Land O’Lakes’ Heather Malenshek on reshaping rural America’s story

Summary

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The Big Impression — “Land O’Lakes’ Heather Malenshek on Reshaping Rural America’s Story”

Podcast: The Big Impression
Hosts: Damian Fowler & Ilyse Liffreing
Guest: Heather Malenshek, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Land O’Lakes
Date: April 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode explores how Land O’Lakes, under the leadership of CMO Heather Malenshek, is driving a non-traditional, purpose-driven initiative—the Modern Rural Collective—to reshape stereotypes of rural America in culture and media. The discussion centers around the power of marketing to update and broaden the narrative about life and innovation in rural communities, emphasizing authentic representation over product promotion, and the challenges and opportunities of truly purpose-driven work.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Reshaping Rural Narratives Matters

• Disconnect Between Reality & Representation:
  Heather highlights striking gaps between the lived reality of rural America and its portrayal in culture and media.
  • “There’s a real disconnect between that lived reality in rural America and how it’s actually showing up in culture.” (01:14)
• Data-Driven Insights:
  Only 1% of the US population works in agriculture, yet rural counties cover 2/3 of the country; 87% of agricultural products come from family farms/ranches. Despite this, rural areas are largely underrepresented or depicted through tired clichés.
  • “Most people would think of rural America as an abandoned downtown or the red barn—somewhat over-romanticized. The reality we see every day… is very different: vibrant, entrepreneurial, full of innovation, and really essential to our country and our food system.” (01:39)

Origin and Aspiration of the Modern Rural Collective

• Inspired by Real-World Impact:
  Land O’Lakes’ involvement in broadband advocacy during COVID, led by CEO Beth Ford, galvanized Heather’s belief that marketing could spark similar change in perceptions.
  • The American Connection Project brought together 150 companies to bridge the digital divide—a “spark” for this newer narrative work. (03:01)
• Three Pillars for Change:
  1. Visual Narrative: Partnered with Getty Images to analyze and improve depictions of rural America in media. Only 5% of Getty’s visuals are rural, and stereotypes are prevalent.
  2. Challenging Stereotypes in Entertainment: Hollywood and advertisers often portray rural life in simplistic, one-dimensional ways. The goal is for characters to reflect real-life diversity and complexity—not just “abandoned” or “nostalgic” towns.
  3. Connecting Communities: The initiative isn’t about pitching rural against urban but building genuine understanding to connect Americans.

Examples of Representation—What Needed to Change

• Getty Imagery Findings:
  • Gen Z: In urban settings, young people are shown with tech, friends, and engaging activities. In rural settings, they appear isolated, with no tech—perpetuating “left behind” ideas.
  • Women: Rural women in images are rarely shown working, despite being the “backbone” of farm operations.
  • “A lot of groups are just not really represented well. And that’s one of the things we went out to try and change.” (08:19)
• Common Stereotypes:
  • “Junked out cars or trucks… frozen in time and nostalgia, or… left behind. We want to show… the innovation that’s happening in these communities as well.” (09:00)

Approach: Building Authentic Tools, Influencing at Scale

• Toolkit & Resources:
  After early interest at events like SXSW, Land O’Lakes focused on curating a rural America photo collection and practical tools for wider use, distributed through Getty Images and partners. (05:33–06:40)
• Measuring Success:
  • Uptake of these new authentic rural images by brands and creators.
  • Impact on entertainment: encouraging writers and producers to build richer, less stereotyped rural characters. (10:49)
• Collaboration as a Co-op:
  As a cooperative, Land O’Lakes believes convening broad partnerships (Getty Images, Imagine, UTA Heartland) creates far more impact than “owning” a single-thread narrative.
  • “We move faster, we gain trust, and we create way more impact than we would behind a one brand campaign.” (19:19-20:23)

Purpose-Driven Marketing: Challenges & Evolution

• Caution Against “Purpose Slap”:
  Brands often adopt shallow “purpose” statements that lack authentic connection to business or culture.
  • “It became a little bit like just a purpose slap—stick purpose on something they’re doing and hope it’s going to work… consumers are very good and very smart at seeing that kind of thing and will vote accordingly for your brand.” (17:06, 18:10, and 25:42)
• Long-Term, Not Performative:
  Brand purpose must be intrinsic and rooted in a business’s foundation—otherwise, it’s the first thing to get cut during tough times, and risks backlash or irrelevance.

