IAM1782 – Founder and CEO Passionate About Inclusiveness of Minority Audiences in Brand’s Marketing Strategy

Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:

In this episode of the I AM CEO Podcast, host Gresham Harkless Jr. interviews Roy Broderick Jr., the founder, and CEO of The Intuition Consulting Firm. Roy is a marketing expert with an extensive background in the entertainment industry, having worked for companies like MTV Networks, VH1 Networks, and Turner Entertainment Networks. In 2016, he launched The Intuition Consulting Firm, a marketing agency that focuses on positioning LGBTQ and multicultural audiences as an integral component of a brand's marketing strategy.

Throughout the episode, Roy shares valuable insights on marketing and inclusivity, emphasizing the importance of creating authentic connections with diverse audiences. He also discusses the need for brands to avoid tone-deaf marketing and to align with the spending power of emerging minority audiences.

In addition to sharing his expertise, Roy offers practical tips and advice for entrepreneurs and business leaders. He recommends the book “Exponential Living” as a helpful resource for personal and professional growth, and encourages listeners to slow down and focus on seeing themselves in the work they do.

Overall, the episode provides valuable insights and advice for anyone looking to improve their marketing and inclusivity efforts, particularly in the realm of multicultural and LGBTQ audiences.

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Transcription:

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Roy Broderick, Jr. 00:00

We're very agile. We do not believe that the client always has more money, but we are really driven by strategy and inspired by culture. So I say that to everyone because when we really think about our clients, we don't really refer to them as clients. We refer to them as partners because we really care about them as the individual, but then also their businesses.

Because we really wanna make sure that they feel the movement and they are in the actual work.

Intro 00:27

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you are in search of.

This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:52

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, you know that we hit over 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year. We're doing something a little bit different where we are repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories, topics or as I like to call them, the business pillars that we think are gonna be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, and what I like to call CB Nation architects who are looking to level up their organizations.

This month we are focused on the visibility game, a.k.a. marketing, advertising, PR, and sales. I often say the name of the game is being found, and these tools will help you to do that. We have heard the philosophical question if the tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound? If there's a really, really great product or service and no one knows about it, how great is it really? What impact does it ultimately make? This is where we will go into this month looking at visibility, branding, marketing, public relations, sales being the lifeblood of businesses, building, meeting companies, and so much more.

This is probably one of the most exciting and probably the most excruciating topics, but we hope this month to demystify or maybe even vanquish the fear and help and arm you with the tools to be able to increase your visibility. So buckle up and sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today, Roy Broderick, Jr. of the Intuition Consulting firm.

Roy, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Roy Broderick, Jr. 02:21

Thank you. Glad to be here.

Gresham Harkless 02:23

No problem. Super excited to have you on. What I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Roy so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

Some people know marketing and some people are marketing. Founder and CEO Roy Broderick Jr. is marketing. From starting strong early in his career with a post at MTV Networks, VH1 Networks, and Turner Entertainment Networks to leading strategic campaign development and execution on the agency side of the businesses for Columbia pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Screen Gems and Tyler Perry Studios, Roy's industry savvy, astute business acumen and powerful Rolodex are the fruition of a five-star foundation in the game.

In 2016, Roy launched the Intuition Consulting Firm, a marketing agency designed to blend his two passions, positioning LGBTQ and multicultural audiences as an integral component of brands' marketing strategy and curating go-to marketing plans that create authentic connection to both audiences.

Since launching Intuition, Roy travels the country sharing thought leadership on avoiding tone deaf, multicultural marketing, and the business impact awaiting brands that choose to align with the spending power of this emerging audience.

Roy, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Roy Broderick, Jr. 03:37

Yeah, I'm ready.

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Gresham Harkless 03:38

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Roy Broderick, Jr. 03:45

Sure. So, kudos to my publicist and that bio, because when people have to read it, I'm always like laughing cause I'm like so many tongue twisters in there. My story is really, entrepreneurship was not in my path. I went to University of Florida and got my undergrad degree there in marketing communications and really started out on a voyage in entertainment marketing.

After several years working at various studios and various things, I started to work at a marketing agency and really grew their business and had a great team. One day I got in a conversation with the founder of the organization and he really just admitted to me that, I see we're making money, but I'm not really understanding what I'm really doing. I started to really realize that I was helping someone else build their dream. Adding a piece to the pie that he didn't necessarily see as a requirement.

