Marketers make use of many different techniques when it comes to creating a marketing campaign or strategy to build brand awareness and successfully connect with their desired audience no matter where they are in the world.
Read on as media update's Saads Abrahams gives the breakdown on cultural marketing and how to implement it successfully.
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What is cultural marketing?
Before we get into how to approach and apply cultural marketing, we need to first understand
what it is.
The
definition of cultural marketing is "a specific type of marketing whose aim is to promote a message, a service or a product to a group of potential purchasers from a particular culture or demographic."
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Why is it important?
Well, it's quite simple actually: By implementing
cultural marketing, marketers are able to help brands
build trust and
strong relationships with their audiences.
When a brand takes the
time and
effort to understand the essence of its desired audiences' cultures, it creates a sense of
care and
appreciation. This ultimately manifests in audience
loyalty and
trust.
Not only are you now creating a
loyal following, but you are also
making your brand stand out from the competition. By implementing cultural aspects into your marketing strategies, you are giving your brand new ways to stand out from everyone else!
If your brand is
trying to expand into new markets, cultural marketing is your one-stop shop to connect and relate with your new desired audience.
Shift your marketing strategies to align with the
culture or community you want to connect with, and this will help your brand to
successfully integrate with them!
By
researching and educating yourself on different cultures, you can ensure that your brand doesn't make any
inappropriate mistakes that could get you
cancelled.
A brilliant example of a brand that made a major
faux-pas is Kim Kardashian's brand Skims. Skims is
now a widely successful brand with people all over the world obsessed with it —
but when it launched, the name of the brand was
Kimono.
The release of this name was
immediately met with backlash and accusations of cultural appropriation. When the negative feedback started flooding in, Ms Kardashian realised that even though she might lose a lot of money doing the rebrand, it was
essential to do it so that her brand could become a global success!
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How to successfully implement it?
There are a few ways that brands can ensure that they successfully implement a cultural marketing campaign, and these are:
- understanding the language and lingo your desired audience speaks: For example, in South Africa, the storage space in the back of a car is known as a boot. However, in the United States of America, it is referred to as a trunk.
- thoroughly research any taboos, traditions and religious beliefs of the culture / community you are targeting. For example, if you are launching a campaign anywhere near Japan, China or Korea, stay away from using the number four as it is considered a huge no-no as the word sounds like the word death.
- collaborating with cultural experts when creating a campaign: Although you can research, they will always know more and will be able to guide you in the right direction.
- asking for feedback: Before you roll out your campaign, get members from that community to look at your campaign and try and get as much feedback as possible. If and where necessary, make adjustments. This way, you can improve your campaign and create a better relationship with your desired audience.
- monitoring the campaign — after your rollout, make use of media monitoring and social listening to track how your campaign is being received by the public. Make sure that you pay special attention to any negative feedback so you can respond and make any necessary adjustments for future campaigns!
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What are your thoughts on cultural marketing? Let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of Canva