How Brands Become Part of Culture

When Guinness stopped being just a pint and became a game of 'splitting the G', something shifted. When someone says they're "just going to Hoover their bedroom", they mean vacuum, regardless of the brand. When people reach for a "Post-it" to write a note, they're not thinking about 3M's products, the brand has become the thing itself.

That's what it means to be part of culture. You've stopped being a brand people buy from and become part of the language, people's daily routine, and identity of how people live.

However, most brands never get there. They remain stuck, they're recognised, maybe even liked, but ultimately they're still forgettable. So what separates the brands that become part of culture and ones that don’t?

It's Not About Being Everywhere

Visibility isn't the same as cultural relevance. Plenty of brands spend millions plastering their logo across every available surface. But being part of culture isn't about volume. It's about meaning.

Cultural brands don't interrupt culture. They contribute to it. They create language, moments, and movements that people want to be part of. They give people something to identify with beyond the product.

They Give People Something to Identify With

Brands become cultural when they represent more than a product. They give people a way to signal who they are.

Dr. Martens went from workwear to becoming the boot of rebellion. They started as practical boots for postmen and factory workers, but were adopted by every youth movement that wanted to reject mainstream culture. In the 70s, punk rockers wore them as part of their anti-establishment uniform. Then skinheads claimed them. Then the grunge movement in the 90s. Each group saw Docs as a way to signal they weren't following the rules - working-class roots, durable, anti-fashion fashion. The brand didn't manufacture this meaning. They just made a solid boot and different ‘tribes’ kept choosing it to represent their rejection of the mainstream. That's cultural adoption you can't buy.

Brewdog built a brand around rejecting traditional beer culture. They crowdfunded their growth, gave away their recipes, and positioned themselves as the alternative option in a market dominated by bland lagers. Drinking Brewdog became a way to say "I'm not like everyone else" without having to actually say it.

This is how brands become cultural. They stop being choices and become signals. Wearing certain brands, buying from certain companies, using certain products, these become part of how people express their identity within society.

Culture is tribal. Always has been. The brands that become part of it understand they're not selling to everyone. They're giving a specific 'tribe' something to rally around.

They Create Things Worth Sharing

Cultural brands don't interrupt culture, but add to it.

Red Bull doesn't advertise energy drinks. They fund extreme sports, sponsor athletes doing things nobody thought possible, and create events that become legendary. Like sending Felix Baumgartner to the edge of space. Red Bull have made themselves synonymous with extreme sports and achievement, not through advertising, but through actually enabling it.

Spotify Wrapped turns your listening habits into something you want to share. It's a cultural ritual that happens every December. People post their results everywhere. It became a moment in the calendar that people actually look forward to, and it costs Spotify nothing in paid media because their users do it for them.

John Lewis turned Christmas ads into a cultural event. Every November, people actually wait for it. They discuss it. People even cry at it. What started as retail advertising became appointment viewing, a signal that Christmas has properly started. Other retailers do Christmas ads, but John Lewis created a cultural moment that people genuinely care about and look forward to every year.

They're contributions to the cultural landscape that stick around because people actually care about them.

They Speak the Language People Actually Use

Cultural brands don't talk like corporations. They talk like humans.

Liquid Death sells water in a can with the tagline "Murder Your Thirst" and marketing that looks like it belongs to a metal band. They could have been just another sustainable water company with earnest messaging about saving the planet. Instead, they made hydration feel rebellious.

Greggs has grown on social media by leaning into their working-class roots and British humour. When Piers Morgan called out their vegan sausage roll, they didn't issue a corporate statement. They took the piss. That response got more coverage than any ad campaign could have bought.

This is being authentic. People can smell when a brand is trying too hard to be relatable. But when it's genuine, when it actually reflects who they are, it resonates.

Language matters. The brands that become part of a culture understand that how you say something is as important as what you say.

They Become Reliable Cultural References

Cultural brands stick around because they stay recognisable. Not just visually, but in what they represent.

Marmite has been "love it or hate it" since before anyone reading this was born. They've understood that's their cultural position. Everyone knows exactly what Marmite stands for. It's become a metaphor people use for anything polarising.

The example I gave at the start of Lego, they nearly collapsed in the early 2000s, chasing trends and losing focus. They recovered by going back to basics—creativity, imagination, building things. Decades of consistency turned them into more than kids' toys. People associate them with childhood creativity and imagination. When adults talk about "adult Lego," they don't mean the company. They mean anything that lets grown-ups build and play.

This is what consistency does at a cultural level. You become a reference point. People use your brand as a comparison, a metaphor, a shared understanding that doesn't need explanation.

But that only works if you stay recognisably yourself. You can't chase every trend, otherwise you become just another company thats trying too hard. Stick to who you are.

They Let Go of Control

The brands that embed themselves in culture understand they don't own it. Culture is co-created.

A brand like Harley-Davidson didn't create 'biker' culture, they just played their part in it. The Harley Owners Group became one of the largest brand communities in the world, not because the company controlled it, but because they supported it and let it grow organically.

When your brand becomes part of someone's identity, they'll do your marketing for you. But that only works if you're willing to give up some control and let people remix your brand. Let them make it theirs.

The tighter grip you have, the more you kill what makes it cultural.

The Bottom Line

Brands become part of culture when they stop acting like brands and start contributing to the culture they want to belong to.

They give people something to identify with. They create things worth sharing and talking about. They speak the language of their tribe. They become reliable reference points. They let people make the brand their own.

Most brands won't get there. Most don't need to. But if you want your brand to embed itself in how people actually live—if you want it to become part of the shared language, rituals, and identity of a group—you've got to give them more than a product.

You've got to earn your place in the culture.