Cultural Intelligence for Marketers: Building an Inclusive Marketing Strategy

“Inclusivity, cultural representation, and social responsibility are the future of marketing strategy,” according to this perceptive debut guide. Reddit brand strategist Gabriel proposes “four Cs” of cultural intelligence: communication (being mindful of language and imagery in messaging), community (dialogue between a brand and its audience), consciousness (understanding how social inequities impact audiences), and culture (keeping an eye on the zeitgeist). Case studies explore how businesses can integrate these principles into their marketing strategies. For instance, Gabriel praises a 2019 Gillette commercial depicting a father teaching his trans son how to shave, contending it normalized “inclusive representation of trans people in mainstream culture.” Interviews with advertising professionals provide stimulating perspectives on how to create inclusive marketing (former ad agency executive Ambika Gautam Pai describes how her instincts about “what feels right” and knowledge gleaned “from engaging with the people we’re building for” guided her work). Throughout, Gabriel’s keen attention to the messy ways in which different groups make meaning out of advertisements gives the volume a scholarly rigor (she breaks down cultural theorist Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model, which explains how individuals’ differing backgrounds can lead them to divergent interpretations of the same text). Marketing professionals will find this a valuable resource. (Mar.)