Advancing Diversity Honors: Budweiser’s Ricardo Marques
Prior to his induction into the 2019 Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors on January 9 during the Consumer Electronics Show, Ricardo Marques, Group Vice President of Marketing for Budweiser, joined DK Bartley, Senior Vice President, Head of Diversity and Inclusion of Dentsu Aegis Network, to discuss Anheuser-Busch’s long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion. Marques emphasized the importance of building diverse teams. “It is critical for us, not only in the way we recruit and how we build our teams, but also in how we build our agency partners and the relationships that we build across a multitude of stakeholders,” he said.
Equally important, Marques stressed, is the connection diverse voices forge with the company’s consumer base. “We believe that it is the only effective way to make sure that our brand is keeping relevant, connecting with consumers and representing their point of view,” he explained. (Clickhere for Marques’ thoughts on the fundamental art of divising effective marketing today.)
Bartley and Marques discussed the dual benchmarks of success and the circular nature of how that affects Anheuser-Busch brands. (Learn more about that here.) “This has been a journey for us over the past many months and years, and I can tell you that it is impressive to see the engagement levels within our teams are up," Marques noted. "We have higher levels of satisfaction -- and, therefore, higher and more effective output from our teams.
“But it’s also incredible to see … from the data, brands connecting with consumers who many years ago did not feel represented necessarily [by] what we were putting out," he continued. "So, it is working on both ends. It's helping us to be more effective in connecting with those audiences -- with our drinkers. At the end of the day, that’s the reason why we're here and making sure that we attract talent and that we keep them engaged in our company.”
The Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors recognizes individuals, companies and organizations that have made consistent and successful commitments to advancing diversity and inclusion. 2019 Inductees included Kat Gordon, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The 3% Movement; Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, P&G; Ricardo Marques, Group Vice President of Marketing, Budweiser; Diego Scotti, Chief Marketing Officer, Verizon; Liliahn Majeed, Vice President - Diversity and Inclusion, NBA; Bob Liodice, Chief Executive Officer, Association of National Advertisers; Madonna Badger, Chief Creative Officer/Founder, Badger & Winters, and Alma Har'el, Filmmaker/Founder, #FreeTheBid.
Click below for additional videos from the 2019 Advancing Diversity Honors Hall of Induction Experience hosted by DK Bartley, SVP, Head of D&I, Dentsu Aegis Network:
- Jack Myers, Founder of MediaVillage and Advancing Diversity
- Christopher Hibma, Producing Director, Sundance Institute
- Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, P&G
- Kat Gordon, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The 3% Movement
- Diego Scotti, Chief Marketing Officer, Verizon
- Liliahn Majeed, Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion, NBA
- Bob Liodice, Chief Executive Officer, Association of National Advertisers
- Alma Har’el, Filmmaker/Founder, #FreeTheBid
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The opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author and/or subject(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet, Inc. management or associated writers.
Karla Chrzanowski
Karla Chrzanowski is the Executive Director of Jack Myers KnowledgeExchange, where she oversees development of the company’s core initiatives – AdvancingDiversity, 1stFive, WomenAdvancing, Legends & Leaders, The Future of Men and Jack Myers T…
