In an increasingly polarized environment, brands are facing growing pressure to define what they stand for culturally and how they position themselves on social, political, and environmental issues. At the same time, consumer behavior has changed significantly, along with expectations toward the brands people support.

This was the central topic of a recent episode of The New Mainstream Podcast, hosted by Mario Carrasco, featuring Neil Callanan, founder of LooseGrip, an agency focused on purpose driven brands, advocacy, and cultural transformation.

The Problem with Performative Activism

According to Neil Callanan, the issue is not that brands participate in cultural or social conversations. The problem arises when they do so without a genuineconnection to their corporate identity.

Today, many companies publish messages about diversity, inclusion, sustainability, or representation during moments such as Pride Month, Black History Month, or corporate responsibility campaigns. However, when these messages are not backed by real actions, consumers often perceive them as opportunistic branding efforts.

If a company claims to support a specific community or cause, it must be able to clearly explain how it does so, what resources it invests, what policies it implements, and what measurable impact those actions create.

Purpose as a Competitive Advantage

Brands that build a strong identity around clear values often develop deeper relationships with consumers. This translates into stronger loyalty, differentiation, and emotional connection, all of which are especially valuable in highly saturated industries.

Examples discussed during the episode include Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's, and Lush, companies that have integrated social and environmental causes into the core structure of their brand identity rather than treating them as temporarycampaigns.

In these cases, purpose is not simply a communication tactic. It is reflected in organizational culture, product development, talent acquisition, customer experience, and long term business decisions.

How Purpose Impacts Marketing Performance

Even when a values based campaign does not generate an immediate sale, it can still create measurable indirect benefits for a brand, including:

• Stronger consumer trust
• Higher brand recall
• Increased purchase intent
• greater social media engagement
• improved email open rates
• stronger emotional affinity with the company

In other words, purpose strengthens brand equity. In a market where products and services are becoming increasingly interchangeable, cultural relevance and identity have become powerful strategic assets.

The Relationship between Purpose and Talent

The conversation also explores a less discussed aspect of purpose driven marketing: its impact on attracting and retaining talent.

According to Neil, companies with clearly defined values tend to attract more engaged and motivated employees. This can directly influence factors such as:

• creativity
• innovation
• quality of service
• organizational culture
• employee retention

In highly competitive industries, purpose has also become an important employer branding tool.

The Future of Branding in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Technology can optimize processes and reduce barriers to entry, but a brand’s cultural identity remains far more difficult to replicate. Elements such as trust, community, authenticity, and emotional connection continue to be deeply humancompetitive advantages

In the latest episode of The New Mainstream, Mario Xavier Carrasco sits down with Ingrid Otero, President and CEO of Casanova McCann, to discuss how multicultural marketing is evolving and what is shaping brand decision making today.

The conversation offers a grounded perspective on the forces influencing the industry.

A landscape shaped by strategic adjustments

In recent months, several brands have reduced the visibility of their multicultural initiatives. This shift reflects budget scrutiny, internal alignment, and the need to justify investment across organizations.

At the same time, research focused on multicultural audiences continues. Insights, strategy, and data teams remain actively engaged in understanding behaviors, motivations, and growth opportunities within these segments.

The continued relevance of the Latino consumer

The episode highlights the role of Latino consumers within the U.S. market. Their influence is reflected in consistent consumption patterns, strong community ties, and ameaningful role in shaping cultural trends.

For brands, this calls for sustained engagement and strategies grounded in this reality.

A central theme of the conversation is how authenticity is built.

Effective decisions are rooted in a deep understanding of the consumer, their context, and their cultural identity. Relevance comes from messaging that reflects lived experiences and real connections.

Leadership in times of change

Drawing from her experience leading Casanova McCann, Otero shares how she has navigated key decisions during periods of uncertainty.

During the pandemic, she led a transformation of the agency’s model, focusing on flexibility and independence. This involved operational shifts and a reassessment of priorities.

