Micro-Cultures are the enthusiastic loyal followers of established businesses and they are the niche passionate group with a special problem for a new business. Cultures are connected by beliefs, values, and interests. In the information, age businesses must be more transparent than ever and with that transparency must come a guaranteed amount of buy-in without the brand having to persuade or convince people of doing or being something they are not.
This brings a new meaning to starting with your customer first. Mckinsey (2018) suggests that looking at the full customer journey is essential to effectively understanding customers and developing solutions for them. Branding is no different and miro-cultures allow you to scale the customer journey based on distinct shared values, interests, and passions. The summation of culture is as solid and impressionable as an individual which is why cultures are so powerful. It is interesting that so many businesses miss the opportunity to connect with culture.
The missteps of large businesses who launch products that offend or products that do not resonate is mainly due to who has voice at the table. A diverse staff is not enough because those at the table may adopt the culture of the organization or the corporation. It is always important to understand the stories of those who are most impacted by a problem. The trick is finding the micro-cultures with values that align with yours. Depending on the scale your business this could mean the micro-culture completely shapes your brand or if you are larger they could shape a product line. Let's take a case study of Buick. If they were having trouble selling particular car models would they be aware of Houston car culture and what Buicks mean to that scene? If there was high purchasing of that model within that culture then maybe that culture could have wider appeal to the rest of the world. Maybe there are influential people who are engaged with that particular Buick model.
