"Cultural movements can emerge and evolve overnight. Viral memes, social causes and global events now shape how brands communicate-and how quickly they have to respond. For marketing and communications teams, understanding these shifts in real time is key to staying relevant, protecting their reputation as a business and building authentic connections with their audiences. To that end, Forbes Communications Council members share the strategies they use to keep their teams tuned into culture shifts and ready to adapt when trends change."
"Stay connected with leading associations and subscribe to their newsletters. Connect with industry experts and peers across and outside of the organization through planned collaborations and spontaneous connections. Participating in roundtables, attending speaking forums and listening to other colleagues has been a great way for me and the team around me to stay up to date. - Anamika Gupta, TeKnowledge"
Marketing and communications teams must monitor cultural movements, viral memes, social causes and global events in real time to remain relevant and protect reputation. Practical tactics include weekly competitor and culture check-ins, hiring curious and engaged team members, and participating actively in conversations. Teams should maintain global trend-sharing threads, create playful short rituals for trendspotting, leverage industry associations and roundtables, and designate a rotating culture-pulse role. Structured listening systems, casual channels for memes and news, shared webinar and AI learnings, and trend-share sessions help turn observation into actionable integration by pinpointing trend origins and core values.
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