Jim Stengel's Reflection from a Trip to Cuba

0:00What if the smartest marketing play is not to move forward, but to zoom out? Deloite believes the most powerful move a CMO can make is to look beyond the next step and see the broader perspective. That's what the Deloitte CMO program is for, a place to gain fresh perspective and connect with leaders who've stood where you stand. Together, Deloitte will help you see the bigger picture so your next move isn't just fast, but right. Learn more about the CMO program at cmo.deloitte.com. Hi, I'm Jim Stengel, and I help major brands find their purpose and activate it, and the profits followed. For seven years, I was the global marketing officer for Procter & Gamble, where I oversaw the marketing of hundreds of brands.

0:41You may not know it, but the CMOs, the chief marketing officers of all of your favorite brands, are trying to connect you with your favorite products and services through purpose. And on this show, I delve into how they do it. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the CMO Podcast. We will be dropping a regular episode tomorrow, but today we have a special episode. I just returned from a 10-day trip to Cuba, so I thought it would be interesting to take a few minutes to talk about my reflections on the trip to Cuba, what I learned, and what are some things that I think are helpful for all of us to keep in mind.

1:16As always, when we travel, things come to us. We have reflection time. We're out of our comfort zone, and that certainly was my case in Cuba, and there are a few things I'd like to share with you today. And to do that, I'm going to invite my producer, Judy into the show, and she is going to lead the conversation today. So I'll be on the other side of the microphone being interviewed today on this special episode about Cuba and maybe some things that will be insightful for you as marketers. Hi, Judy. Hi. Thanks for having me on, Jim. Usually I'm in the background, but honestly, I'm as excited as I'm sure everyone listening at home is about your trip to Cuba.

1:55Kind of a magical, mystical place. But let's start at the beginning, sort of how did Cuba come to the top of the list? Well, it's always been a place I wanted to go to. My wife's sister was planning a trip. It was on their bucket list with she and her husband. So she contacted us. By the way, we traveled with them last summer in Croatia. And they said, hey, let's take another trip together. We enjoyed it so much. So they kind of led the way in organizing it, we were with a small group and we had a guide and we started in Havana and went all throughout the countryside, covered about half the island.

2:29And uncharacteristically for this season, it was rainy early in the trip, which by the way, made it kind of even more mystical. The clouds, the haze, Havana is a very beautiful, interesting, mysterious city. And to have it in the rain was kind of had its own beauty. Yeah, I was lucky you sent me some photos early on when you actually had cell phone service. And just I mean, I'm from Detroit. So I grew up with this idea of beautiful urban decay. And it seems like Cuba is like, just prime with that, which, you know, obviously is beautiful, but also other thoughts alongside that. You know, my daughter visited Detroit when my son and his wife moved there.

3:11She'd never been to Detroit. And she texted me after visiting for the first time and said, it is a unique city. I'm not sure what I would compare it to. And I kind of had the same feeling about Havana. I mean, I've described it to some friends. It's a bit of New Orleans. It's a bit of Barcelona. It's a bit of Detroit. And it's a bit of Berlin. Kind of a mashup of all of those in a serious decay, right? So there's beauty in that, but there's just not the resources right now to invest what they need to in that city to keep it as magnificent as it is. But still with all of that, the creativity in music, in arts, dancing, you feel that it's palpable in the city.

3:55And it's a very communal city. People are out in the streets. The front doors are open. You can't be on a block in Havana and not smell some food or coffee and hear some music. It's just impossible. And that's the absolute magic of it. I could have stayed in Nevada many, many more days and just wandered around, just wandered around. And those are the best things to do. On our last day there, we were wandering around and bumped into this unreal creative studio. and it was the work of this artist who has been living in this house for years and has gradually made it into the most remarkable studio.

4:34He sells his art. In fact, he even went on the block he lives and did a lot of art outside, carvings in the stone and graffiti. And it was such a cool space. And by the way, we hung out all day or we stayed there for a while. We bought a few pieces of art. Then we wandered around Havana, came back at night and the studio was still open. and they were doing tango lessons in the studio. So that says it all about Havana. I mean, I think that's sort of the note is Cuba and Havana is about the people, right? Because the people are the ones that had to endure and figure out how to build a life in the world that they live in.

5:13I mean, like you obviously interacted with a lot of people. What was like your emotions meeting these people and interacting with them? You know, a daily life is not easy in Cuba, right? Power outages, blackouts are common. Access to medicines, food, water is inconsistent. Difficult to get fuel for your scooter, your truck, your car, whatever you might have. I mean, not that many people own cars. So there's a lot of resourcefulness that families go through just to get through daily life by getting solar panels, finding ways to hook those up. So they are creative and resourceful in daily things, which I think strikes you.

