#68: The Soul & Science of Culture | Best-Selling Author Dr. Marcus Collins

About this episode

This week on the Soul & Science podcast, we take a look at the power of culture and consumption. Take the rise of social media marketing as an example of consumption as culture. Companies have piggybacked on viral sounds, trends, and cultural moments from TikTok and Instagram as a way to promote their products. On the flip side, a seemingly clever campaign can flop if it jumps on a trend too late or misses the point entirely. So, if culture ultimately drives everything that people do, how do brands keep pace? 

Today, we’re talking with Dr. Marcus Collins about the effects of culture on human behavior and the undeniable connection between marketing and culture. 

Riding the line between industry and academia, his award-winning book For The Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be was a best-seller and he currently serves as a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. In the past, he was the Head of Strategy at Wieden+Kennedy and has worked with brands like Apple, Nike, and even Beyoncé. 

In today’s episode, you’ll learn: 

• How culture and marketing intertwine to create some of the most successful campaigns 
• What defines culture and how people choose to interact with it
• How brands can put themselves in the driver’s seat of cultural relevance

Brought to you by Mekanism.