Reflections from Heather's Career

• Harley-Davidson Example:
  At Harley, Heather worked to broaden representations of “bikers” in marketing, infusing authentic, diverse images (young riders, women, people of color) into mainstream channels. The approach closely mirrors her current work with Land O’Lakes. (12:59)
• Personal Passion:
  Heather’s rural Scottish upbringing seeded her drive to challenge negative stereotypes throughout her career.
  • “I also have a personal passion … for breaking stereotypes which tend to be pretty negative. And I want to make sure that people are represented in the right way and shown for the value that they bring.” (11:55)

Broader Impact & Advice to Brands

• Cultural Change Over Demographic Targeting:
  The goal is not about reaching “urban” or “rural” audiences or specific ages, but shifting societal perceptions and instilling pride in rural roots across communities. (14:33)
• Evidence of Early Impact:
  Demand for Land O’Lakes’ new imagery has exceeded Getty’s benchmarks. Change in entertainment will be a “long game,” as stories take years to materialize.
• Advice to Marketers:
  Start with authentic brand foundations, not fleeting trends.
  • “What’s your brand’s foundation? Not what feels of the moment or trendy, but what feels true to you.” (20:37)
• Other Brands Doing It Well:
  • Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, REI’s purpose-driven approach, and the American Connection Project are all cited as successful examples.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the dangers of inauthentic purpose:
  “It can get your brand canceled pretty fast… It can’t be performative. And I think that’s oftentimes when things fail.” (22:50)
• On new technology (“the two-letter thing” — AI):
  “I think we need to use them as an enabler and an assistant, but not to overtake everything that we’re doing. … It’s not going to replace humans at this point.” (23:27)
• If budget were no issue:
  Heather would invest in creating a film or TV series that authentically represents rural life. She lauds “Somebody Somewhere” as a rare, beautiful example of this. (24:35)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:30 — Introduction of the Modern Rural Collective
• 01:14 — Disconnect in rural representation and foundational stats
• 03:01 — Inspiration and leadership behind the initiative
• 05:33 — Early roadblocks and pivot to practical tools
• 06:40 – 09:00 — Visual stereotypes and real examples (Gen Z, women, innovation)
• 10:49 — Where new depictions will show up and how change is measured
• 11:55 — Heather’s background and motivation
• 12:59 — Harley-Davidson experience as precedent
• 14:33 — Target audiences & evolving goals
• 15:33 — Early evidence of progress
• 16:40 – 18:33 — The evolving landscape of purpose-driven marketing
• 19:19 — Collaboration versus ownership in culture shaping
• 20:37 — Advice to brands on authentic purpose
• 21:16 — Examples of other strong purpose-driven brands
• 22:50 — Dangers of performative purpose
• 23:27 — Thoughts on overhyped trends (AI)
• 24:35 — Dream campaign if budget wasn’t an issue

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• Authenticity, expertise, and humility are at the campaign’s core: Land O’Lakes’ approach is meant to convene, not control, the movement to reframe rural America.
• Last Word:
  “Purpose driven work has to be rooted in who you are as an organization. It can’t be contrived because consumers are very good and very smart at seeing that kind of thing. … Make sure that it’s an authentic thing and do the work to get there.” — Heather Malenshek (25:42)

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For listeners and marketers alike, this episode is a case study in how brands can thoughtfully champion cultural change—provided they stay grounded in purpose, collaboration, and a deep understanding of the communities they represent.

Transcript

[A]

I'm damian fowler.

[B]

And I'm ilyce loefring.

[A]

And welcome to the big impression.

