CultureCasting: A New Movement in Socializing Media

DAY
1:

CultureCas)ng

A
New
Movement
in
Socializing
Media

Gunther Sonnenfeld
Principal | Digital Brand Strategist
ThinkState
-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐

“In
order
for
BRANDS
to
be
RELEVANT
in
the
world,

they
must
help
IMPROVE
the
world.”

What
is
CULTURE?

LOVE,
actually…

-‐
Nick
Pla3,
ECD,
RAPP
Worldwide

Great brands
CELEBRATE
the connections
!people make
with each other."

(and)"

SPREAD"

CULTURE."

CASTING is the
process by
which we
establish those
connections.

CULTURECASTING:
The ways in which we
SOCIALIZE OUR MEDIA…

… in order to make
everlasting brand
CONNECTIONS.

You may have
noticed…

PEOPLE
OWN
BRANDS
not companies.

RESEARCH

There’s
a
ton
of
to
support
this

phenomenon.

On a deeper level, brands are
the EXPECTATION of
things to come."

They are the primary
CONDUITS OF
CHANGE within
our culture."

So, let’s declare into
truth that
PEOPLE ARE
MEDIA.

(and establish that)
ALL MEDIA ARE
INHERENTLY
SOCIAL.

Digital OOH
numbers are
resurging… just one
example of how ads
and
experiences
can be ‘line’

agnostic.

THINK
about it for a
moment:

… every type
of
interaction
we

exper
ience …

… Is part of a larger

ECOSYSTEM:

US

(as in you and me)

All media can be VALUABLE…"

… but CONVERSATIONS are the real
currency we share."

SOME MODERN LORE:

A friend is always late to
meetings and social events. The
reason for this is that he
always wants to give each and
every conversation its due
course, so that the next
conversation can build from
the previous one and real
progress is made.

In other words, he understands
that by fulﬁlling on every
conversation, each relationship
is advanced within the
discourse of daily life."

©
Gunther
Sonnenfeld
2009

The analogy is that a
conversation is like a tree.
If you cut the trees
branches off before
they've had a chance to
fully bloom, then the tree
can grow outwardly, but
not up. But if we nurture
the branches to their full
extent, then the tree can
grow up to its full
potential, and help grow
more trees.
SEED

CULTIVATE

PROLIFERATE

REGENERATE

Naturally, leaves fall from
branches just as conversations can
die off or fade away.

But what we glean from those
dialogues allows us to develop new
perspectives and keep those
branches growing.

They are the seeds that enable our
relationships to keep

moving
forward >>>

SOCIAL FORESTATION:
The process of fostering conversation by providing
relevant nutrition, enabling communities to develop, grow
and develop.

BOTTOM LINE:
we can
EMPOWER
consumers to do
the heavy lifting
for us.

At the end of the day, the inability of advertisers
to reach consumers in a “fragmented”
environment isn’t a function of ‘traditional’ versus
‘non-traditional’, ‘offline’ or ‘online’, or any of the
disconnects brands and agencies share.

It’s the inability, or unwillingness, to adapt to the
world around us, a world that no longer cares
about the status quo, and is telling us so right to
our faces.

The really sad part is that we look at this as a
PROBLEM, rather than an OPPORTUNITY.

The PERCEIVED
DIFFERENCES
in media are only
one part of the
problem."

CONTENT is a
whole ‘nother
issue."

“An
interes0ng

problem
(we
face)

—
some
marketers

aren’t
interested
in

storytelling.
Most

storytellers
aren’t

interested
in

marke0ng.”

-‐
Ivan
Askwith,

Senior
Strategist,

Big
Spaceship

First, we must all focus on EMPOWERING

&REDEFINING
CULTURE.

We must transition
from a ‘ME’
CULTURE >>>>>>
… To a

‘WE’
CULTURE

“Instead of asking, ‘How do we BREAK THROUGH?’ Marketers

should be asking, ‘How do we FIT IN?’”
-Nick Law, Chief Creative Officer, R/GA

As marketers, we shouldn’t
try to DISRUPT by pushing
our messages and agendas.

We should ADOPT people’s
perspectives, and ADAPT to
them.

Adoption & adaption make
our messages

STRONGER.

A Brand formalizes a relationship with a
consumer by virtue of a living,

breathing, ongoing STORY."

A brand can add, shape and improve upon other stories,
by weaving them into the LARGER CONTEXT of the world.

Of the places and
EXPERIENCES in
which people
live and THRIVE.

EVERYTHING IS

CAUSE RELATED.

