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Kenyan runner Abel Mutai was only a few meters from the finish line, but got confused with the signs and stopped, thinking he had finished the race. Ivan Fernandez, (Spanish speaking) was right behind him and, realizing what was going on, started shouting to the Kenyan to keep running, Mutai did not know Spanish and did not understand. Realizing what was going on, Fernandez pushed Mutai to victory. A reporter asked Ivan, “Why did you do this?” Ivan replied, “My dream is that one day we can have some sort of community life where we push ourselves and also others to win.” The reporter insisted “But why did you let the Kenyan win?” Ivan replied, “I didn’t let him win; he was going to win. The race was his.” The reporter insisted and asked again, “But you could have won!” Ivan looked at him and replied: “But what would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honor of this medal? What would my mother think of it?” The values are transmitted from generation to generation. What values do we teach our children and how much do you inspire others? Most of us take advantage of people’s weaknesses instead of helping to strengthen them.

#Kenyan #Abel Mutai #Ivan Fernandez #Spanish #runner #pushes #victory #community life #win #honor #teach #children #inspire

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Win at Aging: How to Stay Fit, Free, and Love Your Retirement!

By Sharkie Zartman 

Here comes the test of your life. You can do nothing and watch yourself just completely fall apart as each year passes or you can join Sharkie Zartmanin her winning approach to aging. 

Quick read that could change the rest of your life for the better. Give it a try.

—Don Hurzeler, Former CEO of Zurich Middle Markets;

professional photographer, Author of The Way Up,

Designated for Success, and Smells Like Retirement.

With more people than ever being home and seeking out ways to motivate and enjoy life at this time, Sharkie Zartman has written a fun, inspirational, and energetic guide that will educate your audience, no matter their age (Author’s Place Press, on-sale: September 15, 2020; $19.95/Paperback). Sharkie’s energy will inspire and wow your audience with a mindset that invites them to see aging as an opportunity and a privilege, as well as a challenge! With her years of earned experience as both a health and fitness professor, as well as a high-level athlete, Sharkie will guide your audience to start now and have a sporting chance at living a full, and vibrant life regardless of age! Sharkie can speak on a variety of topics including:

·  HolisticTraining Principles for Empowered Aging

·  Training during the COVID19 Pandemic

·  The Power ofNutrition

·  Building Your Successful Aging Team

·  TheAthletic Mindset; How To Beat Aging

·  Take Good Care of Your Brain

·  Your UltimateGame Plan

·  The AgelessAthlete

·  RealizingExercise Is No Longer Optional

·  How to Stay inthe Game Until the End

·  The Power ofRAP (Resilience, Authenticity, and Purpose)

Sharkie Zartman has written a must-read book for all of us aging athletes who refuse to give in and want to meet head-on the challenges of growing older. 

As a former collegiate and professional athlete and now an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, I address these issues every day not only with my own body but also those of my patients. Sharkie is right on with her approach to aging as a sport and tackles it with a proactive approach that will leave you grinning from ear to ear with each page of this great read. I urge all

to read it and learn that winning the game of aging can be done with determination, strategy, and grace.”

—BillStetson, MD Stetson Powell Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine AssociateClinical Professor, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Team Orthopaedic Surgeon, USA Men’s and Women’s USA Volleyball Team

As a former, All American volleyball player who competed for UCLA, and was also a member of the USA National Team in l974, Sharkie Zartman brings her experience as a former athlete and award-winning coach to the pages of the this thought-provoking book. Sharkie Zartman learned from sports and these valuable lessons and skills can easily be applied to the challenges of Aging. As a professor in the areas of health and fitness, she also brings her academic experience to this important subject. This is a book for Baby Boomers as they develop their life plans regarding Health and Wellness.

—Rick Bava Author of “In Search of the Baby Boomer Generation”

Win atAging brings real advice, real understanding, real purpose to a very real challenge: aging. Sharkie Zartman has a talent for teaching while keeping you interested. If you wish to grow old with pep in your step, I strongly suggest you read this book.

—LynetteLouise “The Brain Broad” Internationally renowned neurotherapist, author, speaker, producer, host and proud mother to eight miraculous children.

