Hitmakers

How brands influence culture

Before 1999, the “Centurion Amex” was an urban legend. An invitation-only, no limit, titanium card did not exist. When American Express launched its Black Card, a cultural hit became a market hit.

Fifteen years prior, Michael Jordan received a ban from the NBA on his black-and-red Nike Air Jordan 1 sneakers. NBA historically mandated that sneakers worn on court have to be 51 percent white. Jordan kept wearing his sneakers for a $5,000 fine per game, paid for by Nike, throughout the entire season. Nike turned the ban into the — wait for it — “Banned” campaign. “On October 15, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. On October 18, the NBA threw them out of the game. Fortunately, NBA can’t keep you from wearing them. Air Jordans. From Nike,” the campaign said. As of 2024, the Jordan brand brings $6.59 billion in revenue, or 13% of Nike’s total sales. (It took NBA until 2018 to remove all sneaker restrictions). A cultural hit became a market hit.

A cultural hit is an idea, an item, an experience, or entertainment that a large number of consumers pay attention to, share, and talk about. Once cultural hits become market hits, by lifting brand popularity or driving product sales, they yield a strong financial return for a company.

Modern brands are hitmakers. They are in the business of producing as many cultural hits as possible, and these new formats are increasingly replacing the traditional brand marketing strategies. Hitmaker brands command higher prices, capture greater market share, maintain advantage over competition, avoid commodification, and enjoy greater customer loyalty.

Brands used to influence pop culture mostly through their advertising on mass media like TV, print, billboards, or public relations. Today, they influence pop culture through the cultural products they create: entertainment, merch, collaborations, exhibitions and awards, capsules, content, brand codes, experiences, archives, drops, fandom.

Hit making is the strategy of cultural influence. In the post-mono culture, media, and retail, brands are pushed to operate like a portfolio of products and categories that target different niche audiences. Mass is achieved through aggregation of niches. By targeting its different audience segments, a brand creates many doors in and increases it hold on the market.

A portfolio approach addresses the fact that not all of the brand’s cultural products will become hits. Cultural markets are known as “ambiguous markets” where success is random and unpredictable. Now-iconic Fight Club was originally a flop, and so was equally iconic Blade Runner, which at the time of its release, barely made its budget. Assassin’s Creed became a Netflix Top 10 hit seven years after its release.

Success in ambiguous markets is mostly a matter of cultural moments and moods.

Read the rest of this analysis on The Sociology of Business.