Breaking and Entering Advertising Podcast #524 - Jonathan Akwue | Thinking Like A Music Exec
Feb 4, 2026
Jonathan Akwue, President of Translation and culture-focused marketing leader, mixes music roots with brand strategy. He talks about music-driven cultural insight, translating global youth trends into brand value, and using artist data to map cultural flows. Short, sharp stories show how culture becomes real business opportunity.
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Culture Is A Commercial Engine
- Steve Stout saw that cultural figures can sell products beyond music and used that to found Translation.
- Iconic moments like Will Smith's Ray-Bans and Run DMC's Adidas show culture directly creates brand equity.
Artists' Data Is A Culture Signal
- United Masters is a distribution platform with millions of independent artists and detailed listening data.
- Translation uses that creator-first data as a signature source to map culture and inform brand strategy.
Youth In The Global South Drives Culture
- 90% of the world's under-25 population lives in the Global South, which is now a primary source of cultural innovation.
- Genres like K-pop, Afrobeat, and Latin rising show culture flows are reversing toward those regions.
