July 16, 2025 • 32 mins
Edgar Hernandez is turning cultural intelligence into business growth and building the infrastructure to scale it. In this episode, he joins Michael to share how he’s redefining growth audience marketing, producing culture-shaping content, and helping brands lead with purpose, empathy, and long-term relevance in an increasingly diverse world.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good Company is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The marketers of the future won't be experts per se
exclusively in platform. They'll be experts in audience and specifically
understanding the nuances of these different audiences but also the
similarities in that you can create things that are meaningful
connection point for these audiences that drive growth.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'm Michael Cassen, and this is Good Company. Together we'll
explore the dynamic intersection of media, marketing, entertainment, sports and technology.
I'll be joined by visionaries, pioneers, and yes, even a
couple of disruptors for candid conversations as we break down
how these masters of ingenuity are shaping the future of business, culture,
(00:49):
and everything in between. My bet is you'll pick up
a listen or two along the way. As I like
to say, it's all good. Welcome to Good Company. Today's
guest is Edgar Hernandez, the chief strategy officer of my
Code and one of the most forward thinking minds in
media and marketing today. While others are still debating the
(01:12):
value of diversity, Edgar is out there turning cultural intelligence
into competitive advantage and building the systems to scale it.
He's not just talking about reaching underrepresented audiences, He's redefining
who those audits actually are. From transforming multicultural marketing into
a blueprint for business growth to producing Emmy nominated storytelling
(01:33):
with the NFL to launch and creator networks that actually
reflect the communities they serve. Edgar's work proves that culture
isn't a category, it's a catalyst. With deep experience across
startups and global enterprises, He's led teams through transformation, unlock
massive revenue and help the biggest brands in the world
(01:53):
show up with substance. If you're looking for a playbook
on how to lead with insight, build with empathy, and
fruitureroo your brand through cultural relevance, this is the episode
for you. Let's dive in. Edgar, thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Thank you, Michael, thanks for that fantastic introduction, appreciated.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, well deserved and spot on. I might add, Edgar,
I want to dive right in. We are talking about
something that has kind of been renamed, but really hasn't.
It's gone back to its roots, That's what I would say.
And that is the area that, as I alluded to
as I introduced you, multicultural into something that I think
(02:35):
we should properly call what it is, which is growth audiences.
And you know, to me, this isn't just a shift
in language that's cosmetic. I think it's strategic. And you
know what I'd love you to kind of open up with,
is what inspired that move away from this multicultural to
(02:55):
growth audience definition.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well, look, I think we've been talking about growth for
a long time since the two thousand census. It told
us that these audiences were going to be the fastest growing,
not only in size but also in contribution to the GDP.
And so over the last several years, we've gotten away
from the business imperative of these audiences and somehow got
(03:21):
stuck in a nice to have moment in time. And
now you're seeing a sharp shift where businesses are getting
back to the realities of future proofing their business by
connecting and understanding these audiences in meaningful ways that are
going to give them a competitive edge for the future.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
And let me ask you a question, Edgar, We're at
a point in time which is kind of an inflection point,
I think, and that may be not even strong enough,
and that is the headwinds that traditional DE and I
efforts are facing. And my question is that the need
for companies to just go underground and just deal with
(04:02):
it and not talk about it, or is it really
a true culture first corporate strategy shift. I mean, you know,
it's one thing to say we're going to take and
scrape all the DEE and I language out of all
of our public statements, and we're going to take it
all out of our mission statements and everything else. Are
(04:23):
they just taking out the language and still doing it
or are they taking out the language not doing it,
not worrying about and I know this is the wrong
way to approach it, but not worrying about ticking that
box because maybe they don't have to at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah. Look, there's a lot of complexity in that question
and in this moment of time. So one thing I
want to do from the get go is separate two things.
One is d and I and one is focusing on
your fastest growth consumer segment and edgar.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
That's exactly where I want to spend the bulk of
our time because to me, that's the most interesting phenomena
at this moment. I mean, I do want to get
into your history and talk about you, but I and
we will trust me. But I would really love to
focus on that exact question, as you phrased it better
than I did.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, let's splinter those two, right, d E and I.
As we've seen obviously a lot of government mandates, and
what is the right way to be messaging how your
business is operating for your employees and for your consumer groups.
All I can look at is what the stock market
has told me over the last six months as it
(05:33):
relates to organizations who have doubled down on DEE and I.
So what we always want to root the conversation is
in data, right, and I would just point to and
I've looked at this recently as the ones that step
forward and say, hey, look, DEE and I is going
to be a staple of my business going forward, no
matter what government mandates are coming forward. If you look
(05:56):
at their stock price, they're up. If you look on
the opposite side of people who have been very active
in d in a space and have pulled back, their
stock price is down. And so consumers are motivated, especially
young ones, by the brands that reflect what their interests are,
(06:20):
who they are personally. And so I think D and
I is one aspect of the conversation. The other is
the more business oriented one that you alluded to in
your first question, right, is that these are the growth
engines of the future. And what you can't dispute is
the sales receipts. When you're looking at the sales receipts
(06:41):
and they're telling you that the Hispanic Black, A and HPI,
LGBTQ community is purchasing your producted service at an outsized
pace than other segments, then you have to pay attention.
And I would just say, you know, what I'm seeing
is and what I believe is the marketers of the
future won't be experts per se, exclusively in platform. They'll
(07:05):
be experts in audience and specifically understanding the nuances of
these different audiences but also the similarities and that you
can create things that are meaningful connection point for these
audiences that drive growth.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
And the meaningful connection points are going to translate or
be translated into sales correct and that's how you track it.
That's absolutely obviously, and your point about the stock market
speaks well to that. You know, Edgar, how do you
define today's kind of cultural intersections? We heard culture eat
strategy and culture, you know, all the things we hear
(07:41):
in business context, but we're talking about culture in a
broader sense. Cultural zeitgeist probably is a better way to
say it. But how can brands, from your perspective use
those moments, whether you know an example, you know Kendrick
Lamar and Dior, I mean, you know, what are the
ways that you think brands can grasp those moments and
(08:03):
connect authentically in that case with their consumers, with their
customers or their potential customers. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Well, first, I think it starts with learning. Right. You
can't just show up one day and say, hey, this
is I want to be culturally relevant. You have to
do some work, and the brands that invest in that
work over time naturally land in the right places for themselves.
