The long shift from needs to meaning

For decades, relevance was the reward for solving a need. If you reduced friction, saved time, or delivered convenience, you were relevant, and competition was based on your ability to wash cleaner, to drive faster, or to save more time. That logic still matters, but it no longer explains why some brands become central to people’s lives while others remain transactional. Relevance has migrated from the territory of needs to the territory of meaning.

How relevance evolved across decades

This long shift has reshaped the way brands compete for attention and loyalty. It did not happen overnight. It unfolded in waves.

In the 1950s and 1960s, brands began to understand that functional benefits were not enough. The post-war boom opened the door to the first true emotional propositions: Marlboro Country transformed a cigarette into a pathway to identity, while Coca-Cola elevated a soft drink into a symbol of joy and connection. Needs remained present, but meaning stopped being a simple embellishment.

In the 2000s, the search for meaning became explicit. People began to demand not only solutions and emotions, but also coherence with their values, their worldview and their deeper sense of self. Spiritual needs emerged clearly, expressed in the desire for purpose, community, identity and a life aligned with personal ethics. And brands, both corporate and personal, were expected to respond.

Cultural strategy as a generator of meaning

One specific way to create meaning comes from the Cultural Strategy model proposed by Harvard’s Douglas Holt. According to Holt, great brands become relevant by intercepting cultural tensions that people feel but struggle to articulate. These tensions arise when society promotes a dominant ideal and individuals experience a gap between that ideal and their lived reality. Brands that step into that gap, offering a myth that harmonises the tension, become culturally resonant. They communicate in ways that transform meaning into ritual.

The Qashqai case: resolving a cultural tension

A clear example is the Nissan Qashqai. In the mid-2000s, young male parents faced an internal contradiction. They were thrilled by fatherhood, committed to being present and responsible, yet felt that the vitality of youth was slipping away. Sedans symbolised adulthood, off-roaders symbolised freedom. Both worlds felt incompatible. The Qashqai bridged them. It offered the convenience, security and comfort young families needed, wrapped in the off-road symbolism of an active, youthful lifestyle. The driving experience became a small ritual that connected two identities: the responsible parent and the energetic young adult. That is one way cultural meaning is created: through products and experiences that resolve real social tensions.

Meaning in personal branding: bridging worlds

The same dynamic appears in personal branding. Some public figures become relevant because they bridge worlds that seem irreconcilable in the public imagination. Keanu Reeves links extraordinary celebrity with an almost disarming goodness and humility. Leonardo DiCaprio links Hollywood stardom with environmental commitment. Sean Penn links fame with a revolutionary and uncompromising spirit. Each of them captures tensions felt by segments of society. They become meaningful because they embody the possibility of uniting different ideals without losing coherence.

The public’s urgent hunger for meaning

This hunger for meaning is now visible everywhere. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer shows that the public feels a growing void: people want companies and leaders to take a stance, express what they stand for, and contribute to solving the challenges of our time. They are actively looking for leaders, both corporate and personal, who can help them make sense of a world in crisis. And when they find someone who does, they follow, identify, and integrate that meaning into their own identity. Relevance becomes personal.

The leader’s role: proposing meaning without controlling it

This is the key insight for leaders and professionals: when we offer meaning, we step into a role with a certain heroic quality. It can be the stance of a warrior for climate action, like Greta Thunberg. It can be the stance of a values-based, non-compromising consultant. It can be the stance of an entrepreneur building something that expresses a worldview, not just a business model.

And we should always remember that meaning is not ours to control. We propose it, we express it, we activate it. Then the public completes it, interprets it, and turns it into something of their own. Meaning lives in the interaction. It is co-created.

Why offering meaning matters

Still, the responsibility remains. Offering meaning is the most effective way to build a deeper relationship with the people we serve. Functional relevance solves a problem, emotional relevance creates affinity, meaningful relevance creates identity. And identity is the arena where influence, trust and long-term value are built.