Zoe Smith

Are you on the pulse and culturally curious? A job in cultural insights might be for you. As a cultural insight analyst at We Are Social, Zoe Smith explores human behaviour and cultural shifts for major clients like Adidas and Paramount. Whether she’s deep-diving on trail running communities or the politics of beauty, it’s all about understanding audiences, communities and where culture is going. When it comes down to it, you can learn the necessary research skills on the job, says Zoe, but “having a point of view and an opinion is harder to teach”.

What I do

My creative practice
I’m a cultural insight analyst at We Are Social, which is a role I like to think of as a mix between an anthropologist and strategist. Essentially, I research subcultures and human behaviours to help brands understand their audiences, forecast trends and strategically situate themselves within an ever-developing cultural context.

It's a job with lots of variety: one moment I’m following conversations around an upcoming film and its cast, another I’m writing about a whimsical trend and what it reflects about the DJing community. I also produce analysis on shorter-term signals for our Instagram publication, @thefeed.global, and contribute to our annual report on longer-term shifts, Think Forward.

My work is particularly weighted towards internet culture, but I also write about films, books, and aesthetics for Gut Instinct Media and my Substack, work1ng theory.

Influences and inspiration
Because what I do is rooted in culture, I find inspiration in everything and anyone. It might look more formal, like going to the V&A or the National Theatre, or like talking to people when I travel, watching reality TV, life drawing, overhearing conversations on the tube, and listening to what my friends and family are watching, reading and writing.

Many of them work in different disciplines to me, from law to playwriting, so it’s a privilege to be able to learn from them. For example, my mum’s an architect, so she’s often taking me on site and explaining how to visualise a space.

I’m also a huge film fanatic, so old Hollywood screwball comedies, any film by Michael Haneke and 80s classics (especially Some Kind of Wonderful) are a go-to. Also: Berlin, Alice Munro, techno, Tadao Ando, Animal Collective and Félix Vallotton.

My training
I studied English at university and then worked at St Luke’s as a junior planner. At St Luke’s, I learnt how to conduct and run research groups, write and present strategy, and produce analysis and commentary for our newsletters. During this time, I also undertook APG Night School to learn planning fundamentals and took part in Steven Lacey’s training in qualitative research.

I initially didn’t have all the experience required for a cultural insight analyst position, but my time at We Are Social taught me qualitative and quantitative research, how to use social listening tools, what makes a good insight, and different methodologies to source collect.

The main traits you need to enjoy working in cultural insight are curiosity and being tapped into what’s happening in the world around you. Experience in either qualitative or quantitative research is super helpful, but it can largely be learnt on the job. Having a point of view and an opinion is harder to teach.

Favourite recent project
I recently undertook some work for Adidas Running around the online codes and culture around trail running. Before this, I knew absolutely nothing about it, which is always my favourite kind of project.

Writing-wise, it was a piece for Gut Instinct about the new politics of beauty, part cultural commentary, part semiotic analysis. It explored contrasting attitudes to effort in the online aesthetics of US women on either side of the political spectrum.

A day in the life
I’m usually in the office, which means starting with a team catch-up on what we’ve been listening/reading/watching that week. Then I’ll be briefed on a creative insights task, which could range from using Google Translate to find search terms on TikTok in a different market to reading and accumulating information from local publishers.

If I haven’t got a pressing deadline, I’ll draft up a blog post on a trending conversation, creator or trend for @thefeed.global. At lunch, I’ll hang out with colleagues and grab something nearby, before getting stuck back into source collection and cultural analysis. After work, you can find me at the PCC, life drawing, or catching up with a friend.

A starter pack for my job:

How I got here

Starting my creative journey
Whilst I was studying English at university, I really enjoyed analysing the political, psychological and social context of a text. This interest stayed with me, and I realised I’d love to have some kind of cultural slant in my future career.

At the time, I wasn’t familiar with the advertising industry at all, let alone that strategy or cultural insight existed. If anything, I initially thought I was better suited to the creative side, writing fiction for magazines and running a small illustration business at university.

Landing my first few jobs, clients and/or commissions
I was super lucky: St Luke’s offered me a job following my summer internship there. I worked at the agency for almost two years, gaining experience in strategy and research and the opportunity to own certain accounts. This gave me the confidence to go for my current role at We Are Social.

Biggest challenges along the way
For me, a big challenge is around active self-promotion. The advertising industry rewards having a personal brand and creating your own content. Particularly within the cultural insight space, there’s a blurred line, with cultural analysts increasingly transitioning into creators and generating opportunities and audiences that way.

As someone who doesn’t naturally gravitate towards being on camera, it’s about finding the right mix between building the necessary parts of an authentic personal brand and being prepared to push myself out of my comfort zone.

My social media and self-promotion vibe is…
A work in progress!

Three things I've found useful in my career:

Courses, programmes, initiatives, access schemes or job boards I've found helpful
Job-wise, LinkedIn alerts, where you can set up tailored alerts to inform you of prospective jobs. Whilst you end up getting a lot of emails, it’s a continuous influx of job opportunities you can scroll through daily to see what’s happening and what you could apply to.

My greatest learnings when it comes to making money and supporting myself as a creative:
Be practical and informed. Have a good understanding of the market rate of your role: talk to your friends, look at market surveys and Glassdoor. Explore what opportunities for development are on offer if an increased salary isn’t an option. But also know your value and don’t be afraid to pivot if it’s not working for you.

Advice

My most useful career tips
Keep perspective, and try to trust the process. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z are likely to hold multiple roles throughout their careers; it’s not a given that what you're doing now will end up being your lifelong job. In fact, that job might not even exist yet. If you treat each stage as an opportunity to learn and do your best regardless of what happens, you can remain excited and optimistic about what the future has to offer.

What I'd say to someone looking to get into a similar role
Not every interest or passion you have has to be productive, but if cultural insight is something you want to get into, it’s good to build proof of your interests. Substacks, blogs, notebooks, zines, art, social content – whatever works for you. And it goes without saying, read, do, watch and absorb as much as you can.