The CMO Whisperer (Steve Olenski)

My guest this week is Umang Shah, Vice President of Marketing, Enablement and Effectiveness for Northwestern Mutual. A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Umang has had stops at Xerox, Microsoft, Walmart, Unisys, among many others.

My guest this week is Doug Milliken, former VP of Marketing Transformation at The Clorox Company. When he was there, he was responsible for the company's brand building and growth capabilities. His experience led to one inescapable conclusion; the performance of an organization is driven largely by its culture.

My guest this week is former NBA player, Channing Frye. After an illustrious 14 year career, which included winning a championship in Cleveland with none other than LeBron James. Channing is now lead analyst for Warner Brothers Discovery, where he hosts the multitude of shows, including handles on NBA TV and his cohost of a very popular podcast with another NBA player, Richard Jefferson. 

Channing also started his own private wine label called Chosen Family Wines. Here's my highly entertaining conversation with Channing Frye.

My guest this week is Shani Seidman, the CMO of Kayco Kosher Foods, the parent company of Manischewitz the 120 year old brand that she was just entrusted with the rebranding of. It was an incredible challenge that she met head on. She shares insights and tips for other CMOs going through rebrands.

My guest today is Jeanniey Walden. Jeanniey is the senior vice president and CMO of Rite Aid and Thrifty Ice Cream. Her decades of experience span Fortune 500 companies and startups across a whole host of industries, including retail, health and wellness, consulting, ad agencies, fintech. Everything. If that weren't enough, she's also the host of her own network TV show called Liftoff.

My guest this week is Nic Chidiac, Chief Strategy Officer for Razorfish, where he oversees brand and experience strategy. He's worked with CMOs from the biggest brands in the world across a wider range of categories, including QSR, travel, tech, automotive and government. Formerly with Leo Burnett, Nic brings a global lens to his CMO perspective as well, having spent his career working across markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. We talk about everything you need to know about working with an agency, how to effectively use AI and what the changing role of the CMO means.

 My guest this week is Andy Rebhun. Andy joined as Chief Experience Officer in 2023. From 2019 to 2023, he held several senior leadership positions at El Pollo Loco, including Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Digital. Prior to that, he served in various marketing and digital leadership roles at McDonald's Corporation in Boston, Chicago, and Atlanta. Andy began his career in the Accelerated Marketing Development Program at Ford Motor Company. He holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. 

My guest today is Terry Kawaja, the founder and CEO of Luma Partners, a strategic advisory firm that's right at the intersection of media, marketing and technology. Terry has been called the Jon Stewart of investment bankers, and with very good reason. He's overseen over $300 billion worth of transactions. He's also known at least by me as the Weird Al Yankovic of investment bankers. Find out why in my unbelievable, entertaining, energizing conversation with Terry.

Links

• I'm Still Branding parody video
• Terry's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest this week is Dustin Godsey, the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, including AI in sports teams and Dustin being the first marketing hire for the Bucks, but I was specifically interested in how a CMO of a sports team market a team when they're not doing so well in the standings?

My guest today is Doug Zarkin, former CMO of Pearl Vision. Doug's won Effie Awards and Cleo Awards and countless other awards that I can't even think of. I've known Doug for well over 10 years, and he is absolutely one of the brightest minds in all of marketing that I've ever met. Our conversation ranges from his thoughts on why emotions are so important when it comes to advertising, to what he deemed his most successful failure, to what it was like to be an Avon lady. I am beyond honored, beyond humbled to a call him my friend, and to have him a guest on my show.

Links

• Doug's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Suzanne Darmory, the former Chief Marketing Officer at Refundo, the only minority-owned fintech platform in the tax industry, committed to fostering inclusivity in the communities they serve. In addition to founding her own boutique agency, The AGNCY That Sold Agnesi, she has spent her career on both the client side—working with companies like IBM, L'Oréal, and Jackson Hewitt—and the agency side in New York (Arnold Deutsch, Gray, JWT) and London (Bates UK, Euro KG, Ogilvy Mather).

