A book review/summary/study

1. CU LTU RAL
STRA TEGY

2. CU LTU RAL
STRA TEGY
WHAT I LEARNED FROM READING THIS BOOK:
THE REASON WHY SOME BRANDS BREAKTHROUGH WHILE OTHERS TREAD WATER.
LEARNINGS, THOUGHTS & SUMMARY BY MAREK WOLSKI

3. CU LTU RAL
STRA TEGY
NOTE THAT THIS IS MY SUMMARY/LEARNINGS OF THE WORK OF DOUGLAS HOLT & DOUGLAS
CAMERON AND IN SOME PLACES I HAVE EXTRACTED/USED VERBATIM THEIR WORDS AS THEY SO
PRECISELY EXPLAIN A CONCEPT.

4. TODAY MOST BR
ANDS
FIND THEMSELVE
S
IN A ‘RED OCEAN’ OF COMPETITION
CONSIDERING A LAUNCH OF NEW EXTENSIONS INTO ‘BLUE OCEANS’
COMPETING USING ‘MINDSHARE’ MARKETING STRATEGIES

5. TODAY MOST BR
ANDS
FIND THEMSELVE
S
IN A ‘RED OCEAN’ OF COMPETITION
Most brands operate in cramped mature markets - a red ocean - where there is an overlap of
functionality across offerings.
EG: Nike vs Puma vs Adidas

6. TODAY MOST BR
ANDS
FIND THEMSELVE
S
CONSIDERING A LAUNCH OF NEW EXTENSIONS INTO ‘BLUE OCEANS’
Using the idea of creating a ‘better mousetrap’ for consumers, brands pursue innovation and
new markets/categories where there is a perceived lower level of competition based on ‘new’
consumer needs.
EG: Coca Cola’s Mother enters the energy drink category with the only ‘all natural product’.

7. TODAY MOST BR
ANDS
FIND THEMSELVE
S
COMPETING USING ‘MINDSHARE’ MARKETING STRATEGIES
Where one finds which benefit (functional or emotional) is most valued in the category and
least dominated by a competitor and then to stake out the claim and hammer it home as
simply, consistently and frequently as possible - the classic ‘integrated campaign’.
EG: BMW owning the ‘performance’ of driving , Mercedes owning the ‘prestige’ of driving and
Audi owning ‘Innovation’.

8. Mindshare
marketing, def
ined
Key mental associations Add ÂlifestyleÊ elements
Trends Fame Cool
Rational Emotional
Benefits + Benefits Fashion Social Freebie
THIS IS SUPPOSED TO CREATE THIS IS SUPPOSED TO CREATE
‘DIFFERENTIATION’ ‘RELEVANCE’

9. Mindshare
marketing, Exp
lained
This use of abstract associations implicitly asserts that consumers value abstract concepts such
as ‘fun’ or ‘high-tech’ and so when a brand conveys such concepts effectively, consumers will
value the brand.
BUT
Such concepts do not exist as independent entities. Rather than “fun”, consumers experience a
particular expression of fun – for example, dancing around the house in joyful abandonment
to a favourite tune on one’s iPod. This is different from Audi’s version of fun, which is different
from Club Med’s version of fun.
Each brand’s fun comes to life as a full-blown cultural expression.
THEREFORE IT IS A CULTURE NOT A BENEFIT THAT DEFINES A BRAND

10. Mindshare Str
ategy
is weak
IT FAILS TO CREATE DEFENDABLE POSITIONS
+
IT FAILS TO CREATE MEANINGFUL ASSOCIATIONS
=
IT THEREFORE FAILS TO CREATE LOYALTY

11. Mindshare Str
ategy
is weak
IT FAILS TO CREATE DEFENDABLE POSITIONS
Because anyone can attempt to stake out the same claim, and with a large/smart media
spend, can own it.
EG: Easyjet was THE low-cost airline in Europe, until Ryanair came along and out owned ‘cheap’.

12. Mindshare Str
ategy
is weak
IT FAILS TO CREATE MEANINGFUL ASSOCIATIONS
Because who cares if a drink or a phone is FUN or SMARTER. The associations are always ‘me
focused’ from the brand’s world, rather than from the consumer’s.
EG: Fanta is ‘Fun’. Do I drink Fanta to be fun? To have fun? When I am having fun? To be seen to be
fun? What is fun? Who’s fun is it anyway? - It’s not a meaningful association for a consumer to a
fruit flavoured soda.

