Talent and brand advisory company 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 so, which it unveiled on Tuesday morning at the annual Festival of Creativity, where it is having its biggest presence ever. Meet the “UTA Culture Canon” and the firm’s first-ever Culture Index.
UTA describes the index as “a first-of-its-kind measurement system that quantifies cultural significance” and is built on “public intelligence, UTA’s proprietary data and perception” to translate “what was once intangible into a clear portrait of influence today – and what it takes to gain it.”
Why should brands care? Well, research finds that consumers are “far more likely to engage, trust and buy 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 relevance. “Reach gets a brand noticed,” the firm explains. “Resonance keeps it remembered. Relevance gets it bought.”
Reach gets measured via the likes of social following, engagement, press mentions, site visits, consumer sentiment, revenue and employee count. Meanwhile, resonance evaluates the year-over-year growth across all these reach metrics. And relevance is measured via “qualitative research into human perception of cultural relevance right now,” according to UTA, calling this “the most personal and decisive dimension.”
On Tuesday, the firm even shared insights into what drives relevance, citing durability, community engagement and authenticity as the top factors.
“Culture has always been a business driver. For decades – even centuries – it has influenced how time and money are spent,” says Alexander Jutkowitz, partner at UTA. “As culture continues to expand and diversify across platforms, spaces, and communities, it becomes 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. All in all, the report features “the most data-driven portrait yet of how culture shapes commerce,” the agency says.
So, what industries are doing well on the new index? “Software and platform companies rank as the most culturally relevant industry in the inaugural report, driven in part by AI’s rapid rise,” shares UTA. “Video games follow closely behind thanks to their ability to foster community and participation.”
Behind those rank financial tech brands and broadcasting and streaming companies, which, according to UTA, are “manufacturing culture through IP, as audiences form their identities around the stories they stream.” Just behind ranks fashion & apparel, where “athleisure is blurring the line between performance and everyday life,” UTA notes.
