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Interesting people, insightful points of view and incredible stories on what’s popping and not popping in marketing, tech, and culture you can use to win immediately. Brands, Beats and Bytes boldly stands at the intersection of brand, tech and culture. DC and Larry are fascinated with stories and people behind some of the best marketing in the business. No matter how dope your product, if your marketing sucks your company may suck too. #dontsuck
[00:00:00]
DC: Brand Nerds. Brand Nerds. Brand Nerds. It's springtime, well actually it's not springtime in South Africa, but. Here, here in the United States, it still have listeners
LT: in South Africa.
DC: We got listeners in South Africa, so I know this, y'all, y'all are starting to come outta winter there in, uh, in South Africa.
So shout out to my, to my RSA brethren and, uh, and sistering there. You into winter, you said, oh, they're going into winter. My bad, right? Going into winter. Yeah, but, uh, but, but, but my, my, my bad, uh, uh, my bad Brand Nerds. Uh, on, on, on that one. But it is springtime here in the, uh, in the UI can't believe Larry.
It's already like springtime here.
LT: Oh, man. I know.
DC: It was like blowing, blowing my mind. But, uh, Brand Nerds, you all know that Larry and I, we have a love for Coca-Cola alums. Y'all know that. And some of you may be saying to you and says, man, why, why do you all have these Coca-Cola alums [00:01:00] on? Let me explain why Brand Nerds, let me explain why. Interbrand, which ranks brand value of global brands, every year. Right now, if you go to it, you will see Apple in the number one position. They've been in the number one position for a few years now. Mostly tech stocks are in the top five, and they should be. So you know that these are juggernaut brands in terms of value lt. But for the first 14 years, Brand Nerds that they did interbrand, the most valuable brand in the world was Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola. This is why we like to talk to Coca-Cola alums because in the tech world you can probably really tell the difference between a pixel phone and an iPhone. You can probably also tell the difference between an OS system from Mac and what the, [00:02:00] what Microsoft does. You can actually see the differences.
But in the world of beverages, y'all, is there really that much difference? Really, this is why we think that it's important to have alums from Coca-Cola because these folks, LT know how to use their skill to make something that is a want, appear to be a need. You don't, you don't ever need to drink a beverage other than water.
So today, Brand Nerds, we have someone that has experience in beverage and beyond, but looking at it from different perspectives, almost like a diamond like diamonds. You can check out a diamond and determine its value by cut, color, carrot, and clarity, these four C's. So you kinda look at this thing, Larry, and you go around at different angles to really assess the value.
The [00:03:00] person we have in the building today has understanding of beverage from the perspective of Proctor and Gamble. He has perspective in looking at beverages, uh, from, uh, the, the vantage point of Coca-Cola. And even thirdly, he can look at it again through the view of imprison of Starbucks. Yep. This brother can look at beverages from every angle and tell you a lot.
So Brand Nerds. And that's just beverages. Huh?
LT: And that's just beverages.
DC: That's just beverages. That's just so Brand Nerds. Sit down, relax as LT breaks down who we have in the building today.
LT: D, that's a great setup. We have Steven Dominguez in the house today. Welcome, Steven.
Steven Dominguez: Thank you. Great to be here, guys.
LT: Yeah, we're really excited to have you. And as DC alluded, you know, we love having. Uh, what we affectionately Coca-Cola folks call KO alums. 'cause KO is the stock ticker for Coca-Cola and, uh, DC and I, uh, have a couple of [00:04:00] Coca-Cola folks on a year and we just bring the best ones, Steven, so the bar's high.
Uh, so we really appreciate you coming, but we got
Steven Dominguez: All right. Game on.
LT: Yeah, exactly. But we gotta walk the Brand Nerds through your really successful journey so they really understand who's in the house here. So, okay. Steven starts where, uh, in a university where he attends New Mexico State University, where he earns his undergrad degree in electrical engineering, and then he goes on to matriculate at the University of Texas, Austin, where he earns his MBA and is also the president.
Welcome. That's right, "hook 'em" is also the president of the Hispanic Business Association. So after UT Steven joins our friends at Procter and Gamble, where he works as a financial analyst for Juice Products, and then as a cost analyst for Sunny Delight. We say this a lot to you Brand Nerds. If you want a successful marketing career, you cannot go wrong by cutting your teeth at P&G.
Alright? So Steven then gets a cool opportunity to join [00:05:00] Hallmark where he spends a few years as a marketing and consumer strategist, and I'm guessing lots to learn there since they do such a great job of emotionally connecting with consumers. Mm-hmm. That's their business. So now Steven gets the call from North Avenue in Atlanta where he joins the Fountain Division at Coca-Cola as a customer marketing manager.
Steven spends the next seven years at Coca-Cola HQ working in a variety of great roles, including brand manager for Cherry Coke, senior brand manager for both Sprite and Coke, and then global marketing manager for global Innovation. So Steven's doing great at Coca-Cola. He then gets an opportunity to join fellow mentors and former, uh, KO execs Coca-Cola execs as a VP of business development at Wells Fargo Bank, uh, and where he spends his time building and directing a multicultural marketing team, managing customer acquisition activities for first time home [00:06:00] buyers and minority consumer segments.
So after six successful years there, JP Morgan Chase recruit Steven to join them as first VP of Retail Bank Marketing, where he leads savings and investment product marketing team for the 2200 branch retail network. He has a four ER person team responsible for driving growth for the $120 billion deposit business.
That's big money. Okay. Brand Nerds is now the recession of the late two thousands, and Steven goes back to his roots. We alluded to joining Starbucks as director of Food Service Marketing during the peak of the recession, and he's brought in to revive a 12 person team managing all facets of marketing for the food service division.
Steven eventually spent six years at Starbucks working in a variety of roles, including food and marketing, innovation, innovation, and brand management for C, for Seattle's best coffee brand, and his last role running channel and brand management [00:07:00] for all of Asia Pacific, which means running all rate ready to drink in all of Asia.
That's a big job. Mm-hmm. At Starbucks. Steven has many highlights with a few big ones. Um, one leading my Starbucks rewards loyalty program extension into CPG channels, which resulted in more than a million new members in year one. That's pretty amazing. Mm-hmm. Uh, number two, one holiday season leading incremental display program resulting in record seven pl 7% increase in revenue growth.
With, with less investment than they had before. So Brand Nerd, 7% in Starbucks parlance, which is big money, that's a lot of money that's transferring to big dollars. And number three, creating and executing channel specific marketing plans with innovation focus resulting in a 50% revenue growth over three years.
So Steven's really kicking it at Starbucks. And after this great success, he is brought over to Hyatt Hotels Corp to be their VP of global [00:08:00] Brands. In this role, Steven leads a team of 20 as global and and field marketing lead for Hyatt select service brands, which is Hyatt Place, Hyatt House Classic branch, which is Hyatt Re, Regency Grand Hyatt, and all-inclusive branch, which is Hyatt, Ziva, and Sala.
He leads the Hyatt America's Field marketing team in this role for five years. He spends five years in this role. And highlights include one spearheading global growth leadership resulting in board approved VIK strategy becoming the key company growth pillar two, repositioning Hyatt Place brand leading to an all new hotel prototype including elevated experiences and updated brand identity.
What, and here's the big part, all driving an 8% R-O-I-R-O-I increase. Um, and then three, launching the first ever dual brand ad campaign for Hyatt Place and Hyatt House resulting in a SHORTY award and most importantly, driving a [00:09:00] 13 to one ROI. Alright, Brand Nerds. So now the pandemic happens. This is 2020.