Highly readable, motivating, encouraging, and helping the reader to accept themselves and move forward to greater health and enjoyment.

—Brian Weather don, certified financial planner, a retirement coach and author of “A Lifetime of Wealth.”

 Sharkie nails it in this amazing book on the aging process. Getting older doesn’t have to be a bad thing, and this book proves just that!

—Cornell Thomas, author, “The Power of Positivity” and “The Power Of Me”

Sharkie Zartman’s new book appeals to me because I’m right in line with her thinking. At age 60, I reunited our rock ’n roll band “The Invictas.”During the 60’s we had thousands of fans due to our record and dance called“The Hump.” Since reuniting in 2005, we’ve been featured on NBC’s Today Show, in USA Today, played with The Beach Boys and we’re rocking thousands of boomers with our high energy classic rock show. None of us on stage are young guys, we’re all 60 plus. As Sharkie says in her book, Win at Aging, we are all aging and every part of our body

and mind is vulnerable to aging. I believe her book will help inspire millions of us who refuse to go down without a fight. At age 72, I run around on stage like a kid, my job is not

only to entertain, I want to inspire others to follow their dreams and live life to the fullest. I am with you 100%and her book that will inspire me to continue doing what I’m doing because “I refuse to grow up.”We call our concept“Rock Till Ya Drop.”And I’m going to keep Sharkie’s book close to me at all times.

—HerbGross

www.theinvictas.com 

 Aging is a challenge. Treating it like a sport is both brilliant and inspiring. Sharkie hits a home run with Win at Aging. 

Exercise, smart eating, and wellness, both physical and mental IS the best plan. Lets get in the game! 

—Dr.Robert A Weil, Sports Podiatrist and Host of the Sports Doctor Radio Show

Sharkie Zartman has written an empowering book about aging based on an athlete‘s experience, knowledge, and insight. She combines sound information, humor, understanding, and personal insights that make the book a pleasure to read. I would recommend this as a “must-read” for anyone who wants to age successfully. 

—HelenDennis, co-author of Los Angeles Times bestseller Project Renewment, Columnist, Author and Lecturer

Here comes the test of your life. You can do nothing and watch yourself just completely fall apart as each year passes or you can join Sharkie Zartmanin her winning approach to aging. A quick read that could change the rest of your life for the better. Give it a try.

—Don Hurzeler, Former CEO of Zurich Middle Markets; ProfessionalPhotographer, Author of The Way Up, Designated for Success, and Smells LikeRetirement.

Sharkie Zartman is a professor of health and fitness.  She teaches classes in health and power yoga at ElCamino College. She is also the host of Sharkie’s PEP Talk on Healthy Life Radio and a Holistic HealthCoach. She is the author of nine books.  Her best selling YouthVolleyball book was ranked as a number one bestseller on Amazon for youth sports,  “Shark Sense”,is a fun empowerment book that has 5 five star reviews on Amazon and compares human goal searching behaviors to sharks. “So You Think You Can Coach Kids?” is a great resource for anyone who is coaching youth sports or just getting started, while#HeySportsParents gives parents an insightful guide to be a success with your child who plays sports.

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#patrice #washington #tax #taxes #learn #avoid #surprises #bills #refunds #tips #money #saving #strategies #tv #financial #expert #author #real #answers #women #stressful #americans #win #games #smartypig #trustinwil #espon #tipsontv #rainy #day #critical #concerns #pays #procrastination #planning #restoring #new #york #post #cosmopolitan #essence #magazine #timely #surviving

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WIN SCHOLARSHIP AS EARLY AS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO STUDY WHAT SCHOLARSHIPS MIGHT HELP YOU.
Over the past 15 years, college scholarship strategist Jean O’Toole has spoken before thousands of students, inspiring them to pursue their academic dreams. Now she has a new book out that helps them afford those dreams, Scholarship Strategies: Finding and Winning the Money You Need (Morgan James Publishing, Trade Paper,128 pages, $17.95, ISBN: 987-1-64279-482-3).

