The advertising world, which has spent billions of dollars over the past decade teaching brands to pursue consumers into the algorithmic wilderness of personalized feeds and targeted display, has arrived at a conclusion that might have occurred to someone watching the 1969 Moon landing on a Zenith in their neighbor's living room: people enjoy sharing experiences with other people.

This insight arrives courtesy of Dentsu, the Japanese holding company, which has released the third edition of its Consumer Vision report under the title "Mothers of Reinvention." The study, which surveyed 30,000 consumers in 25 countries and consulted with 20 experts in cultural sociology, identifies what the company calls "cultural time zones" — moments when large numbers of people pay attention to the same thing at the same time.

(What, you were expecting them to call it "television"?)

Beth Ann Kaminkow, chief executive of Dentsu Americas and chief global client officer, discussed the concept at a Marketing Vanguard Summit session, using the Met Gala as an example of a moment that "pulls people into a like-minded community." She was joined by Maggie Schmerin, chief advertising officer at United Airlines, who offered a case study from her own brand's recent work.

United, it seems, secured a placement in the sequel to "The Devil Wears Prada," in which Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly is forced to fly commercial — coach class, specifically — while United branding appears on seatback screens. The scene lasts less than a minute, but Ms. Schmerin noted that the original film ranks among the five most rewatched movies on United's in-flight entertainment system.

"I want to insert the brand in the culture," Ms. Schmerin said. "I want to insert us in places where people can't tune out the advertising."

The Dentsu report also addresses artificial intelligence, advising marketers to prepare for a future in which they must communicate not only with consumers but with their "digital proxies" — the agentic platforms that will increasingly make purchasing decisions on their behalf.

How exactly one builds a relationship with a proxy remained, at press time, less clear.

Original story published in adweek.com: "Why Marketers Must Look for New Opportunities in ‘Cultural Time Zones’"