And so one of the things that we've created is
an open source intelligence center, which is access to data
(08:31):
and insights to help you understand where either audiences or
cultural movements are moving towards. And that will allow you
to have a pulse on what's happening as it potentially
relates to your brand. Part of that exercise of learning
and covering is you start to figure out where is
that space that I can play in that I could
(08:52):
offer real value, and whether it's utility or inspiration to
the community that I'm trying to connect with. Too often,
what we see is a brand says, hey, Kendrick Lamar
seems really cool, How do I jump on? And that
becomes a very taxing exercise from a financial perspective.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Well, but you want to get early signals. A brand
wants to get early signals. It's what I always said
about the demographic that everybody always considered the holy grail,
the young demographic. How do I get them? The problem
is that demographic that you covet they have to find you.
You can't find them. If you find them, it's too late.
(09:31):
They've already moved on. I mean the joke I used
to say, it's like there was that moment where Facebook
was starting to be looked at by the younger generation
as now my mom and dad are on Facebook, Like
that's not for me anymore. That's right. It's the example
I always used. It's like they've already moved on to
two new situations and the marketer is running after them,
(09:52):
but they're never going to catch them. So that moment
of fighting and grasping that cultural zeitgeist allows you to
find them before they find you.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, that's absolutely right, And what you're alluding to is
that ability to see those early signals of what's emerging
within these pockets.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
It's what we talk about Edgar and the media buying
side of the business on signals like am I getting
the right signals?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Exactly? And a lot of brands don't know where to
get those signals right?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
And by the way, that's a technology conversation as well
as a cultural conversation exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But you know, some of the best brands in the
world do know where to access those signals, and they
know how to build with communities early on.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And you're talking about building, so you give me a
good segue into my question about the floor and the ceiling.
I think I've heard you say previously. I agree that
the growth audience, I don't want to say multicultural marketing,
the growth audience marketing budgets should be a floor, not
a ceiling. And I'd love you to expand on that.
And also, do you think that many brands are doing that.
(10:54):
I'd love to know if there are examples you can
share with us of brands who you think and KLVA
on that.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, Look, the math is not mathing, Michael, and this
is a consistent story in this space that five percent
of AD budgets are going to connecting with these diverse
growth audience. Let's call them five percent five percent. Okay,
they have five trillion in spending and growing. You know,
(11:21):
I think where people have landed is a future point
in time when there's going to be real impact. But
if you look at gen Z, they're nearly fifty percent
composition of those segments that I mentioned fifty percent, and
only five percent of your budget is going to reaching
them and endemic spaces where they're consuming content and experiences.
(11:46):
So the brands that get that and are really data
obsessed are the ones that are fully leaning into that,
understanding and building for them. So, yes, I think there's
a much bigger opportunit. So we're trying to make it
as easy as possible. And so part of the discussion
is that there's a cultural connectivity not only amongst these
(12:08):
audiences but young people generally, and so we're really focusing
on the outsize impact of the artists, the creators that
come from these communities that influence everyone. So let's look
at Bad Bunny, right, he's number one on Spotify and
it has been probably has one of the best albums
(12:29):
of this year. He's doing a residency in Puerto Rico
this year, initially just for residents of Puerto Rico and
then opening it up to a global audience. Do we
believe Hispanics will be the only ones that are listening
to Bad Bunny? Do we believe that Hispanics are the
only ones that will be going to Bad Bunny?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
I'm listening to Bad Bunny and last time I checked
up a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So exactly. So, we believe in inside out culture marketing,
and what brands don't seem to always grasp is that
you can have a very credible and authentic relationship with
these audiences if you start connecting with them early on,
and there's tremendous payoff in that.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Well you build that relationship. You know. It's funny. I
digress here, and I distract a conversation for a moment.
Close to twenty years ago, I was sitting with the
then CEO of one of the largest consumer package goods
companies in the world, and he asked me a question,
and this will time stamp this, but he said, Michael,
do we really need to pay attention to these facebooks?
(13:34):
And I said, well, I had a mentor early in
my career who taught me an important old axiom, and
this was pre email, and he said, if you have
a choice of using your feet, your facts or your phone,
use your feet, get in front of the client, have
a conversation. So when this CEO asked me that question,
(13:56):
I said, well, let me tell you a story, and
I told him that. I said, I was always taught
if you have an opportunity to have a conversation with
your customer, with your client, with your prospect, take that opportunity.
Use your feet. I said. Social media affords you feet. Yeah,
you know. To me, that communication, that ability to talk
(14:17):
to that consumer in language they can understand on a
format that they can understand.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
That's magic one thousand percent. And the data shows in
the response of especially young people right they want indemic
environments that they can consume content. When they're in those
endemic environments, they want to see advertising that is reflective
of them.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Absolutely, and then they have.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
A higher loyalty rate to those brands when that's done
in context, good.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Company will be right back after the break, Edgar, I
want to switch gears because, as I said in the introduction.
You're a world class storyteller as well. You know how
(15:06):
to make content, and you know, I'd love to kind
of switch our focus to what I'll characterize is this
section of Good Company is about strategy and storytelling, because
I tell people all the time, my job in so
many cases when I'm working with a company is to
help them on the storytelling. You know, what's the narrative?
What are you telling the story in the market? And
(15:27):
i'd love you to talk about kind of the original
IP as a strategic growth engine for my code, But
in general, that's something that's near and dear to your heart,
and it's at a point in time where everybody in
this industry, and when I say this industry, I always
refer broadly to the intersection that I live at. And
(15:48):
our listeners will have heard this from me a thousand times,
but they'll hear it a few thousand more, the intersection
of marketing, media, advertising, entertainment, sports and technology. And when
I think of what you've done with the right pit
and now soundcheck and NFL storytelling, I'd love you to
just kind of give us a bird's eye view of
that side of Edgar Hernandoz in my code. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Absolutely, Well, I'll start with a story that led me
to my code and generally coming back into this space
more directly. I was the publisher of Vibe Media Group
in two thousand and six, and I went around the
country and met with our senior buyers at the time,
(16:33):
people who were doing business with us in a larger capacity,
and I remember sitting in multiple rooms where people were
there saying, Edgar, don't f this up. The responsibility is
in your hands now, if you're the publisher of this brand,
(16:53):
to make sure that we continue to exist, because guess
what if we go away, there's nothing behind us. And
that was such a pivotal moment in really understanding what
the opportunity is and making sure that content that's representative
of these communities not only exists but continues to grow.
