The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by 9-time Emmy Award Winning Journalist and Executive Coach Jane Hanson.

Follow Jane on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janehansontv

Follow Jane Hanson online at: http://janehanson.com

Jane answers these questions:

1. Jane, you spent nearly 3 decades as a broadcaster on NBC and won nine Emmys before becoming a communications coach. What did live television teach you about communication that most business leaders never get the chance to learn?
2. Your website carries a line I love — “Don’t EVER wing it” — along with that famous quip about how long a good speech takes to prepare. In a world of back-to-back meetings and AI-drafted talking points, what does real preparation look like for a busy executive?
3. You’ve coached leaders across finance, insurance, tech, fashion, media, pharma, and even chefs and restaurateurs. What’s the most common communication mistake you see, no matter the industry?
4. You help clients become “comfortable and commanding on camera.” Today so much leadership happens on video — all-hands calls, LinkedIn clips, podcasts, retailer pitches. What are the two or three things a leader can do right away to show up better on screen?
5. In your Forbes piece on the 2026 Oscars, you wrote that audiences remember stories far more than lists of names. How should a CPG or retail executive use storytelling in a boardroom, an earnings call, or a joint business plan with a retailer?
6. That same article praised Conan O’Brien’s humor for building rapport, but warned about letting humor become the headline. How can leaders use humor and personality to connect without creating a problem for themselves?
7. You’ve spent a career asking tough question in s as a journalist. Now that you coach the people being asked, how should a leader handle a hard question — whether it comes from a reporter, an investor, or their own team — without getting defensive or going off message?
8. Another lesson from your Oscars piece: your reputation enters the room before you do. In an era where every comment can be clipped and shared, how should leaders think about consistency and message discipline over the long term?
9. You wrote about how AI was supposed to make in-person conferences obsolete, and instead attendance is surging. As AI writes more of our emails, decks, and talking points, what parts of leadership communication must stay unmistakably human?
10. Much of your Forbes work focuses on how communication helps women advance. Looking at your reporting on the gender pay gap, where does communication — negotiating, advocating for yourself, being heard in the room — make the biggest difference, and what should organizations be doing differently?
11. You’ve also written about how consumer brands communicate with women — from the DIY beauty boom to the American Heart Association’s Go Red campaign with retailers. What can CPG leaders learn from those examples about speaking to consumers versus speaking to their own teams?
12. If a leader listening today could adopt just one communication habit starting Monday morning, what should it be?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
FMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.com
SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Austin Leonard, VP/GM of Dollar General Media Network, the retail media division of Dollar General.

This episode was recorded in cannes France at teh Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Follow Austin on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinleonard/

Follow DG Media Network online at: https://www.dgmedianetwork.com/

Austin answered these questions:

1. How is this massive traffic surge fundamentally shifting your product roadmap from an offsite performance focus to high-margin onsite real estate?
2. What are the backend ad-product transformations required to support this shift, and how can brands ensure their SKUs win that automated, AI-mediated prompt?
3. From a media network perspective, how are you building exclusive, high-impact ad packages or specialized audience segments to let brands target this locked-in subscription cohort early on?
4. How does this hyper-rural, often sole-retailer geographic footprint allow DGMN to provide clean, deterministic attribution that completely avoids the audience overlap and data duplication that plagues traditional programmatic buying?
5. When a skeptical agency media buyer challenges you on incrementality, how does DGMN use its closed-loop loop data to mathematically prove that you are driving net-new volume rather than just claiming credit for an unavoidable register ring?
6. How is DGMN turning this into a highly dynamic, programmatically addressable ad product? Can a CPG brand sync their offsite streaming digital audio flight directly with a real-time audio trigger inside the physical aisles where the shopper is holding the basket?
7. How does DGMN let a brand dynamically flex its creative assets across your self-serve platforms so they can serve value-based, coupon-stacking messaging to one cohort, and convenience/premium-tier messaging to the other?
8. In most legacy retail environments, these are separate fiefdoms that fight for control. How does this unified layout give you a speed-to-market advantage when a brand wants to pair their national enterprise marketing dollars directly with targeted retail media networks to create a 1+1=3 effect?
9. As programmatic buyers demand more self-serve execution, how are you ensuring that your software integrations maintain the necessary governance, clean room privacy, and simplicity that makes the platform accessible to smaller, emerging challenger brands?
10. To close us out, what is your forward-looking vision for how machine learning and AI execution will let DGMN automate the generation of millions of distinct creative variations so brands can scale personal consumer conversion down to the individual household?

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.

Each week, the CPG Guys will riff on the hottest topics in the world of omnichannel commerce.

This week’s topics:

1. THE WEEK THE CRACKS IN THE AI TRADE GREW DEEPER
2. WALMART BUILDS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AGENTIC COMMERCE
3. COLGATE-PALMOLIVE GROWS SALES AS NORTH AMERICA STAYS WEAK
4. DOORDASH TO BUY INSTACART FOR ABOUT $17 BILLION

CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com

DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.

CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.