How can we use social listening to drive deeper cultural insights?

Last week, I attended MRSI’s Masterclass on “Using Culture as Catalyst for Brand Growth and Innovation with Sneha Kapoor of Plum insights and Strategy.

And it got me thinking: “How can we use social listening to drive deeper cultural insights?"

My key takeaway from the session: To really drive cultural insights, we must evolve how we listen, by going a step further to contextualize our insights at every step.

So, how do we contextualize social listening insights?

I’m going to borrow Sneha Kapoor’s “See the System” framework here:

The idea is to pick up the micro signals i.e., the visible cultural cues in social chatter and elevate them by contextualizing among broader forces that these signals sit within i.e., the meso forces and macro drivers.

Now, let me bring this to life, using the Netflix series The Romantics (highly recommended, btw)

Why The Romantics?

In my opinion the Netflix series, whilst touching upon the brilliance of one of Bollywood’s most beloved and successful production houses—i.e., Yash Raj Films (YRF)— also serves as an insightful cultural study into the evolution of Hindi cinema from independence to the early 2000s.

YRF’s brilliance and success really lies in being able to “See the System” and use it to not just adapt to, but also shape culture for the common Indian. An understanding that businesses can gain via the medium of social listening to drive success.

So, how exactly can we put “Contextualized Social Listening” into practice for cultural insights?

In the table below, I have mapped how we can use social listening to understand the system of cultural insights (referenced from the series) that birthed two of the biggest blockbusters of the YRF production house and arguably India exactly 20 years apart i.e., Deewar (1975) and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ; 1995)

On the right half, "What signals existed?", I have pinned down the micro, meso and macro forces of the time that YRF captialized upon to create the the two films. On the left half "How to spot these signals via social listening?", I have elaborated on how we can find these signals via social listening.

Contextualized Social Listening in Practice

By knowingly or unknowingly seeing the system, Deewar tapped into anti-establishment themes, telling the story of two brothers separated against the backdrop of socio-political unrest, a cultural shift resonant of its era. Meanwhile, DDLJ portrayed the tradition-versus-modernity dilemma through an NRI family in London, as the daughter falls in love with a boy while vacationing in Europe, reflecting the themes prevalent at the time.

Even today, Deewar’s lines remain etched in our collective memory five decades on and DDLJ still draws crowds at Maratha Mandir (a cinema hall in Mumbai), a testament to the power of cultural insights. Fun Fact: Lake Lauenen in Switzerland is nicknamed "Chopra Lake" after the filmmaker Yash Chopra of YRF, that's culture shaped right there!

A still from DDLJ where the protagonists are catching a train in Switzerland.

And like we just saw, we can gain that power by the medium of social listening. Social listening when used strategically and creatively, can help open possibilities to go beyond what it is traditionally used for, i.e., brand monitoring and sentiment analysis or at most reputation management. There is so much more to it, so much unexplored potential.

If you’re brand, a cultural insights expert or a social listening practitioner, I would love to know your thoughts, so drop me a message on LinkedIn or drop me an email. Let’s exchange ideas!