www.amazon.com/Scholarship-Strategies-Finding-Winning-Money/dp/1642794821

“You don’t need to be academically at the top of your class a star athlete, or a student with financial need in order to qualify for thousands of dollars of scholarship opportunities,” asserts O’Toole, co-founder of Connections101, a youth empowerment company specializing in motivational tools for outside scholarship searching.
O’Toole has helped students win thousands of dollars, including some individuals that were awarded up to $200,000.
“Money for college is out there,” she encourages. “You just need to know where to find it and how to win it. It’s all about working smarter and not harder. ”
In Scholarship Strategies, the motivational speaker shares her vast knowledge, laying out 25 clear strategies for winning the money needed for college, and identifies 15 ways to reduce college costs beyond scholarships and traditional financial aid.
O’Toole shares:
● How students can take a smart, methodical, organized, and disciplined approach to apply for many winnable scholarships.
● Which scholarships have less competition and lower thresholds to win?
● How students can identify their strengths, interests, connections, demographics, and accomplishments in order to be in a position to qualify for plenty of scholarships.
● Additional money students can win for room and board, books, travel, or study abroad – even if they get a full ride because of academics, athletics, or financial need.
● How parents can collaborate with students to divide and conquer the scholarship search process.
● Why guidance counselors, librarians, financial advisors, alumni, and government agencies each only know about some scholarships — and why you need to consult with many resources to get a complete picture of the scholarship landscape.
● Harmful scholarship myths that are debunked.
● How students as young as kindergarteners and middle-schoolers — or those older than 30 — can still win scholarships.
● Many examples of odd, unique, and rare scholarships that almost anyone could win.
“Higher education costs continue to rise,” says O’Toole. “Student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt in the United States reaching $1.5 Trillion dollars. Whether it costs a family$30,000 or $300,000 for a college degree, scholarship monies can dramatically reduce costs and benefit the bottom line..”
Some of O’Toole’s strategies include:
● Applying for local and regional scholarships first.
● Seeking out a series of small scholarships and not just one big one.
● Starting a scholarship search even before high school.
● Joining groups and organizations so you can qualify to apply for their scholarships.
● Asking family members and friends about scholarships from their employer, group affiliations, Jonestown.
● Talk to scholarship winners to gain insight on how they won.
● Form a bond with a scholarship buddy and share info on scholarships to apply to.
● Start applying early and often – and keep track of your applications.
● Using past homework assignments as material for scholarships as a huge time saver.
“Parents and students will be amazed at how much money is available to them for scholarships they never imagined even existed,” says O’Toole. “Anyone who follows the advice in Scholarships Strategies and uses the resources at www.Connections101.com are certain to find more scholarships than if they only rely on their school guidance offices.
“Jean’s energy and enthusiasm capture the student’s attention from the get-go, and she gets them to think about college and scholarships in new and different ways. Not only does she share her knowledge and insight with students, but she also provides them with strategies they need to take action and be successful in their pursuits. Jean provides an amazing resource; there is nothing like it out there!”
–Fran Fercara, College Counselor, Fort Hamilton High School, New York City

#jean #o’toole #otoole #new #york #city #connections #101 #connections101 #uncover #hundreds #scholarships #strategically #increase #winnability #high #school #smart #methodical #organized #disciplined #win #strengths #interests #connections #demographics #accomplishments #position #qualify #academics #athletics #financial #need #guidance #counselors #librarians #financial #advisors #alumni #government #agencies