We bring this up in Steven's bio. Since he has had two external events, this one and the recession that are large disruptors with both situations he was in severely impacting the businesses that he was part of. Just like the first time Steven eventually successfully navigates this one. And he joins Endeavor Health as VP brand strategy and marketing, leading brand strategy and transformation, consumer marketing insights where he is managing a 12 person team.
So the four highlights there. Number one, he leads the brand transformation from being called Northshore to Endeavor Health. That's one. Two, creating a con, a consumer insights function, which they didn't have before. So really ensuring insights as a foundation to guiding brand strategy, Brand Nerds. If you don't have an insights group, and this is what Steven did, you're guessing, and you can't be guessing in the, in the world of 2025 and beyond.[00:10:00]
Number three, co-creating a content studio, which is pivoting from internal publications to external storytelling by transitioning to omnichannel approach. And four, reconfiguring media strategy. Shifting to digital heavy investment with a search and social focus to better track consumer behavior, drive growth, and increase storytelling bandwidth.
So last year Steven transitioned to founding and running Vivify Marketing, where he consults with SMB companies helping elevate marketing and sometimes serving as fractional CMO. We're really looking forward to this one Brand Nerds. You can see we got a super accomplished dude on the on the pod here today.
Welcome to Brands, beats and Bites. Steven Dominguez.
Steven Dominguez: Oh my gosh, Larry. You need to rest. Brother that was amazing.
LT: It's your fault, Steven. You did all this great stuff. That's all what you did.
Steven Dominguez: I need, I need to, I need to bring you to, uh, the next bio party. Uh, amazing.
LT: Just play the tape. Just play the tape. [00:11:00]
DC: Oh yeah. Uh, Dominguez, Larry does such a fantastic job at that. And consistently as he's doing his thing, watching our guests hear that about themselves, many of them, including you, are looking and listening as if they're talking about somebody else. He's talking about you, brother. He's talking about you.
Steven Dominguez: It's exhausting. Great job, LT.
LT: It's all you. Great job and your part.
DC: All right, Dominguez, uh, we're gonna go to our Get Comfy section. Great job again, Larry. I. Typically what I will do in the Get Comfy section is I will find some question, or Larry will find some question just to sort of ease us into the, uh, the podcast.
But this one's different. This, this one's different because I know you, dude, I, I, I know you, I don't have to search for some question [00:12:00] that might be interesting. Um, I can ask you a question that I actually want to know myself and I'm hoping that the Brand Nerds will get something from it. But lemme give a little context here.
As I mentioned earlier, the Coca-Cola company, uh, was the most valuable brand in the world for 14 straight years, which meant it attracted the best of the best marketers in the world from every place. Every corner of the academic world, every corner of the work world, the best of the best wanted to be at Coca-Cola.
Yep. What that meant culturally is that it was a highly competitive, highly competitive place, and uh, everything that has a strength when it's taken to an extreme can become a weakness. And one of the weaknesses, this is my point of view, I'm not gonna push this upon you, Dominguez, was [00:13:00] that folks were learning inside of this highly ultra competitive organization how to grow their careers.
And some became better at growing their careers than they were at growing their brands and businesses. Lemme say that again. Some were better at growing their careers. Their titles, their responsibility, the number of people that they had, their budgets, they were better at doing that than they were growing their brand and business.
And one of the reasons for that is because Coca-Cola at the time, and I dare say maybe now, was a matrix organization, which meant very few people could say yes. So the power became in folks who could say no. That created an environment that, for some was not as trustful as you'd like it to be. And so, Dominguez, I want to know [00:14:00] from you is you, you are one of the best humans that I've worked with.
How are you able to maintain your integrity, your character, your optimism, growing your brands and businesses? In an environment like that?
Steven Dominguez: Gosh, great question, DC uh,
LT: It's a good one, Steven.
Steven Dominguez: It is, it is. Uh, you know, I, I think it was, uh, what I'd say is while there's, uh, a lot of things that can take you astray, uh, in, in a situation like you just described at Koch mm-hmm.
Um, there's even more I think, that keep you on track and so. Uh, you know, this is getting ahead, but, uh, but DC you were one of, of many positive influences that I [00:15:00] had there, and there were just a ton. I'm grateful. I am grateful. Uh, you don't even know, uh, how, how many times I've come back to, uh, some words you've shared with me, but, but there were lots of people, uh, like yourself that were just really great human beings as well, and great influences.
So I think, you know, you just, you just, uh, gravitate toward those that are bringing that light. And, uh, so staying on track I think was made much easier by the fact that there were, you know, tons of great people, many of whom I'm still in touch with, that I, I think, you know, bring that positivity, uh, you know, bring that balance or people you can, uh, reach out to when you're frustrated.
And, um, so yeah, there were just a, a ton of great people, um, that I think helped along the way. Hmm.
DC: That's good. Dominguez. Larry, any reflections?
LT: Yeah, I've got a, I, this is, this is a great one for the three of us. I [00:16:00] think. Um, you know, you did that naturally, Steven, right? That's be, even just the way you said, I, you know, I just gravitated to the, to those who, who had the light.
Um, and there, you're right, there's a lot of folks that we worked with that, that were like that. But then there were some, there were some, uh, those, uh, using that metaphor with dark clouds and you had to go through the reign to continue that metaphor a lot. And you, you had to navigate going through the rain, how much you got soaked and what kind of umbrella you maybe had.
And, and, uh, and so that's what DC's allude to. It's tough to navigate. I have to share a confession. I've never said this on, uh, on the pot, even like. I left Coca-Cola after two years, and that was the biggest career mistake I made. And the reason why is because of what DC said. I saw the world around me and said, Ooh, I see the people who are really, uh, successful and they're [00:17:00] not the best and the brightest.
They're the people who are the most political, and that's not who I am. And mm-hmm. So I decided to duck out. Huge mistake. Huge mistake. It was the biggest career mistake I made. I should have stayed and not com. 'cause I said, well, I'm gonna compromise myself. Well, that's a dumb 30-year-old view. Um, I should have figured it out and it would've helped me tremendously in other areas.
Um, and so the fact that you just sort of intuitively navigated that is incredible. Steven, I give you huge, huge kudos on that.
Steven Dominguez: Yeah. Yeah. You know, I heard it said one time, uh, sometimes the best move is no move. Right? Ah, yeah. And, uh, that's good. You know? Um, I think it, it, it's difficult, you know, it's difficult to know, uh, you know, what's, what's a good time to stay?
What's a good time to go and, you know, what's worth, what's worth fighting for, what's worth, you know, not fighting for. But, uh, [00:18:00] yeah, I, I hear you. It, it was, it was tough. And looking back, you know, should I have stayed? I, I followed, as you said, in the, in the opener, you know, a couple of mentors of mine to my next role beyond Coca-Cola.
So it was a bit of, a bit of the familiar that I took with me, right? Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, it was, it was tough leaving, uh, because there was so much, so much good there. Um, yeah.
DC: Well, here, here's what I want you to know, brother. Um, you, you've said some nice things about me. Um, I'm going to let you know something that you may not know.
Um. For the Brand Nerds out there. If you haven't already experienced something in your career where you are saying to yourself, man, th this stuff that's going on around me, I'm not certain if I can fully handle it, take Steven's words to heart. Gravitate towards your positive light. Yep. Gravitate [00:19:00] towards that.
And Dominguez, for you, you were that for me and everyone. So even if I were not showing some of the challenges and frustrations that I was having, um, in part it was because if you and I had a conversation that day, I left feeling better. I left feeling more optimistic. I. I left feeling like this is why I am here, because I get to work with humans like you.
