Visa’s CMO Frank Cooper III on finding your own personal sense of purpose

Frank Cooper, Chief Marketing Officer at Visa, shared his inspiring journey from law school to becoming one of the world's most influential CMOs. Frank emphasizes the importance of introspection, adaptability, and staying true to one's values in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of marketing and technology.

From Law School to Marketing: Frank's love for building things that help brands grow, create relationships with their customers, and impact culture led him to the world of marketing. He discovered that his legal background could help him identify issues and find solutions in the marketing world. Frank encourages listeners to stay open to change and be willing to adapt in order to thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Understanding the Role of Culture in Tech: Frank's profound understanding of the role of culture in the tech industry has led him to work with iconic brands like Mountain Dew and BlackRock. He shares his experience of pushing through legal at big companies to open source the Mountain Dew brand to consumers and how he applied the same values of do it yourself, operating outside the mainstream, and remaining true to yourself to his role at BlackRock. Frank further explains how he used his own sense of purpose of expanding potential in people to guide his conversations at BlackRock.

Marketing Strategy and Brand Positioning: In his role as CMO at Visa, Frank spends 90% of his time in the first 60 days talking to people and listening, asking a variety of questions at all levels across all regions to gain a holistic understanding of the industry. He takes all the information he gathers and pulls out key insights about potential opportunities for marketing to act as a growth engine for the company. Frank formulates a plan, which starts with the brand and harkens back to the founding ideas. He is excited for the new brand positioning and the strategies he has his eye on in 2023, including social media channels and Tiktok.

Success in Marketing and Advertising: Frank introduces the concept of Ikigai, which is to know what you love, what you're good at, how you can make a positive contribution to the world, and what you can get paid for. He emphasizes that it's okay to fail and that you need to take risks in order to find out what you're really good at. He also encourages continuous learning and adaptability, as well as resilience, as success in any field requires help. In conclusion, Frank Cooper's journey in marketing and technology highlights the importance of embracing change, understanding the role of culture, and finding one's purpose. By staying true to his values and being open to new experiences, Frank has made a significant impact in the marketing world and continues to inspire others to do the same.

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Key Highlights:

• 00:56 – 04:42 – From law to marketing – Cooper III has a B.S. in Business Administration from Berkley and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. However, he decided to follow his passion for helping brands grow through stories, experience and relationships, and shifted into marketing, working in various industries from music to finance to large F&B brands.

• 08:54 – 11:12 – Cooper III’s time at PepsiCo – At PepsiCo, Cooper III focused on leveraging culture as his primary marketing strategy. He believes culture is a way of informing target demographics, communicating with them and building relationships. That translates into how the company builds its product and markets to core targets.

• 12:43 – 16:58 – Spreading financial literacy – Cooper III built his whole career around the idea of change, which inspired him to take on a senior role at BlackRock to help them amplify their brand. This move was also motivated by his desire to help people and communities develop their financial literacy and build a healthy relationship with money.

• 23:17 – 25:08 – Social first – Winning at marketing in 2023 is about finding effective channels and strategies to get messages out to consumers that matter. For Visa, that means focusing on a meaningful social media strategy on LinkedIn and TikTok that adds value to the user experience. Secondly, the cultural aspects continue to play a significant role, which motivates Visa to expand its marketing efforts and involvement in sports, music and gaming.

• 28:42 – 29:54 – The philosophy of Ikigai – Regardless of what career you pursue, start by understanding yourself. For Cooper III, it all comes down to the Japanese concept of Ikigai, which states if you want to find your personal sense of purpose, you need to know what you love, what you’re good at, how you can make a positive contribution to the world and what you can get paid for.