Every audience already has a language. Numbers that mean more than their face value. Music genres that carry an entire identity. Sports metaphors that land harder than any brand claim. Words that don't exist yet but should. The brands that earn cultural credibility think in that language from the start — not as a translation exercise, but as the brief itself
Here are eight creative tactics from the Get Into Culture Engine that make the audience feel as if the brand has always been one of them.
- Speak in their numbers
- Speak their music
- Speak their sport
- Create the word they're missing
- Remove the word to show what's absent
- Speak through the body
- Speak through universal symbols
- Speak their values back to them
1. Speak in Their Numbers
Find the number that already means something to your audience — and make it do your work.
NZ Says '39' — Tourism New Zealand, Special Group, 2020
Japanese tourists were visiting New Zealand less and less, despite being a key tourism market. Research revealed that Japanese visitors would be more likely to return if they saw their own culture reflected in Kiwi culture — and both cultures share a deep value around being a good host. Tourism New Zealand decided to thank Japan for hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup. In Japan, the number 39 is shorthand for "thank you." The New Zealand rugby team arrived in Japan with 39 on their jerseys and took the gesture to the field. The campaign achieved an estimated $41.1 million NZD in ad value and 14 million views across social media.
The NZ Blood Service's World's Biggest Reserve Bench (YoungShand, 2019) used a different numerical logic: in sport, the reserve bench is what makes the team unbreakable. Blood donation framed as joining the bench — the campaign resulted in 96,000 new donation enquiries, with 6,000 people signing up in the first three days.