So I just want you to know that Dominguez, I don't know whether you, um, if anyone has told you that before, but if, if I've never told you that. I want to make certain that you hear that from me now, brother, you, you, you were, you were important to my, um, to my spirit, if you will. So thank you, brother.
Steven Dominguez: Yeah. Appreciate that. And, and do you see, know that, uh, like a [00:20:00] lot of people there at the, at the company, uh, you know, particularly Brown and black people? Boy, we were, we were all thrilled and pulling for you, you know, when you got promoted to VP. That was a, that was a big, big, uh, accomplishment for all of us.
Thank you. So, um, yeah, likewise back at you.
DC: Thank you, brother.
LT: Do you think he earned it, Steven? I mean
Steven Dominguez: oh my gosh. You know, oh my gosh.
LT: The youngest Brand Week market of the year, other than some dude who was born on third base, uh, Anheuser-Busch the fourth, and, uh, and oh my gosh, with Sprite, like if anybody earned, if VP hits my brother, DC.
Steven Dominguez: No doubt.
No doubt. And, and, and, and Larry, we were talking about this, uh, on Monday, but I gotta ask a question, Darrell. So Yes. So one of your superhero talents, I think, is that you make connections, right? You do this real time and every episode of, of, of the [00:21:00] pod. And it's a really unique gift that you have.
LT: I think that it's scary sometimes, Steven, go ahead.
Steven Dominguez: It, it really is. And you know, we've worked with some, really all of us, right? Mm-hmm. Like super, super creative, super talented people along the way. And you have particular, uh, clock speed is what we would say in, in, uh, engineering, engineering parlance, right? Uh, you have very good clock speed, but beyond being able to kind of real time connect things, DC you elevate them to and frame them real time in a way that I've never seen before and never seen since, honestly.
Hmm. And so what would you attribute that to? I mean, I'm sure it comes naturally in a lot of ways, but there's gotta be a filter that you have in, in your mind as you are processing information in a meeting or in the pod. How, how, what would you attribute your ability to kind of make those connections and, you know, ladder them up in a way that I think is, [00:22:00] is unique?
LT: This is great.
DC: Oh, I wasn't expecting this question. Uh, Dominguez, the answer is, I don't know. My second answer is a, a, uh, a series of quote unquote intellectual deficiencies that have forced me to do what you have described and what you have experienced. I have dyslexia, ADHD, and dysgraphia. And for those who may not know dysgraphia or may not be familiar with it, it's when you write like a medical doctor, but I wanna make sure I get the King's English right here, Dominguez and LT, you ain't no doctor. Okay. Alright. But you, you write like a doctor. So there's something that happens in the brain that [00:23:00] can't quite translate to the, to your hand as you're moving the quill. The combination of those three things, which by the way, I discovered, uh, uh, Dominguez and uh, and LT as I watched my daughters have some struggles in school as young people.
Hmm. Once I, once my former wife and I got them tested and found that they too had these three things, dyslexia, ADHD, and dysgraphia. It was evident as I researched it, that these things are genetic. And as I read the symptoms, Steven, I was like, that's me. That, that's always been me. I just didn't know it was me. So I, I, I, I was undiagnosed because of these things. Uh, uh, Steven, I recognized that in order for me to learn, I had to develop strategies that were [00:24:00] different than the, uh, neurotypical way of learning. So, I'll give you an example. Um, most of us learn to read by having someone hold a book in front of us, parent, caretaker, teacher, and they run the finger across the page, uh, below the sentences and they read.
Mm-hmm. Dominguez, my eyes could not stay with a finger. No way my eyes would dart around the page. I don't care if they had a finger, a torch, a knife. I was, I could not. I could not Dominguez keep my eye focused on that. So it would dart around the page. So then I would have to pretend as if I was actually following the finger.
So rather than read along with my teachers and my mom and [00:25:00] others, I would tell them what it was saying, but I was not reading. I was picking off parts and connecting them and bringing them, bringing them together. So they thought I was reading, but I was not reading. So those, that's just one example. So in the world, uh uh, Steven and LT, LT knows this, I do the same thing and that allows me to simplify.
Disparate, uh, sources of data, culture, things that are happening, um, um, um, brand performance, all of these things, my brain has to simplify it, otherwise I'd go nuts. So I think it's because of my intellectual deficiencies with air quotes that has allowed me to develop this, this thing that I can do.
Steven Dominguez: Amazing. [00:26:00]
LT: Yeah, it's amazing. And then I have to chime in 'cause he's not gonna say this, and you might, I don't know if he, what he is gonna think when I say this. He's also so effing brilliant that he's got such a big brain that his brain has the capacity to do all those things. Steven. Oh, thanks.
DC: Thank you, LT.
Thank you. Thank you for asking me that question, brother. Yeah. Well, thank you for, I've never even asked that question.
Steven Dominguez: Thank for sharing DC Uh, that, that's a really cool story and I think, you know, um. A lot of us learn a lot about ourselves through our children. Yeah. And what we observe and it's like, you know, that actually is something that sounds familiar.
DC: Uh oh yeah. Yeah brother. Thank you for that question, man. Great question. So speaking of questions, we're onto the next segment, which is called Five Questions. Five Questions.
Steven Dominguez: Alright.
DC: So Larry and I go back and forth until we arrive at five. I'm in the batter's [00:27:00] box for opening season spring baseball.
Alright. Steven, what was an experience you had with a brand where. It just blew your mind, like your first experience where you were like, oh, oh man, I just, I can't get enough of this brand. I can't get enough of spending time with it. I can't get enough thinking about it. I just cannot get enough. Almost like a first love.
What was this brand for you, brother?
Steven Dominguez: My baby? Uh, well my first brand love was my first vehicle. And you relate to this Darryl Beam from Detroit. But yeah, my first vehicle was a Jeep. Oh, it was my Jeep.
DC: Yes.
Steven Dominguez: And uh, so yeah, I had a, a Jeep, a 1978 Levi Edition, Uhhuh Jeep Renegade. And [00:28:00] uh, so Levi Edition Jeep.
What's that?
DC: Levi Edition?
Steven Dominguez: The Levi Edition. Look it. Uh, yeah, it had simulated, you know, Levi looking vinyl seats. I had a three inch lift on that bad boy, the Goodyear Wrangler tires. Yep. I even had hooker headers on my, uh, on my Jeep three. Oh look, our headers.
DC: Oh, you are? Talk to me, talk romantically to me.
Steven Dominguez: Oh my gosh. So, yeah, my, my, uh, Jeep was, I gotta say it was one of the coolest rides in my high school. And, uh, and so you, you know, you know from my bio that I grew up in the west, out in New Mexico, in the southwest, and so there it's all about the outdoors. And so hunting, fishing, getting off road, all of that stuff was, you know, was part of my childhood and, and part of my upbringing.
And so having a Jeep made for [00:29:00] lots of adventures and lots of, lots of stories. So, um. Yeah, I've always had an affinity for, for car brands, uh, you know, and I don't currently have a Jeep, but, uh, I keep my eye on 'em for sure and have over the years, I, I hope to one day get one of the new Rubicons.
LT: Oh, I love this.
Do you have any response to this?
DC: You, you, you go first. I do have what? You go first, brother.
LT: All right. So DC knows this Steven. When at, at Coca-Cola I had the, the, the later version, a big old black Jeep with big tires that I pulled up the Coke with. And you know, in those days, getting out in your suit.