Suzanne brings over 25 years of international experience championing Fortune 500 brands and articulating their visions through innovative marketing and advertising initiatives. Her track record of driving transformative change, paired with a relentless focus on results, has solidified her reputation as a renowned industry leader.

She has been recognized by Marsum as one of the Top 100 Influencers in Marketing and Advertising, by Business Leaders Magazine as one of the Top 100 Business Leaders, and by Refinery29 as one of the 29 Most Powerful Women in Digital. She has also been featured on the Where Are the Boss Ladies list. 

My guest this week, Geoff Cottrill has been everywhere, from Converse to Starbucks, to Procter and Gamble, to Coca Cola, to his current role as Chief Brand Officer at Topgolf.

My guest this week is Ashley Miles, the CEO of Franklin West, a new era business growth advisory and execution firm that is shaping the future of work in the growing on demand economy. The firm was recently awarded by Inc. Magazine and Globee awards for its impact on Fortune 500 companies. Ashley's had an amazing career with stops at many different big brands.

My guest this week is Oksana Sobol. Oksana leads the insights function at The Clorox Company, where she's implementing an agile, fast, and consumer centric insights model. Her global career spans everything from brand marketing and market research in her native Ukraine, and then the Czech Republic. She's worked for big companies like Nielsen, Kraft Foods, Unilever, J&J, and Mondelez.

Links

• Oksana's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest this week is Ashley Black, the founder and CEO of Ashley Black Inc, Fashion Blaster and Advanced Regenerative Research Technologies and Associates. She's a multiple Stevie award winner for woman of the year, lifetime achievement and entrepreneur of the year.

My guest this week is Michael Williams. Michael's a global leader who has served as CMO for the Grand Prix of America Formula One, the New Jersey Devils, and the San Francisco 49ers. He was also responsible for all sales and marketing for the Walt Disney Company's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and is currently the General Manager and Managing Director of Summit One Vanderbilt, the tallest commercial skyscraper in Manhattan.

My guest today is Pio Schunker. Pio has been on both sides of the aisle; from the brand side, including stops at Coca Cola and Samsung, where he held senior marketing management roles, to the agency side, including stops on Ogilvy and Mather and Loewen and Partners, where he worked on accounts like American Express and Mercedes Benz. Most recently, Pio just launched his own agency called The Actionists, whose mission is to make marketing more actionable.

Links

• Pio's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

 My guest today is David Edelman. David's the former CMO of Aetna, and he's currently a senior lecturer in marketing at Harvard Business School. I've known David well over 10 years and we had an absolutely fascinating conversation focussing initially on AI and and the customer experience.
One of David's recent HBR articles was "Customer Experience in the Age of AI" which are two topics that are very near and dear, at least they should be, for every marketer of the world. I hope you enjoy my conversation. 

My guest this week is Dara Treseder, the Chief Marketing Officer at Autodesk, a leading technology and software company that is transforming how the world is designed and made.

She oversees global marketing, brand, communications, demand generation, e-commerce, and education business teams.

As a veteran CMO, Dara has held key leadership roles, including Global Head of Marketing, Communications, and Membership at Peloton, CMO of Carbon, and CMO of GE Business Innovations and GE Ventures.

Earlier in her career, she led marketing growth efforts at Apple and Goldman Sachs.

She has been recognized by Forbes as the world’s most influential CMO—let me say that again—recognized by Forbes as the world’s most influential CMO. She was also the first Black person to be inducted into the Forbes CMO Hall of Fame.

Beyond her professional achievements, Dara is a champion of public health, women’s issues, and diversity and belonging.

If that wasn’t enough, she also serves on the boards of the Public Health Institute and Robin Hood.

Finally, Dara graduated from Harvard with highest honors and holds an MBA from Stanford University. 

