20-07-2025
Culture key for M+C Saatchi as agency rolls out fresh proposition
PETALING JAYA: The ability to grasp and effectively resonate with culture has become critical for driving brand growth in today's media landscape.
With the growing fragmentation of media, audiences are now more spread out and difficult to reach.
'The role of the marketer in building brands has been fundamentally challenged and is more complex than ever,' said Justin Graham, Asia-Pacific chief executive officer of M+C Saatchi Group.
As a result, it is essential that agencies quickly adapt.
In light of this rapidly changing environment, M+C Saatchi Group recently unveiled its global 'Cultural Power' framework, developed to unite deep cultural insight with creative strategy across all its touchpoints.
'We're bringing this notion of creating and curating Cultural Power to the centre of our proposition. Recognising that brands are built through culture, it's an extraordinary space for us to understand short-term and long-term trends, and how brands can be built in an enduring way,' said Graham.
This proprietary approach aims to go beneath the surface data to uncover cultural truths that shape consumer behaviour.
'While data shows us behaviours, culture reveals the values and tensions behind them,' he explained.
Underpinning the framework is the Cultural Power Index, M+C Saatchi's AI-powered, data-driven diagnostic and insights tool developed to measure a brand's cultural power and identify its effect on business performance.
Using AI-enhanced analysis and expert workshops, the index examines and compares brands around the world, tracking brand desire, influence, and presence.
From there, it then also takes into account cultural moments and their impact.
Graham: While data shows us behaviours, culture reveals the values and tensions behind them. — ART CHEN/The Star
'We live in a dynamic world where there are constantly new trends, movements, and shifts in how people think about themselves and how they relate to the culture,' Graham said.
'What are the moments that brands should be buying into? What are the ones that are not relevant to them at all? We've all seen brands that have jumped onto something and thought, why is that bank involved in that funny TikTok trend? Why is that telco company doing this?'
To help brands harness their cultural power, the index provides these insights and translates them into strategy to deliver authenticity and emotional resonance.
Additionally, its real-time tracking component monitors shifts in cultural perception, ensuring brands are able to stay ahead. As the framework rolls out across the group's global network, Graham shares that each market will see a level of localisation based on its unique cultural context.
'I think it will look very different, as there are various nuances within Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.
'In fact, the Malaysian market has arguably embraced brands into the cultural context more than others, whether it be festivities, religious holidays, or cultural moments. So there seems to be more permission for brands to drive cultural resonance and cultural power here in Malaysia.'
Datin Lara Hussein, chief executive officer and founder of M+C Saatchi Malaysia, adds that the ethos of using culture as a springboard has guided some of the agency's most resonant past campaigns, such as Axiata's 'Getaran Story'.
Ahead of Merdeka celebrations, the brand launched a film titled Getaran Pertama, which followed the journey to form the first choir that would sing the national anthem for a new independent Malaya.
Featuring documentary-style interviews providing first-hand accounts, the film showcased how Malayans of different races and backgrounds came together in an emblematic unity that echoed the hopes for the new nation.
'It was a very human, heartfelt story that avoided cliché. We were able to find the real people, who are in their 80s now, but were young kids back in 1957,' Lara said.
'It's about finding that nuance that's going to have an impact and make a difference, as opposed to superficial storytelling.'
The Cultural Power identity refresh, she noted, further cements M+C Saatchi's commitment towards embedding cultural knowledge at every stage so that clients can connect on a strategic and human level.
Graham adds that this approach often brings a multiplier effect that extends beyond traditional lines between bought media, earned media, owned media.
'On the owned media side, it is also about how we can create culturally resonant and relevant stories and experiences within organisations, so that it's as meaningful for the people that work there as it is for the customers that they're talking to,' he said.
'It's really broadening out the scope of what a brand can look like, and showing how it is one of the most powerful assets an organisation can have.'
