[Greatest Hits] Unlocking Cultural Insights in Branding with Kalil Vicioso, Principal Consultant at Tiny Hat Consulting

In this Greatest Hits episode of Getting to Aha!, Darshan Mehta welcomes Kalil Vicioso, Principal Consultant at Tiny Hat Consulting, a firm dedicated to empowering brands through cultural and consumer insights. Kalil also serves as a Board Member for Insights in Color.

Together, they explore Kalil's Aha! journey, his dynamic career, and his work on bilingual and multicultural projects that foster a more integrated approach to marketing by emphasizing the significance of cultural trends.

Kalil Vicioso is the Principal Consultant at Tiny Hat Consulting, specializing in empowering brands through cultural and consumer insights. With over 20 years of experience, he has developed innovative research tools, including a groundbreaking product with the Marriott School of Business, saving clients millions in wasteful spending. Kalil has advised major brands like Hilton on design, marketing, and brand strategy. As a board member of Insights in Color, he champions diversity in research and marketing while mentoring businesses through Helperstreet’s on-demand learning platform.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

👉 Take Advantage of Every Opportunity

• Business opportunities are everywhere; pause, observe, and let curiosity spark inspiration.
• For valuable cultural insights, pay attention to how people live, interact, and activities flow.
• Everyday items, like a vacuum cleaner, can reveal cultural shifts.

👉 The Place of Curiosity and Observation

• Enhance curiosity through reading, podcasts, and diverse resources.
• Deconstruct activities into roles, characters, and motivations for a clearer cultural view.
• Understand how "setting" shapes cultural structures.

👉 Culture is Very Sensorial

• Culture goes beyond food, music, and language; it permeates daily life.
• We all live in a “water culture,” constantly immersed in it.
• Culture expresses itself through language, interactions, music, and more.

👉 Three Things Every Company Should Know When Pursuing Cultural Insights

• Focus on lived experiences to uncover meaningful audience connections.
• View culture as a lens, not a fixed identity, for seeing the world.
• Stay aware of trending words, songs, and symbols shaping culture.

👉 Play with the "Structure" Like a Puzzle

• Treat structure like a puzzle; dismantle to learn how components fit and interact.
• Solve problems backward by considering audience-brand interactions.
• Approach structure like detective work to uncover deeper insights.

👉 Cultural Insights Versus Normal Insights

• Cultural insights emphasize the role and importance of culture in context.
• Use cultural insights to craft communication that resonates with specific audiences.
• Draw on cultural insights for inspiration and fresh ideas.

👉 Research Barriers and How to Overcome Them

• Transform academic concepts into practical, approachable models.
• Explore culture as multi-layered, beyond a singular identity.
• Address the lack of representation by involving diverse perspectives in research.

👉 How to Communicate with People Not Immersed in Culture

• Share narratives and personal stories to create a connection.
• Step outside your position to understand different perspectives.
• Engage customers in workshops to actively work with insights.
• Use intentional disruption to reveal hidden dynamics.
• Diversity within groups fosters deeper audience understanding.

👉 Roles of Cultural Insights and Diversity

• Diversity and inclusion roles are growing in prominence across industries.
• Diverse senior leadership attracts varied talent pools.
• Relationships deepen cultural understanding beyond surface-level introductions.
• Leverage data and qualitative methods for richer insights.

Getting to Aha! with Darshan Mehta is hand crafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Previous guests include: Luca Popovac, Senior Executive, Abhilasha Sinha of Open Secret, Laura Beavin-Yates, Stephen Griffiths of Level 2, Kristin Luck or ScaleHouse, Melina Palmer of The Brainy Business, Nicolas Zeisler of We’re Doing CX Wrong and How To Get It Right, Pricilla McKinney of Little Bird Marketing, Brooke Sellas of B Squared Marketing and Joseph Michelli of The Michelli Experience.

Check out the 3 most downloaded episodes:

• Changing the Direction of Customer Experience with Luka Popovac, a Senior Customer Experience Executive
• Innovation, Curiosity, and Being Human with Abhilasha Sinha, Chief Growth Officer at Open Secret
• [Greatest Hits ] Emotions & Consumer Behavior with Laura Beavin-Yates
  
  

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