[B]

This week we're joined by Heather Melanchek, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Land O Lakes.

[A]

The Farmer Owned Co Op is one of America's most recognizable food brands, best known for its dairy products, but rooted deeply in the communities it serves.

[B]

And Heather is behind something that doesn't look or behave like a traditional marketing campaign.

[A]

It's called a modern rural collective and it's aiming to reshape how rural America is seen, heard and understood. Not ads, not brand spots. Stories designed to challenge stereotypes and expand representation in mainstream culture.

[B]

It's less about marketing products and more about influencing perception.

[A]

And in a moment where purpose driven work has lost some momentum, we're excited to unpack what it takes to build a campaign that isn't centered on your brand.

[B]

I would love to start off with this idea because this is not a typical campaign. You're not selling a product here. You're trying to reshape how rural America shows up in culture. When did that click for you as a marketing opportunity?

[C]

We are one of the largest farmer owned cooperatives in the US and so we work really closely with farmers in rural communities where they live and work on a daily basis. So we really understand them on a pretty intimate level. And over time it became clear that there's a real disc connect between that lived reality in rural America and how it's actually showing up in culture. Some research that we had done in the past showed actually it's quite a startling statistic. There's actually only 1% of the US population that works in agriculture, but rural communities actually make up about 2/3 of all US counties. Another data point for you, 87% of our agricultural products are produced on family farms or ranches that are in those rural communities. So you would think with that level of importance that they would be better represented. Unfortunately though, most people would think of rural America as an abandoned downtown or the red barn somewhat over romanticized. The reality that we see every day because it is our business is very different. These rural communities are, they're vibrant, they're entrepreneurial, they're full of innovation, and really again, essential to our country and our food system. The mission and the intent behind this marketing is to reframe the narrative around farmers and rural America and remind everybody that this is often under recognized and underappreciated based on they help us feed the world.

[B]

Now, you described that like specific insight that made you think you actually needed to Intervene here. But. But why? I guess as a brand like Land O Lakes, what's the power, I guess you feel in the situation that you can actually make change?

[C]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's really. We're rooted in rural communities because our member owners are farmers and the people that live in these communities. I think the other thing that was apparent to me, I joined the company back in 2020, actually in the middle of COVID who can all remember that far back now. Before I joined the company, our CEO Beth Ford had that there were tens of millions of Americans who did not have access to high speed Internet in rural communities. And so she had helped convene, I think, called the American Connection Project, which some people may have heard of. And that was a coalition of about 150 companies and organizations that came together to advocate to close what we call the digital divide and help accelerate investment for broadband deployment in rural America. That leadership, her leadership and that real world impact is what really inspired me. And I thought, if we can do that, what can we do in the marketing space that can really create some meaningful change? And that was one of the sparks really that led to this. So as we thought about this work, we thought about three pillars where we could have impact in the narrative. So the visual narrative, most people will know Getty Images, massive stock, stock image repository, one of the number one for media to use and brands. We did some research for them. They have a proprietary tool called VisualGPS which really goes into their library to assess state of the state. What we found based on the research that they did, was only 5% of the visuals that they had in their entire repository that were set in rural places. Two thirds we know of rural Americans feel really misunderstood by advertisers. So the same imagery was coming up all the time and being used by media. And then on top of that, if you think about Hollywood and entertainment, about 2/3 of people who live in rural communities feel they're stereotyped, which is by Hollywood, which is a fair statement. So for us, that was really important for us to kick this initiative off and try and use, as I said, the power that marketing has to change the narrative around that shift perceptions, help build a common understanding and then hopefully connect communities across the country. Because this is really, it isn't about just elevating rural is like rural good and urban's bad. It's quite the opposite. It's actually just showing building that common understanding so we can connect communities across the country.

[A]

Yeah, I've got a couple of questions. First off, that very practical one. When did this launch? When did you roll out part one of this?

