#01: Climate Strike, Rebellious Women and Cultural Brands
On the climate strike, rebellious women and cultural brands
Hi, the first edition of this newsletter is here, and I’m excited about this.
I wanted to have a space to explore the intersection between culture, creativity and brands. The past year has been transformational for me in terms of career focus: after almost 10 years of working in the same space my interests were shifting and I needed a new challenge. I set out to discover what I wanted to learn, and after a long process with its ups and downs, I’m aligned and focused.
So why Unusual Patterns? My brain is always switched on, and things that (at first glance) seem unusual catch my attention regularly. It’s when I take the time to look at them at a macro level, that I see they are all part of an ever-changing and more intricate pattern of culture. The aim is not to “track” culture, but to take a few examples and try to make sense of them.
⚡️Fast culture (featuring something popular/trendy/viral this week, and the meaning behind it)
This image of Phoebe Waller-Bridge at a party after winning several Emmy awards went viral. It's easy to see the charm of the picture, and I find its duality delightful: this brilliant woman has achieved global recognition and success and is at one of the most exclusive Hollywood parties wearing an incredible gown, yet she is celebrating alone, taking some "me time" to appreciate the moment and giving zero fucks to what’s happening around her. This is about escapism, power, and rebellion: we deserve to overindulge in our achievements, to disregard other people’s demands over our time and attention, and to confidently express that we deserve what we achieve even when society tries to make us feel guilty about it. This attitude is everything I’d like to see in advertising for women.
🌎Slow culture (related to our behaviour or values, which reflects a deeper change in society)
The climate crisis is high up on the agenda, and rightfully so. After delivering a passionate speech at the UN, Greta Thunberg and sixteen other kids filed a legal complaint against five countries on the grounds that the climate crisis is a violation of children's rights. This has made matters official: it's on, and it's Kids vs. the Adults of the World.
This powerful message pointing at adults, the ones who have stolen kids’ dreams and childhoods, perfectly encapsulates eco-anxiety. The term builds on the concept of solastalgia (mental or existential distress caused by environmental change) and captures similar feelings of loss and fear as species go extinct, the Amazon rainforest burns and cities are ruined by climate disasters. Unlike most other forms of anxiety, which are based on an irrational fear of a danger that is very unlikely, eco-anxiety is based on a danger that is very real and is proven to be a threat to human life. In the UK there is a rising number of kids being treated for eco-anxiety and parents are being given tips for handling it at home.
It would seem that the generational divide between centennials (the victims) and boomers (the perpetrators) is intensifying, while millennials (guilty by association) are waking up into action. A very interesting challenge for anyone working on brands for the family segment.
🖌Unusual pattern (exploring the relationship between the unrelated)
Oh, strategists, we uncover insights for a living and therefore we're obsessed with them. I found this article which explores insights with an unusual pairing, taking 19th-century American poet Emily Dickinson's perspective to poetry and the music of Lil Nas X and Billie Eilish.
Emily Dickinson encourages us to “tell all the truth but tell it slant”. Telling the truth, even when it’s real, isn’t enough. The truth needs “slant” — a touch of twist that makes the truth noticeable and memorable. In the case of these two artists, slant is the topspin of effervescent surprise that permeates every aspect of their art. While some may claim this “triumph of the weird” is popular now but will soon give way to whatever is next, I believe the importance of slant is something far deeper and far more permanent. As such, this is also an effective lens through which we can re-consider what is needed from consumer insights in order to be effective in today’s age of abundance.
by John Greene
The article then suggests three guidelines for contemporary consumer insights to “tell all the truth but tell it slant.” You should check it out (this is the kind of article that I wish I’d written)
🎯Cultural insight (the insight behind an advert)
I believe advertising should reflect, celebrate and advance culture, so this section will try to figure out the cultural insight behind an advert. This week it's an ad from the National Lottery and by agency adam&eveDDB. Michelle's story warms my heart.
Anyone following the news in Britain can say we are in desperate need of some good news. Politicians and powerful people are acting shamelessly on the regular, and the financial situation is pretty grim (an increase of homelessness, food banks, zero-hour contracts, etc). Michelle, who could be our neighbour or aunt, is the protagonist who works at a fairly standard call centre but gets to deliver good news for a living and does so with empathy and care. It's the selflessness of Michelle amongst the selfishness of the privileged that makes this ad so lovely. We want to see working-class people be the heroes of the story.
🕶 Bonus track
TikTok of the week: "Tall Girl" is a Netflix movie that makes being tall sound like having polio. The movie starts with the protagonist (who, btw, is 1.85m tall) declaring that her life is awful because she needs to wear Men's Nikes in size 13. Minority groups are responding with their struggles, but this TikToker clapped back putting things into perspective.
And some extra links:
If you are a fan of Kombucha Girl, you’re going to love this
What Netflix’s Criminal tell us about international appetites for crime drama
Christopher Reeve explains what Superman represents culturally
Badass millennial women are supercharging startup investments
Joaquin Phoenix Won't Talk About the Ties Between 'Joker' and White Terrorism
Gucci has gone 'from litigious to lit' with the newly inclusive exclusivity
Well, this is it. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you again for signing up for this even before the first edition, your trust hasn’t gone unnoticed.
I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts, or connect with me on Twitter (where I share too many links that don’t make it here).
Until next time,
Florencia
Cultural Patterns is a newsletter by Florencia Lujani about cultural insight, creativity and strategy. If you’ve enjoyed it, consider subscribing :)