The New Mainstream Podcast

In the dynamic landscape of sports fandom, one demographic stands out for its potential to reshape the future: young bilingual Latino fans. These individuals bring a unique perspective to sports, craving innovative ways to express their passion for the game. But that passion goes beyond the field to the experience, whether tailgating or engaging with brand activations. For brands to truly connect with these fans, they must seek to understand and cater to their needs, redesigning the fan experience to create a more inclusive and engaging community. But what does that look like? Traditionally, sports fandom has been defined by loyalty to teams and players. But that’s evolving as bilingual Latinos navigate between cultures and languages. Understanding cultural nuances and generational differences within the Latino community can translate into higher ticket sales, greater demand for merchandise, and overall fan engagement for leagues. Because of this, major sports leagues, such as the NFL and MLB, are increasingly embracing the importance of diverse narratives and communities within their fan base. Aside from drafting Latino players and sponsoring Spanish-language simulcasts, leagues and franchises successful at leveraging Latino fandom understand the elements of their sports entertainment offering that appeal to Latinos and invest in supporting those features. Tapping into this demographic represents a substantial economic opportunity. With nearly 20% of the US population identifying as Latino and 40% considering themselves avid sports fans, there's immense potential for growth and innovation. However, capturing the attention and loyalty of young bilingual fans requires more than gestures like heritage nights, which can be perceived as performative if not integrated into a broader engagement strategy. Engagement demands a deep understanding of Latinos' cultural backgrounds and preferences and a commitment to authentic representation. Sports leagues must incorporate these insights into their growth strategies, ensuring the fan experience reflects the diverse communities supporting them. In this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, Jesus Chavez, co-founder and CEO of CABRA Sports, delves into Latino sports fandom, exploring the strategies and cultural insights driving the industry’s evolution.

The evolution of financial technology, commonly referred to as 'fintech,' has undergone a remarkable surge in recent years, empowering consumers to conduct their banking activities on their terms from any location. So high is the demand for online financial tools that banks like Bank of America, which started shuttering its drive-through teller lanes in 2013 due to low usage, have pivoted to establish robust digital solutions. These solutions are tailored to help consumers manage their personal finances exclusively through online channels. This shift is not limited to central banks, however. Online banks like Ally Bank and neobanks like Chime are also vying for consumers' attention, offering both traditional and non-traditional banking services and greater flexibility than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Among the consumers embracing fintech are Latinos, who do so at a higher rate than other demographic groups. This trend can be attributed to a few factors. The Latino population in the U.S. skews younger, and as younger consumers are generally more predisposed to adopting new technologies, fintech becomes a natural choice. Additionally, Latinos may face language barriers and systemic challenges such as discrimination, making fintech options more attractive and accessible. Regardless of how consumers choose to bank, most agree that understanding and managing one’s finances is essential to building wealth and economic self-sufficiency. For Gen Z, especially those subscribing to the concept of 200%, where individuals embrace their dual identity as both American and Latino and whose motivations for wealth-building differ from their parents and grandparents, using an in-culture digital-first financial platform to demystify complex financial concepts is key to engaging them. In this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, Beatriz Acevedo, CEO and Founder of Suma Wealth, underscores the importance of developing culturally relevant fintech tools to increase financial literacy in the Hispanic community. To download the SUMA App, click here.

Craft beer brands are carving out a significant niche in the beer industry. Mass market favorites like Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Michelob have dominated grocery and convenience store shelves for years but are now making room for craft beer alternatives targeting a growing contingent of beer drinkers preferring the nuanced flavors of local brews. But it’s not just the taste of craft beer that’s driving demand among enthusiasts. The brewers’ backstories add an interesting flair that appeals to the palette and instills pride in shopping local. Brewers like East LA native Ray Ricky Rivera, founder and brewer of Norwalk Brew House beer company and co-founder and operator of SCC Distribution Network. His career in music led to a craft beer revolution infusing cultural influences with Latino inspired flavors to create limited edition brews whose proceeds support under-resourced communities. Yet despite success stories like Ricky’s, who along with six other homebrewers founded the largest Latino homebrew club in the United States, SoCal Cerveceros, a recent study by the Brewer’s Association sampling 500 randomly selected breweries show that only 2.2% of craft beer makers are Latino and 93.5% are Non-Hispanic White. However, according to Rivera, the opposite is true of craft beer drinkers. The industry is seeing a significant uptick in the number of people of color and women enjoying the taste of their local brew. As the demographics in the United States continue to evolve, the growing influence of multicultural consumers will create more opportunities for Latino brands. But it all boils down to authenticity. Ethnic consumers are more likely to seek products that reflect their heritage, and Non-Hispanic White Millennials are embracing more ethnic flavors in the foods and beverages they consume, expanding the market for brands like Norwalk Brew House. Non-Latino owned brands attempting to enter the market with Latino inspired flavors should avoid stereotyping if they want to authentically connect with Hispanic consumers. In this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, master brewer Ray Ricky Rivera delves into the Latino craft beer scene and shares how Norwalk Brew House delivers on its promise to make good beer to do good things.