So I was like, okay, I'm out of here. I'm gonna go back to the corporate side and took a job at Allstate Insurance as a marketing director and was miserable. Something just kept pulling at me. I was like, I'm not doing what my passion is. About 90 days later I turned around and founded Intuition and really a lot of what we focus on is telling the stories of underrepresented individuals and community segments and really trying to make sure that brands understand the pure genius of multicultural individuals.

Gresham Harkless 05:12

Could you touch a little bit more upon like how you do that and what exactly you do?

Roy Broderick, Jr. 05:16

Sure. So we're an agency that's built and founded in strategy. So for us, strategies are a requirement no matter what the project is. So we have two sides of the company. One side works with corporations like AT&T, Coca-Cola, the United Way, the National Museum of African-American Music, and on how do they continue to have an authentic connection with African-Americans or LGBTQ consumers?

We also do some diversity and inclusion coaching with that. Diversity and multicultural is the new buzzword right now. So folks are really trying to figure it out, but they also are a little nervous because they're like, Hey if we make a wrong mistake, it can turn to PR Nightmare. So we are their partners in that movement and not only show them from insights and analytics what they should be doing, but really making sure that they stay authentic to their brand values when having those conversations with those consumer groups and really just meeting them where they are.

The other side of the business works with small to mid-sized businesses, and so startups that have funding or existing businesses that have been in business 5, 10, 20 years that are now like, look, I've been doing this, we've been doing pretty well, but I'm not scaling or I'm continuing to grow, but I haven't touched this logo since I founded the company or the organization. So we help them kind of refresh and relaunch their brand to make sure that it is visually appealing that they are having the right messaging and if they really are still putting those dollars that are so important into the marketing communications line item of a budget. Because that's how you grow and that's how you always point folks back to the amazing work or service or product that your company is providing.

Gresham Harkless 07:01

Absolutely. Being able to make that connection to communities that are underserved is definitely insanely important.

Roy Broderick, Jr. 07:07

Yes, I definitely agree. What we even see too is that sometimes folks think of diversity and inclusion just lives in HR right? It's an HR function. They look at it from a recruiting standpoint, but really it's something that should be cross-functionally done. We work with CMOs and CTOs and then even CEOs and CTOs on how their messaging and their even employee experience are layered throughout this lens. How are they speaking to the intersections of their employees, whether that's moms or veterans? Or even it being a black LGBT man, right? How are you really speaking to both of these identities? Are you making him comfortable to really show up and be authentic at work?

Secondly, are they able to see their selves matriculating through the organization? What does your board look like? What do your chairman look like? If multicultural individuals don't see themselves in leadership roles, then they will not stay because it starts to feel like it's unattainable. So really, we always say, we believe that we're the difference makers and we require that diversity of thought always be brought into conversations. But we also really do a lot of education on our end because we really believe that it is a mandate that they speak to these audiences because the world is forever changing and it is no longer just black and white.

It's time to make sure that we are really meeting each other where we are and really make sure that everything is really inclusive versus just, oh, we think we might have this, or we have this ERG group that's not enough. How are you speaking to it? Because the one thing is if you still get the purchasing dollar, especially African Americans, we over-index. We are the ones that spend the money, but we also check receipts. So if you all of a sudden are just jumping out here with an African-American woman that's a spokesperson like Naomi Campbell, and you're like, that's who we're gonna use, we'll say, no, you haven't done anything like that.

What are you doing in the community? How are you really tying this in all the things that we think about when we're making our purchasing decisions and really building brand equity.

Gresham Harkless 09:07

That's awesome. Now I wanted to ask for what I call your secret sauce. That's what you feel distinguishes you or your organization and sets you guys apart.

Roy Broderick, Jr. 09:14

I will say like we, the agency was built on doing agency differently, right? So we're very agile. We do not believe that the client always has more money, but we are really driven by strategy and inspired by culture. So I say that to everyone because when we really think about our clients, we don't really refer to them as clients. We refer to them as partners because we really care about them as individuals but then also their business, we really wanna make sure that they feel the movement and that they are in the actual work.

It is not about us just completing the service for you or getting this done or doing the work for you. It's about us partnering with you to make sure that authenticity is really happening. So, our company values are culture, community, and purpose. We look through that lens when anytime we're trying to decide who's a great client, who we should work with, but then also, if folks should work with us. We really look at that as an exchange of power and making those decisions. So I would say that's our secret sauce.