(17:17):
And so at my code, that is definitely a foundation
of who we want to be is telling more of
those stories representative of these communities. You're in Los Angeles.
One of the brands that we have, La Pignon is
celebrating one hundred years of developing and creating content for
(17:39):
the community next year. They've created content every single day
for one hundred years, and so if you think about
the IP creation and the library of content that that
brand has and is reflective of the Hispanic Latino experience
in Southern California, it's really unmatched. And so for us
(18:01):
is how do we continue to take brands that are
so iconic and beacons of the community and make sure
that you to create more of that, but also in
more youth oriented brands like a ramescla that's been around
for fifteen years, creating fantastic content around some of the
biggest musicians and biggest artists and do things that are
(18:24):
really compelling. So one of the things that we recently
did was a content series with the brand Don Julio
and one of the most well known recognized fashion designers
of this moment in time, someone that everyone is calling
the next Ralph Lauren Willy Chavaria Right. I don't know
how many of your listeners will know who Willy Chavardier is,
(18:47):
but if you don't, you should because he really is
the most prominent fashion designer currently out there. He just
had a collaboration with Adidas. It sold out in minutes.
I unfortunate they could not get a piece. I hopefully
we'll get one on the secondary market, but really telling
compelling stories of individuals who are pushing culture forward is
(19:09):
at the forefront of what we're aiming to do.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
And you're aiming to do it with diverse audiences and
you know, growth audiences. And also you had a real
focus on gen Z and I think somewhere I saw
a reference to them as the most diverse and multi
hyphenit generation. Yet what makes them the key in terms of,
you know, unlocking the growth in the market.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Well, they're obviously one of the fastest growing segments. They're
still making their decisions on what brands and products they
are going to invest in, and these early decisions become
lifetime value more than these brands, So that obviously becomes
a massive interest point. But these are also the people
(19:56):
who are pushing culture forward, right, These are the ones
that are innovating and creating and making things happen. So
this generation, as you mentioned, is a multi hyphen it.
They're the most entrepreneurial generation we've ever seen. And so,
just going back to what you alluded to, we had
created a series called The Right Pitch Right because not
enough of this audience has the menttor ship to take
(20:19):
entrepreneurial dreams to entrepreneurial execution, and so where do they
go for the playbook? And so we wanted to create
a series that allowed these folks to see themselves as
a creative director, being able to pitch for big fortune.
Five hundred brands tell us that's really meaningful content that
(20:39):
needs to exist in the world, and doing more of
that stuff is an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
For brands, absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Like, if you're a financial institution, you look at the
data and you see who are going to be the
biggest home buyers over the next twenty years, It's the
Latino community. If you look at who's going to be
the most entrepreneurial generation, it's gen Z and Gen Alfa.
They're going to need loans to start these businesses, but
they don't know where to go for this information.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
So Edgar I promised at the beginning of this conversation
that I was going to do a little backtracking with you,
and I'm going to do it out of order because
I'm doing it close to the end of our conversation,
not at the beginning. But I'd love a little bit
of the Edgar story as to how you got here,
because you do have a lot of great history, and
you know transformation and across you know, high growth ventures,
(21:25):
public companies, et cetera. Give us a little bit of
the Edgar journey to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
So.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I was a journalism major in college and loved to
write and always saw myself being a travel or political writer,
and so out of college I was looking for a job.
And at that time you looked at the classified section
of the physical paper of the New York Times, and
I saw a job opportunity at Newsweek magazine selling ad space,
(21:54):
and Michael, I had no idea what selling adspace meant,
but I said, get me to Newsweek and I'll find
myself to newsroom, and somehow landed a job. And on
the first day I learned that I was going to
be a telesales person, calling a stack of businesses to
get them to advertise in the back of Newsweek's classified
(22:15):
section five hundred dollars ADS to five thousand dollars ADS.
And every day you had to go up to a
whiteboard and put how many phone calls you made that day?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Did you learn the ABC's Edgar always be closing, Always
be closing.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Of course, And I was making seventy phone calls a
day trying to sell advertising space, and it's a numbers game,
as we know, on the sales side of the business.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Just to do a play on words, you weren't programmatic,
you were program manual.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, exactly. What I learned though, was that the sales
side has a lot of parallels to the editorial side.
If you're curious, you like meeting people, you like learning,
and you like storytelling. And so what I found is
that the sales side gave me a lot of what
I loved from the creative editorial side, and that's really
(23:06):
what kickstarted my career in media and advertising. And from
there I just found myself at a number of youth
oriented brands that were always at the forefront of what
was next, and that to me also filled my curiosity.
I want to learn, And obviously at some point I
was living it. Now I don't live it as much.
(23:27):
I rely on younger people to help inform that. But
it was, you know, being in New York and being
in media and being a cross section of music and
fashion and entertainment and sports was the world I wanted
to exist in. And just going back to that Vibe story,
you know, I've played in the diversity multicultural space, but
(23:49):
I haven't solely existed in it, and that vibe moment
told me that at some point in my career I
wanted to go full in it to really help understand
how we progres us it along all the other people
who've been doing it for so long, and just be
that additional person that comes that, you know, end of
the line, pushing that boulder up the mountain. And so
(24:11):
that's what led me to my code, which I felt
was perfectly situated and positioned to do that.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
We're going to hit pause for a moment, but stay
with us after the break. We've got more insights to share, Edgar.
Now I get to have my fun, which is the
lightning round part of the good company conversation, and I'm
(24:41):
just going to pick some things there for our listeners.