Because I just thought it was cool as hell. And you know, and I had the soft top. And in the, in the summertime you take that off and man, I have stories about nothing better going under the freeway when, when you're in Atlanta and the thunderstorm coming, put that top back on and that hot weather,
Steven Dominguez: There's nothing [00:30:00] better, you know?
LT: But, but that, and, and just like you, I, I just, I, someday I have to get another one. There's just something about it. Um, and, uh, that brand is really special and we've talked about it on the show, but that Harrison Ford ad during the Super Bowl was so on brand, man, like, you know, for us Jeep lovers, you, yours started earlier than me, but you know, when you have that brand in your blood, and man did, did they do a great job?
Did you, did, what did you think of that ad?
Steven Dominguez: I agree. You know, and, and, and I'm, I'm asking myself, what is it about this ad that really touches me? And I think it's somehow because they've had a lot of great ads over the years. Yep. But that ad in particular, I think brings out a tactileness somehow that is really on brand.
You know, there's, there's the, of course, the [00:31:00] background and where, where he is walking. But there's just a lot of, just tactileness is, is how I would put it. Uh, in that, in that ad that just brings out the Jeep and all of us.
LT: Yeah. The freedom associated, the word freedom associated starting as a military vehicle, they even showed that.
And then. How it's, and even freedom to go off road, the whole, it just permeated the whole thing. And having your dog in the car too, like just
Steven Dominguez: Right.
LT: Every little thing they did, I just was, you know, and then even ending with, and my last name is, you know, whispering Ford.
Steven Dominguez: Right.
LT: You know. Wonderful. Sorry, D, I know you had some, some stuff, but, uh, I thought that was relevant here.
DC: You, you, you've already hit it. I was gonna ask him what he thought about the, uh, the Super Bowl ad. So you, you've already hit it. We'll go to the next question, but, uh, Dominguez, Larry and I were invited, uh, in January to participate at a summit that was on the [00:32:00] campus of Stellantis. In fact, I believe Larry, it was their first, and by the way, stellantis Brand Nerds, they owned the Jeep brand.
They owned, it was actually February D was after the Super Bowl. Oh, February. Sorry. February. Sorry. So it was their first day back in the office. Right. Official day back in the office and we were there. And just to be in a place that has a brand like that. Yeah. Man. Special. That's a, that's a special brand.
Steven Dominguez: Did you get to, did you get to test drive?
DC: No.
Steven Dominguez: Did they have like a special course or anything?
DC: We did not. We were just in a, in an auditorium. So no test driving on this one. Ah, yeah. No, no, no. Test driving. Alright, Larry, you wanna hit question number two, brother?
LT: Yeah. I love that Jeep Renegade though. Uh, okay, number two.
So Steven, who is Hatters having the most influence on your career?
Steven Dominguez: Uh, well, you know, we talked about it upfront, uh, and, and I gotta say that, you know, DC being one of the positive influences, but looking back, my experience at Coca-Cola was probably the most [00:33:00] formative for me. Wow. It really was, uh, lots of great training, great people.
You know, many of whom I've stayed in touch with over the years, and even people, you know, Larry, we didn't really connect at the, at the company, right? But when you, I've connected with so many people who are alums, either at the same time I was there, or, you know, before or after, and there's that commonality that is just such a, such a big thing.
So it was a huge imprint on me. Uh, you know, uh, in fact, as I mentioned, I followed a couple of mentors of mine from Koch onto my, my next role in financial services. So I. Um, what I'd say is I've been fortunate to work with lots of great brands. Um, Coca-Cola being probably the most formative of them, but when you work with great brands and great organizations, you're really imprinted with that culture and that philosophy that, that really shapes, I think, your approach.
And so, um, yeah, for me that was Coca-Cola. And, and so while [00:34:00] marketing's always changing and, and there's always new toys to play with new tactics, um, that old school philosophy that was imprinted there at the Coca-Cola company sticks with me. And I know it sticks with a lot of people I've talked with over the years.
Love that. Dee, what are you thinking?
DC: I agree with him. Yep. I'll start with that, but, uh, if you could Dominguez be more specific about what was imprinted on you as a person and executive. During the formative years at Coca-Cola, tell the brand nerds what you got when you were there and what you left with.
Steven Dominguez: Oh my gosh. Um, well, so hear me out on this. So there's, there's marketing philosophy, right? Mm-hmm. And so, uh, just starting with a consumer [00:35:00] first approach, an insight based approach, uh, that was certainly imprinted from a strategy and a planning perspective. Um, you know, I think in one of your episodes, uh, you were talking about frequency, the power of velocity.
Um, yep. There, there's, uh, you know, something that you learn there with, with regard to the power of, of that. Um, and so I learned a lot about sticking with selling more of what. What your core product is versus trying to get to incremental, uh, stuff that may not have the same velocity and won't take you as as deep and as far, um, so consumer first approach, uh, a lot on brand positioning.
There are so many marketing lessons that are part of my philosophy that, you know, I can go into. But I think beyond the marketing, you know, a lot of just navigating the [00:36:00] organization and, and one of the biggest things that I learned along the way through, through another mentor of mine that I met there was that, um, you want to assume positive intent.
And so, um, I can't tell you how many times over the years, uh, expost Coke, I have used that with coaching others on teams that I've been fortunate to lead or just using it myself and different, you know, different interactions that I've had. But, you know, assuming good intent on the part of people that you work with, um, whether you think they actually have good intent or not, becomes really, uh, really, you know, uh, not the point.
Um, it really helps you to ground conversation, I think, and, and bring conversations that sometimes go astray back to I, I think what everybody can agree upon and can move you forward when you, when you hit those sticking points. And so, um, [00:37:00] that, that and a lot of other, I think people lessons are a couple of examples of, uh, you know, things I've learned that made big imprints on me at, at Coca-Cola.
DC: Mm-hmm. Larry-
LT: This, this is great. Um, it's so funny, like you said, Steven, you know, we have a shorthand, US KO marketing alums and, you know, the, the part of being consumer and insights driven, we can't hammer that, uh, through enough. Uh, I love your point about assume positive intent. Do you wanna say who told you that or do you wanna keep that?
Steven Dominguez: Uh, well, uh, you don't have to. I'm not sure he's with us anymore, so, uh, I've lost touch, but, okay. It was a gentleman named Russ Osmond. And, and Russ, Russ was a guy that worked with a lot of Koch execs. I was fortunate to work with him. Uh, and, uh, my gosh, he was such an interesting guy and, and, uh, so he was coaching me through, you know, kind of a [00:38:00] sticky situation at a certain point, and, and he imparted that.
But what was super interesting is, you know, Russ worked with. Everybody from the CEOs on down at the, at the company. And, you know, it really taught me the, the power of, you remember the Herman Brain Dominance Framework?
LT: Oh yeah. That was Oh yeah. Mm-hmm.
Steven Dominguez: Uh, that was used there. He taught me about how Coca-Cola used that to really, you know, pair people up like an ivester, you know, with a gusta and how they were kind of different strengths that they brought to, um, what is otherwise a job that's probably too big for any single individual.
So there's so many great things I learned from, from Russ, but there were a lot of people like that that just brought a lot of the soft skill to, you know, the actual training and, and marketing expertise that you got from, from Coke.
LT: DC, what, say you, before we go to the next one?
DC: I am not at all surprised at these specific things that have been [00:39:00] imprinted upon. Uh, you Dominguez and I would dare say. It is the secret sauce for the success of Koch executives the world over when, when you begin with the consumer and the insights thereof, you have a far better chance of winning than not.
LT: Yep.
DC: Yeah, that's it.
Steven Dominguez: Amen.
LT: Right. D, you ready for the next question?