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‘Getting ethnic consumers’ is not just about leaving money on the table, it will determine which brands win or lose. We are at the tipping point where the American critical mass is Multicultural and ‘minority-majority’ is an oxymoron. The need to do Multicultural marketing right is painfully obvious.
Multiculturals are nearly 40% of U.S. consumers who spend $1.7 trillion yet still get under 18% of all ad dollars, and less of company resources. U.S. kids are already majority-ethnic, Millennials will be in 2022, and all of America by 2040. Key states like Texas, California and Florida are led by Hispanics, and ethnic-skewed top 15 DMAs, which make up half of our economic activity.
Hispanics, African Americans and Asians will power all future growth in population, jobs, new HH formations and new customers – as aging Non-Hispanic Whites decline. National minority-targeted media, digital, and social platforms and content continue exploding, as do sophisticated research and data analytics to develop and evaluate multicultural marketing efforts, and a shift of cultural openness in overall attitudes to foster Multicultural marketing.
While major players in telecom, CPG, QSR, Automotive and banking have been effectively addressing ethnic consumers for decades, they still drive the bulk of MCM ad spend growth. Most of the Fortune 500 are still reticent, late in the game or not doing it right. It is not just about a few adjunct in-language TV spots, influencers, soccer, events or social. It’s about a top-down, thoughtful, holistic and organization-wide approach that impacts the company’s goals, metrics, research, operations, resource allocation, strategies, target segmentation and execution. And tactically, hopefully make English ethnic efforts BAU because it is way overdue – we did our first English McDonald’s Hispanic spot back in 1989.
Recently, a Univision C-suite executive asked me ‘Liz, don’t you get tired of the constant education to deaf ears and wish you had gone Wall Street like your Stanford buddies?’ The answer: No, I am still an avid preacher and believer in marketing, love the multicultural, uber connected world we live in, and never give up… because money talks.’ So I urge Fortune 500 stakeholders to get it right. And here are my top ten pitfalls to watch out for.

1. Approaching The Market As If It Were A Blended or Monolithic Reality.
Don’t assume one size fits all or that the lowest common denominator approach is viable for long-term growth and success.
The answer: Personalized marketing will be even more critical based on the expectations and needs of Multiculturals, Millennials and Gen We. The optimal marketing approach is more of both ethnic targeting plus leveraging broader-appeal strategies for all.
Multicultural marketing has certainly evolved from the orphan regional efforts and silo years, to the post-pubescent total market homogenization, and now the Multicultural-led total market. Yet few have matured to the adulthood rich with complexity where the truth lives. For Hispanics, there is granularity by country of origin, acculturation, integration, generational distance and language; for AA, single female HOH decision-makers vs. traditional families, single young influencers or matures; and for Asians, by acculturation, or country, like Chinese vs. Filipino vs. Korean. Marketing can be incisive, geo-targeted, layered, or general as desired, depending on the objective and ROI parameters. But the first priority is honing the common base to maximize the brand voice and investment, and as a DDB-bred ad executive, I totally get finding the universal truths of human nature. Yet while a LCD approach works at times, it’s not going to drive consistent growth. The need to address target specificity and needs to drive deep relevance is vital in the increasingly geo-targeted, digital and social me-centric era we live in – where we must know customers profoundly and use customization on a grand scale for two-way brand connections with multiple targets, platforms and technologies.

2. Oversimplifying and Under-estimating the MCM Potential.
Don’t delegate MCM sizing to a junior person or intern, or think it’s just a big deal in a few markets.
The answer: Dig deep, understand and quantify the size and potential of each segment rigorously, the sub-segments within, roll-up by market and product, and reapply per initiative.
To build sustainable and profitable brand relationships, you must delineate an accurate ‘lay of the land’ view with the bandwidth of data, information, evidence and expertise to make the best and most judicious choices. Quantify the national impact by aggregating the target potential by market, by product, by store or zipcode. Figure out how to package meaningfully so it resonates within your organization. Establish the right metrics to identify the priority targets and roll out plans applying the proper analytics, research partners and tools like Simmons, Nielsen, TNS, Millard Brown and Horowitz.

3. Not Grasping the Ethnic Differences Related to Your Category.
They are likely not at the same point of category lifecycle or brand development, and culture lifestyle, demos and preferences impact their category behavior, needs and response.
The answer: Knowledge-based strategies require discipline to ensure all consumer factors weigh in. Identify the category differences that matter, and assess how far to drill-down efforts.
Some differences matter to drive sales, some don’t, but the assessment is necessary to answer that. Understand their differences in demos, family dynamics, culture, lifestyle, psychographics, product usage, preferences, and buying influencers which trigger perceptual and behavioral differences in how they define quality, value and loyalty; buy and use products, media and services; what motivates them and how they respond to marketing and ads. For example, in telecom, Hispanics are the heaviest mobile and data users, AA the highest TV entertainment and latest gadget users, while Asians skew broadband Internet – and this varies by market and sub-demos. Thus, address strategic, message and tactical implications for the common segment approach, and then pertinent sub-segment variances.

