CMO Brad Audet shares Mazda Americas' 'radically human' approach to brand building

Transcript

00:00An AI feels like it's a tool that's looking for a strategy right now.

00:09But the reality is, I would argue, that brand and the strength of brand has never been more important than it is right now.

00:16Number one is because customers want reassurance and they want something that they can trust, and a brand can do that.

00:22The second thing is, is brands haven't yet, and probably won't for a while, figure out how to insert themselves into the AI narrative.

00:32And the way to do that is by having a very strong brand that creates decision bias,

00:37so that the customer believes in their heart that the brand is best for them, despite what the AI may say to them.

00:46So I think what you're going to see is more conversation.

00:49Certainly, we're seeing some of that this week about the importance of brand.

00:53One of the things I love about Mazda is one of our core values is being radically human.

00:59And that's really about putting the customer, about putting people at the center of everything we do.

01:05Whether it's customers or any stakeholders, we really try to take a human-first approach to the way that we do things.

01:12And I think in this unsettled environment, this actually gives us the opportunity to have a little bit of a competitive advantage.

01:19Because people want to feel connected right now.

01:22People want to have relationships.

01:24And I think there's great opportunities for business and brands to create those kinds of connections with customers.

01:30Well, I think CMOs are grappling with a lot of things right now.

01:33I mean, I would say that we're all collectively navigating a decade of disruption,

01:37starting with what happened with COVID.

01:39And now all of the economic tensions, tariffs, geopolitical situations that we're dealing with.

01:46And on one hand, you know, companies are looking to drive more effectiveness.

01:50And that's where the promise of AI and things like that come to bear.

01:53And then on the other hand, I think CMOs are facing a lot of financial pressures, a lot of cost constraints.

01:59And unfortunately, I think the customer gets stuck in the middle.

02:02And right now, I would argue that CMOs' responsibility is to figure out what their value proposition is to their customer

02:10and provide that reassurance to those customers.

02:14And that's where the pandemic does.

02:14And that's where it goes.

02:14And that's where there is.

02:16So that's where and that's where the pandemic happens.

02:17I think the