Panel: The Brand Benefits of Building a Cultural Insights Function

Companies spend a lot of time refining their platform, their positioning, and their messaging. And, when they engage with tools to see what is happening out in the world, their work most often focuses on what the world is saying—about them, and about their competitors. In this session, hear for a strategist and consultant who has built his career out of convincing organizations of the power and importance of listening to what’s happening in the culture outside their walls, bringing that knowledge back to bear on the organization, and developing company positions meant to do that work. From community liaisons for newsrooms and audience experience research for brands to projects analyzing topics and voices of cultural interest for book publishers and vaccine hesitancy narratives for public health communicators and ambassadors, Ford will share examples from a career to date spent helping organizations thinking about why—and how—to hone their cultural intelligence.