4. Inadequate Allocation Of MCM Company Resources.
Don’t say ‘This is all we have for Multicultural this year’ or allow territorial departmental silos to cause ineffective resource allocation to Multicultural marketing and hinder business growth.
The answer: Understand upfront the market in totality and by segment to objective budget allocation on segment revenue and upside, identify any programs/processes requiring recalibration, and address nuanced needs/opportunities across 360 strategies-tactics.
Inadequate pre-planning, lack of sound research, analysis or metrics, limited efforts, sub-standard concepts, and poor execution devalue the MCM potential. MCM should be an integral part of the top corporate strategies and planning process. There are likely disconnects in strategy, unidentified chances to leverage data, or missed opportunities from internal and external stakeholders. Within total resources, properly allocate MCM budgets by target share, revenue and potential, and weigh spend trade-offs across all the 5 P’s. Think about the money spent researching GM customers and identifying breakthrough product, insights or ads, while MCM cultural relevance, response, understanding or motivations dwarf in attention. The more this is done, the more impact ethnic marketing has in the mix. The best MCM marketers have recalibrated the organizational culture and programs where needed, and the way teams work so efforts are sustainable.

5. Executing short-term MCM Programs that Must Immediately Pay Out.
Multicultural efforts, generally added by switching dollars ‘from the GM’, are unrealistically expected to incrementally pay out in a limited time, with little costs for customer loyalty.
The answer: The right expectations and metrics, consistent marketing, engagement and two-way communication are all critical, and the base cost to maintain and grow customers.
There is a base cost for attracting, getting, growing and keeping Ethnic customers, and the MCM Program should not pay out solely on incremental sales. Short-term messaging and lack of customer engagement leads to poor brand perception, discounting, and churn. And don’t assume that brand affinity among AA will remain so without deep roots in their community; or brand familiarity in Mexico/LatAm will automatically transfer here without nurturing that relationship. A great example is Colgate-Palmolive left behind by P&G. Just like the GM, you need a consistent, integrated branding, retail, promotional and loyalty plan, a sound campaign across media and touch-points in the purchase path and customer lifecycle. Employ the proper research to ensure Ethnic segments are well defined and represented; and have realistic, measurable goals. We call this effective Transculturation, making your company Ethnic-relevant.

6. Not recruiting or Staffing Multicultural Marketing Appropriately.
Don’t have staff who happens to be ethnic lead Multicultural efforts, assume interspersing Multiculturals across departments is the holy grail, or recruit your housekeeper to evaluate work done by an experienced creative with a Masters.
The answer: Cultural leadership driven by a central group is foundational to success, layered with some cultural competency across all decision-makers, and an understanding of its importance across the organization. Effectiveness is not found in either extreme of silos or total market blending.
Assure Multicultural efforts are led by a multi-disciplined Ethnic marketing group with the depth of experience to guide strategies upfront at the high-level; have ongoing strategic oversight to feed into the brand as a whole; define where it makes sense to align or diverge; adeptly develop, execute and assess initiatives; assure ads are tested for validity; and be fully accountable for MCM performance. While also integrating Ethnic personnel across departments is beneficial, this alone fails as departmental management is still GM-driven, no one is accountable, and insufficient time is allocated to the ongoing depth of MCM segment knowledge and analysis required. While leaders like McDonalds entrench this philosophy with all marketing filtered by Multicultural leadership, I have also witnessed the loss of MCM accountability, dilution of efforts, and business erosion with various clients taken by the total market ‘efficiency’ model.

