For decades, marketers have invested in media, creative and messaging strategies designed to reach audiences, but in today’s fragmented landscape, reach alone is not enough. According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report on Brands, 73% of consumers now say they trust brands that authentically reflect today’s culture more than those that focus solely on their products.
This presents a significant competitive opportunity for brand leaders who are willing to shift their mindset from chasing trends to building the infrastructure required to create and participate in them. To unpack how some executives at the forefront of cultural marketing are doing this, Boster Group Founder and CEO Susan Boster moderated a panel at the Female Quotient’s Equality Lounge as part of the Cannes International Festival of Creativity. Monica Austin (CMO, Blizzard Entertainment), Finola Austin (VP, Creative & Client Strategy, Linqia), Jeni Gardner (Chief Client Solutions Officer, Carat US), Stacy Martinet (Vice President, Marketing Strategy & Chief Communications Officer, Adobe) and Jess Vultaggio (VP Creative, Capabilities & Innovation, Kraft Heinz) shared what they have learned and how they are leading high-performing marketing teams in a world where cultural relevance is fast becoming one of the most powerful and least understood drivers of business success.
To better understand this evolution, in March, Carat announced Cultural EQ, a new proprietary methodology to measure a brand’s influence and effectiveness within culture. Based on years of data and research, Jeni shared that Carat can now demonstrate that cultural relevance has a stronger correlation to business outcomes than the amount of money spent in the media marketplace. For companies that want to remain competitive in a world that moves at the speed of culture, this is a significant new finding, and the panellists shared how their teams are creating advantage by enabling participation, investing in partnerships, and creating moments, not chasing them.
From Left to Right: Susan Boster (Founder and CEO, Boster Group), Finola Austin (VP, Creative & Client Strategy, Linqia), Jeni Gardner (Chief Client Solutions Officer, Carat US), Jess Vultaggio (VP Creative, Capabilities & Innovation, Kraft Heinz), Stacy Martinet (Vice President, Marketing Strategy & Chief Communications Officer, Adobe), and Monica Austin (CMO, Blizzard Entertainment).
Enable Participation
If cultural relevance drives results, participation is how relevance is earned. Nowhere is this clearer than in gaming, where community connection runs deep. Even the 11-year gap between the launch of 2012’s hugely popular Diablo III and its 2023 sequel, Diablo IV did not diminish fans’ excitement or engagement with the franchise.
Monica explained how Blizzard tapped into this by inviting top creators and fans to test early versions of Diablo IV, incorporating their feedback into both product development and messaging. The result? Over $600m in sales in five days and a game that kept players engaged for over 276 million hours (~30,000 years) of play time in its first week alone, making it the company’s biggest launch ever.
Adobe takes a similar approach to inclusion through access. Stacy highlighted how its AI-powered tools democratise storytelling, a key focus across the company’s products and campaigns, while the Adobe Foundation works to widen participation further through grants, mentorship, and programmes like its AI Design Certificate on Coursera, helping new creators enter the field and shape culture alongside the brand.
59% of consumers say it is Very or Extremely Important for brands to help teach and educate them
Edelman Trust Barometer
As the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer shows, 73% of consumers now expect brands to provide community. To meet that expectation at scale, though, participation must be underpinned by infrastructure.
Invest in Cultural Infrastructure
Participation is powerful, but to work at the speed of culture, brands need to invest in cultural partnerships and the infrastructure to sustain and activate them. Finola shared how Linqia is supporting its clients to achieve this with always-on creator networks and pre-approved content pathways, enabling them to act quickly and credibly with trusted influencers when a cultural trend is worth participating in.
73% of consumers expect brands to provide community
Edelman Trust Barometer
This approach reflects a broader strategic principle of partnerships: they deliver the most value when they are nurtured over time. Even outside of influencer marketing, applying this approach to brand partnerships and sponsorships across cultural verticals like art, fashion, sport and music, enables brands to react faster. With that foundation in place, brands are no longer just keeping pace with culture; they are positioned to help shape it.
Chasing versus Creating the Trend
Some of the most effective brand activations in history were only possible because of this foundation. Blizzard has achieved this in gaming, where community engagement is central. Jess, however, demonstrated that it applies just as much to consumer goods. The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, first introduced in 1936, has become a widely recognised cultural reference, featured in film, television, and visual art. The 1952 model is even part of the permanent collection at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
Kraft Heinz continues to evolve the role of this asset. Under Jess’s leadership, the in-house agency The Kitchen has reintroduced the Wienermobile through modern activations, such as its appearance at the Indianapolis 500 this year, and continues to position its brands as creators of cultural touchpoints. They have been so successful that Heinz’s 2016 Super Bowl commercial spot, “Wiener Stampede” was directly referenced in Instacart’s 2024 Super Bowl ad, alongside other well-known marketing mascots including the Kool-Aid Man, another Kraft Heinz character. These appearances reinforce the place of Kraft Heinz’s brands in the cultural imagination while strengthening brand equity across platforms with authentic partners.
Cultural relevance requires more than creative output. It depends on the ability to listen, adapt, and act through trusted relationships with both partners and audiences. The brands that lead are those that invest early, build the infrastructure to engage communities effectively, and create opportunities for participation. As the panel made clear, the strongest outcomes come when marketing is used not as a promotional tool, but as the foundation for earning and maintaining a sustained presence in culture.
Watch the full panel discussion on The Female Quotient’s LinkedIn channel.