Africa-Press – Botswana. In branding, context is everything: get it wrong and you spark outrage; get it right and you spark loyalty. And this bears a strong impact on reputation, as we know too well.
The reality is that we live and work in a time where brands don’t just sell products; they sell meaning. Every logo, every tagline, every customer interaction is a symbol in a larger cultural conversation. The question is not whether people will interpret those symbols, but how. And when meaning collides with history, who pays the price?
The US’s Cracker Barrel learned that silence is not neutral. The company is no stranger to criticism around its history and imagery, but a recent online storm saw users highlight elements of its logo that looked uncomfortably like a whip or noose. Whether or not this was intended is beside the point. Symbols are never innocent. In a society wrestling with racial memory, the interpretation was always going to be charged. What should have been background branding spiralled into a reputational crisis. The company’s hesitant response only amplified the damage, confirming the impression of a brand unable or unwilling to see the world through its customers’ eyes. And we all know how that goes.
American Eagle, in contrast, showed what happens when brands lean in with agility, even in the face of criticism. The fashion retailer released a campaign starring actress Sydney Sweeney under the cheeky tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” The pun – “genes” and “jeans” – was meant to be playful, but many saw something more troubling. Featuring a conventionally attractive, blonde, blue-eyed woman while punning on “genes” was read by some as echoing eugenics and genetic superiority. The backlash was sharp, accusing the brand of flirting with white supremacist undertones.
Here’s where the difference lies: American Eagle did not cave or disappear into silence. Instead, it clarified its intent, emphasising inclusivity and doubling down on the message that great jeans look good on everyone. The controversy drove conversation, visibility, and, crucially, sales. The brand moved with the moment rather than freezing in it.
So what separates a stumble from a win?
It isn’t budget, or luck, or clever creatives. It is cultural intelligence. It is the ability to read the room, to know that a logo is never just a logo, that a word is never just a word, and that meaning is always shaped by context. Brands often ask, how do we avoid being tone-deaf? The better question is, how do we become culturally fluent? Agility is part of the answer. Humility is another. Most of all, it is about recognising that audiences are no longer passive. They decode, interpret, and react in real time. A brand that fails to engage with that reality is a brand standing on quicksand.
Tone-deafness destroys value faster than any competitor ever could. Agility, by contrast, transforms missteps into moments and moments into movements. Cracker Barrel froze. American Eagle danced. Which one do you think consumers will remember?
PR whizz or branding strategist, there are some basic truths that we as communicators should write on the wall: • Symbols are never innocent • A brand that refuses to listen will be forced to learn • Agility turns accidents into opportunity • Cultural intelligence is not a luxury, it is a shield • The brand that moves with culture moves markets • It’s always harder to come back from reputational risk than it is to nip it in the bud early on
So here is the provocation: in a time where culture can crown you or crush you in a single news cycle, are you truly listening? Are you quick enough, sharp enough, and humble enough to move at the speed of meaning?
Because if you are not, your brand and its reputation won’t just fade into the background. It will be erased from the conversation altogether. That’s not just sales value, that’s reputational value lost too. And let us remember, in the age of culture, such erasure is the most unforgiving failure of all.
*Taazima Kala, General Manager & Chief Consultant, Hotwire; Chair, CIPR International. Taazima is a Chartered PR Practitioner and passionate communications professional who champions PR as a force for good, with a focus on reputation management, strategic communications and storytelling that empowers and connects people with what matters most to them
Source: Mmegi Online
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