[C]

Yeah. So in earnest. We launched it in 2025. And I will say initially, when we thought about doing this, we thought about, who do we want to work with? And we had originally thought about, let's get a group of brands together to talk this through. And we had a lot of interest. So I spoke on stage at south by Southwest and some other CES and some other places. Tons of interest in getting engaged in this. We didn't have the practical tools at the time. So while a lot of people were very interested and interested in the research that we shared, we didn't have something for them to take and go act on. So we took a bit of a step back, I will say, and thought about if we really want to make an impact at scale, who are the people that we should be talking to and what are the segments we need to be talking to? And so that's where we had started to get engaged with Getty Images and realized that actually what we could do is put together some of the research, but also some pragmatic tools for people to think about how to represent rural America in a visual form. And could we curate a collection of rural American imagery that was more authentic that we could then put into Getty Images for everybody to use?

[A]

Could you give us a couple of examples about what this shift in, you know, imagery in aesthetic means in real terms? How are you thinking about that? Is it a case of documenting real voices and real faces at real communities? Or could you give us. Walk us through a couple of examples.

[C]

I'll tell you what was striking for me, especially in the work we did with Getty, was if we think about. We had done some research on Gen Z, specifically in rural Americas. This is a few years ago now, as we were trying to think through how we really understand what a vibrant rural community really should be. What was really interesting from the Getty Images work was how stark the contrast was between how Gen Z was shown in an urban environment and a rural environment. In rural environment, Gen Z is. Or in urban environment, should I say Gen Z is normally seen with technology. They're with friends, they're doing fun things that young people do in urban. In rural communities, Gen Z rarely shows up at all. And if they do, they tend to be on their own. There's no technology, they're with family versus friends, or they're in a field somewhere. So when you think about that, though, it really starts to perpetuate all of these stereotypes. About rural America. The reality is there are a lot of folks who are in that generation who want to stay in their hometown because they love being there, they want to be close to family. So they're developing businesses, they're driving things in the community. They're really innovating and providing, getting opportunities and building their own opportunities in there. So they're just really, truly misrepresented. And then the other one that was fascinating to me is most of the imagery on women was women who were apparently did not work in rural America. They're generally just hanging out with friends or laying on the couch. Scary to think about when actually, if you ask a lot of our member owners, women are at the backbone of the farm operation and they're running businesses and they're raising kids and they're doing all those things that people would do in any other community. So a lot of groups are just not really represented well. And that's one of the things we went out to try and change.

[A]

Could you give us a few examples of the kind of stereotypes you're talking about?

[C]

I think you either see junked out cars or trucks in somebody's field somewhere. That's just been the norm as people. And again, it's either frozen in time and nostalgia or it's somehow this sort of left behind of community that nobody should really give any thought to. So it's either a mix of the two. It's almost like two extremes and not really. And the other I would say is this work is not to romanticize or idealize. I think I may have said that before, but it's really just to show it how it is, which is very complex, very creative. We want to show the innovation. We want to show that if there's examples of innovation being used that can we not just go to the coasts, can we actually talk about some of the innovation that's happening in these communities as well?

[A]

Obviously I hear that you're from Scotland and I'm from the north of England. Do you think that the perception of rural versus urban, that stereotype persists in other cultures too, such as Britain and Scotland?

[C]

So I'll tell you a funny story. When I moved to the U.S. i've been here for 28 years now, and I was living in New York at the time. And we took a day trip out to the Hamptons and we were in this little shop in Sag harbor and I'll never forget this, and the lady behind the counter just kept staring at me as we were walking through the store. And I originally Thought I was like, she think I'm going to take something. Like she's really paying attention. And when I went to pay for the thing that I was buying at this at the counter, she said to me, where are you from? And I said, oh, I'm from Scotland. And she said, your English is really good.

[A]

Yeah, there you go.

[C]

Well, thank you.

[B]

Now, I'm curious about the channels that you think some of these, like new images or some of these new written pieces, maybe the audio pieces, where do you think those will eventually like seep into like everyday consumers lives?

