CASE Study: Time Out Markets

Connecting media and markets through urban social life

scenarioDNA helped Time Out develop a shared brand framework across its media platforms and food markets. Cultural analysis connected audience archetypes with the changing balance between time out and time in, informing messaging that could adapt across global and local contexts.

Key Insight: A shared understanding of social life could connect the media audience with the market visitor.

The question: What connects a global brand with local social life?

Time Out needed a unified voice across its media platforms and food markets. The challenge was to find a shared cultural foundation while allowing the brand to respond to the different ways people experienced urban social life.

The research: Connecting audiences, places, and rituals

Our cultural analysis revealed archetypes linking media audiences and market patrons. Pandemic insights also showed how people balanced time out and time in. Together, these findings helped frame the relationship between social experiences, everyday rituals, and the places people chose to spend time.

The application: Consistency with room for local expression

We created a brand framework for consistent yet adaptable messaging around urban social experiences. The work gave Time Out a way to connect its media and physical-market expressions while responding to global and local contexts, keeping a common brand logic across different experiences.

Explore our approach: Culture Mapping · Cultural Research & Intelligence