Gary Lancina: The Marketer Who Fights for the User
#194: Gary Lancina has done it all — startups, turnarounds, Fortune 500s, and a front-row seat to one of the biggest corporate crises of the 21st century. In this conversation with host Pat McGovern, Gary unpacks a career that spans Briggs & Stratton, Mercury Marine, SC Johnson, Masterlock, Redbox, and BP, drawing out the through-lines that connect every stop: deep customer empathy, collective accountability, and a relentless drive to grow. Gary defines marketing at its core as the establishment and nurturing of high-commitment relationships for the exchange of value — and everything he's done in his career flows from that north star. In this episode: → Why Gary's first move entering any organization is to look at how they define success and measure performance — not the marketing plan → His three non-negotiable success metrics: sales, profit, and market share → The Redbox origin story — how a McDonald's side project became a $700M business in two years, and the "Free Movie Monday" promotion that unlocked growth → What it was really like inside BP the day Deepwater Horizon happened — and the crisis playbook Gary ran to retain 98% of distributors and dealers → Why Redbox ultimately failed: a cautionary tale about betting on a model instead of a mission → His nuanced take on AI — why he's optimistic but warns against outsourcing your thinking to a machine → Three book recommendations that reveal how Gary actually thinks Connect with Gary here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glancina/ Connect with Pat here: pmcgovern@ascedia.com Connect with Ascedia here: https://www.ascedia.com/contact Oh, before you go, please do us a favor. Take a minute and leave us a review. That's the energy that powers this supertanker! Thanks, you're the best! Want more marketing insights? Take a look at our full lineup. This podcast is sponsored by Ascedia. A web development and digital strategy agency helping clients win in the digital space. Maybe it's time your site gets a tune-up? Connect with us.




