The Founders Program | TFP 2026 - Beauty, Health, & Wellness Cohort
Cultural Strategy Workbook
Work through three connected exercises to identify your cultural fit, define your positioning, and build your narrative strategy. Bring your completed workbook to office hours.
1. Cultural Fit
2. Positioning Statement
3. Narrative Identification
4. Your Strategy
Cultural Fit Questionnaire
Cultural Fit identifies the dominant cultural context your brand aligns with. Before you can position your brand in culture or craft your narratives, you need to know which of the three cultural buckets you belong to.
Mainstream
What's Hot Now. Mass appeal. Strong brand IP. Audience is broad.
Subculture
IYKYK. Niche appeal. An offshoot of mainstream. Your audience is specific.
Counterculture
Against the grain. Fringe appeal. A rejection of mainstream. Your audience self-selects by what they oppose.
Your Results
Mainstream
0
/ 9
Subculture
0
/ 9
Counterculture
0
/ 9
Cultural Positioning Statement
Cultural Positioning defines how your brand enters culture as a point of view, not a product. It identifies where you sit in the cultural landscape, what you are for, what you are against, and what your brand offers as a cultural response.
| Brand Positioning | Cultural Positioning | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Audience, product, category, competitive advantage | Values, beliefs, cultural alignment |
| Defines | Who you are in the market | Where you belong in culture |
| Purpose | Functional differentiation | Emotional identification |
| Outcome | Purchase intent, value in the market | Brand love, belonging |
Step 1: Identify Your Inputs
Where do you sit: mainstream, subculture, or counterculture?
What values, movements, or cultural narratives does your brand champion?
What dominant norms, outdated behaviors, or cultural noise does your brand reject?
Your "against" names a specific behavior or norm. The tension is the cultural environment that makes that behavior so common. Ask yourself: why does what I'm against exist in the first place? What larger cultural shift or condition created it?
| Against | Tension |
|---|---|
| Performative wellness marketing | A wellness industry that rewards aesthetics over outcomes |
| Overpriced luxury skincare | Consumers being told that price equals quality |
| One-size-fits-all beauty standards | An industry built on exclusion disguised as aspiration |
What does your brand offer as a POV, product, or promise in response to this tension?
Step 2: Your Statement Takes Shape
Your inputs populate the template below in real time.
We are a [subculture / counterculture / cultural edge] brand that stands for [core values, narratives, or movements], and against [dominant cultural norms]. In a world of [tension], we offer [your cultural response or promise].
Your Cultural Positioning Statement
Use the template as a starting point, then polish it into one decisive sentence in your own words.
Gut Check
Your Cultural Positioning Statement should feel:
Cultural Narrative Identification
Cultural Narratives are the bridge between your Cultural Positioning and your storytelling. They define the recurring themes your brand will explore through campaigns, content, and collaborations.
Scan the Landscape
What dominant conversations, values, or tensions define your category today?
Spot the White Space
What stories aren't being told, or aren't being told well?
Clarify Your POV
Where do you align, where do you challenge, and what do you add?
Translate Into Themes
Craft 3-5 core narrative territories your brand will consistently explore.
Step 1: Scan and Identify 10 Narrative Candidates
List 10 cultural conversations, tensions, or themes relevant to your category and your brand's point of view. Think about what's being talked about, what's being ignored, and what your audience cares about.
Step 2: Distill to Your Core 5
Select the 5 narratives that are most aligned to your Cultural Positioning, most ownable by your brand, and most resonant with your target community.
0 of 5 selected
Selection Criteria
Pressure-test your final five:
Your Cultural Strategy
This is the consolidated output of your Cultural Strategy Workbook. It captures your cultural fit, positioning, and the narrative territories that will guide your campaigns, content, and collaborations.
Cultural Fit & Customer Alignment
Your Cultural Fit
Your Customer Mapping
Cultural Positioning Statement
Your Narrative Territories
The recurring themes your brand will explore through campaigns, content, and collaborations.