How marketers should reconsider culture and short-term strategies — with Thinkbox's Elliott Millard

Ask marketers what they hope to accomplish and, as part of the effort to drive sales outcomes, these days, many will say they want their brand to contribute to and sit within culture But that begs the question: how do you define culture?There is a sense that culture is youth-driven and based on social currency – are you up to date on the latest trend? On what people are talking about right now? Are you speaking their language?But a new study presented at a Thinkbox event last week found that marketers might just be thinking about culture in too narrow a way, and a change in framing might cause them to rethink their media investment.Elliott Millard is the chief strategy officer at Thinkbox. He sits down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss how brands are advertising through macroeconomic adversity, and how they should reconsider how to best make a cultural impact through their advertising. Highlights:3:36: Adversity facing advertisers: Are CMOs actually embracing brand advertising again?10:32: Brands aren't doing short-termism the right way15:54: The media channels that are the biggest drivers of culture22:02: The cultural half-lives of online trends28:14: The power of predictability and the ability to plan reactivity38:07: Brand dynamics as a network effectRelated articles:Brands could double their media investment and still generate a profitable return, claims WPP Media reportThe cultural moments that will matter to media in 2026Go woke, go broke? Brands on the front line of the culture war