You Might Also Like: Math & Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing with Bob Pittman

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
You're listening to Math & Magic, a production of iHeart Podcasts.

**Marc Mentry** (0:09)
It shows accountability, it shows passion for the relationship. And so it's relationship building. I try to be on set for all of our major television productions and not miss a moment of that. That's important to our talent, it's important to the directors, our ad agencies, our team that they see you're doing it with them.

**Bob Pittman** (0:31)
Hi, I'm Bob Pittman and welcome to this episode of Math & Magic. Today, we have a marketer who has cracked the code on community, culture, and life to transform a brand that provide his customers with high value, unique experiences. And he's one of those people who leads from the front every day. He's Marc Mentry, Executive Vice President of Brand Marketing for Capital One. Marc grew up in New Jersey. His first job was at a grocery store, and with all the success he's had, he thinks this may have been one of the most important influences on him as a marketer.
With live sports and music events dominating the headlines today, we can learn a lot from Capital One's leadership position there. And probably more important, we'll hear the story of the remarkable transformation of Capital One over the last few decades.
Marc is well known as someone who leads with his values and does so much for so many to help them. And that has created a real following for him at work, and I suspect in his personal life too. Marc's a great guy, a value partner, and a friend. Marc, welcome.

**Marc Mentry** (1:35)
Thanks so much, Bob. I'm really excited to do this with you.

**Bob Pittman** (1:37)
And before we dig in, let's start with you in 60 seconds. You're ready to go?

**Marc Mentry** (1:43)
Let's do it.

**Bob Pittman** (1:43)
Okay. Cats or dogs?

**Marc Mentry** (1:45)
Dogs, 100 percent.

**Bob Pittman** (1:47)
Early riser or night owl?

**Marc Mentry** (1:49)
Night owl.

**Bob Pittman** (1:50)
City or country?

**Marc Mentry** (1:51)
City.

**Bob Pittman** (1:52)
East Coast or West Coast?

**Marc Mentry** (1:53)
100 percent East Coast.

**Bob Pittman** (1:55)
New Jersey or Virginia? Tough one.

**Marc Mentry** (1:57)
I would say Virginia now.

**Bob Pittman** (1:59)
Protein or carbs?

**Marc Mentry** (2:00)
Protein.

**Bob Pittman** (2:01)
Sweet or savory?

**Marc Mentry** (2:03)
Savory.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:03)
Introvert or extrovert?

**Marc Mentry** (2:05)
Hybrid, mostly extrovert, but I need my recharge time.

**Bob Pittman** (2:09)
Coffee or tea?

**Marc Mentry** (2:10)
Coke Zero.

**Bob Pittman** (2:11)
Yankees or Mets?

**Marc Mentry** (2:13)
100 percent Yankees. Wearing my Yankees wristwatch right now.

**Bob Pittman** (2:16)
Okay. It's going to get a little harder here. Best concert you've ever been to?

**Marc Mentry** (2:20)
Willie Nelson's 90th birthday concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

**Bob Pittman** (2:23)
Wow. Wow. Best sporting event you've ever been to?

**Marc Mentry** (2:26)
I guess would be the 2009 Game 6 World Series where the Yankees won in the new Yankee Stadium.

**Bob Pittman** (2:33)
Smartest person you know?

**Marc Mentry** (2:34)
Rich Fairbank, the founder of our company.

**Bob Pittman** (2:36)
Best advice you've ever got?

**Marc Mentry** (2:38)
Remember what you learned in kindergarten. Golden rule, share, live that way.

**Bob Pittman** (2:43)
Last one, favorite place to visit?

**Marc Mentry** (2:46)
Since I don't live up there anymore, it's probably New York City.

**Bob Pittman** (2:49)
Oh, good, I love that. Okay, let's jump in. Let's get to the meaty stuff.

**Marc Mentry** (2:53)
Let's do it.

**Bob Pittman** (2:54)
World Cup, men and women's basketball, football, et cetera, all at the forefront of what marketers want.
Live and community that crosses all the lines of society and it's a center of culture. You're one of the top marketers using sports.
What makes it so special and how does it help brands and products?

**Marc Mentry** (3:12)
Sports has been such a phenomenon over the last 20 years. And for us, it was rooted in math. And as we started to watch DVR growth, and if you watch your show or stream your show, you can watch that at any time now.
But sports, you don't want to be left out of that conversation. You know, you're getting ubiquitous information all the time coming at you on your phone. Text, did you see that play or you get a score alert? And so sports became the only place that people were watching live. And so for us, we really recognized that trend early, and it's just become an unbelievable thing. Last year, from a broadcast television perspective, I think it was something like 90 of the top 100 programs were live sports. And so that just tells you where you're aggregating audience.