[C]

Part of the way we're going to try and measure success here is the pickup of the tools and the use of the tools. We've had a lot of brands that have been downloading the toolkit and using the imagery and that's one of the things we're tracking, which I think is really important. So it could be in a host of different marketing channels as they're using those. And then in the film and entertainment space, we're not looking for people to necessarily cast people who are from rural communities in films and tv, but if you think about any shows that are being written or films that are being developed that at least they're written with a depth of character that actually truly represents what people are doing in rural America that are not, again, not idealizing or romanticizing it, but actually just showing it how it actually is. This will be something we're talking about for quite some time now.

[B]

I understand that your own background, like you've been doing this for a long time, like changing stereotypes and perspectives. Can you go into a little bit about how your past positions influenced even this land o Lakes work?

[C]

I actually grew up in a very small rural community in Scotland. So I've. That's my roots and my background and I'm forever grateful for that because I think I'm one of the fortunate people that was able to grow up in that kind of, that kind of environment. And so that's my grounding. And I think for my career, I've always worked with, for the most part, I've always worked with legacy brands, spent a lot of time with rural communities. And so I see this, I see the strong need here. And I also have a personal passion, to be honest with you, for breaking stereotypes which tend to be pretty negative. And I want to make sure that people are represented in the right way and shown for the value that they bring. So it's been a little bit of my passion throughout my career. And so this work is really, you know, I'm really privileged to be able to lead it. I have a great team behind me. So for me, it's really. It really started when I was a kid, I think, and it's something that I'm really proud to be able to do now.

[B]

Is there a campaign from your past background that you think most closely resembles this campaign?

[C]

Yeah, I think so. I was formerly the CMO at Harley Davidson, which was an amazing American iconic brand. And I think in that case the word biker used in the pejorative and generally pretty negative or very one dimensional view of what a biker was. And so some of the work I did at Harley was based on how do we bring new writers into the brand and think, particularly younger writers, and also have people see themselves in the brand. And if all in the media is a white haired man on a big motorcycle, if you're a young woman, you might not think of yourself in the brand. People loved it, by the way, and that's the core customer for us. So we needed to take care of that core customer. But how did we start to broaden the view of the community so we could invite more people and welcome more people into the brand? So we did some of that through visual imagery. So similar to what we're doing with Getty Images here, we're starting to pop those repositories with more authentic imagery of younger writers and African American writers and female writers and older adults and younger adults and just the whole diversity of the writing community so we could start to change that view. That was happening. And so we had some really good success with that.

[B]

That's wonderful. My stepdad thanks you.

[A]

One of the things that I'm curious about is how the campaign was designed. Whether the campaign was designed to reach a specific audience, such as urban versus rural. Is that. Is that something that factored into this

[B]

or age for that matter?

[C]

Yeah, yeah. And I think it's one of the reasons we've chosen the partners that we have initially is that we can't reach on our own. We can't reach broad audience. So we wanted to bring in people who could expand the audience for us. So I don't think we ever thought about it as a specific age. I think initially I would say we were thinking more of people who live in urban centers who have not had a rural experience. But as we've developed this work and developed these tools, I hear so many good things from people who are living in rural communities who are starting to feel a sense of pride from being in these rural communities that we're Starting to show rural as an aspiration. And so I think we've had brands come to us and say, I need to reach people in rural communities. And some of this work you're doing is really going to help me do that. So I don't think we've gone in with a specific segment in mind as how do we create cultural change with the largest scale that we can and how do we bring in partners that can help us do that?

[A]

What's the evidence now, like online, across media that it's showing up that it's changing already?

[C]

I think it's still a little early. I would say the work we did with Imagine is very new. The work we've done with Getty in terms of like how many people are downloading and everything, we've blown through all of Getty's benchmarks on that. So I'm hopeful that this year we're going to start to see a real impact and a real shift. But I do think it's going to take a minute as we get people starting to get out with campaigns or media that are doing stories around this that they're starting to use that imagery. But we're watching that closely. And then with the film and TV side of things, again, long game because shows that are in development or we're having conversations as early as we're thinking of potentially doing something that's based in a rural community. We haven't written anything yet. What do you think? And so everything from that to some folks who do have things that are a little bit further along, so screenwriters that have stories that are actually already written that they're thinking through, how do we refine or shift or tweaks, what we're doing today? A little bit of everything. I think right now.

