What do you get when you mix business, culture, innovation, and impact? Frank Cooper III has found his sweet spot.
“I love imagining something that doesn’t exist and bringing it to life to benefit both people and business. When that’s the challenge, I’m at my best.”
—Frank Cooper III, Chief Marketing Officer, Visa
Jessica Pliska: If I look back on your career and everything leading up to this point, this is kind of a dream job, isn’t it? The way it brings together all of the things you love?
Frank Cooper III: If I had sketched out on a piece of paper all my experience to date and how my next job could bring together that experience, my passions and my assets, it would have been this job. My through-line has always been wanting to be in a position to expand the potential of other people, individually and collectively, but I could never have mapped it out as perfectly.
Pliska: What are those things and what makes them so energizing for you?
Cooper: I love culture and this job touches all of it: sports, music, gaming, creators, technology, social media, and innovation. And now that I’m on the business-to-business and financial services side, it’s a whole other muscle, a way of connecting to people around the complexities and opportunities of our relationship with money and how it connects to their holistic well-being—how we earn it, save it, spend it, invest it, and give it. It feels like the next frontier.
Pliska: How do you marry business with this ‘through-line’ of expanding potential for others?
Cooper: It’s simple to me. I’ve always thought that if you strip everything else away, the role of business is to improve people’s lives. And to think about whose lives. When I hear ‘Can we include more people?’ I think of people who have enormous potential but require different inputs, advice, or guidance because they haven’t been exposed to certain things. And these people may have the most potential.
Pliska: It really turns this question of merit on its head. People want to restrict access on the basis of ‘merit,’ but we’re closing off merit.
Cooper: It’s the tyranny of merit. It’s never been an equal playing field and yet you see real merit everywhere. The community in which I grew up was incredibly diverse. That shaped how I think about people across different ethnicities and races¾about the dignity and inherent worth of people. And what people are capable of, and which people. One of the reasons I love entertainment is because it changes people’s perception of who can be what.
Pliska: So how did that community, and those influences, impact your career at the intersection of culture, music, and technology?
Cooper: When I look back, it all adds up. I’ve always loved tech and innovation, and I get that from my dad. He was a technologist and inventor, first as an electrical engineer and then an executive. His garage was always filled with all sorts of new inventions and patents for them. My uncle was in entertainment; he promoted concerts and he owned a record label. And my mom came from a family of teachers and I have always loved constantly learning.
Pliska: How did you get on your path?
Cooper: I was first in my family to graduate college, so there was no one to set a path, but I was in tune enough with myself to know what I liked. One key conversation made all the difference. In my second year of law school, working at a law firm, a partner said to me, “Figure out what you really, really love. If you do that, you’re going to be fulfilled and energized.” That’s when I really started focusing on entertainment and culture and it changed the course of my career.
Pliska: You’ve now worked on campaigns with some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Beyoncé. What’s the been the secret to your success?
Cooper: I learned a key truth in college, when I played music, did studio work, and got to know how artists think: Every artist, no matter how big, is trapped in a system where they can’t do something, one thing, they really want to do but can’t within current restraints. They feel vulnerable exposing that until you figure out what it is and bring it to them. I’ve been able to bridge that gap with artists and make it happen. I love imagining something that doesn’t exist and bringing it to life to benefit both people and business. When that’s the challenge, I’m at my best.
Pliska: Let’s talk about young people’s influence on culture. I feel strongly we should let them lead the way more than we do, empowering them to be vital voices. What do you think?
Cooper: I couldn’t agree more. I’ve stepped out of the business of trying to predict how youth think. Creativity is being democratized and all you have to do is pay attention to the subcultures. Create a platform for them, let them speak, and they’ll tell you everything you need to know. The biggest challenge of legacy systems is getting out of the way.
Pliska: So how do we do that better? Can you give me an example?
Cooper: A young creator on a panel with me said that post-graduation, her resume was rejected everywhere. She decided to go online and post about what certain brands should do with their campaigns. Her followers increased, brands saw it, and now they pay her to tell them how to build their brands. We need to create space for young people to shape how brands interact with people. This next generation will come into full force in the next few years.
Pliska: Young people of color now wield more influence inside big corporate brands but also experience racism. Can you share how your journey as a Black man in corporate America has evolved?
Cooper: It doesn’t go away, and it gets more difficult as you climb the ladder because the air gets thinner. If your success is dependent on management, on someone above you seeing your potential, you’re at risk. Because even if that person is good-hearted, they have to be able to look at you across the table and see somebody who can be a CEO. So never depend on your manager to tell your story. You need a set of people to help you tell your story.
Pliska: It’s helpful for young people to hear your experiences and advice. But what do you say if they’re thinking, “This is so disillusioning. I face these issues now, and if I get to your level, I’ll still deal with them?”
Cooper: Look, the struggle continues. But it’s not as bad as 25 or 50 years ago. I’d say they should feel fortunate that those who came before them have lightened the burden. That they can find joy, even through the struggle, to shape your own interior perception of it. I’m confident about what I’m doing now, surrounded by people on my side, and I’ve had the best ride, including the downs. The struggle goes on, but it’s lighter than it was.
Pliska: What’s current or ahead at Visa that you’re particularly excited about?
Cooper: Giving the creator community opportunities to make money through a series we launched on TikTok and YouTube called Get Paid, where creator-mentors help emerging creators develop skillsets to get paid. And our women’s sports initiatives: As a sponsor of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Visa gives out Player of the Match trophies at all 64 matches; now, we give grants to small woman-owned businesses from countries those players represent. Connecting sports and business is a no-brainer, as 80% of women in the C-suite have played sports, but broadly, we want to help women move forward. At the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, you’ll see us both uplift Team Visa athletes and connect sports, culture and commerce.
Pliska: This interview has come full circle about how these things are all connected.
Cooper: Some people think ‘purpose’ means sacrificing other things. But it can all connect: You’re watching a sport. You’re engaged. You’re entertained. Now we’re distributing it in a way that more people have access to it. There’s a higher purpose to it. Why can’t what you do, and the way you do it, be entertaining, engaging, uplifting and also serve a higher purpose?
Pliska: It can.
Cooper: It can and it should. It must.
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