7. Consistently Opting For GM Translations, Benetton or Blended Casting.
Sometimes a concept or initiative transcends ethnicities, but consistently employing and force fitting a ‘universal’ approach is ineffective and dilutes all efforts and impact.
The answer: Leverage both universal commonalities and unique segment needs or opportunities. While always within a single brand platform, the target consumer should ground the segment efforts.
Seek synergies where it makes sense but don’t force-fit. It’s about transculturation, a relevant application of your brand essence to Multicultural segments, which usually results in a successful combination of three approaches – universal, parallel or unique. The ‘universal’ approach is a program, message or execution that works equally well across all segments (with minor tweaks); the ‘parallel’ approach makes strategic sense for all segments but may vary in product, message, nuances or casting; and the ‘unique’ approach is an initiative, promotion, channel or strategy necessary or opportunistic for one single segment, which may or may not cross-over to others.

8. Mistaking Language for Culture And Not Knowing the Difference.
There are the ‘fixers’ who use in-language as the solution to effective MCM marketing; the ‘uninformed’ who minimize the impact of cultural relevance regardless of language; and the ‘blinders’ who do not see the importance of either culture or language.
The answer: The currency of culture is how and where Multiculturals spend their time and money, the basis of effective marketing, with both native and English efforts key to maximize reach and impact.
Multiculturals, while integrated strongly or somewhat into the dominant culture, are set apart from others by their roots, context and idioms language abilities because they have access to a unique world of culture, people, way of relating, values, passions, content, music, food, sports experiences and media, and that they desire to maintain. There are three types of marketers that miss the mark. The most common are the ‘fixers’ who rely only on in-language efforts to define Hispanic or Asian efforts, but as most Multiculturals are bilingual/bicultural, they transition seamlessly in between, thus both in-language and English-targeted ads are important. The ‘uninformed’ misguidedly believe their GM spots work equally well, and while at times it does, it is not as effective as targeted efforts, as it’s foremost about cultural relevance, and staying culturally rooted is an inherent choice made by most African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics whether foreign or US-born. Lastly, I’ve had Client ‘blinders’ who say ‘Half of them see our English spots, so we are covered since they’re the ones with the money anyways.’ They don’t get that over 20% of Hispanics have income over $100k income and Asians the highest of all, so they can likely afford the product, and their connection to cultural content and in their native language remains strong because is the language of the heart, even among bilinguals.

9. Assuming You Know the Target, Stereotyping & Cultural Appropriation.
Making generalizations about Multicultural consumers results in superficial or ineffective work, missed opportunities, negative stereotyping, and at worst, inadvertent racism and backlash.
The answer: A knowledge and demand based view and cultural lens and insight are key to a sound marketing strategy and ads. Assure you have the personnel, research, listening tools and hard data competency to know the difference, and avoid cultural appropriation.
We all know Hispanics are group-oriented, but showing a family with grandma in tow is not effective advertising – it’s how this collective lens affects their lifestyle, influencers and decisions. A Benetton Millennial cast piled into a car does not assure car buyers. Salsa is sold more than ketchup, but only 15% of buyers are Hispanic, and suburban White men consume 80% of urban AA hip-hop music. False assumptions and faux pas stem from ignorance, lack of perspective, and unvetted bad judgment. I almost choked when asked to translate Taco Bell’s ‘Run for the border’ for Hispanics. Another client wanted a ‘high level’ Asian campaign since ‘All Asians are smart’. Home Depot got ostracized for a tweet with African-American drummers and a Caucasian disguised as a gorilla, asking, ‘Which drummer is not like the others?’ Houston 1836 failed as the new MLS team name tied to its founding year, but also Texas winning independence from Mexico, offending its Mexican soccer fan base. Starbucks’ good intentions of engaging customers in race-related discussions was rejected by most ethnicities, and Kendal Jenner’s Pepsi ad showed just how bad it could get. And beware of poor GM translations, from the classic ‘Got Milk?’ campaign launched in Spanish as ‘Are you lactating?’; ‘Come alive with the Pepsi Generation’ translated in Chinese as ‘Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave’; to ‘Life Takes Visa’ translated in Spanish as ‘Life Drinks Visa’ which was confusing and culturally clueless. And be careful not to be seen as a quick fix, cliché or offensive when localizing regional text, radio or video. All of this counts as cultural appropriation, the ‘silent racism, disrespect, ignorance, tokenism, discrimination, pandering or cultural white-washing of marketing and advertising’ – which you must be aware of to avoid potentially catastrophic blunders.

