Beyond the spike: Why culture-first brands outlast viral success

For years, modern marketing has been built on a fragile promise: that attention equals impact. If enough people watch, like, and share, something meaningful must surely follow. Yet, across categories, brands are discovering an uncomfortable truth. Visibility is no longer the same as value.

We are operating in a digital economy that has shifted from broadcast to exchange. Audiences do not just consume content anymore. They trade their time, attention, and trust for something in return. Entertainment. Utility. Belonging. When that exchange feels one-sided, no amount of reach can compensate.

This is why the industry’s obsession with virality feels increasingly hollow. Viral moments create spikes, not systems. They reward immediacy, not memory. And while they still have a role, they are being mistaken for strategy far too often.

Why virality still seduces marketers

Virality feels decisive. It delivers fast numbers and visible momentum. It reassures leadership teams and flatters dashboards. In a culture trained to chase quarterly wins, a spike looks like proof.

But spikes fade. Trends move at the speed of platforms, and platforms are designed for churn. What rises quickly disappears just as fast. When brands rely on this rhythm, they build for reaction, not for relevance.

Culture works differently. Culture is not measured in impressions but in adoption. It shows up in habits, language, and rituals. It lives in what people repeat without being prompted. When brands embed themselves into that layer, the outcome changes. People do not just engage. They participate, reinterpret, and carry ideas forward on their own terms.

The trap of surface relevance

Much of today’s marketing mistakes imitation for insight. Brands copy formats, replicate trending sounds, and deploy creators to reenact moments that already peaked yesterday. The work looks current, but it feels empty.

Audiences recognise this immediately. They scroll past because nothing new is being offered in return.

I saw this play out with a regional food brand that launched a dance challenge around a popular snack. The campaign travelled fast across feeds. Creators participated. Metrics looked healthy. But the effort never translated to shelf movement or brand preference. The idea generated attention, not meaning. It failed to give people language to express why the product belonged in their lives.

The problem was not ambition. It was a lack of cultural context.

From reach to influence

This is where creator marketing has gone wrong. Brands continue to prioritise reach over influence, scale over credibility. They choose creators for follower counts instead of the trust they command within specific communities.

Influence works differently from reach. Influence persuades quietly. It shifts perception over time. It moves behaviour because it feels earned, not rented. When brands collaborate with creators who already shape conversations, rather than those who simply amplify them, the work travels deeper and lasts longer.

That requires patience and restraint. It also requires letting go of rigid messaging and allowing creators to bring their own truths into the frame. The reward is not instant virality but sustained relevance.

Digital as a long-term value exchange

The most resilient brands now treat digital not as a media channel but as a relationship space. Every piece of content asks an implicit question: what am I giving people in return for their attention?

This mindset pushes brands toward building their own intellectual property. Recurring formats. Series. Platforms. Cultural rituals that audiences can return to. These are not campaigns but assets. They compound over time.

Sowing these seeds today is how brands earn cultural relevance tomorrow. It is slower work, but it creates memory, not just moments.

Inside agencies, the work is changing

This shift is also reshaping how agencies operate. Traditional hierarchies are giving way to hybrid teams that include creators, community managers, cultural researchers, and technologists. The work moves less like a factory and more like a laboratory.

Ideas are launched, observed, and refined in public. Imperfection is no longer a flaw but a feature. Clients who expect polish from day one often struggle here. But those who allow space for iteration discover ideas that people genuinely adopt.

AI and the new creative discipline

AI has accelerated this evolution. It enables faster production, wider exploration, and rapid testing. But its real value lies beyond efficiency.

Used meaningfully, AI helps brands identify patterns in cultural behaviour, understand emerging signals, and personalise experiences at scale. Used superficially, it floods the ecosystem with noise.

The advantage will belong to brands that integrate AI into decision-making, not just execution. Technology may generate options, but human judgment determines relevance.

Measuring what actually matters

Performance metrics still matter, but they need recalibration. The more useful signals now sit beyond reach. Did people remix the idea? Did creators adopt it without incentives? Did sentiment deepen over time?

These are indicators of cultural integration, not just media efficiency.

The real choice brands face

Brands today face a strategic decision. Chase attention in short bursts and hope it sticks, or invest in ecosystems that grow slowly and endure. Trends will always play a role, but they should function as entry points, not destinations.

One brand recently committed to a simple weekly content slot supported by a small creator fund. Over time, it became a dependable cultural stage. When a relevant trend eventually surfaced, the brand amplified it with credibility already in place. The result was sustained growth, not a temporary lift.

What this really means

If brands want longevity, they must stop building moments and start building places. Places where audiences return. Places where creators feel ownership. Places where value is exchanged, not extracted.

Virality will still happen. When it does, enjoy the attention. Just do not confuse the spike with a foundation. Culture rewards those who invest early, listen closely, and stay long enough to matter.

This article is penned bySuraj Nedungadi, Associate Vice President - Strategy, YAAP.