5:54but the sweetness of the people, the kindness, the friendliness. We stayed in guest houses the whole week. So we were staying with families. They were just very helpful, very informative. Everyone wants to talk about the country and the history and remind me, I should tell you what our guide said about Cuba. He said, there's five things that you need to know about Cuba and that's kind of it, but we'll talk about that in a minute. But the people are just lovely everywhere we went. And, you know, you just wonder if daily life wasn't so hard, what other things could these people be doing? I mean, I think there's also something interesting in the art that's created in the pressures, right?

6:30You look at art in the evolution of sort of society in different places, and they might almost create beautiful art because it's like one of their few outlooks and freedoms that they have. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And then the other thing about the people is there are a lot they're leaving. sadly. They're emigrating. A lot of the young, educated, ambitious ones there. And I don't think you see all of that in the official numbers of population, at least what our guide told us. And they're going to Mexico, they're going to Spain, they're going to Canada, some go to the US because they just want to make life better for their families.

7:06I mean, it's such a basic human insight. And I think whatever your government structure is, whatever kind of situation you're living in anywhere in the world. And certainly I learned this when I was at PNG, you know, if you're a parent or not, you just want to make things better, easier, happier for your loved ones, your family, your partner, whatever. And that's certainly true in Cuba. And for many young people, they just don't feel they'll be able to do that for their families. So many are emigrating. Obviously, they send money back. They travel back. But to me, for the future of Cuba, if I could wave a wand, it would be how do you figure out a way to restore the faith and the confidence and the optimism that the country can become better in a place where they can all thrive.

7:59And in an interesting way, I think Fidel and Che and the whole team that led the revolution in 59 did that. And they had a couple big early wins like healthcare, education, but it hasn't evolved the way it needs to. And whether you're a company or you're the government, you got to evolve. You got to change. You got to shift. You have to pivot or you're going to be irrelevant. And so I just don't think that's happened enough in Cuba. I mean, Fidel is still a hero. Che is a hero. They're loved, but there's still pretty big dissatisfaction with how everything has evolved over the decades. And obviously the U.S.

8:36blockade is part of that, but it's not all of it. Yeah, for certain. To be so close and yet so far away from, it's fascinating. I think that's why it is on the bucket list for many people because it's, you talked about sort of being uncomfortable when you travel. Because uncomfortable makes you think, it makes you reflect on who you are and how you live your life. But let's go back to what your guide said. What are the five things to understand Cuba? Well, I think there's a lot of stuff behind each one of these. Obviously, they're not going to surprise many people if they know a bit about Cuba.

9:07But I mean, the first is rum, right? It is the drink of the country. We did a tour of a rum factory. But it's the whole history of the island. I mean, they were the largest producer of sugar cane in the world. And rum is all tied up in the history of the island, which has its dark side, right? It was a major, major hub of slavery. But rum is absolutely... The daiquiri was invented there, mojito. So rum is very, very much a part of the history and character of the country. Cigars, of course, they grow tobacco and it's artisan, right? And again, we visited a small farm where they grew their own tobacco, made their own cigars.

9:49We were there. We witnessed it. We saw them rolling them. We tried various kinds and it's a great source of pride. It's part of their social structure. You know, they have a cigar and have a rum, have a cigar, have a coffee, chat. So cigars, rum, salsa dancing, right? It's just everywhere. Everyone knows. Everyone learns. Again, the music, the movement, very, very much a part of the culture, the history. And then the fourth one, probably not a surprise either. They love making fun of their own government and the U.S. government. That is what their jokes are about. That's what they chat about. And then the last one, it's a country of lots of flirtation.

10:28right it's you see it you see it when you're out in the towns and the streets and so so all of that is just lovely and wonderful and positive and it's a very clear image and to understand what's behind those is to understand the country and the culture and the people and and that's why it's you know it is a lovely lovely island a lovely lovely people and you just want them to have it easier so they can realize their dreams and live their ambitions. Yeah. It's also, for me, fascinating to see the way we obviously live a privileged life here in America. And to see people still finding love and having a good, you know, finding fun in their life, I think it's important to show that maybe when times are dark, that there is hope out there that we can make it through.

11:18and I feel like from what you say, the people of Cuba are very much showcasing that. Yeah, and you know, we were, as I said, we were in smaller towns and villages outside Havana in the countryside and to walk around, one thing that's right, I mean, you're not seeing ads. No marketing there. No, there's no marketing. There's no billboards. There's not a whole lot of, we couldn't get a lot of internet access, but you're just not surrounded by the stuff we're normally surrounded by. But what you do see is just a lot of people chatting on the streets, playing music, playing dominoes. That's another kind of pastime.

