I’ve spent most of my career helping brands understand a group of consumers who are too often overlooked — the nearly 60 percent of Americans who live between the coasts. For years, we’ve called this cultural segment the New Heartland. We’ve studied them. We’ve listened to them. And we’ve helped brands like Mtn Dew, Fritos, and Visa earn their trust in places where trust doesn’t come easy.
But here’s the thing I’ve been thinking a lot about lately: being a “Heartland agency” doesn’t go far enough anymore.
Because the real challenge brands face today isn’t just about geography.
It’s about culture.
And the divide is growing wider everyday.
We’re living in a moment where national values are splintering, and shared meaning isn’t so shared anymore. Messaging that drives headlines in LA gets rejected in Louisville. Campaigns that light up New York fall flat in Nashville. And the consequences aren’t theoretical — they’re playing out in boardrooms, on social feeds, and in real-time sales data.
More and more, national campaigns land differently depending on where they’re seen. What sparks applause in one market sparks backlash in another. That disconnect usually comes from overlooking values and missing cultural context that matters deeply to New Heartland consumers.
And let me say this clearly:
The New Heartland isn’t just a place. It’s a cultural mindset.
A set of values centered around faith (not religion), community, and family. It’s a worldview shared by millions of Americans, even if they live in Bakersfield, Prescott or Utica. Geography can influence the mindset, but it doesn’t define it.
This isn’t just about getting the language right. It’s about understanding lived experience and lifestyle passions. When a brand leans into messaging that feels clever on the coasts but falls flat — or worse, feels dismissive — in the middle of the country, that’s not a creative risk. That’s a business risk.
These moments happen when brands assume cultural universality that simply doesn’t exist. Culture isn’t universal. It’s layered, personal, and deeply tied to place, tradition, and values.
And that’s why cultural nuance isn’t optional.
It’s essential.
If a brand isn’t building this into its process, it’s not just missing the mark. It’s missing the moment.
Because trust?
You can’t borrow it.
You can’t fake it.
You have to earn it…message by message, market by market.
That’s where we come in.
Yes, we believe we understand the New Heartland better than anyone. That hasn’t changed. What haschanged is the urgency. Today, our job isn’t just to represent a region — it’s to help brands navigate a fractured culture with clarity, confidence, and respect.
This divide isn’t just political.
It’s emotional.
It’s generational.
It’s regional. It’s personal.
It’s a growing gap in how people define loyalty, work ethic, faith, family, and community. These values still drive purchase decisions for millions of Americans. When brands ignore them, they don’t just risk irrelevance — they risk becoming part of the problem.
We’ve seen it in the data.
We’ve heard it in our conversations.
We’ve watched good brands get it wrong by treating culture like a checkbox.
Because if a brand can’t connect across this divide, it won’t grow.
It might get attention. But attention isn’t loyalty.
So, here’s where we stand:
We’re not just a New Heartland agency or consultancy.
We’re a cultural clarity agency.
We help brands find their footing in a fragmented landscape.
We help them speak with confidence.
We help them stay grounded without playing it too safe.
And most of all, we help them mitigate the massive risks of getting it wrong and growing in the places, and with the people, where growth still matters most.