Today In Twitterverse: Transculturalism

March 28, 2008 By David Burn 5 Comments

Brian Morrissey is a journalist in the employ of Adweek.

Filed Under: Blogs

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17 (she went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time). Today, I live near Portland, Oregon and spend my days building brands for companies that matter.

http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com HighJive

Well, if Morrissey visited The True Agency’s website—or the shop founder’s Trace magazine site—he might gain enlightenment. Heaven forbid a journalist might do some simple investigating via google.
http://adpulp.com David Burn

@HJ – so you’re in favor of “transculturalism”?
I’m pretty sure I’d like the idea. What I don’t like is yet another buzzword created for no other reason than to make ad peeps sound smart.
http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com HighJive

Hey, the guy is probably just trying to get beyond the standard labels of multicultural marketing or urban marketing.
Buy you’re probably right, it’s no different than creating new buzzwords for other marketing stuff that have been around forever.
http://tangerinetoad.blogspot.com Toad

@HJ: Brian is an excellent journalist who I’m sure actually did look into the True Agency and what they were talking about.
What he was reacting to was a press release with an attempt at a buzzword that didn’t quite make the mark.
Brian’s Twitters are hilarious – you (and I know HJ, well virtually, anyway) would get a serious kick out of them.
Hope all’s well
TT
(Who just made a blog comment sound like an email.)
http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com HighJive

Actually, it’s not really a buzzword—or at least what constitutes a standard buzzword. Claude Grunitzky, who founded both Trace magazine and The True Agency, has been using the term for over a decade, I think. At least I’ve always seen it on Trace, which has been around since 1996. Plus, Grunitzky wrote a book on the topic. Other sources trace the term back to the 1940s. So the transculturalism was not really designed to be the standard ad hack’s buzzword—or else he would have called it something like Multicultural Marketing 2.0.
Not completely convinced your excellent journalist friend looked into it. But whatever. I’ve never really believed True has succeeded at bringing the concept to life, as their work tends to look like all the rest of the “multicultural” ads out there.