The Ripple Effect

How Culture Creators Spot the Next Big Wave.

Last weekend my husband and I had a rare afternoon to ourselves. It was a beautiful spring day in Florida and we decided to hop on our bikes and head to the beach. It was the first ocean dip of the season, except for a New Year’s Day polar plunge.  The water was cool and calm; the perfect conditions for back floating, cloud gazing and body surfing. 

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. #nofilter

My husband surfs. It is his first love and lifelong passion. He has cultivated an instinct for the water. He can read currents and wave patterns. He can predict their momentum and velocity. While I simply gaze out at the vastness of the ocean, trying to take in its beauty and power, he is studying the current; the direction and speed of the wind and its influence on the cadence and size of the waves.   

I was floating on my back when suddenly he told me to get ready, the third ripple back was the one we were going to catch. 

I didn’t see anything that distinguished that ripple from the others ahead of it or behind it. They were all the same size, moving at the same speed. He told me to face forward, angle my body to the left, and wait for it. 

Slowly, the third ripple began to rise. As it got closer, I started to feel its gravitational pull. It gently tugged my body backwards as I instinctively reached my arms forward, positioning my body to surrender to its force. 

Then. At an exact moment, the ripple peaked. My body was pulled into its curve. My head and heart aligned with its crest and the rest of my body lifted weightlessly into position. The wave folded over me, propelling me forward along its natural path towards the shore. 

My husband has become attuned to the emerging patterns in a sea of ripples. He knows which ones to let pass, which ones will die, and which ones to ride. His ability to spot them early is the magic and mystery. It’s a skill and an instinct, a discipline and an art form. It requires experience and intuition, practice and meditation.  I have come to see Culture Creators in the same way. 

Understanding The Currents of Culture

Culture Creators are the creatives who analyze, predict, influence and ultimately usher in the movements and expressions that shape culture. These creative leaders have a rare and refined sensitivity to what is emergent in our culture and collective consciousness. They are the ones who spot the patterns in seemingly random, unrelated themes that bubble up across categories, consumer segments, and industries, and create connections between them that reveal rich insights. They identify which of these insights to explore further, and predict with puzzling accuracy which will influence significant cultural shifts. 

Predicting The Next Wave 

Culture Creators live with a finely tuned instinct for the zeitgeist, but unlike influencers and other cultural players, Culture Creators aren’t just playing the game for today; they are actively pulling forward the ideas that will shape tomorrow. They are used to being ahead of their time. In fact, it’s their superpower. By the time the movement is in the mainstream, they are having a wholly new conversation about what’s next.  

Culture Creators care less about who the influencers are, and more about why they are influential. They are more interested in understanding the consumer cravings that drive a craze than the moment of cultural hysteria itself. Their role is to feel the current and predict the wave that the influencers will ride. 

Sensing Momentum 

Culture Creators can sense momentum. They decipher movements from moments, novelty from noise, and ingenuity from conformity. They are the first ones to feel the gravitational pull of rising ideas that are destined to become revelations. And they are the experts who intuitively know how to position a brand to catch their best wave.  

This instinct is invaluable to brands. There are so many brands that scramble to capitalize on a micro-trend, only to discover it’s dead on arrival. Not only have they wasted creativity and capital, but they’ve diluted their brand. In a race for relevance, brands often compromise their essence. Culture Creators are guided by the momentum and direction of the current, not the momentary movement of the waves.   

Seeking New Shores  

The greatest Culture Creators, while deeply aware of and attuned to culture, are not seeking the approval of culture, at least not in the mainstream. To do so would be to create more of what exists, and that is not their primary objective. Instead, they inspire evolution. They are the harbingers of change, ushering in fresh perspective and novel approaches that bring us somewhere new, thus propelling culture forward. 

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The Culture Creator is usually a person or a small team. They may be known for the brands they are aligned with, or they may not be known at all. Sometimes, they are the brand. There are a few ways to distinguish a Culture Creator from a person or brand that is merely trendy or influential: 

1. They are relevant despite their rebellion against the status quo. 

2. Their strategy is to appeal to early adopters. They’re not gunning for the mainstream. They’re more interested in grassroots fandom. Ironically, these are the cultish brands that eventually influence the mainstream.  

3. They introduce something novel, even if it’s served with a side of nostalgia. The secret to introducing innovation is to package it with something familiar. 

4. They often say what no one is saying but many are thinking. They are often the first to give a voice to an emerging feeling. 

5. They are brave. Daring. Ballsy. Irreverent. 

6. They stay above the fray. You won’t catch these brands jumping on micro-trends. Ironically and often accidentally, they create micro-trends. 

7. They think dupes suck. Ironically, they are often the brands that get duped. 

8. Their fans are on the fringes of the bell-curve, and that’s how they know they’ve succeeded. 

9. They’re usually pretty humble. They talk about their love of the creative process, their obsession with their customers and fans, and their hopeful vision for the future. 

10. Their contribution to culture is transformational and enduring. And there are many whom you’ll never hear about. Their role isn’t to be in the spotlight. Their role is to shine the spotlight on what’s next.

Which brands come to mind? Who is creating culture in your world? Shall we start a chat?