This week's guest is Elizabeth Maxson, or "Emax," a seasoned marketing professional with over 18 years of experience across industries such as nonprofit, automotive, and high tech. As the SVP and CMO of Tableau, a Salesforce company, she drives global go-to-market strategies. Throughout her career at Salesforce, Elizabeth has held various roles, including leading strategic partnerships with industry giants like AWS, Google, and Apple. She also led marketing for Quip, a Salesforce acquisition. Notably, during the COVID pandemic, she helped distribute over 50 million units of PPE to healthcare workers globally in partnership with UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, a career highlight she takes immense pride in. 

My guest this week is Jenn Ogden-Reese, Chief Marketing Officer at On Location, a leading premium experiences company providing access to ticket packages with enhanced hospitality and premier end-to-end travel for bucket-list events. She has more than 25 years of experience building businesses and leading multi-platform marketing and strategy.

Before joining On Location, she served as CMO at several high-growth companies, including 2U, an ed-tech company serving over 44 million registered learners, and SeatGeek, a leading mobile-first live event ticketing platform. Jenn launched her career at Time Inc., marketing brands from Sports Illustrated Kids to InStyle to People, holding various leadership positions, including SVP of Consumer Marketing.

Jenn also serves as the Board Chair of Global Glimpse, a nonprofit organization providing international travel and leadership experiences to high school students. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Jenn lives in Westchester County, New York. In her spare time, she enjoys attending live events, skiing, and being a dedicated sports mom to her three sons. 

My guest today has been described by Forbes as an artist, a globe treading speaker and market seeker, a storyteller who identifies emerging trends and inspires clients to think differently.  His name is David Shing, AKA Shingy. And he is a true visionary in a digital era who closely observes the unfolding future in the vast online landscape. 

Following his role as AOL is European Head of Media and Marketing. He then ascended to the role of digital profit at AOL and Verizon media. And in 2019, he embarked on a new journey with his consultancy, where he works with the world's top 100 brands, shaping the future of digital engagement. 

Alma Derricks has over 25 years of experience building inventive new ventures at established media, entertainment, tech, hospitality, CPG. You name it, she's done it, at brands like Verizon, Sirius XM, Amazon, Southwest Airlines. She's also held senior management positions at HBO, Paramount, and Cirque du Soleil. She's currently a senior client partner at Korn Ferry.

Links

• Alma's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest this week is Bruce Hershey. Yes, as in the Hershey Kiss, Hershey candy bar. Bruce has over 30 years of marketing experience and he's held various leadership roles, responsible for marketing strategy and growth on both the client and agency side. In 2019, Bruce won the highly coveted CMO of the year award. Here's my conversation with my dear friend, Bruce Hershey.

Links

• Bruce's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest this week is Dr. Marcus Collins, an award winning marketer, best selling author and former chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy, and currently a marketing professor at the university of Michigan. Part marketing professor, part chief strategy officer, Dr. Marcus prescribes lots of advice for brand health.

My guest today is Tim McDermott. Tim is the President of the Philadelphia Union and Union Sports and Entertainment, overseeing all club business operations. Since joining the Union in 2016, his efforts have focused on increasing brand strength, expanding the fan base, and enhancing revenue opportunities, while maintaining a commitment to growing soccer and positively impacting the community.

Under his leadership, the Union have achieved significant milestones, including record partnership revenues, the largest season ticket base to date, and historical highs in television ratings, social media engagement, and media coverage. Previously, Tim served as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), and the Washington Capitals (NHL).

During his tenure with the Eagles, the team was recognized by Forbes as the fastest-growing brand in sports. In 2011, Tim was named to the '40 Under 40' by the Philadelphia Business Journal, and in 2014, he received the CMO Club Programmatic Marketing Award. His brother, Sean McDermott, is the head coach of the Buffalo Bills. 

 My guest this week is a good friend who also happens to be one of the most influential marketers in the world, Raja Rajamannar, the CMO of Mastercard. Over his 10 years with the brand, he has transformed Mastercard into one of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world.

At the helm of the iconic priceless platform, he and his team are on the cutting edge of experiential multi sensory marketing for consumers and customers alike. He has extended the reach and impact of the brand by embracing AI and Web3 technologies, while also pioneering new standards in inclusive design. 

