Cultural Fluency: The Strategic Growth Currency for Today’s Marketers

I spent my career marketing brands like Pampers, Oral-B, Playtex, Banana Boat, Campbell Soup, Born Free, Summer Infant, and more – and I know how identifying specific growth segments and innovating for their usually unarticulated unmet needs can drive business outcomes. When brands understand their audiences at the deepest levels, develop culturally relevant brand equity pillars, and create campaigns that truly resonate, they don’t just win share, they build enduring relationships.

Collage has championed the concept of “Cultural Fluency” for more than a decade, and developed the way to define, measure, and action it. Cultural Fluency is becoming the essential, strategic must-have for every marketer navigating an increasingly diverse marketplace, and we are thrilled to see the industry embracing this idea and aligning strategy around it. But with this momentum comes responsibility. To unlock its true power, we must stay faithful to what Cultural Fluency actually means – and to the drivers that make it actionable.

Cultural Fluency is the ability to use cultural intelligence to efficiently and effectively connect across segments. It translates directly into growth. Brands that are Culturally Fluent know how to resonate with specific target audiences in ways that feel authentic and relevant, while also creating a halo effect that extends to other segments. Importantly, cultural fluency does not mean being generic or vanilla. It is about leaning into cultural specificity with nuance and respect. This specificity is what amplifies scale.

At Collage, we help brands measure and build cultural fluency through our proprietary methodology: the Brand Cultural Fluency Quotient (B-CFQ). What makes B-CFQ especially powerful is this: it is predictive of brand favorability and purchase intent. B-CFQ identifies six key components – Fit, Values, Trust, Relevance, Advocacy, and Memories – that reveal how well a brand resonates across consumer groups. These dimensions allow brands to see not only where they are strong, but also why. They can then double down on those strengths with intention, or address opportunities to strengthen resonance with specific audiences.

Brands can cut results by race, ethnicity, generation, gender, sexuality, or even custom-defined segments. That means a brand can learn how it performs with Hispanic Millennials, LGBTQ+ Gen Z, Black Gen X moms, Oral Care Health Enthusiasts, Tech Obsessed Parents, or any audience that reflects their strategic growth priorities. This level of precision helps brands unlock actionable insights that connect cultural intelligence to marketing execution.

As CMO of Collage, I have the privilege of working alongside the world’s leading brands and brightest insights and marketing professionals. Together, we are demonstrating the power of cultural fluency as a business imperative. Demographic shifts, cultural values, and evolving identities are redefining brand relevance. Today’s consumers expect more. Brands that align authentically will win loyalty, drive purchase intent, and achieve sustainable growth.

The industry’s adoption of Cultural Fluency is a milestone, but it is only the beginning. To succeed, brands must not dilute its meaning. They must embrace its drivers, measure with rigor, and act with cultural intelligence. That is how we unlock the full promise of growth in an intersectional, multigenerational America.