Chief Culture Officer or DIY Culture Hacking?
by Natalie Bomberry
Over the last few years, there has been a rise in corporations looking for and bringing in Chief Culture Officers. These are people described by BBH Labs as “having the ability to process massive amounts of data and spot crucial developments among an array of possibilities; they will be able to see the future coming, no matter which industry they serve, and create value for shareholders, move product, create profit and increase the bottom line.”
Talk about a crystal ball for hire. I’ve always been a firm believer that no task is too daunting if you take a step back and apply the right step-by-step process to it. Why bring in a guru if you have the time and resources to do the job yourself?
A recent story in Fast Company, How Agencies Can Hack Culture for Brand Insight, confirmed that belief for me. With relatively simple (but fancy-sounding) concepts like cool hunting, trend spotting, meme tracking, and pattern recognition, you too can hack the massive web of cultural data out there to deliver more targeted brands.
And if you’re interested in learning more about Chief Culture Officers, you should read Grant McCracken’s book, Chief Culture Officer: How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation and check out his interview with Entrepreneur.com.
Happy culture hacking.