Culture = Heart

Culture is somewhat of a buzz word at the moment amongst any sort of business coach, brand consultant or strategy agency. The narrative usually sits within the companies culture, there’s a welcomed shift towards making the work place a rewarding place for employees which fills their cup rather than just empties it. This is a brands internal culture. This ramble isn't about that, it’s about a brands market culture (their audience).

When brands get their market culture right it quite often lands them in the ‘cult’ brand hall of fame and gives you that ‘shit they’ve nailed that’ feeling whenever you see their content. This is the fundamental difference of knowing or not knowing their audience, or the founders doing something that comes from the heart and are insatiably connected to the culture themselves it comes effortlessly. This, I believe, is when a brand is at its most powerful, it's a status which enables them to almost sell anything and the culture will buy it. That’s the  influence these brands can have on their audiences, they love to be associated with the brand because it improves them as a person and helps define who they are in society.

I listened to a podcast today about the founders of Deus ex Machina which inspired this post, it’s a wonderfull insight into the two founders and a great proof of the saying ‘build it and they will come’. Sure, Dare & Carby came to the table with very real experience which put them leagues ahead of most brands but the key difference here is that they launched a passion disguised as a brand. A passion which now sees them launch apparel, motorbike shops, surf comps, travel content, cafes, restaurants and even a hotel all under the same brand. It’s the perfect example of know your culture, build your brand around it (not your product) and you can literally do anything.

Dare, founder of quintessential Aussie surf brand Mambo, and Carby, former creative director of Moon Design, launched Deus ex Machina into Australia’s cultural consciousness in 2006, with some neatly customised motorcycles and a quaint notion that ‘doing something’ is more fun than just ‘owning something’. Deus ex Machina (Day-us ex Mack-in-er; meaning ‘God from the machine’ in Latin) is a step bigger than a brand: it’s a culture. The pair’s openness and enthusiasm strike a chord with people, wherever they are, to celebrate a culture of creativity.

In this episode, Dare and Carby relive the moment when they walked away from their highly successful careers, to launch something completely untested and daring. Here, the pair share their journey from what was just an idea to a now thriving global brand, and the secret to living their philosophy of success where: “there’s no ‘right way’ to do individualism, it’s all the same juice.”

Source: frost collective.com.au

Listen to the episode here