[B]

Now I want to take a moment and kind of step back and look at the bigger picture and what kind of this means for marketing. So Land O' Lakes positions itself as a culture shaping brand, especially with this campaign. Yet really since COVID purpose driven marketing has somewhat cooled. What changed in this area and is this a comeback? Is a comeback likely? Do you think it has cooled?

[C]

Yeah, I do think we're really good at running for shiny objects. Right. So we went from brand marketing to performance marketing and everything had to be performance marketing and we lost sight of brand. So we're really good at swinging the pendulum really far. I think on the purpose side, I think a lot of brands ran into that really quickly without really doing the deep work that really takes to understand who you are as an organization and what your reason is for existing. Then it became a little bit like a just a purpose slap. So they just stick purpose on something they're doing and hope it's going to work. And I, and I think the other piece of it, to be honest with you, is because brand purpose work does take a bit longer if it's not clearly connected to value and times gets tough, that's the first thing it gets cut. So I don't, I don't actually think purpose is going away. I think it's maturing. I think we have a responsibility as marketers to do more than just sell stuff. That's my perspective. And I think the next era of purpose driven marketing is going to be, I'm hoping on bridging some of these real cultural gaps that we have or challenges that we have that directly affect stakeholders. That's where I see the opportunity. But that purpose driven work has to be rooted in who you are as an organization. It can't be contrived. It can't be contrived because consumers are very good and very smart at seeing that kind of thing and they will, they will vote accordingly for your brand. So really need to make sure that it's an authentic thing and do the work to get there.

[B]

Land O Lakes is a co op.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

And so you're bringing in others instead of owning it outright. Pretty much. Do you think more brands should adopt the strategy? Of course. The idea of purpose driven brands speaking together to create scale obviously has a lot of sway, I'm sure.

[C]

Yeah. For us, for sure. As a cooperative, I think our. We have a lot of influence. We've built that over the years. But I think when you're looking at something like culture change, it doesn't happen. Rarely happens. If one brand just decides that this is what's. What it's going to be. Excuse me, and own an issue. I think it happens when you convene people who come together, organizations or industries or disciplines who have the power to shape culture and reach a wide range of audiences, which is what we've done with the collective. So this was very important for us to bring in people who had the right kind of mindset that shared the same vision that we did. And in cases like with Getty and with Imagine, they are connected to this mission wholeheartedly and that's been really important as we've had these conversations. We're also working with Utah Heartland. So UTA is big organization in Heartland, based in Nashville, run by a gentleman called Nick Barnes. And they are focused on country, faith based music, and they're working with talent that is very connected into rural communities. So we're working with them right now too. So I think, I think we have to. As brands, we need to ask ourselves where we have the credibility and the ability to convene other people or the right people to come into the conversation. We move faster. If we go from what I would say is ownership to collaboration, we move faster, we gain trust, and we create way more impact than we would behind a one brand campaign.

[A]

If a brand is listening to this podcast, though, and they're looking for a way to intersect, as it were, with the culture, do something purpose driven, how should they think about the right story that fits their brand?

[C]

I think it goes back again. If you think about what is your reason for being and start there. What's your brand's foundation? Not what feels like of this moment or what feels trendy, but what feels true to you. I mean, our business is rooted in these rural communities, so it makes all sense in the world for us to be doing this. But I think everything really starts with ensuring that you're really clear on who you are as an organization and then why you should go after some of these things. And I think if you don't do that, you're in danger of feeling contrived and inauthentic.

[A]

Are there other brands that you think are doing a great job when it comes to this kind of purpose driven marketing?

