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People and brands come in many shapes and sizes. Our inclusive framework represents diverse perspectives and lenses on culture, and helps brands to see the world as ordinary people see it.
The Cultural Advantage framework
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Thinking holistically about the shape of culture
The critic Raymond Williams once described 'culture' as one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language. It hasn't become any less complicated in the decades since Williams wrote his seminal work. Culture is a cycle. It's a dynamic system evolving and changing over time. If brands want to take their place in culture, we need a more holistic way of thinking about the many ways people think about and experience culture out in the real world.
The cultural cycle: Fisk et al (1998), Markus and Conner (2014), and Markus and Kitayama (2010)
Cultural advantage is about balancing diverse entry points
As with everything we do at everyday people, we get to this holistic view of by stepping out of the marketing bubble and engaging with diverse worldviews. Our Shapes framework is the result of an eclectic review of literature from many different disciplines that operate in the contested cultural space. Shapes measures how brands, media and content balance 4 sets of contrasting cultural entry points.
THE CULTURAL ADVANTAGE FRAMEWORK
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Share of culture
Based on the methodology of How Brands Grow, our flexible framework measures share of cultural availability for brands, media, creative and content amongst your target audience or the population as a whole.
% Share of cultural availability
Source: Thinkbox/everyday people June 2026​
Base: UK Nat Rep (n=2,000)
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Shape of culture
Culture takes many shapes. Our framework helps marketers understand their entry points, and how their brand shows up in culture.
Understand your cultural signature
Source: everyday people June 2026​
Base: UK Nat Rep (n=2,083)
Cultural entry points indexed vs. all brand average (i=100)
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Cultural advantage
Regression modelling identifies the relative importance of cultural entry points for your target audience and the population as a whole. We map your performance against the cultural drivers to identify your cultural advantage.
Understand your cultural advantage
Source: everyday people June 2026​
Base: UK Nat Rep (n=2,083)​​
What's your cultural advantage?