2021 VidMob Pop In: Meet Mike Summers

By : Cecilia Ward

2/1/21

Mike Summers is a DJ, podcaster, techpreneur, Mississippi native, Morehouse man and, at the time we popped in with him, the Global Head of Digital Innovation Startup Accelerators & Cultural Marketing for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health.

A world-class marketing leader, Mike recently got tapped by the number one highest attended soccer club in the US and US Open Cup and Campeones Cup winner Atlanta United FC as Head of Marketing. Before making the big move, Mike sat down with us, virtually, to talk about the role technology plays in marketing, societal changes that are paving the way for greater diversity in the workplace, and his personal views on the Black Lives Matter movement. We created a video to highlight some of our favorite things Mike shared, and below is a transcript. Mike Summers is a remarkable person, and we hope to steal him away for more conversations in the future.

If you like what you see below or want to nominate someone (or yourself) for a Pop In, drop us a line here.

https://vimeo.com/505869652/c5583a20eb

What do you do?

I’ve been blessed and fortunate enough to focus on what I think are the two biggest trends shaping the marketing industry today. The first is digital innovation – we’ve developed the Startup Accelerator globally, focused on identifying new and innovative digital capabilities externally that we can bring internally and leverage with our brands to best connect with consumers. The second trend is cultural marketing, which I think is shaping the way our consumers connect with our brands – today and moving forward into the future.

How can brands make an impact with diversity and inclusion?

Well, it all boils down to three things for me. One is people: how are you acquiring, supporting the growth of, and retailing the right, diverse talent in your organization? The second is the strategy. Are you embedding the right cultural and multicultural insights into the core of your strategy? The last one is your partners. Ensuring that your partners, whether they are agencies or any other partners that are helping you along the way, have the right representation in their rooms, end-products, or creative and that you’re supporting the right diversifiers along the way. Support the communities that you want to speak to.

How has the BLM movement impacted your approach?

Black Lives Matter translates to how you are supporting the employee on your team who doesn’t feel seen or heard or the consumer whom you’re talking to who has never been seen or heard within the products that they see on shelves. How do you drive change in your community?

What does brand purpose mean to you?

At Johnson & Johnson consumer health, we are focused on three key pillars as the foundation of our brand-building framework. The first pillar is heart – leveraging insights and empathy to drive health outcomes. The second is science, which is leveraging sound science to elevate the standard of care. The third one is ingenuity – that’s how we leverage creativity and agility to drive impact within our communities.


For more information about Mike Summers and to view more Pop Ins with VidMob, click here.