[C]

If I think of a couple of examples, I think Dove's Real Beauty, I think that campaign's been going on for 20 years now. Yeah, that to me was just a tremendous example of real purpose driven work based in the foundation of their brand. And I think it's had a major impact on the category as a whole and beyond, I think so. I think Dove did a really good job of that. If I think about another co op, REI would be one, I think they've done a, also done a great job of aligning their purpose with their business model, not just their messaging. So they're bringing that power cooperative to life, which I think is great. But I'd also like to circle back for us. As I said, the inspiration for me was our CEO Beth Ford, and the work that she led with the American Connection Project. She's a force of nature, so when something is impacting something she really cares about, she will go after it in whatever way possible. And this American Connection Project had a tremendous power to get Internet into these rural communities where, if you think about during COVID where we were all on zoom or you could get on a telehealth call with your doctor so you had access to everything. Kids in rural communities were driving to a, getting driven to a Walmart parking lot to do their homework. It just was not the same across the entire country. So she felt very passionate about that and made something happen. So I think it's, I think we are a good example of how we've tied being a cooperative, bringing people in and convening other people and serving the communities that we live and operate in.

[B]

I think we'd agree with that.

[A]

Yeah, totally.

[B]

What is one thing in marketing that sounds good on paper but just isn't delivering in reality?

[C]

Probably go back to the purpose thing in some ways. Right. I do see a lot of this where I think people come up with a purpose and then they sort of slap it onto a campaign or a product and hope that that's going to work. And I think again, consumers are very savvy these days and they're very quick to act if they don't think that this is something that's really authentically or authentic to your brand. So it's, it's, it can get your brand canceled pretty fast. And I think, Damien, you said it too. I think it has to be foundational. It can't be performative. And I think that's oftentimes when, when things fail.

[A]

What's a trend people are talking about maybe now that you think is overhyped?

[C]

I think we've gone through this entire interview and haven't talked about the two letter thing everybody's talking about. Right. I think again, it goes back to the shiny object thing. I'm always a little bit of the, and I am very excited about that two letter word by the way. I think there's tons of opportunity with that disruptive for our industry and our craft. But again, in a good way. I think we just have to rethink how we're training marketers and things today. But I just think we're really good at swinging that pendulum so far one way or the other that we waste a lot of time in that. And I think the tools that we're going to have are mattering, will matter, but I don't think they replace the human entirely and I don't think they replace that clarity of purpose or really compelling storytelling. So I think we need to use them as an enabler and an assistant, but not to overtake everything that we're doing. So that's, that's having a lot of people send notes to me about how could I be so silly? But I think it's an assistant or an enabler, but it's not going to replace humans at this point.

[B]

Last one, and this is a fun one. If budget wasn't a constraint, what's one campaign you would greenlight tomorrow?

[C]

Ooh. I think selfishly, I would say based on having some amazing conversations with people who are filmmakers and producing television series, I would love to put the tools that we have to work and invest in film or television series of some kind that would use those to try and bring it to life, to showcase people what can happen, by the way, out there today. Of shows that have done, I think, a beautiful job of telling the story of rural life, and one actually we mentioned in the Imagine Playbook is somebody somewhere. I don't know if you've seen that show, but Jeff Hiller, who was one of the lead actors, won an Emmy for his performance. And it's based on a woman who goes back to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas, and tries to reassimilate herself and find her community there. And it's just a beautiful. It's a beautiful piece of work and I think we need more like that. So if I had unlimited money, I would probably try and go out and create our own.

[A]

And that's it for this edition of the Big Impression.

[B]

This show is produced by Molten Heart. Our theme is by Love and Caliber, and our associate producer is Sydney Cairns.

[C]

And remember, purpose driven work has to be rooted in who you are as an organization. It can't be contrived. It can't be. It can't be contrived because consumers are very good and very smart at seeing that kind of thing and they will. They will vote accordingly for your brand. So really need to make sure that it's an authentic thing and do the work to get there.

[A]

I'm Damian and I'm a. And we'll see you next time.