10. Not Finding The Right Agency Partners.
Don’t settle for your GM agency hiring a few ‘ethnic experts’, just because Multicultural is now one of the few growth areas left, and also dominates youth, digital and social.
The answer: Hire the right ethnic agency with proven success, depth of knowledge and experts, which takes years to develop and effectively guide Clients strategies and profit.
Find the right ethnic agency that lives and breathes Multicultural. By definition, Multicultural experts have a uniquely broader perspective, as they have to be well versed in ‘GM/White’ consumers to lead the client and identify the commonalities and differences, whether in cultural cues, behavior, preferences, needs etc. Thus, are in the best position to feed the core MCM insights that will help fuel better ideas, opportunities and growth. Make them a part of the broader agency team that helps drive the company’s efforts. They are used to working collaboratively, have an engrained philosophy to work harder and smarter, and love challenging the status quo. Also, in shifting your GM strategy to be more culturally relevant, in addition to culturally focused efforts, there are several viable approaches. The ‘multi-agency reconciliation model’ has Ethnic agencies weigh in on overall marketing strategy and efforts (e.g., Wal-Mart); the ‘GM agency co-option model’ where they co-opt or buy-out a MCM agency, or create multicultural competency internally to better serve a Multicultural total market (e.g. Ogilvy); and the ‘Ethnic agency inversion model’ where Ethnic agencies go after the total market, competing on their deeper consumer knowledge. Bottom-line, hire a true MCM agency, and try a new one – like INFUSION by Castells.

About Liz Castells-Heard
CEO/Chief Strategy Officer of INFUSION by castells
Liz Castells-Heard is a ‘tell it like it is’ strategic thought leader and industry force with a Stanford MBA, finance and psychology training, 37 years of Multicultural, GM and Client experience with hundreds of brands, and unique brand of ‘brains, heart and grit’ with her analytical acumen, diverse skill-set, energetic style, solid values, and fearlessness.
Her agency, INFUSION by castells, is a leading national Multicultural agency providing Clients best-in-class marketing leadership and consistent results ‘no matter what’ by infusing strategic acumen, cultural insights and ROI-powered ideas. They create strategic brand and performance-driven creative with innovative 360° activation. The creators of Transculturation, they guide clients McDonald’s, Toyota and Charter Communications to profitably integrate Multicultural efforts across the P’s. The agency, founded in 1998 and formerly known as Castells & Asociados, is now minority and women-owned, expanded its Multicultural capabilities, and now has offices in both NY and LA.
Liz is regularly tapped industry source, speaker, and sits on the board of The LaGrant Foundation, which offers scholarships, internships and mentoring to Multicultural youth in pursuit of marketing/advertising careers. Education is her passion, which she calls the ‘equalizer’ to possibility. Liz is also a member of Easter Seals, AHAA/CMC, AMA, City of Hope, New America Alliance, SBSAA, Mentoring Partnership, Women In Management, and Who’s Who.
Fully bilingual and bicultural, Liz was born in Cuba, raised in Europe, Puerto Rico, and ten diverse U.S. cities. She lives with her husband Alan of 34 years in LA, has 7 godchildren, 2 German-Shepherds, a Chihuahua, and loud macaw (whose colorful personality matches hers).

Contact:
Liz Castells-Heard | CEO, Chief Strategy Officer | INFUSION by castells
liz@adcastells.com, Executive Asst.: carolina@adcastells.com
865 S. Figueroa St. Suite 1100, LA, CA 90017 | m: 213-305-4129 | p: 213.688.7217
122 East 42nd St. Suite 2305, NY, NY 10168 | p: 606.649.5600
www.adcastells.com

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An alumnus of the World Bank Institute, Washington D.C, Godwin holds a Masters degree in Operations Management from the University of West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom. His interests lie in operations and project management, risk management, business development, strategy and innovation. Godwin is a member of the Clinton Foundation 20/30, a global group of leaders in business, government, and civil society.
for more info, go to www.winfound.org

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