Language and Culture Lead the Way in 2020 and Beyond

There is much money to be made in predicting the future The business world has no shortage of selfproclaimed quotfuturistsquot who promise year after year to peer into their crystal ball and pinpoint what will be relevant to a given brand or industryI have found the quotprediction economyquot is primarily driven by what ails most of our business thinking a commitment to shortterm blips rather than identifying longterm and sometimes seemingly disconnected moves in culture Our shared reality as humans can39t be distilled to a top five 10 or even 50 list of quotwhat39s coming nextquot A more complex perspective will show that the foundation for what is vital in 2020 might have been built in previous years There is comfort in the quotbeginning and endquot as defined by a calendar but culture doesn39t work that way Culture is complex and it is certainly not linearLooking back 2016 was a year of incredible social turmoil The results of the US presidential election coupled with Brexit signaled a global seismic shift in perceived norms Today the fallout from those events is everywhereAt that time I asserted that language in meaning and use would take center stage and would be vital to our understanding of how the world was developing In 2020 the premise underlying the importance of language has not changed If anything it is more intense We create and shape our reality through our shared understanding of language Language in turn shapes our culture which is how we express our shared values If 2020 is to have a prevailing theme it will be how we use our vast resources to truly understand the world around usRecent years have seen at least two patterns become more dominant first data being used as the primary tool to generate insights in business and second general erosion in language and meaning In response we need a reclamation project to save culture Data might be heralded as the quotnew oilquot but that analogy is flawed and several brands are already looking to strike a complete balance in their marketing mixWe are beginning to see pushback on attempts to negate language and debase its inherent meaning The realization that casual acquaintances are not friends the weaponization of data as a business model and the lack of privacy protection have led to an erosion of the public trust in companies such as Facebook Likes do not equal engagement so does engagement in the way it is perceived by brands matter Even Instagram has come to grips with the negative repercussions of quotlike culturequot and has begun to phase likes off the platform entirelyMaking sense of the world around us requires leaning into complexity rather than falling back on increasingly ineffective and simple tropes The past decade has been relatively reckless regarding centering a meaningful human experienceFlipping the script regarding our language might sound easy but it is an extremely powerful shaper of perception What does it look and feel like if the normalized language used in business settings referred to us all as human beings or people rather than consumers We are more than a collection of our transactional urgesAny language that diminishes our humanity must be actively and thoughtfully replaced with language that centers it Even though our language choices might feel benign due to the invisible nature of our communication our choices contain a significant distillation of our valuesJoy ampgt HappinessThe idea of happiness for example has become just another tool in the marketing arsenal Happiness is marketed as just the right mix of brand choices experiences and Instagram filters A tweak here a Peloton there and we can reach this state of happy selfactualization The human condition is far messierHappiness is a brand objective while joy is an expression of values Joy encompasses a totality of experiences amp8212 one of which can be happiness but doesn39t have to be amp8212 and includes a range of emotions because it is part of the active process of livingCompassion ampgt EmpathyBrands attempt to use empathy to make an emotional connection with potential customers Brands are seeking connection and emotive storytelling is part of the mix to resonate with individuals Empathy is valuable amp8212 it offers a chance for a shared perspective amp8212 but compassion incorporates action through a desire to helpCompassion drives activism and we are seeing a rise in employee activism as workers attempt to pressure their organizations into living up to their values Compassion is a necessary shift toward making values more than a statement and giving them meaning through actionJustice ampgt PurposePurpose continues to grow and become a significant part of the brand story I wrote how purpose would become the focus in influencer marketing saying quotPurpose and power as significant elements in the influence landscape can reshape the current conversations happening on the marketing levelquot Purpose must combine with justice to be effectiveJohn Rawls39 quotVeil of Ignorancequot as a working theory of justice is especially helpful it asks us to contemplate what world we would build if we didn39t know our place in it Diversity and inclusion employment practices and workplace culture would all benefit immensely from a justicecentered approachCommunity ampgt AudienceTrue communities can only be built by shared values and embracing collective action A community can only flourish if its members feel safe and validated These components not only allow members to express themselves but also to hold each other accountable and grow through ritual Brands are focused primarily on establishing an audience that does not have these capacities so consumers are fleeting at best as they migrate from one hot thing to anotherWill 2020 be the year we see the focus on language and culture come into sharper focus I believe that39s the case because humans desperately want to make sense of the world we inhabit and we can only do that through our culture language and shared valuesMeaningful shifts in culture don39t start or stop with the calendar so pay attention to where language is accelerating That is where the opportunity will be to make a meaningful impactClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Language and Culture Lead the Way in 2020 and Beyond

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Philip McKenzie

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Language and Culture Lead the Way in 2020 and Beyond

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