Hello friends! It's been a minute, we know, but there is so much good new stuff to share with you.

We've been busy expanding Concept Bureau's team and domain of thinking, have a new website were you can get lost in our ever-expanding content library, are hiring for a host of new roles (talk to me), and have a fascinating new podcast episode that will make you feel like you're seeing the matrix of culture and branding (one of our best so far in my opinion).

First, let's talk about the unified theory of culture, brand and human behavior that's been on my mind these past few weeks.

Every single culture and subculture, from states and governments to user segments and brand tribes, falls along the tight-loose continuum. A culture’s tightness or looseness affects people’s perceptions of threat, how they relate to each other, how they consume, and of course the narratives that shape the businesses and brands that form within that culture.

In the third episode in our series on Systems In Flux on Unseen Unknown, we’re talking about the invisible systems that make a culture relaxed or rigid, and the surprising tradeoffs involved.  

Michele Gelfand is a cultural psychologist and author of the book Rule Makers, Rule Breakers. Her life’s work has been spent researching how tight and loose cultures form in the first place, and if and how they can actually be changed.

We talk about how this affects every kind of brand, including international brands, political brands, lifestyle brands, service brands, and CPG.

Of all the studied cultural phenomena out there, this is perhaps one of the most important in helping us understand the world at this very moment.  

Once you understand the concept, it will not only reveal a new perspective on the world of business and branding, it will also reveal the deeper logic beneath the many seemingly illogical things in the world that may have been on your mind lately.

You'll start to see some sense in old, nonsensical places. 

You can also listen and subscribe on Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and Simplecast.

Links to interesting things mentioned in this episode:

• Rule Makers, Rule Breakers (Amazon)
   

• Tightness–looseness: A new framework to understand consumer behavior (Wiley)
   

• Why countries with 'loose', rule-breaking cultures have been hit harder by Covid (Guardian) 
   

• One Reason Mergers Fail: The Two Cultures Aren’t Compatible (Harvard Business Review)
   

• Mindset Quiz: How Tight or Loose Are You? (MicheleGelfand.com)

IT'S A VIBE

Here's what we've been consuming.

Welcome To The YOLO Economy (New York Times): "Individual YOLO decisions can be chalked up to many factors: cabin fever, low interest rates, the emergence of new get-rich-quick schemes like NFTs and meme stocks. But many seem related to a deeper, generational disillusionment, and a feeling that the economy is changing in ways that reward the crazy and punish the cautious."

The Hidden Rule of Ownership (Reason): "Ownership invisibly shapes every single day of our lives. Every minute. These are the rules that determine who gets what and why. Whether you stand at the front of the line or the back. It's the medications you take, what you drive, where you live. What you can listen to and watch. We encounter the rules of ownership all the time without noticing, like fish swimming in water."

The rise of intangibles and the demise of accounting (Climateer Investing): "Today, for most of the largest companies the majority of their value comes from intangible assets. Is this trend going to continue? The answer is a resounding yes. Investment in intangibles crossed the investment in tangible assets in the mid 90s. Since then, the investment in intangibles and the delta has continued to increase."

Notes On Vibe (New Yorker): "On TikTok, some of the aesthetic mood boards that began on Tumblr in the twenty-tens have become tribal as vibes: cottagecore, a twee-leaning return to nature (herbal tinctures, patterned frocks), and dark academia, a riff on Goth culture by way of Scottish boarding school (foreboding castles, heavy tweeds). The vibe moves from the Internet into the physical world and back again, a wavelength on the radar of our perceptions."

How Pfizer Became The Status Vax (Slate): "“Brand preference is very real, and it’s very prevalent,” she said. “I think it’s important to really highlight that these feelings are strong and they’re real, and we in public health need to make some time to actually listen to them as opposed to brushing them off.”"

CULTURE CLUB

We’re hiring.

If you’re someone that doesn’t just care that a brand strategy works, but also needs to understand how and why it works, we encourage you to come join us.

We strongly believe in making sure our team is always learning and challenging their thinking, we value the spirit of curiosity, and also respect the fully remote lifestyle (although LA-based is a plus). We also offer competitive pay and great benefits.

We take care of our people.

Senior Strategist
Junior Strategist 
Market & Culture Researcher

Check back often for new openings.

Love them both.

Jasmine Bina
Founder & CEO
Concept Bureau, Inc.