DC: Yes. Yes, brother. Yes, I am. Okay. As Larry, read your experience rather detailed highlighting all of your Ws, all of the, all of the wonderful successes and across the board. This next question, Domingez has nothing to do with any of those. I want to know nothing about any of these successes. This question is about the biggest F up you have had, [00:40:00] and most importantly, what you learn from it.
Steven Dominguez: Right. So I'm gonna take a page out of your last guest's, uh, playbook. You had Mike Maynard on recently. Oh yeah. And he started with the last part, right? Did what did you learn from it? He did. Yep, he did first. I love that. And, uh, so for me, the, the big learning, I guess I'd want to share is that it's not what you say that's important, it's how you say it.
LT: Do both know what you said? This is good. You're setting this up. Great. Go.
Steven Dominguez: So, I gotta say, along the way, I have pissed a lot of people off, sometimes knowingly and, uh, more often unknowingly. Mm-hmm. And, um, and so as I mentioned, I grew up in a place that, uh, you know, was kinda out of the way. There weren't a lot of big brands, big companies, so, you know, I had to dream about what big brands and big companies look like.
And so I learned a lot of the, the nuance along the [00:41:00] way. And, uh, so. I had a, a particular manager, former mentor at Starbucks, and she had a mantra, which was right time, right place, right tone. Have you heard this before? No. Right time, right place, right tone. And so she was really, really diplomatic and just elegantly navigated, you know, lots of chaos and frustrating situations.
And so, you know, she shared that with me. Um, and it really has, has made a difference that, you know, sometimes you can say the right thing, but at the wrong time it'll get you in trouble.
DC: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Steven Dominguez: Uh, or maybe it's better to wait for things to calm down a bit.
Before offering a potential solution, you know?
Mm-hmm. Or you have the right thought, but it's the wrong meeting. Maybe it's better to wait for, you know, not such a large group to share something that might be helpful. Um, or maybe it's just, you know, oftentimes for me it's [00:42:00] just dialing things down, you know, with a, with a little different, maybe different tone, you know, so communicating to influence rather than I think informing, uh, is this, is this, uh, kind of balance that requires nuance.
And so I've learned, I've learned a lot of hard lessons, I think about how not to communicate along the way. And, um, so it's not what you say, I think that's important, but how you say it.
LT: Can you tell us a time that that did happen that.
Steven Dominguez: Oh sure. Where, where, where, where you didn't do that? Yeah, exactly. Oh my gosh. Uh, yeah. I can remember, you know, uh, a couple of times at Starbucks, you know, with, with, uh, I'll just say the, the big boss in the, in the, in the room. Mm-hmm. And, um, feeling the need to, you know, somehow, uh, stupidly to correct the big boss in front of a big group of people. Um, you know, was I right? You know?
Sure. Uh, was it smart? Was it the right thing to do? No, [00:43:00] it wasn't. So, um, you know, afterward I'm like, why, why does he seem kind of angry with me?
Well, you idiot. You showed him up. Uh, that was not good. So, um, yeah, I
LT: Was it that same boss who told you right place, right time, right tone? Who pulled you aside after?
Steven Dominguez: It was, it was, it was a boss later. She's like, you know, um. And again, she did it in a very elegant way. But, um, yeah, so, uh, lesson learned.
LT: Okay, hold on. A story along the same lines. Oh, go ahead D. You, you?
DC: No, no, you go Larry. You go, you go.
LT: Um, I have a funny story. When I was working at Seagram and, uh, on, uh, on Seagram coolers and, um, we had a meeting, we were an NFL sponsor and um, we were a brand though targeting legal drinking age 21 to 29-year-old females.
And it's like, why do we have a deal with the NFL? It didn't make any sense to me. And I just [00:44:00] started on the brand. So we're meeting with the NFL and I'm saying thinking, well, why are we even, we should be out of this sponsorship. So the NFL's talking how they're gonna up it, and I started saying, well, I don't even think we should be in this deal.
And my boss is literally kicking me under the table. So I'm like, oh, I guess I should be saying anything. Right. So he pulled me, so I, I sort of shut up, right? He pulled me aside afterwards. And the head, the head of marketing of our whole group, it really, we had the deal so he could call the NFL up and get Giants tickets whenever he wanted.
This is what happens. Brand Nerds. Yes. That we were spending like, you know, a million dollars for the sponsorship so he could call the NFL. I'm not naming names, but that's really why we have the sponsorship. 'cause he, he could do that. And I'm getting kicked under the table because of that. So this happens.
Steven Dominguez: It's [00:45:00] crazy. How about you DC All right. So at the wrong, the wrong thing or at the wrong time? The wrong place.
DC: Oh yeah. Many times. Many, many times. I'll go to Larry and I wanna come to you, and then I'll, I'll, I'll bring it home with how I've done that more times than I care to admit. But Larry, in your case.
Within seconds of you saying that maybe simultaneously you were getting kicked in the shin. Yeah. So you knew, you were like, oh, okay. I'm not supposed to, uh, Dominguez, after you posited that question to the big boss, when did you know, oh, may maybe, maybe not so good. When did you recognize that?
Steven Dominguez: Immediately afterwards. Immediately. You know, it's one of those things like, oh, immediately that, that was not good, you know, and you could see the, when you see the expression on somebody's face and it just like abruptly changes you, like, uh oh, okay.
DC: So I, I'll give one of the many that I've had that are [00:46:00] similar. Uh, so no names mentioned here.
I'm, I'm, uh, uh, running a, a, a portion of a, of a business. There's someone who's working with me. Our big boss was out for a while. I don't remember why the big boss was out, but the big boss was out for a while. Big boss returns and, uh, you, you, you remember this well, uh, Dominguez and you, you as well, uh, uh, LT during the planning process back in, uh, back on North Avenue.
It's exhaustive, okay? Oh God. God, you spend months and months planning. So we are now at the end of the planning process, but the big boss was not a part of the planning process. So big boss returns at the end and the big boss has some different thoughts as to where we ought to be going. I know where you're, and I'm sitting in the office with, with my compadre.
Okay. Okay. You are, you know where this is going [00:47:00] already with my compadre, but we, we, we have now built out the plan and, and the big boss expresses their, their displeasure with the direction of the plan. And I say to the big boss. Yeah, I, I understand you have some, you misgivings about, uh, where we're going, but we're not doing what you just said.
Yeah. We're we're doing this. Okay. We're, we're doing this mean meanwhile mean, meanwhile, my, and, and so it wasn't just that mistake because like you, Steven, and like you, Larry, each of you recognized in the moment that you'd messed up, but this big boss did not show much emotion. But the big boss was clearly not happy with my response, so I decided to double down. [00:48:00]
Steven Dominguez: No, we thought this through.
DC: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Mm-hmm. I said, yeah, this is where, this is where the, and I explained the reasons why, uh, a case. The big boss was not clear on why. I would say, lemme tell you why we're not gonna do, in other words, I think what I was saying, I didn't mean to do it, it was just, it was dumb. It was dumb. I, I, it, it could have landed like, let me explain to you all the reasons why your thoughts are not sound. Exactly. And, uh, uh, bad mistake. Just, just bad mistake in there.
LT: So, so in the, in, in the, the right time, right tone, right place. You were over for three. I was
DC: OI was O four.
Yeah. I, I was o for, and by the way, uh, Dominguez and, uh, and LT, our relationship was never the same after that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's the point.
Yeah. I, I lost, I lost a [00:49:00] mentor, a friend. We were never the same after that. And it was purely because of my stupidity. Yep.