13. Mindshare Str
ategy
is weak
IT THEREFORE FAILS TO CREATE LOYALTY
Using a rational or functional benefit becomes a commodity as soon as a new entrant comes
in and stakes the claim in a better way. If you are to believe your own hype that this is the
reason why consumer’s buy your product, then what would prevent switching? Unfortunately
nothing.
EG: Ryanair is cheaper than Easyjet. They now own Cheap and there is no reason for Easyjet
customers to stay with them. In the same way, as soon as a new low-cost airline undercuts
Ryanair, they too will loose their customers.

14. Mindshare Str
can work wh ategy
en
IT IS EMPLOYED WITH A BETTER MOUSETRAPS APPROACH. THIS CAN WORK IN 3
MARKET ENVIRONMENTS:
1 ) Where functionality is important.
2) Where there is significant variance in functionality across brands.
3) Where that functionality is easy for consumers to evaluate.
Where one of the above 3 do not exist (which is more often than not), culture - not an abstract
mental association - takes over in guiding consumers’ perceptions of functionality.

15. The
new w ay
USE CULTURAL STRATEGY TO INNOVATE, NOT A TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENT OR PRODUCT
NOVELTY, BUT A CULTURAL EXPRESSION FOR THE BRAND WHEREBY IT HAS REAL MEANING IN
THE CONSUMER’S PERSONAL CONTEXT IN THIS WORLD.

16. CU LTU RAL
INN OVA TION
CULTURAL STRATEGY IS WHERE THE BLUEPRINT FOR BRAND ACTIVITY IS DEFINED BY A
CULTURAL EXPRESSION THAT TAPS INTO A CULTURAL IDEOLOGY HELD BY CONSUMERS.
THEREFORE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, TOUCH-POINTS, & COMMS ALL EXPRESS THE CULTURAL
IDEOLOGY THAT IS MEANINGFUL FOR THE CONSUMER.

17. THI S IS NOT
‘AS PIRA TION AL’
MA RKE TING ASPIRATIONAL MARKETING POSITIONS THE BRAND ABOVE OR BEYOND OF THE WORLD/REALITY
OF THE CONSUMER, ASKING THEM TO JOIN THE BRAND IN THEIR SPACE.
CULTURAL STRATEGY IMPLANTS A BRAND WITHIN THE CONSUMER’S SPACE AND INVITES OTHER
CONSUMERS TO BE PART OF IT.
ASPIRATIONAL MARKETING: CULTURAL STRATEGY:
SUPERIOR LIFE
OFFERED BY BRAND CONSUMER’S
Marketing to ‘aspire’ LIFE
to a new place
BRAND’S CULTURAL Injecting the brand
CONSUMER’S RELEVANCE TO MY into the consumer’s
LIFE REALITY cultural reality

18. CU LTU RAL
EXP RESS IONS
ARE THE FOUNDATIONAL MATERIAL ON WHICH WE FEEL WE BELONG, ARE RECOGNISED
AND ACHIEVE STATUS.
They serve as compass points, organising how we understand the world and our place in it,
what is meaningful, what we strive for, and what we should despise. Therefore its important
that a brand’s ideology specifies a meaning, its manifesto and those it is fighting against.
Cultural expressions consist of ideology, myth and cultural codes

19. CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS:
Ideology
IS A POV ON OUR PERSONAL CONTEXT, THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCT AROUND US, THAT
HAS BEEN WIDELY SHARED AND NATURALISED AS THE ‘TRUTH’.
We hold dear many ideologies which allow us to function consistently, coherently and
effectively in our social lives.
Consumers experience ideology through layers of cultural expression, not as a declarative
intellectual proposition. So ideologies enter culture when they are conveyed via myth and
cultural codes.

20. CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS:
MYT HS & CODES
MYTHS ARE INSTRUCTIVE STORIES THAT IMPART IDEOLOGY. CULTURAL CODES
PROVIDE CONSUMERS WITH A SHORTHAND TO UNDERSTAND INTENDED MEANINGS OF
EXPRESSIONS.
For a myth to resonate with consumers, it must be composed using the most appropriate and
compelling cultural content – cultural codes.
It’s important to leverage these shorthands or cultural signals, as they simplify the consumer’s
processing of a cultural expression. Without them, everything must be directed and explained
explicitly to consumers - which decreases the natural ‘fit’.

21. m akin g it
cul tur ally
BRANDS BREAKTHROUGH WHEN THEY BECOME CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS. WHERE THEY
BEAR THE RIGHT IDEOLOGY, WHICH IS DRAMATISED THROUGH THE RIGHT MYTH AND
EXPRESSED WITH THE RIGHT CULTURAL CODES.

22. CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS:
St arbu cks
CULTURAL CODES
Terroir coffee displays, intelligentsia quotes,
“coffee that cares”, Cafe Estima,
sanitised bohemian retail design
MYTH
Accessible sophistication myth
IDEOLOGY
Artisanal cosmopolitan foods

23. CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS:
Nike
WHEN THE CULTURAL EXPRESSION HITS HOME, IT CREATES A PERCEPTION THAT THE
FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS OF THE PRODUCT ARE SUPERIOR, A HALO EFFECT.
CULTURAL CODES
Poor black youths, chain link hoops,
housing projects
MYTH
Just Do It:
Overcoming societal discrimination
through sport
IDEOLOGY
Combative Solo Willpower
BENEFITS HALO EFFECT
Functional Benefits of great
performance, quality

24. CULTURAL STRATEGY
Met hod
1. MAP THE CULTURAL CONVENTION
2. IDENTIFY THE SOCIAL DISRUPTION
3. FIND THE IDEOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITY
4. LOOK TO APPROPRIATE SOURCE MATERIAL
5. EVALUATE RELEVANCY OF CULTURAL TACTICS
6. DEVISE THE CULTURAL STRATEGY
* I have made a slight change to the terminology used in the book to make it more straightforward.

25. strategy method:
1. CON VENTION
MAP THE CULTURAL CONVENTIONS
This is the tide in the red ocean that the strategy must swim against.
Look to competitors to see how they compete to create customer value.
Look to cultural codes in their marketing activity: packaging, retail, comms, CEO speeches etc.
Research methods: Discourse analysis of category competition

26. strategy method:
2. DI SRUP TION
IDENTIFY THE SOCIAL DISRUPTION(S). They create ideological opportunities.
As history unfolds and social structures change, these shifts can be disruptive, challenging
taken-for-granted cultural expressions offered by category incumbents and creating demand
for new cultural expressions.
Disruptive shifts can be led by tech, the economy, social structure, demography, social
movements or the mass media.
Research method: Sociological Analyses

27. strategy method:
3. IDEO LOGY
FIND THE IDEOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITY
A detailed discovery on how the social disruption is changing the world around the customer,
the impact on their life and their views of the environment.
What is the emerging ideology that customer’s are moving towards, gathering around or
proclaiming?
Research method: Media discourse analysis & Identity Project Interviews

28. strategy method:
4. m ate rial
LOOK TO APPROPRIATE SOURCE MATERIAL
Identifying existing ideologies, myths and cultural codes that are embraced by subcultures or
minority groups will help understand what it is that symbolises the ideology and how to be
express it.
Research method: Literary Analysis, Ethnographic Immersion, Brand Genealogy

29. strategy method:
5. tac tics
EVALUATE RELEVANCY OF CULTURAL TACTICS
See if any tactics will help define and bring to life the work in progress cultural strategy .
Provoking ideological flashpoints
Mythologising the company
Resuscitating reactionary ideology
Cultural capital trickle-down
Crossing the cultural chasm
Cultural jujitsu

30. strategy method:
6. str ate gise
DEVISE THE STRATEGY
Cultural strategy must be directive to device a rich cultural expression for the brand. As a result
it must be detailed, specific and exemplary when explaining the ideology, myth and cultural
codes.
Forget the brand onions and pyramids. Detail the culture.

31. NIKE E XAM PLE
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME NOTES TAKEN FROM ONE OF THE MANY EXAMPLES IN THE BOOK.

32. NIKE E XAM PLE
Cultural convention: Star athlete’s myth of feats CULTURAL CODES
Poor black youths, chain link hoops,
Social disruption: Rugged individualism
housing projects
Ideology: Combative Solo Willpower.
Myth: “Just do it”. Athletes facing the most sever forms of social discrimination rely MYTH
on Nike’s combative solo willpower to overcome these barriers and win. So Nikes
will allow you to overcome the adversities you face, especially the dog-eat-dog Just Do It:
labor market, to achieve your American dream. Overcoming societal discrimination
through sport
Cultural codes: Used the vernacular of each discriminated sports subculture.
Spots were set in the American ghetto appropriating the bleak public housing
high-rises, the beat up basketball courts with chainlink fences etc.
IDEOLOGY
Functional benefit halo: once consumers identified with Nike’s expressions, they
readily made strong inferences about how Nike shoes would improve their Combative Solo Willpower
performance.
BENEFITS HALO EFFECT
Functional Benefits of great
performance, quality

33. END
THANKS TO THE AUTHORS OF THIS BOOK. IT HAS SHED LIGHT INTO THE
DARK CORNERS OF TRADITIONAL MARKETING THINKING AND HOPEFULLY
SCARED AWAY THE COCKROACHES OF LAZINESS THAT LAY THERE.
SUMMARY BY MAREK WOLSKI /@MAREKTING /
READ MORE OF MY THOUGHTS ON THROUGHTHETREES.TUMBLR.COM
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