Rise of World Culture

I’ve noticed some interesting trends lately and once again, this is not a new observation that I can claim responsibility for. However, it’s good to pause (best on a daily basis if you can afford the time) and look at your surroundings.

For a long time now American culture has been pushing it’s tentacles into the rest of the world. Whether its Coke, McDonalds, or Levi’s jeans, American culture has been infiltrating other countries for over 30 years now. I remember specifically traveling to Italy back in 1992 and seeing a House of Pain album displayed prominently in a record store (remember the mesmerizing beat and hook for ‘Jump Around‘? - if not, do yourself a favor and click on the link).

New Movement in Mass Culture 

The major difference to me now is that the styles and trends are becoming much more pervasive. Previously untouched markets are now merging with what had been a Euro-American dominated cultural movement. A few weeks ago, I noticed a write up  on how the Shaolin Temple is now selling online. What!?!?!

The kung fu diseminating, Wu-Tang inspiring, Shaolin Temple has now worked itself so much into popular culture that they have created an online store. In looking through their hosting site, I came across a number of goods being sold in China that look unmistakably…well…very American. Even trendy enough to not quite make it to Walmart/Target yet. See for yourself:

Items at Taobao.com

Looking over all this, it seems apparent we are seeing what is the key ingredient for a true world culture. That is a shared identity.

Before when people looked differently, talked differently, had different histories, it was too easy to draw lines of separation and ultimately exclusion. However, similarities are becoming more dominant and inclusion will become the norm. Why write about this in an ecommerce blog? Simple - with new consumers coming with similar tastes as current consumers, the world is getting much smaller and new opportunities now exist. Keeping an eye on these changes should ultimately make a light bulb go off in each of our heads about what will be possible in the coming years.

August 12th, 2008