Steven Dominguez: My, a lot of ego, a lot of ego in business. I've learned over the years. You gotta,
DC: yeah. You gotta be sensitive to it. Yep. Yep. Agreed.
LT: Larry, you're up, brother. Love those stories, uh, that we all shared and, uh, uh, DC I wasn't so, uh, smart. I just, my shins hurt, so I shut up.
DC: I wish I had somebody kicking me under the table.
LT: Yeah. So I could have shut up. So, next question, Steven, regarding technology and marketing, can you tell us where you think marketers should lean in or best leverage tech? Or you can talk about areas or a specific area you think they should be leery or simply avoid?
DC: Hmm.
Steven Dominguez: Well, I've got one. I know, uh, AI of course has been a big topic and for good reason. Uh, but have you talked much about Python? [00:50:00]
LT: No.
Steven Dominguez: No. So, so Python is this application. I actually learned about it through my daughter and Lisa, uh, and an intern I worked with recently. So I was, uh, recently doing a gig as a fractional CMO, very small company, not a lot of resources, no CRM system.
And we're trying to, you're trying to work through a lot of customer data to get to, again, an insight, right? To, to really build a growth strategy. And so I learned about working through a data frame, uh, through this application, Python. And it really helps to eliminate a lot of the clunkiness, uh, that you have with spreadsheet applications like Excel and, and Google allows you to leapfrog, to manipulate a data frame, um, short of really rebuilding it in one of those spreadsheet applications.
Um, so yeah. So back to kind of what we had been talking about. You, you wanna have a consumer first a, an insight led strategy and with so much [00:51:00] available. Data in the marketplace these days, you have to plow through, uh, oftentimes a lot of data to try and get to an actionable insight that can guide your strategy.
So I've learned, uh, many times from the interns, uh, lots of things, right. Uh, particularly about tech. But, uh, yeah, working with Python as a way to kind of, uh, more easily leapfrog some of those spreadsheet applications has been a fun one of late.
DC: Hmm.
LT: That's a good one. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for sharing.
D any, uh, yeah, any follow up?
DC: I have not heard of this at all.
LT: I haven't either.
DC: Wow. Okay. I'm gonna check that one out.
Steven Dominguez: Yes. Yeah. My, my daughter Lisa, she's a chemical, an aspiring, she's a senior chemical engineering student. And so, uh, I don't know if it comes out of that, that engineering world, but, uh, yeah, the intern that we had at this organization I mentioned, he was also, uh, an [00:52:00] industrial engineer.
So I think they teach the engineers this Python, and then, and then they ask him to use Excel and they, they don't really want to. They're like, why?
DC: Yeah, why, why, why would I do that?
LT: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Shout out the intern too, if you don't mind. Shout him out. Yeah. Shout out to David. Cool. That's cool.
Uh, DC You want to hit the next question? I do,
DC: Steven. I. What are you most proud of, brother?
Steven Dominguez: Oh my gosh. Well, you know, lots of cool stuff along the way and, and, uh, LT mentioned some of the stuff along, along the, uh, intro lines, but, uh, it's really the people as we've been talking about that stand out when I look back.
And, uh, I found that nothing really is more gratifying than really helping others to grow, helping others to succeed. And so, um, yeah, I've been fortunate to lead some great teams in the past and, and, uh, development has been a particular focus for me. You know, uh, I've asked people on my teams to focus on just [00:53:00] one thing always in their development plans, and I found that that really helps keep 'em on, on point.
But, uh, yeah, I mean, a specific example, I had a, a senior manager on a, on a team at Hyatt, uh, a few years back, and she was a hardworking senior manager and asked for her development plan draft, and she provided this, you know. Comprehensive list of all these items and sub items. And so I asked her, you know, Hey, can you just explain what you think your biggest opportunity is?
What, what you really think you need to work on? And she responded, executive presence. Mm-hmm. And so, uh, this person, yeah. You know, seems like an intangible, right? Either you kind of got gravitas or you don't. And, uh, so we really began to focus on her presence and ways to bring it forward and integrate it into her day to day.
Uh, and eventually she really started getting a lot of positive feedback on her strong presence or gravitas. And, uh, she was eventually promoted to [00:54:00] director. She's now a vp. And so, um, examples like that, you know, there are others where people get promoted or, or, um, really develop skills that, uh, you know, that they're focused on.
Those are the things that I think you find really gratifying looking back.
LT: Hmm. I love that Steven, man. Mm-hmm. Like, you know what, what you're really saying is, is the things that make you proud are helping others. That's what you're talking about. Right? And, and there's a lot to be said for that, dude.
That's, that's really cool.
Steven Dominguez: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Had a lot of people help me along the way, DC and others, and, uh, yeah. It's, it's nice to return the favor.
LT: Totally agree. D, you got any follow up?
DC: I do not, brother. I do not.
LT: All right, man. Steven. Oh, this, this is awesome, dude. We're having a blast with you. Uh, and it's going way too fast in a, in a, in a good way.
So we're, we're onto the next segment. So DC [00:55:00] Steven, what's popping?
DC: What's popping?
LT: So, Steven, this is our chance to shout out, shout down, or simply ask something happening in and around marketing today that we think is good fodder for discussion. So we understand that you have one. Do tell.
Steven Dominguez: All right. Uh, I got one for you.
And, uh, again, tell me if I'm, if I'm, uh, retreading any ground you've been, you've been on before, but brand trips. Have you guys talked about brand trips? No. Mm-hmm. No. All right. So we're very familiar. You, you both know very well, brand associations, um, using influencers. Uh, those have been important of course, for a long time.
But what I'm seeing, uh, and I was talking to my daughter, Anisa and Malena, those, that's shout out to Malena as well, uh, was these brand trips that, that, uh, we're seeing. And so again, I'm a, I'm a girl dad. I've got two daughters and a son. And, uh, being a girl dad, I see a lot of gotta check him out too [00:56:00] now. Yeah. How about you LT? You got any daughters?
LT: I don't. I'm just so sorry to interrupt. You have to shout your son's name out because you shouted
Steven Dominguez: Julian.
LT: Alright, so sorry to interrupt you, keep going.
Steven Dominguez: So, uh, yeah, so I see a lot of cosmetics. Uh, I am a veteran of the Sephora experience that I get with my daughters.
Uh, I, you know, experience a lot of that stuff with, with their help, but, um, you see it, I think particularly in, in that fashion and beauty space, but even soft drinks. Uh, so Poppi is an example where they invite influencers to their Austin headquarters. Mm-hmm. They extend them, uh, these invites to spring break trips.
And these influencers, uh, are driving association by, you know, their usage of the brand, their experience with the brands on these, on these trips. Uh, Coachella is another example. Uh, saw one recently [00:57:00] with Jergens, uh, and their, their, uh. Tanning product. Uh, so it's cool. You don't, you don't really have to hit people over the head.
I, I think influencers have become much more sophisticated, more, uh, generalists, I guess I'd say lifestyle oriented versus, you know, um, in the past I've used very specific, you know, in the travel industry, I worked in hospitality for years and we would use very specific travel influencers, but this is a much more general case.
And, um, it's just really cool to see how it's evolving. This whole association space is, is evolving into more general influencers, working across brands in these, you know, kind of sexy brand sponsored locations. Uh, in fact, I, I think hotels could be a bigger part of it than they, than they currently are.
LT: I think you're right. And they could do it in a way that serves their brand and helps them serve who their. [00:58:00] We'll, we'll, we'll call brand lovers, uh, and in a way that could be really inexpensive when they're bringing others in to carry the freight if they do that.
