At our latest Cure Media breakfast in Stockholm, we brought together marketing leaders from BUBS, LYKO and Storytel to discuss how brands can build cultural relevance. From viral moments and community building to creative freedom and local insights, the panel shared how they approach cultural relevance in practice.
Here are five key insights from the panel.
Finding your place in culture
For Louise Nobel at LYKO, cultural relevance starts with a clear brand identity. Brands need to know what they stand for before deciding which cultural conversations to participate in. LYKO evaluates trends through three questions: Does it fit the brand? Is it part of a broader cultural shift? And can LYKO bring something distinctive to it?
Their Halloween activations are a good example. Rather than simply joining a growing cultural occasion, LYKO has developed its own creative take, making Halloween a recurring opportunity for brand building.
Amanda Waldås from Storytel shared a similar perspective. For her, cultural relevance is about contributing something to the conversation, whether that's entertainment, inspiration or a space for people to connect. Storytel's Instagram book club is one example of how the brand brings people together around a shared interest in stories.
The point isn't to participate in every conversation, but to have something worth contributing.
When giving up control works in a brand's favour
Few brands demonstrate the power of consumer-driven culture quite like BUBS.
When the Swedish Candy trend took off on TikTok, consumers and creators propelled BUBS into the global spotlight, with the trend spreading far beyond the brand's own channels and control.
Eva Frankkila from BUBS shared how the brand embraced the attention while working to turn it into long-term value. With demand exceeding production capacity, BUBS looked beyond the viral moment, building on its brand identity, and creating a physical brand experience in Stockholm.
For BUBS, leaning into the attention meant accepting that consumers and creators would play a role in shaping the brand's direction. The challenge was building on that excitement without losing sight of what makes BUBS distinctive.
For BUBS, allowing consumers to shape the conversation became one of the brand's greatest strengths, showing how giving up some control can create opportunities for growth.
Creative freedom needs organisational support
How brands work internally also plays an important role in building cultural relevance.
Despite being part of the larger Orkla organisation, BUBS has been able to respond quickly to its international growth through dedicated teams, clear responsibilities and leadership that supports fast decisions.
At LYKO, Louise highlighted the importance of creating an environment where marketers can experiment, push boundaries and occasionally make mistakes.
That also means leaving room in budgets and planning for unexpected opportunities. Giving teams the freedom to make quick decisions helps brands participate in cultural conversations at the right time.
Global brands need local perspectives
Building a consistent global brand doesn't mean communicating identically across markets.
Amanda shared how Storytel's Danish team responded to a local true story that sparked national conversation. Their understanding of the market, combined with the freedom to act, allowed the brand to participate in a fast and relevant way.
For LYKO, Louise stressed that even neighbouring Nordic markets have different cultural behaviours and consumer expectations, and BUBS faces a similar challenge as it expands internationally, maintaining a recognisable brand identity while adapting its communication to local audiences.
The shared perspective was clear: a strong global strategy needs local knowledge and teams with the freedom to use it.
Cultural relevance needs to build something lasting
Building cultural relevance also means thinking beyond individual campaigns and viral moments.
At LYKO, cultural initiatives are connected to wider business objectives, with brand tracking and sales data helping measure their impact beyond engagement.
For Storytel, individual cultural moments need to support a consistent brand narrative. And for BUBS, the focus is on translating extraordinary consumer interest into sustained demand and stronger brand relationships.
Across all three brands, the message was consistent: cultural relevance works best when creativity and long-term brand building go hand in hand.
What will define culturally relevant brands in 2027?
To close the discussion, we asked each panellist to finish the sentence: The brands that will be most culturally relevant in 2027 are those that…
• For Louise, it's brands that dare to create friction and stand out while staying true to their narrative.
• For Amanda, it's brands that contribute something new to culture rather than simply following it.
• And for Eva, it's brands that create products people want and experiences they want to be part of.
Three perspectives, but a shared idea: cultural relevance isn't something brands can claim. It's something they build through the way they show up, contribute and connect with their audiences.
