How Brands Are Harnessing Cultural Understanding to Drive Unstoppable Marketing Success

Identity Creates
Jun 25
3 min read

Updated: 12 minutes ago

Written By: Nokuthula Hatoongo

In today’s marketplace, brands that tap into Cultural Understanding and leverage it well, generate a Cultural Currency and are redefining what marketing success looks like. Cultural marketing is more than representation or surface-level inclusivity; it’s the ability to forge authentic, meaningful connections with diverse audiences by understanding their culture, traditions, values, and leveraging cultural moments, influencers, and storytelling to build trust and loyalty.

One brand leading the way in this space and generating a cultural currency is Remitly. An international money transfer platform that is quietly but powerfully reaching a global audience through successful culturally intelligent marketing.

What Is Cultural Currency?

Cultural Currency refers to the value brands gain by authentically engaging with diverse audiences, tapping into multicultural insights, cultural nuances, and relevant cultural moments. It’s about leveraging the shared experiences, stories, languages, traditions, and influencers that resonate deeply with specific communities.

Brands unlock Cultural Currency by:

Understanding cultural nuances to avoid stereotypes and connect authentically.
Aligning with key cultural moments that hold significance for their audiences.
Collaborating with culturally credible/authentic influencers and storytellers.

It’s not just a buzzword; it’s a form of equity that builds trust, boosts engagement, and fosters long-term loyalty. And Remitly is proving this approach works and is good for business..

Why Does Cultural Understanding Drive Results?

It Builds Trust and Loyalty: Diverse audiences respond positively to brands that “get it right.” When a brand aligns authentically with its culture, it earns trust, creating a bond that goes beyond transactions.
It Increases Reach and Engagement: Culturally relevant campaigns often spark organic conversations, generating buzz and popularity across social media and traditional platforms.
It Drives ROI: Brands that harness cultural understanding effectively see measurable results, from increased sales to brand awareness and loyalty.

How Cultural Understanding Delivers Business Growth For Remitly:

Remitly is demonstrating that when cultural marketing is done right and executed effectively, it doesn’t just resonate, it drives tangible business results.

Their campaigns are grounded in genuine cultural insight, from using words like "gogo" to speak directly to Southern African audiences or Chachi to speak to their Hindi audiences, to celebrating shared cultural moments like family gatherings, traditional meals, and rituals around sending money home.

This approach makes Remitly’s audiences feel seen, heard, and represented, not as a tick-box exercise, but as an intentional, values-led strategy that builds deep emotional connection. This authenticity isn’t going unnoticed. It’s translating directly into Remitly’s financial performance:

Business Impact: Cultural Currency = Financial Currency

Revenue Growth: In 2024, Remitly’s revenue rose by 34% year-over-year to $1.26 billion.
Profitability: Adjusted EBITDA grew by 203% to $135 million, showcasing a massive improvement in operational efficiency and customer loyalty.
Customer Growth: Active customers increased by 32% in Q4 2024 alone, as more users turn to a brand that feels culturally relevant and trustworthy.
Path to Profit: Net losses shrank significantly from -$118M to -$37M, and in early 2025, Remitly posted its first positive net income of $11.4 million.

These are not just business wins. They’re proof points that cultural understanding and insight are powerful tools for customer acquisition, retention, and revenue growth.

Remitly’s growth didn’t happen by accident; it stems from a clear, intentional strategy to:

Honour the cultural context of global audiences.
Speak their language, literally and metaphorically.
Offer more than a service, but create a sense of community and connection by making audiences feel seen, heard, and represented authentically.

Their digital-first model and disciplined corridor expansion may have created the infrastructure, but their marketing strategy is what makes customers stay. As CEO Matt Oppenheimer put it, success stems from the “predictable, resilient nature of the service combined with a differentiated, trusted and reliable product.” That trust is built through authentic representation done right.

Takeaway for Brands:

Cultural understanding isn’t just a creative “nice-to-have”. It’s a competitive edge when executed intentionally, it drives:

Increased brand trust and customer loyalty
Organic engagement and word-of-mouth growth
Greater market share with diverse communities
Long-term revenue and brand equity

Cultural understanding = Increased trust and loyalty = Business growth.

But building cultural currency doesn’t happen by accident, it requires deep insight, lived experience, and strategic execution. This is where cultural strategists and marketing experts come in.

If your team doesn’t currently have these capabilities in-house, it’s essential to partner with cultural marketing consultants or agencies who specialise in these communities. The right partner doesn’t just bring representation, they bring resonance, relevance, and results.

Let’s Build With Intention

At Identity Creates, we help forward-thinking brands harness cultural insight to drive real business growth. If you’re looking to future-proof your marketing with authenticity and impact we’d love to partner.

Reach out to us at enquiries@weareidentitycreates.com and let’s explore what culturally intelligent marketing could unlock for your brand.

Find out more about Remitly here: https://www.remitly.com/gb/en