Steven Dominguez: Right, right, right. You know, I always try to impart this kind of emotional, right, emotional layer to your brand and impart the, the lifestyle that, you know, is associated with your brand and imparts your brand experience.
But having people actually live it, uh, is the best way to do it I think.
LT: Well, go ahead Dee. You have follow up?
DC: No, no, no. You go bro. You go, you go.
LT: Uh, I think about the brand that you use, the, your first Love is Jeep, you know, think about right? That they could do some experiential things that would be off the hook.
Right. Let's go. Um, and you know, that's, that's the kind of thing that, especially with social media where you can. You know, have that experiential thing and [00:59:00] then post about it and create even more desire for people to be part of something like that. Right. Um, exactly. So, you know, you, it could really work in, in ways that are, that are just, uh, that are just beautiful.
Um, I want you to go, but I have a very funny BMW centric story that, that I want to go after, after DC goes.
DC: I got a question. Dominguez, who goes on these brand trips? Other, other than the influencers?
Steven Dominguez: Well, it's, it's mostly the influencers and they're posse. Right. Got it. Okay. Okay. And, um, and I'll get the names wrong, so I won't attempt to, to even share some of these influence, but, but you know, it's morphed into.
And to people that have followings with really, it's almost like a Seinfeld like, uh, situation where the very simple, every day [01:00:00] becomes the comedic, it's the very simple actions of getting ready for school in the morning and imparting, you know, the difficulty of going to work each day. And, you know, the f-bombs you drop en route.
It's those kinds of things that influencers are doing and have their followings around. So it's, it's nothing really specific to, you know, moms who are traveling to, you know, exotic locations. It's, it's much more, much more random, much more general. And so these influencers, um, have a lifestyle that I think people tap into in, in one aspect or another.
And so it's, it's these people and their followings, uh, you know, their, their posses, uh, that are being featured.
DC: Okay. This is fascinating. This is fascinating because it reminds me of something that I heard many years [01:01:00] ago when we were on, uh, location and production for one of the brands that I managed.
And there was a music artist there who I won't name, and he was having a conversation with us about music videos. And this particular artist created some of the most iconic music videos in history. Wow. And, um, he was explaining how the videos had an instructive role and this just had me, like what he said.
Yeah. What we are doing is we are teaching those, watching the video, how to party. Wow. Yeah. We're teaching them how to handle champagne.
LT: And they are, by the way, they truly are. They're, yeah,
DC: we are teaching them where they should [01:02:00] live and how they should enjoy a mansion, a yacht. We're teaching them how to experience luxury.
I've never heard anybody say that before. Right. So I'm listening to this, this, this dude was a guy, and I'm thinking to myself, that is brilliant. Mm-hmm. Al almost like an instruction guide for how to party and enjoy one, uh, oneself, which brings me back to brand trips. Dominguez, you and I and Larry were taught as many of us at Coca-Cola is that, and, and Larry's already alluded to this, there's a difference between a target market that's who buys.
A brand lover, that's who represents a brand. And what these brand trips are doing is they are showing imagistic in n video form what a brand lover actually [01:03:00] does. Mm-hmm. This person that represents how do they live, how do they interact, what words do they use? Mm-hmm. Like you said, some, like dropping an F-bomb.
Oh, the brand lover of Belinda Blank brand, they actually won't drop an F-bomb. Right. If I'm in the target audience, I may not drop an F-bomb, but sometimes I wish I could, right? Mm-hmm. I can. So I can relate to this, this, uh, influencer. This is fantastic.
LT: Mm-hmm. Ooh, this is such a great category, guys. We could talk a lot about this and I'm, I'm loving this conversation.
Yes. Um, so brand nerd, this strategy behind brand trips is. How can my brand integrate itself into the real lives of our brand lovers and our consumers strategy. Yes. Right? Yes. So then the [01:04:00] tactical executions, I actually mistook what Steven was saying originally, 'cause he was talking about, again, the cosmetics brands of, I'm thinking of the woman, you know, that influencer, and maybe she's on the way to somewhere, and how often have we been in traffic somewhere, you guys, and you see somebody putting on their makeup in the rear view mirror, right?
Mm-hmm. Like, I'm sure that that's part of it, right? Yeah. So there's the, I'm gonna call that even though it, it isn't mundane, but it's the mundane to DC what you alluded to. Like, you know what, what is the music video? And that's what I was thinking more the high end, Steven. Yeah. Yeah. So with with, with Power Aid, one of the things that we did in year two was we had a promotion that, uh, you could win a trip to train at the US Olympic Committee, uh, training facilities in Colorado Springs.
No other brand can deliver that to you. And again, this is before social [01:05:00] media. Think about the ways you could then, you know, as consumers are part of that and be a part of that. And again, really enhance that, not just for the people who are going, but for others to say, wow, I, how could I do that? Right.
Yeah. And, and so what I think we're saying though is that Brand Nerds, there's an element of experiential. That needs to be more front and center because the more you can actually have people truly experience the best parts of your brand, warts and all too, by the way, the more authentic it is and the more people will then aspire to it.
And that's where you really pulling on the emotional connection strings.
Steven Dominguez: Right. And you said at LT it's, it's this cool balance between the kind of behind the scenes behind the curtain authenticity, right? The rawness of applying your makeup in a not sexy situation or doing whatever it might be balanced with the sex [01:06:00] appeal of the location and how the after that's right.
You know, how the after effect actually comes across, you know? That's right. And so it's, it's a little bit of both that, uh, I think it makes it really intriguing.
LT: That's right. Can I share a really funny experiential story here? Yep. Yeah. Let's see this, let's see what it, this, this is so good. So, um, Scott Doniger, uh, one of my, my closest friends, Scott was a BMW marketing manager for many years.
And, um, so one of the things that BMW does is such a great job of, you know, you get people in A BMW, you don't want to get outta that car, right? Like, so, and they understand that. So they had, um, all kinds of incentives for people to go on trips to Europe and drive on the Audubon Drive to BMW. And they had, you know, a trip like a week and you change cars.
And I think if you're an enthusiast, how amazing that trip would be. So Scott used to be the one who would lead this trip for US [01:07:00] consumers to go do awesome. One year. There was this guy who got instructions from his doctor that he had a bad heart, that he needed to have, uh, a daily intake of garlic. So he told them that it was just the small clove that he had a intake.
This dude took the whole thing. He was eating the whole thing of garlic and it stunk up. The cars stunk up literally and figuratively. The whole experience for everybody else, because this guy that's a little too raw, they had to, they had to expunge the car. Scott got a bill from the, from the factory in DMW afterwards for thousands of dollars because they had to expunge the stink of the cars that this guy was in.
Steven Dominguez: Oh my god. Little too much authenticity.
LT: Yes.
Steven Dominguez: That's great.
LT: Anyway. [01:08:00]
DC: Oh man. Little levity. Can, can you imagine the other fellow drivers Exactly. And they got, they gotta be at, 'cause you, they, but they stop at restaurants and fit together. They, they, they,
Steven Dominguez: ugh. Sold the car at a, at a, at a big discount.
DC: Oh yeah.
LT: Oh yeah. Uh, anyway, D, anything to add? Are we, uh, are we onto the close?
Nope. No more to add for me, brother. Oh man. I'm so bummed. We're at the close. Steven, this has been so much fun, dude. We so appreciate you. I have a ton of learnings. I'm gonna kick off, uh, what I'd like to be a quick seven. Uh, you said something right at the top, Steven, I think you even said it off handily.
