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| CULTURE CLUB: CultureLab’s Kevin Walker (left) and Philip Moore (right) strive to help their clients reach the critical 18-to-34-year-old demographic. photography by Dan Sellers |
Titles: Co-founders and managing partners
Company: CultureLab
Stats: Six employees; $450,000 in revenue in 2006; $650,000 projected revenue in 2007; based in Dallas
Why You Need to Know Them:
Coca-Cola’s failed launch of New Coke in 1985 did more than just rattle a culture of caffeine addicts. It proved to Kevin Walker the power of a brand. “Coca-Cola didn’t consider people’s emotional attachment to the brand,” he says. “Companies have to understand how people use their products.” Or, at least, have someone like Walker to understand for them. Last year, advertising veteran Walker and business partner Philip Moore co-founded CultureLab, a research and advertising agency that goes far beyond traditional research methods to discern the needs and wants of their 18-to-34-year-old demographic. When Nokia, one of CultureLab’s first clients, wanted to relate better to young people in Latin America, Walker and Moore skipped the focus groups and went straight to the source, shadowing young Brazilians for an entire week. “We learned about their lives, their likes, and dislikes from the inside out,” Walker says. And as a result, he adds, “We really understood their needs.” Walker, 39, has also learned something else of Gen Y: “They’re multicultural. They are less conscious of race. The important thing is their shared interests.” And he’s convinced that other agencies aren’t doing enough to reach this powerful demographic segment. “The success we’ve had so quickly shows that this is a neglected market,” he says. “Our time is now.”
