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, many brands 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.

More than entertainment: A visible cultural narrative

Bad Bunny did not approach the halftime show with a neutral set. His performance was filled with cultural symbolism, from scenes reminiscent of Caribbean neighborhoods to the inclusion of figures like Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, along with a “casita” that symbolized home, community, and cultural heritage.

Most notably, the performance was delivered primarily in Spanish, without translation. It reinforced that Latino culture can occupy the center of a stage historically dominated by Anglo narratives.

For millions of Latinos, this was not just a performance. It was an act of historic visibility, both for Puerto Rican culture and for the diverse Latin American identities present across the United States.

Why did so many brands play it safe?

Super Bowl campaigns often follow predictable paths:

• Humor designed to appeal to everyone.
• Nostalgic references without controversy.
• Familiar celebrities detached from cultural context.

This approach aims to minimize risk. But it also limits deep cultural relevance among audiences that no longer consume monolithic messages.

While Bad Bunny embraced his identity, language, symbolism, and roots, many brands stayed within comfortable zones. Not because they did not want to connect, but because they were not accustomed to participating with cultural context, meaning, or authentic narrative.

This is not a critique of specific creative executions. It is a strategic observation.
When the cultural conversation is strong, playing it safe can mean opting out of the very dialogue shaping your category.

Culture is not aesthetic representation. It is context and meaning.

A key theme in the discussion around the halftime show has been the distinction between visibility and cultural fluency.

It is possible to appear diverse on stage without truly speaking from culture. But Bad Bunny did something different. He told a cultural story that was recognizable and meaningful to his community, even when most of the content was in Spanish. That decision disrupted expectations of “neutral entertainment” at a global event.

This depth matters for brands that want to move beyond surface level representation:

• It is not enough to feature diverse faces.
• It is not enough to reference music or visual aesthetics.
• The strategic challenge lies in understanding the deeper meaning behind cultural symbols and articulating them with respect, authenticity, and purpose.

Three strategic lessons for brands and marketing teams

1. Cultural specificity does not dilute reach. It expands it.
   
   Bad Bunny demonstrated that cultural specificity does not limit resonance. His show reached more than 128 million viewers, and his music saw significant streaming increases, including traditional tracks.
   
   The principle is clear. When brands speak from authenticity, the message can travel farther than when it conforms to neutrality.
   
   
2. Avoiding politics does not make a brand neutral. It can make it irrelevant.
   
   Culture and politics, especially around identity, immigration, and representation, are already part of consumers’ lived realities. Ignoring them does not remove them. It simply leaves a vacuum others will fill.
   
   
3. Culture moves faster than many internal organizational structures.
   
   Pop culture and digital communities evolve rapidly. Organizations with rigid processes often struggle to keep pace. The new mainstream is not waiting for brands to decode cultural signals in hindsight.

Some brands chose safety. Others now have the opportunity to demonstrate that they understand more than the surface of culture. They understand its context, its history, and its emotional power.

In the new cultural economy, what moves markets is not only what is seen. It is what is felt, understood, and shared.

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.

Meet our Guest:


Michelle O’Grady is a communications strategist, media psychologist, and speaker focused on belonging, identity complexity, and organizational transformation. With over 20 years of experience advising foundations, public health leaders, and global brands like Google and AARP,Michelle brings a rare blend of lived experience, research, and real-world strategy to understanding cultural ecosystems and multi-hyphenated people. She is the founder of Team Friday, a creative agency advancing cultural fluency across media, policy, and marketing.

Michelle holds a master’s degree in Media Psychology and is currently pursuing her PhD in Human and Organizational Development.

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, and sustainable, 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.

Listen to the full podcast episode to discover how insights can change lives, not just strategies.

Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It starts with people who build intentional systems to understand human behavior. Data and technology may power today’s marketplace, but empathy is the true differentiator that sets brands apart. Knowing what consumers buy and why, how they use it, what challenges they face, and what makes their experience better lays the foundation for strong product development and messaging that resonates.

Like engineers observing how contractors interact with building materials, product marketers must immerse themselves in the customer experience. Real insight doesn’t come from dashboards alone. It comes from listening without assumptions, observing real behavior, and engaging not just to gather feedback but to build empathy deep enough to understand what customers may never say outright.

Equally important is recognizing the cultural and demographic shifts shaping modern consumers. Hispanic representation is on the rise, more women are driving key decisions, and diverse communities are redefining what influence looks like. For product marketers, this is a call to move past stereotypes and build authentic connections with the people who use, recommend, and ultimately champion your products.