Supplier diversity programs were developed to level the playing field for diverse suppliers, including minority, women, LGBTQ, disabled, and veteran-owned businesses. By connecting entrepreneurs to economic opportunity, ideally, organizations can harness the power of the marketplace to drive social impact. However, supplier diversity often falls short on the data. It’s widely known that diverse suppliers are not given the opportunities to contract for public sector work at the rate of their non-minority and male counterparts despite the explosive growth of entrepreneurship among minority and women-owned firms. What’s not as clear is how much organizations lose, financially and socially, by failing to be dogged in their pursuit to diversify their supply chains. Research shows that consumers are more likely to engage a brand that publicly commits to diversity and inclusion. In general, when buyers give more firms a chance to compete for businesses, it’s better for business. Diverse suppliers are often told that the key to getting contracts is relationship building. That’s the way we do business, right? Relationships – who we know. The flaw in that logic is that it’s not an equitable process. How many opportunities do diverse suppliers miss because they aren’t in the right rooms, not on the golf course? Relying solely on relationships leaves a lot of talent on the sidelines to the detriment of everyone involved. In this episode of The New Mainstream, Jason Trimiew, Director of Global Supplier Diversity at Facebook, shares his perspective on the economic and social impact of supplier diversity and the power of intentionality. Facebook has now spent more than $1.7 billion cumulatively with U.S. companies certified as minority, women, veteran, LGBTQ, or disabled-owned in categories spanning creative services, network infrastructure, facilities management and more.

When consumers have a good experience, they tell three people. When they have a bad one, they tell ten. Doing a deep dive into conversations taking place on the ground is essential to identifying and combating false narratives that can derail a multicultural marketing campaign. This is especially important when that campaign is in the interest of public health. Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, for example, isn’t a matter of just pushing out messaging on the vaccines’ effectiveness. It’s also necessary to uncover and comprehend the narratives people are being exposed to and have erroneously accepted as truth, so messaging can be created to combat misinformation. Trusted messengers within target communities are vital here as those influencers are more likely to have the social currency to shift the conversation. With the pandemic, that “ear to the ground” approach contributes to harm reduction. Whether it's vaccinations or consumer packaged goods, multicultural marketing has and will continue to evolve as the demographics in the U.S. evolve. Seventy percent of Generation Alpha (born 2010-2025) will be bi-racial. So if companies and brands aren’t preparing for that now, they’re missing out on the opportunity to start building relationships with an entire generation of multicultural consumers and future voters. The term “multicultural” or “multiculturalism,” however, when looking at it broadly, is inadequate in describing the complexity of people of color in the U.S., which varies not only in ethnicity but also by culture, region, and numerous other factors. This complexity demands that marketers change the conversation around identity and belonging in the next iteration of marketing and advertising. No more assumptions based on last name, zip code, how people sound, or where you think they’re from. Ground truthing fills the gaps and provides the cultural context to support the findings. In this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, Michelle O'Grady Caballero, Founder and CEO of Team Friday, introduces the concept of “ground truthing” and how it can be used to combat false narratives and challenge assumptions.

Cultural conversations thrive at the intersection of social media and search. Some consumers use social media to engage in external dialogue in the “public square” of society. While others look to validate their points of view without public scrutiny by typing inquiries into search. Collectively, these shared experiences provide a window into factors driving cultural shifts that impact consumer behavior and, ultimately, purchase decisions. When consumers share their experiences online or inquire online through search, marketers often make assumptions based on that online behavior but neglect the sensory component. The how, what, and why of our actions are shaped by culture. The more we experiment with new things and elaborate on those experiences, the more culture becomes malleable, bending towards new dimensions. Understanding this intersectionality is critical to any multicultural marketing strategy. Marketers, however, tend to over-rely on common cultural elements like values and language and underinvest in subtle elements that evoke nostalgia, like colors, music, even smells. Brands that dial into these cultural nuances consider how people feel and build those elements into the brand experience to create meaningful connections. By making insights immersive and inspirational, marketers build cultural intelligence attuned to the dynamics driving culture. In this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, Kalil Vicioso, founder of Tiny Hat Consulting, explores the intersectionality of sensory research, social media, and search and how they help marketers build cultural intelligence.

Modern-day corporate America has a uniform – typically white, male, and of certain affluence and political view. However, diverse talent across the board is calling for a new lens that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives both within and outside of organizations. Marketers and researchers of color, for example, seek equity in pay and more seats at the table, as well as equal opportunity. In response, many companies create employee resource groups facilitated by black and brown employees where like-minded professionals can connect for emotional support. These employees assume the additional burden of running these groups without additional compensation and nearly no new opportunities to impact their career trajectory. But black employees aren't the only ones calling out hollow DEI claims and blanket messaging. Consumers of color demand representation in marketing. Savvy marketers are tapping into the value chain of specificity for a more customized consumer experience instead of taking a broad approach. Culture impacts all aspects of human life. The narrower the focus, the greater the message's resonance for the intended audience and those who appreciate the effort to demonstrate authenticity. In this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, we talk with Sequoyah "DataBae" Glenn, founder of the Black Marketers Coalition and 924 CoOperative: A Multicultural Marketing Agency, about empowering black marketing and research professionals and the need to redefine the general market.