Why brands need to act like Doechii
By Julie Levine
SVP, Comms Planning
BarkleyOKRP
Subcultures build momentum. Comms strategy gives it direction. Together, they’re how brands move with culture. Not behind it.
There’s a certain kind of brief you’ve probably seen before:
“Multichannel campaign.”
“Integrated touchpoints.”
“Meet the audience where they are.”
But ask that audience what they felt, and there’s often silence. That’s because most “integration” plans are glorified broadcast models.
More noise. More sameness.
Meanwhile, culture — real, felt, attractive culture — is happening somewhere else entirely. Not in the center. But in the corners. That’s where subcultures live.
And that’s where the smartest comms planning minds are starting to pay attention.
Subcultures are not just niche. They’re necessary.
Subcultures are often treated like trend incubators: something you dip into to find new aesthetics, steal slang, or chase virality. But they’re not accessories. They’re engines. They’re where language gets tested, where community is forged, where values are played out in different forms before they go mainstream.
And today, thanks to platforms like TikTok, Discord, Reddit, Twitch, Substack, and even Tumblr (yes, still!) subcultures aren’t hidden. They’re expressive, influential, and fiercely self-aware. These channels thrive on content that’s mood-based, medium-based, and identity-driven.
Audiences can spot a “tourist brand” in seconds.
They know the difference between participation and performance.
If you want to be let in, you don’t just show up.
You immerse. You listen. You give a shit.
And so you build with.
Enter: Doechii
When Doechii dropped her 16-week multichannel rollout for Alligator Bites Never Heal, she didn’t just promote an album. She invited people into a world. A mythology. A persona: the Swamp Princess — bold, regional, feminine, dangerous, divine.
But it wasn’t just the aesthetic that made it matter.
It was the way she delivered it.
She wiped her feeds.
She launched a YouTube series where she wrote songs live on camera.
She posted rough drafts. Behind-the-scenes clips. Fan reactions.
She iterated content with purpose.
She released songs on TikTok, on Instagram, on YouTube, in different formats and different moods. Not just to say “here’s the song,” but to say “come inside this thing I’m building.”
Every channel wasn’t just activated. It was inhabited.
Every touchpoint felt like a conversation.
She didn’t just integrate platforms.
She integrated her story across time, across tone, across community.
This is what most comms planning misses:
Integration isn’t reach. It’s resonance.
Subculture isn’t targeting. It’s trust.
Doechii has both.
Research isn’t a report. It’s a relationship.
Great comms planning doesn’t start with a calendar. It starts with curiosity about culture and channels. And the kind of research that gets you closer to both.
In a world where subcultures are the culture, research is the engine for creating work that earns trust and sustains relevance.
Ethnography over surveys
Immersive research uncovers the rituals, language, and values that define a subculture from the inside out. Including where and how these show up.
Platform-native listening
– Culture lives differently across channels.
– Twitch shows real-time behaviors.
– Reddit reveals value systems.
– TikTok captures aesthetic shifts.
– Tumblr shares identity layers.
Each is a lens, into worlds. Not just a feed.
Semiotic + behavioral signals
– Look for the codes: emojis, slang, visuals, formats.
– Culture often hides in plain sight and in patterns.
If your research is reductive, your comms strategy will be too.
But if your insight is intimate, iterative, and inspired, you don’t just activate, you embed.
You don’t just show up, you earn your place.
What comms strategists can learn
The future of comms planning doesn’t look like a top-down pyramid. It’s nonlinear and built on staying close to your audience. It looks like a spiral; Adaptive, iterative, and shaped by real-time culture. It’s something that you circle closer to over time. It moves with and through the audience.
It’s time to reframe comms planning as cultural participation.
Want to act like Doechii?*
*Doechii didn’t co-sign this message. But she did inspire the hell out of it.
- Reset before you post
Signal evolution. Subcultures respond to intention, not inertia. - Create narrative gravity
Build a world, not just a message. Think full arc, not assets. - Use channels differently
Each platform should do a different emotional job; Invite, deepen, remix, reflect. - Make iteration the comms strategy
Culture isn’t static and your comms shouldn’t be either. Listen, adapt, evolve. Publicly. - Treat the audience as co-creators
They’re not your targets, they’re your collaborators. They’ll carry and help build the story if you let them in.
Integration is culture in motion
The brands that win now won’t be the loudest.
They’ll be the most fluent.
The ones that treat each platform as a performance space.
Each subculture as a creative partner.
Each campaign as a new, open world.That’s how culture gets built.
That’s how community gets earned.
That’s how Doechii did it.
And why comms planning teams should take notes.
Are you looking for a partner who creates gravity for your brand with ideas that attract and keep your customers for life? Contact our Chief Growth Officer, Jason Parks, at jparks@barkleyokrp.com to learn more.