a photo of Gorilla Biscuits (the band I mentioned in the start of the article) by the way—hardcore legends who knew the power of showing up with authenticity. Their album Let’s Start Today says it all—cultural fluency isn’t something to put off.
So, let’s start today!