Richard Adelsberg and Owen Laverty spoke to Richard Gillis earlier this month about what it means to be culturally relevant and shared how we’re using Fan IntelligenceⓇ to help brands achieve it. 

The power of listening has been ever-present in the way Ear to the Ground operates but in the last 12 months, with the pandemic and widespread cancelation of sport, the need to listen has become more important than ever. 

A year into the world being put on hold, we’ve allowed the facts to speak for themselves, with tripling profits, hires across all areas of the business, and not to mention the acquisition of global clients including New Balance, STATSports, and Therabody. 

Rich and Owen give Richard Giles and the Unofficial Partner Podcast a rundown of how agencies should be operating in 2021. Revealing all about our ever-impressive Fan Intelligence platform and much more.

In the podcast, Owen explains, “ It’s all about leading what’s happening within culture, driving positive change within that space, and connecting with audiences. Fundamentally that’s what we see at the heart of a culturally relevant brand.”

“Within sport, a culturally relevant brand drives positive change, causes action, and improves sport and society through the things that they do and their behaviors. They disrupt the norm, so a culturally relevant brand changes what is happening within sport and brings innovation to the table.”

When it came to discussing traditional agency models, Rich gave his opinion on how the industry needs a rethink: “It’s completely insane that there’s a creative director or a strategy director in businesses and agencies as a traditional model that comes up with all the ideas for a whole host of brands, across a whole host of sports, cultural verticals, territories, regions, geographies, and audiences.” 

“For us, we see that as a completely insane model to approach the world with, particularly when we’ve got the opportunity to speak to people via, zoom calls, phone calls, and WhatsApp to immerse ourselves in a culture that they’re living every day.”

To listen to the full podcast search ‘Unofficial Partner’ on your favorite podcast apps.