Carol A. Watson 

A Cultural Confluence:

Approaches to Embedding Cultural Inclusion

Throughout the Marketing Process

 

This study explored the culturally driven variables in the marketing process that can contribute to a brand’s success or minimize cultural missteps. The primary research question was: How are consumer brand organizations building capabilities and organizing to embed cultural inclusion and insights throughout the marketing communications process? Twenty senior- level marketing executives contributed to the mixed- methods study. Five critical variables were found to be consistent across industries:  effective data collection, reporting, and integration are critical; leadership must be courageous and culturally skilled; strategic alignment around cultural inclusion throughout the enterprise and across internal and external stakeholders is necessary; culturally adaptive talent management is required; and end-to-end focus and re-calibration of the processes requires resource investments and a commitment to hardwire a refined approach. Recommendations for leveraging the variables included a greater focus on data integration, inclusive leadership development, process recalibration and development of cultural agility competencies, and knowledge sharing across industries.