Edgar's never heard these questions, so we're catching them on
the on the fly. Here. I'm going to begin with
a mentor question. Was there a mentor early in your career, Edgar,
who gave you that one piece of advice or you know,
many pieces of advice that really stuck with you.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, I had some fantastic mentors in this business that
it gave me opportunity. You know, I was just listening
to your recording with Angelie from to me and so
I don't want to be redundant. But maybe this is
the experience of immigrant kids. Is my mother, she was
an immigrant from Mexico and ended up, you know, running
(25:21):
a five billion dollar business at a large consulting firm.
And she always told me that you belong, don't ever
doubt that you have a seat at the table. So
I was born in la and then I moved to
North Jersey from middle school in high school, and this
is when my mom was coming up in the business.
And she used to take me to Spark Steakhouse with
(25:45):
her leadership team and she would be the only woman
at a table of ten and she would hold her
place and drive the conversation and have everyone cracking up
for three hours. And I got to see firsthand what
that looks like. And so that has always been a
driver in my career.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
You know, I'm fortunate to have had grown up with
a mother who was active in business and so demonstrated that.
And I had two older sisters, and that was a
great model. If you weren't doing this right now, and
I don't mean this podcast, I mean my code. Is
there a job you'd be chasing? Is there you know
another thing you'd be chasing.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
I always thought I was going to be an NBA player.
I probably too late for that, and I don't think
anyone else ever believed that. But I was a basketball
fanatic growing up, so I think probably playing some part
in the NBA and the coaching staff would be kind
of like a dream opportunity.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Mine was baseball Edgar. I got to fulfill my fantasy.
I went to the adult camp that the Dodgers have
back about thirty five years ago, and I got to
play with the pros, and at least I got to
have the taste of what I thought was going to
be my future.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Lucky. I grew up in Los Angeles in the eighties,
my go so I had the best of three worlds
with the Lakers, the Dodgers, and the Raiders. So what
a decade to be there.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Well, I grew up in LA in the fifties and
we didn't have any of those things. We had the Rams,
but we didn't have anybody else back then. And then
they all showed up. There was a wonderful story when
you said that because there was the joke about the
family that were very devout Dodger fans. You know, some
might not, but the area where Dodger Stadium it resides
(27:27):
was a Lesion Park, but it was also known as
Chavez Ravine. So there was the story of this family
that was very devout Dodger fans. And in fifty eight,
when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn, this family moved and
followed the Dodgers to Los Angeles, and when they had
their first kid, they named him Chavez Levine.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Michael, can I ask you a question, you can Is
it true that you had a number of El Boos
and Los Angeles?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Edgar? It's not only true, but I was the lawyer
for El Poyo Loco when they started. I incorporated El Poyoloco.
If you look at the articles in corporation in the
state of California for the very first restaurant at sixth
in Alvarado, you'd see my signature on them. Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
I met the founders when they came to the United
States from Sina Loa, Mexico, And the first time I
tasted the chicken was in a tin at a gentleman
by the name of Umberto Galvez his home. And I
love to tell this story because the three founders were
Juan Poncho Ochoa, Umberto Galvez, and mister Martinez. I never
(28:32):
knew mister Martinez's first name. I just knew he was
mister Martinez. But the answer is yes. And I told
this story recently years ago Charlie Collier when he was
running AMC with Josh Sapan. Charlie introduced me to Vince Gallaghan,
the guy who created Breaking Bad. Yeah, of course, and
I said, look, you know Gus and Poyos Ermanos for
(28:52):
those who watched Breaking Bad, we had something in common.
I was in the chicken business too, with Poyoloco. I said.
The only difference was actually having our guys cook marinade
in the back room, not crystal meth. There was a
big difference, but I did have that experience in mind.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Well, that's amazing. Well it takes me back because my
grandmother would take care of me often as I was
growing up, and her favorite place to stop off was
al Boyoloco and yeah, has a strong place in my heart.
So I read that and I was like, what an
amazing story I have to learn?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Well, it was when I was practicing law, and it
was an interesting time in my life being in the
quick service restaurant business. It was never a full time
business for me, but it was a very active business.
But it was a lot of fun. It was a
lot of fun going through that period, Edgar. We're talking
about growing up and you know experiences. If you could
give your younger self one piece of advice, what would
(29:47):
it be, Trust.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Your guy, perfect, simple and easy. I've relied on it
time and time again, and it was something I had
to learn.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
It's funny you say that, Edgar. I was talking about
this the other day with somebody about the influence of AI,
and I'm proud to say we've been speaking for forty
five minutes and neither one of us has said AI
until just now. But I asked this question of network
leaders back in the day. I would interview Jeff Zucker
when he was running NBC, or you know, back in
(30:17):
the day when Les Moonvez was running CBS, or Steve
McPherson at ABC, whoever it might have been. I would
always ask this question a good network leader, where do
they make their decisions generally and green light shows and
casting ideas in their gut, their gut tells them. But
as data has become so available, I've always asked this question,
(30:39):
and I'll ask you the same question. Using your gut
is good, but is your gut informed by data?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
One thousand percent? I mean, just going to the origins
of this topic, right is. I have to convince people
a lot of times that there is a competitive advantage
in connecting with growth. Audience is and I have to
point to the data. It can't be a cultural conversation exclusively.
(31:06):
It can't be a nice to have. It's got to
be about the data informing your business decisions and making
it a business imperative. So I think one thousand percent.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Well, the data's informing my decision right now, my business
decision is the clock. And sadly, Edgar, I think we've
run out of time. But I want to first thank
you for making the time today, and I would like
to really underscore I've learned a lot in this conversation
because you and I have had this dialogue offline about
(31:36):
this important shift. I'm going to go back to the
very beginning in terms of definitional shift, talking about again
not cosmetically, but actually the importance of growth audiences, the
criticality to anybody's growth in business. If you're not focused here,
you're not focused one thousand percent.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
And let me just say thank you for being a
champion of what we do and what we represent, because
we need more folks like you who are at the
top and know a lot of folks, because I think
they'll take your word for it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Well, the good news is that data will back it up. Edgar,
ed Joy, Hernandez. I want to thank you for joining
Good Company. Thank you, Michael. I'm Michael Casson. Thanks for
listening to Good Company.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Good Company is brought to you by Three C Ventures
in iHeart Podcasts. Special thanks to Alexis Borger Pudeo, our
executive producer and head of Content and Talent, and to
Carl Catle, executive producer at iHeart Podcasts. Episodes are produced
and edited by Mary Doo. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
We'll see you next time.