Back in 2011, Jim Leschinsky, while working at Google, coined a phrase; Zero Moment of Truth. He would later write the book, Winning the Zero Moment of Truth. It was then and is still today a seminal book in the world of marketing. Jim's gone on to become an Associate Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University.

My guest this week is Paul Suchman, CMO of Audacy, a leading multi platform audio content and entertainment company. We talk about what it's like being a challenger brand to enter a market, how to keep that mindset as market leader and what the future of audio looks like (with AI).

From Bank of America to American Express to a champion of journalism done right, Lou Paskalis is a leading voice in the world of marketing and media today.

My guest today is David Edelman. David's the former CMO of Aetna, and he's currently a senior lecturer in marketing at Harvard Business School. I've known David well over 10 years and we had an absolutely fascinating conversation focussing initially on AI and and the customer experience.

One of David's recent HBR articles was "Customer Experience in the Age of AI" which are two topics that are very near and dear, at least they should be, for every marketer of the world. I hope you enjoy my conversation.

Links

• David's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My Guest this week is Jess Shirra, a fractional CMO and the founder of the Fractional CMO School. Her days are spent supporting her seven figure clients, helping them grow their membership and core businesses. Additionally, she mentors other marketers to help them launch and grow their own fractional CMO business.

With more than 15 years in the field, she's led marketing for both high growth startups, plus well known global brands such as Lululemon, Pottery Barn, Jenna Kutcher, Strava, and Deloitte to name just a few. Jess' philosophy is rooted in customer first marketing, which she believes makes marketing and sales effortless and cultivates fiercely loyal brand advocates.

My guest this week is former NBA player, Channing Frye. After an illustrious 14 year career, which included winning a championship in Cleveland with none other than LeBron James. Channing is now lead analyst for Warner Brothers Discovery, where he hosts the multitude of shows, including handles on NBA TV and his cohost of a very popular podcast with another NBA player, Richard Jefferson. 

Channing also started his own private wine label called Chosen Family Wines. Here's my highly entertaining conversation with Channing Frye.

 My guest today is Jeanniey Walden. Jeanniey is the senior vice president and CMO of Rite Aid and Thrifty Ice Cream. Her decades of experience span Fortune 500 companies and startups across a whole host of industries, including retail, health and wellness, consulting, ad agencies, fintech. Everything. If that weren't enough, she's also the host of her own network TV show called Liftoff. 

 My guest this week is Dr. Marcus Collins, an award winning marketer, best selling author and former chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy, and currently a marketing professor at the university of Michigan. Part marketing professor, part chief strategy officer, Dr. Marcus prescribes lots of advice for brand health. 

My guest this week is Thomas Prather, the Chief Marketing Officer at Smashburger.

Thomas brings over 30 years of marketing expertise, beginning in automotive advertising, where he managed Cadillac's resurgence in 1995. He transitioned to the food and beverage industry in 2003, joining Starbucks and eventually becoming VP of U.S. Retail Marketing.

At Starbucks, he drove growth across more than 17,000 U.S. locations, notably overseeing the brand's third-party delivery partnerships with UberEats and DoorDash, while leading the brand's most successful fall season with the 20th anniversary of the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

As Smashburger's CMO, Thomas now applies his extensive experience to drive the brand's growth through innovative global strategies focused on elevating Smashburger’s brand presence. He aims to attract a broader audience by aligning the company's offerings with emerging trends and consumer expectations, all while ensuring the brand remains relevant and committed to delivering an exceptional guest experience. 

My guest today is Steven Fuld, the former Senior Vice President, Managing Director of Corporate Marketing at Sony Corporation of America. Steven led U.S. marketing efforts in collaboration with Sony's Tokyo headquarters and operating companies such as PlayStation, Sony Pictures, and Sony Electronics. His leadership spanned brand strategy and communications, enterprise marketing, technology, and loyalty program design. His team defined Sony's brand positioning, managed paid and organic channels, and created compelling content to strengthen market relevance.

