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“If we understand people, the things that are happening beneath the surface, not just things that we observe, then we can leverage those understandings to inform and impact what happens on the surface.”
— Marcus Collins
Identity is the anchor of culture, and culture is the most influential driver of human behavior. The need to belong is etched in our DNA, and aspirational brands leverage culture to build their tribe. Therefore, describing culture in clear language is crucial for harnessing its power. This allows brands to connect with consumers and differentiate themselves from the competition. Join us for an exciting conversation with our first returning guest, Marcus Collins as we dive deep into the impact of culture on our identity and behavior.
Dr. Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator who, until recently, had one foot in the world of practice—serving as the Chief Strategy Officer at Wieden+Kennedy New York—and one foot in the world of academia—as a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.
His deep understanding of brand strategy and consumer behavior has helped him bridge the academic-practitioner gap for blue-chip brands and startups. Marcus is a recipient of Advertising Age's 40 Under 40 award, Crain's Business' 40 Under 40 award, and a recent inductee into the American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Achievement. Marcus holds a doctorate in marketing from Temple University, where he studied cultural contagion and meaning-making. He also received an MBA in strategic brand marketing from the University of Michigan, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Material Science Engineering.
Check out the key takeaways of this episode or the transcript below, as Marcus identifies the core drivers of culture and how it affects human behavior.
- The Biggest Driver of Culture: Marcus explains that the need to be a part of a community where people are similar to us is part of our DNA. We want to be a part of tribes and communities that share our points of view and how we see the world around us.
- How Brands Use Culture as a Differentiator: Brands that promote a culture and values that align with that of their audience stand a better chance of differentiating themselves from the competition and becoming a favored brand of their audience. Brands need to learn how to build an emotional connection with their audience. Liquid Death is a brand selling water, the most generic of commodities. However, it sells the product in metal containers with a tagline that says Death to plastics. This culture and value resonate with the sustainability culture of its audience.
- Use Psychographics to Define Your Ideal Customer Profile: Using demographics to define your ideal customer is efficient but highly inaccurate. Brands need to look at their customers from a cultural lens because that establishes people's self-identity.
- How Brands Evolve Their Identity to Stay Relevant: Brands can evolve without changing their ideologies and beliefs. Nike, for example, believes every human is an athlete, and that core belief has remained constant even as product and brand communication has evolved.
- The Role of AI in Evolving Culture and Human Behavior: Technology extends human behavior and helps connect the world. There's a natural decay in relationships where you're not physically close to each other or constantly in contact, but technology like social platforms extend and sustain connectivity.
- Key Takeaways from Marcus’s Book ‘For the Culture’: For the Culture is Marcus’ debut book that illustrates the influence of culture on human behavior and gives readers the tools they need to inspire collective change. Through this book, Marcus hopes that readers will learn from his mistakes, struggles, and epiphanies in order to gain insights to make better decisions.
