The Follow (podcast)
Like many agencies during the pandemic, Sanders\Wingo – the ad agency where I worked as a strategist – saw a reduction in client budgets. This left us with fewer opportunities to show our skills creating marketing campaigns – and creating campaigns is one of the main ways agencies create value to help existing clients and attract new ones.
That’s why the agency’s executive creative director (Dana Satterwhite) and I thought of creating a podcast. Without marketing campaigns, it was the perfect way to create value for our clients while also accentuating the agency’s “unfair advantage”: which was our company’s ethnic and gender diversity. It’s because of this diversity that the agency was often asked by clients to share insights about BIPOC culture, and to create brand communication that spoke to people from different backgrounds.
So we leaned into this advantage and created a podcast called The Follow, where we spotlighted up-and-coming BIPOC creators, movement makers, and thought leaders, who we followed. Many brand marketers have a hard time keeping up with BIPOC innovators, so that’s why we brought the innovators to the show. Our goal? To make the agency’s clients smarter about BIPOC culture.
But beyond that, the podcast helped the agency keep our finger on the pulse of various groups and subcultures. And for the innovators, it helped them expose their work and brilliance to a new audience.
Drawing on my previous podcast experience, I led the cross-functional team of 5 people in the development and production of the show – and I hosted on occasion as well.
The impact? Our efforts opened up potenital opportunities to create podcasts with other clients, while also helping us to show our multicultural clout in new business pitches.
Check out show teasers, episodes, and other content below – or learn more on the website: https://www.thefollowpodcast.com/
Show teasers and content
Episodes
The Follow – “Understanding Communities Through Tacos with Mando Rayo”
In this episode, we speak to Mando Rayo, a Texas-based digital storyteller, entrepreneur, and self-proclaimed taco journalist who produces content that strives to paint an inclusive, accurate portrait of America. His latest work is the Laredo Taco Company’s “Made Right Here” Road Trip as he explores his favorite tacos in some of the most iconic cities in the Lone Star State. We discuss how Mando’s Latinx heritage informs his work, how tacos can help us understand different communities, and how one of the organizations he co-founded helps to create racially diverse nonprofit boards.
The Follow – “Changing Perceptions About Afghanistan with Mina Sharif”
In this episode, we speak with media consultant Mina Sharif, an incredibly accomplished yet twice-displaced citizen of Afghanistan. When she was less than a year old, her family was forced to flee and eventually immigrated to Canada, where she was raised. In early 2005, she traveled back to Afghanistan and volunteered with women-managed radio stations across the country. In this conversation, Mina discusses reconnecting with her Afghan heritage, combating the misconceptions surrounding Afghan culture, hearing about Afghanistan from Afghan voices, and so much more.
The Follow – “Using Images to Lift Black Voices with Anthony Geathers”
Brooklyn-born and raised photographer and activist Anthony Geathers speaks candidly about his upbringing, his time in the military, and his role as artist and voice within the Black community. He talks about what it’s like to shoot everything from politics to professional sports and how his background in the Marines prepared him to successfully transition from one battlefield to another.
The Follow – “Breaking Barriers on The Slopes with Dr. Regina Martinez”
In this episode, we speak to Regina Martinez, a medical doctor and an athlete on the Mexican Nordic Ski Team. Originally from Mexico City, she is on a mission to be the first Mexican woman to represent her country in cross country skiing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. In February 2021, she qualified for the FIS World Ski Championships in Germany, and became the first Mexican woman in history to participate in a cross country ski race at that level. In our conversation, she talks about the challenges that come with breaking into a winter sport when you’re from a country like Mexico that doesn’t get much snow.