Implications for brands

The current environment requires clarity in how brands engage with multicultural audiences.

Strategies benefit from consistency, deep consumer understanding, and alignment across insights, creative, and execution.

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, the conversation is shifting from what AI can generate to what it can do.

In the latest episode of The New Mainstream Podcast, Michael Nevski joins Mario Xavier Carrasco to explore the next phase of AI: agentic systems and their implications for consumer behavior, payments, and trust.

Michael Nevski, Director of Global Insights at Visa, brings a unique perspective at the intersection of data, economics, and real-world consumer decision-making.

Recognized as one of the most influential professionals in the insights industry, he shares how emerging technologies are reshaping how we understand and interact with consumers.

Listen to the full episode of The New Mainstream Podcast and explore how agentic AI is shaping the future of consumer behavior.

In the latest episode of The New Mainstream podcast, we sit down with Patrick Rose, leader of Black Star and cultural marketing at For Soccer, to examine a critical shift in American soccer culture: the rise of Black fandom, thestructural barriers that have limited participation, and the pathways that could redefine the sport’s growth trajectory.

This conversation is not just about sports.

It is about access, identity, economics, and who gets to see themselves reflected in the game.

The reflections in this article are drawn from the latest episode of The New Mainstream podcast, featuring Michelle O’Grady, Founder and CEO of Team Friday. In the conversation, we explored what the Super Bowl halftime show revealed about culture, risk, and the widening gap between where audiences are and where many brands still feel comfortable operating.

Super Bowl LX was not just a sporting moment. It was a cultural one. While the NFL rolled out multimillion dollar ads and brands leaned into the safety of familiar formulas, the performance that captured global attention was not a 30 second commercial. It was the halftime show headlined by Bad Bunny, a spectacle deeply rooted in identity, community, and Latino culture.

Although the performance was celebrated by millions and watched by more than 128 million viewers, manybrands chose to play it safe. Instead of participating in a cultural conversation unfolding in real time, they retreated to traditional creative structures. That choice offers a strategic lesson for marketing, research, and brand leadership teams.

Listen to the full episode of The New Mainstream podcast to hear Michelle O’Grady, Founder and CEO of Team Friday, discuss how culture, risk, and strategy shape major brand decisions.

In the latest episode of the ThinkNow podcast, we sat down with Jim Blair, the Assistant Dean Chair of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Marketing at Eastern Kentucky University, to unpack one of the most talked‑about (and often misunderstood) topics in marketing and leadership today: personal branding.

In a world where everyone has a platform, Jim challenges the idea that personal branding is about self‑promotion or perfectly curated personas. Instead, he reframes it as something far more strategic, human, andsustainable, especially for leaders, researchers, and professionals navigating increasingly complex markets.

Below are some of the most compelling themes from the conversation, and why they matter right now.

Personal Branding Is Not a Logo, It’s a Reputation

One of the strongest points Jim makes early in the conversation is that personal branding isn’t about visuals, slogans, or social media aesthetics. It’s about what people consistently experience when they interact with you.

Your personal brand exists whether you actively manage it or not. It’s shaped by how you communicate, how you show up in moments of uncertainty, and how others describe you when you’re not in the room.

For professionals in insights, marketing, and research, this is especially critical. Trust, credibility, and clarity are core currencies and personal branding plays a direct role in all three.

Personal Branding Is Contextual

A key insight from the episode is that personal branding is not one‑size‑fits‑all. How you show up depends on your role, your audience, and the cultural context you’re operating in.

Jim emphasizes that effective personal brands are adaptive, not performative. They evolve as people grow, as industries shift, and as expectations change.

This idea closely mirrors what we see in multicultural research: identity is layered, dynamic, and situational. The same is true for personal brands.

Leadership, Trust, and Long‑Term Impact

Perhaps the most resonant part of the conversation is the link Jim draws between personal branding and leadership.

