SAT #40 -📽 Highlight Reel

Marc Bland, ICYMI, and a Magic Dress

October 14, 2023

Recharge by ASOTU Logo

We love making space to share the hearts of the people who make our industry great.

That’s why we do our More Than Cars Moment pieces and Saturday Highlight interviews.

Eventually, if we highlight enough compassionate, creative, and courageous folks, people will have to consider it’s more common among retail auto community members than they’ve been led to believe. 😉

Keep Pushing Back

-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHT

Talking with Marc Bland

Paul recently chatted with Marc Bland in person and grabbed some audio from the conversation. Marc is the Chief Diversity Officer for S&P Global and had some insightful things to share with dealers from his years in the business.

Marc, thanks for talking with us! Tell us about the Diversity Volume Leadership Awards and your role in them.

The Diversity Volume Leadership Awards, or DVLs, were created by me and my brother in the business, Damon Lester, who proudly serves as the Vice Chair for NAMAD – the National Association of Minority Auto Dealers. We did that approximately ten years ago. And we realized there was a need in the auto industry to focus on diverse consumers, including African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. At one point, we talked about women in leadership. We've also included over the years LGBT. Now we're talking about even their top vehicle choices for EVs, and what we wanted was a shift away from aligning awards with sponsorship levels and getting more to the truth. And so, we created an award show that would only highlight models that sold the most new vehicle units to what we call "the future majority," African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics.

The proof has to be in actual sales. To get those sales, you must work hard to create a strategy, align and invest human capital and money resources, and get ethnic partners, agency partners, minority dealers, et cetera to out-muscle or out-sell all the competition. That's the only way you get on stage.

So, what is the secret to the success? She said a few words about how there are some common denominators in the ones that keep winning. What are they?

The first one is true. Organic focus on leaning into minority consumers. It starts with the C level, whether the CEO or CMO, but at some sea level, I have to say this will be a concerted and consistent effort across our OEM.

Number two comes the investment. Hey, I wanna have a Chief Diversity, not just a Chief Diversity Officer, but a Chief Diversity Marketing Officer, et cetera. Somebody that it's their full-time job to focus on these future majority consumers. Not just window dressing but empowered with budget and influence across the organization.

Second is that you have to go out and get these agency partners. Hey, black advertising agencies, Hispanic advertising agencies, Asian agencies, women's focus, leadership, LGBT, et cetera. And once you get that kind of thing and you get everybody in line, and they start working together like a well-oiled machine. Now you're doing it, and it's part of your company culture.

So what if you gave us a little prescription? But like, do you have a final word to people? Is anyone interested in leaning in a little bit more? What's a practical step they can take? You listed a couple of really big steps, right? What practical steps could people take to move a little closer?

One is your marketing because marketing gets people out of bed and makes them consider and ultimately purchase your vehicles or products. Make sure the marketing is organic and authentic, focusing on the future majority of consumers and what they do where they work, live, and play daily. That's the key. And suppose it comes off that way, and they see you lean in because everybody carries these pocket computers called cell phones. In that case, they can pull back all the layers of your company and see. The second thing is to ensure that your message resonates inside your company and that you have people, males, and females, that look like the audience you're trying to target at a senior level because that also shows your commitment.

CONTENT RECAP

ICYMI

Tenor/Netflix

EMAIL RECAP:

 

PODCAST RECAP:

Paul and Kyle brave the giant-ridden streets of Miami to give us a wrap-up on their exciting week at NAMAD. 🌴

👉👉 Watch the full podcast here! 👈👈

SOMETHING FUN

Adobe’s Project Primrose

Move over blue/gold dress, there’s a new frock in town going viral. 👗

“Project Primrose,” an animated, shapeshifting, and interactive dress that can change its design and style almost every second, premiered at this year’s Adobe MAX 2023: Sneaks presentation in Los Angeles.

Led by visionary Christine Dierk, this groundbreaking future of fashion can not only display an endless array of designs, but it can also be programmed to respond to the wearer’s every move making it sway and shift like a standard dress.

The innovative digital scales leave open a world of possibilities, from digital art to handbags to furniture. Unfortunately, with all its ingenuity, it’s still dry clean only. 🧺

Reply

or to participate.