Talent and brand consultancy United Talent Agency has a message for everyone at Cannes Lions 2026 and beyond: “Cultural impact can be measured.”
And it has a new tool to do it, which it unveiled Tuesday morning at the annual Creativity Festival, where it has its largest attendance ever. Learn about the “UTA Culture Canon” and the first-ever company culture index.
UTA describes the index as “a first-of-its-kind measurement system that identifies cultural relevance” and is built on “public intelligence, UTA’s own data and insights” to translate “what was previously intangible into a clear picture of impact today — and what it takes to gain it.”
Why should brands care? Well, research has found that consumers are “more likely to engage, trust, and purchase from brands they perceive as culturally relevant,” UTA explains.
The Culture Index measures three factors and weighs their influence. The three factors are reach, resonance, and importance. “Reach brings attention to the brand,” the company explains. “Resonance keeps it memorable. Relevance keeps it bought.”
Reach is measured through the likes of social following, engagement, press mentions, website visits, consumer sentiment, revenue, and headcount. Meanwhile, Resonance evaluates year-over-year growth across all of these reach metrics. Relevance is measured through “qualitative research into human perception of cultural relevance in the moment,” according to UTA, describing this as “the most personal and decisive dimension.”
On Tuesday, the company shared insights into what drives relevance, citing durability, community engagement and authenticity as the most important factors.
“Culture has always been a driver of business,” says Alexander Gutkiewicz, partner at UTA. “For decades—even centuries—it has influenced how time and money are spent.” “As culture continues to expand and diversify across platforms, spaces and communities, it is becoming increasingly important for brands to harness it authentically.”
UTA’s inaugural Culture Index report analyzed 10,000 brands across 44 industries and 49 “data signals” – from financial performance and social growth to qualitative consumer perception. Overall, the report contains “the most data-driven picture to date of how culture shapes commerce,” the agency says.
So, which industries perform well on the new index? “Software and platform companies are ranked as the most culturally important industry in the inaugural report, in part due to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence,” UTA said. “Video games are at a premium thanks to their ability to foster community and engagement.”
Behind those are fintech brands, streaming and streaming companies, which, according to UTA, “make culture through intellectual property, as audiences shape their identities around the stories they broadcast.” UTA points out that it follows closely behind fashion and apparel, where “sportswear blurs the line between performance and everyday life.”