The only other thing I say is transparency, because we are 100% all the time transparent with clients and sometimes even more than a normal agency would because we actually put our client's needs before our agency's gain. I think that's what makes us different because we really like to have that connectedness to our work.

Gresham Harkless 10:33

Now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Roy Broderick, Jr. 10:43

So a book that has helped me along the way that I'm always peeking into is called Exponential Living, and is by Sherry Raleigh. And really the book talks about how you spend your time, but also really your mission driven and purpose and the things you do every day. There's this idea about protecting your peace and so this is something that we've read as an agency. Anytime we get a new employee, we give them a copy of this book, but it really has these great things that you do and makes you think about why you do what you do every day and keeping that at the forefront of your mind.

I know you probably haven't read it, but just to give you like a little bit of it, one of the first activities in her book is that you basically write your own obituary. So it really puts you in that mindset of having an authentic conversation with yourself about what is the legacy you wanna leave in the world. That was just super important for me as I started to really learn work-life balance all over again as a CEO. But then also really wanting to make sure that I had a team that was connected to really feeling the work that they're doing and really going against their passion versus just needing to make some money.

Gresham Harkless 11:52

Awesome. Awesome. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. This is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you could hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Roy Broderick, Jr. 12:01

Wow. So my golden nugget or CEO nugget would be, for all entrepreneurs and all business owners and even CEOs, make sure you see yourself in the work that you're doing. What that means is that doesn't mean your face has to be all over it, but really that is speaking to your core messaging, your core identity, and really who you are because that is what's gonna keep you moving forward. A lot of times when startups jump out here, they have a great idea. They say I want the logo to look like this and there's really not any insight or recognition of why their logo looks that way or what colors they chose. They don't look at the emotional guide.

So I always tell folks you wanna have those small reminders because that's a badge of honor, your brand, and you wanna have those small reminders in it so that when those days get tough, and those things happen, it can keep you going and remind you of the why, right? The why you started this, why you do what you do every day, and your true connectedness to your work every day. One thing I would tell my younger business self, I think I would tell my younger business self to slow down and know that perfection exists, but it's not required all the time. I was very, very, very nervous about growing the agency when I first got started. Because I had this perfect idea of what success looked like to me and really didn't think about all the agencies that I've worked at or the relationships that I have. These folks have been in the game 20, 30, 40 years.

A lot of times when you get to compare, you forget that you're probably looking at somebody that's been doing this way longer that you have. Put in the work and let the work speak for itself, but also understand that you're carving out your own path. So that would be my nugget.

Gresham Harkless 13:48

Now, I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote unquote, CEOs on this show.

So Roy, I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Roy Broderick, Jr. 13:59

So to me, being a CEO means that you are the official brand ambassador of the company. What that means is externally and internally, so that means externally folks see you. You are the walking billboard. When they think about the business, what it stands for, you should be aligned with that as well as the success or failure. You're inevitably aligned with that as well. Internally, I always say I'm the happy police, right? I wanna make sure my team is loving what they're doing every day, that we are making money, that we are following process and procedures and guidelines, but that I'm also allowing them to be their best selves every day.

So the accountability factor there of really saying, Hey, if you're in creative, I'm creative. You're the creative expert. I'm not gonna come in here and tell you and dictate how this needs to be done. We're just gonna really lean on you and your experience. So for me, that's what being a CEO means, being the happy police internally, and making sure you understand how all things are moving and hoping to make those strategic decisions.

But then also from an external standpoint, understanding that you're the walking brand for the company.

Gresham Harkless 15:07

Roy, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic just to see if there is anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then of course, how best they can get ahold of you.

Roy Broderick, Jr. 15:16

Sure. If you're trying to reach multicultural individuals, African-American, LGBTQ, Hispanic, any of those groups, please give us a shout.

You can reach us at team@intuitionatl.com and our telephone number is 404-487-9587 and you can find me on all social platforms, we're @IntuitionATL and so it's definitely a pleasure.

I appreciate you for taking the time to have us participate and we're really looking forward to help any CEO that needs any growth, any advice please always give me a shout.

Gresham Harkless 15:55

Absolutely. Definitely appreciate you for taking some time out today and also all the work that you're doing as well too. We'll make sure to have all those links in the show notes. I truly appreciate you and have a great rest of the day.

Outro 16:06

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Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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