Good Company is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The marketers of the future won't be experts per se
exclusively in platform. They'll be experts in audience and specifically
understanding the nuances of these different audiences but also the
similarities in that you can create things that are meaningful
connection point for these audiences that drive growth.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'm Michael Cassen, and this is Good Company. Together we'll
explore the dynamic intersection of media, marketing, entertainment, sports and technology.
I'll be joined by visionaries, pioneers, and yes, even a
couple of disruptors for candid conversations as we break down
how these masters of ingenuity are shaping the future of business, culture,
(00:49):
and everything in between. My bet is you'll pick up
a listen or two along the way. As I like
to say, it's all good. Welcome to Good Company. Today's
guest is Edgar Hernandez, the chief strategy officer of my
Code and one of the most forward thinking minds in
media and marketing today. While others are still debating the
(01:12):
value of diversity, Edgar is out there turning cultural intelligence
into competitive advantage and building the systems to scale it.
He's not just talking about reaching underrepresented audiences, He's redefining
who those audits actually are. From transforming multicultural marketing into
a blueprint for business growth to producing Emmy nominated storytelling
(01:33):
with the NFL to launch and creator networks that actually
reflect the communities they serve. Edgar's work proves that culture
isn't a category, it's a catalyst. With deep experience across
startups and global enterprises, He's led teams through transformation, unlock
massive revenue and help the biggest brands in the world
(01:53):
show up with substance. If you're looking for a playbook
on how to lead with insight, build with empathy, and
fruitureroo your brand through cultural relevance, this is the episode
for you. Let's dive in. Edgar, thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Thank you, Michael, thanks for that fantastic introduction, appreciated.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, well deserved and spot on. I might add, Edgar,
I want to dive right in. We are talking about
something that has kind of been renamed, but really hasn't.
It's gone back to its roots, That's what I would say.
And that is the area that, as I alluded to
as I introduced you, multicultural into something that I think
(02:35):
we should properly call what it is, which is growth audiences.
And you know, to me, this isn't just a shift
in language that's cosmetic. I think it's strategic. And you
know what I'd love you to kind of open up with,
is what inspired that move away from this multicultural to
(02:55):
growth audience definition.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well, look, I think we've been talking about growth for
a long time since the two thousand census. It told
us that these audiences were going to be the fastest growing,
not only in size but also in contribution to the GDP.
And so over the last several years, we've gotten away
from the business imperative of these audiences and somehow got
(03:21):
stuck in a nice to have moment in time. And
now you're seeing a sharp shift where businesses are getting
back to the realities of future proofing their business by
connecting and understanding these audiences in meaningful ways that are
going to give them a competitive edge for the future.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
And let me ask you a question, Edgar, We're at
a point in time which is kind of an inflection point,
I think, and that may be not even strong enough,
and that is the headwinds that traditional DE and I
efforts are facing. And my question is that the need
for companies to just go underground and just deal with
(04:02):
it and not talk about it, or is it really
a true culture first corporate strategy shift. I mean, you know,
it's one thing to say we're going to take and
scrape all the DEE and I language out of all
of our public statements, and we're going to take it
all out of our mission statements and everything else. Are
(04:23):
they just taking out the language and still doing it
or are they taking out the language not doing it,
not worrying about and I know this is the wrong
way to approach it, but not worrying about ticking that
box because maybe they don't have to at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah. Look, there's a lot of complexity in that question
and in this moment of time. So one thing I
want to do from the get go is separate two things.
One is d and I and one is focusing on
your fastest growth consumer segment and edgar.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
That's exactly where I want to spend the bulk of
our time because to me, that's the most interesting phenomena
at this moment. I mean, I do want to get
into your history and talk about you, but I and
we will trust me. But I would really love to
focus on that exact question, as you phrased it better
than I did.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, let's splinter those two, right, d E and I.
As we've seen obviously a lot of government mandates, and
what is the right way to be messaging how your
business is operating for your employees and for your consumer groups.
All I can look at is what the stock market
has told me over the last six months as it
(05:33):
relates to organizations who have doubled down on DEE and I.
So what we always want to root the conversation is
in data, right, and I would just point to and
I've looked at this recently as the ones that step
forward and say, hey, look, DEE and I is going
to be a staple of my business going forward, no
matter what government mandates are coming forward. If you look
(05:56):
at their stock price, they're up. If you look on
the opposite side of people who have been very active
in d in a space and have pulled back, their
stock price is down. And so consumers are motivated, especially
young ones, by the brands that reflect what their interests are,
(06:20):
who they are personally. And so I think D and
I is one aspect of the conversation. The other is
the more business oriented one that you alluded to in
your first question, right, is that these are the growth
engines of the future. And what you can't dispute is
the sales receipts. When you're looking at the sales receipts
(06:41):
and they're telling you that the Hispanic Black, A and HPI,
LGBTQ community is purchasing your producted service at an outsized
pace than other segments, then you have to pay attention.
And I would just say, you know, what I'm seeing
is and what I believe is the marketers of the
future won't be experts per se, exclusively in platform. They'll
(07:05):
be experts in audience and specifically understanding the nuances of
these different audiences but also the similarities and that you
can create things that are meaningful connection point for these
audiences that drive growth.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
And the meaningful connection points are going to translate or
be translated into sales correct and that's how you track it.
That's absolutely obviously, and your point about the stock market
speaks well to that. You know, Edgar, how do you
define today's kind of cultural intersections? We heard culture eat
strategy and culture, you know, all the things we hear
(07:41):
in business context, but we're talking about culture in a
broader sense. Cultural zeitgeist probably is a better way to
say it. But how can brands, from your perspective use
those moments, whether you know an example, you know Kendrick
Lamar and Dior, I mean, you know, what are the
ways that you think brands can grasp those moments and
(08:03):
connect authentically in that case with their consumers, with their
customers or their potential customers. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Well, first, I think it starts with learning. Right. You
can't just show up one day and say, hey, this
is I want to be culturally relevant. You have to
do some work, and the brands that invest in that
work over time naturally land in the right places for themselves.