He spearheaded the development of an enterprise-wide martech stack that unified customer data, enabling deeper insights, predictive modeling, and targeted audience activation. Additionally, he oversaw a cross-company loyalty program, including co-branded credit cards like the Sony Card and PlayStation Card, all designed to drive engagement and sales.

Before Sony, Steven was Managing Director at The Kessler Group, specializing in loyalty program design and co-branded credit cards. He also held roles in marketing and finance at Citigroup.

He earned a B.A. in Political Science from Emory University. After leaving Sony, Steven took a few months off to recharge and reset. He is now actively pursuing roles that build on his experience leading marketing teams, enabling transitions, and rolling up his sleeves to get involved in the practice of marketing. 

Today I'm joined by two guests, Rose Jia and Hetal Patel.

Rose is an award winning marketing and product leader who currently heads up lifecycle and launch marketing for Amazon's Prime Video. She and her team drive profitable growth across the customer life cycle through original and licensed content. She's also the creator of the Renaissance Marketer Mindset, a new way for marketers to guarantee growth and innovation. And her recent book is called The Renaissance Marketers Shortcut to Get Finance to Say "Yes, and".

Hatal is a seasoned professional with over a decade at iHeartMedia. She's a trailblazer in leveraging diverse data sources to drive insightful connections between products, consumers, and advertising. With a background in clinical and cognitive psychology, she employs a blend of qualitative, quantitative, and advanced analytics methods to craft impactful narratives for iHeartMedia's marketing position. 

My guest this week is Billee Howard. She's the co founder and CEO of Brandthro, the only AI research company that scores customer emotion via human input to create the first ever emotional segmentation datasets.

My guest this week is Dan Gardner, the co founder and executive chairman of the technology first network Code and Theory. They work with brands like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, JP Morgan, Chase and more. We kick of talking about the eerie similarity between 2001 and 2024, and what marketers are missing about AI.

In an unexpected twist, previous guest Oksana Sobol (and Insights Lead at Clorox), puts the CMO Whisperer in the hot seat for a podcast takeover. Oksana asks Steve about some of the key things he's learnt from doing this show, including insights on AI, data and the CMO tenure.

My guest this week is Edithann Ramey, the Chief Marketing Officer at Six Flags Entertainment, where she oversees marketing strategy, consumer experience, CRM, group sales, and revenue management for North America's largest regional theme and water park company.

Before joining Six Flags, Edith Ann was CMO at On the Border, a Mexican casual dining chain where she developed the brand's global marketing strategy, elevating its presence through innovative menu promotions and guest-focused experiences.

She also served as Senior Director of Brand Extensions at Topgolf, where she launched and marketed new brand properties including Top Tracer and Swing Suites, achieving double-digit growth for the company. Early in her career, Edith Ann held various roles at Chili's, including VP of Marketing, where she oversaw advertising, promotions, media planning, and PR across the U.S. She has also worked with Brinker International's Maggiano's Little Italy and held marketing positions at Nokia, Yum! Brands, and Cadbury Schweppes, contributing to brand and product innovation efforts.

Edith Ann holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and an MSC in Corporate Communications from Boston University. Originally from Puerto Rico and raised in Mexico City, she now lives in Coppell, Texas with her husband Jason, their teenage twins, and two dogs, Nacho and Lulu. 

My guest this week is a good friend who also happens to be one of the most influential marketers in the world, Raja Rajamannar, the CMO of Mastercard. Over his 10 years with the brand, he has transformed Mastercard into one of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world.

At the helm of the iconic priceless platform, he and his team are on the cutting edge of experiential multi sensory marketing for consumers and customers alike. He has extended the reach and impact of the brand by embracing AI and Web3 technologies, while also pioneering new standards in inclusive design.

My guest this week is Reena Agnihotri, former Global Head of Brand Consulting at Deloitte, Reena is now Global CMO at Valiantys, a leading global Atlassian partner that accelerates customers business transformations using agile methods. Reena is also part of an exclusive leadership program through Women of Influence, a program designed for decision makers who want to optimize their leadership potential and continue establishing their legacy.

