José Villa, founder and president of Sensis, joins co-hosts Olivia Morley and Brian Wieser to talk about what it takes to build and scale an independent cross-cultural agency, and what the future of multicultural marketing looks like in today's shifting business and political climate.

José shares the origin story behind Sensis, how the agency evolved from a digital-first shop building Spanish-language websites into a full-service cross-cultural advertising firm, and why research and strategy have been central to its growth. He explains how Sensis structures its offerings across media, creative, research and earned media, and how the agency navigates pricing, bundling, and staffing challenges as a 150-person independent shop.

He also discusses how the broader pullback on DEI rhetoric is impacting multicultural marketing investment, why brands are being more cautious about language but not cutting multicultural spending, and what it really takes to build a workforce equipped to meet today’s cross-cultural market demands.

Plus, Olivia, Brian, and José discuss:

• IPG’s Q1 results and whether large account losses should be viewed as isolated or systemic
• WPP’s Q1 results and broader macroeconomic headwinds
• WPP resigning PayPal’s media account.

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Agency Business features agency CEOs and financial decision-makers alongside third party experts including agency pitch consultants. We are always accepting pitches, and are particularly interested in hearing from women and leaders of color.

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📩 Brian at brian@madisonandwall.com

📩 Olivia at olivia@fusionfrontmedia.com

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