How to stop mimicking culture & engage with it instead

In a world where a pasta shape can go viral (looking at you, cascatelli) and fictional TV characters inspire real-life fashion lines, one thing’s crystal clear:

Culture isn’t just something we consume. It’s something we live. And if your brand isn’t tapping into culture with purpose and precision, you’re likely invisible.

Today’s consumers aren’t waiting for a clever billboard or a cheeky product ad to feel seen. They’re scrolling, sharing, stitching, remixing, and obsessing over content that feels like them. And at the heart of it all? A deceptively simple framework known as the 5C’s Model.

Culture moves people. People move markets.

Consumers are more emotionally invested in the things they care about than ever before. They form communities around their passions. They build identities around their favourite shows, sounds, aesthetics, and subcultures. They create, comment, and convert, not because a brand told them to, but because it feels personal.

But this is stuff you already know.

Culture isn’t just a trend you can slap on a campaign. It’s not a font. It’s not a trending sound. It’s not a one-liner ripped from Twitter. And yet, brands keep showing up in spaces they don’t understand, wearing culture like a Halloween costume and wondering why it’s not converting.

That’s because culture is not a look—it’s a language. And if you’re not fluent, your audience won't bite.

Which is why I bring up the 5 C’s. It’s a model often repeated, occasionally misused, but when done right, genuinely powerful. It goes like this:

Culture → Content → Community → Conversation → Commerce

Many jump straight to content without actually earning their place in culture. And that, my friends, is a fatal flaw.

So how do you utilise culture to make it work? Let’s go through it.

Step 1: Culture

What most brands do: See a trend, panic, and try to “insert themselves into the conversation.” They mimic the style of the moment (hello, brain rot chaos marketing) without asking the harder questions, like, Does this space reflect our values? Do we belong here? Will this make sense in six months?

What smart brands do: Treat culture as a compass. They pick lanes they can commit to, not just cosplay. Whether it’s sports, music, gaming, sustainability, identity, wellness, or niche internet micro-aesthetics, they embed themselves in culture with purpose and patience. They show up consistently, not just virally.

Because culture is not a one-off. It’s your GPS for how to behave, what to say, and who to say it with.

Step 2: Content

Once you’ve got the cultural foundation right, then you make stuff. Good content is fluent in the codes of the culture it’s engaging. It feels native to the platform. It respects the audience’s intelligence. And it doesn’t explain the joke… it is the joke.

Bad content, on the other hand, is what happens when brands confuse style with substance. It looks right on the surface, but has the soul of a quarterly sales target.

Ask yourself: Would someone share this because it feels like them, or because it’s about you?

Step 3: Community

Community is earned, not collected. Followers don’t equal fandom. Likes don’t mean loyalty.

Real community is what happens when your content actually lands. It sparks recognition, response, repeat interaction. It creates a “we” narrative—people who talk to each other, not just back to the brand.

The goal is to stop marketing at people and start building with them.

Step 4: Conversation

Here’s where you separate the brands with a pulse from the ones running on autopilot. Culture is dynamic. It evolves. Which means your brand has to engage in ongoing conversation… not just post and peace out.

And let’s be very clear here: the conversation is already happening with or without you. The real question is whether you’re brave enough to listen, participate, and sometimes even change your mind.

Step 5: Commerce

If you’ve made it this far, congrats. Because this is where most brands start, and where the best brands end up.

When people feel aligned with your cultural position, invested in your content, connected through community, and heard in conversation, commerce is inevitable. It’s not forced. It’s invited.

Because you didn’t interrupt them with an offer. You became part of their world.

So, why do so many brands still get this wrong?

Because it’s so much easier to mimic culture than to meaningfully engage with it. It’s easier to jump on a TikTok trend than to study what your audience actually values. It’s easier to reference a meme than to earn trust.

It’s easier to act like culture is a layer you can add in post instead of the framework you build with from the start.

But in reality, you can’t fake resonance. You either have it, or you don’t. And the difference is whether you're showing up in costume… or with a compass.

-Sophie Randell, Writer