Lee Roth is the co-founder of The Actionists, a platform designed to make marketing more actionable for businesses. He is an experienced marketer, entrepreneur, and agency leader. Driven by solving global, industry, and company problems, Lee founded the Action List with his co-founder, Pio Schunker. Lee has a diverse background in marketing, having worked at various levels in organizations such as Coca-Cola, PayPal, Been There, Done That, Ogilvy, and Kennedy. His experiences have shaped the development of the Action List, addressing the pain points of marketers at every stage. Throughout his career, Lee has had the opportunity to work with some of the most iconic brands, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nike, Starbucks, Disney, Gatorade, Apple, and Google. His diverse experience, combined with his ability to empathize, enables him to provide valuable insights and leadership to businesses facing complex challenges.

 My guest this week is Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer for Cumulus Media and Westwood One. He leads their audio active group of media and creative advisory service and works with both national brands and agencies to craft targeting and measurement solutions. Prior to his current role, Pierre was SVP at TiVo Research and Analytics, where he led cross media and measurement engagements for Procter & Gamble and Comcast.

 My guest today is Chris Johnson. Chris is the managing partner of Tomorrow Today, a leading AI consulting firm that helps companies harness the transformative power of AI through strategic AI roadmaps and advanced AI implementations. He is also the founder and CEO of ELT, a full-service marketing agency focused on creating meaningful customer experiences based on strategic insights. With 30 years of experience leading clients through technological shifts, including the internet, e-commerce, social media, and digital marketing. 

My guest this week is Peter Jung, the CMO of NASCAR. We talked about how the brand is engaging younger audiences, what they're doing to engage audiences around the world, and who the competition for NASCAR.

Marisa Thalberg is a globally recognized business strategist and brand-building innovator, known for leading brands like The Estée Lauder Companies, Taco Bell, and Lowe's Home Improvement to new heights of consumer resonance, cultural relevance, and business performance. Inducted into the Forbes CMO Hall of Fame, she also founded Executive Moms, an organization supporting professional women who are mothers. Marisa co-hosts the podcast Brand New Produce with iHeart Media and serves on multiple nonprofit boards, including the Blumenthal Center for the Performing Arts and the MMA Global Board. 

My guest this week is Duncan Smith. Duncan is a seasoned media and communications strategist with over two decades of experience in media planning, buying, and agency leadership roles across London, Europe, and New York. Throughout his career, he has led top-tier agencies, spearheading the launch of connection planning departments, managing global multinational clients, and leading winning pitches for well over $4 billion in new business. Duncan's strategic vision, media expertise, and ability to construct communication strategies that deliver against business objectives have been instrumental in rebuilding agencies from the ground up. Currently, he is the Global Chief Product Officer at Journey Further, one of the most admired and culture-focused performance brand agencies in the world.

My guest today is Adam Hanft, one of the few strategic and creative brands who has achieved success with Fortune 500 companies and startups.

He sits on the boards of Scotts Miracle-Gro and 1-800 Flowers, and works with dozens of entrepreneurial founders to tell their essential stories across all channels.

From a jolly and nimbleness to stripping away layers of bureaucracy to putting action and accountability together, there are shared learnings that can make big and small stronger.

My guest this week is Oksana Sobol. Oksana leads the insights function at The Clorox Company, where she's implementing an agile, fast, and consumer centric insights model. Her global career spans everything from brand marketing and market research in her native Ukraine, and then the Czech Republic. She's worked for big companies like Nielsen, Kraft Foods, Unilever, J&J, and Mondelez.

Links

• Oksana's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Doug Zarkin, former CMO of Pearle Vision and current Chief Brand Officer of Good Feet Worldwide. Doug's won Effie Awards and Cleo Awards and countless other awards that I can't even think of. I've known Doug for well over 10 years, and he is absolutely one of the brightest minds in all of marketing that I've ever met. Our conversation ranges from his thoughts on why emotions are so important when it comes to advertising, to what he deemed his most successful failure, to what it was like to be an Avon lady. I am beyond honored, beyond humbled to a call him my friend, and to have him a guest on my show.

