Haute Culture
A Cultural Strategy Consultancy
Culture shifts fluidly, shaping consumer values and choices. Is your brand fueled by emergent cultural change?
Solutions tailored to your specific brand challenges might include...
Services
Clarify
Category landscapes
While companies turn to consumer insight by default, many don't clearly understand the outside-in forces of wider culture -- a strategic oversight.
Haute Culture's consultancy services provide critical cultural insight that inspires and invigorates strategy, tailored to your brand's specific questions and needs.
Total immersion in the world-at-large, pattern observation, and decoding using a semiotics lens reveals brand-new, surprising, and even uncomfortable influences that filter into consumer sensibilities and permeate values. Perspective stretches beyond current understanding.
A culturally healthy brand savvily anticipates cultural change and conscientiously evolves how it behaves and communicates. The goal is to shift to stay fresh and meaningful to consumers into the future -- while still being true to the brand's core.
Cultural Context Groundwork
A historical perspective on cultural climate change over time to pinpoint milestones and forces shaping today's values and behaviors, explaining why they matter to your brand.
Category
Decoder
An exhaustive look at the brands within your category space, identifying their explicit and implicit communication cues (from ads, social media, packaging, in-store displays, etc.). These will be classified into distinct and detailed territories of meaning -- to help you understand where competitors play vs. your brand.
Springboard
Decoder
A rich visual and verbal understanding of the various ways a core brand concept or positioning might be expressed (e.g. "masculinity", "authenticity", "fun", "healing", "luxury"...), drawing on adjacent categories . Each "code" will be brought to life vividly, illustrating future-facing directions that might be breakthrough for your category, with guidance toward the most promising. A springboard decoder helps you align with emerging culture -- to stay true to your identity and ensure you stay relevant.
Trends
A thorough survey of your category space and relevant adjacent categories to uncover shifts in consumer values that other brands are tapping into, why they are becoming important, and how they're influencing the creation of new and interesting products and services. A bounty of specific examples will be classified into distinct territories, to stretch thinking about innovation, communication, and targeting.
Cultural Context Groundwork
A perspective on cultural change over time to pinpoint milestones and forces shaping today's values and ...
Category
Decoder
An exhaustive look at brands within your category space, both iconic and niche, identifying their explicit and implicit ...
Springboard
Decoder
A rich visual and verbal tableau to understand the various ways a core brand concept or positioning might be ...
Trends
A thorough survey of your category space and relevant adjacent categories to uncover shifts in consumer values that ...
What questions have you been pondering lately?
Let's chat?
Among the brands I've helped by providing a cultural perspective:
What is the meaning of life?
Let's chat
Email: barb@hauteculture.net
Tel/text: + 707 888 5526
I've deeply explored such fascinating topics as:
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Emergent meanings of "inclusivity," "authenticity," "beauty", "fearlessness," "energy," "green," "masculinity," "femininity," "goodness," "luxury," "generosity", "balance," "comfort," "quality," "customization"...
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The future of wellness, home, creativity, sustainable transportation, snacking, vision, breakfast, the workplace, advertising, wireless lifestyles
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The category landscapes of style, beauty, pets, flowers, investments, entertainment devices, water, athleisure, wine, gambling, premium chocolate
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Black-owned brands and fresh multicultural expressions
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Evolving Gen Z values, identity, and cultural narratives
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Stigmatized personal products transformed from 'ick' to 'wow'
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Social media tensions and opportunities in a post-truth world
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Strategies for joyful brands to thrive in today's tough times
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The significance of air to inspire air care innovation
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And more!
About Me
I consider myself a culture provocateur, deciphering how the world around us constantly evolves and thus shapes our values and choices. By tracking change and anticipating it, I help brands stay (or become) in step with consumers.
For nearly half of my 25 years in market research, I’ve specialized in cultural insight, semiotics, and trends – to me, the ultimate layers to stretch thinking and shape meaningful brand reinvention. Helming a brand consulting practice since 2014 has enriched my truth sleuthing and storymaking. Count on a nimble inquisitor, able to tap roots in quantitative communications analysis if warranted, and to deploy writing and interviewing superpowers.