And it's so you, uh, Brand Nerds gravitate to those who bring you light, not only in business in your life. Gravitate to those. That's number one. Number two, [01:09:00] sometimes the best move is no move. Right. Number three, like Steven has done everywhere he's been, uh, since Coca-Cola. And this is what all of us KO alums have taken, that consumer and insight led approach.
It's so interesting. I was asked by our friend, Ed Collins, D, to talk to his advertising class at Chapman University just last night on a Zoom and shout out to those guys and talked about this very thing. You've got to be consumer and insight led. And if you're B2B, it's customer. It's the same principle.
Got to be, start there. Brand nerd. That's number three. Number four, assume positive intent. Love that one. I learned this later in life. It, you know, until somebody proves you otherwise assume positive intent, it'll take you much further. Um, and like, uh, like Steven's, uh, uh, mentor at Starbucks, uh, taught him, uh.[01:10:00]
It's right time, right place, right tone. If you really wanna communicate to influence, it's not how you say it, it's not what you say it is how you say it. So know those three things, right time, right place, right tone. Number six, learnings are all around you. Brand Nerds, and just like Steven learned from his intern, David , take it all in.
Learnings are abundant. And then the last one, number seven, like Steven talking about what he's most proud of. Uh, if you start from your, if you start your career earlier in your career about how you can serve others, that's gonna take you a long way. So those are my seven. Mm.
DC: That's good, Larry. That's good.
Alright, Steven. We've known each other for decades, brother, for for decades. And since we've known each other for as long as we've known each other and we've worked together before, I. At this [01:11:00] part of the show where I normally draw connections to what I believe is unique about the guest, just my opinion, my humble opinion, and what they offer the world.
It's harder for me to do it with people that I already know. It's easier for me to do it with people that I don't know 'cause it's a blank canvas and I'm listening and trying to figure out what are they coloring, what kind of paints and swirls are they using on the canvas for me to go, this is what I'm seeing.
But in this case, uh, Dominguez, there's so many beautiful things on this canvas. I was struggling to find like, what, so what, what is the additional thing? But I think I have found something. I'd like to share it with you, brother. And it goes to the first question of the five where Larry [01:12:00] and I were going back and forth and you mentioned this Jeep Wrangler.
Now I've heard of a Jeep Wrangler before. I know that Larry, you've owned a Jeep, Jeep Wrangler, but what I did not know is, uh, the fact that there was a Levi's edition. So I know about Wranglers. I didn't, I didn't know about a Levi's edition of a Wrangler. And then you said, yeah, you know, I grew up in New Mexico, so Southwest and uh, I had this thing raised up.
What, what'd you say? Three inches. Three inches raised up. There you go. Three inch lift. Three three inch lift. Had to do it that way. And what's, what, what'd you say, Larry? Have to do it that way. Gotta do it. Got tires. Raise it up. Yep. He, he, he, he, he's, he's got, he's got the Goodyear, uh, uh, uh, tires on his thing, the knobby tires.
And why does, why does he have it that way? Because he said, yeah, in the Southwest we go off road. We, we, we fish, we, we [01:13:00] might hunt, we might do things like that because it's off road. And I'm sitting there thinking about that and I'm going, wow. Yeah, that is what one would do with a Jeep. But a lot of times if people buy Jeeps, they never go off road.
Okay? They never go off road. But when Dominguez got his 78 Wrangler, the dude was off road. So in that one answer, he, he told me about something I knew and then something inside of it that I did not know. Then we got down to the technology question and he talks about Python. Now, Larry, I've heard about ai, I know I've heard of Gronk.
I know what chat GPT is. I ain't never heard no damn Python. So then Dominguez goes to explain how these young folks are taught this in school and Mr. Woo, and it leapfrogs [01:14:00] spreadsheets. I know about Excel, I know about spreadsheets, but I didn't know anything about Python and its ability to leapfrog, go over a spreadsheet.
I'm like, Hmm, that's interesting. And then Dominguez, you almost, you almost knocked me outta my seat. When you talk about these brand trips, you said, have you guys heard about this? By the way, a consistent in this podcast is you, Steven sang. Have you heard of Yeah. If, if, if I'm covering ground that you all have heard before, let me know.
And then each time he said that we go, no, no, no, we never heard of that. So he goes on his brand trips and then you Dominguez start to explain how influencers go on trips. Explore, go through their lives and it's recorded on film and we as the audience get to vicariously explore and go on a [01:15:00] trip with them.
Mm-hmm. And then you added something after the brand trip, you said, you know, probably the hotels should get more involved in this. They should be partners. And I'm thinking you are thinking, because as these trips are happening, they gotta have someplace to stay Yep. As if they're going to Coachella. Like is there a, is there a hotel brand there that could partner with them?
With, and, and all, all, all of. And by the way, you did that instantaneously right away. Mm. Maybe hotels. And so then I went back to his experience. Larry, this brother grew up in college as an engineer. How the hell did he get to marketing? Okay. He get to marketing from being an engineer, but he got to marketing from being an engineer.
All of this is to say that you don't get to marketing from an engineer. [01:16:00] You don't identify the value of a Python software, leapfrogging spreadsheets. You don't break down brand trips and how that could be connected to hotels and you don't do Jeep and love it the way you do and get off road lust. Steven, you are an explorer at heart.
Ah, you don't do any of that. You don't do any of that. So what I believe you are offering to all of us brother for many, many years is you are the crystal ball cologne. Of brand management. And to put a point on this Brand Nerds, just like Dominguez in his exploration, has given us things that we know and things that we don't know as a result of his [01:17:00] exploration.
Cristobal Cologne, which people may not know is Christopher Columbus. Okay. That is what I believe. You are Dominguez. You are the crystal ball cologne of brand management, brother.
Steven Dominguez: I love that. Thank you. You're welcome. That's
LT: awesome. I'll take it. You know, you, you know, you put a lot of pressure on DC when you, you know, you're saying he's gonna connect the dots and.
Oh shit. I hope, I hope it one works here.
DC: I felt the pressure, I felt, I still feel the pressure.
Steven Dominguez: Who, who can come up with that?
DC: He did.
Steven Dominguez: Only dc Thank you, DC It's a, it's a gift. I,
LT: I'll take it. You're welcome, brother. It's a perfect description, Steven. Really like, you know, it's a, it's a gr great shorthand for your fabulous career, dude.
Um, so Steven, before we wrap up and, uh, and, [01:18:00] and, uh, you know, hit the end here, uh, is there anything you'd like to share with the brand nerd that you've learned from our wonderful conversation today?
Steven Dominguez: Oh my gosh. Well, I learned a lot about both of you, uh, LT your, your Jeep Days. So we, we, uh, shared Jeep enthusiasts, uh.
DC I learned that we're, we're shared, uh, you know, intellectually challenged people, uh, who, uh, have, have found ways, I guess, to overcome our challenges. But, uh, no, it's been, it's been a pleasure. Um, and I, uh, I've enjoyed it. So, uh, really appreciate you guys having me on.
LT: Oh, you were
Steven Dominguez: great.
LT: You were fabulous.
Well, uh, that is the mic drop here. Uh, so Brand Nerd, thanks so much for listening to Brand Beats and Bytes the executive producers are Jeff Shirley, Darryl "DC" Cobbin, Larry Taman, Hailey Cobbin, Jade Tate, and Tom Dro,
DC: The pod father.
LT: That is he. [01:19:00] And if you do like this podcast, please, please subscribe and share and for those on Apple Podcasts if you are so inclined, we love those excellent reviews.
We hope you enjoyed this podcast than we look forward to next time where we will have more insightful and enlightening talk about marketing.