We’re in the age of brand volatility.
Cultural trends emerge overnight. A viral comment, a TikTok micro-trend, or an unexpected celebrity moment can shift how people feel about a brand, sometimes even before that brand has a chance to respond. Brands aren’t just competing on product or positioning anymore but on cultural agility.
What’s clear is that the media landscape is fragmented, and influence no longer resides solely in brand-controlled narratives. Today, brand relevance is shaped as much by cultural feedback loops (social chatter, organic media pickup, in-store experiences, and good old-fashioned word of mouth) as it is by planned marketing campaigns.
Yet most brand frameworks remain stuck in a model built for full control. Brands are still trying to be seen, when they should be learning how to be found. They track performance on their own channels, but ignore what’s being said when they’re not in the room.
That got us thinking about a McKinsey study we read earlier this year: the fastest-growing brands are those that combine coherence with elasticity, the ability to adapt without losing their essence. To do that, brands need more than a positioning statement. They need a pulse.
Naturally, this was an idea that refused to stay theoretical for very long. You know us.
Introducing Brand mRNA: A New Chapter in Strategic Brand Intelligence
Dot Dot Dot is excited to announce a new collaboration with Early Studies—a next-generation cultural signals intelligence company based in London that’s quietly redefining what quantitative research can feel like. By asking sharper questions to more culturally attuned audiences, they’re turning data into something more human, more revealing, and ultimately, more useful. They’re already trusted by brands such as On Running, Nike, Dolce & Gabbana, and YouTube. And we trust them.
Together, we’re launching a new monthly research series (and a new methodology) that explores how brands are understood in the real world, beyond the borders of their own narratives. We’re calling it Brand mRNA.
At its core, Brand mRNA is about capturing how people truly perceive brands, not through a brand’s intended messaging, but through the lens of the people who matter most to them: their crew, their community, and their cultural context. It’s a study of perception across timeframes (past, present, future) and touchpoints (from ads and collaborations to organic hype and everyday word of mouth).
Each month, we’ll talk to hundreds of people in various markets to understand how today’s leading brands show up in the culture around them: what they’re remembered for, how they’re being talked about now, and where people expect (or want) them to go next.
It’s research designed to reveal the signals that live outside the walls of brand strategy decks, the social cues, subconscious associations, and emotional heuristics that actually shape a brand’s place in the world.
Because brands are no longer just what they say they are. They’re what people say to each other when the brand isn’t in the room.
From Brand DNA to Brand mRNA
For decades, Brand DNA has been the strategic backbone for organizations. It offered a codified set of internal truths, values, and attributes designed to anchor brand identity over time. Built for consistency, it gave organizations a sense of control and continuity in how they presented themselves to the world.
Rooted in frameworks like Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism (1992), DNA models helped brands stay on message, maintain coherence across touchpoints, and avoid dilution as they scaled.
And it worked. Brand DNA created clarity for internal teams, alignment for external partners, and recognizability for consumers. It helped build some of the world’s most valuable and enduring brands, and became the foundation of a multi-billion-dollar industry of agencies, consultancies, and strategy decks. It made brand strategy feel solid, institutional, even timeless.
But timelessness and repetition are no longer the advantage they once were.
Today, brands operate in culture, not just in commerce. They’re interpreted, reshaped, and redistributed by communities, through social feeds, group chats, creator content, collaborations, memes, and moments. And much of this perception is out of the brand’s direct control.
This is where Brand mRNA comes in.
In biology, mRNA (messenger RNA) is what translates static genetic code (DNA) into action. While DNA holds the blueprint, mRNA reads the environment, interprets what the body needs at that moment, and sends out temporary, adaptable instructions to create proteins, the building blocks of life.
We see brands in much the same way.
If Brand DNA is a foundational identity (who the brand is at its core) then Brand mRNA is how that identity is expressed, adapted, and translated in the world, moment by moment, context by context.
And right now, brands don’t just need identity. They need agility. They need the ability to respond to culture in real time, without losing themselves in the process.
Living Strategy for Culture-Responsive Brands
Unlike static brand guidelines, Brand mRNA is built to evolve. Updated regularly through consumer feedback loops, it helps brands stay culturally relevant without drifting from their core identity.
Beyond insights its value informs action across the organization:
Marketing gets tone, messaging, and channel direction
Product gets signals on features and innovation priorities
Customer service gets language and resolution style cues
Leadership gets real-time cultural positioning
A research tool? Yes. But also an alignment engine for culture-aware decision-making.
The Brand mRNA Breakdown
Each month, we’ll publish a focused analysis on one brand, mapping how it’s perceived in culture right now versus how it positions itself internally.
More than just sentiment tracking, it’s an exploration of the emotional, aesthetic, and behavioral signals shaping a brand’s relevance in the wild. We surface the tensions, contradictions, and latent opportunities that traditional brand frameworks often overlook.
For example:
Should Ralph Lauren double down on exclusivity, or lean into cultural accessibility? What does the original community want—and how does that compare to emerging audiences?
Is Prada more resonant through high-production ambassadors or the unfiltered pull of grassroots influencers? Who really holds cultural influence right now?
Should Louis Vuitton maintain its role as fashion dictator, or embrace the tone of a collaborator? And how would that shift show up in product, partnerships, and tone of voice?
We’ll share our key findings publicly. But the full data sets, custom filters, and comparative breakouts are available upon request from next week.
So what we’re offering isn’t a replacement for Brand DNA. It’s what comes next. Because when culture moves faster than strategy cycles, brands need more than a blueprint. More something like a pulse.
If your Brand DNA keeps you recognizable, your Brand mRNA keeps you relevant. And ask yourself: What brand today can afford not to have one?