Today’s Brand Story, Inc. guest is Michael Roca the Managing Director of Multicultural at the agency PHD Media.
I sought out Michael after your phenomenal response to our recent Latino Heritage Month podcast series. He has penned some of the best articles on brands whiffing on the Latinx audience that I’ve seen, including these that we discuss in the podcast:
- “U.S. Latino Stories – ¿Adónde Estás? – Campaign Live, Oct. 4, 2021
- Baseball’s Gen Z Hispanic Opportunity – Ad Age, April 1, 2021
Michael Roca highlights the multicultural business imperative while elevating diversity of thought across the agency and has honed his craft working alongside Fortune 500 marketing leaders such as Diageo, Google, P&G, Ford, and State Farm. He has also helped marketers diversify the mix of their media suppliers by shining a bright light on the capabilities of BIPOC owned, operated, and targeted media partners.
Michael also has a strong passion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and is currently the executive sponsor of Omnicom Media Groups Hispanic/Latin ERG while also sitting on the board of Omnicom’s Hispanic/LatinX ERG, AcentO.
I appreciated Michael’s cut-to-the-chase approach and tactical advice for brands to get in the game. Enjoy…
Episode Highlights:
- Michael’s Journey Story. The backstory on how he arrived at this moment.
- The Explainer. A simple approach to what PHD does and why you might be interested.
- Day Job. A no BS approach to what Michael does.
- Tactical Takeaways. What Michael is observing in terms of industry trends and his theories on the gap in Latinx spending relative to the power of the audience.
- Case Study Cliff Notes. A PHD project with Google that puts theory into practice.
- How to get in the game. Highlights of 4 tactical ways brands can take the Latinx audience plunge
- MLB. Our take on the huge opportunity for brands via baseball and how MLB has whiffed.
- The One Conversation… that Michael can’t believe he still has to debunk.
- Bedside Bookstand. Our weekly guest feature that’s a poor man’s Goodreads!
Feel free to reach out to Michael Roca on LinkedIn here and let him know what you liked about this episode. We want to hear from you. Share this podcast, give us your feedback and hit me up with topic suggestions and guest ideas. Brand Story, Inc. is for you, so let’s make it great together. You can ping me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter @_JaySharman. Thanks for listening. Enjoy!