And so one of the things that we've created is
an open source intelligence center, which is access to data
(08:31):
and insights to help you understand where either audiences or
cultural movements are moving towards. And that will allow you
to have a pulse on what's happening as it potentially
relates to your brand. Part of that exercise of learning
and covering is you start to figure out where is
that space that I can play in that I could
(08:52):
offer real value, and whether it's utility or inspiration to
the community that I'm trying to connect with. Too often,
what we see is a brand says, hey, Kendrick Lamar
seems really cool, How do I jump on? And that
becomes a very taxing exercise from a financial perspective.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Well, but you want to get early signals. A brand
wants to get early signals. It's what I always said
about the demographic that everybody always considered the holy grail,
the young demographic. How do I get them? The problem
is that demographic that you covet they have to find you.
You can't find them. If you find them, it's too late.
(09:31):
They've already moved on. I mean the joke I used
to say, it's like there was that moment where Facebook
was starting to be looked at by the younger generation
as now my mom and dad are on Facebook, Like
that's not for me anymore. That's right. It's the example
I always used. It's like they've already moved on to
two new situations and the marketer is running after them,
(09:52):
but they're never going to catch them. So that moment
of fighting and grasping that cultural zeitgeist allows you to
find them before they find you.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, that's absolutely right, And what you're alluding to is
that ability to see those early signals of what's emerging
within these pockets.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
It's what we talk about Edgar and the media buying
side of the business on signals like am I getting
the right signals?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Exactly? And a lot of brands don't know where to
get those signals right?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
And by the way, that's a technology conversation as well
as a cultural conversation exactly.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
But you know, some of the best brands in the
world do know where to access those signals, and they
know how to build with communities early on.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And you're talking about building, so you give me a
good segue into my question about the floor and the ceiling.
I think I've heard you say previously. I agree that
the growth audience, I don't want to say multicultural marketing,
the growth audience marketing budgets should be a floor, not
a ceiling. And I'd love you to expand on that.
And also, do you think that many brands are doing that.
(10:54):
I'd love to know if there are examples you can
share with us of brands who you think and KLVA
on that.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, Look, the math is not mathing, Michael, and this
is a consistent story in this space that five percent
of AD budgets are going to connecting with these diverse
growth audience. Let's call them five percent five percent. Okay,
they have five trillion in spending and growing. You know,
(11:21):
I think where people have landed is a future point
in time when there's going to be real impact. But
if you look at gen Z, they're nearly fifty percent
composition of those segments that I mentioned fifty percent, and
only five percent of your budget is going to reaching
them and endemic spaces where they're consuming content and experiences.
(11:46):
So the brands that get that and are really data
obsessed are the ones that are fully leaning into that,
understanding and building for them. So, yes, I think there's
a much bigger opportunit. So we're trying to make it
as easy as possible. And so part of the discussion
is that there's a cultural connectivity not only amongst these
(12:08):
audiences but young people generally, and so we're really focusing
on the outsize impact of the artists, the creators that
come from these communities that influence everyone. So let's look
at Bad Bunny, right, he's number one on Spotify and
it has been probably has one of the best albums
(12:29):
of this year. He's doing a residency in Puerto Rico
this year, initially just for residents of Puerto Rico and
then opening it up to a global audience. Do we
believe Hispanics will be the only ones that are listening
to Bad Bunny? Do we believe that Hispanics are the
only ones that will be going to Bad Bunny?
Speaker 3 (12:48):
I'm listening to Bad Bunny and last time I checked
up a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So exactly. So, we believe in inside out culture marketing,
and what brands don't seem to always grasp is that
you can have a very credible and authentic relationship with
these audiences if you start connecting with them early on,
and there's tremendous payoff in that.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Well you build that relationship. You know. It's funny. I
digress here, and I distract a conversation for a moment.
Close to twenty years ago, I was sitting with the
then CEO of one of the largest consumer package goods
companies in the world, and he asked me a question,
and this will time stamp this, but he said, Michael,
do we really need to pay attention to these facebooks?
(13:34):
And I said, well, I had a mentor early in
my career who taught me an important old axiom, and
this was pre email, and he said, if you have
a choice of using your feet, your facts or your phone,
use your feet, get in front of the client, have
a conversation. So when this CEO asked me that question,
(13:56):
I said, well, let me tell you a story, and
I told him that. I said, I was always taught
if you have an opportunity to have a conversation with
your customer, with your client, with your prospect, take that opportunity.
Use your feet. I said. Social media affords you feet. Yeah,
you know. To me, that communication, that ability to talk
(14:17):
to that consumer in language they can understand on a
format that they can understand.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
That's magic one thousand percent. And the data shows in
the response of especially young people right they want indemic
environments that they can consume content. When they're in those
endemic environments, they want to see advertising that is reflective
of them.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Absolutely, and then they have.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
A higher loyalty rate to those brands when that's done
in context, good.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Company will be right back after the break, Edgar, I
want to switch gears because, as I said in the introduction.
You're a world class storyteller as well. You know how
(15:06):
to make content, and you know, I'd love to kind
of switch our focus to what I'll characterize is this
section of Good Company is about strategy and storytelling, because
I tell people all the time, my job in so
many cases when I'm working with a company is to
help them on the storytelling. You know, what's the narrative?
What are you telling the story in the market? And
(15:27):
i'd love you to talk about kind of the original
IP as a strategic growth engine for my code, But
in general, that's something that's near and dear to your heart,
and it's at a point in time where everybody in
this industry, and when I say this industry, I always
refer broadly to the intersection that I live at. And
(15:48):
our listeners will have heard this from me a thousand times,
but they'll hear it a few thousand more, the intersection
of marketing, media, advertising, entertainment, sports and technology. And when
I think of what you've done with the right pit
and now soundcheck and NFL storytelling, I'd love you to
just kind of give us a bird's eye view of
that side of Edgar Hernandoz in my code. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Absolutely, Well, I'll start with a story that led me
to my code and generally coming back into this space
more directly. I was the publisher of Vibe Media Group
in two thousand and six, and I went around the
country and met with our senior buyers at the time,
(16:33):
people who were doing business with us in a larger capacity,
and I remember sitting in multiple rooms where people were
there saying, Edgar, don't f this up. The responsibility is
in your hands now, if you're the publisher of this brand,
(16:53):
to make sure that we continue to exist, because guess
what if we go away, there's nothing behind us. And
that was such a pivotal moment in really understanding what
the opportunity is and making sure that content that's representative
of these communities not only exists but continues to grow.