(the world demands it)

CAUSES DON’T HAVE TO BE
PHILANTHROPIC, OR
DESIGNATED AS “FOR
PROFIT” OR “NON”.

THEY JUSY HAVE TO
INSPIRE PEOPLE TO

ACT .

“The
paradox
of
prosperity
is
that

while
living
standards
have
risen

steadily
decade
aPer
decade,

personal,
family
and
life
saQsfacQon

haven't
budged.
That's
why
more

people-‐-‐-‐liberated
by
prosperity

but
not
fulﬁlled
by
it-‐-‐-‐are

resolving
the
paradox
by

searching
for
meaning.
As

Columbia
University's
Andrew

Delbanco
puts
it,
‘ The
most
striking

feature
of
contemporary
culture
is
the

unslaked
craving
for
transcendence.’”

-‐
Daniel
Pink

Do you think that this is just a

COINCIDENCE?"

“Objects
of
design
and
desire
are

never
going
to
scratch
the
itch,
in

short.
Only
the
moral
imperaQve
of

self-‐actualizaQon
(because
we
no

longer
have
to
struggle
to
survive-‐-‐-‐
the
sheer
nasQness
of
this
global

recession
aside)
will
stand
as
the

single
most
important
driver
in
most

people's
lives.
That's
our

talisman
as
marketers.”

-‐Brendan
Howley,
Novelist
|
Screenwriter
|
AcQvist

|
Partner,
Fresh
Baked
Entertainment

NOW, the primary
responsibility of
brands is to provide
SOCIAL
NUTRITION.

Through CONVERSATION and COLLABORATION…

… COMMON INTERESTS (not special
interests) rule the day.

By DOING GOOD."
! !And FEELING GOOD about doing good.

[the variables behind]
USER ARCHETYPES
HAVE SHIFTED… AND THEY WILL

CONTINUE TO.

COMMON
INTERESTS often
supersede AGE or
ECONOMICS.
They are what
bring
COMMUNITIES
together.

COMMUNITIES can’t be placed
into hierarchies or vertical
categories as we know them.
They function in just the opposite
way.

They reach across everything
that will allow them to flourish.
They are driven by PASSION,
INSPIRATION and the desire to
be

EXTRAORDINARY.

Meet “DAN”, the 63-year-old iPhone user."

TRUE STORY:
Dan and his family owned 6 car
dealerships in Southern
California.

When the parent company’s
sales started dropping by over
43%, Dan decided to reach out to
the community.

Dan started by
reaching out to
other car
aficionados."

But he soon realized that this group was
connected to other groups. And other groups.
And other groups.

Pretty soon, the interests
of the local community
were vocalized.

Dan rallied car
aficionados, musicians,
artists, bakers and other
culturalists to create
special events held at the
dealerships.

The events were held to
raise funds for local
charities, and, for people
to simply enjoy each
other’s company, around
things that meant
something to them in
their everyday lives.

He even used a nice
MEDIA MIX of online
ads, newspapers
ads, local TV, social
conversations, radio
spots, mobile
sweepstakes and
direct mail to extend
the message that his
dealerships stood for
something more
than just
places that
sold cars.

Despite the economy,
sales at Dan’s
dealerships were
higher than they’ve
been in 35 years.

Dan accomplished this
by realizing, quite
simply, that PEOPLE
SELL CARS TO
OTHER PEOPLE.

(higher)
BRINGING PURPOSE TO OUR
PURCHASE DECISIONS.

‘CULTURECASTING’
IS JUST A FANCY WORD… 

You see, we can call “IT” whatever we want."
!But at the end of the day, RELATIONSHIPS are all that
matter."
!"

Relationships that can live beyond the life of a CAMPAIGN."
! !And that create LEGACIES we can pass on to our

CHILDREN."

… To describe what all
GOOD MARKETING can
and should be."
!A catalyst for
HEIGHTENED
HUMAN
INTERACTION."

Dare we say,

!ENLIGHTENMENT."

Through the 3 “E”s of SOCIAL CHANGE:"

! ! ECONOMICS"
! !

! ! ! !EMPOWERMENT"
! ! ! !ENVIRONMENT"

BRANDS can
continue to matter

in an

EVER-
CHANG
ING
WORLD.

1. THINK ABOUT PEOPLE (BECOME THEIR NEEDS)
2. SOCIALIZE YOUR MEDIA (BE HUMANE)
3. CREATE SHARED VALUE AROUND YOUR BRAND (BE THE WORLD)

THANK YOU FOR

PARTICIPATING.
(see you tomorrow ;)

CultureCasting: A New Movement in Socializing Media

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