My guest this week is Jon Bond. At age 27, Jon and his partner Richard Kirshenbaum founded Kirshenbaum Bond, a truly new kind of agency that challenged the status quo from the Mad Men era. And within just six months, the agency had been featured in New York Magazine. Jon has gone on to do so many other things, including working with Forbes to create its iconic 50 most influential CMOs. Jon also sits on the boards of many companies and is the chairman of the U.S. advisory board for System1.

Links

• Jon's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest this week is Kyle Monson, co-founder of Codeword, an agency that fuses journalism, PR, and advertising into a single field they call communication design. Over the past 12 years he's grown the agency from three people to more than a hundred people working together to shape the future of technology marketing. Kyle has worked in the tech industry for nearly 20 years. First as a journalist, then as a marker for global tech brands and a wide range of startups. 

My guest this week is Tim Ringel, a serial entrepreneur with a passion and drive to push past that stubborn status quo. 

He's the global CEO of next gen advertising group called Meet the People. We talked about all sorts of things, including the role of AI in and omni channel marketing. Here's my conversation with Tim Ringel. 

Hi, this is Steve Olenski, AKA the CMO Whisperer, a title given to me by the former CMO of Walmart. Part marketing practitioner, part ad agency, veteran part journalist - I was a Forbes writer for nearly 10 years.

What I am at my core is a conversationalist, I love to engage in real conversations. In a world where AI blurs the lines between what is authentic and what is not, The CMO Whisperer Show is all about reality, the reality of what it's like to be a CMO.

But it's not just CMOs, this show's about, and for everyone who keeps it real from others in the C-Suite to agency leaders, to editors of publications, athletes, entertainers, and on and on.

This show is for them and about them.

My guest this week is Eric Danetz. He's the president and founder of Spencer Grace Advisors, a consultancy helping organizations navigate change and achieve growth. Previously, he was the Global Chief Revenue Officer at Reuters, overseeing global sales and customer success. He's also served as the Chief Business Officer at AccuWeather and SBP, and GM at Time Inc. International, where he managed a portfolio of 90 brands in 170 countries. He's held executive roles at Fortune, Money, Alloy Digital, Newsweek, Daily Beast, CBS Interactive, CNET, and more. He's been a board member for the IAB Video, Bite the Block, and Silicon Alley Sports. Finally, he's a proud father of two, one of whom I just learned is a new driver—congratulations! He's an avid traveler, animal lover, and racket sports enthusiast. 

My guest today is Jawad Bisbis. After starting his marketing career at Procter & Gamble, Jawad has held senior roles at 7Eleven, Focus Brands, Coca Cola, and Luxottica, right up to his current role as global VP of marketing at Ball Corporation. He holds a master's degree from KEDGE business school in France and is fluent in Arabic and French.

My guest this week is Marissa Solis. Marissa is Senior Vice President, Global Brand and Consumer Marketing for the NFL, where she leads all global brand and consumer marketing initiatives for the league, including all national advertising, both traditional and digital, in stadium marketing and new fan development.

 My guest this week has been everywhere, man—or seemingly everywhere—from Converse to Starbucks to Procter & Gamble, to Coca-Cola, to his current role as Chief Brand Officer at Topgolf. I met Jeff Cottrill many moons ago during my days at Forbes. What an amazing conversation we had! We touched on so many different topics. You're really going to enjoy it. 

My guest this week is Alan Bethke. For over 20 years, Alan has served in various roles for Subaru of America, including his current role as SVP of marketing, where he's responsible for all marketing brands, strategy, media, planning, creative customer experience, corporate comms, and on and on and on.

My guest this week is Dawn Hudson from CEO to CMO, the chairman of the board, her career has spanned high level posts in media, retail, consumer goods, and on and on and on at brands like the NFL, Pepsi, Loews, P.F. Chang's, Nvidia, the LPGA.