(17:17):
And so at my code, that is definitely a foundation
of who we want to be is telling more of
those stories representative of these communities. You're in Los Angeles.
One of the brands that we have, La Pignon is
celebrating one hundred years of developing and creating content for
(17:39):
the community next year. They've created content every single day
for one hundred years, and so if you think about
the IP creation and the library of content that that
brand has and is reflective of the Hispanic Latino experience
in Southern California, it's really unmatched. And so for us
(18:01):
is how do we continue to take brands that are
so iconic and beacons of the community and make sure
that you to create more of that, but also in
more youth oriented brands like a ramescla that's been around
for fifteen years, creating fantastic content around some of the
biggest musicians and biggest artists and do things that are
(18:24):
really compelling. So one of the things that we recently
did was a content series with the brand Don Julio
and one of the most well known recognized fashion designers
of this moment in time, someone that everyone is calling
the next Ralph Lauren Willy Chavaria Right. I don't know
how many of your listeners will know who Willy Chavardier is,
(18:47):
but if you don't, you should because he really is
the most prominent fashion designer currently out there. He just
had a collaboration with Adidas. It sold out in minutes.
I unfortunate they could not get a piece. I hopefully
we'll get one on the secondary market, but really telling
compelling stories of individuals who are pushing culture forward is
(19:09):
at the forefront of what we're aiming to do.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
And you're aiming to do it with diverse audiences and
you know, growth audiences. And also you had a real
focus on gen Z and I think somewhere I saw
a reference to them as the most diverse and multi
hyphenit generation. Yet what makes them the key in terms of,
you know, unlocking the growth in the market.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Well, they're obviously one of the fastest growing segments. They're
still making their decisions on what brands and products they
are going to invest in, and these early decisions become
lifetime value more than these brands, So that obviously becomes
a massive interest point. But these are also the people
(19:56):
who are pushing culture forward, right, These are the ones
that are innovating and creating and making things happen. So
this generation, as you mentioned, is a multi hyphen it.
They're the most entrepreneurial generation we've ever seen. And so,
just going back to what you alluded to, we had
created a series called The Right Pitch Right because not
enough of this audience has the menttor ship to take
(20:19):
entrepreneurial dreams to entrepreneurial execution, and so where do they
go for the playbook? And so we wanted to create
a series that allowed these folks to see themselves as
a creative director, being able to pitch for big fortune.
Five hundred brands tell us that's really meaningful content that
(20:39):
needs to exist in the world, and doing more of
that stuff is an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
For brands, absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Like, if you're a financial institution, you look at the
data and you see who are going to be the
biggest home buyers over the next twenty years, It's the
Latino community. If you look at who's going to be
the most entrepreneurial generation, it's gen Z and Gen Alfa.
They're going to need loans to start these businesses, but
they don't know where to go for this information.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
So Edgar I promised at the beginning of this conversation
that I was going to do a little backtracking with you,
and I'm going to do it out of order because
I'm doing it close to the end of our conversation,
not at the beginning. But I'd love a little bit
of the Edgar story as to how you got here,
because you do have a lot of great history, and
you know transformation and across you know, high growth ventures,
(21:25):
public companies, et cetera. Give us a little bit of
the Edgar journey to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
So.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I was a journalism major in college and loved to
write and always saw myself being a travel or political writer,
and so out of college I was looking for a job.
And at that time you looked at the classified section
of the physical paper of the New York Times, and
I saw a job opportunity at Newsweek magazine selling ad space,
(21:54):
and Michael, I had no idea what selling adspace meant,
but I said, get me to Newsweek and I'll find
myself to newsroom, and somehow landed a job. And on
the first day I learned that I was going to
be a telesales person, calling a stack of businesses to
get them to advertise in the back of Newsweek's classified
(22:15):
section five hundred dollars ADS to five thousand dollars ADS.
And every day you had to go up to a
whiteboard and put how many phone calls you made that day?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Did you learn the ABC's Edgar always be closing, Always
be closing.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Of course, And I was making seventy phone calls a
day trying to sell advertising space, and it's a numbers game,
as we know, on the sales side of the business.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Just to do a play on words, you weren't programmatic,
you were program manual.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, exactly. What I learned though, was that the sales
side has a lot of parallels to the editorial side.
If you're curious, you like meeting people, you like learning,
and you like storytelling. And so what I found is
that the sales side gave me a lot of what
I loved from the creative editorial side, and that's really
(23:06):
what kickstarted my career in media and advertising. And from
there I just found myself at a number of youth
oriented brands that were always at the forefront of what
was next, and that to me also filled my curiosity.
I want to learn, And obviously at some point I
was living it. Now I don't live it as much.
(23:27):
I rely on younger people to help inform that. But
it was, you know, being in New York and being
in media and being a cross section of music and
fashion and entertainment and sports was the world I wanted
to exist in. And just going back to that Vibe story,
you know, I've played in the diversity multicultural space, but
(23:49):
I haven't solely existed in it, and that vibe moment
told me that at some point in my career I
wanted to go full in it to really help understand
how we progres us it along all the other people
who've been doing it for so long, and just be
that additional person that comes that, you know, end of
the line, pushing that boulder up the mountain. And so
(24:11):
that's what led me to my code, which I felt
was perfectly situated and positioned to do that.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
We're going to hit pause for a moment, but stay
with us after the break. We've got more insights to share, Edgar.
Now I get to have my fun, which is the
lightning round part of the good company conversation, and I'm
(24:41):
just going to pick some things there for our listeners.
Edgar's never heard these questions, so we're catching them on
the on the fly. Here. I'm going to begin with
a mentor question. Was there a mentor early in your career, Edgar,
who gave you that one piece of advice or you know,
many pieces of advice that really stuck with you.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yeah, I had some fantastic mentors in this business that
it gave me opportunity. You know, I was just listening
to your recording with Angelie from to me and so
I don't want to be redundant. But maybe this is
the experience of immigrant kids. Is my mother, she was
an immigrant from Mexico and ended up, you know, running
(25:21):
a five billion dollar business at a large consulting firm.
