Lili Gil Valletta on embedding empathy and inclusion into marketing

Ad Age is marking Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 with our Honoring Creative Excellence package, in which members of the Hispanic community revisit some of their favorite creative projects. (Read the introduction here.) Today, guest editor Marissa Solis turns the spotlight to Lili Gil Valletta, CEO and co-founder, Culture+ Group / CIEN+, who writes about embedding empathy and inclusion into marketing. As marketers and business strategists, we’re often guided by the brief—but what if we could achieve the brief’s objectives by transforming our brands into forces for good in both society and business? It’s not only possible but essential, and it requires a shift in mindset—one infused with human curiosity, anthropology and cultural intelligence, enabling us to decode people’s motivations and needs as humans, not just as shoppers or customers. Ironically, conventional corporate thinking often keeps corporate social responsibility (CSR) and commercial efforts in separate lanes. This separation limits a brand’s potential to stand out, not merely due to product features, good pricing or creative ads, but because it genuinely means something more to people—a quality that unlocks purposeful profits. This belief led me to transition from my beloved role at Johnson & Johnson to become a business evangelist and founder of Culture+ Group, a fully minority-owned family of Cultural Intelligence companies. Why? Because today’s consumers demand alignment between their values and the brands they support. When 82% of shoppers express this desire, it’s time to integrate the social science of marketing with the understanding of people’s hearts. This is why I introduced the “marketing macarena,” a three-step move that stresses the importance of reaching the heart before the mind and the wallet. You can witness this approach in action in my TEDx Talk, “Diversity is Overrated: Why Leaders Need Cultural Intelligence,” which invites us to embed empathy and inclusion into daily business decisions. When asked to share personal experiences of resonant and inclusive creative, I wanted to spotlight instances across different categories, revealing how we ventured beyond the brief to tap into purpose, addressing the heart, mind and wallet: Genentech’s love letters—including one to my mom (R.I.P.) The challenge: Increase breast cancer screening among women of color, who face higher death rates due to late diagnosis and lack of screening. This hit close to home because I lost my mom to breast cancer. What if I had written her a love letter to motivate her to act sooner? Instead of typical pharma marketing where we tell numbers and claims, we created a movement of love letters written by the community, featuring real women, including my mom. Deep cultural insights and the voices of loved ones drove the message, not the brand itself. The results, as a collaboration between CIEN+ and Harrison and Star, were outstanding and award-winning, saving lives through a heartfelt movement. Kashi: get back to your raíces (roots) The task: Drive sales for a product with low brand awareness among Hispanics, in a saturated category with a fragmented retail presence in the Northeast. Kashi, with its commitment to nourishing people and the planet, needed to resonate with Puerto Rican Latinos. We intertwined the brand’s promise with the purpose and heart of Latinos—to honor and nourish their roots. Nutre tus Raíces (Nourish Your Roots) was born, emphasizing doing good while eating well. The result: a 1-to-5 ROI and double-digit sales growth. This campaign gave back to and protected the land our people love: Puerto Rico. These examples illustrate how understanding purpose and culture can unlock business growth and profitability. It’s not just about doing cause marketing for social impact but marketing with a cause to impact business growth and profits too. As marketers, let’s harness the power of purpose to create a better world and grow our businesses in the process. It’s time to integrate purpose into every facet of our work—from strategy to execution—and watch purposeful profits flourish. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Lili Gil Valletta on embedding empathy and inclusion into marketing

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