Strong leaders don’t build brands to be admired; they build brands that:

· Create clarity

· Earn trust

· Invite collaboration

Personal branding, when done right, becomes a leadership tool. It helps teams align, organizations communicate more clearly, and ideas travel further.

Listen to the full podcast episode with Jim Blair, the Assistant Dean Chair of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Marketing at Eastern Kentucky University, to hear real‑world examples, nuanced perspectives, and practical guidance on building a personal brand that actually lasts.

For years, multicultural marketing was treated as an add on. Something layered onto a broader strategy. But in a country where diversity is now the engine of growth, that approach is no longer enough.

In this episode of The New Mainstream Podcast, Mario Carrasco speaks with Arnetta Whiteside, SVP, Multicultural Consulting, Publicis Media at Publicis Groupe, about how brands must rethink culture, representation, and who truly holds power in the marketing ecosystem.

The conversation closely aligns with ThinkNow’s The World in One City initiative, which positions Los Angeles as the place where cultural, identity, and consumer behavior shifts appear first, before spreading across the United States.

Representation is not visibility. It is influence.

One of the key takeaways from the episode is the distinction many brands still miss. Representation is not just about who appears in ads. It is about who shapes the insights, who defines strategy, and who makes decisions.

Arnetta emphasizes that when communities are visible but not influential, brands lose credibility. That disconnect leads to weaker engagement and declining trust.

This mirrors what ThinkNow sees in Los Angeles, where only a minority of residents feel brands represent them accurately, despite the city’s outsized cultural influence on the rest of the country.

Culture is not a segment. It is the system.

Another central theme is that culture can no longer be treated as a niche. In markets like Los Angeles, identity is layered, fluid, and contextual. People move between communities, languages, and cultural signals daily.

Brands still relying on rigid demographic frameworks are optimizing for a consumer that no longer exists. Those that treat culture as an operating system, not a campaign, are building lasting relevance.

The cost of misunderstanding the new mainstream

The episode also makes one thing clear. Choosing not to adapt is no longer neutral.

When brands fail to understand the communities driving growth, they lose legitimacy. When lived experience is absent from strategy, attention fades. And when cultural complexity is ignored, competitors move faster.

From conversation to action

The episode closes with a clear message. Inclusion is not just a value. It is a business advantage when backed by structure, data, and informed decision making.

Listen to the full episode of The New Mainstream Podcast with Arnetta Whiteside and explore how culture, power, and representation are reshaping marketing in the United States.

In this episode of the podcast, Mario Carrasco sits down with Carlos Guerrero Anderson, a strategic insights leader whose career spans entrepreneurship, healthcare market research, and now patient advocacy within a nonprofit organization.

Carlos’s story is a clear example of how insights expertise can move beyond business outcomes and become a force for meaningful social impact.

From Latin America to the U.S.: A Career Built on Data and Purpose:

Originally from Venezuela, Carlos built a successful career in market research before moving to the United States. For years, he helped brands and organizations better understand their audiences and make data-driven strategic decisions.

But his professional path took a pivotal turn when he chose to apply that expertise to something deeply personal and urgent: health equity.

Today, Carlos is part of the Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation, where he has transformed his background in insights into a mission-driven role focused on amplifying the voices of patients living with a rare disease and ensuring their experiences are seen, understood, and represented.

Research That Listens, Not Just Measures:

One of the key themes in the conversation is how traditional research often overlooks small, diverse, or medically vulnerable communities.

Carlos explains why, in the context of rare diseases, collecting data is not enough. True understanding requires listening to emotions, cultural barriers, access challenges, and structural inequities that directly affect patients’ lives.

In this space, insights are more than numbers. They are stories, contexts, and decisions that can influence diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life.

Representation, Empathy, and Action:

Throughout the episode, it becomes clear that representation is not an abstract concept. In healthcare, it can determine whether patients feel invisible or truly supported.

Carlos shares how his work helps bridge the gap between institutions, physicians, researchers, and patients by using data with empathy and purpose. It is a powerful lesson for anyone working in research, marketing, or strategy.