How Brands Can Use PR to Foster Cultural Understanding

Posted on July 29, 2025

In today’s global, interconnected world, cultural understanding has never been more vital. Audiences are diverse, informed, and increasingly vocal about the values they expect brands to uphold. Public relations (PR) is no longer just about managing image or driving publicity—it’s a bridge between brands and communities, helping foster empathy, respect, and mutual understanding across cultural lines.

Brands that successfully use PR to foster cultural understanding don’t just gain good press—they build trust, authenticity, and long-term loyalty. Here’s how strategic public relations can help brands go beyond the superficial and become true champions of cultural respect and inclusivity.

Why Cultural Understanding Matters in PR

Cultural understanding means recognizing, respecting, and valuing the differences that define communities—whether in language, heritage, traditions, or social experience. In PR, it’s about crafting narratives that reflect those nuances accurately and sensitively.

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When PR is done without cultural awareness, the results can be tone-deaf at best and deeply offensive at worst. We’ve all seen high-profile campaign failures—ads that misrepresent cultures, spokespeople that perpetuate stereotypes, or slogans that alienate entire communities. These missteps aren’t just bad PR—they’re missed opportunities to connect meaningfully.

Instead, brands that embrace cultural understanding can:

Avoid misunderstandings and backlash.
Build stronger relationships with diverse audiences.
Show real commitment to inclusion and equity.
Create stories that resonate across borders and backgrounds.

PR Strategies to Promote Cultural Understanding

1. Listen Before You Speak

Cultural understanding begins with listening. Before launching a campaign or making a public statement, brands must immerse themselves in the lived realities of the people they’re trying to reach. This means:

Engaging in social listening
Conducting community consultations
Reading diverse perspectives in media and literature
Collaborating with cultural experts or local leaders

Listening helps brands avoid assumptions and ensures messaging aligns with the values and experiences of the communities they serve.

2. Build Diverse Teams

If everyone in the room shares the same background, blind spots are inevitable. Brands must prioritize building PR teams that reflect the diversity of their audiences. This diversity should span race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, ability, sexual orientation, and more.

Having a variety of voices in brainstorming, content creation, and approvals increases the chances of crafting campaigns that feel authentic and inclusive.

3. Tell Stories from Within Communities, Not Just About Them

There’s a big difference between storytelling and stealing stories. Cultural understanding means elevating voices from within the community, not speaking for them. PR strategies should include:

Featuring local or community spokespersons in media campaigns
Highlighting stories authored by people with lived experience
Partnering with grassroots creators and influencers

This approach builds trust and gives communities the power to define how they’re represented.

4. Be Mindful of Language and Imagery

Words and visuals have cultural weight. What seems innocuous in one context may carry offensive connotations in another. When creating PR content:

Use inclusive and respectful language.
Avoid idioms, symbols, or colors that could be misinterpreted.
Fact-check every cultural reference for accuracy and relevance

Sensitivity in messaging shows respect, and that respect gets noticed.

5. Celebrate Without Appropriating

Cultural appreciation should not cross the line into cultural appropriation. Brands often misstep when they borrow from a culture without understanding or acknowledging its origins. To avoid this:

Give credit where it’s due.
Involve cultural insiders in content creation.
Avoid reducing traditions or symbols to aesthetic props

PR can play a critical role in ensuring campaigns are celebratory, not exploitative.

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Real-World Examples of Brands Promoting Cultural Understanding

Airbnb: “We Accept” Campaign

In response to rising xenophobia and travel bans in the U.S., Airbnb launched its “We Accept” campaign during the Super Bowl. The campaign featured diverse faces and emphasized belonging, with a strong message on inclusivity. More than a commercial, it was a PR-driven stand for cultural understanding and human dignity.

Ben & Jerry’s

Known for its values-driven communication, Ben & Jerry’s uses PR to highlight issues of racial justice, Indigenous rights, and climate justice. They collaborate with local leaders and activists to amplify their messages authentically. This proactive PR approach cements their reputation as more than just a brand, but a voice for justice.

Nike: Embracing Athlete Activism

Nike’s support of athletes like Colin Kaepernick and Serena Williams wasn’t just bold marketing—it was a strategic PR move to align the brand with cultural awareness and social justice. While it sparked controversy, it also solidified Nike’s connection with younger, values-driven consumers.

How to Measure Success in Culturally Inclusive PR

Success in culturally conscious PR isn’t just about reach—it’s about impact. Here are a few ways brands can evaluate their efforts:

Community Feedback: Are the communities you’re trying to reach responding positively?
Media Coverage: Are journalists and cultural commentators recognizing your efforts?
Engagement Quality: Are comments and shares highlighting resonance and appreciation?
Brand Sentiment: Has public perception improved among diverse audiences?
Internal Alignment: Do your employees feel proud of your brand’s cultural values?

Quantitative and qualitative metrics together provide a holistic picture of how well your PR efforts are fostering cultural understanding.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Tokenism

Including a single diverse face in a campaign isn’t inclusion—it’s performative. Make diversity a core part of your storytelling, not an afterthought.

2. Stereotyping

Avoid reducing people to clichés. Show individuals in complex, multidimensional roles.

3. Silence on Social Issues

Remaining neutral in the face of injustice can be seen as complicity. If your brand stands for something, your PR must reflect it, especially during cultural flashpoints.

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Final Thoughts: PR as a Tool for Empathy and Equity

At its best, PR is about more than press releases and sound bites—it’s about building understanding, trust, and connection. Brands that use PR to foster cultural understanding aren’t just staying relevant—they’re becoming cultural leaders.

This shift requires more than strategy. It takes humility, listening, partnership, and a genuine commitment to elevating the stories that too often go untold. It means moving from messaging to meaning, from campaigns to connection.

As global audiences grow more diverse, inclusive PR isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s the smart thing. And when done right, it helps brands not only tell better stories but also become part of something bigger: a more empathetic, equitable world.

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