11:55Visiting. So there's just always sort of a buzz on the street, very communal. We were in Trinidad one night and it was a power outage. Trinidad is the only city in Cuba that has an extremely strong French influence in terms of architecture and so on. So it's a really incredible city, but it's pretty densely populated townhouses in a way is how the streets are. But easy to get lost, easy to get confused. A lot of things look the same. And so we had a power house. There's no light. So we were coming home and I got lost, right? And so we're just wandering around. Luckily, we had the little flashlights, and we had sort of a version of Google Maps, but we still couldn't find our place.

12:41And so we ended up just chatting with people, and everyone was helpful. And, you know, so it just was kind of this fun little adventure of bouncing around, trying to find her way, you know, poking her head into someone's home. They're sitting there, you know, playing music or watching television and saying, hey, we're trying to get here. Yeah, so even though you're in this unusual city, it's totally pitch black, you don't know where you are, it felt safe and people were willing to help. As we always do on this show, we usually do takeaways. What's your takeaway of your trip? Two, I think just it reinforces how important it is to get out of our comfort zone, right?

13:26Travel is one way to do it. There are others, but this took me out of almost everything that I've become accustomed to in daily life. And so I think we have to have our own strategies in doing that because I think it's renewing. and it's refreshing. And I even noticed when I came back to the US after that trip, I don't know, I started jumping back into work and I just felt more alive. I was getting some new ideas, new things were coming to me. We just had a meeting before we're recording this about the future of the podcast. It was full of energy and ideas. And we hear a lot of our guests in the show do that.

14:01And then the other one, I would just come back to maybe two concepts. One is the importance of talent, whether you're in a company or a country, if you're not able to attract and retain and inspire and develop talent, you know, you're dead. And I was in a meeting earlier this week with a bunch of ex-PNG people. It was a little bit of a round table of senior leaders who have heritage in P &G. And we kind of marveled, and all of us have left many years ago, And we're kind of marveling at how strong P &G has been over the years and continues to be a generator of talent because they believe in developing people, moving them along.

14:47And one stat that was shared at this meeting, there are more active CEOs in the world now with P &G background than any other company. So it's just it reinforces just the importance of talent. And I think the last one is leadership matters, right? the leadership i think of cuba is not inspired right now i don't think they're close to the people i don't think they're doing what they need to be doing yes the blockade's a factor but it's not the only thing so leadership governments countries companies universities it matters one person can make a difference fidel certainly proved that in cuba and i think so one person can make an enormous difference by the way we had someone in this meeting i was at the png meeting a few days ago.

15:30There was a woman in the meeting who's on the board of Microsoft right now, who's been on the board for 12 years. She talked about the singular power of Satya Nadella and what he has done for that culture. But again, I think leadership really matters. That's why the show I love doing because we talked to so many amazing leaders and it inspires me and I hope it, and I know it inspires our many, many listeners. And inspires me to listen to these different people and tell their stories, especially as a woman. And I don't know if anyone's noticed, but we've had predominantly women on this year. Incredible, inspiring stories.

16:02Yeah, and I'll agree, travel is incredible. I'm the first person to want to go travel and be inspired by the world. The world is so big and we only have so much time to explore it. So I hope everyone out there has their next travel planned, has their bucket list, has the things to do. Where are you going next, Judy? Well, I'll be seeing you San Diego at the end of the month. But my friends and I are planning a trip to Mexico. to do some vacations. Two of my friends are moms. So they are going to leave their babies for the first time. We're going to go on a girl's trip. Oh, that'd be fantastic.

16:34Yeah, I can't wait. Well, this has been incredible, Jim. I'm so happy I could hop on and join with you. We're going to get those photos up on our Instagram. So those will see at home. If you guys want to go check out some of the images Jim took, you can follow it on our Instagram at the CMO podcast. And we'll be back tomorrow. With a great guest, by the way, a great woman. Yes, Vanessa Wallace, the chief marketing officer, Savage Fenty. Very excited for that. Kicking off our Women's History Month programming. Plus we'll have tons of great content coming out this spring and into the summer. We'll be back at Cannes.

17:05So get ready for that. If you have questions for us, you can hit us up on our social medias. We are at The CMO Podcast on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. Plus you can email us at podcasts at vibe.co. So that's podcasts at V-Y-V-E dot C-O. Thanks, Judy. This was fun. Good to be back. That's it for this episode of the CMO Podcast. If you found this helpful and entertaining, I would be so grateful if you could share our show with your friends. And I would be super happy if you subscribe so you can be updated as we publish new episodes. And if you really want to help, leave us a five-star rating and a positive review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

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