In this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, Agustin Hernandez, R&D Leader at Owens Corning, explores how empathy and cultural intelligence drive innovation and shape products that more effectively reflect consumer needs and solve real-world problems.

As brands navigate a fast-changing consumer landscape, one truth has become impossible to ignore: Gen Z is rewriting every rule of multicultural marketing. For years, language served as the primary indicator of culture, especially in Hispanic marketing, but new data from Culture Decoded, a study by ThinkNow and LatiNation, shows that those assumptions no longer hold.

Spanish as identity marker is declining. Culture is rising. And Gen Z expects brands to understand the difference.

In an era where identity is fluid, multi-layered, and shaped by digital environments, brands must rethink how they connect with young multicultural audiences or risk losing relevance.

Identity Is Growing, and Culture Is Leading the Way

According to the study, identification with Latino culture is increasing, even as Spanish usage declines in U.S. households. Gen Z is redefining identity:

• They stack identities
• They choose elements of their heritage selectively
• And they express culture in the moment, not in the same ways previous generations did

This shift reflects a broader trend: Culture is no longer tied to language. It's tied to lived experience, digital ecosystems, and global connectedness.

That's why Gen Z today can engage deeply with Bad Bunny, K-pop, Afro-Latino creators, and English-language soccer broadcasts with equal passion. Being multicultural isn't "Latino vs. non-Latino." It's cultural fluidity.

Authenticity Is the New Brand Differentiator

Gen Z has an extremely sharp radar for detecting inauthenticity. They instantly recognize when something feels forced or superficial.

The data shows:

• 87% detect inauthentic ads instantly
• 67% want authentic representation
• 59% reward brands that acknowledge heritage

Brands that treat culture as a box to check, especially during heritage months, lose credibility. Gen Z wants something deeper: creators with real lived experiences, content informed by cultural insights, and storytelling that feels relevant to right now.

As Oscar Padilla of LatiNation says: "Culture first. Language is secondary."

Creators and Cultural Strategists Are Essential, Not Optional

One of the clearest takeaways from the podcast: brands cannot do this alone. Authenticity requires collaboration.

LatiNation's success with shows like Desmadre demonstrates why:

• English-language content
• Spanglish moments
• Latino cultural cues
• Distribution across radio, social, streaming, and linear TV

The formula works because creators bring context, nuance, and credibility that brands cannot generate internally.

For marketers, this means shifting from "content production" to co-creation.

Gen Z Lives in a 360° Media Environment – Brands Must Keep Up

Reaching this generation isn't about choosing between TV, social media, digital audio, or streaming. Gen Z uses all of it, often at the same time.

They may watch an English-language soccer match, comment on it on TikTok, follow the creators on Instagram, and then listen to the podcast afterward.

This makes cross-platform cultural consistency essential. The question isn't "Where do we reach Gen Z?" but rather "How do we show up authentically wherever they are?"

In this episode of The New Mainstream Podcast, Mario Carrasco, Co-Founder of ThinkNow, spoke with Oscar Padilla, Head of Digital Innovation & Growth at LatiNation, about these topics and more.

We invite you to listen to the full episode to dive deeper into identity, authenticity, cultural evolution, and how brands can genuinely connect with Hispanic Gen Z.

Foresight is more than predicting what’s next. It’s identifying early signals and linking them to the human behaviors driving change. By studying how people adapt, create, and respond to their environments, organizations can design strategies and solutions that fulfill future needs while staying grounded in reality.

This approach relies on both traditional and unconventional methods, such as interviews with experts and visionaries, observations from industry events, and secondary research, paired with digital ethnography that surfaces new conversations and cultural shifts. The goal isn’t just to identify trends, but also to understand the motivations behind them and what they reveal about evolving needs.

A key learning from this work is that foresight succeeds when organizations are willing to challenge their assumptions. When data and cultural context point in a new direction, the ability to pivot toward what people are already doing or valuing can uncover growth opportunities. Being flexible and responsive ensures that innovation remains human-centered rather than hypothesis-driven.

Equally important is a multifaceted research approach. Diverse qualitative insights capture nuance, while quantitative data scales understanding. Returning to qualitative validation closes the loop, ensuring that what emerges reflects both the “what” and the “why.” This cycle helps teams distinguish between patterns that are local and those that can be applied globally. Artificial intelligence now plays a growing role in this process, accelerating the discovery of patterns across vast data sources.

On this episode of The New Mainstream podcast, Jay Hasbrouck, Senior Staff Researcher at Google and author of Ethnographic Thinking: From Method to Mindset, explores how foresight, research, and AI can transform the way organizations approach innovation.