#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: [email protected]

Connect with Ascedia here: https://www.ascedia.com/contact

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This podcast is sponsored by Ascedia. A web development and digital strategy agency helping clients win in the digital space.

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