Cultural relevance just got tangible.
Brandgeist IQ is a first-of-its-kind, proprietary methodology designed to measure the real-time cultural relevance of brands.While being culturally relevant is so mission critical to driving brand love, to date there was no single, universal source of truth to measure cultural relevance—so we decided to score some brownie points and create our very own.
THIS ALGORITHM WON’T TAKE YOUR JOB, BUT IT MIGHT HELP YOU DO IT BETTER.
By combining our consumer brands prowess with our best-in-class performance and intelligence chops, we’ve created a living, breathing data model. With measurable inputs including whether a brand is plugged into pop culture, disrupting the norm, living with purpose, always inclusive, and modern and on-trend, Brandgeist IQ reveals a proprietary score from 1-100 based on how culturally relevant each brand is at any moment in time.
PLUGGED INTO POP CULTURE
Is your brand tapping into trending topics and cultural moments? Are you a leading voice in a crowded conversation? Do you playfully jab at competitors?
DISRUPTING THE NORM
Is your brand doing something unexpected, bold or brave? Are you launching unique products and winning awards for them? Do your activities translate to talk-value?
LIVING WITH PURPOSE
Is your brand standing up for something with authenticity and true commitment? Are you mission-based and inspiring others to join the fight?
ALWAYS INCLUSIVE
Is your brand leveraging diverse spokespeople across marketing activities? Do you represent a variety of people in all you do? Do you make it comfortable for people to come as they are?
MODERN AND ON-TREND
Is your brand’s visual aesthetic keeping pace with the times and consistent across channels? Is your tone of voice casual and inviting?
HOW IT WORKS
69.70
71.20
46.60
54.30
56.0
57.00
57.00
59.50
64.20
53.60
49.10
63.20
58.60
48.30
39.60
54.00
51.70
56.60
45.50
46.70
40.10
48.40
49.60
57.90
42.20
48.70
68.70
61.10
64.40
36.30
50.0
43.80
52.3
79.20
72.4
42.00
88.10
59.90
70.10
53.90
44.50
52.80
40.80
68.30
54.40
43.80
54.30
Plugged into Pop Culture
Brands that had a presence during the 2023 Big Game seemed to dominate pop culture once again—with Pepsi, McDonald’s and Bud Light all seeing positive upswings within this indicator after their surround-sound campaigns.
Disrupting the Norm
These brands are in their disruption eras with scores on the rise thanks to their recent, innovative moves—such as ThredUp’s brand collabs with the likes of Kate Spade, H&M, Madewell and J. Crew to power the rise of e-commerce.
Modern and On-Trend
With modern aesthetics and inviting prose, these brands are staying in the moment visually and tonally. What’s more inviting than how Calm’s visual identity makes us feel like we’re dozing under a weighted blanket?
Living with Purpose
Purpose is at the core of how these brands show up in the market—and they walk the walk, like Sephora lifting up Black-owned beauty brands during Black History Month and beyond.
Always Inclusive
These are showing the world the importance of inclusivity, even in unexpected ways—like Goldfish celebrating hands of larger proportions through their hand bowl partnership with NBA star Boban Marjanović.
© 2022