2024 marks the Silver Jubilee anniversary of Alan Donald getting run out in the 1999 World Cup Cricket semi-final against Australia and South Africa going out of the World Cup. And it is said that South Africa has never recovered from the ‘chokers ‘ tag after that in big ticket ICC tournaments.
For those who would like to see that disheartening or exuberant moment(depending on which side of the fence you are) unfold, here is the link to the video https://www.facebook.com/cricketworldcup/videos/401458807129583/
That moment in time was a well-documented cluster bomb in culture, exploding across traditional media. Imagine social and memes were available at scale back then as they are now.
Fast-forward to today. Culture is less top-down. Social has enabled a more bottom-up, bubble-up, decentralized way for culture to emerge. And the energy, velocity and amplification power of social is reshaping our world, enabling subcultures and shifting power to consumers and communities.
In a few days from now, Facebook will turn 20( launched on Feb 4, 2004). And introspect on what was and what is. Upending is an understatement. And it is an incredible time to be alive. Two of the world’s biggest democracies( India & the USA) will have an election year. Two wars that should have never started in the first place show no signs of ending. Is it time to go all guns blazing?
The need for brands to embed cultural integration has never been greater. To win attention and connect in this new environment, brands need to understand nuances and show empathy like never before. Because, this is a new context where there is not one easy-to-understand mainstream popular culture.
As people crave for new individuality, as the chorus gets more hoarse on climate crisis and the deafening silence amidst geo-political conflicts continues unabated, all of this while platforms struggle with attention scarcity, differentiation needs, AI disruption and advertising under pressure. But hey, it’s the new normal. Big social is having sort of a midlife crisis.
If we look into the future, through the lens of culture, nothing is more certain in the times to come than, uncertainty.
It is indeed time for a culture reset.
ENDS