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Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards Grand Jury
Vice President, Inclusive Growth and Community Impact
U.S. Bank
BIO
Gus Fernandez is a senior marketing and inclusive growth leader with 19 years of experience spanning global brand building, agency leadership, and financial services. His career bridges creativity and strategy, with a consistent focus on culturally relevant marketing that delivers measurable business and community impact.
Gus spent 13 years in the agency world, including nine years at Van Wagner, where he led large‑scale, global campaigns for iconic brands such as DIRECTV, MetLife, and Universal Pictures. His work across sports, entertainment, and sponsorship marketing sharpened his expertise in storytelling at scale, brand integration, and audience‑first strategy. He later spent three years with Group CSE (now You Are Here Agency), where he led sponsorship strategy and execution for major national brands including Cricket Wireless, AT&T, Coca‑Cola, and Synovus Bank, driving culturally relevant partnerships that connected brands authentically with diverse audiences.
For the past five years, Gus has led inclusive and multicultural marketing for U.S. Bank’s payments division, where he serves as Vice President of Inclusive Growth and Community Impact. In this role, he oversees marketing and CSR initiatives that connect the business to diverse small‑business communities, embedding inclusive growth as a core business strategy rather than a standalone initiative. He is the creator of the Small Business, Big Ambition platform, an always‑on model that blends cultural relevance, community partnerships, and performance marketing to drive growth and trust in underserved markets.
A recognized advocate for equity, allyship, and responsible marketing, Gus actively mentors emerging leaders and supports the advancement of women and underrepresented talent across the industry. He has served as a judge for the ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards since 2022, bringing a practitioner’s lens to evaluating work that balances cultural authenticity, creativity, and real‑world impact.
Q&A with Gus Fernandez
What makes great marketing today?
Great marketing today starts with truth. It understands people beyond the data point, respects culture instead of borrowing from it, and creates something that feels real in people’s lives. The best work also delivers—whether that is stronger brand trust, deeper engagement, or measurable business growth. To me, great marketing is where insight, intention, and impact all show up together.
What is the one cultural trend you are watching today?
One trend I am watching closely is the shift from representation to resonance. Audiences are asking more from brands now—they want to see real understanding, not surface-level inclusion. That means marketers have to move beyond checking a box and build work that reflects lived experience, community, language, and context in a way that feels honest and earned.
In one sentence, what will it take to make an entry worthy of winning a Grand Prize award?
A Grand Prize-worthy entry is one that brings together bold creativity, real cultural understanding, and measurable impact in a way that feels both original and undeniably authentic.
What advice would you offer to teams preparing submissions for the ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards?
My advice is simple: be clear, be honest, and show the thinking behind the work in a concise way. Don’t just tell us what the campaign did—help us understand why it mattered, what cultural insight unlocked it, and what changed because of it. The strongest submissions make it easy to see the connection between the idea, the audience, and the results. (Don’t make the submission overly long or complicated)
Why do awards programs like ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards matter to the health and progress of the marketing industry?
They matter because they help raise the standard for what our industry should value. They spotlight work that proves culture is not a niche consideration—it is a growth driver, a creative driver, and a trust driver. Just as importantly, they create visibility for teams doing the hard work of building marketing that is more inclusive, more relevant, and more connected to the communities they serve.
When reviewing submissions, what signals tell you that a program is driving real, sustainable business growth?
I look for signs that the work had an impact beyond the campaign itself. That can show up in the numbers—acquisition, conversion, loyalty, or brand lift—but also in whether it built a stronger connection with the audience over time. Especially right now, with AI making it easier to create more and more content, the work that stands out is still rooted in real human insight and tied to a clear business objective. When it feels personal, relevant, and real, that is usually a good sign the impact will last.
How have your expectations of great marketing evolved over the past few years— and how does that shape how you approach marketing?
My expectations of great marketing have evolved but in a positive way. A few years ago, being inclusive often meant being visible. Today, that is only part of it. As AI continues to change how marketing gets made, I think human insight matters even more. The best work still comes from really understanding people—their lived experience, their values, their context, and what actually matters to them. That has pushed me to ask harder questions from the start about authenticity, relevance, connection, and whether the work is actually going to make an impact.
What distinguishes exceptional multicultural and inclusive marketing work from work that is simply “good”?
Good work might reach people. Exceptional work makes people feel seen. For me, the difference usually comes down to whether the insight is real—whether it is actually grounded in culture, whether it feels honest, and whether it connects in a way that people recognize. Especially now, when AI can help make content faster, what still separates the best work is the human insight behind it. That is what gives it staying power.
Get to know the 2026 Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards Grand Jurors.