My guest this week is Amina Pasha, CMO of Thrive Market. With more than a decade of experience in CPG marketing at P&G, followed by a pivotal role at The Honest Company, Pasha serves as the guardian of Thrive Market’s mission-driven, e-commerce powerhouse. Thrive Market is now celebrating its 10th anniversary this November 10th by humanizing the online grocery mission—making healthy and sustainable living easy and affordable for everyone. She is leading the marketing team to create a cohesive story across every member touchpoint and encouraging her team to focus on impactful advertising strategies.

Under her leadership, Thrive Market reached over 1 million members in 2020, became the largest grocer ever to receive B Corp certification, and provided more than $16 million in healthy groceries to those affected by food inequality. Now, in its 10th year, Thrive Market has more than 1.5 million paying members.

Pasha was listed in Forbes' third annual CMO Next 2021 list as one of the country's top marketing chiefs, recognizing her success in leading Thrive Market’s transformative, mission-driven marketing. She has also been honored as 'One to Watch' by Brand Innovators and recognized by Adweek for her notable career achievements. In 2022, she spoke at the Forbes CMO Summit on the importance of sustainable marketing at Thrive Market.

Pasha has revitalized the brand by refocusing on its core mission of promoting healthy, accessible, and affordable living. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she began her career at PNC and later joined The Honest Company. Outside of Thrive, she mentors female leaders and has lived in over 13 countries. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her family and embraces an active, health-conscious lifestyle.

My guest this week is Aubriana Lopez, Head of Data Strategy, Global Product Marketing for Samsung Ads. Aubriana is an experienced multi discipline marketer who's had the ability to grow her expertise throughout the ever evolving nature of the media business, with a focus on audience development, cross functional measurement, and in depth reporting and insights.

My guest this week is Dawn Hudson. From CEO, to CMO, to chairman of the board, her career has spanned high level posts in media, retail, consumer goods and more. Dawn has at brands like the NFL, Pepsi, Lowe's, PF Chang's, Nvidia, the LPGA and the list goes on.

My guest this week is Nic Chidiac, Chief Strategy Officer for Razorfish, where he oversees brand and experience strategy. He's worked with CMOs from the biggest brands in the world across a wider range of categories, including QSR, travel, tech, automotive and government. Formerly with Leo Burnett, Nic brings a global lens to his CMO perspective as well, having spent his career working across markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. We talk about everything you need to know about working with an agency, how to effectively use AI and what the changing role of the CMO means.

My guest today is Evan Greene. Evan's the former CMO of the Recording Academy, which you probably know better as the Grammy Awards. Evan and I've known each other well over 10 years, and we had a truly fascinating conversation. We talked about everything from making the complex look simple to what initially drew him to the world of marketing in the first place, and if he was ever starstruck during his time at the Grammy awards. Just wait until you hear who sat right next to him at a rehearsal.

Links

• Evan's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

My guest today is Bart Sichel. Most recently, Bart was the CMO of Bed, Bath and Beyond. Before that, he was at Burlington stores and he was also a partner at McKinsey where he was a leader in their marketing practice. He has an unbelievable amount of experience in the world of marketing, especially in retail. We kicked off the conversation on the topic that is the elephant in every marketer's room, AI, and what it means in the world of retail.

We had a really, really fascinating conversation about that and a whole host of other topics, including the fact that Bart sits on the board of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. And it is a highly personal story.

Links

• Bart's LinkedIn
• Steve's LinkedIn

 My guest this week is Richard Howe. Richard is an accomplished entrepreneur, tech executive and board member. He served as a senior executive at FinTech innovator, Fair, Isaac and Company, the inventor of the FICO score, which profoundly changed the way credit worthiness is evaluated. He was also chief strategy officer at Axiom, the inventor of direct to consumer data based marketing. 

Richard is currently the chairman and CEO of Inuvo, a market leader in artificial intelligence, aligning and delivering consumer oriented product and brand messaging strategies online based on powerful, anonymous, and proprietary consumer intent data, for agencies, advertisers, and partners.