GLOBAL SOUL BRANDING: PART 2

Scott Goodson writes:

What is the Global Soul?

The co-founder of StrawberryFrog, Brian Elliott put it this way:

“Back when we were envisioning what Strawberry Frog could be, we recognized the emergence of a Global Soul—a universal mindset, an electromagnetic current of people and ideas circling the globe. We saw how people in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia are influenced by ideas from miles away. Different cultural backgrounds collaborating can capture that common core.”

Pico Lyer describes these values in his book “The Global Soul.”  Born to Indian parents, raised back and forth between England and the United States, and living now in Japan when he's not visiting some far-flung corner of the earth, Pico Lyer calls himself "a mongrel," part of a fast-growing population of global souls who exist in many cultures all at once "and so fall in the cracks between them."

What do marketers need to know about this global soul? It is about opportunity, but it’s also about a greater sense of peril. Universal insight into human values increasingly joins more and more of us around the world, but not in the form of one top down advertising campaign. Rather its through new technology, tools, and understanding of our new world that we can help marketers attract a unified mosaic of diversity.

The way to understanding this is by looking at trends in the cultural conversation.  For now, let’s talk about one that marketers cannot ignore (expect more to be coming soon)  – "The Active Mosaic” - How yesterday’s melting pot or salad bowl is becoming a continuous amalgamation of random cultural influences.

From Mono- to Multi- to Transculturalism.  First, it takes the form of exposure to another culture. Then, a ‘tossed salad.’ From there, multiculturalism evolves. From a Canadian’s perspective who has lived during the melting pot era of politics in that country, the melting pot simply assumes too much.  A mosaic is a better metaphor, but only a snapshot in time, which ultimately led to the Benetton cliché—assimilated transculture.  An ‘active mosaic’ best explains the phenomenon. Existing culture meets emerging culture,  they exchange and mutate characteristics - creating an ever-evolving mosaic of global, organic living culture.  Some examples of this are Remixes and hybrids: design, arts, media, social. Musical genre-blending. Film allusion and homage. TV remakes and exports. Food and drink fusions.

James Brown's influence on Hip Hop was huge.

But in turn Hip Hop’s influence on different music genres has been enormous.

James Brown and Hip Hop's influence are also seen in sport.

It also gets increasing interesting to look at the active mosaic in the drinks world. Here, there are two dynamics at play.   The engineer approach: looking at product that is able to replace an ingredient and balance a proposition (e.g. the revival of absinthe, use of guarana, and the increasing use of sake in mixed drinks replacing vodka or tequila).  The second is the marketer approach: looking for the product behind which you can create a story, generating appeal (e.g. Green Tea Saketini, Sakeriniha (sake + kiwi & grapes). When we pitched Don Julio we came up with the idea of Dom Pom, Tequila on rocks with a splash of POM pomegranate juice and a frozen tequila-infused salted lime. The next big thing should be Shochu, a barley beverage, which is the drink of choice for Japanese youth. It has low alcohol content, a pleasant aftertaste and usually comes mixed with fruit juice.

Food is another area where the active mosaic is rampant across the world.  For example, Okonomiyaki-ka is a popular pancake/pizza dish with mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce (evolution of the Worcestershire sauce). The Indian Bhel Puri comes with variations such as Chinese Bhel (similar in taste than American chopSuey).  And then there’s Mexican sev puri (baked bean-cheese combination). Rt. Hon. Robin Cook says, “Chicken Tikka Massala is now a true British national dish, not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences. Chicken Tikka is an Indian dish. The Massala sauce was added to satisfy the desire of British people to have their meat served in gravy.”  Even eating routines have evolved  - meaning the eating times and nature of the main meals have changed. For instance, in Europe, French and German lunch is slowly shrinking in time; conversely the number of dishes Germans eat for dinner is getting heartier. Traditional family Estonian dinner goes separate during the week, while Spain has banned the traditional lunch siesta.  In Serbia two traditional meals have become three.

So what do marketers need to remember when navigating the growing mosaic? Staying above or navigating across the mosaic cannot be done with a bland culture that is global, ultimately relevant to no one. One must own a piece of the mosaic—it must be true.  Authenticity rules. Aiming for universal insight can link common values globally, but more importantly, provide the opportunity for local flavor and bottom up engagement.

tbc....

Comments

[Nikita Dighe]

A growing mosaic is all very well and the marketers have enough problems navingating their way through it to create great ads or opening up dialogues with their brand. But I think there is a problem right at the bottom whithin the hiring departments of advertising agencies. Everyone knows that a broad multicultural background and and an even broader cultural understanding can make for great creativity. The creative field is tough to break into but what I'm finding is that account planning is even tougher. They seem to hire from within and where's the diversity or freshness of thinking in that? I have two indian parents was raised in Malaysia and then in the UK and have been to other places in between - a self proclaimed global citizen and creative catalyst. But none if this is of any use if the directors of planning don't even know you exist.