And she always told me that you belong, don't ever
doubt that you have a seat at the table. So
I was born in la and then I moved to
North Jersey from middle school in high school, and this
is when my mom was coming up in the business.
And she used to take me to Spark Steakhouse with
(25:45):
her leadership team and she would be the only woman
at a table of ten and she would hold her
place and drive the conversation and have everyone cracking up
for three hours. And I got to see firsthand what
that looks like. And so that has always been a
driver in my career.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
You know, I'm fortunate to have had grown up with
a mother who was active in business and so demonstrated that.
And I had two older sisters, and that was a
great model. If you weren't doing this right now, and
I don't mean this podcast, I mean my code. Is
there a job you'd be chasing? Is there you know
another thing you'd be chasing.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
I always thought I was going to be an NBA player.
I probably too late for that, and I don't think
anyone else ever believed that. But I was a basketball
fanatic growing up, so I think probably playing some part
in the NBA and the coaching staff would be kind
of like a dream opportunity.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Mine was baseball Edgar. I got to fulfill my fantasy.
I went to the adult camp that the Dodgers have
back about thirty five years ago, and I got to
play with the pros, and at least I got to
have the taste of what I thought was going to
be my future.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Lucky. I grew up in Los Angeles in the eighties,
my go so I had the best of three worlds
with the Lakers, the Dodgers, and the Raiders. So what
a decade to be there.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Well, I grew up in LA in the fifties and
we didn't have any of those things. We had the Rams,
but we didn't have anybody else back then. And then
they all showed up. There was a wonderful story when
you said that because there was the joke about the
family that were very devout Dodger fans. You know, some
might not, but the area where Dodger Stadium it resides
(27:27):
was a Lesion Park, but it was also known as
Chavez Ravine. So there was the story of this family
that was very devout Dodger fans. And in fifty eight,
when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn, this family moved and
followed the Dodgers to Los Angeles, and when they had
their first kid, they named him Chavez Levine.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Michael, can I ask you a question, you can Is
it true that you had a number of El Boos
and Los Angeles?
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Edgar? It's not only true, but I was the lawyer
for El Poyo Loco when they started. I incorporated El Poyoloco.
If you look at the articles in corporation in the
state of California for the very first restaurant at sixth
in Alvarado, you'd see my signature on them. Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
I met the founders when they came to the United
States from Sina Loa, Mexico, And the first time I
tasted the chicken was in a tin at a gentleman
by the name of Umberto Galvez his home. And I
love to tell this story because the three founders were
Juan Poncho Ochoa, Umberto Galvez, and mister Martinez. I never
(28:32):
knew mister Martinez's first name. I just knew he was
mister Martinez. But the answer is yes. And I told
this story recently years ago Charlie Collier when he was
running AMC with Josh Sapan. Charlie introduced me to Vince Gallaghan,
the guy who created Breaking Bad. Yeah, of course, and
I said, look, you know Gus and Poyos Ermanos for
(28:52):
those who watched Breaking Bad, we had something in common.
I was in the chicken business too, with Poyoloco. I said.
The only difference was actually having our guys cook marinade
in the back room, not crystal meth. There was a
big difference, but I did have that experience in mind.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Well, that's amazing. Well it takes me back because my
grandmother would take care of me often as I was
growing up, and her favorite place to stop off was
al Boyoloco and yeah, has a strong place in my heart.
So I read that and I was like, what an
amazing story I have to learn?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Well, it was when I was practicing law, and it
was an interesting time in my life being in the
quick service restaurant business. It was never a full time
business for me, but it was a very active business.
But it was a lot of fun. It was a
lot of fun going through that period, Edgar. We're talking
about growing up and you know experiences. If you could
give your younger self one piece of advice, what would
(29:47):
it be, Trust.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Your guy, perfect, simple and easy. I've relied on it
time and time again, and it was something I had
to learn.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
It's funny you say that, Edgar. I was talking about
this the other day with somebody about the influence of AI,
and I'm proud to say we've been speaking for forty
five minutes and neither one of us has said AI
until just now. But I asked this question of network
leaders back in the day. I would interview Jeff Zucker
when he was running NBC, or you know, back in
(30:17):
the day when Les Moonvez was running CBS, or Steve
McPherson at ABC, whoever it might have been. I would
always ask this question a good network leader, where do
they make their decisions generally and green light shows and
casting ideas in their gut, their gut tells them. But
as data has become so available, I've always asked this question,
(30:39):
and I'll ask you the same question. Using your gut
is good, but is your gut informed by data?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
One thousand percent? I mean, just going to the origins
of this topic, right is. I have to convince people
a lot of times that there is a competitive advantage
in connecting with growth. Audience is and I have to
point to the data. It can't be a cultural conversation exclusively.
(31:06):
It can't be a nice to have. It's got to
be about the data informing your business decisions and making
it a business imperative. So I think one thousand percent.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Well, the data's informing my decision right now, my business
decision is the clock. And sadly, Edgar, I think we've
run out of time. But I want to first thank
you for making the time today, and I would like
to really underscore I've learned a lot in this conversation
because you and I have had this dialogue offline about
(31:36):
this important shift. I'm going to go back to the
very beginning in terms of definitional shift, talking about again
not cosmetically, but actually the importance of growth audiences, the
criticality to anybody's growth in business. If you're not focused here,
you're not focused one thousand percent.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
And let me just say thank you for being a
champion of what we do and what we represent, because
we need more folks like you who are at the
top and know a lot of folks, because I think
they'll take your word for it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Well, the good news is that data will back it up. Edgar,
ed Joy, Hernandez. I want to thank you for joining
Good Company. Thank you, Michael. I'm Michael Casson. Thanks for
listening to Good Company.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Good Company is brought to you by Three C Ventures
in iHeart Podcasts. Special thanks to Alexis Borger Pudeo, our
executive producer and head of Content and Talent, and to
Carl Catle, executive producer at iHeart Podcasts. Episodes are produced
and edited by Mary Doo. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
We'll see you next time.
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