By: Gung Ho Team and Geraldine Wharry

The marketing landscape has become complex, often turning culture into a buzzword. Many are caught up chasing trends, confusing viral moments with true cultural movements, which stifles creativity and clouds our understanding of the communities we should be speaking to.

At Gung Ho, we believe it’s time is now to usher in a renewed sense of creativity, truth and cultural reimagining. Our mission has always been to reimagine and redefine what brands can contribute to culture, especially as audience tastes and business evolves.

In the coming months our agency will be sharing insights and practical tools for navigating three challenging topics that we all encounter in our everyday:

Decoding Culture: Examining truths and exploring our collective roles as contributors (not followers) of culture.

Fostering Radical Creativity: Allowing the outside world in (communities, culture, and wider signals) to shape our brand approach.

Positively Challenging Conventions: Futureproofing brand relevance, with a balance between business and cultural impact.

Let’s get started with our first topic. Decoding Culture.

Culture doesn’t happen to us. We make it happen.

Culture isn't something that happens to us; it's something we create. We work to bring clarity to the brands we partner with and the communities they serve, so together we can be catalysts for change. The "Decoder mindset" helps us transform noise into insight, empowering us to let go of outdated habits and embrace new, shared truths.

In a world driven by constant hype and shifting narratives, decoding culture is more valuable than ever. Hypercycle is our guide to navigating today’s fast-paced culture, helping us rediscover authenticity in a world that goes beyond fleeting trends.

We believe some tenets are inevitable truths –

With Speedo, we’ve shown that a brand doesn’t need to move fast to make progress. Beyond our global collaborations at the Olympics, we‘ve launched grassroots initiatives such as Speedo Outsiders, an outdoor swim club series inspired by the growing outdoor swimming movement. Each series has expanded the community, shared authentic stories, broadened Speedo’s lifestyle appeal, and generated insights to drive new commercial initiatives and partnerships. This project exemplifies a culturally awake brand that’s effectively harnessed their untapped “Truth Reimagined” to serve both the brand, community, and business.

WE ARE CULTURAL PRODUCERS AND TRUTH SEEKERS.

Perhaps our biggest blind spot in the marketing industry has been ignoring our power as contributors to the cultural zeitgeist - we are ‘cultural producers’. We have the power to shape culture and shouldn’t leave positive change for future generations to handle. As brands, want to be accountable with our power of influence.

Who are the “real” influencers?

Brands, creatives, marketeers, designers and cultural strategists we are part of the cultural production machine, but it’s essential to stay grounded. Ultimately what people, communities and consumers care about is what counts, along with the needs of our planet.

Together, we’re all decoders, capable of driving meaningful change. This purpose should guide us, not just as an industry but as part of a larger cultural project.

UN-CONFUSING OURSELVES.

The industry's habit of constantly chasing trends has become outdated and counterproductive. Cultural production has hit a breaking point, and many of us are instinctively searching for our "north star” —a return to truth and authenticity.

“Cultural production has become flat as the information we make and share travels through media without any sense of hierarchy or grounded validity.”

– Jack Self, Big Flat Now piece - 032C

In today’s media landscape, the focus on fads has compromised brand authenticity. We’ve all been immersed in the same cycle, trying to find a way out. Many are now realising that constantly chasing fast trends is unsustainable. While trends have a role in cultural discussions, treating passing micro trends as a meaningful cultural moment just for the sake of content and virality hasn't served us well.

COMMIT TO COMMUNITY

“There’s been a major shift in brand behaviour over the last few years. We’re seeing big players moving beyond their category norms and acting as entertainment brands, leveraging their IP across a variety of comms touch points in fresh, unexpected ways to meet consumers & communities where they are.

It’s less about ‘buying from’ and more about ‘buying into,’ with cultural relevance at the heart of it all. And it’s increasingly important for brands to tap into the right areas of culture (and also unexpected areas where it makes sense!) with complete authenticity and the ability to tell stories that move people both emotionally & behaviourally."

– Esther Howard, Head of Creative Strategy, Gung Ho

We work for culture and serve communities. Culture is the way and has always been created by communities who share a value system and/or pioneers. As cultural-producers and decoders, we are committed to how we nurture our community-first approach with careful consideration over the Why? What for? And for how long?

You can find more principles and POVs around authentically navigating culture both in Hypercycle and our previous research and reports here.

To learn more about navigating culture, subscribe to our Now & Next Newsletter here.

Truth Reimagined. An Introduction.