This industry op-ed is by Kurt Kretten, Global Chief Creative Officer at Marks.
Last year, there was a welcome relief in Movieland. As we emerged from a decade-long fog of superhero movies, we finally started to get back to storytelling and narratives that challenge us to think in different ways – while still being entertained.
We had become so inured to the spectacle of filmmaking that we expected simple stories with big explosions. But recent films like Oppenheimer, Barbie, Poor Things, The Holdovers, and more are showing us why tension, nuance, storytelling, and cultural relevance are so impactful – and people are craving them.
It’s a timely reminder of what brands can learn from the very best of Tinseltown. Particularly today, when brands need to be culturally connected and convey more than claims and benefits, looking to movies and their makers can provide a great game plan for remaining relevant.
Cultural Magpies
Take today’s growing call for brands to understand culture and build their point of view and vision. The research tells us brands with high cultural relevance grow more than those without. But you don’t need research to show that consumers increasingly want their brands to resonate with their beliefs and lifestyles, not just promise functional benefits. People want originality and relevance – nobody actually needs your brand.
Originality and relevance are what films do so well. Last year’s Barbenheimer, for example, captured two strikingly different movies that spoke to culture in an incredibly timely way.
The best movies are so good at this because the best filmmakers are some of the most dedicated cultural magpies. Psychologist-like, with a touch of social anthropologist and clairvoyant, they consume cultural influences with an appetite that results in an almost prescient ability to bring the public what they desire at any given time.
Star Wars creator George Lucas found inspiration in spaghetti westerns, samurai movies, traditional Japanese mythology, and more. He was a cultural hoover who brought all those influences into play, creating a universe and entirely new mythology that captured the collective imagination of the time. Subsequent movies could never be as good—made by fans whose main influence will always be the original Star Wars universe. The best of what came after were the spin-offs created by Tony Gilroy, whose self-professed superpower was his ignorance of the original.
Crucially, filmmakers hoard diverse influences and can draw out the most intriguing and engaging stories from obscure corners of culture. Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, for example. Co-created with Top Gun: Maverick actor Glen Powell, the movie is based on a local news byline spotted in Texas Monthly—a jewel of an idea that sparked the intriguing romantic black comedy of 2023.
Brand guardians need to emulate these filmmakers—they must reset their approach to live and breathe culture at every turn. Those doing so are seeing momentum—take Loewe and its leftfield approach to collaborations and social media; Gucci launching GucciFest, a digital festival of fashion and cinema; or Selfridges department store recently exploring the UK’s longstanding relationship with comedy.
To succeed, brands must identify where audience and culture collide, drawing on insightful tensions to weave the right narrative.
Curating a Point of View
In addition to understanding culture, filmmakers are very good at building their point of view and using curation and art direction to convey it. From the signature pastels of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City to the surrealist Glasgow of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, the most striking movies have a tangible aesthetic that builds an instantly recognisable and authentic world.
In an increasingly tech-ruled reality, brands will find this equally important. Brands need to curate their point of view to show that they understand and align with people’s values, interests, and aesthetics—their culture. Traditional product development generalises individuals to create a target audience based on shared needs and concerns. Today, that’s not nearly enough. To succeed, brands must identify where audience and culture collide, drawing on insightful tensions to weave the right narrative.
To find the sweet spot, think about what the brand story boils down to. Here, we can look to screenwriters’ brilliance to show the way. The best writers get to the heart of a story, of the emotion, the reason a story should even exist. They simplify it, and then the whole narrative plays to that emotion. Screenwriters can distill the emotion, prompting directors and actors to translate it into creative output.
Does this approach remind you of something? Of what the very best in brand building should be, perhaps?
Brands should create their worlds and brand guidelines in the same way. A strong sense of identity enables brands to explore different touchpoints and audiences in impactful ways. They are not imposing a POV but knowing when and where to join a conversation. This is why Airbnb can tell uniquely cinematic stories instead of using traditional selling narratives in their ads. Or why REI has turned its campaign to get ‘girls’ into the outdoors into an entire brand platform.
Just as with movies, we are in an era for brands in which those who master the skills of language, narrative, listening, and meaningful conversations will gain the upper hand. It’s an exciting time—let’s see who takes a page out of this provocative movie playbook.
Kurt Kretten is Global Chief Creative Officer at Marks. A creative leader and curious soul with over 20 years of experience in everything from brand design to product development, advertising, and film, Kurt is a multi-disciplined designer in a mad pursuit of experiences that connect people, culture, brands, and technology in meaningful ways.
Header image of the author at eight years old at the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 (taken by his dad).