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When Tiyale Hayes displays on his journey from the DMV space — one among six youngsters raised by a single mom — to changing into Govt Vice President for Insights at Black Leisure Tv (BET), he would not simply see private success. He sees the facility of genuine illustration and neighborhood funding that has outlined BET’s 45-year legacy.
“The fruit of your labor is not simply what you obtain,” Hayes explains, drawing from classes realized throughout his early life at Hampton College. “It is what you plant for others to reap.” This philosophy has grow to be the cornerstone of BET’s social influence technique, reworking the community from an leisure platform right into a neighborhood catalyst that reaches thousands and thousands of Black People each day.
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The authenticity benefit
In an period the place company social duty typically feels performative, BET’s strategy stands out for its real connection to neighborhood wants. Hayes co-leads the social influence crew, together with Kimberly Paige (Govt Vice President and Chief Advertising Officer), that works straight with neighborhood members and shoppers, guaranteeing that each initiative displays real-life experiences relatively than boardroom priorities.
This authenticity pays actual dividends. When a mom of an LGBTQIA+ youth reached out to thank BET for displaying her daughter on tv — offering what Hayes calls a “chance mannequin” — it underscored the community’s distinctive place as each a mirror and a beacon for various communities.
“We’re not simply creating content material,” Hayes notes. “We’re creating pathways for folks to see and have a good time themselves and their potential.”
Strategic programming that strikes markets
BET’s signature packages reveal how leisure firms can drive significant social change whereas constructing model loyalty. The Black Males’s Summit, for instance, addresses important points going through Black males, from financial empowerment to psychological well being, creating area for brave conversations typically absent from mainstream discourse.
America in Black, their 60-minute information phase, fills info gaps left by conventional media, whereas Rap Lyrics on Trial tackles the intersection of music, tradition and prison justice — points that straight influence their core viewers.
These aren’t simply feel-good initiatives. They characterize strategic investments in neighborhood engagement that strengthen BET’s market place whereas concurrently strengthening households and communities. Once you authentically serve your viewers’s wants, you construct loyalty that transcends conventional promoting metrics. It is no shock that BET isn’t just the #1 community for African People but additionally ranked “Greatest in Class” throughout 5 main classes, together with prime community respecting Black viewers’ tradition, in line with a 2015 Model Love research.
The partnership multiplier impact
Good enterprise leaders perceive that influence scales via partnerships, and BET’s collaboration technique affords a masterclass in leveraging relationships for neighborhood profit. Their work with school alumni chapters to host galas creates a number of touchpoints with educated, influential neighborhood members whereas elevating funds (and associates) supporting instructional establishments.
The “School Hill” program and sponsored homecoming occasions faucet into the cultural significance of our nation’s 101 traditionally Black faculties and universities (HBCUs), reaching audiences at pivotal life moments when model affinity types lasting connections.
Maybe most importantly, BET’s $25 million partnership with Paramount for “Content material for Change” demonstrates how company collaboration can amplify social influence with out diluting model identification — an important consideration for any enterprise trying to scale their neighborhood engagement efforts. Content material for Change is a cross-brand initiative that harnesses the facility of content material creation to counter narratives that allow hate and stereotypes. It makes use of analysis, information and innovation to supply extra correct portrayals that positively affect the world.
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Constructing tomorrow’s leaders as we speak
The community’s company internship program exemplifies how firms can create sustainable influence whereas constructing expertise pipelines. By offering alternatives for younger professionals to realize expertise in media and leisure, BET addresses each quick neighborhood wants and long-term trade diversification. BET affords paid internships to undergraduate and graduate college students at totally different places, together with Washington DC, California, New York, Illinois and Georgia, simply to call a number of.
This strategy creates what economists name “constructive externalities” — advantages that stretch past the quick transaction. Interns acquire beneficial expertise, the corporate accesses recent expertise and views, and the broader neighborhood advantages from elevated illustration in media management. It is a win-win state of affairs.
Measuring what issues
Hayes’s function as EVP for Insights displays BET’s dedication to data-driven influence evaluation. In contrast to conventional company social duty packages that rely closely on feel-good metrics, BET’s strategy emphasizes measurable neighborhood outcomes. A latest annual report highlighted voter registration and civic engagement, Black financial empowerment initiatives and psychological well being and wellness consciousness.
This give attention to insights relatively than simply outputs allows steady program refinement and demonstrates return on funding (ROI) to stakeholders — a important issue for sustained funding in social influence initiatives.
The entrepreneur’s takeaway
BET’s 45-year journey affords a number of actionable classes for entrepreneurs, CEOs and trade leaders looking for to construct significant neighborhood influence:
1. Begin with genuine connection: Earlier than launching any initiative or program, perceive the neighborhood you serve. Authenticity is not a buzzword — it is a dedication. It might probably’t be automated, manufactured or outsourced. It takes buy-in, time and belief.
2. Suppose past charity: Essentially the most sustainable social influence comes from initiatives that align enterprise targets with serving neighborhood wants. Search for win-win alternatives relatively than one-sided giving. Do not simply give — construct. Begin with the tip in thoughts. For example, you would possibly study with/from the neighborhood about their pressing want for larger illustration in media, authorities or trade. Then create social influence efforts (e.g., internships, practicum, fellowships) that function sustainable expertise pathways.
3. Leverage partnerships strategically: Collaboration multiplies influence whereas sharing prices and dangers. Search for values alignment, not simply model synergy.
4. Spend money on measurement: Monitor significant outcomes, not simply actions. This permits steady enchancment and justifies continued funding to stakeholders. Inform a narrative that goes past numbers — however at all times begin with proof.
5. Play the lengthy recreation: Neighborhood influence requires sustained dedication. Fast wins matter, however lasting change occurs via constant engagement over time. Bear in mind, actual influence is not constructed in a single day. BET’s success comes from exhausting work that provides rise to good work on behalf of these they serve.
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As BET celebrates its forty fifth anniversary, Hayes, his crew and colleagues proceed constructing on a long time of neighborhood funding. Their success demonstrates that companies can drive significant social change whereas attaining industrial success — however solely when that dedication comes from an genuine place.
For enterprise leaders trying to make an enduring influence, BET’s blueprint affords a confirmed path: Perceive your neighborhood deeply, serve their wants authentically, measure what issues, and keep dedicated for the lengthy haul. The fruit of that labor, as Hayes realized at Hampton, advantages everybody.
